USA > Illinois > Christian County > Past and present of Christian County, Illinois > Part 24
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
In 1864 Mr. Powel was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah J. Young, who was born and reared in Montgomery county, Illi- nois, and died on the 4th of January, 1870; leaving three children, namely : Warren A., who married Lois Fox, a daughter of Dr. Fox, and is engaged in the plumbing busi- ness in Taylorville; and Harriet and Sarah J. Mr. Powell was again married Decem- ber 25, 1872, his second union being with Mrs. Emily (Palmer) Anderson.
Religiously Mr. Powel is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and fraternally has been identified with the Ma- sonic order at Taylorville since 1864. His political support is given the men and meas-
ures of the Republican party and he has taken an active interest in public affairs, serving as alderman and as a member of the school board. During the time of his resi- (lence in Springfield he lived next door to Abraham Lincoln and was a warm personal friend of the great man. He occupies a leading position in business circles and he to-day enjoys the reward of his industry.
G. F. BARRETT.
Among the wide-awake, energetic busi- ness men of Owaneco is numbered G. F. Barrett, whose activities cover many lines of business. He is especially well known as a grain dealer, and his watchfulness of busi- ness opportunities, his unfaltering persever- ance and his well known reliability are the elements which form the secret of his pros- perity.
Mr. Barrett was born in LaSalle county, Illinois, June 4, 1857, a son of Andrew and Margaret Barrett, both of whom were na- tives of Ireland. The hope of enjoying bet- ter privileges in the new world led them to cross the Atlantic to America and in the year 1869 they became residents of Christian county, establishing their home in Locust township, where they were identified with farming interests for a number of years. Through the exercise of his energy and cap- able management Mr. Barrett acquired a comfortable competence which now enables him to live a retired life, and he and his wife are now residents of Owaneco.
To the district school system of the state Mr. Barrett is indebted for the educational advantages which he enjoyed. His boyhood was devoted to his school work, to the labors of the fields upon the home farm and to the pleasures in which the boys of the period in-
188
PAST AND PRESENT
dulged. Thus passed the years and when he had attained his majority he started out in life on his own account by renting a tract of land on which he carried on general farm- ing until 1892. He then resolved to con- centrate his business energies in the village and took up his abode in Owaneco, where he was connected with the grain trade until January, 1904. He is the leading auctioneer in this section and has cried many important sales, so managing the disposal of property as to produce results that are satisfactory alike to seller and purchaser. His invest- ments are represented by financial interests in the Barrett Brothers harness shop, the J. B. Cole & Company tile and brickyard of Owaneco and The Metzger Hill Company, of which he is the president. This is a com- mission company of Cincinnati, Ohio. He also buys and sells stock and his varied in- terests are remunerative.
On the 21st of April, 1881, Mr. Barrett was united in marriage to Miss Emma C. Fry, a daughter of George Fry, of Shelby county. Two children grace this union : Alvin W., who is now a student in Cincin- nati, Ohio; and Walter, at home. Mrs. Bar- rett is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Barrett has membership re- lations with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor. In poli- tics he is an carnest Republican, deeply in- terested in the success of his party and well informed on the issues and questions of the day. He served as township collector for two years, two years as assessor, and was supervisor for four years, filling the latter position when the new courthouse was begun. Local advancement and national progress are causes dear to his heart and in citizenship as in business he is alert and en- terprising.
W. H. SHAW.
W. H. Shaw, who is engaged in the live stock business, making extensive purchases and sales, and who is recognized as one of the most enterprising and progressive citi- zens of Stonington, was born in Pickaway, Ohio, on the 12th of April. 1853. His par- ents were Samuel and Virginia Shaw. The father, a native of Franklin county, Ohio, became a veterinary surgeon, and in the year 1865 removed to Illinois, locating in Chris- tian county upon a farm. He took up his abode in Taylorville in 1881, where he en- gaged in the practice of his profession until 1895. In 1901 he removed to Ramsey, Illi- nois, where he has now lived retired for two years.
