USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 64
USA > Illinois > Scott County > Portrait and biographical album of Morgan and Scott Counties, Illinois > Part 64
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Our subject and his wife have had five children, four of whom are now living, as follows: Persis is the wife of William Mehrroff, of Greene County, and they have six children; Edwin lives with his parents on the homestead; Mary A. wife of R. H. Rousey, and mother of two children, also lives under the_parental roof; Henrietta married Stephen Cooper, of Greene County, and they have one child. Their daughter Mary is a fine scholar and finished her education in Jacksonville at the Washington High School. She has a first-grade certificate and has taught school five years in Greene, Morgan and Scott counties, and is aceounted one of the suc- cessful teachers of this section of the State.
Mr. DeWolf is a keen, shrewd, far-secing man and seems to have a knack for making money. He has led a busy life, and has had too much to do in attending to his own affairs to mingle in the public life of the precinct and assist in the administration of its government, the only office that he has held being that of Road Overseer. He is a live, ener-
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getic man, who has carved his own way in the world from the days of his childhood by sheer force of will, unremitting industry, and prudent manage- ment, and to-day stands among the most substantial and prosperous men of his ealling in his neighbor- hood. He takes an interest in all political matters and votes the Republican ticket, being a firm be- liever in Republicanism.
An interesting feature of this volume is a view of Mr. DeWolf's residence, with its pleasant surroundings.
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C HARLES FROST, a retired citizen of Win- chester, is a native of Derbyshire, England, and was born March 14, 1825. His father was Charles Frost, and his mother's maiden name was Mary Bagby. The latter died in England at the advanced age of eighty-one years; the former a farmer, miner, and manufacturer's agent, died at Winchester, while here on a visit to his son, in 1868.
Charles, Jr., the one of whom this is written, is the youngest of three sons, and the only one now living. In 1842 the desire to see the New World seized him, and accordingly he took passage for America, and landing at New York he made his way to Winchester, at which place he has since made his home. He was married in England when but little past sixteen years of age, to Charlotte Dale, and their first child was born before they left the mother country. Ile now has four children liv- ing, and has buried three. The living are: Eliza- beth, Mrs. James Edwards, St. Louis, Mo .; Mary B., Mrs. Charles Ruark, of Winchester; Ella S., Mrs. E. E. Watt, of Winchester; Charles Frost, Jr., an educated gentleman and business man, now' en- gaged as bookkeeper in St. Lonis. The balance of the children died while in infancy.
Arriving at Winchester Mr. Frost engaged first in farming and dairying, and from this be enlarged his business by becoming subsequently interested in coal mining, and carried on these several enter- prises for many years. In 1856 he removed from his country place into Winchester, and in 1859 laid off the town of North Winchester. Associated with
various persons, and at various times, he was for several years a prominent and successful mer- chant and pork packer, and for some time after, 1864 or 1865, traded extensively in live stock. In 1871 he furnished the capital to open and put into successful operation the Winchester Coal Mines, from the management and direction of which, in 1884, he retired. His last active operations were as a grain dealer, from which he finally retired to pri- vate life in 1887.
A perusal of this brief history of Mr. Frost will amply demonstrate that as a business man his ca- pacity was almost without limit. He engaged in no business that did not prove successful, and he re- tires to private life with a record that may well be emulated by the younger generation. His large fund of common sense has led him on to success, and his integrity and business character are virtues to which his friends point with pride. His career has been a practical illustration that a diversity of of enterprises may be carried on successfully by any man to whom are aseribed the virtnes of in- dustry, integrity and intelligence.
B ENJAMIN T. BRADLEY, Clerk of the Scott County Court, is a son of Robert Bradley, a native of Tennessee. The father located in Greene County in an early day, where Benjamin T. was born Dec. 8, 1846. Ile lived in Greene County for over thirty-four years, when he removed to Manchester, where he spent the last years of his life, dying in 1872, at the age of sixty-eight years, having well rounded out a busy and successful life.
