USA > Illinois > Adams County > Quincy > Past and present of the city of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois > Part 90
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Mr. Bradley has been a member for more than sixteen years of the board of supervisors of Adams county. the last fourteen years being eonseeutive. He resigned in June, 1904, soon after having been re-elected for an additional term of two years, making a total of eighteen years membership to which he was elected. Dur- ing his several terms he served on many im- portant committees, both standing and special. often as chairman. For a member of years he was chairman of the finance committee. Politi- cally he is an uncompromising republican, con-
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sistently true to his party principles, yet all these important committee assignments came to him through the democratic chairman of an al- ways democratic board of supervisors. Much of the important legislation passed by the board during his terms of service originated with, or was supported by, him. Mr. Bradley from young manhood has taken an active and influen- tial part in the political affairs of township, county and state, frequently being a delegate to state and other conventions. He was at one time the nominee of his party for county treas- urer but was defeated, the county being largely democratie. Ile has served his party many years as a member of both the county central and county exeentive committees. In township, village and other local affairs Mr. Bradley has served the people well and almost continuonsly and immmerable improvements attest his faith- fulness to the public interests. The retirement of Mr. Bradley from the board of supervisors cansed general and profound regret all over the county, the people fully realizing the loss of sneh high ability and long experience in hand- ling the county's affairs. In every walk of life. public or private, Mr. Bradley has displayed the same excellent judgment, the highest stand- ard of honor, the utmost conscientiousness and the same painstaking fidelity to every interest with which he has had to do. Well and person- ally known throughout the county and far be- yond its confines, the name of S. 11. Bradley car- ries with it everywhere esteem and honor.
JAMES M. STEVENS.
James M. Stevens, whose home is located on section 8, Northwest township, was born in Madison county, Kentucky, January 8, 1820, and in 1828 he came to Illinois with his brother-in-law. settling near Springfield, where he remained two years. He is a son of James Stevens, a native of Clark county, Kentucky, who at one time owned and operated a ferry- boat on the Kentucky river. He died when his son James was only four years old, his death re- sulting from an accident-the breaking of his leg. Tlis wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Coons and was a danghter of Mr. and Mrs. Jo- seph Coons, who were natives of Germany, whence they came to Kentucky at an early day. They continued residents of that state until called to their final rest. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were born ten children : John, who died in Kon- tueky: Mary A., the wife of Eliot Combs, of AAdams county, but both died in Quincy ; Patrick, who died in Kentucky; Martin, whose death occurred in Quiney ; James M. : Thomas, who died
in Kentucky in early manhood; Nancy, who married Alex Horn, of Missouri, and became a resident of Quiney, her remains being interred in the Stevens cemetery in Northeast township at the time of her death; William, who died in Missouri; Joseph, who met death by drowning; and Katie, who was scalded to death.
James M. Stevens, whose name introduces this review, was a student in the public schools of Kentucky in early life and subsequent to his arrival in this state he continued his studies in the schools of Northeast township. Later he re- turned to Kentucky to enter into the inheritance which came to him from his father's estate. He then came again to Illinois and purchased land on section 8. Northeast township. Here he built a log house, going thirteen miles to get the brick to make the chimney. This was the first brick chimney on any house in this locality. His was, however, a typical pioneer home and he lived in true frontier style, but as the years passed he secured the comforts and conveniences which are known in the older east.
On the 20th of November, 1844, Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Eliza Crain, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Crain, of Schuyler county, Illinois. Unto them were born the following children : James E., now deceased : Mary, the wife of James V. Stevens, of Kentucky : John. deceased : Emily, the wife of Thomas Stevens, of Kentneky: Anna E., the wife of Americus Combs, who was killed in the railroad yard at Qniney ; Dudley, deceased ; and two who died in infancy. Following the death of his first wife Mr. Stevens was again married, his second union being with Sarah Silvers, of Quincy, who was born in Missouri and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Combs. natives of Kentucky.
