History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 131

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Illinois > Mercer County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 131
USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc > Part 131

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23, 1862, in Co. K, 84th Ill. Vol. Inf., and faithfully supported the flag of freedom till shot down at his post in the battle of Stone River, on December 31, 1862. ITis remains were brought home the follow- ing May by Judge Martin and buried at South Henderson. Mrs. Plummer died September 27, 1878. Mr. Phunmer's five living chil- dren are : Samantha E., wife of Chiles S. Harwood, Eva A., William S., Ida M. and Cora R. The two last named are prominent teachers and ladies of rare literary attainments. William S. is now on the old home, Sec. 6, T. 10, R. 4, engaged in farming. He was born May 24, 1855. Was educated in the common schools and at Davenport Commercial College. Was married on March 20, 1877, to Miss Harriet Francis, daughter of William and Margaret (Rankin) Francis, who was born in Henderson county, Illinois, May 6, 1853. They have one child : Chiles P. In Mr. Plummer's possession is the original patent for their land signed by President Monroe. The Plummers are, in faith, education and membership, United Presbyterians.

Among the early pioneers of this county, and deserving honorable mention, no name stands higher than JAMES C. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Hutchinson was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1790. Came to America in 1811 and passed his twenty-first birthday on the Atlantic ocean. He first settled in the State of New Jersey, where he was soon after united in marriage with the noble and true Miss Sarah Dellamarter, who after became the mother of his six sons and two daughters, two of whom (William J. and Samuel) were born in the city of Paterson. New Jersey, five in Harrison county and one in . Warren county, Illinois. From New Jersey Mr. Hutchinson removed to Harrison county, Ohio, in 1818, where he followed farming and dealing largely in cattle till 1833, when he with his family emigrated to Illinois, landing at the lower Yellow Banks (Oquawka) on June 2. During the same summer he located a claim on Sec. 1, T. 10, R. 4, where he and his sons actively engaged in making hay preparatory to making a start in the stock business, which they finally succeeded in building up to immense proportions. During their first summer on the prairie the bread supply became exhausted, and finding hay-making with hand seythes and rakes without bread too exhaustive on the physical system, Mr. Hutchinson went with a team to Quincy and purchased a load of flour, which answered a good purpose for his family and the neighbors (three within several miles). In the fall of the first year of his settlement here he was induced by his neighbors to move his cabin froni the prairie into the timber to avoid freezing to death the first winter, and his move was just across the line into Sec. 36, T. 11, R. 4, into a friendly little grove, where he lived and prospered

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as a farmer and stock raiser till the time of his death, in 1852. The same year his wife and one daughter was laid near his grave. Samuel, his second son, was born June 28, 1811, and begun life as above stated. In 1842 he was united in marriage with Miss Martha A. Graham, a native of Todd county, Kentucky, and the eldest daughter of William M. Graham, Esq., who emigrated to Henderson county, Illinois, in 1835 ; she was born September 23, 1823. Mr. Hutchinson, since his advent into this country in 1833, spent his life up till the fall of 1879, on and near his first location in See. 1, T. 10, R. 4, and Sec. 36, T. 11, R. 4, actively engaged in farming and stock raising, and so well did he sueceed that on retiring from the farm he was able to wisely apportion off to his family and set apart to his own use about 600 acres of good land. During his residence in this county Mr. Hutchinson took an active part in its business affairs. His great circular wolf hunt organized and carried out was the means of ridding the county and its early settlers of a number of these audacious and sneaky pests. On that occasion many more scalps might have been taken but for the excitement created over the twenty or thirty deer which were also surrounded. Mr. Hutchinson affirms that he brought into this county the first combined reaper and mower that did successful work (though the writer was informed that Seth Oaks was the first to introduce that kind of a machine into this township if not in the county). In 1879 Mr. Hutchinson moved to his pleasant home in Monmouth, especially to secure needed rest for his wife. His children are : Ellen (deceased), in her lifetime the wife of Mr. John H. McDougall ; Sarah, now Mrs. William Firoved ; Elizabeth J., wife of Isaac Woods ; Samantha S., now Mrs. William McCoy; Mary A., wife of. John C. Wallace, and William G., his only son, now on the old home. Mr. Hutchinson and family are members of the United Presbyterian church, and he is a staunch member of the old democratic party.

