History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 50

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164

USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 50

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).

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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

erty. He died a christian, being a member of the Christian Church. He departed this life in 1876, respected and honored, and was buried at Newell Grove, in Newell township, in the graveyard where his wife was buried in 1864.

Oliver L. Davis, Danville, judge of the circuit court, was born in New York city on the 20th of December. 1819, and is the son of Wm. and Olivia (Thompson) Davis. His father was a native of New York, and was born near Saratoga Springs. He was a commission merchant in New York city. Judge Davis received his principal education at an academy in New York state. He was in the employ of the Amer- ican Fur Company as clerk for seven years. In 1841, in company with J. G. Leverich, Esq., he came west and located in Danville, Illinois, where he has made his home ever since. Here he commenced the study of law with Isaac P. Walker in December, 1842, and was ad- mitted to practice law at the Illinois state bar. While at his profession he associated himself as law partner with Colonel O. F. Harmon and J. B. Mann, Esq. In 1851 Judge Davis was elected by the democratic .party a member of the legislature. In 1857 he was elected to the same office by the republican party. In 1861 he was made judge of the twenty-seventh circuit. In 1861, when the new circuit was formed, he was reelected. This office he filled until 1866, when he resigned. In 1873 he was elected judge of the fifteenth circuit. In 1877 he was made a member of the appellate court, third district. By the consoli- dation of the fifteenth and sixteenth circuits the fourth judicial circuit was formed, and Mr. Davis has been judge of this circuit ever since it was organized. Judge Davis was married on the 5th of December, 1844, in Danville, Illinois, to Miss Sarah M. Cunningham, who was born in Illinois on the 3d of September, 1827. She is the daughter of Hezekiahı Cunningham, one of the pioneers of Vermilion county, Illi- nois. By this union they have six children.

John G. Leverich, Danville, master in chancery, whose portrait appears in this work, is a fair example of what may be attained by per- severance, industry and energy. He was born on the 10th of October, 1819, in Newtown, Queens county, New York, a suburb of New York city, and is the son of John and Alletta (Berrien) Leverich, both natives of New York. John Leverich, the father of Mr. Leverich, was a blacksmith by trade, and followed farming. He was a sergeant in a company of New York militia in the war of 1812. Both parents died on Long Island, New York. At fourteen years of age Mr. Leverich accepted a clerkship in New York city. where he remained until 1841. This year, in company with Judge O. L. Davis, he set out for the far west, arriving and locating the same year in Danville, which has been

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his home ever since. Here he commenced clerking in a store, and from that he entered the mercantile business in company with his brother, R. T. Leverich, keeping a general stock of merchandise. He continued in business with his brother about five years. In 1860 he was appoint- ed master in chancery, which office he has held ever since, and to-day is perhaps the oldest master in chancery in the state of Illinois. He has ably and punctually discharged his official duties, and shares as a result a gratifying degree of popularity. In 1847 Mr. Leverich mar- ried Miss Sarah Tilton, by whom they have had five children, two de- ceased. In politics he is a republican, of which party he has been a member ever since its organization.

Francis M. Allhands, Danville, ex-county treasurer, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, on the 17th of January, 1832, and is the son of Andrew and Margaret (Swank) Allhands. His father, a native of Ohio, was engaged in farming. He moved, with his wife, from Ohio to Indiana, where she died. Ile then married Mrs. Martha Campbell, formerly Miss Willhite. By these two companions he raised a family of nine children,- five by the first and four by the second. Mr. Allhands can trace his family through the paternal line back to Ger- many, when his great-grandfather came over from that country to America. In 1842 Mr. Allhands, with his parents, moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, and located in what is now Catlin township. Here they set out in farming, and here, also, his father, born in 1806, died in 1851. Mr. Allhands learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, which business he engaged in until the breaking out of the war. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted as a recruit in Co. E, 35th Ill. Vol. Inf., and participated in some of the most severe battles. In the engagement at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, he was struck three times with grape and musket balls. One very painful wound was in the big toe, by which he was temporarily disabled, and fell a prisoner into the enemy's hands. He was taken to the hospital with the rest of the wounded, and there bound up his own wound, which bled quite freely, thus making it look more severe than it really was. The next day they received orders that all who could walk would be obliged to move forward; but seeing Mr. Allhands' foot bandaged and bloody, they allowed him to remain with a rear guard, who left him in a farm-house by the roadside. He managed to get hold of an old broken-down mule, which he rode back to the Union lines, and rejoined his regiment. He was afterward en- gaged in the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge and other battles. He was again wounded at Tunnel Hill, or Rocky Face, Georgia, from the effects of which it became necessary to anipn- tate his right foot, which was done at Nashville, Tennessee, on the 18th

