USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 61
USA > Illinois > Scott County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 61
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Our subject is of Celtic antecedents on the pater- nal side of the house, his father, also named Will- iam, having been born in Ireland, coming to this country when a boy with his parents, who settled in the State of New Jersey. His mother, Ann (Webster) McCullough, was a native of New Jer- sey, and there spent her entire life, dying Dee. 18, 1876. The father was a practical, skillful far- mer, and successfully carried on that occupation till his death in 1852. Both he and his wife were true Christians, and valned members of the Presby- terian Church, and in dying left the precious mem- ory of lives well spent. They had eleven children, nine boys and two girls, all of whom are living ex- cept three. Ile of whom we write was their ninth child in order of birth, and was born to them May 18, 1828, in their home in Somerset County, N. J. He received the education commonly given to far- iners' boys in the public schools, and as a bright, intelligent lad profited thereby. He worked with
his father on the farm till he was seventeen years old, and then served an apprenticeship at the ear- penter's trade the three ensuing years, and after that worked as a journeyman in his native State a year. At the expiration of that time he ambi- tiously concluded that he would go forth far be- yond its bounds and see what life held for him in the great West, and in the spring of 1850 he started on that ever memorable journey, going from his New Jersey home to Philadelphia by train, and proceeding from that city by the same conveyance to Boston, from there over the Alleghany Moun- tains by stage, and thence by boat to Pittsburg, and so on to St. Louis, and up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Naples, taking eighteen days to make the trip, and landing in Jacksonville in the month of March. He immediately agreed to go to work at his trade the next day, and after working tliere a few weeks, and earning some money, he went to Tazewell County the same spring, and en- tered 160 acres of land from the Government. En- gaging a surveyor to stake it out lie returned to Springfield and bought a land warrant for 160 acres for $90. Retaining possession of this land a year he sold it for $300, and a few years later the rise in real estate had been so great that it was worth $25 an acre. After selling his land in Tazewell County Mr. Mccullough bought 160 acres of fine farming land in Scott County, of Robert Haggard, for which lie agreed to pay $4,000, $1,000 down, and $1,000 each year thereafter till it was paid, without inter- est, and ten per cent. off if paid before due, and he managed so successfully that the last payment was made for $900, he having rented the farm and 'kept busily at work at his trade in order to obtain the money to make the payments.
March 31, 1853, Mr. Mccullough's marriage with Miss Martha A., daughter of J. B. Campbell, one of the first settlers of Scott County, was con- sumated. During the brief years of their wedded life she greatly aided in the upbuilding of a home, but Nov. 3, 1860, death crossed the threshold and took her from the scene of hier usefulness. She left two children, of whom the following is the record. Cynthia Ann, born April 13, 1855, married Luther Hornbeck, and died Dec. 27, 1888; Jane, born March 8, 1857, is the wife of John M. Allyn, of St.
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Louis, and they have two children, a hoy and a girl. Mr. Allyn is Secretary of the Telegraphic Department of the Missouri Paefic Railway, at St. Louis, with a salary of $1,800 a year.
Mr. MeCullough was married to his present wife, formerly Miss Emily J. Camp, Oet. 16, 1862. She is a daughter of George and Naney (Felton) Camp, of Seott County. Her father was one of the first settlers here, walking the entire distance from his old home among the green hills of Vermont, and Mrs. MeCullough preserves as a relie of that jour- ney the knapsack in which he earried his few be- longings on that eventful trip. The following is the record of the seven children that have been born of the happy wedded life of our subject and his amiable wife: Sarah Vietorine was born Oet. 9, 1863; William Grant, July 6, 1865; Abel Camp, Oct. 2, 1866; Laura Brasfield, June 6, 1868: Har- riet Amanda, March 12, 1870; George Howard, March 23, 1875; Warren Elmer, Dee. 1, 1877.
