USA > Illinois > Pike County > Past and present of Pike County, Illinois > Part 31
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 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
His father, James Grimes, who was born in County Down, Ireland, on the 8th of January. 1779, came to the United States with his parents when a youth of five years. The grandfather set- .tled 'first in South Carolina but afterward re- moved to Kentucky. In the latter state James Grimes attained adult age and was there mar- ried to Miss Nancy Davis, who was born in Bar- ton county, Kentucky, in February, 1797. In 1822 he removed with his family to White county, Illinois, where he resided on a farm about twelve years and then took up his abode in Greene county, this state. In February, 1836, he came to Pike county, settling in the midst of the forest, five miles south of the village of Milton. There he began the development and improvement. of a · farm but after some years took up his abode in the village where he spent his remaining days. passing away September 9. 1873, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-five years. He held a lieutenant's commission during the Black Hawk war and served as justice of the peace for twenty years. In his family were nine children : J. Martin. John D., Milton, Lucinda, Marv J., Elizabeth H., Lonisa, Francis M., and William B. All are now deceased with exception of Mil- ton and William B.
219
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
William B. Grimes was born near Carmi, White county, Illinois, November 25, 1828, and was but eight years of age when brought by his parents to Pike county. He mastered the branches of learning taught in the early schools of that day. The schoolhouses were built of logs, were fur- nished in a crude manner and the methods of in- struction were equally primitive. In the summer months Mr. Grimes worked at farm labor and he remained at home until he had attained his major- ity, when he crossed the plains to California in 1850, spending the succeeding two years in min- ing. He met with a fair measure of success while there and then returned to Pike county, settling at Milton, where he built the first sawmill at that place. He was associated in this enterprise with James L. Grimes, the partnership continuing for about two years, when they abandoned the mill, deciding that the venture had proved an unwise investment. Not long after this Mr. Grimes be- came a hardware merchant in Milton, carrying both shelf and heavy hardware and tinware. In this business he was more successful and con- ducted the store until 1869, when he was called to public office by the vote of his fellow citizens. Having been elected county clerk he removed to Pittsfield and entered upon the duties of the office in December, 1869. He faithfully served in that capacity for four years and upon his retirement from office re-entered commercial circles, this time as proprietor of a lumberyard in Pittsfield. In 1877 he was appointed county clerk and after- ward filled the office of deputy county treasurer for four years, while in 1886 he resumed his posi- tion in the county clerk's office under V. A. Grimes. For two years he was a member of the board of supervisors and was also chairman of the body. He likewise held the office of township treasurer of Montezuma for a number of years and the various duties that devolved upon him have been performed so capably and promptly that he has won high encomiums from people of both parties. In politics he is an earnest democrat, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party princi- ples. He is a gentleman of courteous bearing. of kindly spirit and of strong intellectuality, and has stored his mind with useful knowledge. He also possesses superior musical talent and has devoted
considerable attention to teaching vocal music, many residents of the county having been his pupils.
Mr. Grimes has also attained prominence in connection with his work in behalf of the Ma- sonic fraternity. He joined Pittsfield lodge, No. 56, A. F. & A. M., in 1852, later was worshipful master and afterward became a charter member and worshipful master of Milton lodge, No. 275, while subsequently he became a charter member of Pittsfield lodge, No. 790, A. F. & A. M. During his long connection with the fraternity he has con- ferred degrees upon a large number of Masons and has taken great pleasure in this work. In 1875 he was appointed deputy grand lecturer of the state and in 1879 was made a member of the board of examiner's and was elected president of that board in 1892. In 1858 he received the Mark Master degree in Union chapter, No. 10, and in 1859 was exalted to the degree of Royal Arch Mason. In 1868 he became one of the organizers of the chapter at Milton, where he was elected king and later high priest. After coming to Pitts- field he was an active member of Union chapter. No. 10, serving for a long time as principal so- journer and for several terms as high priest. In 1870 he received the council degrees in Barry council, No. 23. R. & S. M., and in 1872 he as- sisted in organizing M. J. Noyes council, No. 59. R. & S. M., and was its first thrice illustrious master. In 1889 he was elected master of the first veil of the grand chapter, since which time he has held the office of king. In 1898 he was elected grand high priest of the state and served for one year, while for twenty-one years he was grand examiner and is still grand lecturer. He is now one of the grand stewards, having been appointed in 1892 with three other venerable men, their ages being seventy-four, seventy-six and eighty-five years while Mr. Grimes is seventy- seven years of age.
