History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 86

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 86
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 86

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mission of First Lieutentant of his company, having proven himself a good soldier and a competent and faithful officer. He partici pated in a great portion of the most earnest service of the war, was in the engagement at Chattanooga, siege of Atlanta and the At- lanta campaign, and was with Gen. Sherman on his memorable march to the sea. He is a practical business man, having had an ex- tensive experience in mercantile life. He now controls an extensive house on the cor- ner of Main street and North avenue, carry- ing a $10,000 stock of general goods, includ- ing a complete stock of dry goods. clothing, boots and shoes. While Flora is favored with a number of deserving merchants, we believe none are more deserving than Mr Jay Kenner, and a casual survey of his stock is all that is necessary to convince one that he possesses the business ability to anticipate and supply the wants of the public. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic and of the Christian Church.

JOSEPH LUSE, of the firm of Warner & Luse, Flora, Ill., was born June 13, 1824, in Washington County, Penn. While he was yet a child, his parents, Daniel and Susan (Hartley) Luse, removed to Ohio and settled in Guernsey County, where he grew to man- hood, being reared upon the farm and edu- cated in the common schools. He was mar- ried, November 10, 1847, in Guernsey County, to Miss Elizabeth Starr, daughter of James and Catherine (Hiskett) Starr. She was born, July 4, 1827, in Guernsey County, Ohio. Mr. Luse continued on the farm in Ohio until the fall of 1864, when, having completed a term of enlistment in the military service, he removed his family . to Illinois, and settled in Harter Township, Clay County. He here prosecuted his farm- ing interest until coming to Flora, in 1881, and still owns a landed interest of several

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hundred acres. Since coming to Flora he has engaged in an extensive mercantile busi- ness, associated with C. H. Warner. His family are Sarah C., wife of Ed Higginson; Susan M., wife of Samuel Finley; Mary E., wife of L. Sheehan; William A. (deceased); John M .; Cynthia A., and Matilda, both of whom died in infancy; Linna, wife of R. L. Stanford: James S. (deceased); Joseph E., Alice and Charles L. Luse. Mr. Luse is an Elder in the Christian Church, of which Mrs. Luse is also an honored member.

STEPHEN J. MAJOR, proprietor of the Major House, Flora, Ill., is a son of H. R. Major, one of the most venerable of Flora's citizens. Stephen J. was born in Defiance, Defiance Co., Ohio, April 29, 1840, where he attained the age of fourteen, when he came with his parents to Illinois. They settled in Richland County, from whence they came to Flora in 1859. At that time S. J. engaged in hotel and livery business, which he continued until 1862, when he went to California to work at mining. In the latter part of 1863, he returned, and for two years was engaged in the mercantile trade. In 1865, he again resumed the hotel business which he has con - tinned successfully ever since. He then be- gan in a small frame building on the north side of North avenue, which has since been removed. In 1872, the main building of the present elegant building was erected. This building is of brick, three stories high and contains fifty-four rooms. In 1882, the two-story addition was built, the whole costing $22,000. Mr. Major is in politics a Republican. He is a member of Flora Lodge, No. 204, A., F. & A. M., Flora Chapter, No. 154, R. A. M., and the Gorin Commandery, No. 14, K. T. He was mar- ried in 1866 to Miss Carrie Peake, daughter of William Peake, of Clay County. She was born in Ohio in 1842. They have two children, Harry S. and Mary Major.

WILL A. MOORE. There are probably none of the many worthy citizens of Clay County more worthy of mention in these pages than he whose name heads this sketch. He was born in the year 1851 in the city of Baltimore, Md., where his childhood days were passed, but at an early age removed to Salem, Ill., where he learned the art of printing, soon acquiring a proficiency in the " art preservative." He then went West, as he says, " to grow up with the country," and while in Missouri was for five years employed on the Herald of Rolla, Mo. From the lat- ter place he went to St. Louis, and was for four years engaged on the Globe- Democrat. He returned to Illinois and located in Louis- ville, Clay County, where he engaged for eight years in a successful mercantile busi- ness, associated with his father, Henry Moore, now of Missouri. Mr. Moore now occupies the very important position of teller in the First National Bank of Flora, Ill., a position which he fills with marked ability, and with perfect satisfaction to all concerned. While he has been very successful in these various pursuits, he appears to manifest a decided preference for journalism, and is an excep- tionally good printer, and looks forward with pleasurable anticipation of some time in the future editing a paper which will be a new departure in journalism. Possessing as he does to a remarkable degree the merit of honor and personal responsibility, he is des- tined to prove successful in the future as in the past, and we point with pride to him as an example after which other young men may safely follow. We conclude this sketch, rendered only too brief, but regard it like many others, as forming one of the brightest paragraphs in the history of Clay County.