To the common school system of Chris- tian county Mr. Shaw is indebted for the educational privileges he enjoyed in his boy- hood. He was trained to farm work upon his father's farm, early becoming familiar with the labors of field and meadow, and he continued to assist in the operation of the old homestead until 1879, when he removed to Blue Mound, Macon county. There he began buying and shipping stock in 1881, and in 1896 he came to Stonington, where he continues in the same business, being now one of the largest buyers and shippers of the county. He is an excellent judge of stock and is therefore able to make judicious pur- chases and profitable sales. The extent of his business brings to him a good financial return and he has become, through his own efforts, one of the men of affluence in his community.
On the 12th of October. 1878, Mr. Shaw was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Rei- mer, a daughter of Richard Reimer, who was born near Akron, Ohio. Four children grace the union of our subject and his wife :
189
CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Maud, Otis, Cloyd and Eldo, aged respect- ively twenty-two, nineteen, sixteen and thir- teen years. The mother and daugh- ter belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Shaw has recently completed a beautiful home in Stonington, and he puts forth every effort in his power to enhance the happiness of his family. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the Odd Fellows society. While residing in Macon county he filled the office of collector of his town and is now serving as a member of the board of alder- men of Stonington.
HENRY M. GRAHAM.
Henry M. Graham, an honored and highly esteemed citizen of Rosemond, Illinois, was born on the 8th of April, 1835, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his parents being E. W. and Mary ( McIlhaney) Gra- ham, both natives of Pennsylvania. By oc- cupation the father was a railroad contrac- tor, and as such aided in the construction of the first road over the Alleghany mountains. He was a son of Alexander Graham, who was of Irish descent and a tailor by trade. Our subject's maternal grandfather. Henry McIlhaney, was also of Irish parentage and made farming his life work.
Henry M. Graham, of this review, is the fourth in order of birth in a family of eight children who reached man and womanhood and six of the number are still living. In early life he attended the common schools of Chester and Perry counties, Pennsylvania. It was his ambition to become a soldier, but finding this impossible at that time he ob- tained a position on a canal boat running be- tween Pittsburg and Columbia, Pennsylva- nia, across the Alleghany mountains, over which the boats were conveyed by trucks.
He was thus employed during the summer months from the age of thirteen until twenty years old.
In December, 1855, Mr. Graham came to Illinois and spent five years in Mercer county. In the meantime he was married in Pike county, this state, in September, 1859, to Miss Mary W. Ewing, who was born in Jefferson county, Illinois, December 2, 1840, a daughter of Alexander and Susan Ewing, and was eleven years old on the removal of the family to Pike county. By this union were born thirteen children, eight daughters and five sons, but the latter all died in infancy. The daughters are Mary C., now a resident of Jacksonville; Cora Isabel, wife of C. A. Covert, of Jasper county, Missouri : Laura Matilda, who was married March 31, 1889, to J. H. Klinefel- ter, of Webb City, Missouri; Ida Metta, who was married January 20, 1891, to P. M. Klinefelter, of Greenwood township, this county ; Lillian May, who was married Sep- tember 30, 1896, to J. A. Boyd, a merchant of Palmer, Christian county ; Nora H., who was married November 2, 1902, to E. D. Boyd, of Greenwood township; and Grace and Emma, both at home. The children have all had good educational advantages.
In the fall of 1860 Mr. Graham came to Christian county and settled on the prairie near where the Buckeye church now stands, leaving his wife and two children there when he entered the army during the Civil war. He enlisted in Rosamond township in Sep- tember, 1863, and remained in the service until hostilities ceased, being mustered out at San Antonio, Texas, on the 22d of No- vember, 1865. His was a frontier regiment and was under the command of General Merritt. On his return home Mr. Graham resumed farming and for twenty years he also engaged in shipping stock. In 1868 he
190
PAST AND PRESENT
took up his residence on section 16, Rosa- mond township-the school section-and to the improvement and cultivation of that farm he devoted his energies for many years. He erected all of the buildings and planted all of the trees now found thereon. Having decided to retire from active labor he sold that place and in October, 1902, re- moved to the village of Rosemond, occupy- ing one of the pioneer homes of the county, it having been built about 1854. Besides his residence he owns other town property.
