USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 95
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 95
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 95
USA > Illinois > Stark County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 95
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In his political affiliations, Mr. Bocock is a pronounced republican, and socially is identi- fied with Castleton Lodge, No. 553, I.O.O.F., and Camp Grove Camp, No. 3350, M. W. A. He is public-spirited and progressive, and there are few men more popular in Penn town- ship than F. M. Bocock, who has been actively interested in the development and progress of
Stark county. Mrs. Bocock is a member of the Methodist Protestant church, and is highly esteemed by the entire community where she has always lived.
THOMAS HICKEY, who is properly ranked among the self-made men of Stark county, began his career at the foot of the ladder of life, without other resources than his own in- domitable will and steady, plodding industry. From a humble position he has risen to that of one of the representative agriculturists of Osceola township, his home being on section 35, where he owns and operates a valuable and well-improved farm.
A native of the Emerald Isle, Mr. Hickey was born in county Clare, October 15, 1839, and is a son of James and Hanore (Taylor) Hickey. His parents having died some years previous, at the age of sixteen he came to America with his brother and sister, John and Catherine, sailing from Liverpool to New York, which they reached after a voyage of six weeks lacking one day. They proceeded at once to Stevens Point, Portage county, Wisconsin, where they had an older brother living, and . remained at that place for about three years.
Our subject found employment in a lumber camp, where he was to have received sixteen dollars per month, but after working for about two years the firm failed and he got nothing but his board, having to borrow ten cents to cross the ferry. He next worked in a saw- mill at twenty dollars per month, remaining there for about a year, and then engaged in cooking on a raft on the Wisconsin river for one trip. Coming to Illinois, he first worked in Jersey county, later in Peoria county, and finally was hired as a farm hand in Marshall county until 1864, during which time he was able to save about six hundred dollars from his wages.
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About this time Mr. Hickey was married in Henry, Marshall county, to Miss Margaret Hennesey, of Valley township, Stark county, Rev. Father Kainey performing the ceremony. She was born in county Tipperary, Ireland, in December, 1844, a daughter of John and Bridget (Collier) Hennesey. Of the fifteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hickey eight died in infancy. and the others are as follows: Hanore, now the wife of Patrick McManus, of Bradford, Illinois, by whom she has three chil- dren; James, of Osceola, who married Mary McManus and has two children; David, of Bradford, who wedded Mary Hamilton and has three children; and Sarah, Thomas, John and Margaret, all at home.
After his marriage Mr. Hickey rented land in La Prairie township, Marshall county, for one year and then purchased eighty acres of his present farm on section 35, Osceola town- ship, Stark county. As his financial resources have increased he has added to his landed pos- sessions, buying at different times tracts of eighty acres, three forty-acre tracts, another eighty and one one-hundred-and-sixty-acre tract. He also purchased eighty acres which he has since sold to his son. Upon his place he has laid about four thousand rods of tiling, has erected good and substantial buildings and set out shade trees, which add much to its neat and attractive appearance. He is a pro- gressive, enterprising farmer who has made his own way in the world, and his wonderful suc- cess is certainly well deserved.
Mr. Hickey took out his first set of naturali- zation papers within three years after his ar- rival in this county, and at national elections always supports the democratic party, casting his first presidential vote for George B. Mc- Clellan in 1864. He takes a deep and com- mendable interest in educational affairs, and has provided his children with excellent school
privileges, two of them having attended St. Mary's Academy, in Peoria; one St. Mary's, in Kansas, and another the Bradford high school. The parents and children are all devout mem- bers of the Holy Catholic church, the mother being confirmed in Ireland,-Mr. Hickey and one child in Lacon, Illinois, by Bishop Foley, and the others in Bradford by Bishop Spauld- ing. The family is one of the highest respect- ability and worth and occupies an enviable po- sition in the respect and esteem of the entire community.
M ATTHEW B. PARKS, whose home is on section I, Elmira township, belongs to an honored and respected family that was established in Stark county as early as May, 1836, and has since been prominently identi- fied with its growth and prosperity, aiding in transforming the wild land into good homes and farms, which are now occupied by a pros- perous and contented people. The founder of the family in the new world was Joseph Parks, the grandfather of our subject, who was born in Ireland of Scotch parentage and became an early settler of Pennsylvania. Later he took up his residence in Augusta county, Virginia, and spent his last days in the Old Dominion.