Mr. Grimes has been married twice. In 1853 he wedded Miss Alice A. Shock, at that time a resident of Milton. She was born in Ohio and was a daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Rep- sher) Shock, natives of Pennsylvania. They had three children: Mrs. Della Hanes; Ira A .; and H. W., who died when five months old. The
220
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
wife and mother departed this life in May, 1861, and in October, 1862, Mr. Grimes was again married, his second union being with Nancy J. Greathouse, who was born in April, 1841, a daughter of Bonaparte Greathouse, one of the first settlers of the county, who died in 1850. By the second marriage there were three children : Ida, the wife of William H. Allen; Alice, who married Benton Colvin but both have passed away, leaving one son, Raymond, who resides in East St. Louis, Illinois; and Laura, the wife of A. C. Bentley, editor of the Times of Pittsfield.
Mr. Grimes is now living retired in Pittsfield, where he is most highly esteemed by reason of his honorable business record, his devotion to the general welfare while in office and his fidelity to his professions as a member of the Masonic fra -. of this part of the state. He is also prominent in ternity. He is a man of pleasing address, of un- flinching principle and unquestioned integrity, and · ence in political circles. He has been prominent yet withal possesses that practical common sense which never runs to extremes and it is no won- der that wherever he goes he has won friends. His life has been well spent and his honorable and useful career is worthy of emulation.
J. D. HESS.
J. D. Hess, a prominent attorney of Pike county residing in Pittsfield, was born near Milton in this county in 1856, a son of William and Catherine (Wagner) Hess. The paternal grandfather, David Hess, came to Illinois from Brown county, Ohio, in 1828, and settled in Greene county, this state. He was a fermer by occupation, and was very successful in the management and control of his business affairs. In 1836 he came to Pike county, Illinois, locating in Pearl township. He owned and operated five hundred acres of land in this county, and was one of the leading and prosperous agriculturists here. His death oc- curred about 1881, when he had reached the age of seventy-two years.
His son, William Hess, father of our subject, accompanied his parents on their removal from Greene county to Pike county and was here reared to manhood. pursuing his education in the com-
mon schools. He has followed farming through- out his entire life and is still actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He owns about one thou- sand acres of land in Pike county, and also some outside the county, a fact which indicates his ex- cellent business ability, judicious investment and careful control of his property. In 1849 he drove an ox team across the plains to California, re- maining for three years on the Pacific coast, after which he made his way homeward by the isthmus route, bringing with him forty-five hundred dol- lars in gold, which he had saved as the result of his labors in the mines. When he was a young man he taught school, but the greater part of his life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and he is to-day one of the most prosperous farmers
public affairs, and has exerted considerable influ- and influential in community affairs, having served for several terms as supervisor of his town- ship, and he has also been the candidate for county treasurer on the populist ticket. He was one of the building committee at the time of the erection · of the county courthouse. Fraternally he is con- nected with Masonic lodge, and religiously with the Christian church. He lost his first wife in 1857 and in 1862 was married again, his second union being with Miss Minerva Smith, who was born and reared in Pearl township, Pike county, and is a daughter of Constantine Smith, one of the early settlers of the county, and one of the first officials of Pearl township. By the second mar- riage there were nine children born, of whom one died in infancy, the others being: L. C., an at- torney and now assistant United States attorney at Fairbanks, Alaska ; W. H., who was a farmer and died in September, 1903 ; Lee, who is living at home with his father; Sarah A., the wife of W. L. Coley, a lawyer of East St. Louis, Illinois ; Eva B., who was the wife of Sidney Crawford, a farmer, and died in. 1905 ; Ada B., who is married and lives in San Antonio, Texas ; Blanche, who married Clyde Vance, a farmer near Milton ; and Verda June, the wife of William Dillon, also a farmer near Milton.
