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 161
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Josiah Green was born in 1800, in South Car- olina. Rebecca Long was born in South Caro- lina also. The father of each of them were Bap- tist preachers. Josiah Green and Rebecca Long were married in Kentucky. The family moved to Sangamon county, arriving in 1828, in what is now Mechanicsburg township. He died in 1855.
Samuel Garvey was born August 31, 1794, in Culpepper county, Virginia. His father, Job Garvey, was born in Scotland, and brought to America when he was quite young. His parents both dying early, he was bound to a man who proved to be a cruel master. Determined to escape the hard servitude, and partly from patriotic motives, he enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary army, and served the whole seven years. When Samuel was about one year old, his parents moved to Woodford county, Ken- tucky, and four or five years later moved to Franklin county, about eighteen miles south of Frankfort. Samuel volunteered in a regiment of dragoons at Frankfort, under Colonel Dick John- son, and was in the battle of the river Thames, in Canada, in which Colonel Johnson is reputed to have killed the Indian chief, Tecumseh. After his return, the family moved to that part of Gallatin which is now Owen county, Kentucky. Samuel Garvey was there married, December 26, 1816, to Maria Elliston, who was born July 25, 1800, in Franklin county. They lived in Owen county for some time, then, with a family of
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
seven children, moved to Sangamon county, Illi- nois, arriving in the fall of 1830, in the vicinity of what became Mechanicsburg.
David Hall was born December 25, 1799, in Shelby county, near Shelbyville, Kentucky. David Hall and Juliet Owen were there married, December 23, 1823; moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving September 23, 1834, at Me- chanisburg, and soon after settled about four miles further west, in the same township.
EDUCATIONAL.
Jesse Pickrell taught the first school in the township in 1828, on section twenty-seven. There are now five brick school houses in the township, valued at $10,500.
ORGANIC.
The township was organized in 1861, and an- nual elections for township officers are held on the first Tuesday in April. The following com- prise a list of the principal township officers, in 1861:
Supervisor-J. Dunnick.
Town Clerk-Samuel Robins.
Assessor-Samuel Phesant.
Collector-Thomas S. Kiser.
Overseer of Poor-William S. Pickrell.
Justices of the Peace-Wesley Hathaway and Miles H. Wilmot.
Constables-Alf. A. Barnwell and Cyrus Cor- rell.
Commissioners of Highways-Jacob Morgan and James H. McDaniel.
Officers for 1881, are:
Supervisor-O. P. Hall.
Town Clerk-A. F. Hollenback.
Assessor-William G. Jach.
Collector-Jno. B. Kenney.
Commissioners-Thomas W. Bracken, H. R. Riddle, William J. McCann.
Justices of the Peace-Lewis Grubb and Miles H. Wilmot.
Constables-L. W. Hicks and R. T. Dunn.
VILLAGE OF MECHANICSBURG.
The village of Mechanicsburg is the oldest of the three villages in the township, and was laid out and platted by William S. Pickrell, Novem- ber 12, 1832, and was described as comprising the "east half of the southwest quarter of section twenty-six, and part of the east half of the north- west quarter of section twenty-six, township sixteen, range three west."
The village was very pleasantly situated, and gave promise of being one of the most thriving villages of the State. A writer in a local paper
in 1837 had the following to say of Mechanics- burg:
" Mechanicsburg, fifteen or eighteen miles from Springfield, contains some twelve or six- teen families, twenty-five buildings, tavern, store, and post office. Lots are worth from ten to thirty dollars each. As the country is fine and well settled in the neighborhood, it seems to be reasonable to suppose that, with the start it has already attained, it will grow to some import- ance."
Josiah Green had a blacksmith shop about one mile west of the village previous to its being laid out, but William Parks was among the first to carry on the trade in the village.
Wm. D. Spain was the first wagon-maker.
The first brick house was built by Sowel Cox. John Elkin built the first brick store building in 1867, which was occupied by J. W. Alvey.
A cottonwood tree was planted by Jesse Pick- rell in 1835, shortly after his arrival. It is now four feet in diameter.
A POST OFFICE.