William Parks, the father of our subject, began his earthly career March 7, 1777, in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was a young man when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Virginia. In Washington county, that state, he married Miss Agnes Buchanan, a native of that county, where he continued to engage in farming until 1835, when he removed by means of teams and wagons to Illinois, spending the first winter in Macon county. In the spring of 1836 he went to Putnam county, but soon afterward located upon a tract of timber land on section 15, El- mira township, Stark county. Erecting a log
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cabin upon that place, he there made his home until 1842, when he removed to the farm now owned and occupied by his children. He en- tered a tract of wild land, to which he later added by purchase until he had a valuable farm of four hundred acres, which, with the aid of his sons, he cleared and developed into rich- ly cultivated fields. He was recognized as one of the most active, enterprising and well-to-do agriculturists of the community, and became ·widely and favorably known as a man of ster- ling worth and many excellent traits of charac- ter. He died September 19, 1857, at the age of eighty years, respected and esteemed by all who knew him. His estimable wife survived him almost twenty years, passing away on the 20th of January, 1877, and she now lies buried by ·his side in the Elmira cemetery, where neat marble slabs mark their last resting place.
Matthew B. Parks, who was born in Wash- ington county, Virginia, August 15, 1818, is one of a family of three sons and four daugh- ters, all of whom reached man and womanhood. Granville, the eldest, is now a substantial farmer of Bureau county, Illinois; Eliza is on the old homestead with our subject; Rebecca became the wife of David Currier, an honored old settler of Stark county, but both are now deceased; Polly Ann married Adam Oliver, and they have also passed away. Joseph and Nancy H. also reside on the old homestead, as does also their niece, Miss Polly A. Oliver. She has an adopted child, Maud Blunt, a bright little girl of ten summers, who resides with them. .
The Parks homestead is a valuable and well- improved farm of four hundred acres, which yields bountiful harvests in return for the labor bestowed upon it, and the comfortable residence and neat out-buildings are models of convenience. The brothers were identified with the republican party, and Matthew B.
Parks held numerous local positions of honor and trust with credit to himself and to the sat- isfaction of his constituents. He has served as a delegate to many county conventions of his party, for seven years was an influential member of the county board of supervisors, and has also been assessor and trustee of his township. His death occurred April 20, 1897. Honored in life, his memory will be cherished not alone by the surviving members of the fam- ily, but by all who knew him. Joseph Parks holds membership with the Baptist church, while the ladies of the family are all consistent members of the American Presbyterian church of Elmira. The family is one of prominence, and their hospitable home is always opened for the reception of their many friends.
FRANCIS J. LIGGETT, a representative and prominent farmer of Osceola town- ship, Stark county, is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Warren county, near Morrow, May 30, 1844. His father, William Liggett, who was of Scotch descent, was born in Lewis county, Virginia, June 20, 1806, but the following year he was taken by his father, Francis Liggett, to Warren county, Ohio, where, on the 15th of November, 1842, he wedded Ann Medaria, a daughter of John Medaria, who died in Kansas. Mrs. Liggett is of Welsh extraction, and was born in Syd- ney, Ohio, February 3, 1822. In 1854 the parents emigrated to Illinois, locating in Osce- ola township, Stark county, where the father purchased two hundred acres of land, which he at once began to improve and cultivate. He added to the original tract until, at the time of his death, which occurred April 23, 1875, he had five hundred acres of valuable land. He was a man of good business ability, was highly respected by all who knew him, and was called upon to fill a number of local
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offices. His estimable wife, who has been a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, is still living on the old homestead.
To this worthy couple were born ten chil- dren, of whom our subject is the oldest. The others are as follows: John M., who owns a good farm of two hundred and fifty-three acres three miles and a half west of Bradford; Ann E., deceased wife of T. W. Cade; Will- iam R., who owns the old homestead of one hundred and seventy acres; one who died in infancy; Ella M., deceased wife of George Cade; H. D., who resides in Johnson county, Nebraska, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres; L. L., who also has one hundred and sixty acres in Johnson county; G. S., a resident of Wyoming, Illinois, and M. G., who lives on a farm three miles and a half west of Bradford, in Stark county.