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of July, 1864. Mr. Allhands entered the army as a private, but on his soldierly qualities he was promoted to second, and afterward to first, lientenant. He was honorably mustered out of the service at Nash- ville, Tennessee. Mr. Allhands has held several offices of public trust, and has proven himself a man of acknowledged ability. In 1865 he was elected assessor and collector of Catlin township. In 1867 he was elected treasurer of Vermilion county, Illinois, and held the office for ten years. On the 4th of March, 1858, he married Mary J. Hilliary, daughter of George and Sarah Hilliary, who were among the early settlers of Vermilion county. Mr. Allhands is the father of seven chil- dren ; three died with scarlet fever.

William H. Newlin, Danville, deputy circuit clerk, was born in Georgetown, Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 4th of September, 1842, and is the son of John and A. (Henderson) Newlin. His father was born in North Carolina. He was a saddler by trade, and coming west located in Indiana about 1830. In 1832 he came to Illinois, and was for a number of years a justice of the peace. Mr. William H. Newlin received his principal education at Georgetown. He was a soldier in the late civil war. He enlisted July, 1862, as a private in Co. C, 73d Ill. Vol. Inf. (a history of which regiment appears in this work). Ile participated in some severe battles, and was taken prisoner by the enemy in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, on the 20th of September, 1863. He was taken to Richmond, Virginia, where he remained until the 14th of November, 1863, when the prisoners were moved to Danville, Virginia. Here the small-pox had made its ap- pearance among the prisoners, and on the 14th of December Mr. New- lin was taken sick with that disease, and was sent to the hospital, where, after receiving sufficient strength, on the night of the 19th of February, 1864, with five other Union soldiers, he made his escape and set out for the Union lines. Mr. Newlin has written and published a very interesting work of one hundred and twelve pages, relating their escape to the Federal camp. Of the six that made their escape only four are known to have ever reached the Union lines, and they arrived there on the 20th of March, 1864, and on the 29th of March they reported at post-headquarters at Cincinnati, Ohio, where they received a furlough. Mr. Newlin arrived home on the. 3d of April. His visit was unexpected, and the first intimation his parents had received for many weeks that he was yet alive was when he entered the old home. Mr. Newlin rejoined his regiment, and served until the close of the war, being made first lieutenant of his company. At the close of the war he returned to Georgetown, where he was engaged in the mercan- tile business about three years. Mr. Newlin has held several offices of

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public trust. He was collector and assessor, township clerk and school- director ; he filled each of these offices for several years with marked ability, giving entire satisfaction. In 1876 he was made deputy circuit elerk, which office he has filled ever since. Mr. Newlin was married in 1868 to Miss Amanda Ann Hawes, of Georgetown, daughter of Dr. A. Hawes, one of the pioneers of Vermilion county. By this marriage they have three children.

G. W. Hooton, Danville, lumber dealer, is a native of Clermont county, Ohio, though he came to Vermilion county with his people when he was bnt seven years old. This was in 1842, and he has since remained a resident of the county. During his early life he had not the advantages of getting an education that are enjoyed by the present generation, though he improved all opportunities and became a fair scholar. He did some farming; learned the trade of a carpenter and joiner, at which he did some work, and taught several terms of school, as well as spending about three years on the road, though this was in later years. The firm of Hankey & Hooton has been familiar to the people since 1876, the Mr. Hankey being a brother of his present partner, Mr. C. F. Hankey, who became a member of the firm on the 1st of January, 1879. Mr. Hooton has dabbled a little in political affairs, having been a member of the city council during the years 1873, 1874 and 1875. He is also W. M. of the Olive Branch Lodge of A. F. and A. M. In business affairs they have established a good trade and reputation, their trade now amounting to about twenty-five thousand dollars per year.