Reared under the parental roof, J. D. Hess continued as a student in the common schools of
221
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
Montezuma township until eighteen years of age, after which he spent one year in the Pittsfield high school and five years in Illinois College at Jack- sonville, where he was graduated with honors in the class of 1882. He pursued a classical course and won the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. He entered college as a mem- ber of the same class to which William Jennings Bryan belonged, but his collegiate course was in- terrupted by one year spent as a teacher, so that he did not graduate until a year after the Ne- braska statesman had completed his course. Fol- lowing his graduation, Mr. Hess took up the pro- fession of teaching and spent two years as super- intendent of the schools of Perry. During the second year he was married to Miss Clara A. Rentchler, who had just graduated from the Woman's Academy at Jacksonville, Illinois, com- pleting the course in 1883. She was a daughter of John Rentchler, who died before her birth.
After teaching at Perry Mr. Hess spent three years as superintendent of the schools in Griggs- ville and in 1887 came to Pittsfield, where he began reading law under the direction of Judge Jefferson Orr. In 1890 he was admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon, Illinois, and has since practiced his profession and has also been a real- estate and loan agent. He practices in all of the courts and is a lawyer of broad and.comprehen- sive knowledge who presents his cause with clear- ness and force, who is logical in argument and strong in his reasoning.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hess have been born two sons and two daughters: Stanley R., born De- cember 16, 1885; Terrence W., June 21, 1887; Catherine, December 31, 1891; and Eloise, May 16, 1894. Mrs. Hess is a member of the Meth- odist church and Mr. Hess is serving as one of its trustees. He belongs to the Masonic frater- nity at Milton and to the Knights of Pythias lodge, the Modern Woodmen camp, the Mutual Protective League and to the Tribe of Ben Hur, all of Pittsfield. He is also connected with the Pike County Mutual and Loyal Americans. In politics he is a populist and was a member of the national committee of the party from 1892 until 1900 and has been a delegate to various conventions. He assisted in organizing the pop-
ulist party in this state. His attention, however, is largely given to his legal practice and his devo- tion to his clients' interests is proverbial. In the county where his entire life has been passed he has made a creditable record at the bar and is rcognized as a prominent and able attorney.
FRANK JOHNSTON, M. D.
Dr. Frank Johnston, successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Milton, is one of Pike county's native sons, his birth having occurred upon a farm in Montezuma on the 8th of February, 1873. His parents were Solomon T. and Susan Johnston, the former a son of Thomas and Catharine Johnston and the latter a daughter of John Heavner, who was a soldier of the war of 1812. She was born Au- gust 3, 1834, and died January 22, 1904, while Solomon T. Johnston is still living in Pike county, being one of its representative citizens and early settlers.
In the district schools near his father's home Dr. Johnston of this review acquired his educa- tion and at the age of eighteen years began teaching school, which profession he followed for four years in Pike county. During the periods of vacation he attended the county normal schools and thus promoted his efficiency as an educator. On retiring from his work as a pub- lic instructor he took up the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. George E. Harvey, of Pittsfield, and in the fall of 1894 matricu- lated in the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, from which he was graduated in the class of 1897, having pursued the regular three years' course. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession in Milton, where he has re- mained continuously since and, having soon dem- onstrated his ability to cope with the intricate problems that continually confront the physician, he has been accorded a liberal and gratifying pat- ronage.
Dr. Johnston was married May 6, 1896, to Miss Vinnie G. Hoover, a daughter of Smith and Izora Hoover, of Pearl, Pike county, Illinois,
222
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
both of whom are deceased. Dr. and Mrs. John- ston have one child, a daughter, Virginia F. Johnston.
Dr. Johnston is a member of Milton lodge, No. 277, I. O. O. F., of Milton, also of the Modern Woodmen camp and the Court of Honor and was connected with the Knights of Pythias lodge at Pittsfield until it was disbanded. He is likewise connected with the Pike County Mutual Life Association and the Mutual Protective League. His entire life has been spent in this county and the fact that many of his warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood days to the present is an indication of an honorable life actuated by manly principles and characterized by upright conduct.
