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 19
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Dr. Fischer was born in Collinsville, Madison County, January 28, 1854. When ready to take up studies beyond the family circle he attended a private school in his native place, but later entered the publie school. When sixteen years old he be- gan the study of Latin and German under a private tutor and pursued those languages most industri- ously two years. Soon after these branches were completed he began reading medicine under the guidance of Dr. A. M. Powell, and when a good foundation had been laid he attended lectures in the St. Louis Medical College, from which he was graduated in March, 1877. In May following he opened an office in Carlinville, and ere long he had gained a good following and become known as a young man well versed in therapeutical science, careful and sympathetic in the diagnosis and treat- ment of discase, and successful in alleviating dis- tress.
An event of much importance to Dr. Fischer
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occurred January 28, 1879, It was his marriage to Sophia E. Schuricht, a young lady who was born in St. Louis, Mo., of German parents, and who had a good education, had been carefully instructed in domestic arts and possessed an estimable character, The union has been blest by the birth of three daughters, who are named respectively, Eleanor. Elfrida and Annie.
Dr. Fischer has not been without his share in promoting the civic interests of the city. Ile rep- resented the Fourth Ward as Alderman in 1885, and in 1887 was elected to the Mayor's chair. In both capacities he showed an interest in the im - provement of the city and the progress of her citi- zens in all that pertains to the best civilization. In politics he is a Democrat. The religious home of himself and family is in Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is connected with the Ma- coupin County Society for Medical Improvement, Illinois Medical Society and Mississippi Valley Medical Association. In educated circles he is cor- dially greeted, as he is a fine scholar and is always interested in scholarly themes.
ARTIN H. HEAD. M. D, one of the lead- ing physicians of the county, has been practicing his profession for many years at Carlinville, where he is held in honor and esteem by a large circle of friends and acquain . tances. Ile was born May 3. 1827, about ten miles east of Louisville, Ky., a son of Benjamin Ilead. who was a native of Virginia. The grandfather of our subject, Hadley Head, was. it is thought. born in Virginia of Welsh ancestry, and so far as known spent his whole life in his native State.
Benjamin Head was reared and educated in the Old Dominion, and when a young man went to Kentucky, and for some years he was engaged in the mercantile business at Middleton, Jefferson County. He subsequently purchased a farm ten miles cast of Louisville, upon which he dwelt in comfort the remainder of his life. devoting himself to agriculture, his death occurring in 1837. He had been twice married, the maiden name of his
second wife, mother of our subject being Margaret N. Brengman. She is still living at the venerable age of eighty-five years, and makes her home at Middleton, She is a native of Jefferson County, Ky .. and a daughter of Martin Brengman. The latter was born in Germany, whence he came to America and resided for a time in Maryland. From there he went to Kentucky, and purchased a farm near Middleton, whereon he lived until his demise.
Dr. Head was but ten years old when he was he- reft of a father's care and counsel. He continued to make his home with his mother, assisting on the farm and attending school. At the age of twenty- one he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. J. M. Bemiss, of Middleton, and he subsequently attended medical lectures at Louisville, being grad . uated from the Louisville Medical College in 1851. The same year he came to Carlinville and opened an office and has been in continuous practice in this city since. At that time it had but a few hundred inhabitants, and the surrounding country was still in the hands of the pioneers and was but sparsely settled, the people living on the edge of the timber, while deer and other wild game roamed over the prairies, the land all being open around and on the site of the village.
Dr. Ilead continued in active practice until the commencement of the war, and he then offered bis professional services to the Government in May, 1861, and became Assistant Surgeon of the Four- teenth Illinois Infantry, remaining with that regi- ment one year, and doing valuable work in reliev- ing the wounded and sick soldiers. In 1862 he entered hospital service at Memphis, Tenn., and in April, 1865 was transferred to Critten:len Hospital at St. Louis, where he was stationed until the fol- lowing October, when he was honorably discharged. He returned to Carlinville and to the quiet routine of professional life in village and country, bringing with him a valuable experience gathered during those sad years among the sick and dying defend- ers of our country, and a high record for services rendered while acting as a military surgeon and physician. He has since conducted a successful and lucrative practice here.
