USA > Illinois > Coles County > The History of Coles County, Illinois map of Coles County; history of Illinois history of Northwest Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, &c., &c > Part 52
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his command assisted in the capture of Jeff. Davis, the President of the defunct Con- federacy. Returning in July, 1865, he was elected in the fall of that year Clerk of the County Court of Coles Co., and re-elected in 1869 ; on the expiration of his term of office in 1873, he was elected County Judge, serving till 1877, since which he has been engaged in the practice of law. He was for three years a member of the City Council, and is the present Secretary of the Coles County Old Settlers' Society.
CAPT. JAMES M. ASHMORE, Charleston ; is a native of Coles Co .; he is a son of Hezekiah J. Ashmore, one of the pioneers of the county, who was born in Kentucky, Sept. 30, 1802, and came to Coles Co. with his family, consisting at that time of a wife and two children, in 1830, and settled in the northeast part of the county, in what is now Oakland Tp .; in 1836, he removed to the eastern part the county, and for him the town of Ash- more was named, as well as the village of that name, which he laid out in 1855 ; he came to Coles Co. a poor man, with but thirty-seven and a half cents in his pos- session, but went to work and as fast as he accumulated a little money, he invested it in land, owning at his death, which oc- curred in 1872, about 1,600 acres ; he was for many years a Justice of the Peace, and one of the Commissioners of the county. He left a family of ten children, of whom James M. is the second in age. He was born April 4, 1832 ; he remained at home on the farm until 1859, when he engaged in merchandising in Charleston. In 1861, he entered the Union army as Captain of Co. C, 8th Ill. Vols., for three
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months, and on the expiration of his term of service, re-enlisted with his regiment for three years; he was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, upon which he resigned and returned home ; upon the organization of the 123d Ill. Vols., he was appointed Drill- master, and drilled that regiment for six months. In 1865, he located at Ashmore, and followed mereantile business there two years, and then engaged in shipping stock until 1876; he served six years as Justice of the Peace, and seven years on the Board of Supervisors ; in 1876, he was elected Sheriff of Coles Co., holding the office two years. He was married March 26, 1852, to Miss Lizzie Mareh, daughter of Thomas J. March, an old resident of Charleston.
W. J. ASHMORE, dealer in boots and shoes (firm of Ashmore & Mitch- ell), Charleston ; was born in Coles Co., Ill., May 15, 1853; he is the youngest son of Samuel C. Ashmore, who came to Coles Co. among the early settlers, and entered a large traet of Gov- ernment land, and when Douglas Co. was formed, the line passed through the mid- dle of his land ; he was a prominent farm- er and stock-raiser, and for many years held the office of Justice of the Peace. He died in 1855 ; his widow Sarah Ashmore and six children still surviving. The son, W. J. Ashmore, when about 20 years of age, went to Lebanon, Ohio, and spent one year as a student in the State Normal School. In 1874, he came to Charleston and engaged as a clerk for B. M. Payne, and on the 1st of January, 1878, engaged with A. M. Mitchell in the boot and shoe trade. He was married Oct. 2, 1878, to Miss Belle Arterburn, of Kansas, Edgar Co., III.
RANDALL ALEXANDER, breeder and shipper of Poland-China swine, Charleston ; about ten years ago this gen- tleman, in company with S. M. Shepard, made his first start in the introduction and breeding of thorough-bred swine in Coles Co. After having experimented thor- oughly with the various breeds of hogs, they became convinced that the Poland- China possessed all the requisites of size, docility, fertility, early maturity, aptitude for taking on flesh, and great constitution- al vigor, necessary to render it pre-emi- nently the hog for the farmer. From a
small beginning, the business has grown to its present proportions. Mr. Alexander is now one of the most prominent breeders in the State ; his trade extends to every part of the country, to the Pacific Coast, Canada, the Southern States, etc. ; his farm, near Charleston, possesses all the advantages of a perfect hog farm, such as pure running water, sheltered location, shade, range, etc. Mr. Alexander was born in Madison, Jef- ferson Co., Ind., Aug. 5, 1842; when about 10 years old, he removed with his parents to Tipton Co., Ind. ; at 14, he left home, and going to Louisiana, Mo., en- gaged as a clerk in a dry goods store. In 1861, he went to Tuscola, Douglas Co., Ill., and elerked one year ; he then, with Mr. Robert Beech, built the Beech House, the finest hotel on the Illinois Central Railroad, from Chicago to Cairo; after running the house one year he came in 1863 to Charles- ton, and continued clerking till 1865, when he engaged in business for himself, con- tinuing as a member of different firms un- til about four years ago ; he is at present a member of the Board of Aldermen in Charleston. He was married May 21, 1866, to Miss Naney A. Compton, a daughter of Albert Compton, of Charles- ton, and has four children-Albert C., Edwin R., Rufus C. and Dora T.
