Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois, Part 52

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 988

USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois > Part 52

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In 1872 Mr. Melvin married Miss Martha A. Chandler, a native of Indiana, and they have six children, namely : Lutie, who mar- ried Charles Parr and now lives in Piatt county ; Henry, who married Alma Olson ; Ernest, who married Lillie Hanrruff and resides in Cisco; Maud. wife of G. E. Har- lan, of Cisco; and Mabel and Myrtle, both at home. Mr. and Mrs. Melvin hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church and he also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. His political support is given the Republican party, and he served on the grand jury in 1903.

ALEXANDER T. METTLEN.

One of the pioneer citizens of Macon county is AAlexander T. Mettlen, now re- tired from business activity and quietly

enjoying the income he accumulated in former years. He has many interesting reminiscences of early days in this county and well remembers when Decatur was a mere village and the surrounding country mostly wild and unimproved.

Mir. Mettlen was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of December, 1830, his parents being Robert and Elizabeth (Custer) Mettlen, who were also natives of Pennsylvania and of Scotch and German descent, respectively. Leaving their old home in the east the family came to Illi- nois in 1840 in company with the Dailey family, consisting of two grown people and nine children. As a bare-foot boy our subject walked the greater part of the way. as did all the others who were able to do so, the remainder of the party making the journey in a prairie schooner. Their route lay through Ohio, Indiana and the Black Swamp, and they were five weeks upon the road. On arriving in Macon county they spent the first winter in Decatur and then removed to a farm northwest of the city. In the fall of 1841 the Mettlen family lo- cated on North Water street, where Milton Johnson now lives, the site of his residence being then a cornfield. They resided there until the spring of 1844, when he removed to Stephen's creek, northwest of the city. on land later owned by Orlando Powers, and upon that place the father of our sub- ject died the following fall. Only fifteen acres of land had been broken at that time, the remainder being wild prairie covered with brush. Mrs. Mettlen survived her hus- band about ten years, dying on the 20th of August, 1854. and two days after her death her daughter Martha also passed away. There were six children in the fam- ily, namely : Samuel Jordan, now decease 1; Alexander T., our subject : Joseph C., a res- ident of Dillon, Montana ; David E., a prom- inent citizen of that place; Martha, de- ceased ; and one who died in infancy.

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Our subject's early education was ac- quired in a primitive log school house with greased paper windows, a fireplace with a mud and stick chimney and slab benches. He was only able to attend school about three months during the winter season, as during the remainder of the time he had to work on the farm. Ile has broken many an acre of prairie in Hickory Point town- ship and the first plow which he used had a wooden mold-board made by his father. He has cultivated corn with a single shovel plow and has cut grain with a sickle and later with a cradle. During those early days the women of the family used to drop most of the corn and cover it with a hoe. They also spun and wove most of the cloth to be converted into clothing for the family. During the boyhood of our subject all the candles used in the Mettlen house- hold were made by dipping but after the death of the mother a mold was bought for that purpose. When they came to this county deer, wild turkey and all kinds of game were plentiful and furnished most of the meat for the early settlers.

Mr. Mettlen of this review remained at home with his mother until his marriage, which was celebrated on the Ist of January, 1852, the lady of his choice being Miss Malinda Jane Hanks, who was born near the Boiling Springs church in this county in January, 1831, and was a daughter of John and Susan Hanks, the former a second cousin of Abraham Lincoln. Five children blessed this union, namely: John, now de- ceased; Martha, who married Frank Bear and had two children, both now deceased ; Sarah, wife of Frank Beal; Emma, wife of Marion Moore, of Jasper county, Illinois ; and Jane, deceased. The mother of these children died in August. 1874, and was buried in the Boiling Springs cemetery.

On the 5th of June, 1887, Mr. Mettlen was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah A. M. Kilpatrick, nee

Kerr, who was born near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1840. By her former marriage she has one son, Edgar Kilpatrick, who is married and has one son ; and one daughter, Florence Slayback, who has six children. Mr. Mettlen has sixteen grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and seven step-grandchildren.

