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 175

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 175

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Jesse Danley, farmer and stock raiser, was born near Girard, Macoupin county, on a farm, July 28, 1842. His father died when he was about twelve years old. He remained on the farm with his mother some two years, then came to Sangamon county and worked out by the month until he was nineteen years old, when he enlisted as a private in Company I, Third Illinois Cavalry

Volunteers; was promoted Sergeant, then First Lieutenant, in Company II, Third Illinois Vol- unteers; was mustered out in October, 1865. He then worked by the month and rented land about two years, then married Miss Mary Van Wormer, in December, 1867. She was born in New York State, August 25, 1841. Mrs. Danley's parents were natives of Kentucky. They had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Three sons and three daughters are yet living. Mr. and Mrs Jesse Danley have two sons and two daughters.

John J. Ennis, an agriculturalist and stock breeder, of Talkington township, is a native of Sangamon county, and was born January 24, 1824. His grandfather, Jesse C. Ennis, was one of the very earliest settlers in this part of Illi- nois and died in what is now Jersey county, at the advanced age of ninety-five years. The parents of our subject were William and Sarah (Weyatte) Ennis, who were parents of seven children. They moved from Sangamon to Mor- gan county, thence to Greene county, and finally settled near Burlington, Iowa, where Mr. Ennis died when John was nineteen years of age, and soon after John J. Ennis returned with his mother to Sangamon county; she died soon after in Morgan county. Some years later we find Mr. Ennis engaged in lumbering and boating on the Illinois river, which he continued for about twelve years. He was married in Jersey county, Illinois, in 1845, to Sarah J. Hughes; after this event he engaged in farming, and about twenty- five years ago he came to his present farm, in Talkington township, then only wild prairie, but now one of the most beautiful farms in Sanga- mon county; it embraces one hundred and eighty- four acres, for which he has declined $70 per acre. His wife died about fourteen years ago; he has remained unmarried since. Mr. Ennis has long been identified with the Old Settlers' Association, of Sangamon county, and at pres- ent is acting as vice president of that associa- tion for Talkington township. For the past eighteen years he has been a member of Lodge No. 361, of the Masonic Order. Mr. Ennis stands high in the Masonic Order, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of a large circle of friends, and is known by his neighbors as a man of uncompromising integrity. In politics, he is a Democrat.

Sedgwic II. Gold was born in Cornwall, Con- necticut, September 16, 1807. He was raised on a farm until twenty-one years of age, when he went to Washington. Connecticut, and taught school one winter. He then traveled south two

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

or three years, during the administration of General Jackson, and the time of his trouble with the Cherokee Indians. In the spring of 1830 he went to New York City, where he re- mained one year, and sold a patent cooking apparatus, which his brother had invented while attending school at Yale College. From New York he returned to his home in Cornwall town- ship, Connecticut, where he remained one year, and married Chloe Ann Pete, September 6, 1836. In 1838, he, with his father-in-law, Abijah Pete, Theodore Watson and Asahel Coe (the last two mentioned are living in Waverly) came overland to Waverly, Illinois. Sedgwic H. Gold left his wife at Waverly and came to this county and worked with William Eustis, and helped start a settlement. The next summer he bought fifty acres of Eustis, in section four; he and wife moved upon it, and started a farm, on which he now lives. His wife was born April 26, 1812; she was a daughter of Abijah Pete, who was born in Warren county, Connecticut. He came to Illinois in 1838, and his wife, Lucy (Curtis) was born also in Warren county, Connecticut.

The father of Sedwic H. was Benjamin Gold, who was born in Cornwall, Connecticut. At the age of fourteen he started on the march to enlist as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The surgeons examined him and found one of his legs had been injured by his jumping from a fence on a sharp snag, making it weak. He afterwards received a commission from the Governor, John Cottonsmith, appointing him Major of the Civil Grays. He was a Federal, and a deacon in the Congregational Church. His wife, Eleanor Pierce, was born in Cornwall. Sedgwic HI. has been a member of the Congregational Church at Waverly, Illinois, since 1839. In politics, he is a Republican. He enlisted in Company K, Second Artillery Illinois Volunteers, and served the full term. His son, Henry M. Gold, was in Company I, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteers and died from a shot received from the accidental discharge of a musket. His son, Marion S. Gold, enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and First Illinois Volunteers. Mr. G. had three sons- Henry M., (deceased) born July 25, 1837, Marion S., born December 1, 1842, and Ethel E., born February 9, 1847. The latter is President of the Gold Heating Company, of New York. Mr. Gold is now in his seventy-fourth year, a hale, hearty old man.