JAMES G. NEFF, son of George and Eleanor (McCrary) Neff, was born May 16, 1832, in Lawrence County. Ohio, and came

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with his parents to Clay County, Ill., in 1849. His father, George Neff, was born in 1789, in Brownstown, Penn., and the mother was born in South Carolina in 1796. They both came to Ohio in early life, and were there married. George Neff was a practical farmer, and on settling in Clay County en- tered a large amount of land, consisting of 4,000 acres, and became a wealthy man, leaving a large estate at his death, which oc- curred on the 8th of December, 1863. His wife, Eleanor Neff, died October 2, 1855. They were members of the Baptist Church, and were prominent in establishing that society in this county, their house affording a place of worship, before the erection of any public church building. They left a host of ardent friends, and had a family of nine children, some of whom are now among the honored citizens of Clay and Wayne Counties. James G., whose name heads this sketch, is the seventh member of this family, of whom five are now deceased. He was married in Scioto County, Ohio, March 7, 1867, to Mrs. E. B. Wolcott, wid- ow of Henry Wolcott, and daughter of John B. Richart, of Ohio. She was born in Ohio. William E. Wolcott, of Chicago, is the only child of the first marriage. James G. and E. B. Neff have two children, viz., John B., born January 10, 1868, and Sarah Edna Neff, born February 29, 1876. They are members of the Baptist Church, and own a quantity of valuable real estate in the town of Flora.

GEN. LEWIS B. PARSONS.

In presenting to the people of Wayne and Clay Counties the name of Gen. L. B. Parsons, we feel our inability to do justice to him, and will content ourselves by standing aside and allowing some of his friends to speak for us -friends of whom any man may feel a par- donable pride. Space will not permit us to

insert the many letters of just commendation shown the writer, and we give in the brief space at our command sufficient to show the merits of his public service and adminis- trative ability.

The following is from the Constitution and Union, May, 1880:

THE GOVERNORSHIP.

GEN. LEWIS B. PARSONS PRESENTED TO THE ILLI- NOIS DEMOCRACY AS A SUITABLE NOMINEE FOR GOVERNOR.

THE RECORD OF A STERLING MAN.

[Eagle (Ill. Constitution and Union.]

The time has come when it is proper to speak out more strongly than heretofore in favor of Gen. Lewis B. Parsons, of Clay County, as the best man to lead the Demo- cratic State ticket in the contest this year. There are many gentlemen of eminent quali- fications for the place in various parts of the State, among whom, it is generally admitted, Gen. Parsons has a prominent position, and circumstances, we think, when fairly con- sidered, especially point him out at the pres- ent time as the safest and best man to lead our ticket.

In Southern and Central Illinois. Gen. Parsons has, for many years, been so well known as to render any words in his favor unnecessary; but as he has ever declined to seek or hold political positions, he is not so well known in other sections. It seems, therefore, proper to say a few words, that we may in this most important campaign arrive at a wise conclusion in regard to the inan most sure to lead to success, and who, if elected, will secure a good administration.

Democrats through the State are divided by hopes of success and fear of defeat. If elected, Gen. Parsons will make a fearless,

