USA > Illinois > Macon County > Decatur > Past and present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois > Part 53
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SAMUEL K. SMITH.
Macon county's development had not been carried on through many years nor had it reached an advanced stage of progres- sion when Samuel K. Smith established his home in this county and became actively identified with the business interests and with the improvement of this portion of the state. It was in the year 1852 that he lo- , cated here. He was born in Caldwell coun- ty, Kentucky, in February, 1824, and was a son of William and Rebecca (Maxwell) Smith, both natives of Kentucky. The father died when our subject was only a boy. His education was acquired in the common schools of his native state and he remained a resident of Kentucky until about twenty-eight years of age, when he deter- mined to seek a home in Illinois, believing that in this new but rapidly developing dis- trict he would have good business privi- leges. Accordingly removing to Macon county, he settled upon a farm in Mount Zion township. Here he purchased a good tract of land and with characteristic energy began its development and cultivation. He continued to carry on general farming throughout his remaining days and in his business affairs he prospered. He divided his place into fields of convenient size by well kept fences, plowed and planted his land and because of the practical methods which he ever followed was enabled to gather rich harvests as a reward for his labors.
Mr. Smith was twice married. He first
wedded Miss Eliza Miller, who died in Mount Zion. She was to him a faithful com- panion and helpmate on life's journey for many years and she bore him seven chil- dren : Sarah, who is now the deceased wife of the Rev. R. G. Cardinal ; Mary, the wife of A. R. Scott, of Bethany, Illinois; Eliza, the wife of Dr. McMillan, a practicing phy- sician of Bethany: Josephine, who is the wife of J. T. McGaughey, of Mount Zion; Laura, the wife of Thomas L. Boone, a grain dealer of Bethany; Maggie, the wife of Fred Williams, a resident of Texas ; and Samuel D., who is now living a retired life in Mount Zion. After the death of his first wife Mr. Smith was again married, his sec- ond union being with Miss Cynthia A. Pow- ell, of Cass county, Illinois, a daughter of Hugh R. and Susan (Price) Powell, who were early settlers of Cass county, where the father carried on general farming until his death.
. Mr. Smith was never an office seeker and yet his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, several times called upon him to serve in local offices, wherein he dis- charged his duties with promptness and fidelity. He voted with the Republican party in early life and afterward became a stanch Prohibitionist, because of his deep sympathy with the cause of temperance and his earnest desire that the sale of intoxicants shall be suppressed. Both he and his wife were members of the Cumberland Presby- terian church and for several years he served as one of the elders of the church and took a very helpful part in its work, contrib- uting generously to its support and doing everything in his power for its improve- ment and upbuilding. He died in the Chris- tian faith .August 16, 1896, after having been a resident of the county for forty-four years. During that time he had become very wide- ly known. He was a faithful friend, a good neighbor, a devoted and loving husband, a consistent Christian gentleman, his loss was
Ausel Suppen
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felt throughout the entire community. Ai- ter her hu-ban I's death Mrs. Smith removed to Decatur and purchased her present home at No. 717 West North street, making many improvement- here. She also owns a farm at Bethany. this county, and thus her prop- erty interests return to her a good income, supplying her with all of the comfort- and many of the luxuries of life.
LIELT. COL. ANSEL TUPPER.
When the tocsin of war sounded and the dark cloud of destiny gathered over the country, bringing in its wake destruction and death, a strong feeling was aroused throughout the length and breadth of the . land. The south remained in opposition to the supremacy of the national government at Washington and the north donned the blue uniform in defense of the Union. There is in all modern times no account of such desperate warfare as was then waged and in many a home there came gloom and sad- ness because of the destruction of life which took place upon the southern battlefields. Lieutenant Colonel Tupper was one whose life was given on the altar of his country. His memory is enshrined in the hearts not only of all those who knew him, but also of his fellow countrymen who love their native land and have gratitude for its preservers. Certainly he deserves mention in the his- tory of Macon county, where he was living at the time he joined the army and where he had become known as a respected. worthy and upright citizen.
Lieutenant Colonel Tupper was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, June 5. 1832, a son of Harvey and Johanna ( Willis) Tupper. His parents, likewise natives of the Empire state. resided there until 1833. in which year they became residents of Akron, Ohio, but subsequently they estab- Ished their home in Sheboygan county.