The educational privileges afforded Francis J. Liggett were rather limited, but his training at farm labor was not so meagre. He is now the owner of a well-improved farm of one hun- dred and eighty acres in Osceola township, and another place of one hundred and twenty acres adjoining the corporation of Bradford. On his return from the war his land was only worth about twenty dollars per acre, but two years ago he refused one hundred and twenty- five dollars per acre for the same tract. It is all under a high state of cultivation, and im- proved with good and substantial buildings, which stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. He is successfully engaged in gen- eral farming, raising principally corn, oats and hay, and now has stored in his granaries and cribs ten thousand bushels of corn and two thousand bushels of other grain.
On the 17th of July, 1864, Mr. Liggett led to the marriage altar Miss Katie, daughter of Alexander and Nancy Long, of Osceola town- ship. She was born January 27, 1843, and
died December 28, 1875, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was a consistent member. Mr. Liggett was again married March 1I, 1880, his second union be- ing with Miss Millie Hamilton, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Thomas and Mary C. (Biddle) Hamilton, but was reared in Stark and Bureau counties, Illinois.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Liggett are active mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as trustee and steward. Although he was reared in a democratic family, he has ever been a stalwart republican, and has devoted much time and attention to the inter- ests of politics. For many years he has served as school director, has been collector of his township, and assessor for ten consecutive years, a longer period than any other man. He has been a prominent member of the Ma- sonic fraternity for twenty-eight years, and is also a leading member of Dickerson Post, No. 90, G. A. R.
On the 12th of August, 1862, Mr. Liggett left the farm and enlisted as a private in Com- pany B, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. From Peoria the regi- ment went to Kentucky and Tennessee and on to Atlanta, and on its return participated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, in which the enemy were so badly beaten that their troops were never re-organized. Our subject took part in thirteen hotly contested engage- ments, namely: Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, Cleveland, Columbia, Jonesboro, Town Creek, Rough and Ready, Fort Anderson, Monticello, Wilmington, Raleigh, and Goldsboro, and was honorably discharged at Greensboro, North Carolina. He was taken prisoner at Cleveland, Tennessee, and concerning his cap- tivity we quote the following from the regi- mental history:
"At daylight on the morning of September
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18, 1863, Company B, of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois-part of the detachment at Cleveland, Tennessee - saddled up and moved out on a reconnaissance. Captain Dick- erson, with the right of the company, went out on the Dalton road, and Lieutenant Gudgel, with the 'ponies,' took the Chattanooga road. I was with the captain. We met the enemy just outside of the town and opened fire. We had fired eight or ten shots each when Captain Dickerson was killed. His last words were, ' I'm shot, boys; give them h-,' and fell to the ground dead. We dismounted and stood behind our horses, and every horse was wound- ed. Here we were overpowered and had to surrender. We were marched to the court- house, and there, beneath the dome of the temple of justice, we were robbed of all our valuables - watches, pocket-knives, money, hats and boots.
"At seven o'clock we started, under guard, for Dalton, and arrived there at eight the same evening, having marched the whole thirty miles on foot, without breakfast or dinner. At Dalton a little flour and water were dis- tributed, a little old three-legged iron 'spider' was given us in which to cook supper for twenty men. We had no salt, saleratus, -in- deed nothing but flour, water and skillet. On the 19th we were loaded into box-cars, as farmers load their hogs, and shipped to At- lanta, where we arrived in the evening, and were put in the stockade-the bare ground for a bed and the starry heavens for a covering. The next day we were shipped to Richmond, Virginia, where we arrived on the 25th and registered at the 'Libby House.'
"Here we were informed that the rules of the ' house' required us to deposit our money and valuables with the proprietors. If we surrendered them voluntarily we should be credited with the amount, but if we refused to 39
surrender them, and any were found on us, the same would be confiscated to the Confed- eracy-that is, to the rebel officers in charge. They had already stolen all they could find upon our persons, but they now ordered us to ' strip.' We were divested of every article of clothing, and every piece was carefully in- spected, -the hems, cuffs and waistbands, all were closely scrutinized in search of green- backs which might be concealed. Our clothes returned to us, we were then marched up stairs to the second floor, and on the 26th of Sep- tember we were moved to Belle Isle.
