History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 62

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704

USA > Illinois > Clay County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 62
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 62

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Kentucky March 17, 1837. She came to Wayne County with her mother in 1848, the father having died in Kentucky in 1847; her mother died in White County, Ill., in March, 1862. Mr. Murphey has had a family of thirteen children, of whom but three are liv- ing -- Henry F. Murphey, born in April, 1865, married to Bell Alexander, daughter of Nich- olas and Jane Alexander; Lucinda, wife of Alexander Funckhowser, was born March 21, 1862; Emily!Murphey, born March 14, 1873. Mr. Murphey is a member of the Fairfield Lodge, No. 206, A. F. & A. M. Henry F. and Lucinda Murphey have two children, one of whom is deceased.

REV. WILLIAM M. MURRAY, minister, Fairfield, is one of Nature's noblemen, and may be regarded as one of the most use- ful members of society in Wayne County. He was born in Bond County, Ill .. June 1, 1844, being the son of William and Jane (Harris) Murray, whose children were Jordan R., of Thirty-fifth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry: Nancy E. (Akeman), our subject. John H. and Sarah E. (Green). His father was born in Virginia in 1808, was reared in Bedford County, Tenn., and came to Bond Connty, Ill., when there were only seven families living in the county, and died in Fayette County, Ill., in February, 1876. His mother, the daughter of John Harris, was born in Warren County, Ky., in:1825. Her grandfather, Rev. William Harris, was for forty years pastor of the Pilot Knob Presbyterian Church, in Logan County, Ky. He at one time sat in the pulpit with seven of his sons, all Cumberland Presbyterian ministers. From the old patriarch seems to have sprung a race of preachers, our subject, being the twenty-ninth in the line occupying the sacred desk. On November 30, 1865, in Fayette County, Ill., he married Mrs. Anna Surber, daughter of Edmund Green,

CITY OF FAIRFIELD.

and to them were born Maggio N., June, 1871; Roy, April 12, 1873: Florence D., Oc- tober 20, 1876; Mary L., January 5, 1878; and Annie, August 5, 1881. Our subject was first a soklier in the Ninety-eighth Illi- nois Infantry, but was transferred to the Sixty-fourth Regiment, with which he served to the end of the war. In 1866, he was con verted. and united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. received under care of the McLin Presbytery in October, 1868, li- censed as a probationer in 1871, and or- dained to the whole work of ministry in Sep- tember, 1875, in Fairfield (Albion Presby - tery), where. with the exception of nine months, he has remained pastor to the pres- ent time. Mr. Murray is a minister of great energy, untiring in his labors, and has prob- ably received more members into his church in Wayne County during his pastorate than any other minister. His style is that of the fathers, and one that will attract attention in any community. He has twice been a delegate to the general assembly of his church. Being very popular, his party, in 1882, placed him in the fieldl as a candidate for Treasurer of Wayne County, and, with a strong party majority against him and one of the strongest men in the county as a com- petitor, he came within eight votos of being elected. He has a grand field of usefulness before him as a minister, and, if he lives to be old, will, in all probability, be a promi- nent factor in the history of his church.

NEWTON J. ODELL, grain-dealer. Fair- field, son of Joseph and Elizabeth Odell. of Barnhill Township, was born in Wayne Coun- ty, Ill., in February, 1840, and was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools of the country. Like so many others of Wayne County's noble men, he responded to the call of the Government by enlisting in Company H, Fifty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in

January, 1862. For two years he was a non- commissioned officer in his company, and was mustered ont in August, 1865, with the com- mission of First Lieutenant, having re-en- listed at the expiration of three years. He participated in much of active service, in- chiding the siege and battle of Corinth, Miss., siege of Vicksburg, battle of Mission Ridge and many other engagements, partici- pating in the grand review at Washington, and was mustered out at Little Rock, Ark. Returning to Wayne County, he followed farming one year, and in the fall of 1866 was elected to the office of County Sheriff, and was the first Republican Sheriff ever elected in the county. For the next five or six years he was engaged in merchandising with J. W. Tullis. He was married, in Fair- field, Ill., February 3, 1871, to Frances Shaeffer, daughter of William and Maria Shaeffer, of Fairfield. She was born in Wayne County, Il., January 31, 1851. They have had two children, one of whom is de- ceased. Dellos Odell was born October 3, 1875; Mary Odell, born January 22, 1877, and died February 17, 1882. Mr. Odell is an advocate of temperance, and a member of R. T. of T. and of the Christian Church. His wife is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is now and for some years has been engaged in the grain trade at Fairfield.