John Davis Haggard was born July 5, 1815, on a faim in Murry county, Tennessee. When seven years of age he came with his parents to Illinois and settled in Morgan county, near Wa-

verly; lived on the farm with his father until he was eighteen years of age, when he married Nancy J. Clack. He lived with his father one year, then broke sod-prairie seven years in Morgan and Sangamon counties; rented land two or three years, then bought a farm of forty-one acres, raw prairie; lived on this farm until 1877, when he sold out and opened a grocery store in Rood- house, sold his store one year later, and returned to this county and bought four lots in Lowder, where he still resides. He has been constable twenty-seven years, and in politics, he is a Dem- ocrat. He was a son of Edmund Haggard, who was a Mason, and member of the Christian Church. His wife, Elizabeth (Andrews) Hag- gard, was a member of Christian Church also, and mother of ten children, seven boys and three girls.

Victor M. Kenny was born at Georgetown, Kentucky, September 30, 1846. In November, 1872, he came to New Berlin, Illinois, and opened a store of general merchandise; remained there until March 1, 1880, when he came to Lowder, and opened a store. His father, Joseph B. Kenny, was born near Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1806. His wife, Lavina Lander, was born in 1808, near Paris Kentucky. She and husband still live at Georgetown. Victor M. Kenny was married to Miss Agnes W. Warren, of Jacksonville, Illinois, February 24, 1869. They have four children. Mrs. Kenny was a daughter of Colonel W. B. and Annis (Price) Warren. The former was born March 1, 1802, at Georgetown, Scott county, Kentucky. He was Major in the Hardin regiment in the Mex- ican War. Hardin was killed, and Warren was made the Colonel of the regiment; was Clerk in the Supreme Court at Springfield eighteen years; died April 12, 1865, at Jacksonville, Illinois. His wife was born February 2, 1811, at George- town, Kentucky, and died May 25, 1873. She was a member of the Episcopal Church. Victor M. Kenny and wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church at Berlin, Illinois, and have had four children, viz .: Joseph B., William W., Anna, and Lou B.

Daniel B. Kessler was born in Morgan county, Illinois, March 20, 1825; lived there on a farm until his father's death, October 1828. His mother was again married to John Kosner. Daniel B. lived with his mother until he was twenty-five years of age; August 8, 1850, he married Sarah J. Stuart, who was born in Wythe county, Virginia; she was a daughter of Robert Stuart, of Irish descent, born in the same county, and Catharine (Flora) Stuart, of Scotch descent,

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

also of Virginia. D. B. Kessler, was the son of Daniel Kessler, born in Baltimore, Maryland, who was a farmer and blacksmith. He settled in Auburn township in the fall of 1820, and was the first blacksmith in Auburn. His wife, was Katherine (Black) Kessler. D. B. Kessler and wife are members of the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church, and had thirteen children, nine are living.

Austin Landon was born on a farm near Jerseyville, Illinois, December 23, 1839. He remained on this farm with his father until of age, when he worked for himself in Jersey county some four years, then came to this county and bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Auburn township; lived there one year, then bought three hundred and twenty acres in Talkington township, section twenty-four, on which he now resides. He also owns four hundred and eighty acres in Auburn township. He was married to Miss Alma Argo, March 27, 1866. She was born in Fulton county, October 15, 1845, and was the daughter of William Argo, born in Ohio, and died June 1, 1865. His wife was Clarisa (Bigelow) Argo, of Ohio, and mother of ten children. She died May 5, 1862. Father of Austin, Wm. D. Landon, was born in Vermont, and died February 11, 1873. His wife, Alvira Corry, born also in Vermont, was a member of the Baptist Church, and mother of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Austin Landon are members of the M. E. Church at Lowder, Illinois, and have one child, Clara E. Mr. Landon has his two farms of eight hundred acres all under good cultivation. In politics he is a Republican.

William Lowder was born near Jerseyville, Illinois, August 22, 1832. He remained on this farm until he was nine years of age, when he removed with his father to Jerseyville, where he attended school and worked on his father's farm until he was about twenty years of age, when he came with his father to this county, and settled in Talkington township. He remained with his father until his marriage to Miss Sarah J. Vanwormer, April 14, 1858. She was born in the city of New York, and was a member of the M. E. Church, and died May 4, 1873. Her parents were Isaac and Sarah (Vizer) Vanwor- mer. William Lowder is a son of George W. Lowder, Sr., born in Kentucky, and Alpha A. Whismon. They had seven children. Mr. Lowder had six children, four are living, one boy and three girls. He is a farmer and has his farm under good cultivation. In politics he is a Democrat.

