Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois, Part 45

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, IL : Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 632

USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Scott County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 45

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County, Ky., where their marriage took place. They began their wedded life together on a farm there, where they lived until after the birth of two sons and three daughters, the latter of whom are yet living. The sons-William H., and Isaac N., died at the ages of seventeen and nine. Of the daugh- ters, two are married-Malinda, the wife of om subject, and Catherine E., Mrs. Tandy. The Im- married daughter, Mary A., is living with our sub. ject. The mother died in Kentucky at the age of thirty- six years. Later the father and children came to this county and located in township 16, range 11. Mr. Scott was subsequently married to Miss Elizabeth Millen, and both are now deceased; hie being sixty-eight years old at the time of his death, and his wife sixty-six.

Mrs. Park was quite young when she came with her father to Illinois and she has sinee been a resi- dent of this eounty. Of her union with onr sub- ject there has been born one child only, a son, Frank P., who is now twenty-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Park are members in good standing of the United Presbyterian Church at Clayton, Ill., and in politics, Mr. Park is undeniably a Repub- liean.

C IIARLES NICKEL. Among those who have made a signal success of faruring and stock-raising, Mr. Nickel should be men- tioned as one occupying a place in the front rank. Ile is the owner of a finely-conducted farm of 260 acres on section 16, township 16, range 11, where he has been located sinee the spring of 1869. lle has effected good improvements, and keeps usually about forty head of cattle, 100 head of swine, and nineteen head of horses and colts. lle raises grain sufficient, to feed his stock, and the balance of his farm is devoted to pasture and hay. His industry and enterprise have long been recognized by the people of this section, while he has his future re- ward in the esteem and confidence of his neigh- bors.

Our subject first opened his eyes to the light, on the other side of the Atlantic, in the Province of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, Jau. 3, 1838. He lived

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MORGAN COUNTY.

there until a lad nine years of age, and then ae- companied his father to America. They settled in Beardstown, this State, where our subject learned the trade of a wheel-wright, which he followed for some time before the outbreak of the Civil War. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 14th Illinois Infantry, under Capt. Thomas M. Thomp- son, and went with his regiment to the South, where he participated in some of the most im- portant battles of the war, being at Shiloh, Vieks- burg, and Jackson, Miss., and joining Sherman in the memorable march to the sea. He was pro- moted to the rank of Second Sergeant, and while experiencing some narrow escapes, came out un- harmed, and after receiving his honorable dis- charge turned his attention to farming pursuits, in which he has since been engaged.

Mr. Nickel started out in life for himself when a lad of fourteen years, without other means or re- sonrees than his good health and resolute will. Being faithful and industrious, he found little trouble in seeuring employment. and upon reach- ing manhood was fully prepared to establish a home of his own. After the war was over he was married, in Cass County, this State,'to Miss Paulina Jokiseh, a native of that county, and the daughter of Charles G. and Christina (Elsneer) Jokiseh, who who were natives of what was then the Kingdom of Saxony, and who, coming to the United States in their youth, settled in Cass County, where they were married; both are now deceased. They were excellent and worthy people, and fine representa- tives of their substantial aneestry.

The father of Mrs. Nickel died when she was only eight or nine years old, leaving the mother with a family of seven sons and three daughters, of whom Paulina was one of the younger members. The children, as fast as becoming old enough, made themselves useful in the home, and after a time all seattered to look out for themselves. Mrs. Nickel remained with her mother until her mar- riage, which resulted in the birth of seven children, three of the boys being triplets. Two of these --- Howard and Charles-died when quite young, and also a daughter, Christina. The survivors are Franklin C., John H .. Mary L., and Edward, the latter one of the triplets. Mr. Nickel, politically,

is a decided Republican, and both he and his es- timable wife belong to the German Methodist Chureh.

The parents of our subjeet were Henry and Catlı- erine (Rohn) Nickel, natives of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and the father a farmer by oceupation. They were reared and married in their native pro- vinee, and after the birth of four children set out for the United States, accompanied by three of them, the other child having died. After a safe voyage on a sailing-vessel they landed in the eity of New Orleans, and thence eame up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Beardstown, where the parents took up their abode, and where they both died a few years later.

