History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 78

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough
Number of Pages: 530

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

societies, which he believed often interfered with the interests of the church, and hindered the advancement of religion. He believed that nothing good should be kept secret, and that the spirit of the Bible was opposed to secret organizations.

In his politics he was a republican. Though raised in a slave state, he had no sympathy with slave institutions. He considered that the slave system was both unjust to those so unfortunate as to be held in slavery, and hurtful to the white population. These sentiments were imbibed in his early youth. His father entertained the same opinions, and this was one of the sources of the removal of the family from a slave to a free state. In his early life Mr. For- man owned slaves, but gave them their liberty. He thought it best for both the white and black race, that the negroes should be colo- nized in Liberia, or some other country where the climate suited their physical characteristics, and ample opportunity might be afforded for their education and development. He was a strong supporter of the republican party from its first organization till his. death. During the war of the rebellion he was an ardent Union man, and his sympathies were warmly enlisted in the work of destroying the rebellion, and securing the perpetuation of free institutions.

He had three children, whose names are as follows : Mrs. Mary Price; Eliza J., who was. born on the 2d of April, 1840, married Robert James, and died on the 17th of April, 1867; and Catha- rine, who was born on the 16th of February, 1848, was married to Cornelius Colgan, and died on the 6th of April, 1870. A grand- daughter, Ida May Price, also makes her home with Mrs. Forman. Mrs. Forman had three children by her first marriage. The oldest, Sarah Hardesty, died at the age of thirteen. The next, Lucy Har- desty, lived till the age of seven; and the third, John Hardesty, was one year and six months of age at the time of his death.

A picture of the residence of Mrs. Forman appears among our illustrations. The farm is one of the best to be found in that favored portion of the county known as the Ridge Prairie, and does credit to Mr. Forman's judgment in selecting such a locality as the place of his future residence, and to his industry and taste in bringing it into a state of superior cultivation. As one of the old residents of the county, and a man whose energies were devoted to the develop- ment of its agricultural resources, his name well deserves mention in this work. In some respects he was a man of decided and in- flexible traits of mind, but no man questioned his honesty or sin- cerity. He possessed a strong mind, a determined will, and a firm perseverance which well fitted him for life in a new country, and the labors of the hardy pioneer.

CHARLES B. DARROW, (DECEASED.)

CHARLES B. DARROW was born in the State of New York, September 19th, 1806. He was the son of Rev. Zadok Darrow, a Baptist preacher, who came to Illinois at an early date, and settled east of the present town of O'Fallon, where he had a farm, and also followed his trade of a carpenter. He was zealously devoted to the interests of the Baptist church, and preached somewhere every Sabbath. He frequently held service at the Rock Spring Seminary, founded by the Rev. John M. Peck, and also at the Richland Baptist church. He was pastor for one year of a Baptist church on the Horse Prairie in Randolph county. After becom- ing incapacitated from labor, and unable to preach, he moved to Collinsville, where his daughter lived, and died there of the cholera in the year 1849.

Charles B. Darrow was married on the 12th of February, 1826,

to Sarah Peach, daughter of William Peach. She was born in the State of Vermont, on the 27th of December, 1804. Her father moved with the family to Ohio when she was ten years old, and four years afterwards, about the year 1818, settled on the Horse Prairie, about four miles from the town of Red Bud, Randolph" county. After his marriage, Mr. Darrow settled a mile and a half east of O'Fallon. He died from a fever on the 28th of October, 1839. For a number of years he had been connected with the Baptist church, first with the Bethel church, and afterwards with the Rock Spring church, in which he was deacon. He was a whig in politics and a good citizen of the county, who lived a peaceful and honest life. He had six children. Lucinda, the oldest, is the wife of Charles Bridges. George Washington Darrow is engaged in farming in O'Fallon precinct. Lucy Lord married Daniel Duna- vant, and is now deceased. Mary Amanda died in 1853, in the twentieth year of her age. William Augustus Darrow is farming in Lebanon precinct, and the youngest, Charles Brown Darrow, is farming east of O'Fallon. Mrs. Darrow is still living, and in the enjoyment of good health, at the age of seventy-seven.