Robert Bradley's wife, to whom he was married in Tennessee, was Lonrana Ozbun. She journeyed along the path way of life until the weight of eighty- four years carried her to the grave. This hardy couple, composed as they were of the material of which pioneers should be constructed, reared thir- teen children, eight sons and five danghters. Six sons are now (1889) living. Five of them served as soldiers in the War for the Union, two of them for nearly five years each, two for about three
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years each, and one for one year. Two of them were members of the 6th Illinois Cavalry, one as Captain, and the other as First Lieutenant. The five old soldiers are all living, and only one of them bears upon his person a sear received in battle, while the others, though on duty and often at the front, never received a serateh. Here is a war rec- ord of a single family that is hard to duplicate. The boys each enlisted because they thought the North was right and the South wrong, and witli that idea they went to the front, and eamne back thinking more of the glorious old Stars and Stripes, if such a thing were possible, than they did when they enlisted in its defenee. Great and free re- publies are made of such men as these, and as long as such nations exist their foundation will rest upon the achievements of such worthy sons.
Benjamin T., the one to whom this sketeh partieu- larly refers, was the youngest of the family. He was educated at the eomnon sehools, and after the war graduated from Bloomington (Ill.) Business Col- lege. He entered the army in 1864, and as an hon- ored member of Company A, 59th Illinois Infantry, served with distinetion till August, 1865. The eon. scription laws of those dark days of the Rebellion were rigid, and in them was contained no senti- ment. The hard, stubborn fact confronted the Gov- ernment that men were needed, and that no one who was physically able was exempt from the draft. A brother of Benjamin T. was drafted, and although four of the brothers were in the army as volunteer soldiers, the strong arm of the Gov- ernment reached out for the fifth, and Benjamin enlisted as a substitute for the brother who had drawn an unlucky number. Leaving the army Mr. Bradley soon afterward located in Seott County, and subsequently tanght school for four or five years. He was elected County Clerk on the Republiean ticket, in the fall of 1886, for a term of four years. He married the daughter of Samuel Clement, at the town of Manchester, in 1872. M1. Clement now lives in Manchester, and is the old- est man in Seott County, having been born dur- ing the time George Washington was President of the United States. Ile has four children, namely: Ada, Charles. Walter, and Lela.
Mr. Bradley is one of the foremost eitizens of
Seott County, and is ever found ready to do his share in the upbuilding of society, or in the works of charity. He is a Republican of the stalwart pro- clivities, that are born of the convietion that the prineples of that party are founded upon the right.
E DWARD GRIFFITH MINER, a native of the State of Vermont, was born Jan. 21, 1809, and is the youngest of a family of six children. His father, William Miner, was a sea- faring man a greater portion of his life, but spent his latter years on land. His grandfather, Clement Miner, was a soldier in the Continental Army dur- ing the Revolutionary struggle and held the rank of Lientenant. His eommission is now held as a val- ued heir-loom by the subject of this sketch, being issued and signed by Gov. Trinnbull, the famous Governor of Conneetieut, July 3, 1776. E. G. Miner's purpose and aspiration in life after attend- ing sehool several terms in his native plaee, was to become a blacksmith. This, however, was found to be too heavy for his weak physical constitution, and abandoned, after a brief trial. He then went into a woolen factory and worked at that business for some years.
In the fall of 1832, he accepted an opportunity with some emigrants, to drive a team from the vil- lage, where he was located in Vermont, through to Seott county. Here he readily procured employment as a elerk and, as such sold goods until his em- ployer went down in a financial erash, thus eom- pelling a eessation of business. After doing busi- ness of the same nature as that in which he was before employed, for some time, he turned his at. tention to agricultural pursuits, thereby aequring considerable money.
All old settlers of Illinois will readily reeall the financial revulsion of 1857. It was in this year that the subject of this sketeh organized and put into operation the banking house of E. G. Miner & Co., a financial eoneern, which through being able to sueeessfully stein the adverse tide of that period, gained quite a wide reputation for solidity, prudenee, and shrewd management. In 1865, this banking property with all its franchises passed by
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purchase into the hands of the then newly organized First National Bank of Winehester. The subse- quent failure of this concern, marked an unpleasant era in the history of Winchester's eommeree and is well remembered by many with feelings of regret bordering on anger. Upon the failure of this bank Mr. Miner again entered banking, putting into life at onee, the now popular house of Miner, Frost & Hubbard-from which he retired to private life Jan. 1, 1886.
