History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 107

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084

USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 107

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John S. Bradford was married July 15, 1841, in Brandenburg, Kentucky, to Miss Adaline M. Semple, who was born October, 1817, in Cumber- land county, Kentucky. Her brother, Hon. James Semple, was at that time Charge de Affaires to New Grenada, afterwards United States Senator from Illinois, and still later one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State.

Soon after coming to Springfield, J. S. Brad- ford became Lieutenant in the "Springfield Cadets." They were ordered to Nauvoo by Governor Ford, in 1845, serving two months in the " Mormon war." In 1846, Mr. Bradford en- listed in Company A, Fourth Illinois Infantry, under Colonel E. D. Baker, and was appointed Quartermaster by Governor Ford. As such, he accompanied the regiment to Mexico, where he started to go twelve years before with a book- binder's outfit. After his arrival in Mexico, he was commissioned as Commissary in the United States army. Ile was at the bombardment and capture of Vera Cruz, battle of ( erro Gordo, and others, returning with the regiment to Springfield in 1847. The result of that war securing to us California and the discovery of gold,

C. E. Bradish, wholesale and retail dealer in ice, and retailer of anthracite and Illinois coal and wood, Springfield, Illinois, was born April 6, 1850, in Camden, Oneida county, New York State, son of Horace C. and Elizabeth Wade Bradish, both of whom were born in New York State. The subject of our sketch came to Springfield May Ist, 1869, and engaged in sell- ing goods for the firm of Dickerman & Co., pro- prietors of the Springfield Woolen Factory. Mr.

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

Bradish was for several years the most success- ful salesman ever employed by that company, and probably made the largest yearly sales of any one traveling in that same line of business through the Western States. February 1, 1873, he was taken into partnership by his employers, and was an active member of the firm until 1876, when he started with his brother in the retail ice business, under the firm name of C. E. & W. HI. Bradish. The following year Mr B. bought out his brother's interest and also commenced the wholesaling of ice. He is now the Bradish of Huse, Bradish & Co , who have located at Clear Lake, this county, one of the best constructed ice houses in the West, holding about eighteen thousand tons of ice. The water of this lake covers about forty acres in area, and receives its supply from numerous springs, making it the largest, purest and best body of water in Sangamon county. From this Clear Lake the company fill their ice houses and ship to St. Louis, Missouri, Cairo, Illinois, Louisville, Ken- tucky, and many other Southern cities. Mr. Bradish is also connected with Bradish & Mc- Cullough, in the city of Springfield, and supplies a large portion of her citizens with ice in sum- mer, and coal in winter. He is at the present time building at Sangamon Lake, six miles northeast of the city of Springfield, ice houses which will hold ten thousand tons; to which they have already put in a railroad track con- necting with the Illinois Central railroad. Mr. B. was married in Jacksonville, Illinois, Decem- ber 25, 1872, to Ella, the youngest daughter of Colonel George M and Ellenor Chambers. Mr. Bradish attended the common schools of his na- tive State until he was thirteen years old, when he entered the Hungerford Collegiate Institute, at Adams, Jefferson county, New York, and was a student of the same about two years. He is a sample of the self-made, practical business man, having made his way from a penniless boy of fourteen to his present position in the world without any assistance save that of his own head and hands. Mrs. Bradish was educated in the Presbyterian Female College of Jacksonville, Illinois.

Mr. and Mrs. Bradish are both members of the First Presbyterian Church of Springfield. They have been blessed with four children, three of whom are now living, Walter C., Bessie, and Charles E., Jr. The first named was born in Jacksonville, the others in Springfield.

William M. Brewer, grocer and commission merchant, 415 East Monroe street, settled in Springfield and engaged in the grocery business

eight years ago, at 323 South Fifth street. Five years later he moved to his present store. Be- sides keeping a general stock of groceries, in which he has a fine retail trade, he makes a specialty of commission jobbing in fruits and produce, of which he handles large quantities, and intends to constantly enlarge this branch of his business.

