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 53
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
In 1865 our subject and Miss Johanna Miehr were married, and of their happy wedded life six children have been born to them .- George, Charles, Frank, Clara, Anna and Willie. Mrs. Lo- renz is a native of Hanover, Germany, and came
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVER
Charles Dif
481
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
to America in 1848 with her parents, Henry and Elizabeth Miehr, who were also natives of Han- over. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lorenz are members in high standing of the German Evangelical Church.
HARLES DIX, one of the representative citizens of South Otter Township, is active- ly interested in every measure promising to promote the general welfare. The portrait pre- sented on the opposite page will be recognized by the majority of our readers as that of the energetic proprietor of a fine farm located on section 12, Sonth Otter Towuship. Mr. Dix is of New Eng- land birth and education. His father, the late Thomas Dix, was born in Hartford County, Conn., and his mother was Mary Weber, whose birthplace was Weathersfield, Conn. From that State they came to Illinois in an early day and settled near Waverly, Morgan County, in which place they lived for twenty years. They then removed to Woodson County, Kan., where the father died; the mother still survives. Eight children were at once the joy and care of the parents whose lives were fraught with the earnestness necessary to pioneers. Of these eight children, six were sons and two were daughters, our subject being the second of the family.
Mr. Dix was born in Hartford, Conn., July 8, 1842. His father's removal to this county ocenrred when our subject was about nine years of age. He located with his parents in Waverly, Morgan County, and here grew to manhood, receiving a good common-school education in the district schools of the county. In 1861 when there was a call for volunteers in all parts of the country to come to the aid and protection of the flag, Mr. Dix at once responded and enlisted in Company I, of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry.
Mr. Dix served in the war for three years, which were franght with experiences at once terrible and interesting ; terrible because of the fact that brother was fighting against brother, and that blood was shed on both sides for a cause in which neither right nor equity held any place; interesting be-
cause of the fact that never have military maneu- vers been so complicated as during the late war, nor has generalship stood so severe a test of ability and leadership. Mr. Dix participated in some of the most desperate battles of the war, being present at the battle of Shiloh, the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Hatchie's River, also Champion Hills, the battle of Jackson, Miss., and Holly Springs, Miss.
Our subject met with several narrow escapes, having at one time his haversack cut off, and two bullets passed through his left coat sleeve. A bul- let struck his gun and rebounding struck his near neighbor, killing him instantly; this occurred at the battle of Hatchie's River. Mr. Dix returned from the army with impaired health, and the rest that farm life offered was the only thing that seemed to promise recovery. lle first went to Morgan County, and later came to South Otter Township, Macoupin County, where he remained until 1867. After this he went South, locating in Jackson, Miss., and there he engaged in raising cotton. He spent two years thus occupied and then returned to South Otter Township, settling upon his present farm where he has since lived. He operates three hundred and twenty aeres of land and devotes himself to general farming, be- sides giving bis attention largely to raising stock for city markets.
The first marriage of Mr. Dix was solemnized in South Otter Township and his bride was Miss llelena Davidson, a daughter of Alex Davidson, who died in the army at Bolivar, Tenn. By this marriage Mr. Dix became the father of one child, Bessie E , who has since become the wife of Iler- bert Lancaster. Mrs. Ilelena Dix passed away from this life December 9, 1878, and was laid away in Grand Cemetery. She was a lovely char- acter and her Christian example was such as to leave a deep impression upon the minds of those with whom she came in contact. She was a mem- ber in good standing of the Baptist Church at the time of her death.
The present wife of Mr. Dix was known in maidenhood as Miss Drucilla Rutherford, and is a daughter of Julius and Melissa A. ( Landon ) Ruther- ford. The father died in Nilwood Township, and the mother afterward married David McGhee, who
482
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
is since deceased. Mrs. Drucilla Dix was born in Nilwood Township, November 19, 1853, and her marriage to our subject was celebrated in Girard. She has presented her husband with one child, a son, named Charles J. Mr. Dix has taken an active interest in political affairs and is an ardent Repub- lican, casting an unqualified vote for party. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church and he is a member of the Luke Mayfield Post, G. A. R., in the village of Girard.