COLONEL WILLIAM ROSS.
Colonel William Ross was born in Monson, Massachusetts, April 24, 1792, where he resided until the age of thirteen years. His father, Mi- cah Ross, was a man of limited means, though he was known and termed a good liver, but the edu- cation of his children was not the best. In 1805 the elder Ross removed to Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, where the subject of this notice dwelt with him until he reached his twentieth year, gaining among the townspeople a reputation for industry and perseverance, and likewise success in every- thing he undertook.
Upon the declaration of war in 1812, William Ross obtained a commission as ensign-lieutenant in the Twenty-first Regiment United States In- fantry, commanded by Colonel E. W. Ripley, and was soon afterward ordered on recruiting service. In the spring of 1813 he was directed to unite his men with those of his brother, Captain Leonard Ross, of the same regiment, at Greenbush, New York, and was subsequently detached to join the command of Major Aspinwall. About five hun- dred infantry of the Ninth Regiment had been ordered to take up a forced march for Buffalo, then threatened. Arriving at Utica, the troops were met by an express, informing them of the capture and destruction of Buffalo, and directing
immediate march to Sackett's Harbor. Accord- ingly, proceeding to Oswego on Lake Ontario; they embarked in fifty open row-boats, and set out for the Harbor, but hardly had they made Stony Island than they heard the roar of can- non and discovered the British fleet of gun- boats and Indian canoes in the river. They at once. attempted to run the guantlet of the ene- my's armed vessels, and rushing amid the fire of- the gun-boats, twenty-five of their frail craft suc- ceeded in reaching the harbor, the remainder be- ing captured by the British. Captain Ross and his brother William were among the successful ones, with their commands. The next day, the 29th of May, 1813, took place the memorable battle of Sackett's Harbor, in which the brothers led about one hundred men, and in which five hundred Americans drove back thirteen hundred British soldiers. Of the detachment commanded by the Rosses, one-third was either killed or wounded in the conflict. The Rosses conducted themselves most gallantly in this engagement. Soon after they were transferred into the Fortieth Regiment, and ordered to the seaboard, where Captain Leonard Ross took command of Fort Warren in Boston Harbor, and William Ross was detached to Marblehead to drill the troops at that point ; was subsequently removed to Gurnet Fort. near Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he remained until the close of the war, then return- ing to Pittsfield.
In the spring of 1820, in company with four brothers and a few other families, he started for what was then known as the "Far West," the state of Illinois. They arrived safely at the head of the Allegheny river, and there procuring boats for their families, horses and wagons, set out to descend the stream. Difficulties here began to assail the little band. Again and again their little boats ran aground, rendering it necessary for the sturdy emigrants to rush into the water, and wield their pries and levers to get their boats afloat. However, they were not disheartened, but by dint of perseverance, reached Pittsburg after fifteen days. Here they entered the Ohio river ; in a few weeks they arrived at Shawneetown, situated above the mouth of the Ohio in Illinois, at which point they left their water palaces, and started
COL. WILLIAM ROSS
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LI NOUIS.
225
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
with teams for their places of destination near the Mississippi river. At Upper Alton, which they reached in due season, there was but one house where the city now stands. It was occupied by Major Hunter, afterward General Hunter, and here the company secured quarters for their fam- ilies while they went in search of their intended location.
At the mouth of the Illinois river they came across an Indian camp, where they secured ca- noes, split puncheons of plank and laid across them, and thus safely ferried over their wagons. The horses were made to swim beside the canoes. They passed across the bluffs and proceeded to the Mississippi bottoms, at the point where Gilead (Calhoun county) is now situated ; then con- tinued up the bottom, making the trees as they went, for there were no roads and nothing to guide them but an occasional Indian trail. At length they arrived in township 6 south, 5 west, about six miles east of the Mississippi river, near what is now the town of Atlas. No time was lost in throwing up four rude log houses, intended to form the immediate settlement, for there were not more than five white men within fifty miles east of the river at that time. The houses being pre- pared, they returned to their families, and shortly afterward took permanent possession of their lo- cation.