DR. O. C. BATES,

ONE of the enterprising physicians of St. Clair county, is a native of Belleville, and was born April, 1844. His father, Henry Bates, was a native of Pennsylvania. When a boy he went to Ohio, and, after reaching manhood, to Mobile, Ala., and from that place, about the year 1835, came to Belleville. He bought land and settled east of the town, where Jacob Brosius now lives. He secured considerable property and laid out an addition to Belle- ville, which bears his name. He was a carpenter by trade, and assisted in the erection of many buildings in Belleville, among which was the First Presbyterian church. He was married about the year 1840 to Catharine Heckber, daughter of John Heckber, of Dayton, Ohio. Her mother was connected with a family by the name of Young, who resided in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Henry Bates was among the active business men of Belleville till 1849, when his death occurred from the cholera, which that year carried off many of the inhabitants. During its prevalence he had been very energetic in caring for the sick, and was much exposed to the disease. After its ravages were nearly spent, he was seized with the epidemic, aud his weakened constitution rendered him an easy victim. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and at the time of his death was a deacon in the church at Belleville. He started the first nursery in Belleville, the cuttings for which he brought from New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio. From this nursery many of the orchards of the county had their origin. His widow resided in Belleville till 1856, and then re- moved to Dayton, Ohio, where she died in October, 1862.

The subject of this sketch was the second of three children. He has one older brother and a sister now living in Ohio. He was five years old at the time of his father's death. The first twelve years of his life were spent in Belleville, during which time he at- tended the public schools. After the removal of the family to Ohio he went to school at Dayton, and was a student at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. He began the study of medicine at Dayton, Ohio, and after some experience in the army during the war, he entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which he gra- duated in 1864. In 1865 he began practice at O'Fallon. He was married in October, 1867, to Anna Stuart, daughter of William H. Stuart, an old resident of Belleville. By this marriage he has five children. He is a democrat, and has taken an active part in the

R.R.CROSSING

O& M

LOOKING NORTH FROM FORMAN STATION-O & M

FARM RESIDENCE AND PROPERTY OF MRS REBECCA FORMAN. SEC 22.(T2.N.R.8.W.) O'FALLONPRECINCT_ST CLAIR CO. IL.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

local politics of St. Clair county. He has achieved much success as a physician. He was one of the organizers of the St. Clair County Medical Society, founded in 1866, is a member of the Illinois Southern Medical Association, and an associate member of the St. Louis Academy of Science. He opened the first prescrip- tion drug store in O'Fallon ; he is a physician of liberal ideas, and has been among the first to take advantage of the latest develop- ments of medical science. Although his time has been closely taken up by his professional labors, he has given bis attention to scientific research and outside study, and has collected a fine archeological cabinet from the mounds of St. Clair and Madison counties. He has given much attention to surgical operations, and is recognized as the foremost physician in this department of medi- cine in that portion of St. Clair county.

JAMES WARD.

JAMES WARD, who is now filling the office of inspector of coal mines for St. Clair county, was born at Poynton, near Stockport, in Cheshire, England, on the 20th of October, 1848. His parents were James Ward and Margaret Swan. His father was brought up as a miner, and followed that occupation for a period of fifty years. The subject of this sketch was the fourteenth of a family of seventeen children, of whom twelve were sons and five daughters. Of these, thirteen grew to manhood and womanhood. The others died in infancy. When Mr. Ward was seven years old, the family removed to the neighborhood of Barnsley in Yorkshire. He went to school there three years, and then, at the age of ten, began work- ing in the mines. He never went to school subsequently except to night school. When he was fifteen, his father emigrated with the family to America. After living a year at Washington, Indiana, the family came to St. Clair county, and the father and all the sons entered the employment of the Gartside Coal Company, with which Mr. Ward was connected up to the time he was appointed coal inspector.

From the time he came to the county in 1866, he has been living near Alma. He procured books on the subject of coal mining, and acquired a thorough knowledge, both theoretical and practical, of the business. He was appointed by the county commissioners in- spector of coal mines for St. Clair county, March, 1880. He was married in August, 1873, to Jane Hunter. His residence is Alma. He has had five children, of whom two are now living. He is con- nected with the order of Odd Fellows, and was a charter member of the first lodge of Knights of Pythias in St. Clair county.

DR. B. KRAUSE.

