The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 43

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770

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ŒETLING, CHARLES F., Lawyer, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, September 19th, 1832. His father, a German, eame to the United States in 1824; his mother was a native of Penn- sylvania. He was educated primarily at the Union Seminary in his native place, and subsequently at the New Berlin High School. On abandoning his prepara- tory student life he became a teacher in the publie sehools near New Berlin, then at the publie high school in New Berlin, removing later to Belleville, Illinois, where he ar- rived in August, 1856. In this place also he taught in the publie high school for a term of seven months, and then, in partnership with Professor Carl Rau, opened in Belleville the Belleville German and English High School, teaching the common and also the higher branches. During the time occupied in teaching he began the study of law under the instructions of W. H. and J. B. Underwood, and finally was admitted to the bar in April, 1859, by the Supreme Court of the State. He remained in connection with the high school at Belleville until 1859. During the winter of 1859-1860 he was employed in teaching at Centreville, and beeame associated with Judge Underwood in the praetiee of

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the law, and at the expiration of two years connected him- self in partnership with that practitioner, and has since continued with him as his partner. In 1863 he officiated as City Attorney, and from 1866 to 1872 was a member of the Belleville School Board. Since 1872 he has been a member of the State Board of Education, a position for which he is admirably qualified, and to which he was rc- appointed in April, 1875, by Governor Beveridge. He has always been an ardent supporter of educational enterprises and movements, and is prominently identified with the school interests of the State. He is one of the charter members of the Peoples' Bank of Belleville, and at the present time is one of its Directors and its Attorney. He is connected also with the Belleville Building and Loan Asso- ciation, was one of its originators and most efficient promo- ters, and is its Attorney. Hc is Vice-President also of the Cottingham Ironing Machine Company. In religion he is a valued and steadfast member of the Presbyterian Church, and the Superintendent of a Presbyterian Sunday-school. Thoroughly cultured both by incessant study and by a varied experience in professional and business life, he is esteemed for his store of knowledge acquired by a wide range of reading, and for the innate ability which has enabled him to make that knowledge useful and valuable to himself and his fellow-citizens. He was married in 1858 to Julia M. Savyer, of Belleville, Illinois.

IDDLECOFF, JONATHAN P., Merchant, was born in Richmond, Indiana, February 20th, 1838. He is the son of Daniel Middlecoff and Theresa Middlecoff, natives of Maryland, who settled in Indiana in 1831. When in his eighth year he removed with his parents to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he received his education in the neighboring schools. At the age of nineteen he moved to Ludlow, Champaign county, Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, in which he continued during the ensuing three years. The next four years he passed on a farm, occupied in agri- cultural pursuits. In the fall of 1869 he settled in Paxton, and engaged in the hardware business, to which he devoted his attention for a period of three ycars. In the fall of 1872 he was elected to the Legislature from Ford county, and served two years. During his term of service this body revised the statutes of the State, and the session was consid- ered one of the most important ever held in the State. He served on the Committee of County and Township Organi- zation, on the Committee of Public Buildings and Grounds, and on the Committee of Corporations. At the expiration of his term of service he established himself in the dry-goods business in the town of Paxton, in conjunction with S. L. Day, and has since continued engaged in its prosecution. In politics he was always an ally of the Republican party ; but in 1872, in company with other prominent Republicans,

hc espoused the Grecley party, and, as the liberal candidate, was elected by the largest majority ever given to a candidate from that county. His career, whether viewed from a private or a public standpoint, is wholly honorable, and he is deservedly an object of respect and esteem to a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was married in January, 1864, to Miss Fox, a former resident of Cincinnati, Ohio.