From the very commencement of his career in the West our subject has met with more than ordi- mary sueeess, from a financial standpoint, and has constantly been increasing his property till now he owns real estate to the amount of 1,080 acres, forming one of the most extensive and valuable farms in this part of Illinois. Shortly after his first marriage he bought the John Cox farm, of 104 aeres, at $40 an aere, and after his second marriage he bought the William Cox farm, of 120 acres, at the same price. Ile then abandoned his trade, and has since devoted himself entirely to agricultural pursuits, and to the management of his property. His next purchase was sixty aeres of land of John Hornbeek, for which he paid $80 an acre, and after. that he bought 100 aeres of land of Marshall Smith, at the same priee. He subsequently invested still more money in land, as follows: He bought 160 aeres of M. W. Riggs, at $50 per aere: then 262 aeres of William D. Campbell, at $75 an aere, after that 160 aeres of William A. Gillham, at the same sum per aere. Just before buying the William Campbell place he sold 100 acres of land to J. N. Campbell. He traded seventeen aeres of land to John Coultas for eighty-three acres of land west of the railway, paying for the difference at the rate of $75 an acre. Later he bought fifty-five aeres of
the Joe Campbell farm, at $75 an acre. which com- pletes his purchases up to date. Mr. MeCullough has his farın under a fine state of eultivation, em- ploying three men to assist him in its management, and six teams to work the land. He is extensively engaged in raising cattle of high grades, fecding from 100 to 150 a year, and raises about 200 hogs a year.
Mr. Mccullough occupies a prominent position among the generous, high minded, open handed men of Seott County, who, while building up for- tunes for themselves have not been unmindful of the interests of their adopted precinct and county, but have in every way striven to give an impetus to their growth and development, and have been instrumental in seeuring to them wealth and high standing. Ile has donated very largely to ehurehes, regardless of denomination; contributed $600 to- ward the erection of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Riggston, of which he is a member, and aided in the building of nearly all the churches in the vicinity: one at Bethel, one at Exeter, and three in Winehester, Rutledge Chapel and Benson Chapel. He has been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since February, 1856, is one of the leaders in the church at Riggston, of which he has been Steward and Trustee continuously, and a worker in the Sunday-School. Mrs. McCullough and six of the children have also united with that church. In his wife he has found a true helpmate, who has encouraged him in his work, and heartily co-operated with him in all his plans.
Our subject has been School Director, and he ereeted a fine two-story briek school-house half a mile west of his home for the accomodation of the children in the district. His influenee has been felt in other publie matters, and the neat railway sta- tion at Riggston owes its existence mostly to his liberality and enterprise. as he contributed $500 toward its erection. Mr. Mccullough takes a genuine interest in the political affairs of his country, and has always voted the Demoeratie ticket, being one of the stanchest supporters of his party. Ile was in attendance at the National Democratie Con- vention at St. Louis, in 1888.
Our subjeet is gifted with a fine constitution, and has always enjoyed good health till within the last
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three years, since which time he has suffered with dyspepsia, and has tried medical treatment here and at St. Louis with but little avail. It is the sincere wish of his many friends that this severe affliction may pass away, and he be restored to his normal health.
W ILLIAM NEAT of the banking firm of Neat, Condit & Grout, Winchester, Ill., was born in Macon County, Mo., in 1846. His grandfather, John Ncat, a native of Neatsville, Ky., was one of the pioneers of Morgan County. Where now stands the town of Winchester, he en- tered a large tract of land from the United States Government and resided upon it until about 1845. In that year being possessed of the irresistible de- sire of the average Ameriean eitizen to push on farther west, he emigrated to Missouri where he there followed various pursuits until 1846, when lie died.
Our subjeet's mother, whose maiden. name was Martin, returned to Winehester and still resides at that place with her son, William Neat, our sub- jeet. William Neat was taught the elementary branches of an English education, obtained in the primitive common schools of the days of his boyhood in Seott County, and was thus ocenpied as a student at the outbreak of the Rebellion. Early in Feb. 1862 at Glasgow, Ill., he enlisted as a private soldier in Company I, 28th Illinois Infantry and served until discharged at Jackson, Tenn., in April 1863. At the battle of llatehie, Oet. 5, 1862. a grape shot so mutilated one of his legs as to neeessitate immediate amputa- tion. Either the field operation was unsnecessful or else it was exposure or lack of proper atten- tion that brought the surgeons to the conclusion that a second amputation was necessary. Indeed it appeared that before the final recovery of the unfortunate vietim, a third part of the limb sloughed off virtually making three several ampu- tations of the wounded member. And so was added another vietim to incompetent surgery or necessary exposure incident to the great war of the Rebellion.
