USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 63
USA > Illinois > Scott County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 63
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From New York, where he landed on coming to this country, our subject made his way to LaSalle, this State; arriving there in Sept. 1854, and with nothing for capital but a brave heart and good health he pursued his trade as a journeyman for six years, working at LaSalle, Bloomington, Daven- port, St. Louis, Burlington and Jerseyville in the order named, thus becoming very nearly a profes- sional tourist. During the great Pike's Peak ex- citement in 1860-1, he caught the " gold fever" and joined the disappointed throng which had painted on its banners, "Pike's Peak or Bust," and
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the conclusion is plausible that he was one of the multitude who was " busted," for we find him again at the shoemaker's bench in Jerseyville immediately succeeding that great retreat from the Rocky Mountains. In the spring of 1862, associated with an acquaintance, Mr. Smith embarked in the manu- facture of cigars at Jerseyville and from there he came to Winchester in Jan. 1863. Here he has since continued in that business.
Beginning life in America with nothing but his trade, and that not one of the most lucrative ones, Mr. Smith has by untiring perseverance and indus- try steadily risen step by step, so that he need never fear the proverbial wolf at the door. The meagre savings from his trade were wholly swal. lowed up in his attempt to find fortune at Pike's Peak, therefore his ample possessions consisting in farm lands, city property and money have been accumulated since that date, and principally if not entirely since coming to Winchester.
Mr. Smith is a member of the Lutheran Church and has been for the past six or seven years Treas- urer of the local lodge of Odd Fellows. He was married in this county Dec. 28, 1863 to Mrs. Mina Sibert nee Diller, a native of Germany and has four sons and four daughters, George, Anna, Oscar, Edward, Nellie, Mabel, Lillie and Arthur.
R ICHARD RUBLE. In noting the career of the representative men of Morgan County, he with whose name we introduce this sketch cannot properly be omitted. Within its limits he was born July 16, 1826, and here have centered his closest interests. Wbile watching the growth and development of Central Illinois, he las practically "grown up with the country," and in luis labors of thirty years or more has contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of his town- ship. Ile is practically a self-made man, having received only limited advantages in his youth, ac- quiring his book learning in the primitive log-cabin with its punchcon floor and desks and seats made of slabs. The system of instruction in those days was in keeping with the architecture of the build- ing-far inferior to that enjoyed by the present
generation. Those times, however. with their arduous labors and unavoidable duties, had the effect to develop an admirable class of men-men who form the bone and sinew of all well-regulated society. Not only were they courageous, physi- cally, but they possessed the moral courage which looked with contempt upon a mean act, and made the best good of the community an interest almost equal with their own.
Our subject is the offspring of a good family, being the son of Jesse Ruble, who was born in East Tennessee in 1798, and came to this county in 1820. Ile first located on a piece of land, which he improved and sold to John Green, then entered 160 acres from the Government, and commencing another homestead, added by degrees to his real estate until he became the owner of 520 acres of land. Finally selling this also, he purchased the farm now owned and occupied by his son, our sub- ject, and later disposing of this also, removed to Sangamon County. There he purchased a farm of 200 acres or more and spent the remainder of his life, passing away Aug. 1, 1871.
The mother of our subject was in her girlhood Miss Mary Matthews, and Richard and JJacob were the only children born of this union. Jesse Ruble married for his second wife Catherine Rob- ertson, who was born in Scotland and died in 1837. They had one daughter, Catherine, who became the wife of Thomas Wilcox, of Sangamon Connty. They are now living on a farm in this county, and are the parents of ten children, two of whom are deceased. This lady died, and Mr. Ruble was mar- ried the third time to Miss Mary Butler, of Sanga- mon County, who became the mother of one child and is now deceased, together with the child.
Upon coming to this county Jesse Ruble found a wild, uncultivated waste, with the cabins of the settlers few and far between. Ile carried the sur- veyor's chain when the city of Jacksonville was laid out. Before coming to the West he had served in the War of 1812, and later was the only man in this county able to drill the militia at the general muster customary at intervals all over the United States. Ile also served in the Black Hawk War under Gen. Taylor, and received a Colonel's com- mission. The people of this region endured many
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hardships in the early days, and frequently were greatly troubled to obtain enough provisions. Mr. Ruble was a very publie-spirited and benevolent man, and would frequently take his ox-team and go the river bottoms on hunting excursions for honey and bees wax, which the Government land- officers, then located at St. Louis, Mo., accepted in payment for land and debts, as there was no money in cireulation in this county at the time.