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prudent and efficient officer. If defeated, no through the whole of that struggle. Gen. honest man will regret or be ashamed of hav- Parsons entered Yale College in 1836. His father having suffered severely by the finan- cial revulsion in 1837, he was obliged to struggle for an education under great diffi- culties, his pecuniary embarrassment com- pelling him to spend much of his time the last two years out of college in teaching. Yet, by his energy and industry, he main- tained his position and graduated with repu- tation in his class in 1840. In order to dis- charge debts incurred in college, and obtain funds to enable him to pursue his profession, he taught a classical school in Mississippi for two years, evincing those traits of energy, honesty and prudence, which not only then met with a just reward, but which have char- acterized him through his successful life. Entering Harvard Law School, then presided over by Justice Story and Prof. Greenleaf, in 1842, he pursued his studies till the spring of 1844, when, turning his steps westward, he landed in St. Louis in March of that year, with funds only sufficient to pay a dray- man to take his baggage to a hotel, a good library, for which he owed $600, a determined will, and an honest purpose to succeed ; but with ne friend or acquaintance on whom to call for aid within hundreds of miles. Less than twenty years after, the same man had been the General Manager of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, one of the greatest com- mercial arteries leading to the same city, and had been for years engaged in directing the transportation of great armies, with all their supplies, animals and munitions, during a long war of the greatest magnitude, controlling by his single will, under the general order of the Secretary of War, all the vast means and modes of transportation, not only of all the rivers and railroads of the West, but of the entire country. Such are the changes of our country and time! ing voted for him. The fact that Gen. Par sons has for months persistently refused to heed the solicitations of his friends to allow the use of his name as a candidate for Gov- ernor is well known; and any one visiting his farm and beautiful home, knowing his love for agricultural pursuits, and his dislike of the turmoil of political strife, which has repeatedly led him to decline important posi- tions, can well understand the cause. But it seems now generally understood that while Gen. Parsons will enter into no wrangling competition to secure the nomination, yet acting on the advice of men whose only aini is to secure the best interests of the State, he will accept should the Democratic Con- vention on the 10th of June so decide, and enter upon the campaign, which with him would mean a full and complete organization of the State, and a thoroughly business-like canvass, from the morning after the nomina- tion to the evening after the election. Gen. Parsons is a native of New York, born in 1818. His earlier years were mostly spent in his father's country store, in St. Lawrence County, the home of Mr. Silas Wright, of the purity and simplicity of whose private life he has ever been a great admirer. On his father's side, he comes from the old Mas- sachusetts stock, which emigrated to that State from England nearly two and a half centuries ago; and on his mother's side from the equally well-known Hoar family of the same State. His father, a man of rare energy, business capacity and public spirit, was the founder of the flourishing college in Iowa bearing his name, and for the endow- ment of which he gave a large fund. Gen. Parsons' grandfathers, both on the paternal and maternal sides, served in the Revolu- tionary war, one as an officer of distinction

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LAWYER AND RAILROAD MANAGER.

Mr. Parsons soon after reaching St. Louis went to Alton and became the partner of Newton D. Strong, an eminent lawyer and a brother of Judge Strong, of the United States Supreme Court. The firm did a large and successful business till Mr. Strong left the State, when Mr. Parsons formed a part- nership with Judge Henry W. Billings, afterward a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1869, a gentleman known and esteemed as widely as his early and sad death was lamented. In 1853, Mr. Parsons left Alton and became the legal adviser of the great banking house of Page & Bacon, then engaged in constructing the Ohio & Missis- sippi Railroad, at the same time purchasing the land on which he has since made the large farm on which he now resides. On the suspension of the banking house of Page & Bacon, Messrs. Aspinwall and associates took possession of the railroad, retaining Mr. Parsons as the General Western Manager. The work was completed far in advance of the contract time, eminently to the satisfac- tion of all parties. In the various positions of Attorney, Treasurer, General Manager, Di- rector and President of this road for a quar- ter of a century, he has discharged his duties so as to secure the perfect confidence of all parties and the public · in his integrity, energy and capacity, and though he has long since parted with all pecuniary interest in the road, he is still retained in the direc- tory. In 1860, Gen. Parsons resigned his official position with a view of rest and a European tour; but, like other sagacious men, perceiving the country was on the brink of a civil war, he resolved to stay at home and serve the nation. Soon after the com- mencement of the war, Gen. George B. Mc- Clellan, who, as Vice President of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, had known Gen.

Parsons and his abilities, offered him a posi- tion under him in the East, which was at once accepted, and he proceeded thither.

