USA > Illinois > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 67
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Below we give the lands that were entered in what is now Caseyville precinct, in the year 1814, as taken from the county re- cords which may show the names of some old settlers. In T. 2 N. R. 8 W., we find the following : Joseph Cornelius, S. W. }, Sec. 5 153 acres, Sept. 28; John Swigart, 324 acres in Sec. 7, Aug. 31; heirs of J. R. Simpson, S. W. ¿ , Sec. 10, 160 acres, Dec. 22; Joseph Baird, W. } of the N. W. }, Sec. 18, 89 acres, Dec. 2; Robt. Mar- lott, 96 acres in Sec. 18, Sept. 29, in T. 8 N. R., 9 W., 'we find heirs of Solomon Brown, S. E. } Sec. 13, 160 acres, Sept. 28, 1814.
In 1826 George Moffett, a native of Delaware, settled near the Madison county-line. He was quite a wealthy man, and purchased considerable land in the vicinity. He left several descendants. The same year Marcus Pelham, a South Carolinian, located at the edge of the bluffs, near the present site of Caseyville. He and part of his family are buried here, and at this writing none are re- siding in the neighborhood. Simon Kingston, also from South Carolina, came with Pelham and located just south of him. His son, Simon Kingston, a druggist in Troy, Madison county, is the only descendant of his now living. He and his wife were buried in the bluffs near Caseyville. A man by the name of Decker, settled
early in the decade of 1830 on the bluffs east of Caseyville, and afterwards moved to California. One McClanahan settled near Decker, on the present farm of T. Hueckel, and subsequently emi- grated to Minnesota. Mr. Kennedy, an Irishman, settled in the same neighborhood about 1834. He left a small family. Levi Nichols, who resides about four miles from Caseyville, settled here at an early date. Dommique Morback, a native of France, settled in this county in 1838, and owns a fine property on section 15 of T. 2 N. R. 9 W., where he now resides. Joseph Delorme, who lives on section 12, T. 2-9, is an ative of this county born in 1837.
Many facts percaining to the early history of this precinct may be found in the pioneer and other chapters of this work.
Coal mining is the leading interest of this precinct. On the Vandalia line there are three mines. The Abby shaft No. 1, was sunk by Maule and Williams in 1868.' It is 160 feet in depth, and the vein will average six feet. The Abby shaft No. 2 was sunk in 1873 by the Abby coal mining company, the present operators. The depth and vein is about the same as the other mine. They employ about 160 men and boys. The Springwell mine, still east of the others, was sunk in 1874, by the Bartlett Coal Company, and is now operated by the Springwell Company. Coal is reached at 160 feet, and the vein is full six feet in thickness. The other mines will be mentioned in the history of the
VILLAGE OF CASEYVILLE.
The village was named in honor of Zadock Casey, who held many high offices in the state. In 1830 he was elected Lieutenant Governor, was a member of Congress for many years, and for. several terms served in the state legislature.
Prior to the laying out of the village, Charles Harbour, a wealthy Frenchman, erected a fine large brick residence, and a steam saw mill, which he operated for several years. The mill was erected in 1845.
It was laid out as a village in 1849, by the Illinois Coal Company, consisting of the following named parties: Hon. Zadock Casey, Judge Walter B. Scates, Charles Harbour, Malcomb Robinson, Dr. Charles Barrett and John Roy. This company began the oper- ation of coal mining extensively about this period. The mines were then worked by drifts, instead of shafts as now, two of which they dug into the side of the bluffs at this point. Until 1851, the coal was hauled to St. Louis by ox and mule teams across the bot- toms. In February, 1851, the company completed a railroad from Caseyville to Brooklyn on which they immediately placed a loco- motive, and rolling stock, and large quantities of coal were daily carried into St. Louis.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The first house erected after the village was laid out, was in the spring of 1849, by Jameson Robinson. Dr. Barrett, erected four houses, John Roy, eight, and Gov. Casey, two, about the time the company began operation3. In the same year, 1849, the following erected residences :- Belshazar Warner, Ralph Whitehead, Edward Bone, William Grice, and Mr. Bumesaw. The latter was a Frenchman, and the following year was killed in the mines. He was the first miner killed in the village. The same year, John Roy built a large two-story frame building, and kept in it the first hotel, store and saloon. Richard Goff was the company's blacksmith, and the first in the village. B. Warner also had a saloon in 1849.