In 1853 the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Margaret 1. Blackburn, Mrs. Head is a na-
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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY (. ..!!!
Crittenden Hle, Anderson
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tive of Versailles, Ky , a daughter of the Rev. John and Catherine (Edwards) Blackburn, her father a Presbyterian minister. Dr. and Mrs. Head are the parents of two children, Eugene S., a physician; and Hadley. Both our subject and his amiable wife are consistent and devoted members of the Episco- pal Church. Fraternally, the Doctor is a mem- ber of Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 76, A. F. & A. M.
C RITTENDEN IL. C. ANDERSON. No name is more intimately associated with the rise and development of Macoupin County and its financial prosperity than that of the late lamented C'rittenden II. C. Anderson, who was for many years one of its most prominent business men and valued citizens. It gives us pleasure to place in this volume his portrait, and the following review of his life and work when has been lovingly and carefully prepared by his nephew, W. E. P. Ander- son, at the request of the publishers, and is an elo- quent and just tribute to the great worth and abil- ity of the departed.
Crittenden H. C. Anderson was born near Hop- kinsville, Christian County, Ky., January 26, 1819. Ile was the eldest son and child in a family of eight children of Col. James C. and Ann R. Anderson, who were of Irish and Scotch descent. He came to Illinois with his parents when he was about six- teen years old, arriving at Carlinville (which was then a mere hamlet) October 27, 1834. eamping out on the first night after his arrival with his fa- ther, mother, brothers and sisters, on the lot where the residence of Judge Tappen is now located on First South Street, one block southeast of the Court House. the site of which was then covered with timber and hazel brush. During their first winter here the family lived at Carlinville in a log house, standing upon the lot where the present post-office is now located on the east side of the publie square.
In the spring of 1835 his father, having entered four hundred acres of land on section 11, Carlin- ville Township, the family removed to it, and our subjeet made himself generally useful in bringing
the farm into cultivation, and in improving the home with such facilities as were afforded at that early day. The elder Anderson, with the vigor, energy and push characteristic of the early pioneer, flesiring to improve the opportunities afforded in a country indicating a rapid growth and rise in the value of the unbroken prairie soil, at once exten- sively entered into buying and selling land and stock, driving the stock to the nearest market. St. Louis. For a couple of years or so. the manage- ment of the farm and looking after the family gen- erally fell opon young Crittenden. At the early age of nineteen, however. as he developed an apt- ness for trading, and displayed good judgment as to the quality and value of land, he became the companion and business associate of his father in dealing in land and in stock generally. They trav- ersed the country in all directions, and for long dis- tances, for the purpose of buying hogs and cattle, frequently going together on horseback and driv- ing cattle as far north as Wisconsin and Michigan to a market, and also driving stock of all kinds overland to the St. Louis market. At one time they were offered forty acres of land now in the heart of the city of Chicago for a cow, which was declined.
On April 14. 1840, our subject was united in marriage with Mary J. Glass, a sister of the late Robert W. Glass. Taking his wife to the home of his parents, they continued to reside there until the spring of 1841, when they settled upon the farm given.to him by his father; this is now known as the homestead of Malcolm M. Anderson, and is the south half of section 11, Carlinville Township. Tite happiness of their union was of brief duration, his wife dying May 4, 1811, leaving to his care an infant son, James llenry Anderson, who died Octo- ber 28, 1854, aged thirteen years, five months and twenty-four days. Together with his little son Mr. Anderson again hecame a member of the home circle under the parental roof, where he continued to oversee his farm, and to deal in stock and land as previously, residing there until his marriage No- vember 14, 1850, to Miss Mary E. Cole. lle again took up his residence on his farm, where he con- ducted agricultural pursuits and trading generally.