JAMES C. OVERBEE. retired, Fairfield, was born in Allen County, Ky., April 22, 1820, and is a son of James and Lucretia (Wade) Overbee. The father was of Scotch descent, and was born a few days after the coming of his parents to the United States. He grew to manhood in Virginia, and about 1800 he wes married to Miss Wade, who was a native of that State. He fought in the war of 1812, and afterward moved to Ken- tucky, where the family resided until the

BIOGRAPHICAL:

year 1827. In that year, the father, attract- ed by the promises of Edward Maxey, who was then a settler of Jefferson County, Ill., brought his family to that county. He was not permitted to enjoy the pleasures and pri- vations of the new territory long, but died two years after his arrival there, and the mother died in that county in the fall of 1835. James C. is the eighth of a family of ten children, and the only one now living. He grew to manhood near Mt. Vernon, Jef- ferson County, and resided in that county until 1856, when he came to Wayne County. In this county he farmed for a number of years, and in 1870 he came to Fairfield, where he has since resided. Mr. Overbee was married in Jefferson County in October, 1841, to Miss Eleanor MeRight, a native of Kentucky. Three children resulted from this marriage-Mary E., wife of C. Hall, of Fairfield; Sarah L., wife of Daniel Green, of Elm River Township; and John F., de- ceased. This lady died January 25, 1845, in Jefferson County. and subject was married the second time, in Wayne County, on June 25, 1845, to Jane A. McNeely, a daughter of Robert and Rebecca McNeely, the father of Scotch descent, the mother of German. She was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, on February 14, 1827, and is the mother of the following children: Emily C., wife of James Ewing, of Logan County, Ill .; Caroline, wife of Finnis Ewing. of same county; George W .. Charles R., both in business in Fairfield: Margaret A., wife of John Tribe; Rebecca J., Ella, and James C., Jr. In 1846, he became a member of Third Illinois Regiment, under Col. Foreman, and served under that command until the close of the Mexican war, and was mustered out at the expiration of his term of service. Among the battles in which he participated were those of Monterey, Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo

and others of less importance. In the late war, he also helped to organize several corps, and was occupied in military service until 1864. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity. also of the Grand Army of the Re- public, and for forty-three years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

OLIVER P. PATTERSON, the present County Treasurer and popular boot and shoe merchant of Fairfield, was born May 25, 1838, and is a son of Richard M. Patterson and Rachel Fleming. He grew to manhood in his native State, West Virginia, and when nineteen years old went from home and spent several years in various parts of the West. He came to Fairfield in 1861, since which time he has been principally engaged in merchandising, and is now proprietor of an extensive boot and shoe store on South street. He was elected to the office of Coun- ty Treasurer, on the Democratic ticket, in 1882. Married in Fairfield, Ill., in 1868, to Miss Nannie Carter, daughter of Charles Carter, of Fairfield. She was born April 9. 1847. He is an A. F. & A. M., and an A. O. U. W.

ERASMUS W. PENDLETON, retired, Fairfield. son of Samuel C. Pendleton, was born November 13, 1834. in Warren County, Ky. His father, who was so long and favorably known in Wayne County, was born in Vir- ginia in 1811, and when a young man re- moved to Kentucky, where, in 1833, he was married to a lady whose maiden name was Eliza Covington. She was born in Kentucky in 18OS, and was first married to a man named John Whitlock, by whom she had one son, Dr. Whitlock, formerly a practicing physician in Fairfield. Her husband having died, she next married Elijah Mansfield. They had one child, a daughter, Susan, wife of David K. Felix, of Barnhill Township. This husband also died, and she was married

CITY OF FAIRFIELD.

to Samuel C. Pendleton, as above stated. This marriage, as in former ones, resulted in the birth of one child, whose name heads this sketch. They came to Wayne County in the spring of 1840 and bought a farm, in Barnhill Township, where they spent the re- mainder of their useful lives. Samuel C. Pendleton was an ordained minister in the Missionary Baptist Church, and led a life characterized for honesty and Christian de- votion. He died on the 11th of November, 1875, his wife having died September 27, 1873. Erasmus W. received such education- al advantages as could be obtained in the pi- oneer schools of the country, and has devoted his time to the pursuits of the farm until re- moving to Fairfield in 1875, and still owns several hundred acres of land. He was mar- ried in 1861 to Miss Lucretia Murphy, daugh- ter of Jeremiah and Ann (Harl) Murphy. She was born in Barnhill Township Septem- ber 4, 1840. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton are members of the Baptist Church, which they honor by their useful and pious lives. Mr. Pendleton is a member of the A. O. U. W., and is esteemed by all who know him as an honorable, enterprising citizen. Their union has been blessed with seven children, but the reaper, Death, has five times visited their household, each time conveying upon his cold bosom one of their jewels. Elmer W. was born March 7, 1862, and died Sep- tember 21, 1879; Mary, born May 5, 1863, died September 9, 1865; Laura, born De- cember 15, 1865; Cora, born July 14, 1868, died September 11, 1879; Clara Bell. born May 13, 1870, died August 1, 1879; Wil. burn, born May 13, 1873, died May 3, 1874; and Samuel Thomas Pendleton, born July 19, 1877.

