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 41
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For almost half a century Abram and Anna l'arkes have traveled life's journey together and to their lot have fallen both adversity and prosperity, but in the main their efforts have been blessed with success. They have reared a family of seven chil- dren but three are now deceased, namely: Mary J. became the wife of William Crook, and died leaving one daughter, Alice, now Mrs. Bumgartner of Sedalia, Mo .; E. Maria who wedded William F. Pell and at her death left four children-Ruby M.,
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Lillie G., Katie J. and James A .; Elias died when about twenty-one years of age. Four children survive; Charlotte M. is now the wife of George W. Hamel, auctioneer and clerk of Lebanon, Mo., and they have five children -- Lizzie, Jessie, Lula H., Georgia and Charles. John who is engaged in farming in Olive Township, Madison County, married Elizabeth Tabor, who died leaving four children, Stella M., C. M., George II. and Albert. Wesley, who is living on a farm in Staunton Town- ship, wedded Amanda Coalson, by whom he has three children-Grace B., Myrtle and Clarence. Louisa is the wife of Albert Davis, and they reside on the old homestead farm. Three children grace their union --- Ilarry A., Arthur G. and Ethel A.
Mr. and Mrs. Parke are members of the Presby- terian Church of Staunton. Ile is a member of the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association and in politi- cal sentiment affiliates with the Prohibition party. Ilis portrait is presented elsewhere in this volume.
h ENRY BRINKMAN. Among the promi. nent and leading citizens of Shaw's Point Township, our readers will be pleased to peruse a sketch of Mr. Brinkman, who made his mark in Macoupin County, and has been an ef- ficent factor in promoting its interests. He is of German birth and his earlier education was taken in his native land, but he came to America before he had grown to manhood.
Mr. Brinkman's natal day was January 14, 1842. fle was ten years old when his parents migrated to the New World and he accompanied them, eager to see a new country and to learn new ways. Ma- coupin County was the scene of his youth and early manhood and here he has made his home since 1853, and bere he has engaged in farming with success. JIe owns one hundred and eighty aeres upon which he has made good improve- ments.
The subject of our sketch was married in Carlin- ville, III., March 29, 1869, his bride being Kather- ine C. Kasten. This lady was born in St. Louis, Mo., November 26, 1851. She brought to her
husband eight children, six of whom are living and are a joy and a comfort to their parents. Their names are August, Mary, Mena, Frederick, Lotta and Otto. Two little ones passed away in infancy. Upon March 20, 1890. Mrs. Brinkman was sud- denly stricken with heart disease and dropped dead. She was a useful woman and an active member of the German Lutheran Church to which Mr. Brinkman is also attached. His political views have led him to affiliate with the Democratic party and he believes that its platform embodies the prin- ciples which will carry this country to a successful issue of its perplexities and problems.
G EORGE E. GOODHEAD. No men have a greater opportunity to wield a broad and permanent influence over the minds and lives of their fellow-citizens, nor a grander oppor- tunity to exercise an educative power in the com- munity than the newspaper men of our country towns and small cities. The preacher of the press is more sure of an audience than the preacher of the pulpit and if his efforts are in the right line he has an opportunity to do great good and to acquire a genuine ascendaney over the minds of his bearers. Among the newspaper men of Southern Illinois, who are doing genuine good work in the line of publishing a first-class newspaper, we are pleased to mention the name which appears at the head of this paragraph.
Our subject was born May 5, 1856, in the then very sparsely settled Northwest, where his father was a trader among the Sioux and Pottawattomie Indians. His father, Joseph Goodhead, now de- ceased, was a native of Vienna, Austria, where from the age of six years he was educated in a Jesuit monastery, being designed by his parents for the priesthood, which, when he had arrived at the age of maturity he renounced. He married Elizabeth Auerswald, a native of Prague, Bohemia, who is now a resident of Westport, a suburb of Kansas City.