In the summer of 1851 the dreaded disease
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cholera struck this neighborhood, from which Mr. Anderson's father died August 14; the wife of his brother Erasmus S. Anderson, August 16, Erasmus himself August 26; and his mother, August 27. This was a period which tried men's hearts; but with unswerving fidelity and love for his kindred which knew no fear, our subject nursed and cared for each one of these during their last sickness; taking his brother Erasmus and his little boy, W. E. P. Anderson, then only fifteen months old, to his own house and ministering to the wants of each. On account of the scarcity of help, he was com- pelled to assist in the sad duty of digging the graves and depositing the remains of each of these loved ones in their last resting place.
In the month of November, 1852, our subject removed to the farm now owned by Henry C. An- derson, near the fair-grounds, llere he still con- tinued his old business until the month of May. 1853. when he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Dr. R. W. Glass. Under the firm name of Anderson & Glass, they opened the first exclusive drug store at Carlinville, in a little frame building, located on the northwest corner of the publie square, where now stands the three-story brick building erected by Capt. W. B. Dugger in 1868.
In 1855-56, Mr. Anderson, in connection with William II. Rider, erected the three-story brick building on the east side of the public square, re- eently known as the "Duplex Building," and which was the first three-story building ever erected in the city or county. To the lower floor of this building, the stock of drugs was removed the spring of 1856, and in the fall of that year Mr. Anderson removed his family to it, occupying the second and third stories as a residence. Here January 20. 1857 his wife died, leaving to him the care of their only child, John C., who was then only two and a half years old, having been born August 31, 1854.
On October 20, 1837, our subject was married to Mary J. Stratton, the only child of Marshall H. and Rebecca ( Blackburn) Stratton. By this mar- riage three children were born: Mary J., born De- ( ember 27, 1858, died August 19, 1860; Virginia, bore August 21. 1861, died February 25. 1867 ; and Effie M., boru June 18, 1864, now the wife of Will-
iam 1 .. Mounts, to whom she was married June 18, 1884. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Anderson boarded with the family of Dr. Glass until the month of April, 1858, when he purchased and re- moved to the property on East Main Street, adjoin- ing the residence of Joseph Bird.
In the year 1860 Mr. Anderson retired from the drug business, having sold his interest to his part- ner, and again engaged in farming, feeding and grazing cattle, and general trading. Having de- voted much of his life to the buying and selling of real-estate, he became quite familiar with the title to the same for many miles around the county -seat, and could with great accuracy repeat from memory the descriptions and the various transfers of the land. In 1868 he opened an abstract and real- estate office in a room in the Chestnut and Dubois building, adjoining the law office of the Hon. C. A. Walker. Ile continued in that business. until Fel- ruary, 1870, when he opened a banking house un- der the name of the Ilenderson Loan and Real- estate Association. This was a private corporation, he being the sole stockholder and he continued the same in its corporate capacity until April 30, 1878, when he surrendered the charter of the corpora- tion and organized the business as a private bank, under the name of the Banking House of C. H. C. Anderson.
He was exceedingly fortunate in his selection of a cashier and confidential business manager, and that, together with his own business conservatism and caution. served to increase the business from a capital of $5,000, the amount required by the char- ter of the corporation when he established the bank, to a paid up capital of $100,000, with a sur- plus of $5,000, exclusive of losses incident to any banking business. which had prior thereto been charged to the expense account, July 10, 1889, when he associated with himself his two children, John C. Anderson and Effie Anderson Mounts. The banking business is still carried on by them, under the supervision of the same faithful cashier and business manager selected by their father. Mr. Anderson was eminently successful as a financier, and left to his heirs an estate valued at nearly a quarter of a million dollars. In the accumulation of this vast property he displayed business talents
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of a rare order, that were inherent in himself, and were not the results of education. He was not an educated man in the ordinary acceptation of the word, as his early advantages for schooling were limited, being confined to acquiring a common knowledge of reading, spelling, writing and cipher- ing to the "Rule of Three."