Z ACHIARIAII HARRIS. On the 7th of July, 1830, the home of Pendleton and Jane ( Mallard) Harris was gladdened by the advent of the subject of this sketch. 'Pendleton Harris, who was at that time living on a farm eight miles northwest of Greenville, Bond County, IN., was a native. of Tennessee, and a son of Zachariah Harris. The latter was born in North Carolina, and was there reared and married. Ile removed from his native State to Tennessee, and was a pioneer of that commonwealth, locating on Duck River. Ile took up a tract of timber land, where- on he dwelt untit 1828, when he became a pioneer of this State, journeying overland with his family and taking his household goods with him to his future home on the frontier. He located in Fay- ette County, where he bought land and improved a farm, upon which he lived until his eyes closed in death.
The father of our subject was a young man at the time of the removal of the family to Illinois. lle had been reared to agricultural pursuits, and at the time of his marriage settled on a tract of wild land in Bond County that he had bought. lle and his bride commenced housekeeping in a log house in which their son of whom' we write was born. After improving quite a tract of land in that vicinity Mr. Harris sold it and came to this county in. 1840, and located near Bunker Hill, where he engaged in farming. After a residence there of ten years he removed to Cahokia Town- ship, and buying a tract of wild prairie, built a dwelling and other necessary buildings, and active-
ly worked at improving his land. He is still a resident of the same township, and though he has attained the venerable age of eighty-three years, is still in the enjoyment of good health. Jane Mal- lard, his wife, was born in Kentucky, where her father, who was a pioneer of the State, spent his last years. The name of his wife before marriage was Savage, and she was a Virginian by birth. She was left a widow with four daughters to care for, and removed with them to Bond County, III. of which she was a pioneer. She bought a home there and occupied it until her demise at the age of eighty-five. The mother of our subject was a young woman when she came to this State with her mother. She early learned to spin and weave, and in the first years of her married life made all the cloth in use in the family. She is still living at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
Zachariah Harris was one of six children, he being the eldest, and when a young boy he assist. ed his mother in her household duties, and also learned to spin and weave. He gained his edu- cation in the pioneer schools, and as soon as old enoughi was set to work on the farm. When he was twenty-two years old he left the parental home to establish one of his own with the capable assist- ance of Miss Nancy Duncan, his bride, their mar-' riage taking place in 1853. She is a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Nathan'and Elizabeth' Duncan.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Harris bought forty acres of wild prairie in Cahokia Township, and after erecting a comfortable frame house, pro- ceeded to develop his land into a farm, which under his skilful manipulation became one of the best cultivated and improved pieces of property in the neighborhood. In the fall of 1877 he was elected County Treasurer, and removed to Carlin- ville to enter upon the duties of his office, and has resided here continuously since. In 1883 he' formed a partnership with J. B. Liston to engage* in the manufacture of brick and tile, and has since' been identified with this interest. They have three commodious kilns, two of them with a capacity of 45,000 brick and the third of 22,000.
Aside from his prominence as a business man in this county Mr. Harris has long been a conspic-
483
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
nous figure in its public life, as his undoubted ability and the genuine worth of his character have pointed him out as a suitable man for civic office. For five years he held the responsible office of Treasurer of Macoupin County. For fourteen years he was Justice of the Peace, and he also served as Constable in Cahokia Township. Ile was Mayor of Carlinville for one term, and man- aged the affairs of the city in a manner most satis- factory to all parties. Fraternally, Mr. Harris is a member of Mt. Nebo Lodge, No. 76. A. F. & A. M. Politically, he is a devoted adherent of the Democratic party, and has been ever since he cast his first Presidential vote for Franklin Pierce.