Mr. Stevens came to Illinois when there were few families in Adams county and when the Indians were yet frequently seen. In the spring of that year Black Hawk was captured at Rock Island in the bend of the river. There were no railroads and the towns nearest his home were Rushville and Quiney, the latter being about the size of the smallest village now in Adams county. It contained only a few houses and these were made of logs. Mr. Stevens endured many of the hardships and trials incident to life on the fron- tier. He frosted his feet on the night that the deep snow began to fall in the winter of 1830-31. This was a winter never to be forgotten by those who experienced it. For three months the snow laid to a great depth over the ground, making travel almost impossible for week after week. Many of the wild animals were killed off because they could not find anything to subsist on. There were wolves, panthers, wildcats and a few bears. There were also deer and elk, and venison
MR. AND MRS. JAMES M. STEVENS
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was a frequent dish on the pioneer table. There was also muel feathered game, including prairie chickens, quails and turkeys. Mr. Stevens par- ticipated in the Mormon war of 1844, assisting in driving the polygamous colonists from the state. He has always rejoieed in progress and advancement that has been made in the county and his labors have been of material benefit to this portion of Illinois along agricultural lines. Hle is to-day the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and thirty-four acres on section 8. Northeast township. and it is the visible evidence of his life of thrift and industry. In his political views he is a democrat and his wife is religiously connected with the Christian church. Both are held in warm regard throughont the community and their names should be inseribed high upon the roll of pioneers in Adams county.
HERBERT L. TANDY.
Herbert L. Tandy, one of the pioneer settlers of AAdams county, was born in Christian county, Kentucky, near Hopkinsville. August 1. 1833. and is descended from Irish ancestry. the family having been established in Virginia long before the Revolutionary war. His grandfather was Mills Tandy. a resident of Virginia, who married a Miss Graves and their son, William II. Tandy. was born in Orange county. Virginia. They re- moved to Kentucky during his boyhood days and the grandfather followed the occupation of farm- ing in that state. William H. Tandy was mar- ried when about twenty-one years of age to Miss Alice L. Woolfolk, who was about the same age and whose people also removed from Orange county. Virginia. to Kentucky. Coming to Illi- nois Mr. Tandy was actively identified with the early development of Adams eonnty and served as its second sheriff. Later he was again chosen for that office, was then defeated for the same position but later was elected for a third term. and he served as sheriff when Stephen A. Dong- las was circuit judge. In the meantime he had purchased land and as he found opportunity he added to this property until at the time of his death he owned five hundred and thirty acres, all in Burton township, which was divided among his children. The father was a whig and after- ward a republican and was an influential factor in political eireles in the eonnty at an early day.
Mr. Tandy. of this review, bronght to Adams county at an early age, was educated in the pub- lie schools and was trained to habits of industry and economy. Ile worked in the fields and meadows and has always lived on the old home- stead, owning now three hundred and four acres of land on sections 28 and 29. also twenty-four
aeres on section 16, Burton township. He has his land well tilled and raises good crops. also a high grade of stock, and the various improve- ments on the farm are in keeping with modern ideas of agriculture.
On the 12th of December. 1854, Mr. Tandy was married to Miss Cerrilla F. Lewis, a daugh- ter of Giles S. and Sophronia (Daniels) Lewis, the former a native of Connectieut and the latter of Kentucky. For more than half a century Mr and Mrs. Tandy have traveled life's journey together and on the 12th of December, 1904, they celebrated their golden wedding. They have be- come the parents of nine children and theirs is a remarkable family record, as the circle yet re- mains unbroken. Annette, the eldest, is the wife of Robert A. Beckett, a farmer of Finney county, Kansas, and has four children : Ellen is the wife of Rev. Charles Il. Hands. a Baptist minister of Cromwell, Connecticut. by whom she has three living children; Cerrilla is the wife of E. B. Ilarkness, a farmer of Finney county. Kansas. and has one child : Elmer E .. who is farming on section 29. Burton township, married May Sex- ton and has seven children: Sophronia is the wife of R. V. Elliott. a farmer living near Lin- coln. Nebraska, and has two children: Lonisa is the wife of Frank Bradshaw. a farmer of Phil- lipsburg. Montana, and has three living chil- dren and one deceased ; Amelia, a milliner and dressmaker, has been living in California but is now at home: William H .. who married Myra Nipher, by whom he has two children. is living near Lawrenceburg. Tennessee: and Mary L., who completed her education in Shurtleff Col- lege. is engaged in dressmaking.