DR. B. KRAUSE, now one of the oldest physicians at O'Fallon, was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, August 29th, 1834. His pa- rents were Joseph and Mary (Maurer) Krause. After attending the public schools he was a student in the gymnasium of Gmuend, from 1847 to 1851. From 1851 to 1854, he was an apprentice in the pharmacie at Lorch. He passed an examination as druggist, and was subsequently assistant in drug stores at Reuthingen, Geis- lingen, Threngen and Freiburg. He studied medicine and phar macy in the University of Tuebingen, and graduated in August, 1859. He came to this country in October, 1859, and in 1860, lo- cated at Lebanon, where, on the 20th of April, 1861, he married Henrietta Blank. He moved to Centerville in 1862, and from there to O'Fallon, in May, 1863. In these places he followed his

profession as a physician. When the Dr. came to O'Fallon, he had to keep a supply of medicines on hand to make his own prescrip- tions. The town was growing fast, a drug store soon became a ne- cessity, and he accordingly started one, increasing his stock as cir- cumstances demanded. Till 1873 he practiced medicine in town and country. That year he visited Europe, and after his return quit country practice, and now spends most of his time in his large drug store, which is as well stocked with first-class drugs, medicines, and chemicals as any drug store of any town of the same size. He was admitted a member of the St. Clair County Medical Socie- ty in 1867, and of the Pharmaceutical Association, of Illinois, in 1880. He is P. G. of O'Fallon Lodge, I. O. O. F., and P. C. P. of the Encampment. His first wife having died, he was married to Miss Mary Henkel, of St. Louis, on the 20th of April, 1880. He has a son aged twelve years, and a daughter six, by his first wife.

FRANK POIGNEÉ,

WHO is now serving his second term as county commissioner, is- although born in Germany-partly of French descent. His great- grandfather, Iguatz Poigneé, was a native of France, and a soldier in the French army. During one of the wars waged by France he was stationed at Oggersheim, in Bavaria, and, while there-being a landscape gardener by occupation-had charge of a fine garden at that place. After the war he returned to Bavaria, settled at Og- gersheim, married, and died there. Both the father and grand- father of Mr. Poignee were born at Oggersheim. His grandfather was named Ignatz Poignee, and his father Frank Poignee. His mother's name before marriage was Anna Maria Kempf. The sub- ject of this sketch was the oldest of a family of seven children. He was born at Oggersheim, Bavaria, on the 27th of March, 1831. He was raised in his native town, where he lived till sixteen, when his father emigrated with the family to America. After the age of thirteen he had no opportunity to attend school. He, however, made the best use of his opportunities ; obtained a good German education, and, after coming to this country, became well acquainted with the English. The family left Germany in April, 1847, and, landing at New Orleans, came up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and, after remaining in that city about a week, came to the neighbor- hood of O'Fallon, where his father purchased a small farm, on which he died in February, 1855. Mr. Poignee's mother died in April, 1868 After coming to St. Clair county, Mr. Poigneé was employed by the month on a farm. Part of his earnings were ap- plied to the support of the family, who had settled on a farm, of which only five or six acres were under cultivation. His father afterward bought more land, and, when twenty-one, Mr. Poigneé went home and assisted in improving it. He lived at home till his marriage, which occurred on the 14th of August, 1854, to Salome Daehu, who was born of French descent, at Hattmatt, in Alsace, then in France, now a part of the German empire. Her father, Jacob Daelin, still resides at Alsace. Her mother having died, she came to America with her grandmother when she was nine years old. After his marriage Mr. Poignee went to farming for himself three miles north-east of O'Fallon. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits till 1869, and then became a resident of O'Fallon, where he has since lived. He has had eight children, of whom four are now living. The names of those living are John C. Poignee, Mary Poigneé, George Poignee, and Frank P. Poigneé. In his political views Mr. Poigneé has always been a member of the democratic party, which he has supported with consistency ever since he was capable of exercising the right of suffrage. He cast his first vote

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

for president for Franklin Pierce in 1852, and has voted for every democratic candidate for president since. He has enjoyed the con- fidence of the people of his part of the county, and has creditably filled several public positions. In 1865 he was appointed depnty

. assessor, and re-appointed every year, until elected county commis- sioner. On his removal to O'Fallon he was elected constable. In 1871 he was chosen justice of the peace, and in February, 1874, was elected one of the trustees of the village of O'Fallon, and made president of the board. In April, 1874, he was elected to the office of police magistrate. In 1878 he was again elected village trustee of O'Fallon and served as president of the board. In 1875 he was elected county commissioner, and was re-elected to this position in 1879. At his first election he ran as an independent candidate, ob- taining a thousand majority. At his second election, in 1879, he was made the democratic nominee, but, receiving a number of re- publican votes, was elected by a majority of seventeen hundred. This record abundantly testifies to his popularity among the citizens of St. Clair county.