JACOB I. BROWN, Justice of the Peace, Charleston ; a son of John and Ra- chel Brown ; was born Oct. 12, 1819, near Jonesboro, Washington Co., Tenn. ; his parents afterward removed to Wayne Co., Ind., but soon returned to Tennessee ; their next move was to the White Water River, where his father and eight brothers and sisters died of yellow fever inside of a few months. His mother soon afterward removed with her remaining children, con- sisting of three sons and one daughter, to Bloomington, Ind. In 1832 or 1833, he went to learn the printing business, and worked for different parties till 1840, when he came on foot to Paris, Ill., and bought the Illinois Statesman printing offiee, and began the publication of a Deux- ocratic newspaper ; in 1844, he moved the office to Charleston, and started a paper called the Investigator, in connection with which he published a religious periodical, edited by Rev. Richard Newport. In 1845, he was elected Assessor for the county. He was married June 24, 1845, to Miss Ann
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E. Javins, who was born near Alexandria, Va., and after the death of her father, re- moved with her mother to Vincennes, Ind., and after her mother's death, came to Charleston, and resided in the family of her uncle, Albert Compton. In 1846 or 1847, in company with W. D. Latshaw, he began the publication of the Illinois Globe, a Democratic paper, continuing it seven or eight years ; in the mean time, he was ap- pointed Postmaster, and held the office un- der Presidents Polk, Pierce and Buchanan. He was also engaged with various partners in the grocery and drug business till the spring of 1861 ; in the fall of that year, he was elected County Clerk, and held that office four years, after which he en- gaged in the mercantile business. On the 2d of May, 1868, he was commissioned Justice of the Peace by Gov. R. J. Ogles- by, and re-elected to the same office in 1872, and has served as such ever since ; he has been several times a member of the City Council, and served twice on the Board of Education, and is now a member of the School Board for the township.
EUGENE B. BUCK, editor and pro- prietor of the Charleston Courier, Charles- ton ; was born in Fayette Co., Ind., Oct. 12, 1834 ; when he was about five years old, his father's family removed to Mc- Lean Co., Ill .; he served his apprentice- ship to the printer's trade in Bloomington ; in 1852, he went to Peoria, Ill., and, in 1855, was connected with the publication of the Pekin Plaindealer; in 1856, he was associated with four other journeymen printers in running a co-operative daily paper in Peoria; in 1857, he conducted the Washington Advertiser, in Franklin Co., Mo .; in 1859, he edited the Daily Enterprise, in Decatur, Ill., and, in 1861 and 1862, the Magnet in that city; in 1864, he run the Constitution, a campaign paper, in Pontiac, Livingston Co., Ill., and, the next year-1865-he started the. Bloomington Journal ; in 1868, he be- caine connected with the Charleston Cour- ier, a live weekly newspaper and a vigorous advocate of the principles of the Demo- cratic party, and, in 1874, became sole proprietor and editor ; the esteem in which Mr. Buck is held by ,the editorial pro- fession is manifest from the fact that, in 1865, he was chosen President of the Illinois Press Association, a member of
the Executive Board in 1877, and is at present a Vice President of that body ; he is a Director of the Second National Bank; in 1876, he received the nomination as Representative to the State Legislature, but, owing to disaffection, withdrew from the contest ; for nine years, he has been a member of the Board of Supervisors, and was for seven years Chairman of the Board ; he has also been a member of the Board of Education of this city. He was married Feb. 11, 1860, to Miss Mary C. Jones, of Decatur, Ill., and has four chil- dren-Ida May, Katie Florence, Willie Clarence and Eugene Clifford.