OFFING, CHURCHILL, Judge and Banker, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, November 13th, 1813. His father, John Coffing, was a prominent manufacturer of pig-iron at Richmond, Massachu- setts, and Lakeville, Litchfield county, Connecti- cut. Until twelve years of age he was educated in the home circle, attending school subsequently in Pitts- field, Massachusetts, whence he was transferred to Yale College, where, upon the completion of the usual course of studies, he graduated in the class of 1834. He then en- gaged in the study of law at New Haven, and also in Litch- field, Connecticut. Later, in company with his brother, Joshua Coffing, he travelled in Europe for one year. In 1839 he removed to Peru, Illinois, where he remained for some time, occupied continuously during a period of eigh- teen years in the active practice of the legal profession. In 1849, while still employed professionally, he constructed a large warehouse in Peru, and for many years was interested in the shipment of grain. In 1857 hc organized the Illinois River Bank of Peru, and continued engaged in financial management and banking until 1867. In 1870, meeting with unforeseen reverses, he removed to Chicago, where he died, May 17th, 1873, of rheumatism and dropsy of the heart. He was a man of refined scholarly attainments, and possessed much literary ability, having evinced the posses- sion of considerable poetic talent. The poem, particularly, delivered by him before his class at graduation, elicited much favorable comment.

ATTHEWS, JOHN PITT, M. D., was born in Hereford, England, in 1835, being the son of John and Caroline (Cooper) Matthews, who came to the United States in 1844, and located in Law- rence county, Pennsylvania. He received his education at Allegheny College, Meadville, Penn- sylvania, and removed to Illinois in 1857, where in the following year he entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. Peter Fenity, at Kane. In 1861 he matriculated in the Michigan University, at Keokuk, and after completing one course entered the United States Army, in 1862, as Assistant Surgcon of the 122d Regiment Illinois Volunteers. Ile was compelled to retire from the service at the expiration of one year on account of ill health, and upon his return from

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the field he attended a full medical course at the Long Island Hospital College, from which he received his degree of M. D. He commenced practice at Carlinsville in 1865, and has continued it to the present time, having by his attention and skill secured a very extensive and valuable patronage. He is a member of the State Medical Society, and at present is President of the Macoupin County Medical Association. He was married September 13th, 1865, to Elizabeth, daughter of Governor John A. Palmer, of Illinois.

until his resignation, in January, 1873. In 1872 he attended the Cincinnati Convention, and in June was nominated as a candidate for the Governorship by the Democratic and also by the Liberal Republican Conventions, at Springfield. On this occasion, however, he failed to secure an election, his opponent, Governor Oglesby, receiving the majority of votes. When not engaged in public offices whose functions are incompatible with the practice of law, he has constantly attended to his profession. He has also devoted much time to literature and literary pursuits, and has often contributed to newspapers and periodicals. He is the author of a vol- ume entitled " From Spain," composed of letters on various subjects, and essays on art and kindred topics of an æsthetic nature ; and also of sundry articles in several of the reviews and magazines which testify to his excellence as a scholar and a thinker. He was married at Belleville, in 1836, to Sophia Engelmann, daughter of a prominent and respected citizen of St. Clair county, Illinois.