A post office was established in the neighbor- hood of the present village in 1830, under the name of Clear Creek post office, with Jesse Pickrell as postmaster. This name was retained until the removal of the office to the village, when it was changed to Mechanicsburg. Thomas Fortune succeeded Mr. Pickrell, and on the 17th day of February, 1848, Morris Bird was commissioned, the commission being signed by Cave Johnson, Postmaster-General, under President Polk. He was continued in office by the postmaster-general under each of the Presidents up to and including President Hayes, till his death, June 11, 1879. Mr. Bird was born February 19, 1803, and came to San- gamon county in 1835, and settled in Mechanics- burg. He died June 11, 1879; the oldest post- master, in point of service, probably, in the State. He was succeeded by his son, George W. Bird, who was appointed June 24, 1879, his commission being signed by Thomas J. Brady, under Acting Assistant Postmaster-General David M. Key.
MERCANTILE.
The first merchants in the place were Craw- ford & Peas, in 1835. When they commenced business there was no place from which to ob- tain merchandise nearer than Springfield. In the fall of 1837, William and Upton Radcliff also embarked in the business. Thompson Brothers commenced business in 1844, and have been doing business for thsrty-seven years.
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
SCHOOLS.
The first school house in the village was a frame building, erected in 1837; the second of brick, built in 1842; the third also of brick, built in 1854, for the old Mechanicsburg Academy. The school is now in a flourishing condition, and it is operated under the graded system, which was adopted in 1862.
The Mechanicsburg Academy was incorporat- ed and erected a handsome brick building in 1854, two stories in height, and forty by sixty on the ground. The school flourished finely for a time under the care, at intervals, of Profs. Loomis, Cummings, Hatch and McNutt.
RELIGIOUS.
The first religious services in the township were at the house of Jesse Pickrell. There are now three churches in the village-Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian.
STEAM GRIST MILL.
A steam grist-mill was erected in 1844, by Nightingale & Rowell, and subsequently passed into the hands of Dunnick Brothers. The mill had two runs of burrs. The same parties have built a larger and much improved mill on the same site, having three runs of burrs, and doing a thriving business.
BANK.
In 1873, Thompson Brothers commenced a general banking business in the place, buying and selling exchange on the principal cities in the country, and receiving deposits. The well known business integrity of the firm was a suffi- cient guaranty to the people of Mechanicsburg and vicinity, so the bank has had a good run of business.
A TEMPERANCE TOWN.
The village has never had a licensed saloon in it. A certain man, in 1853, started a saloon in connection with his boot and shoe store. The ladies secured funds and purchased his stock of liquors on condition that he would abandon the business. They poured the liquor in the street and attempted to set fire to it, but it would not burn. But the man did not consider his promise to the ladies as being worth much, and therefore again commenced the sale of the "liquid fire." An agreement was then entered into by the citi- zens, neither to buy or sell him anything as long as he sold liquor. This was the first case of " boycotting" in Mechanicsburg, and the last as well. The remedy was effectual. The man left.
VILLAGE OF BUFFALO.
Buffalo is a village of about four hundred in- habitants, and situated on the line of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad, and was laid out and platted in May, 1854, by Charles R. Wells, the plat was described as the "south- east part of the northeast quarter, and the north- east part of the southeast quarter of section ten, and southwest part of the northwest quarter, and the northwest part of the southwest quarter of section cleven, township sixteen, range three west."
The village was platted and recorded under the name of Buffalo, the railroad company named the station Mechanicsburg; while the post office was called Watson. It was only after several years of continuous effort that the names of the station and post office were changed to Buffalo. These several names caused much per- plexity and difficulty, as may well be imagined.
The first house erected in the village was by Josiah Green and Harvey Thompson, and a store was opened by them under the firm name of Thompson, Green & Co. This was in 1854.
The post office was established immediately after, and IIarvey Thompson was appointed the first postmaster. The present postmaster is A. F. Hollenbeck.
The village has steadily grown until it now contains two dry goods stores, three grocery stores, one harness shop and hardware store, one drug store. There are three practicing physi- cians and one retired physician. Those in active practice are Dr. Leslie Gillett, Dr. L. P. Rogers, and Dr. John C. O'Conner. Dr. Peter T. Leeds is an old time practitioner, having been in the township about fifty years, and has retired from active practice. There are two blacksmiths' and one wagon shop, one elevator, and one steam flouring mill.
FLOURING MILL.
The steam flouring mill was erected in 1859-60, by Baker & Enlow, at a cost of about $5,000. George McDaniel has owned the mill since 1866, and it is now run by McDaniel & Sons.
ELEVATOR.
The building was erected as a warehouse in 1858, by John Dikeman, and was among the first buildings in the place. In 1878, it was ro- modeled, and an elevator machinery put in. It is now operated by E. R. Ulrich, who handles here about ninety thousand bushels of grain annnally.
956
HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
TEMPERANCE.