Daniel and Elenor (McVey) Brewer, were Pennsylvanians by nativity, and were the parents of nine children, of whom William M. is one of the six living. His father died when he was a lad eight years of age, and his mother seven years later. The former was of Dutch and the latter of Scotch descent. In September, 1861, the subject of this sketch enlisted in com- pany A, Third Illinois Cavalry, and served under General Curtiss in the department west of the Mississippi, until discharged, from ill health, in the spring of 1863. He fought in the battle of Pea Ridge and several skirmishes. He did clerical duty in the Adjutant's office, and as pri- vate secretary for Colonel E. A. Carr several months, and was subsequently made hospital steward, in which capacity he served until he re- tired from the army. Mr. Brewer came from Ohio to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1856, and followed the avocation of teaching school about four years. He then bought a dry goods store in Chatham, which he owned till 1866; then sold out, and moved to Virden, Macoupin county, where he engaged in merchandising, first in the furniture, and then in groceries, until he re- moved to Springfield. In the fall of 1863, he married Virginia Sims, of Chatham, and a na- tive of Kentucky. They have two daughters living. Mr. Brewer is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the A. O. U. W., and was Master Workman of Capital City Lodge, No. 38, last term.

Evans E. Britton, Springfield, Illinois, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1791. His father, Elijah Britton, was a farmer, and Evans E. was reared on a farm, and received a common school education. When seven years old, his father died, but pre- vious to his death had rented a farm in Virginia for three years, which his mother, with a family of seven children, shortly after moved upon, where they remained until 1800. She then re- moved to Ross county, Ohio, then a vast wilder- ness, where she leased a piece of land for seven years, and at the expiration of that time went to Champaign county, where she bought a piece of land. While in Ross county, they had to go into Kentucky, something over one hundred and

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

fifty miles, for breadstuff, on horseback. They lived in a cabin 16x18 feet, with puncheon floors. In 1818 the subject of this sketch married Miss Mary England, who was born in Kentucky in 1800, and in 1820 he came to this county with his wife and one child, which was a renewal of pioneer life. He located on Fancy Creek, where he took up land and made a farm. St. Louis was the nearest point where they could buy their farming tools, salt, and all other articles; for grinding meal and flour, they went to the Ameri- can bottoms, east of St. Louis. There was plenty of game in an early day for their meat; his father-in-law, Mr. England, was an expert hunter, and they had plenty of venison and bear meat; the wild turkey were so thick that he would take a pole and knock them down from the trees. Mr. B. remained on the old home- stead until about 1870, when he came to Spring- field, and is at present making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Wilbur. Mrs. Britton died in August, 1846; she was a member of the Christian Church, and was loved and respected by all who knew her. Mr. Britton is nearly ninety years old; he has seen the rough side of life; one of his most severe afflictions was the loss of his left arm, from the cause of a cancer. He is a Christian, and respected by all who know him.

Fred D. Buck, dealer in hats, caps, and gen- tlemen's furnishings, 527 north side of the square, has been identified with this branch of merchandising in Springfield since 1872. He succeeded J. H. Adams, the pioneer hat manu- facturer of the city, who in the early days of Springfield used to supply a large per cent. of the inhabitants of the surrounding new country with head gear. Mr. Buck became associated with this house, located at 127 west side of the square, nine years ago. As the building was about to be torn down to give place for a better one, he moved to his present number, April 1, 1881. Hats, caps and gloves are his specialty, of which he carries a large and complete stock. In 1880-1, his house sold two thousand eight hundred straw hats, and one thousand six hun- dred pairs of gloves during the season. A capital of $10,000 is employed in the business, and is turned over about twice and a half each year. He started by purchasing the stock of the old firm for $571, borrowing the money to make the payment. Besides his stock of goods he has $2,500 invested in a home in the city. Mr. Buck is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland; born in June, 1852. Leaving there at the age of sixteen years, he spent three years in the con- fectionery business in Frederick City, Maryland.

Came from there to Springfield, Illinois, in 1871, and soon after embarked in present business. He and a sister and brother occupy the same home, all being ummarried. Their parents, George and Eva (Burn) Buck, are deceased.

Jacob Bunn, President of the Illinois Watch Factory, Springfield, has for nearly forty years been one of the city's most enterprising and public spirited business men. He was born in Alexandria, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, in 1814; came to Springfield in May, 1836; began business as a grocer July 1, 1840, and continued in that and banking until January, 1878. He was very successful and accumulated a large for- tune, but through others, lost heavily and was compelled to make an assignment, turning over his property for the benefit of his creditors. Having been a heavy stockholder in the Watch Factory, and his superior business qualification received recognition in his election to the Pres- idency of the concern in January, 1879, which position he still fills with signal ability as shown by the marked success of the institution under his management. Mr. Bunn was united in mar- riage with Miss Elizabeth Ferguson in Spring- field, in 1851. She is a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, but came to Springfield in early youth. They are the parents of four sons and two daughters.