In 1850 there were in the place about forty persons, including men, women and children, and the year following, when the railroad was completed, about one hundred and fifty were added to the population. The village has grown a little each year, with the in- crease of the mining interests and improvement of the surrounding country, and now contains about 800 population.
A post-office was not established here until 1856. Maj. E. M. Mallory was the first post-master, and also the first Justice of the Peace.
Incorporation .- The place was incorporated by special charter in April, 1869. The members of the first board were-C. L. Muil- berger, President; J. T. Hoeltmann, Frederick Ruemler, John Roy, J. W. Owens. In April, 1875, it came under the general law for villages. The present members are-John T. Hoeltmann, President ; Frederick Ruemler, George Haig, David Morgan, G. Nuetzel, James Doyle, Sr., James Throly, Clerk.
School .- The present public school building in the south-east part of the village, was erected in 1872, and cost upward of $5000, including furniture. It is a fine brick building, two stories high, with belfry. It is a graded school and employs three teachers.
Church-There is but one house of worship in the village-the Union Chapel, built in 1879 by private subscription, at a cost of
about $1800. It is a neat frame building about 30 x 46 feet. It is controlled by a board of directors, and used by all denomina- tions.
BUSINESS TRADE OF 1881.
Physicians .- J. L. Wiggins, L .T. Miller.
General Stores, J. T. Hoeltmann, J. W. Owens, M. Jenkins, and Miller & Hueckel. Groceries, E. Webb, Mrs. A. Williams. Flour and Feed Store, F. Hoeltmann. Blacksmith Shops, F. Ruemler, C. Schwarzkopf. Wagon Shop, Fred. Moser. Carpenter Shop, Wm. M. Kersey. Butcher Shop, Joseph Maisch. Hotel, Brown House, Peter Brown, proprietor. Saloons, John Meyer, Jacob Mees, John Michel, F. Geisert, David Molloy, Fritz Nuetzel. Mill .- The saw mill built by Harbour, mentioned above, was converted into a flouring mill by John Roy, and a few years afterwards was blown up. In 1866, Mr. Roy rebuilt it and put in two run of burrs. It is a frame building, three stories high, in good condition, but at present it is not operated. Jerome Winstanley is the present owner.
Lodges .- Crescent, No. 426, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 1st, 1870. Has a membership of 67, and is in good standing. Star of Hope, No. 149, Encampment, was chartered April 8th, 1880, and has considerable membership. A Temperance Society was organ- ized here as early as 1851, and has a good membership.
Coal Mines .- The Savitz Bro's of St. Louis, are operating two coal mines on the O. & M. track, just east of the village, and em- ploy about 120 miners. The mines are known as the Union and St. Clair. They are about one hundred and sixty feet in depth, and the veins will average full six feet. The former shaft was sunk by Walter Williams, in 1858, and the latter by Thomas Mayer & Bro., in 1862. The Black Diamond mine was sunk by Smith and Winnemier, in 1864. This mine is not now in operation.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
HON. J. R. MILLER.
J. R. MILLER, representative from St. Clair county in the legis- lature from 1869 to 1872, was born in Warren county, Ohio, Oct. 31st, 1831. He was a student for several sessions at College Hill, six miles north of Cincinnati. Among his fellow students were Ben Harrison, of Indiana; W. C. Gray, editor of of the In- terior, and Murat Halstead, the editor of the Cincinnati Commercial. The means with which to get an education he obtained by working on a farm during the summer months. During the winter of 1850-1 he taught school near Cynthiana, Harrison county, Kentucky. He there formed the acquaintance of a couple of young men, with whom, in the spring of 1851, he started for California. He reached Salt Lake on the 24th of June, and remained there till the spring of 1852. He was in the employment of Howe & Cogswell, who carried on the mercantile business. He then went to California where he lived till 1856. He was engaged in farming in the Vacca Valley, Solano county, and part of the time followed teaming from Sacramento to the mountains. He left San Francisco by steamer on the 21st of April, crossed the Isthmus, and arrived in Madison county, of this state on the 23d of May, 1856.