After his first marriage Mr. Mettlen lo- cated on section 30, Hickory Point town- ship, where he owned eighty acres of land, on a part of which the village of Bears- dale now stands. He made his home there from 1852 until 1861 and then removed to section 34, the same township, which farm at that time was only partially improved. He cleared the remainder of the tract, tiled the land and erected good substantial build- ings. To the cultivation of his farm he devoted his time and energies for many years but is now living a retired life, en- joying a well earned rest.

Since casting his first presidential vote for Franklin Pierce Mr. Mettlen has sup- ported the Democratic party, and has taken quite an active and influential part in pub- lic affairs. On the organization of Hickory Point township he was elected the first highway commissioner and most capably filled that office for the long period of thirty years. He has also served as school direc- tor many years and is now school treas- urer of his township. During his boyhood he many times attended religious services held in the barn of Joseph Rife, Sr., this being before the church was built at Boil- ing Springs. He has seen almost the entire development of Macon county and his name is inseparably connected with its upbuild- ing and progress for he has ever borne an important part in the work of improvement. His first wife spun the wool which Grand- ma Hornback converted into blankets that won the premium at the State Fair in 1869 and which were presented to Mrs. Mettlen as a souvenir. Among the most valuable

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relics belonging to our subject is a solid silver medal presented to his uncle, Alex- ander Mettlen, September 10, 1813, for bravery displayed in the fight on Lake Erie in the war of 1812. In size it is large as two silver dollars and weighs as much as four dollars.

SAMUEL RITCHIE.

Samuel Ritchie, publisher of "The Big 3," the Warrensburg Times, Forsyth World and Oreana Herald, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, December 23, 1840. He was the son of Samuel and Susan (Hin- zie) Ritchie. His father was a farmer, of Scotch-Irish stock, and his mother was a German. They were the parents of twelve children, six sons and six daughters, though one of the latter died in infancy. With the other eleven children they moved to Macon county, Illinois, in the spring of 1856. They came all the way in one two-horse wagon, carrying cooking utensils and bedding with them, stoppings nights at "moving houses" along the turnpike roads and arriving in Decatur June 7, 1856. The first summer they lived in a little house owned by Jacob Bear, near what is now Bearsdale. They bought some prairie land a few miles north and put up a substantial house, which after the lapse of nearly fifty years, still stands, in fairly good condition, though now un- occupied. It is called the "Old Ritchie home." Samuel Ritchie, Sr., with his boys, at once commenced to improve the land, and for two successive years Samuel Ritchie, Jr., then a youth of sixteen years, broke raw prairie land with four yoke of oxen. Several years later in connection with his brother William, he bought a tract of land a few miles farther west and they engaged in farming for themselves. Still later Samuel engaged in grain buying at Forsyth, Wyckles and later in Warrens- burg. He also bought and shipped live

stock from 1868 to the present date, and is still engaged in that business. In the fall of 1869 he was married to Miss Clara M. Dudley, of Sangamon county. For five years they resided on their farm, and then moved to Warrensburg, which was then a new town.

In January, 1885, Mr. Ritchie commenced the publication of the Warrensburg Times, which he has successfully managed, with the assistance of his wife, up to the present time.

Mr. Ritchie for many years has been a zealous member of the Church of God. He and his wife assisted in organizing the church at Warrensburg in 1875, and are charter members of the same. He is much interested in educational work, and is a trustee of Findlay College, Ohio, which position he has held for six years. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, "deep- dyed," as was his father before him, and his five brothers are also Democrats.

Mr. Ritchie has quite a legal turn of mind, and although he never read law at school, nor associated with any lawyer, only in a general way. yet he has given the study of law some attention, so that his advice and his services are constantly being sought, and his judgment and decisions on legal cases are respected and usually found to be cor- rect. He has filled the office of justice of the peace several years, and has also served as village attorney in Warrensburg a num- ber of years. He is now serving his third term as notary public. If he had given his early time and attention exclusively to the study of law he would doubtless have made an eminent attorney.