John W. Bunn, wholesale grocer, corner Fifth and Adams streets, has been many years connected with the house of which he is now sole proprietor. The business was established on that corner by Jacob Bunn in 1840. After being associated with his brother some years John W. Bunn became a partner, in 1859, the title of the firm being J. & J. W. Bunn. From 1872 to 1879 Mr. R. J. Roberts owned an inter- est in the business, then known as J. & J. W. Bunn & Co. The other partners retired, leaving J. W. Bunn exclusive owner, but the firm name remains unchanged. Until January 1, 1880, the business was carried on at both wholesale and retail, but from that time the retail feature was discontinued. The concern occupies four floors of the block, 28x76 feet each, and uses the build- ing known as the Lamb pork house as a ware- house for storage purposes. The sales of 1880 were the heaviest ever experienced, reaching $450,000; and in 1881 will reach 8500,000; chiefly distributed among the towns in Central Illinois.

James Brown, Springfield, Illinois, was born in Queen Anne county, Maryland, Octo- ber 20, 1805; son of James and Mary Ann (Hackett) Brown, natives of Maryland, where

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

they were married and had six children, two of whom died in infancy; the mother died in 1821, and the father in 1822.

The subject of this sketch left Maryland and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he embarked in merchandizing, and became acquainted with Miss Mariol Page, daughter of Jarred Page, of Che- nango county, N. Y. ; she was born in that county. By this union there was one child, Sherman P., who is employed in the railroad business in Pueblo, Colorado. Parting with his first wife Mr. Brown married Miss Sarah J. Martin, daugh- ter of Thomas Martin, of Maryland. The fruits of this marriage were nine children, four of whom are living, viz: John, of Kansas, Mary Anne, Lida M., now Mrs. George E. Copeland, and Antrim C. In 1834 Mr. B. came to Spring- field, it being at the time of the cholera epidemic, he returned to Cincinnati, where he remained until 1837. Soon after coming to this State he was appointed clerk in the mail service, and afterwards was appointed Special Post Office Agent, his district comprising Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri. This route was made in a stage coach, being before the use of railroads. After leaving the road he came to this county where he followed farming seven years, since which time he has lived re- tired, having been an invalid for the last twelve years.

E. P. Burlingham. General Agent of the New York Life Insurance Company, opened an office for general business for this company, in Springfield, in 1879, it being the first and only general office representing any of the large Life Insurance Companies in the State, outside of Chicago. Mr. Burlingham controls the entire business for this powerful and popular company, in Illinois, and has ten assistants in the field. The New York Life is one of the oldest and strongest companies in the United States, as shown by the last published report. Its cash assets are over $45,000,000, with a surplus of over $9,000,000, with 48,548 policies in force, and an income in 1880 of $8,964,719. Mr. Burlingham's last report shows his new business in this State running at the rate of more than a million and a quarter of dollars per year ; and cash collections on old business of $150,000 a year. More than half a million dollars of new Tontine Investment policies have been placed among the solid business men of Spring- field, within the past year and a half. Mr. Bur- lingham has had eleven years of experience, ten of them in Springfield, in exclusive life business. He is a New Englander by nativity ; came to

Illinois twenty years ago ; pursued the avoca- tion of teaching school eight years, and at the age of twenty-seven received the highest salary paid to any teacher in the public schools of Illi- nois, outside of Chicago, as Principal of the Cairo schools. In the fall of 1869, he abandoned teaching, and in the spring of 1870 engaged in the insurance business. He is now forty-one years of age.

John L. Burke, senior partner of J. L. Burke & Co., proprietors of the Home Mills, corner of Third and Washington streets, was born in Ire- land, in 1835; crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1847; settled in Port Byron, Cayuga county, New York, and there learned and pursued the milling business until he came to Illinois, in 1856. He was employed in a mill in Cass county a year, and spent two years milling in Paducah, Kentucky; came to Springfield in the spring of 1859, and pursued the same line of business until the spring following, then catching the gold fever, he went to Colorado and remained about four years and a half in the mining re- gions, prospecting and mining. In the fall of 1864, he returned to Springfield and married Miss Jennie Fawcett, a resident of the city, but a native of Ireland. After passing that winter in Iowa, they returned and settled in Spring- field, which has since been their home. Mr. Burke's first milling in the city was for Addison Hickox, in the City Mill. He was then five years in the old Illinois Mills, employed by B. F. Haines & Co .; was eleven years in the Excel- sior Mills, operating for Martin Hickox and his successor, W. P. Grimsley, previous to becom- ing a partner in the Home Mills. These mills are well fitted up with modern improvements, and are doing a thriving business. Capacity, one hundred barrels in twenty-four hours. Mr. Burke and wife have one son and one daughter. He and wife are members of the Second M. E. Church.