HOMAS CROUSE. This name is recog- nized as that of one of the most energetie business men of Murrayville, where he is Postmaster, and who may usually be found at his store on Main street, where he deals in groceries, hardware, paints, oils, etc., and oeeupies a one- story briek building, 20x75 feet in dimensions. Ile is also a manufacturer of and dealer in harness and saddlery, and gives employment regularly to three elerks, while in the busy season he inereases his foree. He carries a stoek valued at about $5,000 and enjoys a trade of $12,000 to $15,000 annually.

Mr. Crouse was appointed Postmaster of Murray- ville Oet. 16, 1885, from which circumstance may be guessed his politieal affiliation. Morgan County has always been his home and is the place of his birth, which occurred Jan. 12, 1858. His parents, Andrew C. and Elizabethi (Kitner) Crouse, are deceased. Thomas acquired his education in the distriet school, and at Murrayville, and spent his time mostly upon a farm until a lad of fifteen years. He then commeneed his apprenticeship as a saddler and harness maker in Jacksonville and three years later liis mereantile experience began, and he has been in trade almost uninterruptedly since that time.

Mr. Crouse in 1876 visited the Centennial Exposi- tion at Philadelphia and traveled through many por-

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MORGAN COUNTY.

tions of the East. Later he visited the Exposition at New Orleans, and in the winter of 1881 made his way to the Paeifie Slope, spending several months in California. Accompanied by his wife he revisited the Golden State during the winter of 1888-89. Ile has traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacifie and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes-undeniably a very wise investment of time and money.

The 24th of November, 1885, witnessed the mar- riage of our subject with Miss Clara, dangliter of C. F. Strang, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Crouse is a very intelligent lady, a favorite of the social eirele and a member. of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject politically, votes the Democratic ticket, and be- longs to the Masonic fraternity.

Andrew C. Crouse, was a native of North Caro- lina, born in Stokes County, June 9, 1816, and a pioneer of Central Illinois, coming to this eounty as early as 1836. He located and lived several years north of Jacksonville, but in 1850, went to California and remained six years in the gold dig- gings. He crossed the plains with a drove of eat- tle and was occupied about six months in the jour- ney; he returned by way of the Istlimus. One year later he went to Pikes Peak, remaining this time three years, but subsequently visited New Mexico and the Black Hills, remaining away this time one year. Upon returning to this county he purchased land about one mile south of Murray- ville, and lives there now upon a good farm. He has seen the time when he could have purchased land forming the present site of Jacksonville at $1.25 per acre. He has been successful in the ae- cumulation of property, possessing real estate prob- ably to the value of $20.000, the aceumulation of a life of industry and perseveranee. He visited his old home in North Carolina a few years since. Politieally, he is a stanel Demoerat.

The property of Andrew C. Cronse, is located on section 18, township 13, range 10. He comes of Southern stock, being the son of Andrew C., Sr. and Peggy Cronse, who were likewise natives of North Carolina, the father, of German deseent and the mother of Irish. He remained a resident of his native State until reaching his majority, receiv-

ing limited advantages, and at the age of twenty years made his way to this county and began life for himself as a farmer on rented land. In com- pany with his brother-in-law, George Fry, he finally erossed the Mississippi into Iowa, where he took up a claim and remained one year. Then selling out he returned to this county and purchased a farm three miles north of Jacksonville, upon which he operated about ten years. His next removal was in 1865, to his present farm.

To Andrew C. and Elizabeth (Kitner) Crouse, there were born ten children, and the survivors are recorded as follows: George is a resident of Missouri ; James lives in this county; Thomas, our subject, is the third ehild; Charles is a resident of this connty; Jolm lives in Murray ville: Elizabeth lives in Wiseonsin. The wife and mother depart- ed this life at the homestead, Jan. 2, 1883. She was a lady who by her estimable qualities had en- deared herself to a large cirele of friends and ac- qnaintances by whom she was deeply mourned. She had been faithful and devoted to her family, and the encourager and sympathizer of her husband during the trying times of their settlement in this county.

Mr. Crouse visited nearly all of the States and Territories and improved all his opportunities for obtaining useful information, and now, surrounded by all the comforts of life, he is passing his declin- ing years quietly and free from care, surrounded by his children and friends and respeeted by all who know him. Alexander the oldest son was a member of the 101st Illinois Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh. lle carried the battle-flag.