In glaneing over this hasty retrospeet of the out- lines of a busy life we diseover, that like too many Americans who make life a suceess, Mr. Miner remained at the front too long. Why a man should devote nineteen-twentieths of a life-all too short-to the acquirement of a fortune and reserve to himself the paltry fraction which is left for the enjoyment thereof, eannot be very satisfactorily ex- planed to the reasoning mind. This idea has often been responded to with the assertion that a man enjoys the acquisition of wealth. This is true. A man may be somewhat gratified in the pursuit of wealth from day to day, that is, his avariee may be appeased ; his ambition to outstrip his competitors gratified with sueeess, but enjoyment has a differ- ent and a better meaning. The most charitable, and probably the most eorreet, cause to be assigned for such a long continued and persistent ehase after riehes, by many even unto death's door, is that of industrions habit. The man so habituates himself to industry that idleness become irksome and work ap- pears to him the only medium of enjoyment.
This habit of business industry is almost daily seen in Mr, Miner, though he has succeeded far better than many others in divoreing himself from the tyrant "business." He may be seen almost daily walking from his elegant suburban home to the old banking house of Miner, Frost & Hubbard, where, surrounded by the familiar seenes of a past busy life, he reads the daily papers, or disensses eurrent events with his old patrons and friends.
Mr. Miner was a member of the State Legisla- ture of the sessions of 1846-8, and one of the Trus- tees of the Insane Hospital at Jacksonville for twelve years, having been first appointed thereto by Gov. Bissell. He was married at Edwardsville, Ill., April 19, 1834 to Miss Sophronia Alden,
daughter of the Rev. John Alden of the Baptist Church, of Ashfield, Ind., and a direet descendant from John Alden, who did Miles Standish's courting for him, in the old Plymouth days. To this mar- riage six ehildren have been born, as follows: James, Ilenry, Anna, Luey A. John Howard, and Mary Ellen. The eldest is a practicing physician at Winehester; Henry is a farmer; Anna is the wife of Charles B. IIubbard, a banker at Winehester ; Lucy A. died in August, 1887, aged about forty- six years; John H., born May 24, 1844, while a member of the 33d Illinois Infantry, was killed by bushwaekers in Arkansas, Sept. 14, 1862, and Mary E., born Aug. 19, 1847, died Aug. 28, 1848.
Mr. Miner is now sitting in the twilight of a well-spent life, ealmly and contentedly, knowing that he has done the best he eould, and with that reeord he looks forward without fear of the future.
OIIN LONGNECKER, JR., is numbered among the intelligent and enterprising mem- bers of the farming community of his na- tive preeinet, Winchester, and is in good circumstanees, owning considerable valuable pro- perty. He resides on his father's old homestead, where he was reared and which is under his man- agement, and here he is devoting himself to stoek- raising, and his fine graded eattle and horses com- pare with the best in the neighborhood.
Our subjeet was born in Winehester, Aug. 12, 1847, and is the third child of Joseph and Naney (Barnhart) Longnecker, whose sketeh appears in this work. He was one year old when the family moved to the farm where he now lives, and as soon as large enough he used to assist his father in its eultivation, and then attended school in the winter seasons. He was an ambitious, bright student, and lie managed to fit himself for a teacher, and was engaged at that profession in Seott County, five years, but with that exception he has given his at- tention to agricultural pursuits. Ile began for himself when he was twenty-one, his father hiring him to assist him till he was twenty-three, when he took charge of the home farm, his father retiring to private life, our subject continuing to make his
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home with his parents until he was married and established a home of his own. That auspicious event in Mr. Longnecker's life occurred March 25, 1875, on which day he was wedded to Miss Ella Young, a woman whose amiable and lovely dispo- sition has won her many warm friends. Their home is one of the prettiest and most attractive in the preeinet, and to any one crossing its threshold and sharing its hospitality, the evident union of spirit between the members of the family gives the impression that happiness and love dwell here and reign supreme. In this pleasant dwelling four children have blessed the parents, of whom the following is the record: Carrie, born Feb. 17, 1876, is an apt sebolar and attends school in Winchester; Mabel, born May 15, 1878, is also a promising pupil in the same school; Emma, born Oct. 30, 1880, a bright, quick little scholar, is in the third grade at school; Naney, the youngest, was born April 14, 1884. Besides instruction in the public schools, Carrie and Mabel receive musie lessons at home, their parents being anxious that they shall be ac- complished and well educated.