Samuel Ritchie and wife have seen the building and growth of the village of War- rensburg, also the building of what is now the Peoria division of the Illinois Central Railroad, which was commenced in the fall of 1871, and which cut off a corner of their farm on the southwest. As soon as the vil-

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lage was laid out in lots Mr. Ritchie bought a strip of land west of his farm and next to the town plat and had it laid off in lots, which is now known as "Ritchie's addition to Warrensburg." For twenty-six years Mr. Ritchie and wife lived in East Warrens- burg, but two years ago they purchased a piece of ground of seventeen acres in the west end, which is a sort of suburban resi- dence, where they have a commodious house and pleasant grounds, so this will probably be their permanent home, unless they should decide to leave Warrensburg. They have no children of their own, but have reared and educated a niece of Mrs. Ritchie's, whose mother died when she was but three years old. She has a fine musical education, being a graduate of the musical department of Findlay College, Ohio. She is now the wife of R. Herrod, a hardware merchant, and resides in Warrensburg.

In a newspaper way Samuel Ritchie and wife are known as the "Times Pair," and have traveled extensively through the Unit- ed States, from the lakes on the north to the gulf on the south, and from the At- lantic to the Pacific, visiting nearly every state in the Union and most of the large cities and places of interest, thus ac- quiring much valuable information in regard to our own country, and for the benefit of the patrons of their paper.

The Warrensburg Times is one of the oldest papers in Macon county, and has a large and increasing circulation.

This paper was founded in January, 1885, and from a little two by four sheet with a ready print inside, and outside printed in Mt. Pulaski. it has grown to its present vast proportions-four pages, eight columns wide and all Warrensburg print. The For- syth World and Oreana Herald are also printed at this office.

S. Ritchie, publisher, and Mrs. C. M. Ritchie editor, constitute the "Times Pair," and stand at the head of this great enter-

prise. Miss Nettie S. Lindsay is the compe- tent lady foreman at the office, which has a strong force and a large amount of work is turned out from this printing office every week.

This office has a splendid Vaughn's Ideal newspaper printing press, a fine Gordon job press and an immense amount of type and other printing material. The office was enlarged two years ago last spring to ac- commodate the rapidly increasing business. In fact the Warrensburg Times is well known-not only in Warrensburg and Ma- con county, but all over the United States, and even to the Philippines and far distant China.

MIRS. C. M. RITCHIE.

Mrs. Clara M. (Dudley) Ritchie, editor of the Warrensburg Times, was born at Mendon, Adams county, Illinois, not far from Quincy, August 27, 1847, and has al- ways lived in this state. She is the daugh- ter of Timothy and Monimia (Benton) Dud- ley, who were of English descent, of old Puritan stock, and both were born in New Haven county, Connecticut, in 1808, and moved to Illinois in 1836, and settled near the town of Mendon. Mrs. Ritchie remem- bers interesting stories of the carly settlers of that part of the state, as told by her parents, and particularly of the Mormons, as they were thickly settled about Nauvoo, which was not far from her old home. Iler parents were both of a literary turn of mind, and both were school teachers in their younger days. Mrs. Ritchie was the young- est in a family of four children, composed of one boy and three girls. When she was but five years old her parents moved to Jack- sonville, in order to educate their children. For nine years Mr. Dudley was a traveling agent for the American Bible Society and canvassed Morgan, Macoupin, Scott and Bond counties. Although but a little girl

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at that time she would frequently accom- pany her father on his trips and calls them her early "missionary tours." Her brother died of quick consumption, after one year in Illinois College, and one sister gradu- ated from the Presbyterian Academy of Jacksonville. Mrs. Ritchie received her ed- ucation in the public schools of Jackson- ville and commenced teaching at the age of eighteen years. During the Civil war her parents moved to Waverly, and later to Loami, not far from Springfield. She was married at Loami September 26, 1869, to Samuel Ritchie, of Macon county, who owned a large farm twelve miles northwest of Decatur, to which place she moved with her husband, and continued teaching school for a number of years after her marriage. She followed the occupation of teaching almost continuously for fifteen years. From 1876 to 1879 she taught in the school at Warrensburg, which was then a new town.