Wisconsin, where the father carried on farming. He died in that place, but the mother afterward went to Missouri, where her last days were spent.
Lieutenant Colonel Tupper was but a small lad when his parents went to Ohio and was a youth of fourteen when they ar- rived in Wisconsin, where he acquired the greater part of his education. He studied law with Hon. N. W. Tupper, his brother, in the counties of Sheboygan and Washing- lon, Wisconsin, and in June. 1854. was ad- mitted to the bar. after which he began prac- tice in the village of Hartford, where he soon won recognition as a young man of more than ordinary ability and prominence.
He was married in Hartford, Wisconsin. December 16, 1855. to Miss Mary Wiley, a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and a daughter of William and Mary Wiley. Her father was born in Pittsburg. Pennsyl- vania. and her mother in Youngstown, Ohio. When twenty years of age he removed to Ohio, where he engaged in farming for a time. but later turned his attention to the real estate business. buying and selling much land in that locality. There he re- sided until 1847. when he removed to Har- rison. Washington county, Wisconsin. where he was engaged in farming and also in real estate dealing. There he died in 1852 and his wife, who long survived him. passed away in Harrison in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Tupper became the parents of two children : Leonidas 11., born January 15. 1857. became a student in Cornell Univer- sity at the age of eighteen years and pur- sned his studies there for five years. Ile then went to New York city and became one of the editors at different times of the New York World, New York Journal and New York Sun, being a prominent factor in journalistic circles in that city for a long period. Because of ill health, however, he left the Atlantic coast and spent a few years 111 Louisiana He then returned to Brook-
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lyn, New York, and for one year was con- nected with the Brooklyn Standard Union, after which he devoted his attention to liter- ary work, writing for magazines for a few years. He had many friends in New York city and Brooklyn and, in fact, in every locality in which he was known, and he was very prominent in social circles and also active in philanthropic and benevolent work, the poor and needy finding in him a valued friend. Becoming ill he was taken to one of the hospitals of New York city, where he remained for a few days and was then taken by his mother to his sister's home in She- boygan Falls, Wisconsin, where his last days were spent, his death there occurring on the 1st of September, 1902. The daugh- ter, Ella, was born April 17, 1858, and is now the wife of Aretus Tupper, a resident of Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, now one of the most wealthy and prominent citizens of that place. Mrs. Tupper resides at her at- tractive home in Decatur at No. 273 West Cerro Gordo street. She yet remains true to her husband's memory and well may she cherish her recollections of his honorable manhood, his kindly nature and his unfalt- ering bravery in the hour of danger.
The last six years of Lieutenant Colonel Tupper's life were passed in Decatur, where he located as a young man full of hope and with a determination to win a creditable place at the bar. Perhaps no better ac- count of his career can be given than by quoting from the funeral sermon which was delivered at his grave on the 22d of April, 1862. The minister, Rev. J. H. Moore, in speaking of his removal to Decatur said :
" Here likewise his talents were soon acknowledged, and his business became profitable. Yet he did not rapidly accumu- late property, for, as is usual with men of such a spirit as he possessed, he spent freely what he had earned and was benevolent to a fault: Such men never suddenly become wealthy, but fail not, if life is spared, to
rise to distinction, and live in the hearts of their fellow men. Nor are such men ever indifferent to the stirring events which are going on in the world around them, but are constantly awake to whatever is likely to affect, for weal or woe, the destinies of mankind.