ISAAC McQUOWN, son of John Arthur and Harriet (Duff) McQuown, was born on the 7th of September, 1821, in Washington county, Virginia, of which state his parents were natives. His forefathers were in race Scotch-Irish, in faith Presbyterian. His ancestors on his father's side came over some one hundred years before the revolutionary war. Mr. McQuown's wife's forefathers came over from Wales about the time of the Mayflower, and by many it is thought that the family are descended from the immortal Hopkins who came over on the May- flower, an honor possessed by but few. When Mr. McQuown was but two years of age his parents emigrated from Virginia to Fayette county, Indiana, where they resided for thirteen years; after which they came in 1836 to what is now Henderson county and settled on Sec. 30, T. 10,

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R. 4. At this time there was but one house between his home and Monmouth. Here Mr. McQuown passed his early youth, receiving his education in the common schools. He was married on June 1, 1848, to Miss Rhoda Hopkins, daughter of Jacob Hopkins, of Boone county, Indiana. Of this marriage seven children have been born. of whom five are still living,-two having died in childhood. One of his two sons, Willison, is married and resides in Harvey county, Kan- sas. The other, Thomas H., is at home with his parents. Two of his daughters, Elizabeth Harriet and Mary Ellen, are now married. The former to Oliver Spiser, a physician, of Evans, Colorado ; the latter to Edward McCloskey, a merchant, of Walton. Kansas. The remain- ing daughter, Sarah F., is now (1882) at home with her parents. About seventeen years ago, in 1865, Mr. McQuown was made an elder of the South Henderson United Presbyterian church, which office he now holds in the same denomination in Biggsville, where his family are now connected.

ARTHUR O. McQrowy, Biggsville, son of Isaac and Ann McQuown, natives of York county, Pennsylvania, was born on September +, 1803. in Washington county, Virginia. His family, probably of Puritanical descent. was of Scotch-Irish race, and emigrated to America at a very early period in the history of the country, his grandfather McQuown having fought in the battle of the Brandywine. It might almost be said that Mr. McQuown began life without an education, as he never went to school, save a few days, before leaving Virginia. On the 30th of September, 1824, he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy S. Smith, daughter of Henry and Mary Smith. Of this marriage nine children were born. of whom only two are now living. His daughter, Mary A., is now the wife of A. R. Graham, who resides near Winterset. Iowa. His only son, Isaac M. McQuown, is at home and has charge of the old homestead. During the late war he was in the S4th Ill. Vols., Co. K. his captain being L. H. Waters. His first experience of the horrors of war was at the battle of Chickamauga. During the campaign against Johnson and Hood he was on continual duty up to the battles of Nashville and Franklin. On the 24th of July, 1846, Mrs. McQuown died, and two years later. on April 11, 1848, Mr. McQuown married Miss Sarah Allen, of Warren county. To them was born but one child, which died in infancy. Mr. McQuown's fore- fathers were of the old Presbyterian stock, and his family are now in connection with the United Presbyterian church at South Henderson, of which church he has been an elder for more than thirty-two years. The writer is able to say of his own personal knowledge that to Mr.

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McQuown is largely due the credit of the moral success and prosperity of this part of the county.

GEORGE HENRY COWDEN, farmer, Biggsville, was born in Olena township, in Henderson county, Illinois, May 5. 1849. Going back to a period in the history of this county when Phelps, of Oquawka, and McNeil, of Monmouth, were about the only actual (white) settlers here. The Cowden family came from Ohio and settled in what is now T. 9, R. 5, two miles east of Olena. The family consisted of William and Elmira (Day) Cowden and their children, one of whom was George W., born in Preble county, Ohio, April 10, 1827. He was united in marriage with Miss Eunice M. Signor, on October 20, 1847. She was born in Lawrence county, New York, July 13, 1830, and came to HIen- derson county when it was but sparsely settled. At the outbreak of the war, in 1861, he was among the first to rally in defense of his country's flag and enlisted in the 10th Ill. Vol. Inf., and was discharged on account of disability. After his wound was healed he again enlisted,-this time in Co. K, 84th Ill. Vol. Inf.,-and was killed in battle at Resaca, Georgia, August 20, 1864. His remains were bronght home and interred in the Watson cemetery, east of Olena, where all the rest of the deceased of the family now repose. His

wife preceded him to the grave in April, 1855. George H., our subject, is the only representative of the family now living in Hender- son county. His education was principally obtained in the Soldiers' Orphans' School, at Fulton, Illinois. April 6, 1871, he was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie J. Graham, the daughter of David and Elizabeth (Brown) Graham, now of Monmouth, Illinois. She was born in Biggsville township, Henderson county, Illinois, February S, 1849, and graduated from Monmouth College with the class of 1870. Their children are: Clara G., Maggie L., George Glenn, David H. and Elizabeth. Mr. Cowden is now actively engaged in farming on his fine farm on Secs. 19 and 30, T. 10, R. 4.