OERNER, GUSTAVUS, LL. D., Lawyer, ex- Lieutenant-Governor, etc., was born in Frankfort, Germany, November 20th, ISO9. His father was a well-known publisher and bookseller, and for many years was a member of the Legislature of Frankfor'. His earlier cducation was acquired at the college located in his native place. While in his eigh- tcenth year he went to the University of Jena in order to prosccute the study of law, and was an attendant at that institution for a term of two years. IIe subsequently com- COTT, JAMES R., M. D., was born in Petersburg, Indiana, September 13th, 1840. He is the son of W. L. Scott, of Tennessee, and Melinda Scott, of Kentucky. His earlier education was acquired at a school managed by A. T. Hendricks, a brother of Governor Hendricks, of Indiana, and an able and cultured preceptor. Upon relinquishing school life he entered a printing office, and while learning his trade there commenced also the study of medicine, reading under the supervision of Dr. G. R. Adams. In 1861, on the com- pletion of his probationary term, he graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. In the mean- time he had likewise finished his apprenticeship as printer. In 1862 he entered the service of the United States as Assistant Surgeon of the 3d Regiment of Kentucky Infantry, and acted in this capacity until October, 1864. While thus employed he was constantly and actively engaged in field service, accomplishing the numcrous duties falling to him with energy and ability. He was a participant at the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and Jonesboro', and took part in many other engagements of minor importance. After leaving the service he was employed as a Contract Physician in the Jefferson Hospital, Jeffersonville, Indiana, for a period of five months, and then ordered to Nashville, Tennessce, where he remained until May Ist, 1865, at which date he returned to civil life. He removed subse- quently to Effingham county, Illinois, and in that place entered upon the active practice of his profession in connec- tion with Dr. G. W. Cornwell, remaining thus occupied during the ensuing eighteen months. He then settled in Edgewood, in the same county, in 1870, and in 1874 moved to Effingham, and entered into partnership with Dr. John pleted his purposed course of studies at Munich and in IIeidelberg, where in 1832 he graduated and obtained the degree of LL.D. In the same year he passed the required examination and was admitted to the bar of Frankfort. Ultimately, owing to political complications, he left his country, and in 1833 cmigrated to the United States. Pro- ceeding to the West immediately upon his arrival here, he settled in Belleville, Illinois, and entercd energetically upon the study of American law. After attending one term at the Law School of Lexington, Kentucky, he was admitted to the bar of Illinois in 1835. He then commenced the active practice of his profession, at which he continued until IS45, when he was elected by the Legislature one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. Before that time, in 1842, he had acted as a member of the Legislature for St. Clair county. In 1852 he was elected by the Democratic party Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Illinois for a term of four years. In 1854, on account of the slavery question, he became what was then called an anti-Nebraska Democrat, and in 1856 joined the Republican party. While the war of the rebellion was in progress he raised and organized ? regiment-the 43d Illinois Volunteers-but was prevented from entering upon its command by his appointment by the President on the staff of General Fremont, with the rank of Colonel. In that position he scrved until Fremont's retire- ment, when he was attached to the staff of General Halleck. In March, 1862, owing to a continued enfeeblement of health, he resigned the latter position, and in the following June was appointed by President Lincoln Minister to Spain, which office, however, he resigned in January, 1865. In 1868 he was made one of the Electors at Large on the Grant ticket, and in 1871 was appointed a member of the newly-created Railroad Commission, over which he presided | Lecrone, the oldest medical practitioner in the county, and

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this association still endures. The partners possess a prac- tice which is second to none in the county in extent and character, and they are admittedly two of the most skilful and successful practitioners in that section of the State. Hc was married to his present wifc, April 2d, 1871.

ABING, HENRY G., Banker, Mayor of Effing- ham, Illinois, was born in Prussia, January 13th, 1837. His education was acquired in the com- mon schools of Illinois. At fourteen years of age he engaged in mercantile business in Teutopolis, Effingham county, Illinois, acting in the capacity of clerk, and continued thus occupied until 1860, when, moving to Effingham, he entered into business on his own account. From that date until 1866 he was employed con- stantly in gencral merchandising, meeting with much suc- cess throughout that period. Subsequently, noting the lack of banking facilitics in his new abode, he disposed of his business, and in conjunction with Mr. Craddock established the banking house which is now such a prominent and val- uable feature of the town. Of this institution he is at the present time sole owner and controller, his partner having, in 1872, withdrawn from the firm. His management of its business matters is characterized by prudence, energy, and admirable ability, and has won for him the confidence and esteem of the entire community. In 1867 he was elected to the County Treasuryship, and filled that position until 1869. In 1873 he was again elected to the same officc, and served with skill and fidelity until 1875. In April of the latter year he was elected Mayor of Effingham for the term of two years, securing an election as the Democratic candi -. date by a very large majority. In addition to his occupa- tions as a banker and public functionary, he has invested large sums of money in improving the town, and the exist- ence of many of its finest buildings has been the result of his public-spirited enterprise. He was married in 1860 to Miss Wersing, of Effingham county, Illinois.

OODRUFF, ROBERT J., M. D., was born in Savannah, Georgia, November 11th, 1806, being the son of Hon. George Woodruff, an eminent lawyer of that State, who was appointed to the office of United States District Attorney by Prcsi- dent Adams. At the age of nine years he was placed at school in New Jersey, and was prepared for a col- legiate career. At the age of sixteen he entered Princeton College, and in 1824, being then eighteen years old, he graduated. In the meantime his parents had moved to New Jersey. His medical studies were commenced and pursued in Philadelphia, and in 1829 he received the degree of M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He entered

upon the practice of his profession in New York city, and continued it with much success in that place until 1837. In the following ycar he removed to Princeton, Illinois, settled on a tract of land in its vicinity, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Princeton at that time had a population of not over three hundred. He continued farming for thirty-five years, and in 1873 sold out and moved into the town where he now residcs. He was married in 1850 to Miss Isabella Swift, of Boston, and has two daugh- ters. He was elected as the first President of the Bureau County Agricultural Society. He is a man of literary cul- ture and tastes. He takes a dcep interest in the advance- ment of the interests of agriculturalists, and has from time to time delivered lectures on subjects relating to their pur- suit. He has also delivered addresses on literary and scientific themes which evinced much originality of thought and depth of research.