When George E. Goodhead was eighteen years of age he turned his attention in the direction of
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newspaper work, and having removed with his par- ents to Griggsville, Ill., he started a paper there, which he called the Commercial Advertiser, but the young man had hardly attained sufficient age and experience to make a success of so dubious a pro- ject as starting a new paper, and the life of this pa- per was brief. He devoted himself to other lines of business for some time after this and waited for more age and experience before again putting forth an independent venture. In 1880, having made his home in Perry, Ill., he established in June the weekly Transcript, which he carried on for over three years with good success, but a great disas- ter befell him, as his establishment was, November 19, 1883, destroyed by fire. He sustained a total loss of the whole business to the amount of $1,600, with no insurance. He had thirty-five cents in his pocket and with this capital he commenced his bus- iness anew. Thanks to a good commercial stand- ing, he had a new outfit on the road within ten days and at once resumed publication. In June, 1886, he removed to Franklin, Ill., but remained there only until the beginning of 1890, when he transferred his business to Palmyra, where he is now publishing the weekly Transcript, enjoying a lucra- tive newspaper and job patronage.
He was united April 25, 1884, to Miss Mame A. LaRue at Perry. Three children have crowned this union: G. Emmet, now seven years old; a baby who died in infancy; and Retta, who has now reached the charming age of four years.
AMUEL L. BOYD. Nature has sometimes been accused of partiality in endowing some of her children more richly than others with those qualifications which in - sure them success in life, but when such provision supplements the disadvantages of a lack of educa- tion and means, everyone must rejoice at such en- dowment. The subject of this sketeli was in very early life thrown upon his own resources for sup- port, and his advantages for an education were ex- tremely limited, but he was more fortunate than many in being possessed of excellent judgment
and good sense and more than ordinary business ability, which have thus aided him in making a suc- cess of life.
Our subject was born in Garrard County, Ky., September 9, 1822. llis father, Andrew Boyd, was a native of Pittsburg, Pa .. and his grandfather, Moses Boyd, emigrated from Scotland to America and was one of the first settlers in Alleglieny County, Pa. Ile was one of six brothers that came to America and he died in the service of his adopted country during the War of American In- dependence.
Andrew Boyd was reared to manhood in Penn- sylvania and removed from that State to Kentucky, thus becoming one of the pioneers of Garrard County. Ile was a blacksmith by trade and a man who did honor to his business. as every conscien- tious worker must. He followed this line of busi- ness for some years in Garrard County, which he made his home until called away from earth in August, 1833. Ilis wife's maiden name was Me- linda Forsythe and her native home was Lincoln County, Ky. She accompanied her children to Macoupin County, Ill., where she died in 1866. Iler six children are named Moses, Samuel L., Priscilla A. Elizabeth, Catherine, and James A.
Samuel L. Boyd was only in his eleventh year when orphaned by the death of his father, and he became one of the main stays of his widowed mother, who was left in limited circumstances with six young children to care for and support. This brave boy at once went to work to assist in the support of the family and it is almost pitiful to re- late that in this brave endeavor he received, for for some time only, the mere pittance of ten cents a day. After some years he obtained a situation as overseer on a plantation at $7 a month. He continued in that work until 1851, when he re- moved to Illinois where he was employed on a farm for eighteen months. He returned in Oc- tober, 1853, to Kentucky, and arranged for the re- moval of his mother and brothers.
Our subject and his brother James formed a partnership to engage in farming. Their capital consisted of a team with wagon and harness, and $60 in cash. They rented land for a time in Seott- ville Township, and in 1861, were able to pur-
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chase. The first land they ever owned was a traet of ninety acres for which they paid $2.200. The brothers continued in partnership until the death of James, since which time Samuel has continued alone. He now owns fifteen hundred and fifty acres of land, all in Macoupin Connty. His happy marriage in October, 1885, united him with Caro- line Crook, a native of Western Mound Township, this county. This lady is a daughter of George W. and Eliza (Kinkaid) Crook. To Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have been granted three children who are at once the care and the joy of their parents. They bear the names of May, James C., and Caroline. Mr. Boyd is one of the most successful business men of Scottville Township, and is a stockholder and one of the original movers in founding the Bank of Palmyra.