In about the year 1843 Mr. Paul Salter and family emigrated to Henderson county from the old oyster bay of New Jersey, where he had up till that time in his life followed the vocation of fishing and oyster raising. At the time of his arrival in this county he bought a tract of 800 acres of land, of John MeKinney, in and about what is now known as Salter's Grove, locating in the cabin first built by Mr. Mckinney, on Sec. 25, T. 10, R. 4. To his first purchase he kept adding till he became the owner of 1200 acres of land. This honorable and energetic citizen was born on Staten Island September 11, 1788 ; was a soldier in the war of 1812. After his eight children were born in New Jersey he, with his wife, Elizabeth Cubberly, and their children,

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removed to Ohio, and soon after to this county. After growing old in years he divided his large estate with his children and retired to pri- vate life in the village of Kirkwood, where he died in 1863. JOIN SALTER, his second son, was born in New Jersey August 24, 1815, between Bergen Point and Jersey City, where he spent the greater part of his life, as did his father, engaged in oyster culture and fishing. In 1839 he married Miss Jane Vreeland, also a native of New Jersey, and a daughter of Henry and Lucinda (Jerolman) Vreeland, of Hol- land and English ancestry. In 1855 they removed to Henderson county, Illinois, and settled on the home of his father, where he still resides, having since become the owner of that part of the old home on Sec. 25, T. 10, R. 4. He has since settling here carried on the busi- ness of farming and stock raising. He also owns a home in Kirkwood. where he contemplates moving in the near future. Of his eight chil- dren seven are still living : Eliza J. (now Mrs. Jacob Akerman), Henry, Lucinda, Mary A. (wife of Thomas Salker), John, Sarah (wife of Isaac Mundorf), Emma (wife of John Shook), the one deceased was Rachel C., who was drowned while skating on the lake at Peoria when thirteen years old. Mrs. Salter is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

ELI W. SMITH, now a resident of Biggsville, is the son of John and Mary (King) Smith, and is a native of Fayette county, Ohio ; born October 19, 1830. His father was a native of Virginia and his grand- father a native of England. He emigrated to America when young, and participated in the great struggle for independence from the first battle till the close of the war of the revolution. He was wounded at the battle of Yorktown, but recovered and lived to the ripe old age of one hundred and four years. Eli W. was reared on a farm and was early taught that industry and honest labor were essential to success. His first lessons in school were studied in a log cabin into which light was admitted through greased paper pasted over an open space made by leaving one log out. The seats were made of logs split in two with the flat side turned up. Not discouraged, however, with the meager advantages that surrounded him. he pursued his studies and had, by personal effort, quite early in life secured an education sufficient to teach school, and began at a salary of $16 per month. May 7, 1857, he married Miss Alice Holmes, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Worden) Holmes, a native of Fayette county, Ohio, born May 6, 1836. In 1865 he, with his family, removed to Henderson county, Illinois, and settled at Biggsville. Since his residence in this county the people have elected him to the position of county assessor and treasurer. In the spring of 1882 he was elected

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police magistrate of Biggsville. He is the father of eleven children, five sons and six daughters.