A. N. BAIN, proprietor of the Charles- ton Foundry, Charleston; was born in Erie Co., Ohio, April 3, 1828; his father was a ship-carpenter, with a family of nine children ; at the age of 14, Mr. Bain be- gan working on a farm, which he contin- ued until the spring of 1845, when he entered the Mad River & Lake Erie Rail- road shop at Sandusky, Ohio, as an ap- prentice, remaining there until 1852, and thoroughly mastering the machinist's trade. He then went to New Albany, Ind., where he was married, Feb. 3, 1853, to Miss Catharine Caldwell, of that city, who was born in Appomattox Co., Va., Feb. 8, 1832. While in New Albany, he worked as a mechanic in the shops of the New Albany & Salem Railroad ; in April, 1853, he removed to Terre Haute, Ind., and entered the foundry of Grover & Madison, and remained in their employ until April 1, 1857; he then came to Charleston, and, with his brother, William Bain, and George O. Carr, erected a small building, 25x50 feet in size; Mr. Carr soon retired from the firm; they ran a general repair foundry till 1863, when they made their first stove, and enlarged their buildings, which now cover four town lots, while their trade extends from In- dianapolis on the east, to the Rocky Mountains on the west; in 1869, Mr. Bain engaged in the stove, tin, and house- furnishing business, and built up a very large and successful trade; in 1874, he sold out and returned to the management of the foundry ; his brother died in June, 1875 ; in addition to his foundry business, he owns a farm of 220 acres in Seven Hickory Tp., where he is largely engaged in stock-raising, keeping about two hun-
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dred and fifty head, including cattle, hogs, | horses and mules ; he also owns a farm of 170 acres in Douglas Co .; Mr. Bain was President of the Board of Trustees of Charleston two years. He has five chil- dren-Emma (a graduate of the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, and now a teacher in the Charleston public schools), Fannie, Charles F., Katie and Nannie. Politically, Mr. Bain has been an active advocate of the principles of the Republican party since its organization, previous to which he was a Whig. He is outspoken and fearless in maintaining his opinions ; as a business man, his success is due entirely to his own industry, persever- ance and good management.
TILLMAN BAGLEY, horticulturist ; Charleston ; was born in Loudoun Co., Va., June 6, 1828; being left father- less when but a child, he accompanied his mother, at the age of 9 years to Mus- kingum Co., Ohio, where they settled on a farm about twelve miles north of Zanes- ville; at 19, he left the farm to learn the trade of a marble-eutter, after com- pleting which he worked as a journeyman until 1853 ; he then came to Charleston, and after working two years, started in the marble business for himself, in which he continued till 1869; at which time he purchased what is known as the True farm, in La Fayette Tp., and followed farming four years. Having a natural taste for horticultural pursuits he sold his farm and, returning to Charleston, purchased sixteen acres of land lying within the corporation, which he began to improve ; he built his residence and set his land to peaches, apples, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries ; his aim was to secure the very earliest as well as the very latest varieties of fruit which it was possible to obtain, thus com- manding the highest prices for his prod- ucts. Mr. Bagley was married March 26, 1856, to Miss Ann Craig, a daughter of Elijah Craig, an early settler of Coles Co .; she was born in Boone Co., Ky., April 21, 1829, and came to Coles Co. in 1836; they have two children-Simeon E. and Allen C.