OHIN BURT is a general farmer and owns eighty-four aeres in township 16, range 11. Ile has a well-cultivated farm upon which he has resided sinee Mareh, 1866. While Mr. Burt's farm is not a large one, its productive qualities are equal to that of any in his neighbor- hood. He spares no pains to attain good results, and by constant application has made a sueeess.

In 1861 Mr. Burt eame to Morgan County from Sangamon County, Ill. He is a carpenter,and fol-

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lowed his trade while living in Ohio, and was very snecessful. He was born in Ayreshire, Scotland, a few iniles from where the fariner poet, Robert Burns, first saw the light of day. Mr. Burt's birth occurred on Dee. 23, 1814. Ilis parents were of English descent. His father, Abraham Burt, was born in Scotland, and married Susan Harper, after which they located in Ayreshire, and there the father followed mechanical pursuits until 1837, when on the 8th day of October of that year, they started for America, and after a voyage of six weeks and five days, they arrived safely in New York City. The ship upon which they came from Scotland, the " Frances," Capt. Griffin command- ing. was lost on her return trip. After landing in New York the family proceeded immediately to Warren County, Ohio, where they settled, the father dying there in 1863, being ninety years of age at the time of his death. His wife, the mother of Jolin, died in January, 1861, at the age of eighty- six years. They were of the old Scotch-Presby- terian faith, than whom there are no better people living. John Burt was the fourth child of five children, three sons and two daughters. He was reared in his native shire until he was twenty-three years old, at which time his parents came to Am- erica as before indicated. He learned his trade while in Ohio working with his brother Abrahamn. John came to Illinois in 1856, when inen were in large demand, and when large wages were paid. These conditions aided him in making a start in the world. He married Miss Mary Hunter of Sanga- mon County, Ill. She was born in Lexington, Ky., on March 12, 1819 and is the daughter of Josiah and Elizabeth (Neel) Ilunter, who were natives of Mechlenburg County, N. C., and who came orgin- ally from Pennsylvania, ancestrally speaking. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were reared in North Carolina, and later removed to Lexington, Ky., where Mr. Hunter (lied in the prime of life in January, 1831. His widow, with her children, in 1836, came to Morgan County, where she died April 4, 1862, being then past eighty-six years of age. She, like her husband was a life-long Presbyterian.

Mrs. Burt was the youngest of five children, three sons and two daughters that lived to grow up. Mrs. Burt was a young lady when her mother

came North, receiving her early education and im- pressions in Kentucky. She is the mother of one child-Mary E., who, as a dutiful daughter is stay- ing at home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Burt and daughter take great interest in religious mat- ters, and worship in the Presbyterian faith. Po- litically Mr. Burt is a Republican; originally lie was an Abolitionist, but after the wiping out of slavery, he naturally found a political home with the party that freed the slave. He is reckoned as one of the solid, hard-working men of his com- munity.

A RMSTRONG COOPER. Seventy-seven years have eome and gone, since Mr. Cooper first opened his eyes to the light in East- ern 'Tennessee, he having been born March 23, 1812, in Roane County, that State. Fifty-four years of this time have been spent in this county, he first setting foot within its limits on the 3d of November, 1835. Thirty-three years of this time were spent upon a farm, which he opened up from the wilderness, and which he occupied until De- cember, 1880. Then, wisely retiring from the active labors of life, he left the farm in other hands and moved into Coneord Village, where he owns a home, and is living surrounded by all the com- forts of life.

The landed property of our subject embraces 200 acres, in a good farm, on section 22, township 16, range 11, and eighty acres in another part of this township. Most of this, when he became pro- prietor, lay as the Indians left it, and he paid for it with money earned by the sweat of his brow. Like most of the men around him, he has arisen from an humble position in life, and accumulated his possessions solely by the exereise of industry and perseveranee. For a few years after his arri- val in this eounty lie lived in what was then the very unimportant little town of Jacksonville, then removed to a farm, which he occupied five years before making his first purchase of land.

We find, upon glancing at the family record of our subjeet, that he is son of Absalom Cooper, a native of Virginia, and the grandson of John Cooper, who with an elder brother, Martin, emi-

RESIDENCE OF MICHAEL BODDY, SEC. 18. T.15 .- R.11. MORGAN Co.