"The camp was enclosed by earthworks, the guard outside. It contained about five acres. At that time about one thousand pris- oners were confined there. The ground was literally alive with vermin -- ' graybacks ' -- and the prisoners were engaged in a continuous warfare against them. It was all we could do to keep from being devoured alive. Our rations were one-fourth of a pound of bread for each man, and twelve pounds of beef, mostly bone, for one hundred men, and we were glad to get even bones. Some time in January a prisoner stole a guard's blanket. The guard shot at, but missed him, and wounded four others. Tobacco-chewers had much trouble in getting the weed, and every 'cud' was saved and chewed several times. The men suffered terribly for food, and the means used to obtain it and the kind of food eaten are too horrible to put in print. I have seen men eat dog meat and other things far worse. The dead bodies of prisoners were sometimes left on the ground, outside their tents, for two weeks, until they were as black as coal. W. D. Freeman, I. N. Dalrymple and I bribed one of the guards to let us escape. Dalrymple was to go ahead and pay the money. The guard took the money and Dalrymple, too, and the rest of us skipped back into camp.
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We did not see Dalrymple for more than two months. They confined him in a room, where he cut a hole into the bread house and then helped himself. His scheme was not discov- ered, and when next seen he was as fat as a pig.
"On the 10th of March, 1864, Jchn P. Freeman and I bought our way out of Belle Isle and were kept in the Pemberton building in Richmond over night, and the next day started on our journey in a box car, we knew not where, but on the 18th we found ourselves inside the stockade at Andersonville. There were about five thousand prisoners in the stockade, and not a dozen tents, except blank- ets put on poles for shelter from storms and the hot sun. In my judgment, Wirtz was a much better man than the brute in charge of the stockade at Belle Isle. The latter shot some of the prisoners for no earthly reason than to gratify his hatred of the Union soldier, and he certainly ought to have been hung bythe United States government. In about a week, Orland Bevier, Abram Deyo, Henry Stacy, W. D. Freeman and George Ludlam arrived from Belle Isle and we all quartered together.
"The death rate at Andersonville varied from twelve to one hundred per day. The camp contained ten acres, one-third of it a spongy marsh, through which run a creek, which supplied the only water. Our bread was made of cornmeal, ground cob and all, shipped in cars and shoveled out and cooked, mixed only with water, with husks and dirt for seasoning. The bread rations were six ounces of this stuff daily for each man. Some time in May, 1864, the stockade was enlarged to accommodate the increasing numbers. The rebel officers solicited recruits for the rebel army many times, but I never knew a Union soldier to accept. The boys would yell and hoot at them whenever the proposition was
made. An organization was formed to stam- pede at the gate and escape. The plan was discovered and artillery was so arranged at each corner, loaded with grape and canister, that every living being could be 'mowed down' in a few seconds should such an attempt be made. I will not attempt to describe the suf- ferings of the men in this prison. No pen can describe, nor can any tongue relate it. Cold chills run over me when I think of it. Of all that has been written or spoken the half has never been told.
"On the 23d of May, 1864, I, with one hun- dred others, was detailed to roll logs to make a bridge to the cook-house or kitchen. For this service we were given an extra ration at noon. After dinner I went into the swamp to cut some poles to take into camp. I soon found myself out of sight of the guard. At once I thought of escape. I knew not what to do. I went one-fourth of a mile farther into the swamp, turned about, and went back into the stockade for the last time. I whis- pered to J. P. Freeman what I had done and suggested that we go out the next day and make our escape. He was too ill to under- take it. Freeman told his brother, William D., and Henry Stacy, and they proposed to go with me. I thought three too many; but we agreed to try it. The next day we three took our haversacks and started out to work. At noon we went into the swamp to cut poles and were soon out of sight of the guard. We then skipped as fast as our feet would carry us. We were gone about a half hour before we were missed by the guard. He immedi- ately reported our escape to Wirtz, but he was busily engaged in counting about two thousand new prisoners and dividing them into squads of one hundred each, and did not hurry. He thought he could catch us anyhow with blood- hounds. He got out the dogs, but a terrible
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rainstorm came up; it thundered and light- ninged and the wind blew a gale and the rain poured down in torrents, and that saved us: the dogs could not follow.