E LI L. HUPP. There must be a satisfaction and serene content to a man who has en- dured the privations and hardships of pio- neer life in a Western settlement, and who has known what it is to take his corn to mill at a dis- tance of many miles before he could have flour to inake his bread, and to take his crops to a distant market, where he found a sale for them at a very low price, to now enjoy the comforts and advan- tages of life at the present day, with its railroad facilities, its comparatively high prices for farmers' produce, and easy access to the commodities of life, and to know that he has been intrumental in effecting this change, for, although we may not all be railroad contractors, or even have had the means to build up communities, every individual effort helps to complete the perfect whole.
Mı. Ilupp, who lives on section 34, of Shipman Township, came into this country at a time when Lincoln still had his reputation to make, and be- fore there was any great metropolis to which the products of the agriculturist could be sent and find a ready and lucrative market. Mr. Hupp's father was Philip Hupp, and his mother Phoebe (Johnson) Ilupp. They came from Pennsylvania to Illinois,
about 1842, and settled in Jersey County, where the mother died. The father passed away at the home of his son, our subject, in Shipman Town- ship. They were the parents of five sons and one daughter, of whom Eli L. was the youngest. Ile was born in Washington County, Pa., October 6, 1826, and came with his father and family to Jer- sey County, and in the spring of 1842 returned with his father to Washington County, Pa., where they staid until the fall of 1845, when our subject returned to Jersey County.
His first efforts at making a livelihood were in the direction of farm labor. At first he received the modest sum of 88 per month for his work. Hle had, however, while yet in Pennsylvania, par- tially learned the trade of a harnessmaker, which he perfected in this State. He was then in the employ of G. W. Sidway, of Alton, for nearly four years, Mr. Sidway being a harnessmaker at that place. After working at his trade for a short time in Graf- ton. Ill., he resumed farming on his own account. having purchased one hundred and thirty acres in Jersey County, which he operated for about seven years. He then sold out, but in 1855 he settled on the farm where he now lives, having purchased it three years previous to his settlement there. His first purchase comprised one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land. I'pon this . he erected good buildings, and has since devoted himself to general agriculture and stock-raising, having ac- quired a wide reputation as being the owner of one of the best stock farms in this section. He now owns about four hnadred acres of land.
Aside from his engagement in the harness-mak- ing business above spoken of, our subjeet has en- gaged chiefly in farming. Ile was married in Jersey County, December 31, 1848, to Miss Minerva J. Piggott, a daughter of Joseph and Anna (Spur- lock) Piggott. They were natives of Virginia, having emigrated thence to St. Clair County, IH., and from there to Jersey County, where both pa- rents died. They had a family of six children, of whom Mrs. Ilupp is the youngest, with one excep- tion. She was born in the county in which her marriage was celebrated, May 8, 1828.
Our subject and his estimable wife, who is a lady of many marked personal advantages, culture and
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refinement, are the parents of seven living chil- dren, most of whom have made homes for them- selves, and are respected and useful members of society. The children are: Philip M., who mar- ried Alice Ryan; Henry N. was united in mat- rimony to Miss Alice Whiteside; Alice is the wife of Bates llamer; Lincoln married Miss Lizzie Miller; Franklin wooed and won Miss Mattie Marshall. The remaining children are William F. and Zella H. One son died in infancy.
Hle of whom we write is high in the esteem of his agricultural co laborers, and has been elected by them to several township offees. He has been School Trustee, and takes an active part in political affairs, casting his vote with the Republican party. Mr. IInpp makes a specialty of breeding Clydes- dale horses that are sent to the eities to be employed in heavy drafting. He also has bred many fine roadsters. Our subject is a genial man who com- mends himself both to old friends and new ac- quaintances. The buildings upon his farm indieate careful management and unreserved at- tention.
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OBERT BROWN has been prominently connected with the business interests of Gillespie since 1871. For two years he engaged in merchant tailoring, but for eigliteen consecutive years has been manager and weigher for the Scale Company. He has also since his arrival in this place held the office of Village Clerk and Justice of the Peace. Being thus widely and favorably known, his sketeb will prove of in- terest to many of our readers. He was born on the 8th of November, 1833, in County Monaghan, Ire- land and is of Scotch deseent. His parents, Thomas and Maria Brown, were also born and reared in the same locality. The father was a tailor by trade and followed that business on the Emerald Isle un - til the latter part of his life, when accompanied by his wife he crossed the Atlantic and they spent the remainder of their days near Mailahide in the Pro- vince of Ontario, Canada. In religious belief they were Presbyterians, having been life-long members of that church. Their family numbered ten chil-
dren, seven sons and three daughters. of whom nine grew to manhood and womanhood and all came to this country.