While our subject was more than ordinarily suc- cessful as a business man in gathering together this world's goods, yet his financial career met with many obstacles and reverses in its pathway, and frequently caused him to do his share of "floor walking." His plans, like those of many other often miscarried, and many for whose prompt pay- ment he pledged himself failed to meet their obliga- tions, and threw the burden upon him. He wit- nessed four of the financial pauies which swept our country, and felt effectively the force of three of them, viz: those of 1857, 1873 and 1878. In 1857. the safe of his drug store, which was the depository (there being no bank in that town then ) of most of the citizens and business men of Carlinville, was taken into the street, blown open and robbed of several thousand dollars, entailing a heavy loss upon himself as well as upon others at a very eriti- cal time.
In 1873, although his hank was in its infancy, it had to withstand the ordeal of a several days' run. On the morning of January 15, 1878. immediately after opening bis bank for the day's business, he received notice that the oldest bank of the city bad assigned. Conscious of the fact that the excite- ment and fear of panic to follow would result in temporarily closing his doors, nevertheless, know- ing his solveney and trusting to a confiding public, he promptly met the withdrawal of his depositors during the day. At closing time, when waited upon by three of his principal mercantile depositors to ascertain his ability to stand a precipitated "run," he frankly informed them that his depositors could close his doors, but that they could not "break him ;" upon invitation from him to go behind the counter and make a thorough examination of his assets and liabilities, the investigation resulted in twelve of the depositors of the bank, whose finan- cial standing gave satisfaction, executing to Samnel T. Mayo a power of attorney, authorising him to
sign their individual names as guarantors for the payment of any claim against his bank. So great. however, was the confidence and faith of his deposi- tors in his integrity and in the solidity of his bank, that only a few availed themselves of this security.
During his active business life Mr. Anderson or- cupied many positions of trust in the settlement of estates in the capacity of executor, administrator and guardian, without his honesty or integrity ever being called into question, with one exception which terminated in the Presiding Judge dismissing the bill and paying him a high tribute from the Bench for a seventeen years' faithful, successful and honest service to his wards. In dealing with his fellow men in all the ups and downs of a busi- ness life, it was not a question with him as to his individual action what is legally right or wrong, but what is right between man and man, and he was governed accordingly, frequently refusing to avail himself of legal defenses in order to escape liability. Hle acted upon the principle that a man's word ought to be his bond on all occasions. He insisted on what was his due. hut adhered strongly to the principle of "live and let live," and so long as a debtor manifested a disposition of honesty and fair dealing, be was never pushed to the wall, unless as a last resort, in order to protect himself against other creditors.
While no man felt a keener pleasure and enjoy- ment in the respect. trust and confidence tendered him by his friends and fellow-men, yet our subject was averse to pushing himself forward in any man- ner for the purpose of gaining applause or notoriety. In his charities, though not demonstrative, yet he appreciated the fact that out of the abundance with which he was blessed, he owed a share to the unfortunate, and he always responded in some measure to the solicitations made upon him for be- nevolent purposes. In his personal habits and ex- penditures, while not penurious in any sense, he practiced rigid simplicity, and indignantly repelled any act which had the appearance of ostentation or display ; so regardful was he for the feelings of his friends and patrons with whom he came in daily contact, that it was his constant aim to refrain from any act which indicated distinction. Ile felt that he was only one of a great mass of humanity, that
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it was not wealth or position alone which made the man, and the greatest satisfaction that prosperity afforded him was the fact that it enabled him to be of that much more service and benefit to the coin- munity generally. As a friend, he was loyal and unflinching with his heart and purse, often running the risk of financial embarrassment to himself in order to oblige or help a friend or patron in need. Socially, it afforded him enjoyment and pleasure to have his friends and acquaintances partake of bis hospitality, and he was especially fond of having young people around him. Ite had his faults and eceentricities, but they were in a large measure overshadowed by the promptings of a noble and sympathetic heart, and he left to his children the enduring inheritance of a name and memory re- spected, honored and revered by all who knew him and a life record worthy of the emulation of his posterity.