The parents belong to the Baptist church at Newtown, Illinois, and are interested in its work and progress. Mr. Tandy has long been a wit- ness of the development and growth of the county and has seen a wonderful transformation as the log cabins have given place to substantial farm residences, the wild prairie grass has been replaced by fields of grain and all the evidences of frontier life have been replaced by those of an advanced civilization.
GEORGE HENRY WILSON.
George Henry Wilson. since 1891 a practi- tioner at the Quiney bar. was born in Barry. Pike county, Illinois November 7. 1866, his pa- rents being Rev. Henry and Mary Jane | Padg- ett) Wilson. The father was born in Union- town, Pennsylvania. October 1. 1840, and for many years devoted his life to the work of the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. but is now living retired. He was pastor of varions
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
churches in Illinois, locating in the state in 1860, She was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, June 25, at which time he accepted the pastorate of the Methodist church in Warsaw. He now resides at Santa Barbara, California, at the age of sixty- four years. In his political views he is a re- publican. His wife, who was born in Albany, New York, September 20. 1840. has also reached the age of sixty-four years. During her girl- hood her parents removed to Quincy and her father was a resident of Adams county through a long period. He followed the occupation of farming for many years and at length retired from the farm, establishing his home in Quiney, where he continued in business by taking eon- tracts for making excavations. Unto Rev. and Mrs. Henry Wilson were born three children that reached mature years: Annie P., who was married December 25, 1904, to John M. Graham, a conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, residing in Chicago; George Henry, of this review ; and Jessie F., the wife of Henry Crowl, of Wooster, Ohio, where he is en- gaged in the undertaking business
George Henry Wilson pursued his early edu- cation in the public schools and completed his preliminary course by graduation from the high school of Pittsfield, Illinois, with the class of 1883. H- then entered the Ilinois College in the academie department and was graduated on the completion of the classical course in college in 1888, being valedictorian of his elass at which time the degree of Bachelor of Arts was con- ferred upon him. In 1891 he received the hono- rary degree of Master of Arts from his alma mater. He then taught school for a year and was assistant principal of the Carrollton schools for a year, but regarded his educational labor merely as a preliminary step toward other pro- fessional duties. It was his desire to become a member of the legal profession and to this end he attended lectures in the Union College of Law in Chicago in 1889 and 1890. Being admitted to the bar in 1891 he then entered upon the practice of his profession in Quincy, where he has continued to the present time, meeting with excellent success. In December, 1896, he formed a partnership with John E. Wall under the firm style of Wilson & Wall, with offices at No. 401 Hampshire street. and they are accorded a lib- ral patronage indicative of their skill in handling important litigated interests. Mr. Wil- son is very careful in the preparation of his cases and presents his cause in a logical forcible man- ner, giving due prominence to each detail, yet never losing sight of the important points upon which the decision of every case finally turns.
Mr. Wilson was married June 14, 1894, to Miss Frances W. Hall, a daughter of John W. and Frances (Wilkinson) Hall. Her father was a carriage manufacturer and implement dealer.
1867. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, he acting as a trustee of the church of that denomination on Vermont street. He belongs to Bodley lodge, No. 1. A. F. & A. M., and he also belongs to the Quincy Bar Association and is a director of the Quiney Law Library. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he was elected upon that ticket states attorney for Adams county in 1896 for a term of four years, during which time he capably discharged the duties of the position. The public and the profession ac- cord him an enviable position in the ranks of the legal fraternity of Quiney. Publie-spirited and progressive, he is interested in the welfare of the eity in its various lines of progress and improve- ment and he is now serving as secretary of the board of directors of the Anna Brown Home for the Aged.
WALTER H. BENNETT.