George Washington Lowder, son of William and Margaret (Harris) Lowder, was born in 1805, in Harlan county, Kentucky. When an infant, his father moved into Lee county, Virginia, and settled in Powell's Valley. Here, when he was about ten years old, Mr. Lowder's mother died, upon which event, his father, for the time being, broke up housekeeping, and the subject of this biography found a temporary home with his aunt, Henrietta Kelley, at which place he had a kind of general home till of age, spending the time of his minority in working as a laborer, and in the winter seasons going to such schools as were then afforded. So strong were his de- sires to obtain an education, that he seized with avidity upon every occasion of improving his mind and acquiring information. He succeeded in obtaining a fair business education and a mental training equal to the facilities afforded.

In the fall of 1825, he came to the American Bottom of this State, and engaged in chopping wood till the spring of 1826, at which time he went to Boone county, Missouri, with the ex- pectation of going to Santa Fe; but, failing to make suitable arrangements, he remained in Boone county till fall, then went to Montgomery county, where he spent the winter. In the month of March, of 1827, he started back to Virginia, via Illinois. He stopped with a friend in Greene county (a part now included in Jersey), with whom he remained for a time, recuperating from a former attack of sickness. While here, he abandoned the purpose of returning to Vir- ginia, being charmed with the country, as well as one of its fairest daughters. Accordingly, in the year 1828, he married Miss Alpha, daugh- ter of Michael and Anna Whisman, who was ever to him a faithful and loving wife. This union was blessed with the birth of eight chil- dren, five living: Matthew, born January 17, 1830; William, August 22, 1832; Mrs. Lavinia (John) Squires, October 14, 1834; Mrs. Harriet D. (James) Lowder, January 14, 1838, and George Washington, February 15, 1840. Clar- inda, Gilbert, and Mary A. died in child- hood.

August, 1859, Mr. Lowder moved into Talk- ington township, where he had entered a tract of land, a part of section twenty-two. He now resides in the new and enterprising town of Lowder, which he laid off, and after whom it was named.

December 24, 1861, Mr. Lowder had the mis- fortune to lose his wife, the companion of his youth, a noble, devoted, Christian woman. She was a consistent member of the Presbyterian

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

Church. Since her death, Mr. Lowder has con- tinued in his widowed state.

The Lowder family is German in original na- tionality. The ancestry came to this country before the Revolutionary War, and were patriots in our struggles for freedom and independence.

John Lowder, Mr. Lowder's grandfather, was a soldier of the "Continental army." After the close of the war, be continued to reside in North Carolina, where he died. He raised quite a family of sons: John, Samuel, Joseph, Joshua, William, Caleb, Nathan, and Job.

William, Mr. Lowder's father, raised the fol- lowing children: Matthew, Nathan, George W., James, William, and Sarah. Matthew resides in Texas, James in Kentucky, and George W. in Illinois. The others are dead.

Mr. Lowder may be put down as one of the representative men of his township, both on ac- count of the time of his settlement, and as a man of enterprise and business.

He followed farming up to 1843, at which time he was elected county clerk for Jersey county, and held the office fourteen consecutive years. He served, we believe, two years as col- lector before being elected to the first-mentioned office. He has served a number of years as jus- tice of the peace.

Though in his seventy-sixth year, he is hale and hearty, his mind clear and vigorous, and he bids fair to live a number of years, honored and re- spected among his fellow-citizens, and loved by his children and relatives.

· Few men have passed through life more agree- ably in associations, or enjoyed to a greater degree the confidence and respect of neighbors and fellow-citizens. This is to be accounted for in part, if not entirely, by living in after-life up to a principle of action, adopted in boyhood, when thrown upon his own resources, immedi- ately after the death of his mother, the resolve was, "to be temperate, truthful, true to a trust, self-sacrificing rather than contend, and to be pleasant and agreeable without yielding any principle of conscience."

