USA > Illinois > Macoupin County > Portrait and biographical record of Macoupin County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with biographies of all the governors of the state, and of the presidents of the United States > Part 104
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ican Entomological Society, Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Science, Entomological News, etc. It is fortunate, indeed, for science when such men as this have the means to free them from sordid cares and enable them to devote themselves untir. ingly to scientific researchies.
ILLIAM JOINER, a representative farmer and stock-raiser residing on section 8, Bird Township, is a son of George and Mary (Pulliam) JJoiner, natives of the Old Dominion. They emigrated to the Prairie State from Kentucky, where they settled near Jacksonville where the father died. The mother afterward came to Ma- coupin County, where she survived her husband many years and died at the home of our subject in Logan County, this State.
William was the youngest of a family of seven children. lle was born in Morgan County, this State, May 2, 1835. He grew to manhood, spend- ing most of bis youth in Maconpin County, and when about twenty-five years old he removed to Logan County and made it his home from the spring of 1860 till the fall of 1876, when he re- turned to this county and settled on section 8, of Bird Township, which has since been his place of residence. Ile has been engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock- raising and now owns two hun- dred eighteen and a half acres of fine arable land.
The marriage of Mr. Joiner with Sarah L. Nevins was solemnized November 22, 1860. She is a daughter of James B. and Miranda (Sims) Nevins. After marriage they settled in North Palmyra Township. Mrs. Nevins was called away from earth in August, 1885, and her husband passed away at the residence of our subject January 11, 1890. Seven of their children lived to years of maturity. of whom Mrs. Joiner was the second. She was born in North Palmyra Township August 5, 1840, and received a good common-school edu- cation.
Our subject and his estimable wife are the happy parents of nine children, seven of whom were reared to maturity; Thomas E., Lucy A., Ida M., James
W., Otis C., Mary Z., and the youngest is named Noah C. The first born took to wife Eudora A. Casteel; Mary Z. became the wife of Edward Hart- wick.
Mr. Joiner has held the office of School Director of his township in which position he not only did credit to himself but to his constituents. lle has served in that capacity for over twenty- seven years. In his political views he affiliates with the Repub- lican party of which he is a stanch adherent. Re- ligiously he is a consistent and active member of the Baptist Church. He is a man who is held in high repute by his fellow-citizens and always ap- proves any movement which will enhance the prosperity of the community.
AMES E. WAGGONER, who resides on section 8, Brighton Township, and is en- gaged quite extensively in the dairy business is one of the honored of the pioneers of 1834. By his parents he was brought here when five years old from Knoxville, Tenn., where he was born on the 8th of September, 1829, Ilis father, George Waggoner, was a native of Maryland, and his grandfather, George Waggoner, Sr., was born on the high seas, while his parents were emi- grating from Germany to America, prior to the Revolutionary War. The family settled in Balti- more, Md., where the grandparents of George Waggoner. . Ir., lived and died. He grew to man- hood in that State and removed with his parents to Knoxville, Tenn., prior to the War of 1812, during which war he served his country ; with oth- ors of his regiment he came nearly starving to death, they being deprived of food for several days. Before the war he was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary Baker, who was born in Maryland of German descent, her ancestors having come to this country in early Colonial days. One of the family made a settlement by a ninety-nine years' lease upon forty acres of land in the heart of Harris- burg, and eighty acres in the city of Philadelphia. lle never married, and the connecting link which makes his rightful heirs the proper owners, has
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been lost. After the marriage of George Wag- goner and his wife, the parents of our subject, they resided for some years near Knoxville, Tenn., but becoming digusted with the practices of slavery, decided to make their home in a free State and lo- cated in Madison County, Ill. This was in 1834. They settled near Alton, where they resided for some years, but afterward came to this county to make their home with their daughter, Mrs. Joseph An- drews, at whose house they died when well ad- vanced in years. Like their ancestry they were adherents of the Methodist faith, and were highly respected people.