W. S. McBurnie, M. D., Springfield, Illinois, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, July 10, 1844, son of Professor James V. McBurnie, of the higher branches, and one of the oldest teachers in that county; he was superintendent and sec- retary of the public schools until 1855, since which time he has been principal of the ward school, and owner of the Locust Grove Academy. He always took an active interest in all the schools of the State until his death, which occurred in 1872. The subject of this sketch was educated in the higher schools of Louis- ville, Kentucky. His professional education was commenced by reading medicine with Prof. Dr.

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

J. M. Bodine, and he graduated in February, 1867, in the medical department of the Univer- sity of Lonisville, Kentucky, with honors.

His grandfather, James McBurnie, was an Eusign in the Thirty-ninth Irish Regiment of English Volunteers, and second on the staff of Sir John McClintock, who was also chief engi .. neer of the Duke of Wellington. He married Lady Anna Riddle, which was a love match; there was an elopement which caused Sir John Riddle to disinherit her. After marrying he returned to the army, bought his commission, and joined the army. The Doctor's father was born in the Thirty-ninth Regiment and was known as the son of the regiment, being the first child born in the regiment. His grand- father afterwards engaged In the ministry, and at the time of the Protestant War in 1832, came to the United States on account of the trouble between the two churches. He left the family in care of his oldest son, who supported them by teaching school. In 1833, the family arrived in the States and located at Wheeling, Virginia, where he was pastor of the local church of that place. He was afterwards President of the Methodist Theological Seminary at Wheeling, West Virginia. He returned to his native country where they both died in 1864. His mother's father, Captain Thomas Davidson, assisted in the battle of Tippecanoe. He was captured by the Indians when he was a boy three years old, and was with them for seven- teen years, after escaping, he located at Leaven- worth, Indiana, which was known as Davidson- ville. He married Miss Butler, who was the first female child born in that portion of Ken- tucky. Her father was with Daniel Boone at the time he came to Kentucky.

John Busher, of the firm of John Busher & Co., manufacturers of harness and saddles, and dealers in horse clothing, saddlery hardware, tents, and leather, 622 Adams street, was born in Portsmouth, England, June 1, 1811. 1Ie was educated in a classical and commercial academy in Portsmouth, and in a government college in Normandy, where he took a three years' course. After serving an apprenticeship to the trade of finishing leather, in London, he immigrated to the United States, arriving in October, 1833; worked a short time at his trade in Brooklyn, and the winter following in Zanesville, Ohio. Hle spent about seven years traveling and deal- ing in hides and leather. In the winter of 1837-8, he exported, via New Orleans, to Liver- pool, the first shipment of western hides ever sent to that city. In 1839, he came to Spring-

field, Illinois, and purchased the lot on which their store now stands. In 1841, he shipped from Springfield to London, England, the first lot of furs ever sent to Europe from Illinois, direct. In 1840, he erected a building on the site of his present shop and store, and about 1858 built the three-story brick he now occupies. In 1842, he built a tannery in the city, and the same year, in company with his brother, erected the old Busher brewery, and run it some years. He has occupied his present location forty years. The firm, consisting of himself and son, does a fine business in manufacturing, employing eight to ten men, and besides the harness and saddle trade, does a large business in tents and awn- ings, the whole aggregating $25,000 to $30,000 a year. Mr. Busher has been twice married; first to Emma Everson, in 1842, in Morgan county, Illinois, a native of England, who died seven years after, leaving four children, of whom three survive, all married and settled. In January, 1852, he married his present wife, Emily B. Wyatt, by whom he has two sons and one daughi- ter. Mr. Busher has crossed the Atlantic Ocean eleven times; was present at the coronation of Queen Victoria; attended the World's Fair in London and the Paris Exposition. Politically, he has always been a Democrat.