William S. Mc Connaughy was born in Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1836, where he attended school and learned the machinist's trade until he was twenty years of age ; he then went to work as stoker, or third engineer, on steam- boats of the Pittsburg and Cincinnati Union Line, worked at this business eight or nine years, when he enlisted in Company I, Sixth United States Cavalry, this was in the spring of 1861. He fought the Indians on the plains under Gen- eral Connor; was mustered out in October, 1866,

when he came to Jersey county, Illinois, and fol- lowed farming some eight or nine years. He is now running a grocery and provision store for H. C. Cooper, at Lowder. Mr. McConnaughy was married to Sarah A. Cooper, July 26, 1868; she was born in Carrolton, Greene county, Illi- nois, in November, 1850, and was a daughter of Thomas Cooper, born in Yorkshire, England, July 3, 1811, and came to the United States when quite young. He was married to Mary Colwell, a native of Kentucky, and is now living in Lowder. Thomas McConnaughy, father of William, was born in Pennsylvania ; he was a stock dealer. His wife, Mary A. Richardson, was born in Canada, was a member of the Meth- odist Church, and the mother of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. McConnaughy have four children, viz .: John F., William T., Francis E. and Maude D. In politics, Mr. McConnaughy is a Republi- can.

Alferd W. Moulton, was born near Columbus, Mississippi, December 27, 1832, among the Choctaw Indians, his father being a missionary in that tribe. When two years old, his father went with the Indians as they were moved to the Choctaw reservation in the Indian Nation. In 1838, his father came to Bloomington, Illinois, a place then of only two hundred inhabitants. He lived there five or six years, then came to Waverly, Morgan county, where he worked on a farm his father had bought in 1848. When twenty-one years of age, he rented land in San- gamon county, and followed farming for himself about three years, then bought one hundred and sixty acres of prairie in Macon county, near Decatur, Illinois, for which he paid $1,600. He broke the prairie and kept it one year, and sold it for $2,600. He then came back to Sangamon county, and rented a farm of two hundred and forty acres of Theo. Curtis for three years, when he moved to Christian county and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of raw prairie. He remained there five years, then sold and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Sanga- mon county, this township; lived on that farm five years, sold out, and bought another farm of one hundred and sixty acres, also in this town- ship. In four years he traded this farm for two hundred and twenty acres, on which he now re sides, paying $2,400 difference.

He was married to Amanda Morgan, April 7, 1858, and they had one son and two daughters, one son and daughter now living: Charles P., and Ida M. Mrs. Moulton was a member of the M. E. Church; she died in 1864. December 7, 1866, Mr. Moulton was married to Sarah C.

Bro M. Lowder RM,

HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

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Metcalf, who was born in Morgan county, Illinois, September 30,. 1842, a daughter of Patterson Metcalf, a farmer born near Jacksonville, Illinois, and Emily, nee Wilhite, born in Virginia. They were both members of the M. E. Church, and had a family of five children. Alfred W. Moul- ton and his wife Sarah, nee Metcalf, have had four sons, one of whom is living-William II. Mr. M. has his farm of two hundred and twenty acres under good cultivation.

William Plowman was born in Sommerset, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1828; lived there until he was fourteen years of age, when his father came to Illinois, and settled on a farm nine miles west of Jerseyville, Illinois, where he remained until his father's death. He went to California in the spring of 1852; worked in the mines some six years, then he returned to Macoupin county, and bought a farm of eighty acres; afterwards improved sixty acres in the same county which he sold six years ago, and bought eighty acres in Talkington township, section thirty-six, on which he now lives. His farm of one hundred and sixty acres is divided by the county line, eighty acres in Macoupin county, and eighty in Sangamon.

David Plowman, father of William, was born in Maryland, was a member of the Christian Church; he died in 1849. His wife, Sarah (Probst) Plowman, was born in Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Christian Church; had thirteen children. William Plowman is a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F., and in politics a Demo- crat. He was married to Miss Charlotte Wil- liams, March 24, 1859; she was born in Greene county, Illinois, May 8, 1833, and was the daughter of James Williams, born in Hawkins county, Tennessee. He was in the War of 1812, and in the Black Hawk war. He was a farmer by occupation. His wife, Lucy (Crittenden) Williams; was born in Culpepper county, Vir- ginia; was a member of the Christian Church; she had twelve children; she died November 15, 1854.

Mr. and Mrs. Plowman are members of the Christian Church, and have six children: Sam- uel, Ellen, Clara, Harry, Mollie and Chauncey.

William H. Roberts, was born near Jones- boro, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1817, where he remained until 1832, when he came with his parents to Menard county, Illinois, and settled near Old Franklin, he remained here until twen- ty-one years of age, when he went to Iowa; one year after returned home and April 6, 1840, mar- ried Miss Jane Seymour. The fruits of this mar- riage is eight children; ' after his marriage Mr.