OOLLEY, EDWIN C., M. D., was born in Hamil- ton county, Ohio, in 1820, being the son of William and Mary Woolley. His early education was obtained in the common schools. In 1843 he entered upon the study of medicine, for the practice of which he had early evinced an inclina- tion, in Butler county, Ohio, and soon after-in 1846- matriculated at the Ohio Medical College, in Cincinnati. He took one course at this institution and received its diploma, entering at once upon the practice of his chosen profession in Butler county, where he remained until 1860. During this time he had studied industriously in all the branches relating to the science of medicine, and had availed himself in 1852 of another course of lectures which were delivered in Miami Medical College. In 1860 he rcmoved to Illinois, and located in Paris, Edgar county, where he has been cvcr since actively engaged with his professional dutics. Hc is a member of the Wabash Valley Esculapian Socicty, and has several times been a delegate to the State Medical Society. He is a man of fine culture, of prepossessing manners, and has the reputation of a careful and expert physician. He was married in 1842 to Eliza- beth K. Hunter, of Butler county, Ohio.

ALTON, WILLIAM, Merchant, was born in Dur- ham, England, November 30th, 1835. His parents were John Walton and Jane (Robson) Walton. He was educated in Durham and Birmingham, and on leaving school was appren- ticed to learn the dry-goods business in Darling- ton. Subsequently he went to Stone, Ledbury, and to Birmingham, where he was engaged in business for a period of about six years. He emigrated to the United States in 1855, landing at New York upon his arrival in this country.

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Hle then proceeded westward and settled at Chicago, Illi- nois, where he entered the well-known dry-goods house of J. B. Shay. IIe thence removed to Amboy, Illinois, where he established himself in the dry-goods business on his own account. In IS5S he again changed his head-quarters to Freeport, in the same State, where he resumed his former business, primarily limited in character and extent, but des- tined to assume large proportions. At the present time he controls the most extensive retail dry-goods house in the State outside of Chicago. His business includes evcry branch of dry-goods, notions, tapestry, carpets, etc., and also tailoring ; in that department alone a large trade being done. He has constantly a staff of fifteen clerks in his employ, and the annual sales amount to over $200,000. His suceess is attributable to energy, tact, and an undcviating and scrupu- lous rectitude in all his finaneial dealings.

ALKER, LEONIDAS, Lawyer, was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, May 2d, IS42. His father was a native of the same State; his mother is a descendant of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was educated at the Witherspoon Institute, at Butler, Pennsylvania. On leaving sehool he became engaged in teaching, continuing at that avocation during the ensuing two years. He then removed to Illinois, where he taught school for a period of five years in McLeansboro', and at the same time studied law under the instructions of John McElvaine, a well-known practitioner of that place. In IS64, on the completion of the allotted probationary course of studies, he was admitted to the bar. Prior to his admis- sion as a practitioner, in 1863, he was elected County Super- intendent of Schools, a position which he held for two years, being at the date of his election but twenty-one years of age. He then commenced the practice of law in company with R. W. Townsend, and in that partnership was professionally occupied for about five years. He afterward associated himself with Hon. R. S. Anderson, with whom he was con- nected until IS74. At the present time he is the senior partner of the firm of Walker & Hale. His practice has always been a large and lucrative one, and his interest in the town of McLeansboro' was evidenced by the valuable improvements made there by him. He was solely instru- mental in erecting the finest buildings in the place, which, however, with not a single exception, were totally destroyed by fire in IS74. After this severe loss he again devoted himself to his profession, in which he is now actively en- gaged. In politics he has been prominently identified with the Democratic party, and in the fall of IS72 was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature from the Forty-sixth Scnatorial District, serving two years with noted ability. While acting with this body he was a member of the Judi- ciary Committee, and while thus engaged was esteemed as |interests of his constituents and the Republican party. He

an efficient and talented coadjutor. IIc took an active part, also, in securing the needed modification of the registry law, and was the author of the " Bill for Regulating the Means of Egress from Public Buildings," a document re- plete with valuable suggestions and injunctions meriting the most careful enforcement. Ile was likewise instrumental in effecting the modification of various important details con- cerning county courts. As a legislator he worked faithfully to advance the interests of his constituents, and won many encomiums for his well-directed and successful efforts. Ile was married in IS71 to Annie C. Carpenter, a resident of the town toward whose welfare he has so materially and wisely contributed.