Walter Il. Bennett, prominent as a trial law- yer and secretary of the Quincy Bar Association, was born in Mounds, Brown county, Ilinois, No- vember 8, 1872. Little is known concerning the ancestral history of the family. His paternal grandfather died in Ohio, in which state his son George W. Bennett was born and reared. He was a grain merchant through mueh of his busi- ness career. He married losie Noonan, a native of Ireland, who came to America with her brother when eight years of age. They went to St. Louis, and about 1850, when thirteen years of age, she became a resident of Brown county, Illinois. Her husband became a resident of that county in the same year. There he died in 1889 at the age of seventy-five years, while his wife is still living at the old home. There were but two children of this marriage, and the daughter, Emma, died at the age of thirteen years. The other is the subject of this review. George W. Bennett was the father of four children by a for- mer marriage and Josie Bennett the mother of four children by a former marriage.
Walter Il. Bennett attended the public school in Mounds and afterward became a student in the high school at Clayton, where he was grad- uated in Inne, 1890. He attended Chaddock Col- lege during 1890-91. Ile then engaged in teach- ing school until the fall of 1893, and in Septem- ber of that year came to Quincy, where he en- tered the law office of llamilton & Woods, as a student, continuing his reading under the direc- tion of that firm for two years, when in 1895 he was admitted to the Quincy bar. He has been
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in constant practice continuously since. From the first he has enjoyed a lucrative practice, and during the past seven years he has had a dis- tinetive representative clientage, having a prac- tice, which because of its nature and proportions, might well be envied. Ile has been connected with three important murder cases, including the nine days' trial of William J. Reed, who was ac- quitted and then entered the regular army and died in the service in the Philippines. Mr. Ben- nett prepares his cases with great precision and care and in the presentation of his cause is clear and forcible, his deductions following in logical sequence. He gives every detail its full force, vet never for a moment loses sight of the main issue upon which the decision of every case finally turns.
On the 1st of June, 1897, Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Nellie Ince, a daughter of Dr. E. A. Ince, of Quincy. They have three chil- dren : Edward, born March 26. 1898: Eleanor, July 7, 1899; and Paul. born March 6, 1903. Fraternally Mr. Bennett is connected with Lam- bert lodge, No. 659, A. F. & A. M .: Gem City lodge. No. 357, I. O. O. F. : Amity lodge, K. P., and several fraternal insurance orders, and in the first named has filled all the chairs. In the line of his profession he is connected with the Quincy Bar Association. In polities a democrat, he has served as secretary of the county commit- tee at different times and is much interested in political questions and issues, keeping well in- formed on all the subjects of party discussion.
WILLIAM D. DE MOSS.
William D. DeMoss, living on section 3, Co- Inmbus township, is the owner of very extensive farm lands. his possessions aggregating twelve hundred acres. He is regarded as a most thrifty farmer and stock-raiser and certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. as nearly all that he possesses has come to him through his own labors. A native son of Adams county, his birth occurred in Camp Point town- ship, October 12, 1840. ITis father, James De- Moss, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1815, was a son of Charles DeMoss. a native of France. Ile was reared in the Buckeye state and when a young man came to Illinois, arriv- ing in Adams county about 1836. Here he mar- ried Miss Margaret White, a native of Spring- acres of government land. Ife owned several farms which in the course of time were developed claims and later bought one hundred and sixty field, Illinois. Mr. DeMoss purchased some into very productive properties and in Adams
county he reared his family and spent his entire life. That he was a man of marked energy, perseverance and business capacity is indicated by the fact that he became the owner of between twelve and thirteen hundred acres of land. As an early settler he aided in large measure in the substantial improvement of the county through its pioneer epoch. He died in 1880, and his wife survived him for about a year.
William D. DeMoss is the eldest in a family of sixteen children, ten of whom reached mature years, while nine are vet living. Mr. DeMoss obtained a common-school education in Adams county and remained with his father until twenty-two years of age, when he was married, the wedding ceremony being celebrated in Co- Imbus township, March 6, 1862. the lady of his choice being Miss Mary Eliza Horner, who was born near Cincinnati, in Hamilton county, Ohio. IIer father, William Horner, was a native of In- diana and was there reared. About 1852 he brought his family to Illinois, so that Mrs. De- Moss spent her girlhood days in Adams county.