Mr. Graham is the third oldest settler liv- ing in Rosamond township and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his com- munity. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife and children also belong and he assisted in building all of the churches in his and ad- joining townships. While residing on the farm he served as trustee and steward of the church with which he was connected. Fra- ternally he is an honored member of Pope Post, No. 411, G. A. R., of Pana, and polit- ically he is identified with the Republican party. He has been called upon to fill a number of positions of honor and trust. He was elected tax collector in 1866 and served in that capacity for nine years. He was also justice of the peace four years, supervisor two years and assessor two years, and he proved a most capable and trustworthy offi- cial.
ROBERT LITTLE.
Among the early settlers of central Illi- nois, it is hardly too much to say, that there was none who exercised throughout his life a stronger influence or has left a more enduring impression on the minds and hearts of his associates and acquaintances than Robert Little. He was born near the
village of Goffstown, New Hampshire, on the 25th of January, 1809, and was the third in a family of eight children, not one of whom now survive.
At the age of twenty-one years, moved by a desire to accomplish more than the op- portunities of his native village afforded, Mr. Little went to Brookline, then about three miles from Boston, Massachusetts, and for about ten years worked for wages in the employ of different citizens of that place. For years an attempt had been made by some of the Boston people to found a few settlement in what is now Montgomery county, Illinois, which should, in time, be- come the center of a new county. Mr. Lit- tle had heard and read much of Illinois and looked longingly that way. In Boston was a young man, enjoying the confidence of the Audubon Land Company, who intended to come to Illinois and he heard of a young man in Brookline who also talked of going thither and he paid the latter a visit and formed his acquaintance. The result of this interview was that John S. Hayward. Rob- ert Little and his friend William Pike started for Hillsboro, Illinois, in the fall of 1838, making the tedious voyage of the lakes and entering the boundary of the promised land at Chicago, proceeding thence by stage to Hillsboro, and from that point Mr. Little and his friend took passage by stage to the new settlement of Audubon. Liking the prospects, Mr. Little bought land and he and his friend built themselves a cabin in the woods and during the winter that followed cut down trees and split rails to fence the land. In the spring of 1839 they broke prairie and planted their first crop of corn, and during the summer cut and hauled to mill at Audubon the logs to be sawed into lumber for a house and before the frost had touched the leaves Mr. Little
Robert Little
193
CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
had a comfortable dwelling house to which he could welcome his future bride.
That fall he returned to New Hampshire and on the 30th of September, 1839, was married to Charlotte Pike. The newly mar- ried pair came westward by the slow meth- ods of travel then prevailing. Reaching Pittsburg, a flatboat brought them to Cin- cinnati and the remainder of the journey was made by stage and private conveyance until the new home on the prairie was reached. For a quarter of a century that was their home, and though pleasant in its surroundings, the railroad that had been projected to run near it failed to reach that point. and the village of Audubon, which was to have been a county seat, was fast losing its population. Mr. Little fixed his eyes on a pleasant mound five miles to the northeast and in 1864 built and moved to that home, some two miles south of Rose- mond in Christian county.
During the period of his stay at the old farm and for some years after he came to the new one, he had the close companionship of his younger brother, Otis Little, whose farm was near the first home; and how close, intimate and cordial were their rela- tions is well known to many of the old resi- dents of that vicinity. That tender rela- tionship was severed by the death of the latter in the year 1872, when Otis Little was buried in the Rosemond cemetery.
Sixty-five years have passed since the cabin was built which sheltered the two friends during the long first winter in the new settlement. How marked the change! The wild deer in herds no longer roam the uncultivated prairies; and many a strong arm and stout heart has yielded to the strug- gle, battling to subdue the wilds of nature, and after that to preserve for future generations the state and nation from the
threatened grasp of slavery. The part which he took in these struggles, the labors and successes, the many acts of kindness, the deeds of charity and benevolence, the words of cheer and hearty advice, the daily toil, the temperate and consistent life of Robert Little are matters of history and recognized by all who knew him. Of many of these noble acts there is no record, ex- cept in the memory of those who best know of them, yet not a few are still living that can speak of them. Not a few there are who could say that to his kindness and indul- gence they were indebted, in a large degree, for the homes they possessed and for their success in life. His heart and hand were ever open, and no needy and deserving ap- plicant was ever refused help that was in nis power to consistently bestow. Settling here in an early day in the history of his adopted state, he contributed much in mak- ing it what it is-desirable for situation.