GEORGE BIRCH, farmer ; P. O. Charleston ; was born near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, March 25, 1815; he is a son of William Birch, a farmer who, in 1833, came to America with his family,
and lived for three years near Philadelphia, occupying an old house, once the residence of William Penn, on the bank of the Schuylkill, near Fairmount Park ; in 1836. they removed to Illinois, and settled near Hitesville, Coles Co., where his father died April 15, 1864, at the age of 88 years ; Mr. Birch spent the first few years of his residence in this county in working at farm labor; he has worked for 50 cents a day and waited until Christmas for his pay. He was married on his twenty-sixth birth- day, March 25, 1841, to Miss Catherine Jones, a daughter of William Jones; she was born in Jefferson Co., Ky., March 19, 1820, and eame with her parents to Coles Co. about 1831 ; in 1844, they settled on a farm near Hitesville, where they resided for more than thirty-three years, and, in 1878, removed to Charleston, where they now reside ; Mr. Birch, in 1842, hauled wheat to Chicago, a distance of 180 miles, and there sold it for 622 cents per bushel ; he has driven hogs to Clinton, Ind., and sold them for $1.25 to $2 per hundred, net weight; Mrs. Birch, when a girl, has dropped corn for 25 cents a day ; and, aft- er her marriage, worked in the field until near noon, and would then go to the house and get dinner. Mr. Birch is an example of a substantial, successful farm- er, and feels a pardonable pride in recall- ing to mind the hardships of the early days in Coles Co .; he has recently pur- chased the Glassco farm of 300 acres, two miles west of the Court House, and still re- tains 40 acres of land in Ashmore Tp .; he has served as School Director and School Treasurer. They have had twelve children, eight of whom are living-Will- liam, a resident of Ashmore Tp., Jacob, of St. Clair Co., Mo., Martha J. (now Mrs. Lafayette Connelly, of Henry Co., Mo.) George and Jonathan (both now of Henry Co., Mo.), Lizzie E., Frank and Mary S.
CHARLES R. BRIGGS, portrait- painter, Charleston ; was born in Wash- ington Co. N. Y., Jan. 5, 1816; his father was a farmer and carriage-manufact- urer in Easton ; at the age of 17 years, he left home, and going to Troy, apprenticed himself to the trade of a coach-painter ; he remained there four years and helped to paint the first passenger-coaches on the Albany & Schenectady Railroad ; thence
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he went to Buffalo, N. Y., and entered the ! taining his farm in Seven Hickory Tp., and employ of Benjamin Rathbone, the great twenty acres of timber in Charleston Tp. ; Mr. Bishop served one term as Justice of the Peace. He was married Feb. 25, 1841, to Miss Joanna Bane, of Knox Co., Ohio, who was born in Washington Co., Penn, Oct. 8, 1822; they have seven children-Jasper N., now of Lovington, Ill .; Frank L., of Charleston ; Anna A., wife of G. H. Harvey, of Newark, Ohio ; Minnie M., Lizzie C., Charles E. and Willie B. contractor of that city ; about a year later, he went to New York City, and thence, shortly afterward, came West; this was in 1839; after spending a few months in St. Louis, he located in Coles Co., and, after farming one year, engaged in car- riage, house and sign painting in Charles- ton. He early turned his attention to portrait painting, for which he had a de- cided talent, and for the past few years has made a specialty of the painting of fine FRANK L. BISHOP, proprietor of the Bee-Hive store, dealer in dry goods and notions, boots and shoes, etc., Charles- ton ; was born in Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio, Nov. 20, 1846; he is a son of Stephen and Joanna (Bane) Bishop, and came with his father's family to Coles Co., as above stated ; he was engaged as a clerk for Mathews, Alexander & Co., in Charles- ton, for three years, after which he spent three years in La Fayette, Ind; he then en- gaged in general merchandising in Loving- ton, Ill., the firm being Dickson & Bishop; after remaining there three years, he re- turned to Charleston and established his present business in September, 1876. stock, a branch of the art in which he is excelled by none in the State ; he started the first livery-stable in Charleston about 1843, with one horse, and continued it about a dozen years, running it up to forty- two horses ; in 1848, he opened a farm of 363 acres in the timber adjoining the city, fencing it in eastern style, mostly in ten- acre lots, and followed farming for several years. He was married in September, 1842, to Miss Harriet Stoddert, of Charles- ton ; they have five children living -- Lyzink (wife of Charles Cleary, of Charles- ton), Helen, Walter M., Charles S. and May ; their oldest daughter, Loretta, died in 1859; Mary died at about 2 years of age, and one son, Jerome, died in 1873.