ENRY FERGUSON, one of the higlily re- spected and progressive farmers of Staunton Township, living on section 20, has the honor of being a native-born citizen of Macoupin County. He was born on the old Fer- guson homestead in the township where he yet lives, April 25, 1841, and is a son of J. H. Fergu- son, who was a native of Ireland and of Scotch- Irish descent. Upon the Emerald Isle he grew to manhood and married Miss Sarah Swan, who like her husband came of Scoteb-Irish ancestry. Ac- companied by three children they came to the United States, landing in New York City and thence made their way by canal and river to Alton, where Mr. Ferguson left his family while he walked across the prairies to Staunton Township, where he secured a wild and unbroken farm on what was commonly known as the Prairie Swamp. However he drained his land and where once was a wild waste, waving fields of grain soon delighted the eye of the passer-by. Upon the excellent farm which he there developed, Mr. Ferguson and his wife resided until his death. He passed away February 16, 1883, at the age of eighty years. He was a man possessed of remarkable energy and force of character, was honest in the extreme and won the confidence of the entire community. Prior to the war he supported the Democratic party but when Ft. Sumpter was fired upon his political views
changed and he became a Republican. Ilis wife is yet living at the advanced age of eighty-six years, making her home with their daughter in Staunton Township. Like her husband she has been a life- long member of the Scotch Presbyterian Church.
The entire life of Henry Ferguson has been passed in this county. His early days were spent amid its pioneer scenes and when he had attained to mature years he chose his native county as the stage of his future actions. He has inherited the good qualities of his Scotch-Irish ancestry and has become a valued and prominent citizen of the community. Ile was united in marriage in Tower Hill, Shelby County, Ill., with Miss Margaret MeKittriek, a native of County Down, Ireland, born in 1841. Her parents, William and Margaret (Quarrel) MeKittrick, were also born in the same county and three children there came to bless their home. In 1859 Mr. McKittrick and his family sailed for the United States, stopping not in their journey until they had reached Edwardsville, Madison County, Ill., where they made their home for seven years, removing thence to Shelby County where the wife and mother died at the age of sixty- four. Mr. McKittrick died some years later at the home of his daughter in Moultrie County, and his remains were taken back to Shelby County and laid by the side of his wife. Ile was then seventy-six years of age. Both were members of the Presby- terian Church.
Mrs. Ferguson was the third in their family of ten children, and by her parents she was carefully reared, remaining at home until her marriage. She is a lady possessed of energy, industry and good management and the assistance which she has given her husband has been no unimportant factor in his success. By their union ten children have been born: Martha .J., wife of Richard Lip- poldt, a farmer of Jersey County ; Margaret, Julia M., Francis F., William II., Mary L. and Samuel F. at home; and Sarah A., Susan F., and John II., who died in childhood.
Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are faithful members of the Presbyterian Church, give liberally to its sup- port and are active workers in its interests. Ile is a supporter of Republican principles and has held a number of local offices, being now Commissioner
484
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
of Highways. The duties of these positions have been ever ably discharged, winning credit to him- self and his constituents. He is owner of one of the best farms in Staunton Township, a one hun- dred and fifty acre tract, upon which he has resided for a quarter of a century. He has made it what it is, having developed it from a wild waste into rich and fertile fields and placed all the improve- ments thereon. It is well stocked with good grades of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs and the barns and outbuildings furnish ample shelter for them. In addition to the home place Mr. Ferguson owns eighty-five acres elsewhere in Staunton Township, forty acres near Mt. Olive and a two-thirds interest in a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on Sil- ver Creek, tlus county.
OHN GOODWIN is nombered among the early settlers of 1850, his residence in this county covering a period of forty-one con- secutive years. During this time he has resided upon only one farm, his present home which is situated on section 35, Bunker Hill Township. Ile there owns an unusually well-improved tract of land consisting of two hundred acres, and a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Penn Township, Shelby County, also pays to him a golden trib- ute. Besides this property he has four farms in Johnson County, Mo., which aggregate four hun- dred and eighty-two acres.
Mr. Goodwin is a native of England, born in Staffordshire. June 27. 1828. of English parentage. His father, Thomas Goodwin, was also a native of Staffordshire, as was his grandfather, Thomas Goodwin, Sr. who spent his entire life in that county, and there died at the age of sixty years. He was a flint grinder in the large pottery works in that county. He married a Staffordshire lady, and in their family was a son, to whom they gave the name of Thomas. He grew to manhood in bis na- tive land and learning the business his father fol- Jowed, became foreman in the department for preparing material for the manufacture of crock- ery. He married Miss Jane Chappe!, who was born
in that locality, and was a daughter of John C'hap- pel, a Staffordshire farmer, who lived to be eighty years of age.