William Cast, Danville, farmer, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1821, and is the son of A. and Mary (Villars) Cast. His father was a farmer, and a native of Kentucky, having moved to Ohio at an early day, and died there in about 1831. Mr. Cast was brought up on his father's farm. He was married in 1843 to Miss Rachael Villars, of Ohio, and the same year they came to Illinois and located in Vermilion county. Here they have remained ever since on the present farm. Mr. Cast came to Vermilion county worth about five hundred dollars; he invested in one hundred and forty acres of land, and commenced farming ; to-day he owns three hundred and twenty acres of fine improved land, which he has accumulated by his own industry. They have had four children, three living.

George F. Coburn, Danville, attorney at law, is one of the success- ful attorneys of Vermilion county. He was born in Brown county, Ohio, on the 29th of December, 1841, and is the son of Francis D. Co- burn, a native of New Hampshire, who, with a wife and three children, moved to Illinois and located on a farm in Danville township, Vermil-

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ion county, in 1843. Here he was engaged in farming until 1871, when he departed this life, an honored and respected man. Here, on the farm, Mr. Coburn grew into manhood; engaged in farming from the time he was able to hold the hoe or handle the plow, and in the winter months attending the district schools of the period. When nineteen years old he commenced teaching school, and taught five winters and one summer. He was also engaged in the study of law. He came to Danville and commenced reading law under Judge O. L. Davis, where he remained about one year. In 1867 he was admitted to practice law at the Illinois bar. Here he has been engaged in Dan- ville in the practice of law ever since, with the exception of one year. Mr. Coburn has formed a partnership with Joseph W. Jones and Daniel W. Limder, now law partner of W. H. Mallory, which was formed in the fall of 1878. Mr. Mallory was born in Cortland county, New York, on the 14th of December, 1812, and was admitted to the bar in 1837. He came west in 1841, first locating in Fountain county, Indi- ana, thence (1867) to Du Page county, Illinois, and in 1870 came to Danville. Mr. Mallory is one of the oldest practicing attorneys of the Vermilion county bar.

Hiram W. Ross, Danville, farmer, was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, on the Sth of November, 1843, and is the son of Joseph T. Ross, whose biography appears in this work. Mr. Ross was raised on the farm. In 1862 he enlisted in the 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., Co. B. He participated in the battle of Perrysville. He was taken sick and moved to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1863, and on account of sickness he was honorably discharged. He returned home, and in 1872 he married Tilda Ann Smith, daughter of Abraham Smith, who was an early settler of this county. They have one child.

The following appropriate tribute to the memory of Hon. John L. Tincher has been prepared and kindly furnished us by A. G. Smith :

John L. Tincher was born in Kentucky in 1821. Eight years later his parents removed to Vermilion county, Indiana. When the subject of this sketch had arrived at the age of seventeen years his parents had died, and then he addressed himself to acquiring an education. He attended school for about three years in Coles county, Illinois, and then took service in the store of Jones & Culbertson, at Newport, Indiana. In 1843 he came with J. M. Culbertson to Danville, and was a clerk in his store until 1853, when the notable firm of Tincher & English was organized -first as merchants and afterward as bankers. The First National Bank of Danville stands as a monument of their united energy, labor and prudence. Mr. Tincher acquired a handsome prop- erty, to which his wife and children became heirs without the interfer-