TEELE, COLONEL CIIARLES B., Lawyer, was born in Dover, New Hampshire, July, IS29, and received his education in his native place, and also subsequently in Lagrange, Kentucky, Browns- town, Indiana, and Paris, Illinois. IIis parents are Andrew Steele and Nancy Steele, a niece of General John Stark. In earlier life he was employed as a clerk in a dry-goods store, and also studied law. Entering subsequently upon the practice of his profession, he was occupied successfully as a legal practitioner for a period of fifteen years. While still very young he volunteered in the Mexican war, and served from the beginning to the end of that conflict. Also, at the first intimations of war with the South, he was one of the earliest to enter the service of the United States to assist in suppressing the rebellion. He was made Adjutant of the 21st Illinois Regiment of Infantry, and for a time held close and confidential relations with Colonel Ulysses S. Grant. IIe was an active and promi- nent participant in thirteen hard-fought battles, among them Stone River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and others; and although he eseapcd any severe personal wounds, five horses were upon various occasions shot down under him. After the close of the war he filled the position of Judge of the City Court of Mattoon with honor, and in 1872 was elected to the Senate, at once taking a leading and sustained position in that body. He is regarded by his associates as an able lawyer, and acted in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, and also in a subsequent one, on the Judiciary Committec. Ile was selected from the Senate in the Twenty-eighth, with Senator Upton, as a member of the Committee on Revision. To him was allotted the charge of the revision of bills which were introduced into the Senate from that committee, and his perfect mastery over the subjects and ready explanation of the difference in the law and as the bill would make it, did mnuch to profitably advance legislation. He is an attractive speaker and a forcible orator, gifted with unusual powers of rapid delivery and apposite sarcasm. He has proven himself to be a care- ful legislator, and has guarded with unremitting care the

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has defeated the opponents of the railroad legislation, the Army. His first service was at Jefferson Barracks, in temperance law, and the registry law, and lashed them mer- cilessly with his sharp repartee and keen, incisive irony. The Centennial appropriation of $10,000 was one of his measures, and in all things he serves with energy and wis- dom the best interests of the commonwealth. He was mar- ried, October 12th, 1853, at Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, to Maria Clark.

USS, LEWIS, Pioneer and Trader, was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, March 9th, 1824. His parents were Horace D. Kuss and Lucia (Brig- ham) Russ. He was the youngest of nine children, and attended the schools of his native State until sixteen years of age. He then be- came connected with a stone-mason, for whom he labored as an apprentice until he had attained his twenticth year, when he moved to Mason county, Illinois, and became interested in farming and agricultural pursuits. After a sojourn in this locality for a period of cighteen months he returned to Connecticut. The charm of western life, how- ever, after the lapse of one year, induced him to return to Illinois, and he settled in Iroquois county, now his home. On his arrival there he engaged in farming for the first two years, and then, in conjunction with Isaac McContee, prosecuted a general frontier business, dealing in grain, lumber, cattle, horses, agricultural implements and notions of all kinds and values. The partners were the first to import French horses into this section of the State, and for many years sold all the flour consumed over a large area of country. They have been instrumental, in a great measure, in developing the resources and adding to the prosperity of Iroquois county in general, and Onarga in particular; while the numerous school houses, the system of thorough fencing and the many excellent bridges are the direct results of their enterprise and liberality. At the time of his first settlement in Iroquois county the country was an uncultivated and desolate wilderness, while to-day it is one of the most flourishing agricultural sections of the State. Ile was married, in 1846, to Juliet E. Session, a former resident of Connecticut, by whom he has had four children, two boys and two girls.

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 43

Author: Robson, Charles, ed Publication date: 1875 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy Number of Pages: 770

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770