Having returned to Glasgow from the army,
young Neat as soon as physically able resumed his studies at school and was shortly afterward gradu- ated from Aurora (III.) Business College. Some time during the sixties he was appointed government storekeeper in the Internal Revenue Department, but this oceupation being uncongenial, it was aban- doned after he had held the office one year., In 1871 he engaged in the grocery business at Win- chester, and a year later sold out and returned to Glasgow, where he was in 'general merchandise until 1879, when he removed to Alsey, Ill., and engaged in business until 1883 when he returned to Winchester. Herc he engaged in grain business to which he has sinee devoted mueh of his time.
Thic banking house of Neat, Condit & Co. was established in 1886; Mr. Grout came into the firmn in 1887 thus making a strong financial combination. The eoneern does a general banking and deposit business and is justly recognized as one of the solid, reliable and substantial financial institutions of Southwestern Illinois.
: Mr. Neat is an enthusiastic member of the order of G. A. R. and counts it a privilege to belong to such an institution ; he also belongs to the I. O. O. F. Ilc is a sound Republican and believes in his party. He was married at Glasgow in 1871 to Miss Alice Cumbey, a native of Wiseonsin. She died April 1st, 1877, leaving two children, John Carrollton and Cora S.
Our"subjeet was married Feb. 2, 1881 to Miss Armetta Blair, the accomplished daughter of Robert A. Blair, Esq., of Winchester. Of this union there was one ehild, Robert. who died in infaney. Mrs. Blair-Neat died Aug. 17, 1883.
W ILLIAM DAWSON is the son of a worthy pioneer of Scott County, an early settler of Winchester Precinet who bore an act- ive part in its development, and for nearly forty years he has himself been elosely identified with its farming and stoek-raising interests. He has inher- ited and is successfully managing his father's old homestead whielt was purchased from the Govern- ment in the early years of the settlement of this section of the country, and has been improved
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from a wild tract of prairie to a fine, highly pro- ductive farm, supplied with substantial buildings, good machinery, and, in fact, with all the necessary conveniences for carrying on agriculture to the best advantage. It comprises 152 acres of rich, arable land, one and three-fourths miles north of Winches- ter, and is well stocked with cattle, horses and hogs of good grades.
Our subject comes of a good old Delaware fam- ily, and inherits from a sterling ancestry those finc traits of character that make him an honorable man and a good citizen. And he is himself a na. tive of that State, born in Sussex County, Ang. 26, 1813, to Zachariah and Polly (Beauchamp) Daw- son, who were likewise of Delaware birth. The father was bred to the life of a farmer and was in good circumstances, and did not need to move to a distant State to better his condition, but he was a man of spirit and enterprise and the stirring life of a pioneer in a newly settled country had attrac- tions for him, and in 1837, he came with his fam- ily to Illinois. He invested some of his money in forty acres of land in Scott County, then a part of Morgan County, and he and his wife set up their household gods in the little log house that he bought for the shelter of his family. 'They made many valuable improvements, were much prospered in their new home, and accumulated a fine estate of 300 acres of valuable land, and here their re .. maining years were passed in peace and plenty, the father first closing his eyes in death, dying Sept. 10, 1874, at a ripe old age. and the mother following him to the life beyond April 11, 1878, in her eighty-seventh year. To that worthy couple eleven children were born, nine sons and two daughters.
Ile of whom we write was the eldest of the fan- , ily, and he remained an inmate of the parental household in Delaware till he was twenty-three years old, gleaning his education by infrequent, attendance at a subscription school. Ile worked for his father giving him able assistance in the management of his farming interests till lie was twenty-one. when he began life on his own ac- count, finding employment in working by the month on his grandfather's farm, and occasionally making a trip in a schooner carrying wood to vari-
ous points on the Delaware River. In the fall of 1835, our subject shipped on a schooner running between Concord, Del., and Baltimore, Md. But in April, 1836, he gave up the life of a sailor and proceeding to Cincinnati, worked in a shipyard the ensuing fifteen years. May 11, 1837, he was married to his first wife, Miss Naney, daughter of David and Susan Hill, of Delaware. Four children were born of that marriage, but they and their inother are now dead, Mrs. Dawson dying in 1843. Oct. 24, 1843, Mr. Dawson was a second time mar- ried, taking unto himself as a wife, Miss Allie Hastings, daughter of James and Allie Hastings, of Delaware. The three children born of that union all died in infancy, and the mother also de- parted this life, her death occurring Jan. 26, 1849. In that year Mr. Dawson came to Illinois, and Sept. 11, he was wedded to his present wife, formerly Miss Eliza N. Penton, daughter of Mathias and Holland Penton, of an honorable and well-known Delaware family. Soon after his marriage Mr. Dawson returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, and remained there until 1851. In the spring of that year he came back to Illinois and settled on the old home- stead which has since come into his possession, and has been a valued resident of this township from that time. He has given his entire attention to his farm where he engages successfully in mixed husbandry, and is justly numbered among the solid substantial citizens of this place.