The young couple began their domestic life upon the farm which he still occupies, having at first a traet of land of eighty acres, on which were few improvements. The liberal use of fer- tilizers and the rotation of crops has made his land very productive. He is also engaged in raising and shipping stock, and as his financial resources have increased he has purchased other farms from time to time until he owned within a radius of about three miles thirteen hundred acres of land. Ile has also given land to his children and has sold some, but his possessions at the present writing amount to twelve hundred aeres. Mr. and Mrs. DeMoss started out in life empty-handed, but they possessed courage and determination, and while Mr. DeMoss did the work of the fields his wife carefully managed the household affairs and their united efforts have brought prosperity. They became the parents of three children, but the eldest, Flora, who was the wife of Henry Sparks, died in 1893, leaving a daughter. Ethel May Sparks, who resides with her grandparents. Luella DeMoss became the wife of Benjamin L. Wilhoit, a farmer of Columbus township, and they have four chil- dren : Harry L., Lillie Pearl, Ilazel F. and Goldie MI. Lillie M. DeMoss is the wife of Henry Sparks, a farmer of Clayton township, and they have a son, -- Orren D.
Politically Mr. DeMoss has been a life-long republican, having east his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He served as road commissioner for six years and has long been a member of the school board. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend and he pays a larger amount of school taxes than any one in his township. His wife is a member of
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PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY.
the Christian church This worthy couple are held in high esteem throughont the community and wherever known and well merit the warm rezard which is so uniformly extended to them. MIr. DeMoss has worked untiringly through many years to win the success which he now en- joys and at all times his business methods have been such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.
CHARLES 11. BULL.
No name figures more honorably or conspicu- ously on the pages of Quincy's business history and permanent and substantial development than that of Charles II. Bull, for many years asso- ciated with the mercantile and banking interests of the city and with railroad construction. Plain and unassuming in manner, with trne democratic spirit, he nevertheless ranks, according to the consensus of publie opinion, with the foremost men of the state, controlling interests of far- reaching effect on the trade circles of the Missis- sippi valley.
A native of Hartford, Connecticut, which had been the ancestral home of the family for many years. Charles Il. Bull was born in 1822, and having spent the first fourteen years of his life in the city of his nativity he came to Quiney to enter upon a business career that has been marked by steady rise and by unfaltering honor. lIere he joined his brother, Lorenzo Bull, who for four years had been employed in the mer- cantile house of J. T. Holmes, with whom Charles HI. Bull now secured employment, receiving one hundred dollars as the remuneration for his ser- vices the first year, and each year thereafter securing an increase of salary of fifty dollars.
With laudable ambition the brothers saved their earnings, and in 1844 the firm of L. & C. H. Bull was formed and entered upon the sale of hardware, to which they later added queens- ware and a few years later they added a stock of farm implements and machinery. Their trade rapidly increased because of the fact that Quincy was then the market center for a large district and also by reason of the honorable policy in- augurated by the brothers. The firm name of L. & C. H. Bull remained a synonym of business integrity in Illinois for more than a half cen- tury or until the business title was lost through the merging of their banking interests into the State Savings, Loan and Trust Company. It was in 1861 that they ceased to operate along mercantile lines and became factors in commer- cial circles through the establishment of a bank- ing house, that, like their commercial enterprise,
met with immediate and growing success. The institution maintained a steadfast existence, its credit unshaken during the most severe financial crises in the history of the country, and when finally the business was re-organized under the name of the State Savings, Loan and Trust Com- pany, Charles H. Bull became vice president of the latter institution and contributed in large measure to its expansion and stability through his keen discernment and executive force.
What Mr. Bull has done in connection with railroad building in the middle west would alone entitle him to conspienons mention in the annals of material progress in the Mississippi valley. lle was one of the projectors of the Quincy, Mis- souri and Pacific Railroad, in June, 1869, and was the first treasurer and financial agent as well as a member of the first board of directors. The active work of construction devolved very large- ly upon him, and for many years he was the president of the company. Ont of this enter- prise there has been developed an important railway system, extending from Quiney to Kan- sas City. St. Joseph, Omaha and south to the Gulf of Mexico and Mr. Bull is continually striv- ing to promote the interests of the road and make it an important highway of travel between the east and the west. The road has had many vicissitudes, but through all Mr. Bull has main- tained firm faith in its ultimate success and its triumph over adversity and seemingly unsur- mountable obstacles is largely due to him.
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