He engaged in farming near Collinsville. On the 25th of May, 1858, he married Melinda Nicklous, a native of Tennessee. In company with his brother, he then leased one of the O'Fallon farms near Caseyville. December 20th, 1860, he lost his arm in a threshing machine. Thinking that his days for physical labor were over, he left the farm, and for two terms taught school in Madison county ; but finding there was no prospect of accumulating money in that business, he went back with his brother to the farm near Caseyville. In the fall of 1868 he built his present residence, where he has lived since that date. He has been engaged in farming and fruit growing. He has four children living : Charles R., John E., Elsie and Mary Miller.
He at first belonged to the democratic party. His sentiments, however, were always anti-slavery, and in company with other free- soil democrats, when the republican party was organized, he became a republican. During the war of the rebellion he did all he could to aid the sanitary commission, assisted in organizing the Union League at Caseyville, and was also an active member of the Union League at Belleville. In November, 1868, he was elected a mem- ber of the state legislature, and was re-elected in 1870. The last General Assembly, of which he was a member, was the first which met after the adoption of the new constitution of the state, and con- sequently much labor was entailed on the body. There were three regular sessions, and one called session occasioned by the Chicago fire. Mr. Miller served on the committee which visited Chicago to
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ascertain what ineasures were necessary for the restoration of the records of Chicago and Cook county. In the 26th General Aissem- bly he was chairman of the committee on Federal relations. In the next assembly he was appointed chairman of the committee on education, at the solicitation of a number of the prominent educa- tors of the state. His services in the legislature met with the approval of his constituents, and gained even the approbation of those who had been his political enemies. He efficiently supported the interests of St. Clair county, and early interested himself in the passage of a bill for the protection of coal miners, the bill compelling owners of mines to furnish an additional shaft for the purpose of ventilation and safety.
In 1872 he identified himself with the temperance movement and has since done everything in his power to forward the cause of temperance. His services as an orator, before temperance meetings, have been in frequent request. Since 1857 he has been a member of the Presbyterian church. In 1881 he was a delegate from the Alton Presbytery to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, which met at Buffalo. He has been connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-three years, and has been frequently chosen to represent that order in the Grand Lodge of the state. At the sessions of the Grand Lodge held at Danville, November, 1880, he was elected Deputy Grand Master, and in that capacity, has traveled extensively over the southern portion of the state, as a lecturer and instructor before Odd Fellows' Lodges.
JOHN SHULTZ,
ONE of the leading farmers of the American Bottom, was born at Wantage, Sussex county, New Jersey, August 16th, 1818. His great-grandfather, Christopher Shultz, was a native of Denmark, emigrated to America, and settled in Maryland, near Baltimore. Mr. Shultz's grandfather, John Shultz, was born in Philadelphia, and was a young man at the time of the breaking out of the Revo- lutionary war, in which he enlisted at three different times, serving altogether in the American army, several years. Frederick Shultz, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born on Merritt's island, between New York and New Jersey, in 1792. He was raised principally in New Jersey, and at Wantage, in Sussex county, of that state, married Eleanor Dennis. Her father, Joseph Dan- nis, was born in New Jersey, though his parents came from Eng- land. After the war of 1812, Joseph Dennis moved to Lundy's Lane, Canada, and built the first mill constructed at that place after the war. His first wife died in New Jersey ; he was married again in Canada, and died there.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Mr. Shultz's father learned the miller's trade in New Jersey, serving an apprenticeship of fourteen years. About the year 1822, he went to western New York, and took charge of a mill at Attica. He was afterwards at Alexandria. He gained an excellent repu- tation as a miller; thoroughly understood the business, and assisted in securing for the flour of the Genesee Mills its wide reputation for excellence. Receiving injuries in his back, he engaged in farming, near Attica, New York. In 1834 he removed to Illinois, and died at French Village, in 1840. Mr. Shultz's mother died in 1852.
The first four or five years of Mr. Shultz's life were spent in New Jersey, and he then accompanied his father to the western part of New York. He was the third of a family of twelve chil- dren, of whom only three are now living. He went to school but little in New York. The free-school system was introduced into that State too late for him to take advantage of it. After coming to Illinois, he attended a night school one winter, kept in the hol- low, about a inile above Caseyville. The teacher was James B. Needles, father of the ex-State Auditor, T. B. Needles.