Mrs. Ritchie has always been greatly in- terested in church. Sunday-school, mission- ary and temperance work, and has always been actively engaged in these lines of work. She was a member of the Independent Or- der of Good Templars for many years, also of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and is still a member of that organ- ization ; has been a teacher in the Sunday- school for thirty years and was superin- tendent for ten years; was always much in- terested in work among the children, and conducted a "Busy Bee Mission Band" in Warrensburg for twelve years. She was always possessed of a missionary spirit, and is now secretary of the board of direct- ors of the Women's General Missionary So- ciety of the Church of God, which organi- zation she has been connected with ever since her marriage. Although reared a Congregationalist, and for several years a member of that church, she believes thor- oughly in the doctrines of the Church of God. She was always musically inclined,

and learned to read music at the age of eight years, and has been chorister and organist of the Warrensburg church of God for twenty-eight years.

In regard to Mrs. Ritchie's experience in the newspaper work, we quote her own words :

My experience in newspaper work covers a period of nearly nineteen years, and I have laid the flattering unction to my soul that if I had started in newspaper work when I was in the "bloom of youth" I might possibly have accomplished something in this direction; as it is, I have simply a smattering of what a woman can do with a "country newspaper."

When I was a girl-O blissful period of the long-ago past-I don't remember of having any particular ambition to become an editor or to be connected in any way with a newspaper. I rather regarded edi- tors and publishers as superior beings, of a higher order of intelligence, and even good- ness, than other people ; in fact, only a very little lower than the angels of Heaven! But having mingled with them for nearly twenty years, and getting a closer insight into their characters and dispositions, their motives and aims, I find them to be made out of just common clay, after all !

When I was eighteen years old I became a school teacher, and like many young girl teachers, who fancy they are doing some- thing wonderful when they begin to teach "the young idea how to shoot, ' I kept what we called a "journal" of my every-day work and at stated periods sent this journal to an absent sister, also a teacher, that she might be apprised of the remarkable (?) work that 1 was doing! Years after, at the death of this sister, my letters to her, including these journals, were returned to me. On look- ing them over I found they were gotten up in regulation newspaper style! The girlish journal was issued monthly, and was digni- fied by the name of "Gazette!" It was Vol.

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I, and each month was numbered. It was devoted to "Art, Science and the Current News of the Day ;" though where the "Art and Science" came in it would be difficult to tell! My "Gazette" had the very pert motto-"Independence in Thought, Word and Deed." I had dubbed myself "Edi- tress," and in the editorials made profuse apologies to my patrons for all mistakes, the poor print, scarcity of news, etc., etc., just as amateur editors do nowadays. I recall this simply to show that after all I must have had some unrecognized aspira- tions for newspaper work.

One day in early January, 1885, Mr. Ritchie suddenly announced that he was going to engage in the newspaper business! I meekly inquired: "How?" He replied by saying that he expected me to write pieces, the news and so on, but that he would be the editor, publisher, business manager and general boss! The very idea! Now wasn't that cheeky? But who ever saw a news- paper man that didn't have an abundance of cheek? And that's all right, for who could run a newspaper without it? And with this understanding, our work began, and the Warrensburg Times was established and my actual "newspaper experience" com- menced.

For several years we used ready print inside, and the mechanical work was done first in Mt. Pulaski, and then in Decatur. As the years rolled on and I did much of the writing, my liege lord permitted me to share the honors of editorship and gra- ciously granted me the position of associate editor.

In the spring of 1894 we established our our own printing office in Warrensburg, and then the hard work began. In the meantime I had learned to set type, and picked up a deal of information about the printing offices where we had our papers printed. We hired a boy, to work in the

office and run the press, and to learn all about printing from me, who knew so little, Mr. Ritchie continued to do the outside work, solicit "ads," furnish printing mater- ials for the office, write telling articles for the paper, buy and ship stock, and very obligingly take all the lickin's when some- thing appeared in the paper which didn't suit somebody. I have usually been accred- ited with writing all the "goody-goody" articles, such as funeral notices, obituaries, etc., (when we send people to 'Heaven on flowery beds of ease,') resolutions of re- spect, cards of thanks, weddings, where the bride looked sweet and lovely, revival meet- ings, etc., while Mr. Ritchie has been blamed for the sharp articles and the shak- ings up that the people get for their mis- demeanors, when in fact, many of the latter I have written, as I rather enjoy writing articles of that character.