"Henry Stacy was sick on the third day and we were compelled to leave him. We parted with him in sorrow and tears in a deep forest, but within sight of a planter's house, where he promised to go and seek admission; but he was not to tell, under any circumstances, of the other escaped prisoners. Stacy went to the house and was well received. The planter was an old man and greatly devoted to the Union. He kept Stacy for several days until he was better, and then carried him by night to an- other Union League man, and he to another, and so on until he was within ten miles of the Union lines. He was left alone, the Union brethren not daring to go farther, and with a hearty God-speed they gave him the direction of the Union army and returned to their homes. The first thing Stacy did when left alone was to run upon a rebel picket. He was recap- tured and sent to Columbus, Georgia. Here he was confined with two rebel conscripts in an iron cell, made of wagon-tire iron riveted together. They bribed a negro to furnish them with a knife, boat and provisions. They sawed off the bars, took the boat and floated down the Chattahoochee river, concealing them- selves in daytime, until one night in passing under a bridge they were halted by Confeder- ate guards, and at the same time one of the conscripts was shot in the thigh. They were captured and Stacy was sent back to Ander- sonville, where he was condemned to wear a ball and chain-the usual penalty imposed for attempting to escape. He lived through it all, and later was a farmer in Iowa.
" We had learned from newly-arrived pris- oners at Andersonville the location of Sher- man's army, and after leaving Stacy, Freeman
and I went a northwesterly course around the left of the rebel army and reached Sherman's lines. We had an ax and a heavy hickory cane for weapons. One day Freeman threw the ax at a rabbit, killing it, and this we skinned and ate raw. We also caught two geese and ate them raw. We did not dare to build a fire as this would have revealed the locality of deserters or escaped prisoners, and brought the blood hounds sure. We lived thirteen days on the rabbit and the two geese and a little corn bread in our haversacks, and some berries we gathered in the mountains. The raw geese made 'mighty tough feed' but we managed to down them. It was much bet- ter than nothing.
"On the 6th or 7th of June we put our drawers outside of our pants, and our faded dirty shirts outside of our blue coats, and thus disguised we went to a farm house and asked for dinner. We offered to pay for our dinner, in Confederate money, of course, but were in- formed that they charged soldiers nothing, that we were fighting for the rights of the south, and they considered it both a duty and a pleas- ure to give us something to eat.
"One day we came to a railroad where a gang of men were at work, and we crawled around, crossing through a culvert. Freeman was ahead, and as he reached the opposite end, within six feet lay an enormous snake. His snakeship started for the culvert, Free- man broke its back with the ax, and that gave me time to climb up out of danger, for I was still in the culvert. The snake crawled through, snapping and biting as he went. The sickly, poisonous sight and the smell of the reptile made me sick, and I came nearly fainting, and for two or three days after I was so weak I could walk but a short distance without resting.
"We continued on our weary way, seldom seeing a human being, traveling through for-
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ests by night and day, shunning public high- ways and never crossing a plantation in day- time, until the 13th of June, 1864. We fre- quently saw rebel cavalry and scouting parties in the valley below us. One day on cross- ing the road we met a rebel soldier on his way home. He had his gun and accoutrements, but he was too sick to talk, and under the cir- cumstances we could easily find it in ourselves to excuse him. We saw a number of deer in the mountains, but had no gun to shoot and it is well we had not, as a shot then might have brought on a shooting exercise which we did not crave.
"On the Ioth of June we reach the Chatta- hoochee river. It was bank full and at least a quarter of a mile wide. Freeman could not swim. We constructed a rude raft and set sail across the rapid current. We were in grave doubts whether our raft would carry two, so I doffed my clothes, so as to give Freeman the bark in case it became necessary. We reached the opposite shore in safety and con- tinued on our journey. Both armies had oc- cupied that part of the country and it was stripped bare. Luckily we found a box of wheat and a box of meat concealed in the mountains. From these we filled our haver- sacks.
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