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Roberts bought a farm of sixty acres, in Morgan county, and in 1868, sold out and bought a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Talkington township, Sangamon county, where he still re- sides. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church forty-one years. William Roberts, father of William H., was born in 1796; he was a shoemaker by trade, but owned and run a farm; he was a local preacher, and was in the War of 1812, under Old Hickory Jackson, and died February 26, 1858; his wife, Eva (Ruble) Roberts, born in Tennessee in 1795, and died October 24, 1880; she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church eighty years, hav- ing joined that church when sixteen years of age. Mrs. Roberts, wife of W. II., was born near Old Franklin, Morgan county, Illinois, in 1817, she died November 25, 1865; she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Roberts on January 16, 1868, married Mrs. Elsie Hart, her maiden name was Elsie Cox, she was a daughter of Harris and Nancy (McClelland) Cox, who were old settlers of Morgan county, Illinois. John Roberts, son of W. H. Roberts, enlisted in the One Hundred and First Regi- ment, Company H, Illinois Volunteers, and was shot in the battle at Resaca, Georgia, he died of this wound on July 12, 1881.

John Skehan was born in Tipperary county, Ireland, November 22, 1830; worked on a farm until twenty-one years of age, when he emigrated to this country alone, landing in New Orleans, and came to St. Louis on the boat, Illinois. Fol- lowed the butcher trade in St. Louis two years. The cholera breaking out, he took three butcher- men, one Irishman and a Frenchman to Potosi, Wisconsin, where they purchased a flat-boat and loaded it with potatoes at twenty-five cents per bushel, and cabbages at $2.50 per hundred; took the boat to Keokuk, Iowa, and there transferred their produce to a steamer, to St. Louis; they then sold out, sold their potatoes at $3 per bushel and cabbages at $20 per hundred, realizing a considerable profit. They then took the flat-boat, which had been towed down to St. Louis, to Quincy, and boated wood down to that city from the bay, some nine miles above, for one year, when he returned to St. Louis, worked in che stone-yard and helped build the old custom house; in 1856, he came to Illinois and bought a house and two acres of land, at Waverly, Mor- gan county, Illinois. He butchered and traded until 1865, when he bought a farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres in Sangamon county, Talk- ington township, section seven; lived there two years, then sold to Ebenezer Saccad,"and bought

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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.

one hundred acres of land from Uliss Lindley, to which he has since added one hundred and sixty making a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, all under cultivation. In politics, he is a Democrat. Has been tax collector and com- missioner of highways. He is a member of the Catholic Church. Was married to Ellen Sweany, in St. Louis, in December, 1856. She was born in Ireland, Tipperary county, May 20, 1826. They have two daughters. The father of John Skehan was Patrick Skehan, born in Ireland, and died in September, 1879. His mother was Joanna (Toomay) Skehan, born in Ireland and died in June, 1849. Timothy Sweany, father of Ellen (Sweany) Skehan, and Margaret (Handerhan) Sweany, her mother, were born in Ireland. John Skehan helped raise Company G, one hundred and First Illinois Volunteers. He was a strong Union man. He was not in the army, but did all he could for the cause.

John R. Spires, son of John and Melinda (Sturgis) Spires, was born October 13, 1835, in Morgan county, Illinois, where he was raised and educated. Here, also, he married, June 9, 1859, Miss Sarah A., daughter of Rev. Thomas J. and Eliza (Weller) Conley, of Maconpin county, Illinois, by whom he has three children: Thomas J., born April 16, 1860; Melinda J., July 31, 1864, and Mary E., May 11, 1868. The eldest two were born in Morgan, and the last mentioned in Sangamon county, where Mr. Spires moved in the spring of 1867.

While residing in Morgan county, Mr. Spires bought his first farm, a tract of one hundred and thirty-six acres, which he sold just prior to his removal into the county where he now resides.

He now owns a splendid farm of two hundred acres, under good improvements, and in a fine state of tillage and well stocked; one hundred and sixty acres of this is comprised in Talking- ton township, and forty acres lie just across the line in Macoupin county.

Mr. Spires is one of the representative men of his township, being a teacher, farmer and stock dealer. He is kept pretty busy, but he manages to make everything prosper to a com- plete success. Though now only thirty-eight years old, he has taught seventeen winter terms, and has never applied for a single one of them. Higher commendations than this would be ex- travagant. It could not, indeed, well be given.

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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 175

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