The village is now regarded as a temperance one. There has not been a saloon tolerated in the place since 1875, and the retail traffic is under complete control of the authorities. There were, at one time, four saloons in the place, and much drunkenness, but none of consequence of late years.
RELIGIOUS.
There are now two church edifices in Buffalo -that of the Methodists and Christians. In early times, the station at Buffalo was connected with the Mechanicsburg and other churches, forming a circuit of the Methodist Episcopal church, and so continued until the present house of worship was erected, in the fall of 1867. The place of worship for the society in Buffalo previous to occupying the new church, was in the school house. The first preacher who did regular pastoral work in Buffalo, was Rev. Richard Holding, in 1860-61. Mr. Holding re- mained one year. About this time, Buffalo station was disconnected from Mechanicsburg and attached to Dawson. The pulpit was filled by several men, successively, until 1866. In the fall of that year, Rev. Mr. Colt was appointed and entered upon the discharge of his duties. He was very efficient in securing funds for build- ing the church. Isom Enlow, as one of the building committee, was the principal actor in the construction of the building. The house was dedicated in the spring of 1868, by Rev. Hiram Buck. The charge has been fairly pros- perous, having been instrumental in breaking up the license system and the traffic in liquors in the village, and has lent its combined influence to prohibit the retail of it, for five or six years past. In 1877, the society erected a new frame parsonage, at a cost of $1,000. The membership of the church is about seventy. It has a pros- perous Sunday school, with an average attend- ance of about eighty scholars. Rev. W. S. Calhoun is the present pastor. The present trustees are, Isom Enlow, Wesley Hathaway, F. W. Herrin, James H. Dawson, B. L. Hall, J. C. O'Conner, and Joseph McDaniel.
THIE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The Church of Christ (or Christian Church) of Buffalo, was organized January 3, 1876, by Elder Samuel Lowe. The following declaration was adopted and signed by those entering the organization:
" We, the undersigned disciples of Christ, having a sincere desire for our growth in grace
and in the knowledge of the truth, and wishing to observe the divinely instituted worship for the children of God, and to hold forth the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to a perishing world, hereby band ourselves together in an organiza- tion to be called the 'Church of Christ, at Buffalo, Sangamon county, Illinois.'
" In this organization nothing is to be accepted as authorative in all matters of faith and prac- tice, but the word of God contained in the Old and New Testaments."
Twenty-six names were appended to this dec- laration of faith, and George W. Ellington, Thomas J. Underwood and John W. Jacobs were chosen elders and Z. T. Greening, Joseph Ellington and Thomas Hegerman deacons, May 21, 1876, and ordained May 26, by Elder G. M. Goode. Afterwards Samuel Garvey was ordained as an additional elder.
The first pastor of the church was Elder E. T. Brooks, who was called to the charge, Feb- ruary 1, 1876, and continued till July, 1878, when he was succeeded by Elder John Lemons, who continued in charge of the church three years, terminating his connection in August, 1881. Since the organization of the church fifty-three additional names have been entered on the record.
SCHOOLS.
The village school house is a fine two-story brick structure, containing three schools, four cloak rooms and a hall. The building is thirty - four by forty-eight, and was erected in 1870, at a cost of about $7,000. William A. Robinson, Jonathan Putnam, and one other, were the directors, at that time. Four village lots com- prise the grounds. The enumeration of the district is one hundred and twenty of school age; the average attendance is about ninety; the amount of money annually appropriated by the district now reaches $1,200. The present board of directors are, Ezra Gamble, W. F. Herrin, and J. C. O'Connor. The present prin- cipal is Benjamin F. Wiley; the school is a graded one.
SIIIPMENTS.
As illustrating the amount of business annually done by the railroad company at this station, the following is given: In 1880 there were shipped four hundred and seventy-four cars of grain, sixty-six cars of tile, and one hundred and twenty-six cars of live stock. The tickets sold amounted to $42,000, for the year.
957
HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
INCORPORATION.
The village was incorporated as a town, in 1861, and in 1878 it was changed to a village government.
TILE WORKS.
The Buffalo Tile Works were established in the spring of 1877, by Fondy, Eyman & Co .- A. J. Fondy, H. H. Eyman and Samuel Hugen- berger. The works manufacture all sizes of til- ing, and use a twelve-horse power engine, and the tile are made by a Tiffany tile machine. The capacity is sixteen hundred to two thousand eight-inch tile per day, and four thousand to five thousand four-inch and six thousand to eight thousand three-inch tile per day.
VILLAGE OF DAWSON.