"Colonel Tupper was not long in sur- rounding himself with numerous ardent and devoted friends. His social qualities were of a high order and those who knew him most intimately, who knew the nature of that deep under current of manly, generous feeling, not so readily discerned by the superficial observer of character, loved him best, and esteemed him the most sincerely. In all his intercourse with the members of his own profession he showed himself to be a gentleman in the most emphatic sense of that terin. He was manly, frank, open in all his business transactions at the bar and with the community at large. He was quick tempered, impetuous as a mountain torrent, and fearless as the grave; but gen- erous, honorable and just. Whatever sen- timents he espoused, he dared fearlessly to utter and defend, on all suitable occasions, regardless of consequences, so far as they might affect himself. But he cherished a decent respect for those who honestly and sincerely differed with him in opinion. He was proverbially large-hearted, kind and sympathetic. No man was more ready to do a favor than he. He strongly felt for the suffering, the weak and the defenseless. As a husband, he was a model of tenderness and affection. He was a loving and indul- gent father and unsurpassed in all the qual- ities of good neighborship. So acute and tender were his sensibilities that scarcely could he either eat or sleep, or in anywise take rest, while any member of his own family, or any of his friends were suffering from pain or disease-such a man could never have been a bad man. And though we may not say that he was a Christian in
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the most exalted sense of that term yet his was a noble nature and the longer he had lived, the more would he have endeared himself to society and the more would the noble qualities of his soul have unfolded themselves to the world. With such at- tributes of character as these, he could not fail to secure the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lived. Ile was a rising star, but recently emerged from the mists of the morning twilight, shining more refulgently as it neared its meridian height. But a thick cloud, shall I say, has suddenly passed over that rising luminary, hiding it from our vision forever? Have its fires paled, and its light gone out in darkness and obscurity? Nay, verily. But rather may it be said, it was, ere it reached its noontide splendor, snatched from its particular orbit to make one more in that bright constella- tion which our stormy heavens have so recently revealed. Colonel Tupper deserves for his gallantry, shown on more than one bloody battle-field, henceforth to be men- tioned along with those other fallen heroes, leaders of our citizen soldiers, in this the second great struggle of the American people for the maintenance of free demo- cratic institutions. He entered the service of his country with a willing and cheerful heart. He uncovered his arm in her de- fense. She had sheltered him and his fathers in the past, and he was now ready to swear by his life's blood that his own loved ones should live in the future be- neath her broad-spreading aegis and know no fear nor ever feel the blush of shame. He was not the man to fold his hands and quietly and with indifference behold the heart-sickening spectacle of traitors, with fell intent, striking his beloved country, dismantling her forts and trailng her ban- ner in the dust. A genuine, warm-hearted patriot, feeling that his own honor and that of all whom he held dear to him on earth, was inseparably blended with the honor
of his country, he would have chosen to die, rather than to look upon her degrada- tion and shame. And he is a coward and a base driveler, whoever he may be, and what- ever may have been his antecedents, who is willing to survive the wreck and ruin of his country. Who that posseses any of the attri- butes of a noble nature, would wish to live without a country he can call his own or that could endure to see it become a hissing and a by-word among the nations of the earth? Verily none but such as are already fit for manacles and chains and the ty- rant's whip could become reconciled to such a state of things. The Almighty has im- planted in man's heart for the most obvious reasons the passion of patriotism and in- tended that it should burn with an inextin- guishable flame ; and whoever is true to God and his race is by no means a stranger to its powerful and generous impulses.
"Colonel Tupper, we have said, cheer- fully, we might have said eagerly, entered the service of his country ; and nobly did he sustain himself in every position and rela- tionship from the day that he enlisted until his short but illustrions career was ended. He was beloved by his men, popular with his brother officers and ready and efficient in the discharge of every duty whether in the camp, on the fatiguing march or facing the enemy upon the field of battle. In short, he showed himself to be the true soldier, brave as the bravest and generous as brave. On the bloody held of Donelson he rushed into the fight, fearless of the terrible shafts of death as they fell thick and fast around him. He breasted the storm of battle with a lofty heroism, marching on to nobler deeds of daring as the combat thickened.
" His friends rejoiced when he emerged from that fearful struggle unscathed by his country's foes and honored by all who wit- nessed his noble bearing. But a still more fearful conflict awaited him and his brave men. But no matter, for he had a heart
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for any fate. At the call of country he was ready, if need be, to rush even into the very jaws of death.