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ence of a will. In 1864 Mr. Tincher was elected a member of the lower house of the general assembly of the state. In 1867 he was transferred to the senate, to membership in which he was re-elected in 1870. He was also, in 1870, a member of the convention that revised the fundamental law of the state. For many years Mr. Tincher's busi- ness affairs were very exacting, and in the later years of his life official trusts increased the demands upon his energies, and added to these were churchly and social obligations, in all, making the demands upon him exceedingly onerous; the unceasing strain upon his mind and body may be supposed to have shortened his life. In 1845 Mr. Tincher united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and soon afterward was chosen to occupy a subordinate clerical relation to the church, which relation he maintained until his death. He was frequently called upon to preach. Though without classical education or technical theological training, he was a forcible, logical and acceptable preacher. It would be impossible for one not endowed with superior powers of mind to meet the degree of success in business, in politics and in social life that attended Mr. Tincher. It is not an extravagance of language to say that he was a gifted man. The Hon. John L. Tincher died at the Revere House, Springfield, Illinois, at half-past six o'clock, on Sunday evening, the 17th of December, 1871. His disease was pleuro-pneu- monia. During the greater part of his life he had been in delicate health, and as far back as 1855 it was thought that his career would be terminated by consumption. In the summer of 1869 he was attacked by apoplexy, and thenceforward he complained of cerebral irregulari- ties, and was never without apprehensions of a return of apoplexy. His attack came upon him while sitting in the office of his bank. The Rev. James P. Dimmitt observed his drooping head and pallid counte- nance. Upon being spoken to, Mr. Tincher said he was sick and thought he would die; and then starting with a couple of friends to walk home, no carriage being convenient, he sank down after walking about a square, named Eben H. Palmer to settle his estate, and passed into unconsciousness. He recovered, however, and was restored to the degree of health above spoken of. At the time of his death Mr. Tincher was in Springfield attending to his duties as senator. He was surrounded in his dying hour by his wife and children; Mr. C. L. Eng- lish, Mr. C. B. Holloway, Mrs. J. G. English, the Rev. James Coe and the writer of these lines were also with him. On the morning follow- ing, Mr. Tincher's remains were brought to Danville for burial. An immense throng of two or three thousand people were at the depot, shivering in the bitter winter air, waiting to catch a glimpse of the casket that contained the mortal parts of their old friend and neighbor.

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Funeral services were conducted in Kimber Church, of which Mr. Tincher was a member, on the Thursday following his death. A me- morial address was read by the Hon. O. L. Davis, and a discourse was preached by the Rev. George Stevens. Rev. A. L. Brooks, Rev. W. N. McElroy and Rev. P. Woods assisted in conducting the service. Pall-bearers were chosen from a list of Mr. Tincher's oldest acquaint- ances, namely: Dr. W. H. H. Scott. Hon. Alvan Gilbert, John W. Mires, Samuel Frazier and Victor Leseure. By common consent, Mr. Tincher was recognized as the controlling spirit of this community. He made the poor man's cause his canse : he left no one to charge him with circumvention ; he left no taint upon his name and memory.

"How populous, how vital is the grave ! This is creation's melancholy vault, . The ral funereal, the sad cypress gloom ; The land of apparitions, empty shades ; All, all on earth, is shadow ; all beyond Is substance ; the reverse is Folly's creed : How solid all, where change shall be no more !"

We hope in God's good time to meet our dear friend in the vernal fields of paradise, and to engage with him in the rapturous exercises that fancy paints as belonging to them who enter the kingdom of eternal rest. Farewell! dear friend, brother, farewell! As we march down life's uneven main, we are cheered by sweet memories that come unbidden, but ever welcome, hopefully trusting that in the realms of the blest, where are no aching brains, nor weary limbs, nor congested lungs, we may enjoy in perennial day the abiding friendship begun below. Farewell, Tineher! once more, farewell !

W. H. Johns. Danville, grocer, is a native of Vermilion county, Blount being his native township. He had the advantage of free schools, and received a good education. In 1862 he entered the army in the rebellion of 1861-5, enlisting first in Co. A, 71st Ill. Vol. Inf., three-months service. under Colonel Gilbert, who was elected captain at Springfield and made colonel at Chicago. After this term of service he reenlisted, in 1864. this time in Co. K. 135th Ill. Vol. Inf .. hundred-day service, under Colonel Wolf. The first time he was mus- tered in at Camp Butler, Springfield, and the last time at Mattoon, Illinois, the 135th being mustered in at that place. Previous to his engaging in his present business he had been in the mercantile busi- ness, three years in the dry-goods and grocery trade, and five years in the lumber business. He is one of the natives of the county, who, by an honorable treatment of his friends and customers, has won for him- self a good name and reputation.

John Charles Black was born on the 27th of January, 1839. His

DANVILLE TOWNSHIP.