Eight children were born to Thomas and Jane Goodwin in England, but one died prior to the emigration of the family to America, With his family, Thomas Goodwin in March, 1844, sailed from Liverpool on the three-mast vessel "Clarissa Andrews," which after a voyage of seven weeks dropped anchor in the harbor of New Orleans. The family proceeded up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, and by packet boat to Alton, locating soon afterward upon raw land in Moro Township, Madison County, where Mr. Goodwin spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1854. At the time he had labored so industriously that the greater part of his farin was already improved. Ile was fifty-three years of age when called to his final rest. Mrs. Goodwin afterward came to live with our subject and died at his home in 1884, at the age of eighty-one years, in the faith of the Christian Church, of which she had long been a member. The family circle was increased by the birth of one child after Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin came to the I'nited States, and of the nine children six of them are yet living. All are married and have families and are residents of Illinois.
The first sixteen years of his life John Goodwin spent in England and then came to America Upon his father's farm he attained to mature years and upon the farm which is still his home he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth M. Wood, who in a little log cabin near the site of her present home first opened her eyes to the light of day, February 3, 1835. She is a daughter of William R. and Martha C. (Wood) Wood, natives of Ken- tucky, and of English descent. Their families were founded in this country by an English ancestor, Samuel Wood, who crossed the Atlantic in 1755.
William R. Wood was born in 1803, and in 1814 came with his parents, Samuel and Naomi ( Ren- frow ) Wood, to Illinois, the family making a set- tlement near Troy, Madison County, where they lived in true pioneer style. Samuel Wood and his wife there died, both having attained to the age of seventy-five years when they departed this life. The parents of Mrs. Martha C. Wood were Abraham
RESIDENCE OF J. L. NOEL , SEC.18., DORCHESTER TP., MACOUPIN CO., ILLS.
RESIDENCE OF JOHN GOODWIN , SEC.35., BUNKER KILL TP., MACOUPIN CO., ILLS. .
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSI ELL
187
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and Polly (Hunt) Wood, who emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois in 1834, locating in Plainview, Macoupin County. But wife and mother was not long permitted to enjoy her new home, her death occurring a few months afterward. Abraham Wood survived his wife some years and died in Bunker Hill Township in 1862, when about eighty- one years of age.
The father of Mrs. Goodwin, William R. Wood, grew to manhood in Madison County, and served in the Black Hawk War. It was there he was mar- ried the first time and there his first wife died leaving three children. After that he returned to Kentucky, where he wedded Miss Martha C. Wood, his kinswoman, in 1833. They came to Illinois in October, 1834, and settled in Macoupin County, on the tract which now constitutes the home farm of our subject. It continued to be their place of residence until they were called to the home be- yond. Mr. Wood died of consumption at the age of forty-one, the disease probably having been contracted during the Indian War, as the papers stated that he was exempted from duty on account of pains in the breast. This was probably the be- ginning of the malady which terminited his life. His wife survived him some years and died at the age of sixty-six.
Mrs. Goodwin was the only child born to that worthy couple, but by her union she has become the mother of twelve children, nine of whom are yet living-Henrietta, wife of Ernest Shrier, & farmer of Centerview, Mo .; George E., who wedded Emma Cruickshanks, and is now living on a farm in John- son County, Mo .; John, who married Sarah A. Maguire, and follows farming near Centerview, Mo .; Emma J., who is the wife of James Hale, also a farmer in that locality; Frank A., who wedded Josie Moore, and is now living in Johnson County, Mo., where he is farming ; Alvin L. and William W., who aid their father in the operation of the home farm; Mary E. and Anna C., who complete the family. The deceased are James H. and Ber- tie, who died in childhood, and Lillie M., who died at the age of eighteen.
On the 22ud of December, 1890, was celebrated the fortieth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin. With mutual love and confidence they
have traveled life's journey hand in hand, sharing its joys and sorrows. and their union has been blessed with a large family of children, who have become respected men and women and do them honor. Mrs. Goodwin is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Goodwin and his sons are Democrats in polities. Farming has been his life work, and his pleasant home with its neat surroundings indi- cates his thrift and enterprise.
Elsewhere in this volume appears a view of the pleasant home of Mr. Goodwin.