Soon after this time on the meeting of the legis- lature at Vandalia, learning of these emigrants, the legislature took measure to lay off and form the county of Pike, embracing all the territory north and west of the Illinois river, and includ- ing what is known as the city of Chicago. At the first election held in this vast territory, there were but thirty-five votes polled including those of the French at Chicago. This vast territory is now the most populous in the state of Illinois. For a while the prospects of our settlers were most flourishing, but afterward sickness and death entered their ranks.
Colonel Ross lost his wife, one brother and several of the company the first year. Subse- quently Colonel Ross visited New York and mar- ried a Miss Edna Adams, after which he returned to the state of Illinois, laid out the town embrac- ing his first location, and named it Atlas. There
had previously been established a postoffice called Ross Settlement, but this designation gave way to the one adopted by Colonel Ross, who soon com- menced improving, built a mill, which was much needed at this time and was afterward fairly suc- cessful. He arrived in Illinois a poor man, but speedily began to increase in property and noto- riety. He became judge of probate for the county of Pike, which office he held for many years, en- joying the confidence of the people. He also served as clerk of the circuit court, and among others was designated by the governor as colonel of the militia in that locality. In April, 1832, at the commencement of the Black Hawk war, Colonel Ross' was ordered to raise a company out of his regiment antt join his forces in Beardstown. He received the order on Friday, and on the fol- lowing Tuesday presented himself at Beardstown with double the number of men mentioned in the order. He was selected aide to the commanding general, and served with much popularity during the campaign, and then returned once more to private life. In 1835 he was elected to the legis- lature of Illinois, and while a member of that body did much for this part of the state. We are assured that he possessed as much influence in the legislature as any other member. Colonel Ross was subsequently chosen to the senate five or six times, and at one time, during the illness of the lieutenant governor, was elected and served as speaker pro tem.
He was successfully engaged in mercantile pur- suits for many years ; was always distinguished for promptness, reliability and sound judgment ; punctual in his business relations, governed by strict integrity, and zealous in all his labors, he won the respect of his fellow citizens. He was wont to remark that his father's advice to his children in their youth was to be prompt and true in all their dealings with their fellowmen and he endeavored studiously to carry out in his life this excellent parental precept. He established the first bank ever established in the county, at Pittsfield, Illinois. This was in 1854 or 1855. which was known as the Banking House of Wil- liam Ross & Company. The company was Mar- shall Ayers, of Jacksonville, Illinois. The panic of 1857 having passed, he closed his bank and re-
226
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
tired to private life. They were banking on Illi- nois bonds, which made their circulation per- fectly good, and enabled them, when the panic came, to pay every cent they owed in gold.
The coming of Colonel Ross to the west was followed by a long line of vigorous, well- informed, hardy people from New England, de- scendants of whom today form a very consider- able percentage of our leading citizens. He moved to Pittsfield from Atlas, and when the commis- sioners who selected the capital gave him the honor of naming the city, he did so, after Pitts- field, Massachusetts.
During his retirement he always took an active interest in public affairs ; he was a warm supporter of the construction of railroads and schools through this county, and while a large taxpayer, he always insisted upon voting support to the railroads to the end that they might be utilized for business at the earliest day possible. There was hardly a house of any considerable dimen- sions built in Pittsfield that did not in some man- ner receive his attention. He always had posi- tive views about what ought to be done in public matters, and did not hesitate to express them. The houses that he built, and now stand in good service, are sufficient in number and importance, if they were collected, to make a good sized village.
He was a personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, hav- ing served with him in the Black Hawk war, and when Mr. Lincoln came to Pittsfield to deliver a speech, and remained all night, he was the guest of Colonel Ross. During the Civil war he visited Washington on two occasions, and had confer- ences with Mr. Lincoln about public affairs, and when Mr. Lincoln remarked to him, "Colonel, I expected you to be here and take a hand in this trouble before this time," he answered. "I have been blind, Mr. President, for three years, or I would have been here." He offered $200 to the first company that should be raised in Pittsfield under the call of 1862, which he paid at once, and in a thousand and one ways during the Civil war showed his devotion to his country, and his will- ingness to aid to the full extent of his ability.
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.