He is well endowed with firmness, energy and enterprise, and notwithstanding the necessary in- firmities that accompany advanced age, he is still active and vigorous, working for work's sake from long years of industrious habit, although the snows of seventy-six winters have frosted his head. IIe is fully trusted by his fellow-men because he has always carried himself as an upright, God-fearing man should in the eyes of the world, and has con- ducted himself towards others so as to secure their good will and respect. Ile takes an active part in polities and is an unswerving supporter of the Re- publican party, and the temperance issne has no stronger advocate in word and deed than he. He has contributed his quota for the material advance- ment of the township, and has done good service both as Road Overscer and School Director. He
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and his wife are sincere and consistent Christians, and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been trustee. He is iden- tified with the I. O. O. F., belonging to Winches- ter Lodge, No. 70.
In the accumulation of a competenee Mr. Daw- son has had the invaluable aid of one of the best and most capable of wives who has labored faith- fully by his side during all the long years of their wedded life that number forty. Age has dealt kindly with Mrs. Dawson, and she is in good health, and retains much of her old vigor. The following is the record of the eight children she has borne her husband, six of whom are now living: Laura Augusta, born Nov. 18, 1850, died April 5, 1864; Belle Zera, born July 8, 1853, died Aug. 14, 1871 ; Miles Messiek, who lives three and one-fourth miles northwest of Winchester, was born Jan. 1,. 1855, married Jane Hornbeck, and they have fonr children ; Luella born April 12, 1852, is the wife of R. T. G. Coultas, who lives one-fourth miles west of Riggston, and they have seven children; Charles Coverton, who lives in Buffalo County, Neb., was born May 29, 1856, married Nellie Hawk, and they have two children; George May, who lives two and one-half miles northeast of Winchester, married Sarah Campbell, and they have three children; Theophilus, born Jan. 10, 1860, is unmarried and lives at home with his parents; Thomas, who lives a mile and a half northwest of Winchester, was born Jan. 23, 1862, and married Ida Haney.
S TEPHEN HOLLAND REID. The hon- ored name which stands at the head of this sketeh has been successively borne by three generations. It is here nsed to designate an esteemed citizen of the city of Jacksonville-an active and enterprising agriculturist, still the owner of a farm of 250 acres, in the northern part of township 15, range 10. Ile was born in the blue grass region at Lexington, Ky., April 23, 1815, and lived there until his removal with his parents to Illi- nois in 1826. llis father, Stephen H. Reid, Sr., a native of Boston, Mass., was a marine in the United States Navy at the time of the threatened difficulty
during the Presidency of Jolin Adams. After- ward, coming to Kentucky, he married a Miss Prather, and lived in Lexington, working at his trade as a house-carpenter.
Twelve bright and interesting children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reid, of whom the subject of this sketch was the seventh and the eldest son. Deciding to move Westward to get land for his sons, the father first came to Illinois by boat up the river, and then entering Morgan County, took up about two scetions of land, in seattered tracts of eiglity acres each, hoping thus to get within the borders of a town. Four of these tracts are now included within the city limits of Jacksonville. Mr. Reid then returned to Kentucky for his wife and children and household goods. Starting in the autumn. with two six-horse wagons and a covered carriage, they spent the winter in Illinois, and again setting forth in the spring, reached their destina- tion in Morgan County on the first of May. On account of bad roads the family were left at Olney, Ill., our subject and father pushing on to Morgan County. With no bridges and no roads even, journeying by land was slow and tedious, and a veritable slough of despond must have been the three-mile streteh between Big and Little Oclio rivers at Vandalia, known as the " Hell and Scis- sors," which it took three days to cross. The Reid family at once took np their abode in a log cabin built for them during his absence, on the northeast corner of section 17, one mile north and a little west of what is now the public square of Jackson- ville.