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father, John Black, of Pennsylvania, was born on the 19th of July, 1809, and was married to Josephine L. Culbertson, of the old Penn- sylvania family of that name, on the 9th of September, 1834. From this marriage four children grew up, three of whom still survive. The father entered the Presbyterian ministry, and went south when twenty- three years of age, remaining there until about a year prior to his death, which occurred on the 13th of February, 1847. The mother still sur- vives, and is now the wife of Dr. Wm. Fithian, of Danville, to which place Mrs. Black removed in the spring of 1847, after the death of her husband, above referred to, taking with her her four children. Before his death the father obtained a wide repute as a preacher of unusual power, eloquence and fervor, and was made a Doctor of Divinity when thirty- six years of age. At the time of his death he was the pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church of Alleghany City, Pennsylvania. Since her removal to Danville, in 1847, General Black's mother has been continuonsły a resident of that place, and there, too, General Black has resided during the greater part of this interval, so that they class among the old residents of Vermilion connty. In 1858 J. C. Black entered Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, remaining there until he abandoned "the groves of the academy " for the tented field, in April, 1861. On the very day on which Fort Sumter was attacked he enlisted as a private soldier in the " Montgomery Guards," of Crawfordsville, which company was, a few days later, mustered into the three-months service as Co. I, 11th Ind. Inf. Zouaves, Colonel (afterward Major-Gen- eral) Lew Wallace commanding. Upon the organization of this regi- ment J. C. Black was made its sergeant-major, which position he occu- pied until the muster out of the regiment, some four months afterward. Immediately thereafter he returned to Danville, and engaged in fe- cruiting a company for the three-years service, which was mustered in as Co. K, 37th Ill. Inf., Colonel (afterward Major-General) Julius White commanding. In the organization of this regiment General Black was chosen and commissioned its major. From this position he fought his way up, being commissioned lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and finally brigadier-general, by brevet, for gallant services on the field of battle. Each commission issued to him by the state and national authorities was by them marked as for gallantry in some special engagement, or for meritorions conduct. General Black remained in the military service until after the last battle was fought, commanding a brigade, of which the 37th Illinois, which "veteranized" in 1864, formed a part, and par- ticipated in the stormning of "The Blakeleys " and the capture of Mo- bile, as well as in the subsequent military events in Alabama and Texas which formed the closing scenes of the rebellion. Then, in the

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summer of 1865, he returned to civil life, in which he has since been engaged, taking a very active and prominent part in the political affairs of his district and state. On coming out of the army he studied law in Chicago with the firm of Gookins and Roberts, and commenced the practice of his profession in the early part of 1867 in Danville, but he shortly thereafter removed to Champaign, where he resided until about June, 1874, since which time he has resumed residence in Danville, which is now his home. As souvenirs of his service General Black bears two wounds. The first was received in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on the 7th of March, 1862, being a gun-shot through the right arm. The second wound was received in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, on the 7th of December, 1862. He has suffered in- tensely, and for years, from these wounds and the surgical operations necessitated thereby, his life being several times despaired of and his death currently reported. But a strong constitution has enabled him to maintain the struggle for life, and he survives, in the full vigor of intellect and with fair general health, although crippled in both arms. Upon returning to civil life General Black became identified with the democratic party, in a state and congressional district which were alike strongly republican. Twice since then has he been selected by his party as its candidate for congress, and once by the democracy of the state as candidate for lieutenant-governor. While unsuccessful in these con- tests, yet in them all General Black has run largely ahead of his ticket, reducing the majority in his district when a candidate for congress, and running many thousands ahead of his ticket when a candidate for lieu- tenant-governor. Finally, General Black received the entire democratic vote for the office of United States senator in 1878, when General Logan was elected to that office. He is the senior partner in the pros- perous and successful law firm of Black & Blackburn. He is enjoying a large practice in the state and federal courts, and is paying earnest attention to his business affairs.

R. B. Leverich, Danville, farmer, was born in Danville, Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 17th of October, 1847, and is the son of Richard T. and Lydia F. (Gilbert) Leverich. Mr. Leverich was raised in Dan- ville ; he clerked in his father's store; in April, 1865, he came on the farm, where he has remained ever since engaged in farming. He married on the 24th of December, 1868, to Miss Hannah M. Silliven, who was born on the 1st of August, 1848. She is the daughter of Andrew and Frances Silliven. By this marriage they have had six children, four of whom are living (Conrad R., born on the 19th of May, 1870; Richard A., born on the 10th of January, 1873; Othniel G., born on the 17th of September, 1874; Charles E., born on the 4th of September, 1876).

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History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 50

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903 Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company Number of Pages: 1164

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164