Mrs. Longnecker was born June 12, 1857, on the old homestead in Seott County, that was the birthplace of her father, Alexander Young, sixty- two years ago, and which is still his dwelling place and that of his wife, whose maiden name was Emily McGlassen, she also being a native of Scott County. Of their six children, two are dead and the remainder are married and have left the old home. Mrs. Longnecker was their fourth child in order of birth, and she received a good common- school education, and remained at home until her marriage with our subjeet.
Our subjeet is a fine representative of the so- ealled self-made men of this county, as, being well-endowed mentally and physically, by energy, shrewdness, and sound management, he has made his way to a high place among the solid, reliable citizens of the community with whose interests his own are bound up, and while working hard for himself he has materially aided in seenring the prosperity of the precinet and county. He is active in politics, lending his influence to the Demo- cratic party in general elections, but in local elee- tions voting for the man rather than for the party,
and he has been delegate to the county conven- tions repeatedly. He and his wife are prominently connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, as two of its most valued members. Ile is a 'Trus- tee of the church, and has been Secretary of the Sunday school. Mrs. Longnecker belongs to the W. C. T. U., is one of its most active and interested members, and is also a member of the Ladies' For- eign Missionary Society. Mr. Longnecker is a member of Pioneer Lodge No. 70, I. O. O. F., and has been Secretary and Trustee of this lodge. He is an active member of the Scott County Stock Breeders' Association, and is prominently identified with the Anti-Horse Thief Association of Scott County, and has served as Financial Secretary since its organization.
W ILLIAM C. DAY, M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon, of Scott County, was born at Hopefield, Ark., Jan. 24, 1837. His parents, Preston J. and Agnes ( Boatman) Day, were natives respectively of the States of Tennes- see and Kentucky, while both were descendants from Irish parentage. The family name of the former was originally O'Day, the prefix having been dropped since coming to America. Born to the senior and Mrs. Day were two sons, the sub- jeet of this sketeh, and Dr. James L. Day, a promi- ment and successful physician of St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. William C. Day, was thoroughly educated in a full literary course at Lebanon (Mo.) Academy, the senior Day having removed to Missouri in 1840, and began the study of medicine at Hart- ville, Wright County, that State, when about nine- teen years of age. In 1861 he was graduated from Missouri Medical College, as a Doctor of Medi- eine; and in 1871 received the ad-e-undem degree from St. Louis Medical College, and in 1880 at- tended the Chicago Medical College, having previ- ously listened to several extra lecture courses in St. Louis. Thus it will be discovered that as a student of medicine and surgery, Dr. Day im- proved his opportunities, and that he has profited thereby, is fully confirmed and attested by his high rank and standing in the noble profession which he
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has chosen. He began practice in Texas County, Mo., and in June, 1862, notwithstanding the fact that the region in' which he was located was in sympathy with secession, lie entered the army fully determined to do all in his power to suppress the Rebellion. His first rank was that of Assistant Surgeon of the "Missouri S. M. Cavalry. With this command he remained until March 23, 1863, at which time he was mustered into the Fourth Mo. S. M. Cavalry, and with that organization held the rank of Assistant Surgeon until mustered out at Warrensburg, Mo., April 18, 1865. During the summer and fall of 1862; he was ' Post Surgcon at Springfield, Mo., and on Jan. 8, 1863, participated in the battle fought at that place. During the year 1863 lie was five months on detached duty as Ex- amining Surgeon and personally passed upon over 8,000 negro volunteers that were accepted into the army. While in the service the command with which he was identified fought many stubbornly contested and decisive engagements with Shelby, Price, and Quantrell, 'in Missouri and Arkansas, and the conclusion may be easily reached that those enterprising leaders ' furnished the active young surgeon an abundance of work to do in the line of his profession. Dr. Day's record as a medical offi- cer in the army is one to which his friends can proudly point. His humanity and skill will long be remembered by the poor fellows who were un- fortunate enough to require his services, during that long and bloody period. Old soldiers as a rule were prejudiced against all surgeons as being heartless, bluff and inconsiderate, but none of these faults can be truthfully ascribed to Dr. Day. He simply rests upon his record.