RESIDENCE OF R.C. CURTISS, WAVERLY , ILL.

RESIDENCE OF J. H. JEWSBURY, SEC'S. 18. 19. 20. T.15-R.11 MORGAN CO.

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grated to America from England prior to the Revolutionary War. They settled in Old Virginia, but John long afterward enlisted in defense of American liberty. Martin, the elder, who was the heir of his father's possessions was a Tory, and fought with the British. It is known that he had one of his hands cut off by a sword, and he may possibly have been killed, as he was lost sight of and was never heard from afterward.

Grandfather John Cooper married a Virginia lady of Southern parentage, and after a time they settled in Roane County, Tenn., where they spent the remainder of their lives, dying when ripe in years. It is believed that grandfather Cooper was eighty years old, while his wife lived to the great age of one hundred and one. They were worthy and upright people, and conscientious members of the old-school Baptist Church.

Absalom Cooper, the father of our subject, was the only son of his parents, who had but a small family, and after reaching his majority he was married to Miss Katie Armstrong, whom it is sup- posed was born in Virginia. They began their wedded life together on a farm in Tennessee, and after the birth of all their children made prepara- tions to move to another county, but before becom- ing located, the father was drafted into the army, during the War of 1812. Shortly afterward he was taken ill, and died at Ft. Armstrong in the prime of life. The mother lived to rear her famn- ily-indeed far beyond that, attaining to the ad- vaneed age of eighty years, and died in Roane County, Tenn.

The subject of this sketch was the youngest but one of the parental family, and at an early age began to earn his own living. Ile left Tennessee a single man, and in 1837 was married in Jackson- ville, this county, to Miss Mary Sileox. This lady was born in Fentress County, Tenn., March 18, 1818, and is the daughter of Solomon and Jane (Keaton) Silcox, who were likewise natives of that State. They lived there and in Kentucky until 1830, then, coming to this county, settled first in . Jacksonville, but finally removed to Beardstown, where the father died when quite aged. The mother subsequently made her home with Mrs. Henry Black, her daughter, in Whitehall, Greene County,

where she departed this life on the day she was eighty-two years old. Both steadfastly adhered to the faith of the Christian Church.

To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper there was born a family of ten children, and the faithful and devoted wife and mother passed from earth on the 21st of April, 1880, at the age of sixty-two years. She was not only deeply mourned by her family and immediate friends, but regretted by all who knew her. One child, E. C., died when ten years of age; John A. died when two and one.half years old; Robert and Albert(twins) died at the age of six months; and Edward S. died when two and one-half years old; Mary became the wife of Dr. O. T. Pratt, and died at the age of twenty-nine. Of the survivors the record is as follows: Eliza J. became the wife of Frank Roberts, of Virginia, and in the year 1879 was left a widow with three children-Hattie, Anna, and Katie. Hattie married James Webster, a farmer of Scott County; William H. Cooper married Miss Carrie Burbank, and they occupy the old homestead of our subject; James B. married Miss Rosa O'Keffe, and they also live on the Cooper farm. Amanda is the wife of Bailey Rexroat, and they live on the farm near Literberry. The family is an interesting and popular one, and general favorites in the social circles of their community. Mr Cooper, politically, is a sound Democrat ..

OIIN MURRAY, whose name is indissolubly linked with the early and later history of Morgan County as one of its most intelli- gent and prosperous pioneers, is still dwel- ling among us in the enjoyment of a hale old age. The town of Murrayville, where he owns and oc- eupies a valuable farm, was named in honor of his brother, and our subject has been a prominent factor in promoting its growth and increasing its material prosperity. He has been very extensively engaged in the past in breeding fine Short-horn cat- tle, and representatives of his stock may be found all around in this part of the country. Ile has been a very large land owner, but has sold off much of his real estate, and has reduced the acreage of his farm to 186 acres, all prairie land, and as fertile and

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well adapted to general farming as any in the county. Mr. Murray has given up the manage- ment of his farm to his son, and has retired from aetive life.