The subject of this sketch was first married in 1849, to Miss Lney D. Harris, who was born in 1828, and whose parents eame from Middle Ten- nessee in 1843. She departed this life at the old homestead in November, 1863, after having be- eome the mother of one child, a son. John A., who is now living in Kansas; he married Miss Mary Reger, of Sangamon County, and they have three children-Charles, John and Lorenzo. Mr. Ruble contracted a second marriage with Miss Sarah Jane Smetters, of Sangamon County, and whose parents came to this eounty in 1843, when she was quite young. The seven children of this union were named respectively : Mary Ellen, Milton, Andrew J., George, Henry, Sarah Jane, and Samuel. Mary Ellen is the wife of Harvey Sorrels, who is farmning in the vicinity of New Berlin, Sangamon County. The other children remain at home with their parents.
Mr. Ruble commeneed in life at the foot of the ladder, employed as a farm laborer. He then herded eattle for two years, and next began oper- ations on rented land, working in this way for six years. At the expiration of this time he pur- chased a part of the land which constitutes his present farın. He now has 720 acres, the whole of which is under a good state of cultivation and im- proved with good buildings. The industry with which he has labored, and the good judgment with which he has managed cannot be better realized than by glancing over his valuable country estate, and noting the fact of the large outlay of time, labor and money which have brought it to its present condition.
In July, 1864, Mr. Ruble met with a serious accident by falling seventy-four and a half feet from a bec tree, from which he sustained what at first appeared to be ahnost fatal injuries; and on ac-
count of this, and being afflieted with rheumatism, he has been obliged to abandon in a great measure liis active labors. Ilis rare faculties as a manager, however, fully supply the place of brawn and muscle, and he is still competent to superintend the operations of his large farm. He usually feeds about 100 head of cattle annually for the Chicago market, and also the same number of swine. Ile keeps about forty-two head of horses and mules, and from these two industries alone realizes hand- some profits.
Politically, Mr. Ruble uniformly votes the Repub- lican tieket, and although not belonging to any church organization, he endeavors to make it the rule of his life to do unto his neighbors as he would be done by. A man needs no better recommend- ation than the good will of his neighbors, and this Mr. Ruble possesses in a marked degree. He has made for himself an enviable rceord both as a man and a citizen, and is one of those who will be kindly remembered long after he has de- parted hence.
Jacob Ruble, the younger of the two children born to the mother of our subjeet, married a Miss Kingsbury, of Iowa, and is a resident of Labette County, Kan. As a boy he he took kindly to his book, acquired a good education, and now follows the profession of a teacher; he has no children.
P RANK M. PALMER, manager, associate edi- tor and one of the proprietors of the Win- chester Standard, the leading Republican paper of Scott County, was born at Exeter, this State, July 20, 1850. He was educated at the pub- lie schools of Winehester, and at the age of sixteen years began the printing business on the Winches- ter Times. After an experience of several years as journeyman printer upon various papers, he came to the conclusion that "a rolling stone would gather no moss," and so in 1874 he purchased an interest in the Waverly Illinois Times, from which he retired with ina few months, and returned to Winchester. Here he was on the Independent about two years, work .. ing next in order and in various capacities on the Jacksonville Daily Journal and Rock Island Union.
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In 1877, associated with his father, George H. Palmer, he purchased the Morrisonville Times, to which he devoted about three years of labor. Dur- ing the year 1880 lie was for a short time one of the proprietors of the Roodhouse Review; and dur- ing the winter of 1880-81 he traveled in the inter- est of the Good Templars as Grand Lodge Deputy. In May 1881, again associated with his father, he took charge of the Standard, which paper under their joint ownership and management has rapidly risen in publie favor, patronage and influence, and as a moulder of publie opinion, takes high rank within the scope of its circulation. In 1883 it ab- sorbed the Independent, and now holds undisputed sway as the leading Republican paper of the county.
Mr. Palmer is a member of the Christian Church, and is prominently identified with the I. O. O. F., the K. of P., the Modern Woodmen and the Sons of Veterans. He was married in Jacksonville, this State, July 8, 1876, to Miss Naomi A. Van Winkle, the accomplished daughter of T. J. Van Winkle, Esq., and has had born to him five children, four of whom are living, as follows: Georgia, Jesse M., Era, and Fred.