A. J. WASTFIELD, (DECEASED.)

A. J. WASTFIELD, whose death occurred on the 15th of Novem- ber, 1866, was one of the representative men in the neighborhood of O'Fallon. His father, Walter Wastfield, was born in the city of Bath, England. Part of his early life was spent in Ireland, and he was married at Fermoy, to Mary Ann Shannon, a young lady of much intelligence, who belonged to an Irish family. Walter Wastfield emigrated to America in the year 1819, and, after spending a few weeks in the city of Baltimore, came to St. Clair county and settled in section thirty-three of township two north, range seven, about two miles south-east of O'Fallon. The journey from Baltimore to St. Louis was made by wagon. He was in comfortable circumstances, and he and his wife brought with them to this country ample supplies of money, and every con- venience that could make their life in the new country comfortable. Walter Wastfield died on the 26th of November, 1866. His wife died four days afterwards, on the 30th of November. Their deaths undoubtedly resulted from the shock occasioned by the sudden death of their son, A. J. Wastfield. They were advanced in years, and after the sad accident they sank into a nervous fever, from which they never recovered.

A. J. Wastfield was born on the old place, north-east of O'Fallon, where his father settled on coming to the county, on the 6th of September, 1829. He was the youngest son, and the next to the youngest child, of a family of nine children, composed of five daughters and four sons. He was raised in the same part of the county. He attended the public schools at Belleville, and also for a time was a student at the old Rock Spring Seminary. He was married on the 12th of June, 1860, to Miss Elisie Osburn, who was born at Lebanon. Her father, Daniel S. Osburn, was of Scotch descent, and was born and raised in Fredericktown, Frederick county, Maryland. He came to St. Clair county, and settled at Lebanon in 1833 or 1834. He married Emily J. Pierce, daughter of Daniel Pierce, one of the earliest settlers of the county in the neighborhood of Shiloh, a sketch of whose history is given in another part of this work. Mrs. Wastfield's parents, after their marriage, (which took place on the 8th of October, 1835;) took up their residence at Lebanon, in a house in which they lived till their deaths, and in which also their nine children were born. Mr. Osburn died on the 24th of December, 1864, and his wife on the 26th of March, 1857.

Frevious to his marriage, Mr. Wastfield had been engaged for some time in dealing in wheat in O'Fallon, and subsequently he followed farming. His death was caused by an accident in a threshing machine. He was then thirty-seven years of age, and in the prime of life. He was a man of many strong traits of character. He was energetic and ambitious, and possessed good business capacity. He had been a strong and active republican in politics from the first organization of that party. He was a mem- ber of the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal church. Had he lived be would doubtless have reached a position of prominence and in- fluence in the community. He left two children, Walter Daniel and Julia Emily Wastfield. Mrs. Wastfield has since resided on the farm south-east of O'Fallon, in the house which her husband built just previous to their marriage, and in which they began their wedded life.

CHARLES F. FISCHER.

CHARLES F. FISCHER, proprietor of the hotel at O'Fallon, is a native of Holstein am Loerrach, Baden, Germany, and was born March 20tlı, 1824. He was raised in that part of Germany. He attended the ordinary schools and was then a student at a college at Dawance, in French Switzerland. After leaving school he was apprenticed to the mercantile business, at Steinau, Baden, and fol- lowed that occupation as long as he lived in Germany. He was married in Germany to Maria Magdalena Gutmuller. She died in Germany in 1865. He had by her five children. In 1865 he came to America, and from New York city came at once to Belleville, where he had some friends living. For two years he was a clerk in a store at that place. December, 1867, he came to O'Fallon, of which place he has since been a resident. He was clerk in Mr. Tiedemann's store, at O'Fallon, for two years, and in December, 1869, he engaged in the hotel business. In 1870 he purchased the hotel property. He is also the proprietor of a livery stable, and a dealer in lime, cement and sand, and is well-known as an active and energetic business man. His present wife, whom he married in 1871, was Ernestine Hirschfeld, who was born at Bollstadt, Prussia, and came to America in 1845, when twelve years of age. He has two children by his second marriage. The oldest of his children is Mrs. Luia Kraft, of Columbus, Ohio. Mary is the wife of B. W. Muehlhausen, who is a merchant and postmaster at O'Fallon. The other children are Mrs. Emilie Schmitt, of Columbus, Ohio; Mrs. Rosalie Ruester, of O'Fallon ; Otto Fischer and Carolina Char- lotte Fischer. Another son, Charles Fischer, died in Belleville in 1870, at the age of twenty-two. In politics Mr. Fischer has al- ways been a republican. He was in favor of free institutions in Germany, and coming to this country, joined the party which he thought best represented his views.