In 1855, during the Pitner revival, Mr. Ander- son connected himself with the Carlinville Metho- dist Episcopal Church; and while not an active participant in the inside work of the church, he served many years upon the Board of Trustees, was a large contributor to its support and to the erec- tion of its present house of worship in this city. His social relations were with the Masonie frater. nity, and for twenty-eight years he was a devoted member of the Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 78, serving for many years as its Treasurer; always insisting that if the principles of the order were lived up to by its members, man would attain as near perfec- tion as possible on this earth.
In politics, Mr. Anderson was originally a Whig, casting his first vote in 1840 for William Henry Harrison, and upon the disruption of that party be identified himself with the Democratic party, with which he attiliated the remainder of his life. He was strong in his party convictions, though not in any sense a politician. and always accorded the greatest respeet to the opinions of his opponents. Ile was a member of the first City Council of Car- linville upon its organization as a municipality.
In the spring of 1871 our subject purchased and removed to his late home in the north part of the city near the Fair grounds. Although living some distance from his business, unless confined by sick-
ness, he was always the first one to arrive at the .bank in the morning, and the last to leave at night. It was in this attractive home, surrounded by lov- ing friends, that he calmly awaited life's great end, and from it his spirit at length took flight when re- leased from the weary body. July 2, 1889, after suffering for several months from a gradual break- ing down of his system, he was stricken with a slight attack of paralysis. In a few days, however, he had materially recovered from its effeets; but real- izing that his time on earth was near at an end, he faced the situation bravely, and expressed himself freely as thinking that he had out-lived his useful- ness, that he could no longer be of assistance to him - self or his fellow-men, and saying that he was not only willing but anxious for the final summons. Though confined to the house for several months, he was free from suffering, and retained his mental faculties until a few days prior to his decease. Re- ceiving all the eare and attention in ministering to his needs that a loving and devoted family eould render, January 10, 1890, at mid-day, he peacefully dropped into the sleep that knows no awakening, surrounded by his family. Surviving him are his widow, Mary J. Anderson; his son, John C. An- derson; his daughter, Effie A. Mounts; his nephew, William E. P. Anderson; his brothers, Malcolm M. and Henry C. Anderson; and his sister, Mary Ann Anderson, the wife of William C. Anderson, of Shaw's Point Township. A sister, Maria C. Adams, wife of Austin Adams, died a few days prior to his demise.
Such is the private history of one who was an active participant for fifty-six years in the growth and development of Macoupin County ; he coming here when it was a vast wilderness, but thinly set- tled. In this tribute to his memory, there has been no attempt on the part of the writer to misrepre- sent or overdraw the facts embodied in this bio- graphieal sketeli, and as far as possible he has en- deavored to avoid inaccuracies or the appearance of giving any statement a "varnished character." The facts are such as he has been able to gather from the recollections of others. and his individual knowledge of many of the occurrances mentioned, derived by an intimate association with the subject of thirty years' duration ; all of which are prompted
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by a heart overflowing with gratitude, and in order to give to the descendants of the subject an oppor- tunity to avail themselves of such traits in his character as are worthy of adoption.
M ARTIN N. GULICK, who owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 10, Hilyard Township, is numbered among the pioneers of the county of 1841, his residence here covering a period of half a century. He was born in Clark County, Ind., August 16, 1815. and comes of an old family of New Jersey. Ilis grandfather, Nicho- las Gulick, was born in that State, and was of Ilol- land extraction, the family having been founded in this country by Holland emigrants, who crossed the water in the early part of the seventeenth cen- tury. Nicholas Gulick grew to manhood as a farmer, and married Elizabeth Gano, daughter of William Gano, one of the colony of French IJu- guenots, who emigrated from Europe prior to the Revolutionary War. He lived and died in llun- terdon County, N. J., where the colony first set- tled. It was after the birth of a part of their children that Nicholas Gulick and his wife, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, removed to New York, settling on the banks of Seneca Lake, in Seneca County, where he developed a good farm, making it his home until his death, at the age of eighty-eight years. His wife had attained the ad- vanced age of ninety-two years at her death. They were connected with the German Reformed Church, and were prominent people in the community where they made their home. They lived at the time of the Revolution, and it is thought Nicholas Gulick served his country in that struggle.
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