Socially, Mr. Palmer is closely connected with all projects that look to the betterment of society, and in politics he is an aggressive, stalwart Repub- liean.
C OL. THOMAS H. FLYNN, formerly Mayor of the city of Winehester, is a native of Carlyle, Nicholson Co., Ky., and was born Aug. 9, 1821. His parents, Ezekiel and Franees (Ilardesty) Flynn, natives, respectively, of the States of Virginia and Kentucky, reared two sons and one daughter, Thomas HI. being the second in order of birth, and the only one now living.
The senior Mr. Flynn, a blacksmith by occupa- tion, came to Winehester in 1830, and here with his family spent the rest of his life. Ile was a sol- dier in the Mexican War, and died about two years after its elose. As a corporal in Company HI, 1st Ills. Regiment, he took an active part in the battle of Buena Vista. Our subject was a member of the same company as his father, having gone out therewith as Orderly Sergeant. Just before the
battle of Buena Vista he was promoted to Third Lieutenant, and during the heat of the conflict he was, by reason of the death of his superior officer, raised to the rank of Second Lieutenant. With this rank, earned in battle, Thomas HI. Flynn re- turned to the United States, and to avocations of peace.
Under his father, prior to the Mexican War, he learned the trade of a blacksmith and wagon- maker, and at the common sehools acquired a fair English education. Soon after returning from Mexico he was appointed Deputy Sheriff; in 1848 he was promoted by election to the office of Sheriff, and re-elected in 1852. From the close of his official term up to the outhreak of the late war he was in the mereantile business in Winchester, and between the years 1866 and 1870 he was Judge of the County Court. He was one of the organizers, and for sometime a Director in the People's, or First National Bank of Winehester, mentioned elsewhere in this volume, but had withdrawn from it before its collapse. In 1870. he established the Winchester Independent, a weekly sheet of consid- erable local prominence, and edited it until 1883, at which time he sold it to the Standard people, who retired it at onee from circulation.
Ample and exact justice will scarcely ever be done Col. Thomas H. Flynn as a soldier. Upon the bloody field of Buena Vista he distinguished himself for bravery and was promptly promoted therefor in the very midst of that battle. And when the dark elouds of war hovered over our country, and finally enveloped it in gloom, Col. Flynn became satisfied that to conquer the South was no mere " breakfast spell." and so he responded to his country's call with alacrity, by enlisting in the army, which event occurred at Winchester Aug. 13, 1862. After his enlistment he was almost at once elected Captain of Company D, 129th Illi- nois Infantry, and on May 25, 1863, at Gallatin, Tenn., he was promoted to Major. In this eon- neetion it may be interesting to many who remem- ber the event, to record the fact that in the elec- tion for the office of Major. Captain Flynn tied with Captain Beard of Company E, and the matter was referred to Gov. Dick Yates, who, without hes- itation, made out a commission for Flynn as Major.
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On June 14, 1864, in the field, near Kenesaw Mountain, Major Flynn became Lieutenant Colonel.
In all the battles fought by that gallant old regi- ment, the 129th Illinois Infantry-and they were legion-Col. Flynn took an active part; and at Peach Tree Creek, the battle that made Benjamin Harrison President of the United States, his regi- ment, then under the command of the Colonel, and led by him personally, undoubtedly constituted the pivotal point and made decisive vietory possible. To the men who actually fought that battle it is well known that Flynn earned distinetion as a regi- mental commander, and added fresh laurels to his already exalted reputation for personal courage in the face of multiplied deaths. At Resaea he was a conspicuous figure and leader, and, at the head of his regiment, was the real captor of the fort. So at Averysboro, where a battery captured by him and turned over to Gen. Dustin, was reported by that officer and credited to his own command, while as a matter of truth and impartial history, not even a part of his brigade had participated in its capture. Col. Flynn was with his command at Savannah, Ga., and through to Raleigh and Rich- mond, and on to Washington, finally winding up in that grand blaze of glory where the victorious army was reviewed for the last time prior to its clisbandment.
Of the many brave men remembered in the pages of history for their gallant and heroie deeds during the war so pregnant with peril and death, there is none more deserving nor reaching higher on the list of those who dared to do thian he whose name heads this sketeh.