WILLIAM H. PORTERFIELD, retired; Fairfield. Biography may seek to illuminate its subjects with more brilliant achievements,

and romance may furnish more thrilling pict- ures and greater variety of exciting advent- ures, but there is nothing as directly inter- esting to the family as the simple history of the lives of William H. Porterfield and Eliz- abeth M. Wall. The former was born in Westmoreland County, Penn .. February 28, 1830, but moved with his parents, when quite young, to Armstrong County. His boyhood was spent on the slopes of the Alleghany Mountains, and among the rugged hills which embrace the great coal mines, oil wells and iron foundries of the " Keystone State." His father was a poor but industrious farmer, who gained for his family a decent living by the sweat of his brow, and although he had to encounter many misfortunes and disadvan- tages, he, together with the assistance of the willing hands of wife and children, managed to keep their heads above want. But as the crowded and growing population of the East afforded few advantages to the poor man, and as his opportunities for providing for the fut- ure welfare of his family were limited, he decided to remove to the " Prairies of the Golden West." Consequently a home was selected in Wayne County, Ill, and later a permanent home was purchased near the present site of Mt. Erie, where, though they had the inconveniences of frontier life with which to contend, they enjoyed a sufficient degree of prosperity to enable them to live comfortably. Here in their Western home, many both happy and sad seasons were spent by the family of John Porterfield. Though many changes have taken place in the old homestead, and death has claimed its portion of its occupants, including the parents, it is still owned by a younger brother, James T. Porterfield. William H. had reached the age of nineteen, when the family removed to Il- linois. He had received a liberal common school education, sufficient to enable him to

BIOGRAPHICAL:

teach the rural districts. But little of his time was spent in this way, the labors of the farın claiming the greater portion of his time, and the toil and hardship incident to pioneer farm life eminently fitted him for this call- ing in later years, and supplied him with the necessary energy to insure his future success. Elizabeth M. Wall was born in Daviess County, Ky., February 1, 1836. Her father was like. wise possessed of small fortune, and longing to live in a free State and to otherwise better his condition, in obtaining for his family a home, he severed the ties to the "Old Ken- tucky Shore," and settled in Wayne County, Ill., in 1850, near where the Porterfield fam- ily had located in the same year. William H. Porterfield and Elizabeth M. Wall were married on the 30th of November. 1854. They still live to comfort each other in the decline of life, and have surrounded them- selves with a host of ardent friends, who love them for their many virtues. Their family consists of Melvin W., born September 6, 1855; W. Clem, born March 28, 1858; Laura E., born September 22, 1860; Luella, born April 1, 1863: Mary I., born April 19, 1866; Joe, born January 31, 1869, and an infant, deceased. Mr. Porterfield, in August, 1862, enlisted in Company D, Eighty-seventh Illi- nois Regiment, and served as an officer in that organization until discharged in July, 1865. He participated in the siege of Vicks- burg and the Red River expedition. Four of the children have engaged in the county as teachers. The older sons, M. W. and W. C., were educated at Ladoga, Ind., the former graduating in the class of 1878. Since 1880, they have engaged in the drng trade at Fair- field, and are now associated with William N. Lasley, and are enjoying a lucrative patronage, which they evidently merit. The entire family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Fairfield, Ill., where

the parents have recently moved for retire. ment.

LEWIS J. RIDER, miller, Fairfield, is a son of Sylvester and Ann F. Rider, for- merly of Wayne County, and now of Flora, Ill. He was born August 11, 1837, in Stark County, Ohio. He came to Wayne County when a boy of seven years, since which time he has continued a resident of the county. He was reared on the farm of his father near Fairfield, and had only the advantages of limited schooling, when the schools were very inferior, and yet he is a very practical man and noted for business ability. He was mar- ried to Miss Ruth A. Montgomery, daughter of Daniel and Alice Montgomery. She was born October 22, 1831, in Ohio. Their fam- ily consists of Harriet A., born August 26, 1860; Bernard M., born March 9, 1863, and Mary Mand Rider, born December 7, 1867. The entire family are members of the Cath- olie Church of Fairfield. Mr. Rider is an extremely active worker in the cause of tem- perance, and is respected by all for his many good qualities, especially for his many free- will offerings to the worthy poor in his midst. He is Democrat in politics, and a member of the firm of Rider Bros., of Fairfield (see his- tory of " Sucker Mills"). Carroll B. Rider, a younger brother of A. B. and L. J. Rider, and a resident of Fairfield, was born in Wayne County, Ill., July 21, 1854. He was educated at St. Vincent's College of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and married May 11, 1880. to Hattie E., daughter of Willlam H. and Anna E. Vandewater. She was born in St. Louis August 25, 1858. Their children are Anna Cecelia. born September 4, 1881, and Luke Alexius Rider, born December 12.1882.