In Mr. Brown we see a self made man, who by his own efforts has made of his life a signal success. At the early age of ten years he was put upon the tailor's trade and followed that occupation in con- nection with his father for seven years, when he decided that it was time to begin business on his own account. The New World seemed to furnish better opportunities than the old countries, and bidding good-by to home and friends he crossed the channel and at Liverpool, England, took pas- sage upon the sailing-vessel "Ocomoco" in the win- ter of 1849. After a voyage of eleven weeks and five days anchor was dropped in the harbor of New Orleans in January, 1850. Mr. Brown remained in the Crescent City for two years and then went up the Mississippi to St. Louis. whence in 1854 he re- moved to Bunker Ilill in this county. On the 5th of April, 1856, he arrived in Gillespie after having spent two years at journeyman work in the county. 'The same period of time he devoted to his trade in this village and then accepted his present position as manager of the Scale Company. His long con- tinned service in that capacity well indicates his ellicieney and faithfulness and the confidence of his employers in an unwonted degree is given him.
In Macoupin County Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Mary Drennan, who was horn in Tennessee, December 4, 1835. When two years old she was brought by her parents to Illinois, the family settling in Bunker Hill Township, this county, where her mother died when she was a mere cbild. She was reared by her father and step-motber, both of whom are now deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born eight children, but they have lost three-Thoma, Will- iam and Frederick, all of whom died in childhood. Those who still survive are M. D., a blacksmith by trade; Robert D., a miner; Anna, wife of John Kanous, a miner of Gillespie; Emma F. and May at home. The children were all afforded good educational advantages such as would fit them for the practical duties of life and are an honor to their parents.
In polities Mr. Brown is a stalwart Demoerat,
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who with vigor supports the principles of his party. Since coming to this place he has been prominent in public affairs and has held several positions of honor and trust. Under all the different organi- zations of Gillespie he has been officially connected with the place and since 1871 has been Village Clerk. Ile was also for a number of years a mem- ber of the Board and for a long period has been Justiee of the Peace. True to every trust reposed in him the duties of those offices have been faith- fully and conscientiously performed in a manner acceptable to all concerned. Ile manifested his loyalty to his adopted country during the perilous days of the Civil War by enlisting in 1862 as a member of the Ninety-seventh Illinois Infantry, commanded by Col. Rutherford and was assigned to Company A, under Capt. Willard. The regi- ment was organized at Springfield and attached to the Thirteenth Army Corps under Gen. MeCler- nand, while Gens. Sherman and Grant were the chief commanders. They fought the enemy at Arkansas Post and afterward in other engagements, but before his term of service had expired Mr. Brown was honorably discharged in March, 1863, on account of physical disability. In his social re- lations he is a Master Mason and for some time has been one of the leading officers in the Gillespie Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M. His wife is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church and, like her husband, has many warm friends throughout this community.
C HRISTOPHER C. ARMSTRONG is classed among the business men of Girard who have been most active in advancing its ma- terial interests, as for many years he has success- fully conducted a general store here, and he has also aided in the administration of public affairs. He is a fine representative of one of the old pio- neer families of Illinois, and is himself a native of this State, born on a farm near Fielden, Jersey County, January 2, 1837.
Our subject's father was named Maurice Arm
strong, and he was a native of Kentucky, a son of one of its early pioneers, Joshua Armstrong, who was a Pennsylvanian by birth. Ile was also a pio- neer of this State in territorial days, migrating from Kentucky with teams in 1810, and one of the first to settle in what is now Madison County. At that time there were but few white settlers in Illi- nois, and the Indians, who were often hostile, still held possession of their ancient hunting grounds. The few whites who had boldly ventured within their domain to avail themselves of the advantages afforded by its rich virgin soil, built block houses in which to live when the Indians were on the war path, and they always went armed into the fields. The grandfather of our subjeet after spending sev- eral years in Madison County, removed to Jersey County, and there died in the fullness of time. His wife bore the maiden name of Sarah Morris, and she was born in Virginia, of French ancestry.