CHARLES A. TIEDEMANN.

CHARLES A. TIEDEMANN was born at Bremervoerde, Hanover, Germany, on the 8th of December, 1833. His parents were Henry Tiedemann and Louisa Von Hartz. His grandfather, Dietrich Tiedemann, was professor of philosophy at Marburg in Hessen. Of his three sons, one, Dr. Frederick D. Tiedemann, became pro- fessor of anatomy and physiology in the Heidelberg Medical Col- lege. Another, Justus Tiedemann, was a wholesale merchant and importer in the free city of Bremen. The remaining son, Henry Tiedemann, father of Charles A., whose name heads this sketch, was an officer in the army of Jerome Bonaparte, King of West-

FARM OF MSR GHAS.F.FISCHER Sec 27.1.2.N.R.7.W

SECLAIR COUNTY ILL.

576.A.F&AM_

B.W. MUEHLHAUSEN

POSTOFFICE.

FEED & LIVERY STABLE

DEALER IN LIME CEMENT PLASTER PARIS ,SAND &

O'FALLON HOUSE CHAS F_FISCHER

Fischer

HOTEL, RESIDENCE & PROPERTY OF CHAS F. FISCHER, ESQ. O'FALLON ST CLAIR CO. ILL.

RICHLAND MILL ( WITH PROPOSED ALTERATIONS) THE PROPERTY OF CHAS A.TIEDEMANN, ON THE O.& M. & BELLEVILLE & O'FALLON.R.R.AT O'FALLON, ILLINOIS.

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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

phalia, in the war against Russia, in 1812, and received from Na- poleon I, the cross of the legion of honor. At the battle of Leipzig, in 1813, he fought against Napoleon. He held a financial office in the town of Bremervoerde for fifty years in succession. In 1860 he came to America, settled at O'Fallon, and died September 5th, 1875, at the age of eighty-eight. Charles A. Tiedemann, when fifteen, came to America in company with his cousin, Freder- ick Tiedemann. He reached Belleville in October, 1849. He was employed in farming one year, and then apprenticed himself to Capt. Julius Raith, then a wheelwright in Belleville. After serv- ing an apprenticeship of three years he went into partnership with his employer. They erected a number of mills, breweries, and dis- tilleries in St. Louis and vicinity.

In 1859 Mr. Tiedemann visited his native country, and travelled through Switzerland, France, and England, studying the latest im- provements in mills and manufacturing establishments of a similar character. Returning to America. he resumed his business with his partner, and in 1860 they began the erection at O'Fallon of the mill at present owned by Mr. Tiedemann. This mill was finished in 1861, about the time of the commencement of the war of the re- bellion. His partner was commissioned colonel of the 43d Illinois regiment, and died in 1862, from wounds received at the battle of Pittsburg Landing. After his death Mr. Tiedemann settled the af- fairs of the firm, and in 1863 associated with himself Philip Postel, of Mascontah. In 1873 the mill was remodeled and enlarged. Since 1876 the business has been in his own hands. A large ad- dition to the mill was made in 1881, and machinery procured of the latest and most improved description. Flour is now manu- factured by the roller process, and the products of the mill, the Richland Mills and Shiloh Valley Mills brands, have a deserved reputation for excellence, and are well-known in Glasgow and Liverpool. The mill turns out about sixty thousand barrels each year, and is run by a Wheelock engine of two hundred horse power.

Mr. Tiedemann commenced his career in this county without means. The mill at O'Fallon was built under considerable diffi- culties, and after Capt. Raith's death he was obliged to see it sold. He bought it back again, and by successful business management

was soon out of debt and established on a sound financial basis. He has been closely identified with the prosperity and growth of the town of O'Fallon. In 1860, when he began building the mill, there were only a few houses in the place. He is independent in his political views.

ERNST J. TIEDEMANN.

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History of St. Clair County, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 78

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough Number of Pages: 530

Author: Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Brink, McDonough
Number of Pages: 530