Our subject is one of their twelve children, nine of whom are yet living, are married and have fam- ilies. They have all prospered in their business affairs and are leading citizens of the various com- munities where they reside. James Waggoner was reared to manhood under the parental roof. Sep- temher 28, 1856, he was united in marriage with Almira Mundy, since which they have resided near Brighton, Macoupin County. Almira ( Mundy) Waggoner was born in St. Louis, December 2. 1837, and is a daughter of Rowland and Asenath (Kel- logg) Mundy, natives of the Empire State and pio- neer settlers of Illinois. Seymour Kellogg, father of Mrs. Mundy, surveyed and laid out the city of Jacksonville, and several other towns in Illinois. He was one of the prominent and honored carly settlers in that part of the State. He served as Colonel in the War of 1812, and died in St. Louis, Mo., April 15, 1827. Mr. and Mrs. Mundy were married in St. Louis, where they resided some years, when they removed to Lexington, Mo. Six years of their lives were there passed, after which they returned to St. Louis, and subsequently they spent some years in Whitehall, Greene County, Ill., go- ing thence to Madison County and finally taking up their residence in Brighton, where the father died at the age of eighty-one years, and the mother when eighty years of age; they were members of the Methodist Church, and people whose many excellencies of character won them a host of friends.
Mrs. Waggoner is one of eight children, of whom three are now living. By her marriage she has become the mother of five children-George R.,
who is now serving as Township Collector, and re- sides at home; Louada, wife of Monroe Forward. who is engaged in farming and operates a creamery at Piasa, 111 .; Nellie Almira, who is attending the Normal School at Bushnell, Ill .; James E., Jr., and Homer O., at home. In politics Mr. Wag- goner affiliates with the Republican party and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Church. They are numbered among the leading and repre. sentative people of the community where they have so long made their home, and their many friends hold them in high regard. Mr. Waggoner is one of the successful and enterprising farmers and dairymen of Brighton Township, where he owns two hundred and eighteen acres of highly improved land. lle also raises a good grade of stock, and keeps on hand thirty cows for dairy purposes. His farm is well supplied with modern conveniences and equipments, and the neat appear- ance of the place indicates the thrift and industry of. the owner.
AMES L. TIETSORT, a retired farmer who is passing his declining years pleasantly with his good wife in the village of Girard, where he is greatly esteemed, was born in one of the pioneer homes of Ohio, on a farm.one mile from Middletown, Butler County, January 30, 1822, being she date of his birth. His paternal grandfather was a native of Holland, who emi- grated to America and is supposed to have spent the remainder of his life in New Jersey. His son William, the father of our subject, was born in that State and there grew to manhood. Ile subsequently became a pioneer of Kentucky, whence he re- moved to Butler County, Ohio, of which he was an early settler. He finally went from there to Cass County, Mich., after a number of years, and there his life was brought to a close at a ripe old age.
William Tietsort was eight years old when his parents removed to Butler County, Ohio, in the early years of its settlement. Cincinnati was then but a hamlet, and the State was a wilderness.
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There he grew to manhood and married and con- tinued bis residenee in that State until 1832. when he went with his family to the Territory of Michi- gan, traveling with teams and taking all his earthly possessions with him. He located in Cass County, in Volinia Township, and became one of its most useful pioneers, doing his share of the hard labor hy which its rich agrienltural resources were devel- oped, and becoming one of the prosperous farmers of his community, bewing out a fine farm from the wilderness, on which he ereeted substantial frame buildings and made other valuable improvements. It was his home until his long life was brought to an honorable close in 1872. His wife. whose maiden name was Sarah Law, did not long survive him, but died in 1873. She was a native of Vir- ginia and a daughter of James Law, who was also a Virginian by birth and was a pioneer of But- ler County, Ohio. She had been twice married, the name of her first husband being Huff. She reared fourteen children to maturity.
The subject of this biography was an active lad of ten years when the family settled amid the pri- meval winds of Cass County, Mich., and he well re- members the primitive condition of the country in that region, where Indians were more plen- tiful than whites and deer and other kinds of game abounded in the forests and on the open prairies. There were no railways there for some years and the settlers had to go St. Joseph. a dis- tanee of thirty miles, to market their produce and to obtain supplies. Money was scarce and the people lived on what they could raise on their land and on wild game. The mother of our subject was skillful in carding, weaving and spinning flax. hemp and wool and clad her children with eloth made by her own hands. The first dwelling in which the family lived after settling in their new home was of the regular pioneer type and was built by the father of white oak logs, boards being rived to eover the roof and puncheon hewn for the floor.