Mr. Little died at his home on the 13th of June, 1887, and it was the subject of re- mark when two days later his body was laid to rest, that the funeral procession was one of the largest ever witnessed in that part of the state, there being one hundred and six- teen carriages and wagons in the proces- sion, reaching the entire distance from the residence to the Rosemond cemetery, the place of interment.
For fourteen years he was survived by his widow, Charlotte P. Little, who was born in the village of Hebron, New Hampshire, June 22, 1808. She was the daughter of Will- iam and Ruth Pike and the granddaughter of Elijah Blood, a Revolutionary soldier. The earlier years of her life were spent in the Society of Friends or Quakers, and the impress of such surroundings was witnessed in her habits and methods. Quiet, cheerful, patient, frugal, industrious, unselfish, de-
12
194
PAST AND PRESENT
voted to her husband and daughter, passion- ately attached to her home, which she rarely left, void of ostentation and continually em- ployed in services for the comfort of her family and those who from surrounding cir- cuinstances most needed her asistance, doing deeds of kindness and charity, the even tenor of her life was prolonged beyond the allotted span. She died at the home of her daughter. Mrs. Mary F. Kitchell, in Pana, whither she went for the last time in the fall of 1898. remaining there until her death, which oc- curred June 19. 1901, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. eleven months and twenty-eight days. She was one of nine children born to her parents, the father dy- ing in New England in 1835. After her marriage she brought her mother to the new western home. A brother. William Pike. before mentioned, had already preceded her the year before and had bought and im- proved land in the vicinity of Audubon. where he lived to a ripe old age. The mother continued to reside with her daugh- ter the remainder of her days, and died on the 3d of January. 1879. at the advanced age of ninety-three years, four months and twenty-seven days, and was buried in Rose- mond Grove cemetery.
The sole offspring and survivor of Robert and Charlotte P. Little is their daughter Mary F. Kitchell, the wife of John W. Kit- chell, now residing in Pana.
JOHN W. KITCHELL.
John Wickliffe Kitchell, who is engaged in the practice of law in Pana, represents an ancestry honorable and distinguished. He is a descendant of Robert Kitchel, the leader of a band of Puritans who emigrated from England in 1639 and who joined them- selves together in a "Plantation Covenant."
and settled at Guilford, Connecticut. Rob- ert Kitchel afterward went to New Jersey, where many of his descendants are to be found. Aaron Kitchel was a member of congress from 1799 to 1807 and was then chosen United States senator.
John W. Kitchell was born in Palestine. Crawford county, Illinois, May 30, 1835. a son of Wickliff and Elizabeth ( Ross) Kit- chell. His father was born in the state of New York in the year 1789, going thence in early youth to New Jersey, and after his marriage at Newark in 1812 determined to cast his fortunes in the newly developing west, proceeding through Pennsylvania to Pittsburg and thence by flatboat to Cincin- nati and settling near the Whitewater river. Wickliff Kitchell subsequently removed to Indiana, where he engaged in farming and at the same time read law at night by the light of a faggot. He served as sheriff of his county at one time. He continued to move westward until the year Illinois was admitted to the Union, when he brought his family to this state and became a resident of Palestine. He was appointed register of the land office at that place and was des- tined to still greater prominence in con- nection with the new commonwealth, always taking a great interest in public affairs. To secure better educational advantages for his then numerous children. he removed to Hillsboro, Montgomery county, in the fall of 1838, and there continued in the practice of his profession, being contemporary with and pitted against the ablest members of the bar in southern Illinois, such as Fields, Shields. Gillespie, Linder. Constable, Fick- lin and later Lincoln. Douglas, Trumbull and Thornton. He served as state's attor- ney in his circuit and was attorney general of the state in 1839 and 1840. In politics he was a Jacksonian Democrat, but inde-
Intitehell
197
CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
pendent and fearless in the advocacy of his somewhat advanced doctrines, opposed to trickery and to the gigantic system of internal improvement inaugurated in the state. He was elected to the state senate in 1828 and 1838 and was twice elected as a member of the house of representatives. He began to break away from the Democratic party at the period of the war with Mexico. A determined enemy to the extension of slavery, he was adverse to the repeal of the Missouri compromise, was an anti-Nebraska Democrat and participated in the formation of the Republican party, being present at the famous Bloomington convention. In 1846 he removed to lowa but returned to Hillsboro in 1853. He died in Pana in 1869. An elder brother, Joseph Kitchell, was receiver of the public land office at Palestine, a member of the first constitu- tional convention which met at Kaskaskia and afterward a member of the first senate which convened after the adoption of the constitution.