The village of Dawson is located on the line of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railroad, about twelve miles from Springfield. It was laid out in May and June, 1854, by Thomas Lewis and Joseph Ledlie, on a part of the south- west quarter and northwest quarter of section eight, township sixteen, range three west. It was so named in honor of Hon. John Dawson, one of the "Long Nine." The village has now two churches, a good brick school-house, an op- erating coal shaft, three stores and one physi- cian. The coal company has given much im- petus to the trade of the village.
James William Alvey, merchant, Mechanics- burg, is a native of Sangamon county, Illinois, and was born in Springfield, in 1834. William Alvey, his father, was a Kentuckian by birth, and married Madeline Watson, of the same State, in Sangamon county. He learned the hatter's trade in his youth; and moving to Springfield, Sangamon county in 1835, and mar- ried in November, 1825. He then engaged in the manufacture of hats by hand, the process then in use. Being the pioneer in the business in Central Illinois, he opened a small store which was stocked with his work in addition to that made to order. From the product of his skill and industry the early settlers of the Sangamo country for many miles about Springfield were supplied with head gear. In about 1846, he moved with his family to Iowa and settled on a farm. He died in Marengo, that State, some eight years later.
The subject of the memoir is the fourth of their family of six children, three of cach sex, and commenced his mercantile life in Springfield in the grocery of J. W. Bates at twelve years of age. After clerking a year or two for him, and
about the same length of time for Reuben Buch- anan, young Alvey went with his parents to Iowa, where he continued clerking in a general store. Returning to Springfield he was em- ployed several years in the store of his brother- in-law, S. B. Fisher. In 1867, he embarked in the mercantile business as proprietor of a general store in Mechanicsburg, and has prosecuted the business there since that time. He carries a stock of $10,000 to $12,000, and has an annual trade of $20,000 to $25,000.
In May, 1860, Mr. Alvey married Alzina Brown, who was born in the State of New York, and came with her parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, when a small child. Mr. and Mrs. Alvey have a family of two daughters and four sons, namely, Melvina, Helen B., James William, Jr., Henry Pickrell, Homer Watson, and Robert Edwin Alvey. Melvina was educat- ed at the Bettie Stuart Institute, and is accom- plished in music and has a special talent for por- trait work. Helen B. is attending the Spring- field High School. Imbibing the political pro- clivities of his father, who was a Henry Clay Whig, Mr. Alvey has been a firm Republican since 1860.
Cornelius Everett Christiance, railroad agent, at Buffalo, was born in Lee county, Illinois, in the town of Brooklyn, in 1835, and was the first white child born in the town. Abram V. Chris- tiance, his father, married Caroline Barkydt. They were both natives of Schenectedy, New York, and were the parents of sixteen children, of whom three sons and two daughters are liv- ing. They were the third family to settle in Brooklyn, Illinois. Cornelius started at rail- roading as a helper, in Buffalo, in 1860. In February, 1862, he entered the army as a mem- ber of Battery F, First Illinois Light Artillery. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and followed its fortunes under the command of Generals McPherson and Logan, successively. Mr. Christiance participated in all the battles of Sherman's army to Altoona. He was promoted from private to sergeant, and was acting orderly when mustered out, March 7, 1865. The first winter after retiring from the service he was employed as night operator at Bement, Illinois, and March 1, 1866, returned to Buffalo, where he was made station agent, and has filled the position to the present time. June 1, 1865, Mr. Christiance united in marriage with Miss Fannie W., daughter of Dr. William Hes- ser, of Jerseyville, Illinois. Three sons have been born to them, namely: Wilbur, aged thir- teen years; Everett, aged eleven, and Harvey,
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
six years old. Mr. C. was made a Mason in Me- chanicsburg Lodge, No. 299, in 1861; is also a member of the Dawson Chapter, No. 124.
Meredith Cooper, son of M. and P. Cooper, was born September 11, 1836, in Sangamon county, Illinois, and was married March 18, 1874. He has one child, Annie L., born March 7, 1875, in Williams township, Sangamon county, Illinois. Mr. Cooper was a farmer and stock dealer for a long time, in that township. During the railroad riots at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1877, he lost a large number of sheep, which were en route to eastern markets, which was an entire loss to him, as no settlements were ever obtained from the railroad company. He now is superintendent of the Sangamon County Poor House, which position he has held since March 18, 1878. Mrs. Cooper is the daughter of Wm. and Elizabeth Watson, who came from England and settled near Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. Wat- son is still living in Springfield. Mr. Watson died there in September, 1873. Mr. Cooper's mother is still living, near Williamsville, at the age of eighty-seven.