At Winchester, Ang. 9, 1869, Col. Flynn was married to Mrs. Agnes Burgess, nee Mallory, and the two children born to them are Belle ( Mrs. Stephen Lemon) and Thomas H. Flynn, Jr.
C HARLES WILLSON, a retired and highly reputable eitizen of Winchester, was born July 13, 1812, in Lycoming County, Pa. Ilis father, Ezra Willson, was a native of New Jersey, and traced his aneestry as coming from Wales. In the days of Mr. Willson's youth it was
a difficult matter to obtain proper schooling, but being of an aspiring nature, and fully realizing that without education he would go through the world handicapped, he successfully waded through difficulties that would seem to the modern youth insurmountable, and so, at the age of eighteen years, he was in the possession of a fair education, and going to Canada, he there learned the trade of a blacksmith. In the early part of 1836 lie eon- eluded to see more of his native country, and pos- sessing little else beside hope and high resolves, he came West, landing at Jacksonville, this State, and in the following autumn eame to Winchester. The greater portion of Illinois was at this time an al- most traekless prairie, whose only inhabitants were savages and wild beasts; but the transformation has been complete. Beautiful eities, elegant home- steads, and peace and plenty are found on every hand. Here Mr. Willson for twenty years carried on blacksmithing and accumulated a handsome competence, the result of industry and prudenee. To aid a young man in whom he felt some interest, he furnished the capital and joined him in the grocery business, from which he withdrew at the end of three years, having placed his young friend fairly on the road to prosperity. This matter of history fully illustrates one of the salient charge- teristics of Mr. Willson. In 1860 he retired from active business, and has lived comfortably upon an ineome honorably earned by the sweat of his brow.
Originally, a Whig, Mr. Willson merged readily into the Republican party, to which he gave hearty and undivided support until within the past few years; he is now an enthusiastic and consistent advocate of prohibition. At no time in his life an office-seeker, his devotion to party has been from principle-the only offiee he has ever held has been that of Alderman-and his ad vocaey of prohibition is but the offering of a sincere desire to see the greatest of all modern evils rectified; and he firmly believes that he will live to see his fond hopes realized.
Mr. Willson is a devoted member of the Baptist Church, and was for twenty-four years its Treas- urer, retiring from that office only in 1888. lle was married at Winchester in 1840, to Miss Nancy Seales, a native of New Hampshire, and a daughter
RESIDENCE OF JAMES DEWOLF, SEC. 32. T.13-R.IT. SCOTT CO.
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of one of the pioneers of this county-then Mor- gan. To this union no children have been born, bnt several nephews and nieces have been rearcd and educated by this worthy couple, who have gone forth in the world as most creditable exam- ples of the influences of good breeding, careful training and moral precepts.
E DWARD MCASEY. The adopted sons of Ameriea have acquitted themselves in fully as admirable a manner, in most instances, as those who were native born, and among them the subject of this notice deserves more than a passing mention. He is one of the leading farmers of Seott County, fought as a Union soldier during the late Civil War, and is thoroughly identified with the interests of his adopted country. He was born in County Carlow, Ireland, Nov. 23, 1838, and is the son of Patriek MeAsey, who died when Edward was a mere infant.
Our subject sojourned in his native county until a youth of eighteen years, receiving a common- school education and employing himself mostly at farming. He was a thoughtful and ambitious boy, and at an early age determined to become a man among men. Seeing little prospect of carrying out his desires in his native land, he decided to emi- grate to the United States, and accordingly put his resolve into execution in the fall of 1851. He landed in New York City, and sojourned there with an unele until the following spring, then set out for the West, crossed the Mississippi, and lo- eated in St. Charles County, Mo.
Our subject was a resident of Missouri until the fall of 1854, then came to this eounty, and within its limits has since made his abiding-place. Ile oc- eupied himself at farming until the outbreak of the Rebellion, then enlisted as a Union soldier in Com- pany D, 129th Illinois Infantry, which shortly afterward was ordered to the front in Louisville, Ky. Ile was in the serviee nearly three years, par- ticipated in the battle of Stone River, and then was taken ill and sent to the hospital, where he remained until receiving his honorable discharge. The priva- tions and hardships which he endured undermined
his constitution, and on account of this he now re- ceives a pension from the Government.