STEPHEN BISHOP, farmer and stock-raiser, P. O. Charleston ; was born near Providence, R. I., May 30, 1815 ; when he was but 2 years old, his parents emigrated to the then Far West, and located in Knox Co., Ohio, where his father entered land from the Government, and engaged in farming, being among the pioneers in that part of the State; Knox Co. was then comparatively a wilderness ; Mt. Vernon, the county seat-now a city of about 10,000 inhabitants-containing at that time but half a dozen houses; Mr. Bishop remained at home on the farm until he was 20 years of age, and then learned the trade of a blacksmith, and going to Mt. Vernon, carried on the carriage-making business there until 1858, when he re- moved to Illinois, and settled on a farm lying mostly in Coles. Co., his house, how- ever, being situated just over the line in Clark Co .; in the spring of 1863, he re- moved to a farm in Seven Hickory Tp., containing 248 acres, on which he con- tinued to reside until September, 1876, when he removed to Charleston, still re-
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MAJ. J. A. CONNOLLY, attorney at law, Charleston ; was born in Newark, N. J., March 8, 1838; his parents removed to Chesterville, Morrow Co., Ohio, when he was about 12 years old, and at the age of 18, he went to Mt. Gilead, the county seat of Morrow Co., and began reading law with Judge A. K. Dunn, of that city ; he was admitted to the bar in September, 1859, and began practice in Mt. Gilead ; in 1860, he removed to Charleston ; while living in Mt. Gilead, he held the position of Second Assistant Clerk of the Ohio Senate for two years. In August, 1862, he entered the army as Major of the 123d Ill. V. I., serving till the close of the war, being for two years Inspector General of the 3d Division 14th Army Corps ; he participated in the battles of Perryville, Ky .; Milton, Tenn. ; Hoover's Gap, Chick- amunga, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Ga .; the Atlanta campaign, Sherman's " march to the sea," Bentonville, N. C., etc .; im- mediately after the last-named battle, he was brevetted Lieutenant Colonel for meritori- ous conduct in that engagement. Return- ing to Charleston, in 1865, he resumed the practice of the law. At the funeral of
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President Lincoln, in New York City, in April, 1865, Maj. Connolly was a mem- ber of the Guard of Honor, being the only Illinois volunteer officer present. In 1866, he was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors, and, the following year, of the Board of Education, and strongly advo- cated the building of the new schoolhouse in Charleston ; he was elected to the Il- linois Legislature in 1872, and re-elected in 1874 ; he was a member of the Judiciary Committee, and of the Railroad and Ware- house Committee, which reported in favor of the Granger legislation of that year. Maj. Connolly is at present U. S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Il- linois, to which office he was appointed by President Grant in March, 1876. He was married Feb. 9, 1863, to Miss Mary Dunn, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio.
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DUNN & CONNOLLY, attorneys at law, Charleston; this firm was established in November, 1878, and is composed of two young attorneys, but gentlemen pos- sessing the requisite qualifications of suc- cess. Frank K. Dunn was born in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Nov. 13, 1854, being a son of Hon. A. K. Dunn, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; he graduated at Ken- yon College, Ohio, in 1873; read law in his father's office ; entered Harvard Law School in 1874, graduating in 1875; he was admitted to practice the same year, and practiced with his father until Novem- ber, 1878, when he came to Charleston, and formed the above partnership. Frank J. Connolly is a native of Morrow Co., Ohio ; he was born in Chesterville, March 10, 1851 ; he came to Charleston in 1876; pursued his law studies in the office of his brother, Maj. James A. Connolly; was ad- mitted to the bar in July, 1878, and formed a partnership with F. K. Dunn in Novem- ber the same year.