JUDGE PRESTON MARTIN, a retired farmer of Biggsville, was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, October 25, 1804. Judge Martin emi- grated from Kentucky to Morgan county, Illinois, in 1828, and to what lias since been organized as Henderson, Illinois, in 1836. Mr. Martin was one of the members of the first board of commissioners elected in this county after its organization. He was twice subsequently elected, and has served the people in that position eleven years, reflecting credit on himself and on the good judgment of those who elected him. It should be here said, that during the judge's connection with the county as commissioner, the question of reissning the old surrendered railroad bonds issued by the county in aid of the proposed (but never built) St. Louis, Warsaw & Rockford railroad, was brought before the board and ably advocated by the friends of the humbug enterprise and as ably opposed by Mr. Martin. He is a son of William and Ann (Hopper) Martin ; his grandfather Martin was a native of Ireland and emigrated to the colonies of America before the revolutionary war, in which he took part, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. The latter part of his life was spent in Kentucky where he died. Our subject's home in this county, and where he spent the greater part of his life, was on the S. W. Į of Sec. 25, T. 10, R. 5. In 1872 he rented out his farm and retired to spend his declining years in Biggsville. He married on March 28, 1828, Miss Ann Taylor, a native of Alexandria, Virginia ; she was born February 28, 1803, and died at Biggsville, December 16, 1880. They were members of the United Presbyterian church. Their children are: Benjamin H., John T., Frances M. (deceased), William F. and Charles A. (twins), Robert J., Andrew W., Mary A., wife of John N. Bruen ; Margaret J., wife of John H. Rice ; Sarah A., wife of John A. McDill.

ROBERT A. MCKINLEY is another example of the success of poverty. The young man's life was obscure, but passing years presented oppor- tunities which, seized and improved, has made life a success. Robert A. McKinley was born May 6, 1831, in York county, Pennsylvania, his parents, Stephen and Jane (Andrews) Mckinley, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Scotchi descent and the latter the daughter of a Scotchman ; both were born in 1801. Stephen McKinley served as county auditor and also a term in the Pennsylvania legislature. He died in 1879 preceded by his wife in 1876. They were members of the Presbyterian church. Their family was seven children. Robert A. was raised amid rustic scenery and inured to country toil. ITis educa- tional advantages were limited. In 1855 he came to Henderson

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county, Illinois, and engaged to work by the month near Gladstone. He was industrious in his toil; began threshing; then in 1856 embarked in the business permanently. In 1857 he rented a farm. In 1863 or 1864 he purchased eiglity acres south of Biggsville. This has improved and enlarged into his present farm and pleasant home. He was married January 21, 1858, to Mary M., daughter of Samuel Michener ; she was born in York county, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1838. Their children are : Mettie R., wife of Willis Gilmore ; Luella M., Maggie I., Ella M., Alice A., Lizzie M., Robert W. and Laura B. Mr. Mckinley has not confined his labors to his own farm, but has been active in public affairs. For several years he has been prominent in the fair association ; has served as county commissioner, is now in the thirteenth year of service as justice of the peace, and was elected to the state legislature in 1880. His career has been one of credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.

HON. PAUL D. SALTER, Kirkwood. Perhaps no name in Hender- son county can justly lay elaim to so remote antiquity as that of the Salters. During the reign of Henry VI, in 1423, there lived one William Salter, who was possessed of good estate, and whose ancestors had resided at, and were the Lords for over two hundred years, of a manor called Bokenhamis, in England. Walter Salter must have lived during the reign of Richard III, in 1482, as a tablet is erected to his memory at the upper end of the south aisle in the church of Totengen, in the county of Norfolk. In 1524 Henry Salter was one of the sheriff's of Norfolk. In 1655 John Salter was mayor of Norwich, and 1663 the charter of the said city of Norwich was renewed by Charles II, and John Salter was one of the twenty-four aldermen appointed. December 31, 1670, Bridget, the wife of Mathew Salter, died, and the writer is able to say on the authenticity of history that she became the mother of twenty-two children. According to well authenticated tradition three brothers, shortly after the accession of Charles II to the throne of England (probably in 1664), for political and religious reasons, came to this country. They landed at or near Boston, where one remained while the other two went to New Jersey. Of these one settled in Salem county, and died without issue. The other brother, Richard Salter, the youngest of the three, settled at Middletown, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, and became the founder of the branch from whom sprang a long line of noble posterity who have since been prominent in American history. Also back to this illustrious ancestor can be traced the lineage of Hon. Paul D. Salter, of Henderson county. He is the seventh son of Rev. David B. Salter who is now (1882) liv- ing in Saltersville, Hudson county, New Jersey, in the 84th year of