The father of our subject was young when the family came to Illinois, and he grew to a stalwar., vigorous manhood in the wilds of Madison County. When he started out in life on his own account he bought a tract of land in that county, with a few improvements, and lived upon it until 1833, when l.c sold that place, and took up his abode in what is now Jersey County, where he bought a tract of timber land and built the log house in which his son of whom we write was born. He rived shingles for the roof, and made the house in the primitive way common in the construction of dwellings in those days. After he had his family comfortably domiciled, he commenced to evolve a farm from the wilderness. He had not the conveniences of modern machinery to aid him in his work, and there were no railways to bring the markets within easy access, so that whenever he needed supplies, or wished to dispose of his produce, he had to go to Alton with a team, that being the nearest city. His wife, who was an adept at the old fashioned arts of carding, spinning and weaving, used to man- nfacture the cloth from which she clothed her chil- dren, and she cooked their meals before the fire in the rude, open fireplace of the olden days.
In 1854 Mr. Armstrong sold his place in Jersey County, and going to Montgomery County, settled on land that he had entered from the Government.
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Ile built upon it and resided thereon one year. At the expiration of that time he rented it, and com- ing to Girard bought a home in the village, in which he lived quietly until his life was rounded ouf by death. In early manhood he married Eliza- beth Sims, a native of Kentucky. She died at a venerable age at Girard. She was the mother of twelve children: Aholla, James, Eveline, Mary Adeline, William, Thomas, Andrew, Jane, Christo- pher C., Benjamin F., Maurice, Elizabeth.
Christopher C. Armstrong was reared under pio- neer influences, and obtained his education in the primitive schools of Jersey County, that were taught in log schoolhouses with slab benches, that were without backs, and had wooden pins for legs. There were no desks in front of the seats. The light was admitted by a log being cut out of the wall, and a row of glass inserted into the aperture thus made. Our subject can well remember the wild condition of the country in which he passed his boyhood, when deer, wolves and other kinds of wild game were plentiful. Before he attained his majority he left his old home with its familiar scenes, and in 1855, came to Girard, then a small but flourishing village, and he soon became one of its most enterprising merchants, opening a general store here, and he has been engaged in business here continuously since. In 1870 he established himself in the drug trade, and is still carrying it on very prosperously, baving a neat and well- equipped store, fully stocked with everything usu- ally found in such an establishment.
Mr. Armstrong was married in 1862 to Miss Fanny D. Weed, and they have made their home the centre of a charming hospitality, as all find who cross its threshold and are welcomed by the kindly host and pleasant hostess. These four chil- dren have been born to them: Herbert, Paul, Byron and Irene.
Mr. Armstrong is justly beld to be one of our best citizens, both as regards to his private life, which is irreproachable, and in every public posi- tion that he has held, in which he always acted for the best interests of city and county. His fellow- citizens, appreciating his worth, his sound business talent, and his genuine integrity of character have often called him to fill responsible offices. He has
represented Girard as a member of the County Board of Supervisors several terms; he has served as a member of the City Council, and also on the School Board. He belongs to Girard Lodge, No. 171, A. F. & A. M .; to Girard Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M .; is a member of Macoupin Council, R. & S. M .; and of St. Omar Commandery, No. 30, K. T. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has always stood firmly by his party. Aside from his private business our subject is identified with the financial interests of this city as Treasurer of the Girard Building and Loan Association, and as President of the Girard Coal Company, and he has contributed greatly to their snecess and importance.
G EORGE W. ARNETT, who is now living in retirement in one of the attractive homes of Carlinville, his handsome residence finely located on College Avenue, is still connected with the agricultural interests of this county as the pro- prietor of one of the many highly improved farms found within its bounds. He is a son of one of the early pioneers of this section of the State, and though a native of Overton County, Tenn., born there June 24, 1829, the most of his life has been passed here, and he has lived to see the country develop from a wilderness to a well settled and flourishing community, with beautiful farms and busy towns, and with well-stocked pastures of fine horses and cattle where formerly deer, bears, wolves and other wild animals roamed at will over wild and uncultivated prairies or through the forest growths on the banks of the streams.
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