The next year witnessed the breaking of twenty acres of prairie, the hewing of timber and the framing of a house. The new dwelling was nearly ready for occupancy when the death of the pio- neer Reid left the widowed wife and mother with the care of a farm and nine children. They endured the usual privations and hardships of those early days. In the absence of flour and meal and mills for grinding, bread was made from grated corn, to different members of the family the task being as- signed of grating a certain number of ears every evening. A frequent substitute for bread was a preparation of wheat, boiled like rice and ealled' " fermative." For meat there was plenty of veni-
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son, with fresh pork and hacon from wild hogs, while prairie chickens, quails, wild turkeys and other game were abundant. Farm produce was mostly taken to St. Lonis for market. As to gro- eeries, they had none to speak of. There was hnt one little store in Jacksonville. The fields fur- nished a substitute for coffee, a sweetening syrup was made from pumpkin, a little sugar from the maple. Milk and butter were not laeking. The first grain of genuine coffee that Mr. Reid ever saw was some gathered in Gen. Washington's garden. Ile ate one green kernel, and decided that lie wanted no more. The log school-house was then in the land, and was used for religious as well as educational purposes, its walls often resonnding to the fervid eloquence of the itinerant preacher.
The Reid family remained together several years, Stephen contributing mainly to its support, until 1837, when, being at that time twenty-two years of age, he made a journey to Kentucky and bronght thence a wife, Martha Capps, a native of Clark County. They had three children, of whom only one survives, Stephen Ilolland Reid, Jr., now a resident of Macoupin County, a famner and Justice of the Peace, and, indeed, a representative citizen. Caleb C. and John W. died at two years of age. Mr. Reid's mother passed her last years in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Capps, dying at the advanced age of eighty ycars.
His first wife dying Feb. 28, 1845, Mr. Reid married Feb. 19, 1846, Miss Martha Garratt, a na- tive of Cheshire, England, who came to America when a young lady, with her mother and brother. Seven children were the fruit of this union, six of whom are now living, namely : Jolm Garratt, a physician in Woodburn, Ill., who married Mrs. Mary J. Whittier; Lydia C., still at home; Richard Watson, a lawyer in town, graduate of the Chicago Law School: George W., Enoch S., E. James, the three latter on the farm; Sarah died at the age of six months.
As before intimated, Mr. Reid spent a great part of his active life as a stock raiser and tiller of the soil on a farm in the northwest part of this town- ship, clearing between 700 and 800 acres, and en- closing a part of it which has never yet been out of his hands. The first briek house in that neigh-
borhood was built by him and occupied by his family until 1875, when he moved into his present city home, No. 402, North Church street. Here, in the following year, his second wife died. Both Mr. and Mrs. Reid were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as were his father and mother before him. Mr. Reid has been for many years a local preacher, and is now an elder in the church, contributing to its counsels the wisdom and sympathy which come with the varied experi- enees of a long and earnest life.
HARLES S. RANNELLS is a native of Morgan County, and was born Dee. 5, 1857. Ile was gradnated from Illinois Col- lege, at Jacksonville, in the year 1879. His father, Samuel M. Rannells, was born in Bourbon County, Ky., Aug. 1, 1812, where he lived until he was sixteen years of age, when he emigrated to Mor- gan County, in 1828. He came here in company with his father, William Rannells. The anees- try of this family, on the paternal side, is traced to Scotland, while that of the mother is Swedish. On coming to Morgan County, William Rannells, the grandfather of Charles S., located on the home now owned and occupied by the latter.
Samnel M. Rannells, the father of Charles S., mar- ried Mary R. Springer, of Georgetown, Ky. She came to Morgan County in 1832, in company with the family of her brother-in-law. In her father's family were five children: Renben R. and Charles G., of Cincinnati, Ohio (both died, leaving no children); Catharine, Caroline A., and Mary R. Samuel M. Rannells had eight brothers and sisters. four of whom are living.
To our subject's parents were born five children . Caroline M. married John C. Duer, of Jacksonville. He is deceased. Three children are living with the widow, whose names are Martha R., James M. and Anna C. Catherine, Ann, Mary, and Martha died in infaney.
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