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his age. His wife, and the mother of Paul D. Salter, was a cousin of the Hon. Joel Parker. IIer maiden name was Abigal Parker. Paul D. was born in Ocean county, New Jersey, but was reared on a farm in Hudson county (same state) near Bergen Point, a few miles from the city of New York. Though reared on a farm, much of his time was occupied in oyster raising and boating,-becoming an expert in the latter to the extent that he was retained as a pilot in New York Bay for some time. January 1, 1853, he was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte J. Matthias, who died July 24, 1855, and was buried in New York Bay cemetery. She was a sister of the noted African mis- sionary, Jolın J. Matthias. Mr. Salter's second marriage was with Miss Sarah E. Edwards, a daughter of David and Eliza J. (Bell) Edwards, a native of Belmont county, Ohio. In the spring of 1856 he came to Henderson county, Illinois, and soon after permanently located on his 480-acre farm in Sec. 24, T. 10, R. 4, where he has since resided, en- gaged in stock raising and farming. Since his residence in this county he has had the honor of being elected by the people to the twenty- ninth general assembly, where he well sustained the good name already established by his worthy ancestors. It is a fact worthy of note that while in the legislature he introduced and had passed a bill for the improvement of the road law of Henderson county. He was also appointed and served on the following committees: mines and mining, fees and salaries, and roads, highways and bridges. For many years Mr. Salter was the president of the county agricultural society, and is now and has been for a num- ber of years vice-president of the Kirkwood First National Bank; in fact takes a prominent part in all matters of a public character in the county. He has an interesting family of seven children, whose names, in the order of their birth, are: William E., David P., Abbie B., John N., Harriet C., Ernest W. and Chalmer N.

DAVID GRAHAM, retired farmer, Monmouth, for many years a pros- perous and influential farmer of Biggsville township, was born in Todd county, Kentucky, in April, 1821. His parents, Mathew and Jane (Wilson) Graham, who were of Scotch ancestry, were born in South Carolina, and soon after their marriage, in about 1806, removed to Kentucky, where their ten children were born. In 1828 they removed to Preble county, Ohio, where they settled and remained till 1836, when they emigrated to Henderson county, where they perma- nently located, and remained until the time of their death. Their honored dust now reposes in the South Henderson cemetery. David, the subject of this notice, by coming to this county so early in its settlement, was necessarily deprived of the advantages of much school-

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ing, and had to be content with what he could obtain in the Colona school on rainy days. His first purchase of real estate was a quarter- section in Sec. 32, T. 10, R. +, to which by years of industry and honest toil, aided by the sound judgment of a prolific mind, he kept adding now and then another tract, till he is now the independent owner of over 800 acres in Henderson county and 400 acres in Warren county, all valuable and well improved. He also owns a pleasant home in Monmouth, Illinois, whither he removed in 1867 for the double pur- pose of seeking needed rest and educating his family. In 1846 he married Miss Elizabeth Brown, a daughter of John Brown, Esq., of Little York, Warren county, Illinois, who has been to him a valuable advisor and noble helpmate. They are the parents of five interesting children, of whom they have a just reason to feel proud. Their names, in the order of their birth, are: Elizabeth J., now the wife of Mr. G. HI. Cowden, Clara C., now Mrs. A. G. McCoy, James A., Minnie L., wife of William Brison, and Miss Fannie Mabel, who yet remains at home, surrounded with all that wealth and refinement can furnish. James A., who now resides on a farm just west of Biggsville, was born in this county, May 16, 1854; was principally reared on the farm, and received a classical education at the Monmouth College.

ROBERT MICKEY, though not an early settler here, dates his per- manent residence back to spring of 1861. In that year, on February 14, he married Miss Jane Caldwell, a native of MeMinn county, east Tennessee, and the same year bought a farm, ceased traveling and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits ; but only for a short time, for as the dark cloud of rebellion and treason thickened in the south there was a call for men to form the 84th Ill. Vol. Inf., and Mr. Mickey responded to his country's call and became a member of Co. K in that noble regiment. After the close of the war he returned to his home to enjoy with others the fruits of a country saved. In 1876 he sold his farm and returned to the scenes of his former days in California-a desire he had long cherished, but things had so changed there that he almost immediately returned to Biggsville, bought back his farm and has so far contented himself as an humble tiller of the soil. He was born near Mansfield, in Ashland county, Ohio, June 7, 1833 ; came to Henderson county, Illinois, in 1853, and engaged with a Mr. Craig, who was then first introducing and cultivating in this connty osage orange hedges. Ile also aided in the construction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad grade through this township. In the spring of 1854 he engaged as teamster to a man by the name of Barns, then engaged in freighting goods from St. Joseph; Missouri, to Salt Lake in wagons. From Salt Lake to California Mr. Mickey with

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History of Mercer and Henderson Counties : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc, Part 131

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.); Henderson County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1424