Bertrand Dawson .- Mr. Dawson was born April 10. 1827, in Bracken county, Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county with his parents in 1827. His father, John Dawson, was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, November 24, 1791, and his mother, Cary Jones, was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, May 22, 1801, where they were married October 9, 1817. Mr. Dawson and his wife-Katie Rea, daughter of David Rea and her mother (Susan Sitz) Rea- live adjoining the town of Dawson, it being named after his family. Part of the land on which the town was built was owned by Mr. D. It was entered by Francis Springer and others. the land patent dating March 3, 1843. Mr. D. has sold ten acres of his land adjoining the town to a coal company, who are engaged in mining. Coal is found in abundance at a depth of about two hundred and fifty feet, and of an excellent quality. Mr. D. is engaged in farm- ing and stock dealing, and one of the enter- prising men of the township.
Mrs. Margaret Dunnick, widow of Nicholas Dunnick, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, November 15, 1821. Mrs. Dunnick was born in Fayette county, Ohio, December 3, 1826, her maiden name being Mantle. They were married in Fayette county, Ohio, in October, 1844. Two years later they moved to Illinois, remaining a part of the winter in Springfield, and the following four years were spent on a farm on Lick creek, north of Chatham. From there
they moved to Mechanicsburg, where they bought the old Mechaniesburg Mill, which was the first mill built in the township They have seven children, all born in Sangamon county: George J., born January 16, 1851; Angie Lee, Decem- ber 2, 1852; Fannie, August 4, 1854; Kate, July 25, 1856; Emma F., June 7, 1858; Lennia, June 24, 1864; Clyde, August 25, 1866. Twenty-five years ago Mr. Dunniek built the present Mechan- icsburg Mill, which he afterwards sold, and again purchased five years since, and it is now a part of the estate. The family live now on their farm near the village. Mr. Dunnick died Sep" tember 15, 1881, after an illness of but four days, and a well spent life of almost sixty years. He was an energetic, conscientious business man, and his whole life's conduct was marked by the strictest integrity and regard for the rights of others. During his life he was called upon to fill a number of local offices, and he and wife were members of the M. E. Church, He was a steward in the church of which he was an efli- cient and useful member for many years.
James H. Freeto, hardware and queensware merchant. mechanicsburg, has been engaged in business in the village about twenty years. He carries a stock of $4,000 to $5,000, embracing hardware, stoves, glass and queensware, and a general assortment of tinware, of which he man- ufactures a considerable quantity, and also does a jobbing business in roofing, spouting, and cor- nice work.
Mr. Freeto was born in the State of New York, December 4, 1834, and was reared from three years of age in Dupage county, Illinois, whence he came to Sangamon county in the spring of 1860. He started a tin shop and stove store in Mechanicsburg soon after coming, and ten years ago added that of hardware.
James H. Freeto and Hannah M. Brown were married in Dupage county, Illinois, in 1858. Mrs. Freeto died April 19, 1365, leaving two daughters, Minnie L. and Florence May, and Mr. Freeto married Miss Rebecca J. Loughridge, No- vember 29, 1867. She is a native of Arkansas, from which State her family fled as refugees during the war of the Rebellion, being friends of the Union. Four children have been born of this marriage, namely: Evalena S., born Decem- ber 11, 1870; Luella Maud, November 13, 1872; Ida Marion, August 4, 1877, and George L., born July 19, 1880.
Mr. Freeto is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Globe Lodge, No. 323, Mechanicsburg, and in politics is a Republican.
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
Jacob N. Fullinwider, farmer, residence sec- tion twenty-five, was born June 5, 1814, in Shelby county, Kentucky, and there passed the first twenty years of his life on a farm. Henry Fullinwider, his father, was a Pennsylvanian by nativity; spent a portion of his early life in Maryland, and from there went to Kentucky when a young man, where he soon after married Harriet Neil, who was born in Virginia. Ten children were born to them, of whom seven were sons, and three daughters. In the autumn of 1833, Mr. Fullenwider came to Sangamon county, Illinois, purchased a tract of land in what is now Mechanicsburg township, and returned to Ken- tncky for his family; but while there he took sick and died, in August, 1834. In the fall of that year, the widow and nine children moved to the new country of the Sangamon, arriving after a thirteen days' journey, on October 11. The family settled on land now forming a part of the homestead owned by the subject of this article, where his mother afterwards died, January 31, 1867.
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