ALEXIUS B. RIDER, miller. junior member of the firm of Rider Bros., Fair- field. Ill., is a son of Sylvester and Ann F. Rider. well and favorably known in

CITY OF FAIRFIELD.

Wayne County. A. B. Rider was born in this county on October 10, 1845, and was reared principally upon the farm. He at- tended the common schools of the county until about grown, when he went to St. Louis, and there attended college for one year. In 1867, the Sucker Mill was built, and he became its part owner, since which time he has been a resident of Fairfield. Here he was married to Lucinda A. Fleming, May 29, 1871. She was born June 9, 1850, in Virginia, and is a daughter of Zadoc Fleming and Emma Rowell. Her mother died in Virginia, and her father removed to Wayne County, Ill., in 1862, and died in Fairfield on September 21, 1874. They have two children-Edward F. Rider, born De- cember 14, 1875; Clara Rider, born October 4, 1880. The family are honored members of the Catholic Church of Fairfield, and by upright lives and generous deeds have won the respect of a large circle of ardent friends. (For biography of parents, see biographical department of Clay County.)

NATHAN E.ROBERTS. JR., druggist, Fair- field. One of the earliest pioneer settlers of Wayne County was Archibald Roberts, who came to Illinois from Virginia in 1818. By trade he was a hatter, at which he worked but little after coming to this county, occupying himself with the pursuits of the farm. He was a zealous Christian man, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. in which he sustained the relation of local preacher. He had a family of ten children, of whom but two are now living. Nathan E. Roberts, Sr .. was the eldest of this family, and was born in 1808 in Virginia. He married. in Wayne County, about 1826. to Mary Bovee, who was born in the State of New York in 1809. They made their first settlement within the present limits of Jasper Township. but later entered a tract of land in Leech Township,

where they remained until 1859, when they removed to Union Prairie Township, which continued to be his home until his death. Nathan E. Roberts was, in politics, a leading Republican, and like his father, was a Meth. odist minister; professionally. a physician, and died suddenly while on a trip in Kan- sas in 1869. His wife still survives, and now resides with her son, J. Roberts. They had also ten children, the subject of these lines, Nathan E. Roberts, Jr., being the ninth. He was born in Wayne County April 26, 1849, and was chiefly reared in the village of Johnsonville, where he attended the public schools. After a brief experience as a teach- er. he came to Fairfield in 1870, and en- gaged in the drug business, which he con- tinnes with fair success. Owns a good store building, which he erected in 1873, at a cost of about $4,000. N. E. Roberts was mar- ried, in Fairfield, January 18, 1872, to Han nah Rea. She was born June, 1849, in Ohio, but descends from Scotch ancestry. Her parents, Madison and Elizabeth Rea, came to Wayne County about 1862, and settled in Indian Prairie, near Blue Point, where they died. Mr. Roberts family consists of three children. viz., LaRue, born May 21, 1873; Dollie, born November 26, 1877, and Kath- leen. N. E. Roberts is a member of the Fairfield Lodge, No. 206, F. & A. M .; Fair- field Chapter, No. 179, R. A. M .; Gorin Commandery, No. 14, K. T., and Peoria Con- sistory, S. . P .: R .. S .:

W. H. ROBINSON, lawyer, Fairfield, was born in Lawrence County, Ill .. on January 31, 1837, and is a son of I. B. and Elizabeth (Curry) Robinson. The grandfather of our subject. Squire Robinson, was a native of Virginia, and was a minister of the Method- ist Episcopal Church for forty-eight years. He emigrated to Lexington County, Ky., and there the father of our subject was born.