Elizabeth Byers, Springfield, Illinois, was born in Hancock county, Ohio, March 27, 1836, daughter of Doctor A. F. and Dilemma (White- lock) Barnd. Mrs. Byers was married January 6, 1861, to Isaac M. Byers, born in Virginia, near Harper's Ferry, and was a farmer in his native State and in Ohio, from which State he came and located in Sangamon county, near Spring- field, Illinois, in 1861. Mr. Byers was educated in the common schools in Virginia. He entered the Union army of the late war by joining the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and served out his time for one year. Mr. Byers died October 9, 1877, after an affliction of paralysis for three years. He had four children by his first wife, namely: Mary E., John W., May, and Groves Byers. Groves Byers lives in Springfield, and his sister, Mrs May Shoup, is residing on a farm eight miles south of Springfield. Mrs. Byers was educated in Lexington, McLean county, Illi- nois, which was her home for eighteen years, and has been a resident of the city of Spring- field since 1861.

William Carpenter was born July 30, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He immigrated to Licking county, Ohio, in his young manhood; and in the fall of 1819 united in marriage there with Margaret Pence. In the autumn of 1820

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

they moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, and settled about six miles out from Springfield on the Peoria road, where Mr. Carpenter opened up a small farm, surrounded by the haunts of the wild beasts and the wigwams of the Indians, who encamped several winters near their cabin on the bluffs of the Sangamon river, below where the city water-works are now located. Some years after Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter located in their wild western home, a ferry was established across the Sangamon a mile from their cabin, and a short distance below where Carpenter's bridge is now situated. Mr. Carpenter eventu- ally became the owner of the lands on both sides of the river, and also of the ferry, and conducted it till the bridge was built in 1844. When they first settled there the nearest post office was at Edwardsville, from whence Mr. Carpenter hauled corn to feed his team the first winter, after pick- ing it on shares. In March, 1828, Mr. Carpen- ter removed his family to Springfield, and occu- pied one of the few log cabins in the place, which stood on the site of the present Revere House. After a change or two of location he erected a frame house on the corner of Second and Jefferson streets. Here he opened a store where he continued in the mercantile business a number of years. In 1843, Mr. Carpenter, in company with Adolphus Wood, a brother-in-law, erected a flouring and saw-mill on the Sangamon river, at Carpenter's bridge, which was known as the Rock-dam Mills, from the material used in the construction. This old mill still stands on section one, of Springfield township, and is oper- ated a portion of the year. In the later years of his life Mr. Carpenter dealt extensively in real estate, investing the proceeds of the mill and business in lands, of which he owned a large quantity at his death, on August 30, 1859. Mr. Carpenter served the people many years in an official capacity, was elected Justice of the Peace in Ohio in May, 1820; was appointed to the same office in Sangamon county, Illinois, in July, 1822, and filled it by successive appointments and elections about seventeen years in all. Il℮

served as Representative in the Illinois Legisla- ture in 1834 and 1835. Was appointed Post- master of Springfield October 4, 1836, and re- signed the office at the close of three years of service. He acted as Mayor of the city in 1846, during the absence of Mayor J. C. Conkling. He served in the Black Hawk war, and assisted in burying the dead after Stillman's defeat. May 15, 1830, he was made Quartermaster of the Twentieth, Illinois Militia, and was Paymaster

of the Fourth Illinois Mounted Volunteers on April 30, 1832.

Mrs. Carpenter was born in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, February 5, 1803; is one of a family of four sons and three daughters of Peter Pence and Catharine Godfrey, who moved to Licking county, Ohio, in her early childhood. Her paternal grandfather fought in the war of the Revolution, and her maternal grandsire was killed by the Indians on the banks of the Ohio river. In those early pioneer times in Sangamon county, Mrs. Carpenter and her neighbors used to raise small patches of cotton, which they picked, and mixing it with wool, manufacted it into fabrics for the family clothing. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were the parents of eleven child- ren, eight of whom survive. John, George, Sarah, Jane and Mary Ellen reside with their mother at the homestead, on the corner of Seventh and Carpenter streets. George, the youngest son, was born in March, 1835; read law with Stuart & Edwards, in Springfield, beginning in 1858, for nearly three years, when failing eye- sight compelled him to abandon the profession and he has since devoted his attention chiefly to the interests of the family estate. He is now serving his second term in the Board of Super- visors from the city.

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History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 107

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company Number of Pages: 1084

Author: Interstate publishing co., Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing company
Number of Pages: 1084