Early satisfied that the field and the West best suited his taste, Gen Parsons obtained an order to report to St. Louis, with a view to raising a regiment. On arriving there, Gen. Curtis, commanding the department, placed him on a commission with Captain, now Lieutenant General, Sher- idan, to investigate the afairs connected with Gen. Fremont's administration, which soon led to the celebrated Holt- Davis commission of greater civil powers. In the meantime, Gen. Halleck having taken command, and finding nothing but disorder and confusion in the transportation service-that it was conducted utterly regardless of system or economy-was inefficient, and the source of endless complaints by the railroads who neither knew whose order to obey, nor how to obtain compensation due them, learning of Gen. Parsons' experience and abilities, ob. tained an order from the Secretary of War placing him on his staff as aid de camp. with rank of Colonel, and gave him entire charge of railroad and river transportation. To one like Col. Parsons, accustomed to organize and direct the efforts of large bodies of men and the movements of large quantities of material, the pending difficulties were of easy solution, and he accepted the situation with a cheerful confidence which was amply vin- dicated by the results, and which soon brought order and harmony out of chaos and confusion. Introducing a few simple well- detined rules, combining uniformity with responsibility, and efficiency with economy, a revolution was at once effected most satis- factory to the Government officers and the railroads performing service, so that they as well as all river navigation became part of a single, central system, acting not only with

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power and efficiency but with unsurpassed economy. Such success gained the entire confidence of the Government, and Col. Parsons' authority soon became complete and co-extensive with the valley west of the Alle- ghanies, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Indian wars, two thousand miles up the Yellowstone, as also the Upper Mississippi. In 1863, the Secretary of War ordered Col. Parsons to Washington, but revoked the order on his tendering his resignation rather than leave the West. In 1864, however, on an imperative order of the Secretary he took charge of the bureau of rail and river trans- portation for the entire country, and in a brief period he perfected a complete organi- zation and introduced rules, regulations and forms which were made the basis of action for that important department.

While in that position he, in person, effect. ed a movement pronounced by Secretary Stanton as well as by high English and French military authorities as without a parallel in the movement of armies, and on the result of which President Lincoln ordered his promotion to a full Brigadier, viz., the transfer of the Twenty-third Army Corps of 20,000 men, with all its artillery and animals, from Clinton, Tenn., to the Potomac, in the brief space of eleven days, a distance of over 1.400 miles in mid-winter, over mount- ains and through rivers obstructed by snow and ice and by broken-down railroads, sub- ject to guerrilla incursions, all without the loss of life or property.

It is a singular fact that though so suc- cessful in all respects. Col. Parsons twice tendered his resignation in order to raise a regiment for active field service, which was as it should have been. imperatively declined by the Secretary of War. Happening to be present at the first attack on Vicksburg, he tendered his services and acted as volunteer

aid to Gen. Sherman, and subsequently acted in like capacity on Gen. McClernand's staff at the battle and capture of Arkansas Post, where, if not the first, he was among the first to enter the fortification, and for which he received special notice from the commanding officers. Soon after the snr- render of Lee, Gen. Parsons tendered his resignation, his private business imperatively requiring his attention, but was detained by the Secretary of War for many months to aid in important service. The same firmness. energy and economy have distinguished Gen. Parsons equally in public and private life. and evinced his superior organizing and administrative abilities.

There is upon record abundant evi- dence from the highest authority-from such men as President Lincoln, Gens. Grant, Sherman and Schofield, Judges David Davis, Trumbull, E. B. Washburne, and a host of others-of most meritorious service, all agreeing that Gen. Parsons' ad- ministration saved millions to the Govern- ment.

As early as September 13, 1863, that most able and excellent officer. Gen. Robert Allen, then Col. Parson's superior, in writing the Secretary of War, asking for Col. Parsons' pro- motions, among other things said: " Having had charge of that most important branch of the service-steamboat and railroad transpor- tation-his duties have been arduous, have been highly responsible, and he has dis- charged them with signal success and ability. His administration of his branch of the de- partment has been eminently satisfactory. No military movement in the West has failed or faltered for lack of transportation or sup- plies of any kind. The wants of armies in the field have been anticipated and met with alacrity and dispatch. If industry joined to capacity, and integrity to energy, all pos-

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sessed and duly exercised in the same person, entitled him to the advancement, then I may safely claim promotion for Col. Par- sons."