D. H. CALVERT, dealer in drugs and medicines, Charleston; is a native of Platte Co., Mo .; he was born on the 28th of February 1841 ; he was raised on a farm, and at about the age of 16 years, entered Pleasant Ridge College in his native town, where he graduated in 1861 ; he then read law with Hon. E. H. Norton, the present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri ; in 1867, he went to Frankfort, Ky., and continued his law studies with Judge Alvin Duval, and, in 1868, entered
the Law Department of the University of Louisville, Ky., graduating in 1869; he came to Charleston the same year, and en- tered upon the practice of his profession ; in 1872, he was elected City Attorney ; after practicing three years, he was com- pelled by ill health to abandon the law and engage in other business; he followed merchant milling for some two years, and, in 1876, engaged in his present business. He was married July 5, 1870, to Miss S. B. Chambers, a daughter of T. G. Cham- bers, a prominent citizen of Charleston, and has one child-George C. Calvert.
W. M. CHAMBERS, M. D., physician and surgeon, Charleston, was born in Cyn- thiana, Ky., April 11, 1814 ; he is a son of James and Sally Chambers, both natives of Pennsylvania, who settled in Kentucky in 1810. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812; in 1850, his parents re- moved to Charleston, where his mother died in 1855, and his father in 1873. Dr. Chambers began the study of medicine in his native town in 1833, and, in 1836, began practice in Harrison Co .; he gradu- ated in 1843 from the Medical Depart- ment of Transylvania University, Lex- ington, Ky. In 1846, he removed to Covington, Ky., where he practiced medicine until his removal to Coles Co. in 1855. In October, 1861, he was ap- pointed, by President Lincoln, Brigade Surgeon in the Union army, and served in the army of the Cumberland till July, 1865; he was twice brevetted -first, as Lieutenant Colonel, and then as Colonel, for meritorious services, for the excellence of his reports and his superior management of hospitals. Dr. Chambers has been Pres- ident of the Kentucky State Medical Society, of the Illinois State Medical Society, and of the ÆEsculapian Society of the Wabash Valley. He has heldimportant positions in the American Medical Associ- ation, and has been a member of the Health Association of the United States ; he has abandoned the ordinary country practice, and now confines himself to con- sultation, town and surgical practice. He was married, first, in February, 1838, to Miss C. Ann Rebecca Porter, of Harrison Co., Ky. ; she died in 1840, leaving one son-Charles S. Chambers, of Princeton, Ky. Dr. Chambers, in 1846, married Miss Mary Bryan Fields Ingels, of Ken-
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tucky, a lineal descendant of Daniel Boone ; she died Dec. 30, 1876, leaving two chil- dren-Mollie M. S. (wife of Dr. C. A. Peyton, of Charleston), and T. Gavin Smith Chambers, now a student in Asbury Institute, Greencastle, Ind.
THOMAS G. CHAMBERS,. Presi- dent of the First National Bank, Charles- ton ; has been a resident of this county and city since 1838; he is a native of Cynthiana, Harrison Co., Ky. ; he was 22d of January, 1816, being a son of James and Sally Chambers; he worked on a farm until the age of 18 years, when he entered a dry goods store as a clerk, and continued at that until he came to Charleston, as above stated. He followed clerking here for a time, and, in 1840, engaged in the dry goods business for himself, which he continued, with an inter- ruption of two years, until 1866 ; he then established the private banking-house of T. G. Chambers & Co., and, in 1868, be- came President of the First National Bank. Mr. Chambers has served several terms in the City Council, but, with this exception, has never sought nor accepted public office of any kind ; he has, how- ever, been thoroughly alive to the interests of the city and county ; he was one of the active organizers of the Coles County Agricultural Society - now the Coles County Board of Agriculture-and has been an officer of that society, either as Vice President, Treasurer or Director, with the exception of one year, from its organ- ization in 1853 to the present time. On the organization of the Coles County Old Settlers' Society in October, 1878, he was chosen President. Mr. Chambers was mar- ried March 12, 1840, to Miss Olevia Monroe, of Charleston, and has eight chil- dren living- Alice (now Mrs. J. A. Parker), Henrie, Sarah Belle (wife of D. HI. Calvert), George R., William M., Maggie, Nannie and Alfred, all of whom are residents of Coles County.
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