Mr. Tietsort made the best of his opportunities for obtaining an education, which were very lim- ited. The pioneer schools which he attended were taught in the log house of those times, that were furnished with slab benches and had no desks. He was reared to habits of industry and early
gained a knowledge of agriculture, while assisting his father in clearing his land. He made his home with his parents until his marriage. For two years after that he managed the old homestead. In 1856 he and his family started with a team and made an overland journey to this State, as he had wisely decided to take advantage of the many su- perior advantages offered by the rich soil and ge- nial climate of Illinois to a skillful. practical farmer.
After his arrival he located eight miles east of Jerseyville, where he farmed as a renter ten years. At the expiration of that time he purchased eighty acres of land two miles southeast of Girard. lle worked with a good will and in a few years placed it under a high state of cultivation, made many valuable improvements and in due time bought eighty acres adjoining the entire tract, which is deeded to his son. The otd home is in the posses- sion of the subject of this sketch, making one of the most desirable farms in the neighborhood. In 1887 he removed from his farm into the village of Girard, where he purchased his present substantial, comfortable home, wherein he and his wife live re- tired in the enjoyment of the fruits of their early years of labor.
November 30. 1854, was the date of the marriage of Mr. Tietsort and Miss Harriet E. Gould. They have one son, Melvin Harvey. He married Miss Edna Thacker, a native of this county and a daugh- ter of Zachariah Thacker, of whom an extended sketch appears on another page of this volume. They have two children, JJames Il. and Nona E.
Mrs. Tietsort was born in White Lake County, Mich .. February 11. 1837. a daughter of one of its pioneers, James Harvey Gould. Ile was a native of Massachusetts and a son of William Gould. who is supposed to have been a native of the same State. Ile removed from there to Michigan while it was yet a territory and lived for a few years in White Lake County. He then took up his residence in Port Byron, N. Y .. but some years after that he returned to Michigan and spent his last years in Cass County, that State.
The father of Mrs. Tietsort was reared and married in Massachusetts. He subsequently became one of the early settlers of White Lake County, Mich. A few years later he returned Eastward as
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far as Port Byron, N. Y. where he resided a few years. Returning to Michigan, he bought a tract of forest-covered land in Cass County, and by hard pioneer labor cleared a good farm, on which he erected suitable buildings. He departed this life in 1864, full of years. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Quimby. She was also a native of Massachusetts and was a daughter of a Revolution- ary soldier. She died on the old Michigan home- stead in 1876.
Our subject has accumulated a competeney hy persistent labor, by that wise economy that knows how to spend as well as to save and by the exer- cise of sound judgment in his dealings. He has earned a place among our most respected citizens, and his honesty and uprightness in all the affairs of life have gained him the trust of all who know him. He and his wife are firm believers in the Baptist faith and have been among the most faithful mem- bers of that church since they connected themselves with it.
ARMAN G. TALLEY, a prominent citizen of Shipman, was born in that part of Wilmington, Del., which was then know as the village of Brandywine. His birth occurred January 28, 1828, and his father, Isaac Grubb Talley, was born in the same vicinity and was the son of Harman Talley whose ancestors were among the first settlers of that State. He resided near Wilmington for many years, and then made his way to Ohio and became one of the pioneers of Muskingum County. He lived there until 1850, after which he emigrated to Ogle County, this State, and after a few years came to Piasa. this county, where be died.
The father of our subject grew to manhood in his native State and was there married before com- ing to Illinois. It was about the year 1856 when he settled in Macoupin County, making his home in Shipman Township, where he bought a farm and resided for four years and then sold and returned to his native home, dying in Wilmington, Del., February 22, 1888, when he was eighty-seven
years old. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Mary Simmons, and she was born in Delaware and died in 1831. She had two children, our subject and his brother John, who still resides in Wilmington.
The father was a second time married, to Rachel Grubb and by her had one child, Rebecca. Our subject served for five years in Centerville, learn- ing the trade of a blacksmith, and followed it in Delaware until 1850, when he came to Illinois by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and set- tled in Alton, where he was a pioneer and where he opened the first blacksmith shop in that village, carrying ou business there until the breaking out of the war.