An equally strong statement was made by Gen. Grant in May, 1865, and the following is an extract from the New York Times, of July 20, of that year:

" No officer of the United States Army could speak with a more correct knowledge than did Gen. Parsons of the number and efficiency of the armies of the Union, for no one perhaps had more experience than he in their organi- zation, subsistence and handling. We vent- ure to say that if Secretary Stanton were called on to name the officer that more than any other had distinguished himself in the task of wielding the vast machinery of the Union armies during all the stages of the conflict in response to the plans and require- ments of our Generals, he would with little hesitation designate Gen. Lewis B. Parsons. It is to his matchless combination that must be attributed much of the efficiency and suc- cess that almost invariably marked every military movement in the West."

Soon after the war, Gen. Parsons spent two years abroad, visiting all parts of Europe and the Orient, seeking to regain his health, greatly impaired by over four years of inces- sant labor, he having been absent from duty but twenty-one days while in service. Dur- ing the war, while faithfully serving his country, he never wavered in his political faith. Beginning a Douglas War Democrat, he continued snch, though some of his friends firmly believed this long delayed his just promotion. Continuing since the war an earnest but conservative Democrat, he has never been drawn into any temporary political experiments, but has believed that there lay at the foundation of true Demo- cratic principles certain great truths which,

in time, would assert supreme power, and in their practical application restore the Gov- ernment to the simplicity, purity, economy and honesty of the better days of the Repub- lic. Believing such a man at the present time most likely to lead us to victory, Gen. Parsons' friends in Southern Illinois, where he has so greatly aided in restoring our Dem- ocratic majorities, ask all sections of the State to assist in his nomination and elec- tion, relying not only on his abilities as a public, speaker, but on his organizing abili- ties and great energy of character.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF U. S. } WASHINGTON, D. C., May 20, 1865. § DEAR GENERAL:

I have long contemplated writing you and ex- pressing my satisfaction with the manner in which you have discharged the very responsible and difficult duties of Superintendent of river and rail- road trausportation for the armies both in the West and East.

The position is second in importance to no other connected with the military service, and to have been appointed to it at the beginning of the war of the magnitude and duration of this one, and holding it to its close, providing transportation for whole armies, with all that appertains to them for thou- sands of miles, adjusting accounts involving millions of money, and doing justice to all, never delaying for a moment any military operations dependent on you, meriting and receiving the commendations of your superior officers, and the recognition of the Government for integrity of character, and for the able and efficient manner in which you have filled it, evidences an honesty of purpose, knowledge of men, business intelligence and executive ability of the highest order, and of which any man might be justly proud.

Wishing you a speedy return to health and duty, I remain, yours truly.

U. S. GRANT.

BRIG. GEN. LEWIS B. PARSONS, A. Q. M.

The following is a copy of the order of President Lincoln to the Secretary of War, au- thorizing the speedy promotion of Gen. Par- sons to the commission of Brigadier Gen- eral:

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EXECUTIVE MANSION, { WASHINGTON, March 17, 1865. 5 HON. SEC'Y OF WAR:

Dear Sir-I have long thought Col. Lewis B. Parsons ought to be promoted, and intended it should have becu sooner done. His long services and uniform testimony to the ability with which he has discharged his very responsible and extended duties render it but just and proper his services should be acknowledged, and more especially so since his great success in executing your order for the recent movement of troops from the West. You will therefore at once promote Col. Parsons to the rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers, if there is a vacancy which can be given to the Quarter- master's Department, and if not you will so promote him when the first vacancy occurs.

[Signed]

Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

M. H. PRESLEY. In representing to the readers of Clay County's history the man whose name heads this sketch, we feel incom- petent to do him justice. We fully realize that it is due the present as well as the future generations, that a record of noble men be faithfully preserved; not for the purpose of eulogizing those of whom we write, but to give those for whom we write the benefits of their noble example. It is said that "an honest man is the noblest work of God." This is more especially true because of the potent influence of their example, the emu- lation of which makes the world happier, and by making it happier makes it better. M. H. Presley was born in North Carolina in October, 1828, but grew to manhood in Smith County, Tenn., where his parents removed when he was but a child. His father, whose name was Valentine Presley, was born in 1790 in North Carolina, but descends from German parentage on the father's side, and Scotch-Irish on the side of his mother, whose name was Susan Morton, who was born in 1791 in Virginia. We are informed that the name Presley was originally Bressly, and the change was made as a matter of choice by Valentine, the father of M. H. Valen-

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History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois, Part 86

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