Three years after taking up his abode in this county, Mr. McAsey was married, in September, 1857, to Miss Mary, sister of Patrick O'Donnell, one of the leading farmers of Central Illinois, and whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. MeAsey was born May 15, 1843, in Ireland, and of her marriage with our snbjcet there has been born one child, James II., Oct. 2, 1859. This son, al- though now approaching the thirtieth year of his age, remains with his parents, and relieves his father of a large part of the care and management of the farm. He is in his own right owner of 191 acres of land, and is largely interested in stock-raising. Mr. McAscy, it is hardly necessary to say, votes the straight Republiean tieket, and has no desire for the spoils of office. He and his family belong to the Catholic Church. His aceumulations are the result of his own industry, aided by the good man- agement of a prudent and intelligent wife, and their hospitable home is the frequent resort of the many friends whom they have made during their long residence in this county.
AMES DEWOLF. Among the well-to-do farmers and stock-raisers of Seott County is James DeWolf, who owns in seetion 32, Winehester Precinet, one of the finest and most productive farms to be found in this sec- tion of Illinois. It comprises 280 acres of very fertile soil, and is supplied with all necessary ap- plianees for condueting agriculture to the best advantage. Here he sows and reaps as the seasons come and go and here he gathers in his bountiful harvests of grain. He has erected a handsome residence, a roomy, substantially built barn, and everything about the well-ordered place is indica- tive of his thrift and industry. Our subject las given considerable attention to stoek raising and has some valuable dairy cows, usually milking abont ten. Mrs. DeWolf for her skill in butter making, even in the hottest weather, is famous in all the country round, and makes forty pounds a week of as fine butter as goes into the market.
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Our subject and his wife both come of good New England stock, and are themselves natives of . that section of the country. Mr. De Wolf was born in Berkshire, Vt., and Mrs. DeWolf in West- boro, Mass. He was the fifth child in a family of five sons and two daughters, (three of whom are now living) born to Roswell and Henrictta (Col- burn) DeWolf, natives, respectively, of Vermont and Massachusetts. He is a lineal descendant of the famous Hannah Dustin of Haverhill, Mass., who won historical fame on account of her capture by the Indians in the winter of 1697, after con- tinned wanderings amid the gloomy surroundings of winter. Threats of torture aroused her and her companions to desperate action. One night they bcheaded several of their sleeping captors, and escaped through the wilderness to their friends. A few years since a beautiful monument commemora- tive of the deed was erected to her memory in the thriving city that stands on the site of her former home. The parents of our subject never came west, but lived and died in their pleasant New England home. The father passed away in 1829 at the age of forty-eight, and the mother survived him but a few years. Being thus early orphaned James DeWolf was obliged to do what he could for his maintenance when he was only seven years old. He used to work during the summer, and in the winter gleaned a fair education by attending the district school. As soon as old enough he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade in Massa- chusetts, and worked at it steadily until he camc West. Nov. 26, 1848 he took unto himself a wife in the person of Miss Hannalı Wadsworth, in whom he has found a true helpmate, one who has actively assisted him in the upbuilding of their pleasant home. She was born April 27, 1827 to John and Persis (Kimball) Wadsworth, of Grafton, Mass., the youngest of their nine children, four sons and five daughters. Her father was a farmer in the old Bay State, and there his death occurred in 1829 while yet in life's prime, he being forty-eight years old. The mother survived him until 1858, when she too passed away at the ripe old age of seventy-six years.
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In 1855 Mr. and . Mrs. DeWolf came to Illinois with their family to cast their lot with the pioneers
of Scott County. He bought 120 acres of his present farm, on which stood an old log cabin. Into this the family moved and began the hard struggle to develop a farm from the wild prairies. They suffered many hardships and privations, and had to sacrifice much to gain a solid footing in their new home. Mrs. De Wolf was very homesick at first and her regretful thoughts constantly wan- dered to the comforts of her old Massachusetts, home. She became thoroughly convineed that nothing too bad could be said about the country here, and that the old saying was truc that " it was death to women and horses in this section." By hard work our subjcet managed to break up his land and get it under good cultivation, though he often had to figure his expenses very closely to make both ends mect, being compelled at times to deprive himself and family of many things that they had been used to consider the actual neces- sities of life. But his early labors have been duly rewarded, and he has not only improved his original purchase but has added other land to it from time to time; purchasing at one time thirty seven and one half acres of land at $40 an acre, at another time eighty acres at $75 an acrc, besides some timber land and a tract of land in Greene County.
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