The young man enlisted September 3, 1864, in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Illi. nois Infantry, and served until the close of the war, being mustered out as a Sergeant of the Provost- Guard in 1865. The following year he engaged in farming on one hundred and sixty acres of land' which he had purchased about a mile east of Piasa. There lie resided until 1887, and then leaving his sons in charge, retired from active business and made his home in Shipman.
Louisa Ann Hedges was the name of the lady who became the wife of our subject in 1850, and she died on the home farm in 1879. The second marriage of Mr. Talley took place in 1885, and brought to his home a bride in the person of Mrs. Mary ( Martin ) Quick, a native of New York. By his first marriage our subject had five children, namely: William, Hattie, Dora, Lola and Harman Grubb. Our subject and his good wife are both earnest members of the Metnodist Episcopal Church and he is a thorough Republican in his political views and has served for ten years as Postmaster of Piasa. Ilis son William married Miss Laura Kel- sey, and his daughter Dora became Mrs. W. B. Waggoner.
The present Mrs. Talley, as well as her father and grandfather was born in the Green Mountain State, and her father who was a blacksmith, followed that trade both in Vermont and in Susquehanna County, Pa., and afterward in Steuben County, N. Y., where he finally purchased a farm and man- aged it in connection with the work of his trade.
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The maiden name of his wife was Lurinda Coleman, and she was a daughter of William and Hannah (Cross) Coleman of Vermont.
Mrs. Talley's first marriage was when she was eighteen and united her with Mr. Bennett, a black- smith, who came to illinois in 1859, and carried on his trade in Shipman until his death in April, 1865. Her second husband, Mr. Parker Quick, of Missouri, was a farmer who came to Shipman and died here in 1873. She has two children by her first marriage, Gertrude, who is now Mrs. Silas Webster, and Je- rome C., who married Sophie Harris.
AMES E. WOOD. The death of this gen- tleman, which occenrred on June 13, 1891, removed from this county one who had for nearly sixty years been closely con- nected with its development. Following the occu . pation of a general farmer, he resided on a line tract of land in Bunker llill Township, and was the owner of two hundred and thirty acres which had been improved urder his own management. June 16, 1832, marked his arrival in this township and since that time he worked his way to the com- petency which surrounded his declining years. Some nine seasons were passed on the Mississippi River as a keel hoater, and many and strange were his experiences as a pioneer boatman. By means of this work he gained his first money to purchase land. ! lis first purchase comprised forty aeres, bought at a low rate, but he was compelled to bor- row the money to pay twenty-five per cent. down. and gave personal security to enable him to ef- fect the purchase. Aside from the time spent npon the Mississippi, he resided upon this farm al- most continuously from his arrival here. A hard- working and energetic man, he achieved success financially, and at the time of his decease, was liv- ing retired from life's active duties.
Before narrating more fully the various inci- dents of importance in the life of our subject, we will briefly record the genealogy of the Wood fam- ily which began in America in 1755. Samuel Wood
was born in Leicestershire, England, May 2 or 3. 1737. lle emigrated to America in 1755, and al- though really unfitted for military service, being a cripple, he went into the army during the Revolu- tionary War. He was a ripe scholar and was pri- vate secretary to President George Washington. lle spent most of his life in Loudoun County, Va., but in his later years removed to East Tennessee, and there died full of years and honors. He first, married a Miss Robertson, and of that union one daughter, named Mary, was born. This daughter was reared by her grandfather in South Carolina and married James Hendricks.
The second wife of Samuel Wood was known in maidenhood as Sarah Reives, and seven sons were born of the marriage, viz: William, James, Sam- uel. Thomas, Abram, John and George. William, who was born June 13, 1773, was married in 1814, to Nelly Ryan, and their five children were named as follows: Washington. Eliza, Thomas J., James W .. and Mezany. The first wife dying, he after- ward married Mary Cargile, and the one son born of this union, William, died January 11, 1851. James Wood, father of our subject, was born Oct- ober 26, 1774, in Loudoun County, Va., near the falls of the Potomac River. On March 11, 1794, he was united in marriage with Susanna Renfro, a Virginian, who had been reared to womanhood in a fort in Eastern Tennessee, near Knoxville.