Mr. Shultz first set foot on the soil of St. Clair county, on the 10th of December, 1834. In company with a younger brother, he traveled across the Bottom, past the spot where he now resides, and during the winter of 1834-5, was employed by a man living on the bluff, half a mile south of Caseyville. Part of the next year he worked in St. Louis, and, in 1836, he went to work on a steamboat -the old Chester-which ran between St. Louis and New Orleans. He was steamboating during the summer of 1836, 1837 and 1838, and rose to the position of mate. In 1838 he engaged to go as mate on the Moselle, a boat running between St. Louis and Cincin- nati. Through some misunderstanding, the mate who had accom- panied the boat from Cincinnati, refused to give up his position, claiming that the time, for which he had hired, had not expired, and consequently Mr. Shultz postponed going on the boat until the next trip. This misunderstanding proved very fortunate, for, on that trip, the Moselle blew up in front of Cincinnati, and one hundred and seventy lives were lost in the disaster. This accident, which was one of the most terrible that ever occurred on the river, so alarmed his mother that she begged him to quit the river.
For sixteen years he hauled coal from the bluffs to St. Louis. He followed this business in winter. The occupation was not the easiest. Coal brought, in St. Louis, from eight to twelve and a half cents a bushel. In 1840, after his father's death, he rented a farm on the bluffs, below Caseyville, where the Sweigart stone house now is, and mined coal, bought teams and hauled the coal to St. Louis on his own account. This occupation was heavy and labori- ous, but profitable. In 1844 he bought eighty acres of land, in section fourteen of township two north, range nine west, for twelve dollars and a half an arre, which, at that time, was considered a high price. His present residence stands on this piece of land. He made this purchase during the high water of 1844. The highest part of the land was five feet out of the water during that flood- a fact which convinced Mr. Shultz that he would never have any trouble from high water. He fenced the land and brought it un- der cultivation in 1846. After raising a few crops of corn, he began growing wheat, and the place has since been famous for its large crops.
As soon as he had means, he began trading in stock. The break- ing out of the war with Mexico gave him an opportunity for mak- ing considerable sums of money. Cattle rose in value from a cent and a half to three and four cents a pound. After the high water of '44, he purchased large quantities of stock at a low price, and was in a position to take the best advantage of the rise in prices.
He shipped many cattle to New Orleans. He followed trading in stock till 1854, when he went to California. Two of his younger brothers had gone to California in the spring of 1850, another in 1852, and, thinking there was money in the cattle business in Cali- fornia, where cattle then commanded a high price, he started in 1854, with several teams, and one hundred and eighty head of cat- tle, for the Pacific Coast. The journey, from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Summit Valley, California, occupied ninety-three days. At Fort Laramie he left a letter for home, and started on his journey westward, at four o'clock in the afternoon. That night the fort was attacked by the Indians and burned, and the garrison killed. He was in California fourteen months. He came home by the Nicaragua route, and passed through Nicaragua when Walker's filibustering expedition had control of the country. Part of their baggage was seized, but the passengers were not interfered with. He had taken his sisters to California, and there they remained. All his brothers and sisters are now dead, except one brother and one sister, who live in California.
He returned to Illinois in July, 1855, and on the 11th of Sep- tember following, he married Amelia M. Williams, daughter of William W. and Nancy E. Williams. Mrs. Shultz was born in the American Bottom, January, 1837. Her father was an early settler of the Bottom, and his house, in section fifteen, was, at one time, the only house on the Caseyville road, between Papstown and the bluff. He was a carpenter by trade; settled in the Bottom in 1832, and died in 1845. Mr. Shultz owns two hundred and forty acres of valuable land. A view of his farm and residence is shown on another page. He has nine children living : Nannie E, Jesse L., John D., Amelia Malvina, Ida J., Sarah A., Frances May, Mary Helen and Frederick William. Two beside, Isabelle and Agnes, died in infancy, the first, three weeks', and the latter, six months' old.
He has always been a democrat in politics. He voted for Mar- tin Van Buren for President in 1840, and has voted for every democratic candidate for President since, except in 1876, wlien he was too unwell to go the polls. He is a man who has won success in life by his own efforts. His industry and energy have been the chief means by which he has made his way successfully through the world. In early life he possessed a strong and vigorous consti- tution. There was no labor or hardship too great for him to with- stand. This course naturally brought its fruits, and, in late years, his health has suffered in consequence. He has been a man of temperate habits, and, though thrown much into various kinds of company, while on the river and in California, has never been ad- dicted to the vices of drinking, card-playing, or other bad habits.