BIOGRAPHICAL:

The former moved afterward to Lawrence County, Ill., where he died at the age of eighty-four. The father, who was a farmer, came to this State in 1834, and settled in Lawrence County. He is now living, at the age of seventy-nine, in Marion County. The mother of our subject was a daughter of James T. and Anna (Mounts) Curry, and was born in Indiana in 1812. The father was a native of Ireland, and Anna Mounts, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of Thomas Mounts, a native of Virginia, and a soldier of the Revolution. The old gentleman lived to be about one hundred years old, and one of the heirlooms of the family is a gold- headed cane presented to him by Gen. Craw- ford, for some signal act of bravery per- formed in that sanguinary conflict. The mother of our subject was the mother of nine children, of whom three are now living - Mrs. Matilda Waters, Mrs. Caroline Russell and our subject, and died January 10, 1879. Mr. Robinson received a slight education from the common schools of Southeastern Illinois, but is mainly what may be called a self-made inan. In early life, he worked on a farm, until he was eighteen, and then com- menced the study of law in the office of Charles A. Beecher, of Fairfield, he having come to Wayne County with his parents in 1843. He was admitted to the bar in 1860, and immediately began the practice of his profession in this circuit. In January, 1861, he was elected Journal Clerk of the Illinois Legislature, but resigned the position in April of the same year. He enlisted in Com- pany G, of the Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was immediately elected Sec- ond Lieutenant, but upon reaching camp was detailed by Capt. U. S. Grant to act as Adjutant of the regiment. This position he occupied until November, 1861, when he was honorably discharged by the regimental sur-

geon on account of disability. Upon his return home, he resumed the practice of law, and ever since has devoted his entire time to that profession, except when called upon by the people to accept some office of trust and profit. In 1864, he was a delegate from the Eleventh Congressional District of Illinois, to National Republican Convention, held at Baltimore, and assisted in the nomination of Lincoln. He was also a delegate to the Re- publican Convention at Chicago, in 1868, which nominated Grant. In 1870, he was nominated for Congress in the Thirteenth District, against Judge S. S. Marshall. In 1872, he acted as Presidential Elector. and was a delegate in 1876 to the Cincinnati Convention. He served as railroad and ware- house Commissioner of the State from Feb- ruary, 1881, until March, 1883. Subject has done quite a good deal for the improvement of this county. In Fairfield, he owns sev- eral valuable pieces of property, and has erected the finest residence in the city. He was the first proprietor of the land upon which the town of Cisne now stands, and by his direction the village was platted off. and the town named from an old citizen. In the county he also owns some 1,600 acres. At present, he is the senior member of the firm of Robinson, Boggs & John (established in 1871). Mr. Robinson was married, in Fair- field, Ill., on November 20, 1864. to Miss Eliza Julia Smith, who was born in Albion. Ill., in 1845. This lady is the daughter of Moses and Anna (Stone) Smith, natives of England, and the mother of five children, viz., William H., Jr., born November 11. 1865; Edward S., born February 20, 1869: Charles Dickens, born February 14, 1871. Anna E. and Mary A. are deceased. Mrs. Robinson is a member of the Episcopal Church. Subject is a member of the Royal Arch Masons and the I. O. O. F. fraternities

CITY OF FAIRFIELD.

of Fairfield. It is needless to say that Mr. Robinson is a stalwart of the stalwarts in the Republican party, and his devotion to his party is well known throughout Southern Illinois.

THOMAS M. ROGERS, physician, Fair- field, was born in Ohio County, Ky., on the 15th of Angust, 1830. He is the oldest of a family of eight children born to Samnel R. and Sarah (Morgan) Rog- ers, both of whom were natives of Ken- tucky, but of Scotch- Irish descent, whose ancestors were first represented in America in the latter part of the seventeenth century. They removed to Wayne County, Ill .. in 1852 or 1853, and settled in the western part. but soon after came to Fairfield, where, in 1855, the mother died. The father re- moved to his farm in Hickory Hill Township, where he died some years later. Dr. Thom. as MI. Rogers is the oldest of their family, of whom seven are still living. He grew to manhood iu Kentucky, meanwhile attending the common schools, after which he attended college two years in Lebanon, Ky. He then began the study of medicine, teaching school at intervals to support himself while so doing. He attended one course of lectures at the University of Ann Arbor. Mich., in 1857, af- ter which he began the practice of his pro- fession. In 1863, he entered the Ohio Med- ical College, receiving the degree conferred by that institution the following year. He then entered on what proved to be a very successful practice of sixteen years' duration in Johnson- ville, Wayne County. In 1875, he removed to Fairfield, where he now enjoys a lucrative practice. He married, in 1857, in Ohio. to Martha E. Haines. She was born in Greene County, Ohio, in 1834. Their family con- sists of Charles F., Robert E., Araminta May and Clara Bell Rogers, the first two of whom are deceased. He is a member of the

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History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 62

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 704

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : Globe Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 704