" That conflict came, at length, at Pitts- burg landing, April 6th ; more terrible than had been anticipated and more terrible than it should have been. Somebody was at fault, but who; we leave for the future to disclose. Yet by how much the more sud- den, unexpected and overwhelning was the onset of rebel hordes, by so much the more conspicuously shone the invincible valor of our glorious western army. They finally rolled back the tide of battle: they were victorious, though the slaughter was im- mense and the odds fearfully against them. But in no previous engagement has the superiority of the armies of the republic been so clearly manifest as on that occa- sion. The enemy ought, under the circum- stances, to have taken our whole army, before high noon of that eventful day. If all the favorable circumstances had been ours, the advantage of the attack, the sur- prise and of almost double the number of forces, we would certainly have captured them and scarcely felt the struggle. Why they did not take us is absolutely a stupen- ous wonder; and thanks to a kind Provi- dence and our incomparably brave men that that they did not. In that bloody fray Col- onel Tupper led on the brave Forty-first Regiment in person, the veteran Pugh having been detailed to the command of a brigade. And never were brave men more bravely led. He infused his fiery spirit into every breast. Not one of them faltered, or turned his back to the foe. And rest as- sured, my friends, that when the men of that noble regiment return home, whether living or dead, you will be proud to ac- knowledge that every man of them was a hero. And thus will it ever be with our brave citizen soldiers. There will be no running. no pale and unmanly fear, if they are led on by brave and skillful officers.
"On that ever memorable day, that bloody Sunday, the bloodiest hitherto re- corded in American history, the noble Tup- per fell, fell gloriously, fell in the defense of constitutional liberty, fell bearing aloft the ensign of his fatherland, that ensign which has floated in proud triumph over every sea, and commanded the respect of every land and dishonored never, only by traitors. He fell with his sword unsheathed and his face to the foe. Thus ever fall the brave who rush to glory or the grave.' He fell, but the banner that he loved still proudly waved o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
"And now, for whom did he fall? For what was his blood poured out? For you, my fellow citizens, and for me; for your rights and mine; for your wives and child- ren and for mine: for generations yet un- born; for the struggling and down trodden of all lands : for God and Liberty and native land.
" And shall we ever be unmindful of the loved ones he has left behind? Shall we be partakers of the benefits of his death, and forget to bestow the gratitude upon those he loved which would have been more particularly due to him, had he continued to live and walk among us ?- Shall not the warm, gushing sympathies of this commun- ity ever flow out strongly toward his stricken widow, and his now fatherless children ? Will not an appreciating people, blessed by such a sacrifice as this, cheer and console these stricken ones, through all the pathway of their future trial, and so en- courage and strengthen them that they shall feel that the staff upon which they have hitherto leaned with so much confidence and security, has in a measure been restored to them in the thanks and kind offices of those who share with them their heavy griefs to-day ?
"Colonel Tupper is dead; Treason has done the deed. The enemies of his country
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are his murderers. Could you but look upon that pale visage, it is marred by traitor hands. Think of it, my countrymen, and here, over the dead body of the slaughtered brave, swear anew allegiance to your coun- try and eternal uncompromising enmity to treason. Rest thee now our fallen brother, in the grave which affection and gratitude have prepared for thee!
" .For thou art Freedom's now and Fame's ; One of the few. immortal names That were not born to die ! '
"Colonel Tupper leaves behind a stricken wife, worthy of the relationship she bears to the honored dead, and two lovely chil- dren, a son five and a daughter three years of age. But he leaves them the inheritance of a noble name, he has secured for them the consideration of a grateful country and by that country shall they never be for- gotten. I claim them as henceforth belong- ing to my country. as the jewels of my country, because they are the relies of her patriot dead. We hail you then to-day, dis- consolate, mourning friends, tossed as you are upon life's stormy sea, forlorn, it is true, but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, enveloped in clouds and rocked in this fearful tempest, but yet assured that there is an AAlmighty one who rides upon the whirlwind and controls the storm, in- finite in goodness and pledged to be the hus- band of the widow and a father to the or- phan.
"May the kind Providence who has hith- erto watched over our families, and our country, temper the storm to the shorn lamb, keep under his divine protection the loved ones of the departed, and preserve to them and to us a country and a home, honored, feared and respected. even to the ends of the earth, and by the latest gen- crations of men."
JOHN B. MATTHEW, M. D.
Successfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Blue Mound, Dr. John B. Mat- thew has worthily won his reputation as a skilled physician. He was born March 2, 1850, on a farm near Palmer in Christian county, Illinois, his parents being Oscar F. and Margaret ( Britton) Matthew. The an- cestry of the family can be traced back to the time of Cromwell when a Matthew was appointed by the Iron Chancellor as gov- ernor over one of the British colonies and thus served for eight years. He was the first framer of a republican form of govern- ment under the old colony system. After his death the adherents of the royal cause seized upon the opportunity to proclaim Charles HI king of England and to invite Berkley to resume his rule of the colony.