Of the ten children born to Wickliff and Elizabeth ( Ross) Kitchell, three sons grew to maturity and shared the political opinions and adopted the profession of their father. The eldest, Alfred Kitchell, after obtaining his license settled in the then small village of Olney, Richland county, Illinois, where he remained for many years, having attained success and prominence as a lawyer and in the building up of his town. He was state's attorney for several successive terms and was subsequently elected judge of the circuit court and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1848. He died at Galesburg, Illinois. in 1866. The next oldest son, Edward Kitchell, after a trip across the plains with an ox team in 1852, to California, returned to Illinois and took up the study of law with his brother Alfred at Olney. He
was an ardent patriot and entered the Union army in 1862 as lieutenant colonel of the Ninety-eighth Regiment of Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, which regiment he command- ed during the greater part of its service and which formed a part of the famous Wil- der Brigade of Mounted Infantry. At the close of his service Edward Kitchell was brevetted a brigadier general. He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1868 and for a time was revenue collector for his congressional district. He died at Olney, Illinois, July 11, 1869.
The youngest of the family and the only one now living is John W. Kitchell. When in his sixteenth year his school education ended at the Hillsboro Academy, which he attended but for one year and then returned to his father's home then at Fort Madison. Iowa. There he entered the law office of Miller & Beck, eminent practitioners of that state, and passing an examination received a license to practice at the age of seventeen years. Soon afterward the family returned to Hillsboro, Illinois, and at the age of nine- teen he formed a partnership with Hon. E. Y. Rice, subsequently judge of the cir- cuit court and member of congress. During the following winter he was chosen to a clerkship in the Illinois house of representa- tives at Springfield and served as reading clerk during that term, when Lyman Trum- bull was elected to the United States senatc. Mr. Kitchell occupied a like position in the session of 1860-61 when Shelby M. Cul- lom was speaker of the house and Richard Yates, Sr., was governor of the state. He has always taken a lively interest in public affairs, casting his first vote for Fremont for president. He was successively the nom- inee of the Republican party for the state senate and for congress but both times was
198
PAST AND PRESENT
unsuccessful by reason of the strong Demo- cratic majorities. hu 1892 he was a delegate to the Minneapolis convention which nomi- nated Benjamin Harrison for the presidency the second time.
Mr. Kitchiell has not given the law prac- tice his undivided attention. While still a young man he embarked in the newspaper business at Hillsboro, editing and publishing the Montgomery Herald, and for eighteen months during the years 1859 and 1860, while temporarily residing in Charleston, Illinois, he was the editor of the Charleston Courier, a Republican newspaper. Having returned to Hillsboro, where his aged par- ents still resided, he enlisted in Company H, Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, at the first call for volunteers in April, 1861 ; was chosen first lieutenant, and afterward became adjutant of the regiment; on the promotion of Captain Phillips to the major- ship he had command of the company as captain until the end of his three months' service. At the second urgent call for troops in 1862 he was again about to enter the service, but the sudden serious illness and subsequent death of his mother detained him at home until the regiment was filled and mustered into service. He then established and took charge of the Union Monitor, a paper devoted to the interests of the soldiers and the Union cause, taking strong grounds against resistance to the draft. Having pub- licly declared that if drafted he would go in person and not furnish a substitute and his name being one of the first in the draw- ing made to fill the quota from his town, he at once abandoned his business and again entered the service in 1864, remaining until discharged at the close of the war. Having failed to encounter the hardships and dan- gers of the war, Mr. Kitchell feels that he
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.