Eleven children comprised the family of James and Susanna Wood, namely : William, Sarah, John F .. Nancy, Samuel. Thomas, James E., Naomi, David and Abigail. During the War of 1812, the father enlisted under Gen. Harrison, and lost his health while in service as a valiant defender of American rights. His death occurred September 6, 1849. After his marriage he had lived on a farm in Cumberland County, Ky., and all of his children were natives of Kentucky or Tennessee. Finally, accompanied by his wife and eight chil- dren, he removed to Illinois, making the trip over- land with teams. Their first home was made in June, 1832, on the farm where the subject of this sketch passed almost his entire life.
The father having entered land from the Gov- ernment in 1831, had his deed signed by President Jackson, and this document is yet in the family,
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the land having never been transferred except from father to son. Here on that beautiful prairie the father and mother ended their days, the father passing away at the age of seventy-ive and the mother when seventy-nine years old. They were members of the old school Baptist Church. He was a strong Democrat. Possessing a retentive memory and being a well read man, he was an in- teresting conversationalist, and could relate many thrilling reminiscences of pioneer life in the War of 1812.
Another member of Grandfather Wood's family was his namesake, Samuel, who was born March 30, 1777. married Naomi Renfro, and became the father of five children, viz: Mary, William, James, Isaac and Andrew. The fourth son in the grand- father's family was Thomas, born August 25. 1779, in Loudoun County, Va., and married to Mary Bayles, becoming the parent of seven chil- dren by this union. In 1779, Grandfather Wood emigrated to Washington County, Tenn., where Abram was born, September 19, 1781. Ile was married to one Polly Hunt, April 20, 1802, and they had four children. John Wood was born in Washington County, Tenn., September 28, 1783. Ilis wife was known in maidenhood as Sarah Crouch, and a large family of children gathered around their fireside. George Wood was born in Washington County, Tenn., September 10, 1787, married Elizabeth Ervine, and unto them seven children were born.
James E., of this sketch, was the fourth son and fifth child of the ten granted to his parents. Ile and his two brothers, Samuel and D. B., became farmers in this township, and the latter still resides here, Samuel having reached the age of eighty-six. Their parents lived to see five generations of their own family in their house at once. Upon reaching manbood our subject was married to Rose B. Thomas, who was born in St. Clair County, 111., June 9, 1817. She is the daughter of David and Peggy (Barry ) Thomas, the maternal grandfather being Capt. Andrew Barry. of Revolutionary fame. The parents were natives of South Carolina and came North to St. Clair County. Ill., when this State was still a territory. After laboring as pi- oneers there several years, they sold out and came
to Macoupin County, entering land near Plain- view, and there dying at the ages of sixty-two and seventy-one respectively. Mrs. Thomas was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Wood's paternal grandfather, John Thomas, was a native of Wales, and when a young man came to America. locating in South Carolina, and removing thence with his children to the territory of Illinois. He was elected one of the first Territorial Clerks, when court convened at Kaskaskia, Ill. At an ad- vanced age he died in St. Clair County.
Mrs. Wood was one of the younger of her pa- rents' eight children and is the only one now sur- viving. She is a woman of character and ability. and worthy of the admiration with which she is regarded in the community. She is the mother of four children, only one of whom is living. Charles died when less than twenty-two years old; Alfred K. passed away at the age of thirty two. He mar- ried Amanda Phillips and became the father of one child, Melvina, who did not survive infancy. Ab- raham D. took to wife Maranda Montgomery, and of their four children two survive -- Charles Ar- thur and Elizabeth. They reside on a farm in this township.
In the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which she is an earnest member, Mrs. Wood finds a broad field for activity. Mr. Wood also belonged to the same church, and was a Democrat in his po- litical views, having east his first ballot for Jack- son and continued to vote that ticket until his de- inise. Socially, he was identified with the Masonic order. He had a wonderful store of historical in- formation, which had been told him by his parents or had been learned by his own researches in this Western country, and these facts and narratives would make a large and interesting volume if com- piled.
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