A few years later Mr. Ritchie promoted me to the chair of editor-in-chief, while he continued as publisher and business man- ager. For the last five years we have our papers all home print, and it takes hustling to get it up and have the matter all fresh and bright.

As editor of the paper I enjoy the work amazingly well, with the publisher as a strong bulwark upon which to lean. If anything goes wrong at the office and the devil gets saucy and talks of putting me out, I simply have to call up the pub- lisher, and the devil is settled at once. If a form gets "pied " as once happened last winter, he calmly steps in and chaos soon becomes order.

My time is not all spent at the printing office, as much of my editorial work is done at home, but the telephone does good ser- vice, and with its aid I am always in close touch with the office force and know how business is moving on there.

And so this work is pleasant in a great

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many respects, and after nearly twenty years of experience I have never regretted entering the journalistic field.

JOHN J. BATCHELDER.

John J. Batchelder, deceased, through the years of his identification with Macon coun- ty, enjoyed the highest respect of his fellow citizens by reason of his strict integrity and many sterling qualities of mind and heart. Ilis carly home was in New England, for he was born at Pittsfield. New Hampshire, June 16, 1824, his parents being Colonel Nathaniel and Abigail (Jenness) Batchel- der. Ilis father died on the 3d of Decem- ber, 1858, in consequence of injuries sus- tained while felling a tree. By occupation he was a farmer and stock-raiser, making a specialty of the breeding of Morgan horses.

J. J. Batchelder was the second in order of birth in a family of five children, and was educated in the high schools of Pittsfield and Gilmanton, New Hampshire. On leav- ing school in 1846 he took up the carpen- ter's trade, which he followed at Holyoke, Massachusetts, until 1849, and then went south, spending some time in Georgia, Ala- bama, Mississippi and Tennessee, where he was employed as a bridge builder. Return- ing north in 1857 he settled in Harristown township, Macon county, Illinois, where he lived until 1864, when thinking he would meet with better success elsewhere, he sold his farm and removed to Illini township. Ilere he purchased land and successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred August 23, 1898. He formed what was known as the Yankee set- tlement and was regarded as one of the leading and valued citizens of his com- munity. Success attended his efforts toward acquiring a home and competence and he became the owner of four hundred and cighty acres of rich and arable land in Illini township.

Mr. Batchelder was twice married, his first union being with Miss Malinda A. Green, .by whom he had one child, Howard M., a resident of Omaha, Nebraska, who married Annis R. Childs and is government mcat inspector at that place. For his second wife our subject wedded Miss Mary Thompson Thorndike, who is the fifth in a family of seven children, her parents being John Larkin and Maria (Joy) Thorndike. Her father was born in Concord, New Hampshire, April 23, 1796, and died January 23, 1884; while her mother was born in Durham, New Hampshire, April 25, 1804, and died September 20, 1845. Mrs. Batch- elder began her education in South Berwick, Maine, and later attended the Bowdoin street school of Boston, Massachusetts, and also the Boston Normal School on Mason strect, that city. While there she made her home with an aunt, Mrs. Pearce. By her marriage to our subject she became the mother of three children: Mary Pearce, wife of Charles H. Cowen, who is engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Warrensburg, Illinois; Bessie Ingleton, wife of Joseph T. Tucker, a farmer and stock-raiser; and Georgiana, who lives with her mother in Warrensburg, to which place they removed in 1899, shortly after the death of our subject.

As a Republican, Mr. Batchelder took quite an active and prominent part in local politics and was called upon to serve as supervisor of his township for a number of terms and as township treasurer for thirty years. He was a charter member of the 11- lini Congregational church and was a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. In his business dealings he was ever prompt, reliable and entirely trust- worthy, and although he gained a greater degree of success than came to many of his fellow citizens it was because he was very energetic, perservering and capable in man- aging his business affairs. In his death the

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community lost one of its best citizens, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a considerate husband and father. Since the age of seventeen years Mrs. Batchelder has been a member of the Congregational church and her earnest Christian life has endeared her to all with whom she has come in contact.

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Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois, Part 52

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 988

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 988