In May, 1865, Dr. Day located at Palmyra, III., in partnership with Dr. R. J. Allmond of that place, whose daughter he married on the 20th of February, 1866. He remained at Palmyra nine years, removing to Greenfield, this State, in May, 1874. In the spring of 1880 he removed to Peoria, and a year later came to Winchester. Here he at once took high rank in his profession, and that he has successfully maintained that position, is easily proven by his popularity and success. Dr. Day is by great odds the leading physician and surgeon of Winchester at this time, and there is but little fear
that he will in the near future see a successful rival. His conscientious devotion to duty, coupled withi monumental industry, make it impossible for him to have much apprehension of competitors. He devotes his time to his practice, which is general and extends for miles around.
Dr. Day is identified with various medical socie- ties, is a Royal Arch Mason; Surgeon of the G. A. R. Post of this place; a prominent memher of the Winchester Literary Union, and the author of several able scientific papers read before medi- cal societies and published in leading medical jour- nals. By his wife, who died in 1879, Dr. Day has four children, to-wit: Lewis R., a student of medi- cine; James A., also a student of medicine; Anna A., and Gertrude L. The present Mrs. Day, to whom the doctor was married at Greenfield, July 2, 1880, was Miss Bessie E. Ilarris, a lady of su- perior educational attainments, and a native of Pennsylvania.
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OSIAH PERKINS, son of an early pioneer of Scott County, was born on his father's homestead, a half mile southeast of Win- chester, Oct. 9, 1836. Nearly the whole de- velopment of the township and county has taken place within his lifetime, and he has assisted in pro- moting their growthi both as boy and man, and now owns a good farm that is under excellent till- age, and yields him a profitable income. In the place of his nativity he and his wife have labored hard in the upbuilding of a comfortable home, and they have reared a large family to become honor- able and useful members of society.
The father of our subject, William Perkins, was a native of Cumberland County, Ky., as was also his mother, Polly Ann (Groce) Perkins. In 1829 they emigrated to Illinois, and the father purchased an 80-acre tract of wild land from the Government in Winchester Precinct, and became one of its original settlers, not a habitation being on the pres- ent site of the town at that time. After a year he en- tered eighty more acres of land, and in the course of time, by prudence and hard labor accumulated a very good property, and at the time of his death,
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which occurred in 1880, at a ripe old age, owned 230 acres of fine farming land. His original pur- chases were covered with brush, and it required considerable toil to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation, but he was equal to the task, and developed a valuable farm. The mother of our subject died in the same year as his father, she be- ing sixty-nine years old, and he about seventy- three. To that worthy couple eight children were born, three sons and five daughters, and two sons and two daughters are still living.
Josiah, of this biographical sketeh, reecived the most of his limited education in a subseription school, which he did not attend very much, as the most of his time was spent in cutting and burning brush. He stayed at home with his parents, work- ing hard to help his father until he was twenty- three years old. IIe then established a home of his own, having invited Miss Martha Jane Hopper, the eldest of the twelve children of Joshua Hopper, an old settler of Morgan Connty, formerly from Ken- tueky, to assist him in its upbuilding, their mar- riage occurring Nov. 17, 1859. Mrs. Perkins' mother, whose maiden name was Greene, and who was born in Kentucky about seventy years ago, is still living. After their marriage, our subjeet and his wife began their wedded life on a part of his father's farm, living thereon six years. Mr. Per- kins then bought sixty aeres of the land where he now resides, and has since added to his original pur- chase nntil he owns a farm of 143 aeres, nearly all under enltivation,. and fertile and prodnetive, for which he paid $50 an acre in1866. He devotes himself to mixed husbandry, raising grain and live-stoek with good success, as he well deserves, he having toiled with persevering industry and good judgment.
'To him and his good wife twelve children have been born in their happy home, nine of whom are living, as follows: Albert, William, Emmeline, Mary Ann, Frances C., Ida Belle, Geneva, Nettie, and Daniel D., and all are in good health, being well endowed mentally and physically. Albert, Emmeline, and Mary Ann are married and well situated.
Mr. Perkins is of a mild, amiable disposition, un- obtrusive in his eonduet, paying strict attention to
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