J. L. WIGGINS, M. D.
DR. WIGGINS, who has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Caseyville since March, 1877, was born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the 16th of October, 1855. His father, Louis Wig- gins, was born at Cape May, New Jersey, was raised in that vicinity, and married Anna R. Edwards, a native of the same part of New Jersey. In his early life he was in the mercantile business in Bal- timore. In the year 1839 he came west, lived in St. Louis till 1858, and theu moved to a farm near O'Fallon, and was engaged there in fruit-growing till his death on the 19th of July, 1878. His mother died near O'Fallon in 1863. Dr. Wiggins' health in early life was delicate, and for this reason, at the age of nine, he went to live with some relatives at New Orleans, where he resided the most of the time till he was fifteen. His education was chiefly obtained in
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SPRING LAKE SIDE " PROPERTY OF D. MORBACH ESQ. SEC./5, T.2.N, R.9)CASEYVILLE PRECINCT ST.CLAIR CO.ILL.
....
RESIDENCE OF WM COSTELLO, FREEBURG, ILL.
F.HOELTMANN CROCERIES & CO.
RESIDENCE & STORE OF J.T. HOELTMANN, ESQ.CASEYVILLE,ILL.
STOCK & GRAIN FARM (200 ACRES)OF W™ COSTELLO, 1. MILE WEST OF FREEBURG, ON SEC.24,T. I.S. R.B.W, ST. CLAIR.CO.ILL.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the district schools in the neighborhood of O'Fallon. For two years he was a student at the Natchez Institute, Natchez, Mississippi. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Charles Oatmen, and in 1875 entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1877. Immediately after his graduation he began practice at Caseyville. His marriage occurred on the 21st of Octo- ber, 1880, to Miss Louisa Moeller, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the daughter of Charles Moeller. In his political affiliations, Dr. Wiggins is a member of the republican party. He has devoted himself to his profession with energy and assidnity, and though still young in the profession, has made a successful record as a physician. He received his ad eundem degree in 1879.
DR. LLOYD T. MILLER.
DR. MILLER, who has been practicing medicine at Caseyville for the last fifteen years, was born near Burkittsville, Frederick county, Maryland, May 15th, 1841. He is descended from a family of Ger- man origin, though his ancestors had for several generations lived in Maryland. His father was Peter Miller, and his mother's name, before marriage, was Huldah Arnold. The former was a farmer, and died in Washington county, Maryland. The latter died in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. The subject of this sketch was the younger of two children by his father's second marriage. He was principally raised in Washington county, Maryland, and attended the ordinary subscription schools in that part of the state. In May, 1857, then sixteen years of age, he came west, and for a time rade his home at Palmyra, Marion county, Missouri, where some of his brothers and sisters had settled. He attended the high school at Palmyra, Missouri, and there completed his scholastic education. Having determined on the study of medicine, in the fall of 1861 he entered the old McDowell Medical College, and pursued his medi- cal studies during the winter of 1861-2. The McDowell School having gone to pieces, in consequence of Dr. McDowell leaving St. Louis for the southern confederacy, (the war of the rebellion then being in progress), the next winter he attended lectures at the St. Louis Medical College, from which he was graduated in March, 1863.
After his graduation he was commissioned as assistant-surgeon of the Third Missouri Regiment, to which, however, he was attached only a short time. In the fall of 1863 he entered the Jefferson Me- dical College at Philadelphia. In the spring of 1864 he received a diploma from this institution, which then had a world-wide re- putation as a medical school. The succeeding summer he began practice in St. Louis, but in June, '66, came to St. Clair county and established himself as a physician at Caseyville, where he has since remained. He was married in April, 1868, to Margaret Blake, daughter of Ezra and Mary A. Blake. Mrs. Miller was . born and raised about a mile north of Caseyville. Her father was a native of New Jersey. Her mother was a daughter of George Moffett, one of the early residents of that part of St. Clair county. Dr. Miller has three children, one son and two daughters ..
He is a democrat in politics. He served one term as justice of the peace. He was appointed post-master at Caseyville under Grant's administration, and has filled that office for the last six years. For ten years he has been engaged in the mercantile busi- ness. He has the only drug store in Caseyville, and carries beside a general stock of groceries and hardware. He has been employed continuously in the practice of medicine, and has gained the repu- tation of an able and successful physician, and takes a warm in- terest in his profession, and has embraced every opportunity to
thoroughly acquaint himself with the latest developments of modern medical science.
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