Mr. Murray was born Sept. 3, 1812, in Galloway, Scotland, and was the second child in the family of four sons and one daughter born to John and Han- nah (MeKean) Murray, natives of the same shire. Three of the children are still living, and one son, David, was finely educated, and for many years was a leading business man in Portsmonth, Ohio, but is now living in retirement. The family eamne to America in 1835, and after living three years in Pennsylvania came to Illinois, taking five months tu perform the journey. They settled in Morgan County, where Murrayville now stands, and here the good old father and mother stayed their earthly wanderings and passed their last days in peace and plenty, dying at a ripe old age, the mother passing away in 1856 and the father surviving her four years, his death occurring at the venerable age of eighty-seven years.

Onr subject was bred to the life of a farmer in his native land, receiving the benefit of a common school education, and after coming to America liad the general oversight of his father's affairs. In 1838 he came to Illinois on a visit, and being pleased with the country resolved to settle here. After purchasing 190 acres of land, just west of the present site of Murrayville, he went back to Pennsylvania for his father and mother and the rest of the family, and returned with them the same year. The country around here was very desolate in those days, and the prairies were filled with slonghs that have since been drained and form the best land here. Mr. Murray and several other young men eut and hewed timber to build a log church at Murrayville, which was the pioneer re- ligious institution of the village where to-day four churches stand. The home in which our subject and his parents lived was a rudely constructed log house, with a mud chimney, puncheon floor, clap- board door, and all put together without a nail. That humble dwelling lasted them a year, and it was then replaced by a more commodious two-story frame house. In the opening paragraph of this sketeh we have seen how Mr. Murray has prospered

in the long years that have followed his settlement here, and that by hard and well-directed labor he has accumulated a fine competence. We will now refer more particularly to his domestie life.

Mr. Murray has been twice married. The first time, Aug. 27, 1847, to Miss Sarah A. Huey, daugh- ter of Daniel Huey, of Morgan County, who came here from Mississippi in 1835. He was a large land-owner, and after giving his two sons a quarter. section each, he still possessed six full sections of fine land. Mrs. Murray was the third child in a family of seven. Her married life was not destined to be of very long duration, as on Jan, 30, 1852, she folded her hands in death, and now lies quietly sleeping her last sleep in the pretty cemetery at Murrayville. She bore her husband three children, as follows: Peter, who died out West in 1884; James, who lives near his father, married Nettie Moore, and has one child; Sarah A., wife of James B. Beadles, of Jacksonville, Ill.

Mr. Murray's marriage to his present wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Emily Reed, took place March 7, 1854. She is the daughter of Silas Reed, a Virginian by birth, who became a pioneer of Seott County in 1839, and was a man of promi- nenee in that part of Illinois, taking an active part in the public affairs of his day. To her and her husband three children have been born, as follows: John Edwin, who died in infancy ; Catherine Reed, who married Henry C. Tunison, the manufacturer of inaps in Jacksonville, and has five children; Ada, who lives at home with her parents.

Mr. Murray is a man of unswerving integrity, of a highi sense of honor, and of true Christian prin- ciple, and is held in warm regard and reverence by the entire community with whose interests his own have been identified for more than half a century. His keen foresight, cool head, good powers of judgment and discrimination, and other traits that he inherited from a sterling Seoteh aneestry, have led him to prosperity, and he is numbered among the most substantial citizens of this part of Mor- gan County. Mr. Murray has always manifested great interest in school affairs, and has promoted the cause of education as School Director, which office he has held several years, and for the past twelve years he has been School Trustee. He is a

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model citizen in political matters, voting as his conscience dictates, and has been a strong sup- porter of the Republican party since its formation. He voted for William Henry Harrison, and in the fall of 1888, forty-eight years later, had the pleasure of casting his ballot for his grandson, our present President, Benjamin Harrison. He and his wife are both devoted members of the Presbyterian Church, his connection dating from 1856, and he is now an Elder, and has always been a warm supporter of the Sunday School.

AMES DINWIDDIE, the son of a pioneer of Morgan County, is a prosperous member of its farming community, and is one of the leading citizens and public officials of his township. Since the old homestead that be- longed to his father came into his possession he has augmented its size by a further purchase of sev- enty acres of land, and now owns a farm of 250 acres that is in all respects one of the best ordered and most desirable in this locality.

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Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois, Part 45

Author: Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, IL : Chapman Brothers Number of Pages: 632

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, IL : Chapman Brothers
Number of Pages: 632