OHN L. NOEL. The Blue Grass region of Kentucky has long claimed supremacy in stock-raising, maintaining that the elements in the soil conduced to better physical con- dition of stock than can be attained elsewhere in all the world. The Central States have begun to contest this clarip.by, producing horses that vie in strength, beauty and fleetness with any that Ken- tueky boasts. What is more beautiful than a large farm, divided into paddocks where are grazing the mild-eyed, fiery nostril, light-limbed bearers of burdens. One of the most attractive of these farms in Macoupin County is owned by John L. Noel who has one hundred and sixty acres of fine land all under cultivation, and which is known as the Plain View Stock Farm, located on section 7, Dor- chester Township.
Mr. Noel was born in Adams County, July 20, 1849. He came of Pennsylvania parents, of whom a full history may be found under the biographical sketch of J. Quincy Noel. He has lived in this county since he was twelve years of age. Ile had been a farmer of Dorchester Township prior to go- ing into the livery and stock-breeding business. It was after he came here that he set out for himself.
When he arrived at man's estate, Mr. Noel wooed and won Miss Louisa Etta Line, who was born in Madison County, this State, not far from Foster- hurg. She was reared there, her parents having located at that place several years before her birth. Iler father and mother died while she was yet a small child, about six years old, and she was
488
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
adopted into a family where she was treated with all the affection of an own child. Her foster par- ents, William Bahr and wife, lived in Macoupin and Madison Counties until she became of age. Mrs. Noel is a true wife and helpmate to her hus- band, and the words of the Wise Man might well be applied to this estimable lady.
Our subjeet is the proprietor of Percheron and Norman imported horses, and owns many breed- ing animals, including a very fine Spanish Jack. He has made himself an enviable reputation as a breeder of fine stock. Prior to his entry in this business, he was engaged for fourteen years in the livery business in Bunker Hill City.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Noel has been blest by the birth of seven children, all of whom are liv- ing and at home, except the youngest, James Ed - ward. Their names are Frank W., Louisa, John L., Charles A., Cecelia A. and Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Noel are devoted members of the Catholic Church, and Mr. Noel is a sound Democrat in poli- tics.
The attention of the reader is invited to a view on another page of the attractive stock farm of Mr. Noel.
ILLIAM LOVE, who for the past seven years has successfully conducted a meat market in Gillespie, was born in Connecti- ent on the 10th of January, 1834, and comes from a good New England family, which in Colonial days was established in America. His paternal grandfather, Leonard Love, was a native of Rhode Island. He spent almost his entire life on a farm, which bordered on the boundary line between that State and Connecticut, and there died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-one years. He came of Eng- lish ancestry, and at the early age of seventeen years was drafted into the Colonial army, serving his country faithfully until independence was achieved. In his native State he married a Miss King. who was also born, reared and died in Rhode Island. Leonard Love, the father of our subject, grew to manhood upou his father's farm, and spent the greater part of his life upon the old homestead
in Rhode Island, where he passed away in March, 1890, at the age of eighty years. He was a prom- inent and influential citizen of the community in which he resided, was a faithful member of the Baptist Church, and in political sentiment was a Democrat. He married Mahala Knox, a lady of Scotch descent, who still survives him and is liv- ing on the old home in Rhode Island, at the age of seventy-nine years. She, too, is a member of the Baptist Church, and a lady of many excellencies of character.
William Love, whose name heads this sketch, is the fourth in order of birth of their family of nine children, of whom four sons and three daughters are yet living. Ile is the only one who makes his home in the West. When a young lad, his parents removed from the Nutmeg State to Rhode Island, where the days of his boyhood and youth were spent. Hle learned the trade of a carpenter in the in the city of Providence, and after coming West, engaged in that occupation to some extent. The year 1857 witnessed his arrival in Bunker Hill, Macoupin Connty, where for four years he engaged in carpenter work, and then carried on a meat mar- ket in connection with farming for five years. The succeeding nine years of his life he devoted his en- tire energies to agricultural pursuits, living upon his farm in Bunker Hill Township, whence he came to Gillespie some seven years since. Again he opened a meat market, which he yet carries on, having an excellent trade. His business is there- fore in a flourishing condition-the natural result of his persevering efforts. He is genial in manner, and by his fair dealing and desire to please his pa- trons he bas secured a liberal share of the public trade.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.