The paternal great-grandparents of our subject were Nathaniel and Mary Matthew. It is not definitely known at what time the former left England. but it is an authentic fact that he was one of seven brothers and two sisters who came to America at an early period in the colonization of this conn- try. They were of Quaker faith and settled in Jamestown, Virginia. Nathaniel Mat- thew was a cooper by trade and made his home in the Old Dominion until his death, which occurred AAugust 27, 1829, while his wife died on the 11th day of the same month and year.
Simon Matthew, the grandfather of our subject, was born February 12, 1787, and died in Virginia June 18, 1848, at the age of sixty-one years, four months and six days. Ilis wife, Anna Smith, died October 24, 1834, at the age of thirty-eight years, three months and thirteen days. They were the parents of nine children : James D., the eldest, was born November 24. 1813; John M., the next in order of birth, was born December 19, 1815: Charles D. was born May 24. 1818; Catherine Amanda was born November 5, 1821 : Oscar F., the father of
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our subject, was the next younger ; Francis M., born June 29, 1826, left Springfield, Illi- nois, in 1853 for California to dig gold and located near where Los Angeles now stands. There he continued to reside most of the time until 1890, when he entered the office of sheriff as a deputy and died there in 1901. His first child was born while crossing the plains and she afterward taught the first free shchool in Los Angeles county. In 1851 Francis M. Matthew married in Spring- field and his wife died in California in 1902, leaving four daughters and one son, thir- teen grandchildren and one great-grand- child. The other members of the family of Simon Matthew were Sarah E., born March 11, 1829; David L., October 6, 1831; and William Paul, July 25, 1834.
Oscar F. Matthew, the Doctor's father, was born in Kentucky, January 30, 1821, and was a farmer by occupation. He wedded Margaret Britton, who was born near Cyn- thiana, Ohio, in 1821, a daughter of Benja- min Britton, who was a veteran of the Mex- ican war and became a farmer near Spring- field, Illinois, living in the Cotton Hill neighborhood. Throughout his entire life he followed farming. In 1861 he became a constable and served as such for eight years. Ile died in 1868. It was in pioneer times in the development of Illinois that the father of the Doctor came to this state and he, too, lived in the Cotton Hill district. His death occurred February 12, 1881, and he was buried in the Cotton Hill cemetery. Ilis wife, long surviving him, passed away at Edinburg, Illinois, De- cember 16, 1808, and her remains were then interred by his side. In the family of this worthy couple were nine children, of whom the eldest, Anna E., died in childhood. W. S. Matthew, D. D., now fifty-five years of age, is presiding eller of the San Francisco district in California. He is a graduate of the Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, and preached in Taylorville for
three years ; in Springfield three years ; Red Wing, Minnesota, two years; and St. Paul, Minnesota, two years. He was dean of the Los Angeles University for four years, was editor of the Christian Advocate of San Francisco and lives in Berkley, California. The Doctor is the third of the family. The next is Rebecca Jane Poffenbarger, a wid- ow, residing in Edinburg, Illinois. Thomas L. is a retired farmer at Springfield. L. L. is a farmer and stock-raiser living near Pawnce, Illinois. Mary is the, wife of John T. Vigal, a farmer and stock-raiser of Mex- ico, Missouri. Luticia died in girlhood and Oscar, Jr., died in infancy.
Dr. Matthew was a lad of seven summers when in 1857 his parents settled in the Cot- ton Hill district near Springfield, Illinois. He attended the common schools and also the Cotton Hill Academy and in 1870 he entered the office of Drs. L. H. and J. H. Clark, of Taylorville, with whom he studied for two years. Ile next attended lectures in the American Medical College at St. Louis for two years and was graduated on the 12th of May, 1875, after which he removed to Mount Auburn, where he began the prac- tice of medicine on the 22d of May of that year. There he resided continually until November 9, 1892, when he removed to Blue Mound, where he has since engaged in ac- tive practice, having now a large patronage.
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