USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume II > Part 26
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
272
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
of Texas; and the son is the subject of this sketch. Parmenas Sid- dall was an active Democrat in his day, and both himself and wife were devout Presbyterians. He gave the lot upon which the Presby- terian church of Equality stands, and always took an active part in church work. He died in 1885 and his wife in 1889. J. P. Siddall was born Aug. 20, 1869. He grew to manhood in Equality, received a good practical education in the public schools of the town, and after leaving school became associated with his father in business. Since the death of his father he has continued the business, which was founded by his grandfather three-quarters of a century ago. Mr. Siddall takes an active part in political affairs and is now local com- mitteeman of the county central committee. He has served three terms as assessor, one term as village treasurer, and two terms on the school board. He is a member and trustee of the Odd Fellows' Lodge, No. 19; a member of Lodge No. 581, Daughters of Rebekah, and of Lodge No. 381, Court of Honor. In Odd Fellowship he has been through the chairs and is now grand representative. He was married June 10, 1896, to Miss Emma, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Yost, of Equality, and they have two children, Halton and Kelly, both at home. The family occupy one of the coziest homes in Equality and are members of the Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Siddall is a deacon and trustee.
MARSHALL E. LAMBERT, city at- torney of Shawneetown, Ill., is a native of Union county, Ky. His grandfather, Da- vid Lambert, was a Virginian, but came with his brother to Kentucky at an early date, locating near Skaggs' Mill, a short distance from Bowling Green, in Warren county. There he married, reared a family of children, and passed the re- mainder of his life as a farmer. There John M. Lambert, the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born Oct. 9, 1836. When he was about twelve years of age he went with his brother Josiah to Henderson county, where he found employment as a farm hand. For ten years he worked for John S. McCormick, and was then employed by other farmers until 1864, when he went to Union county, Ky., as manager of the David R. Burbank estate, and remained in that position for three years.
273
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
In 1866 he was married to Elizabeth Ann, daughter of John and Caroline Sprague, and went to housekeeping on a farm directly opposite Shawneetown. The Sprague family was one of the oldest in Union county, and had its beginning there in John Sprague, a millwright of Pittsburg, Pa., who married Margaret Fleming of that city and came down the river in a flatboat to Union county, where he entered government land and passed the remainder of his life. Their son, John Sprague, married Caroline Mckinney and they had three children: Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Lambert; Ellen, who married a man by the name of Mckinney, and John. In 1884 John Lambert removed with his family to Shawneetown, and there died in 1901. In 1891' he, in connection with his son Marshall, en- gaged in general merchandizing at Blackburn, Ky., just across the river from Shawneetown, and they conducted this business until 1896, when he retired from active pursuits. His first wife died in 1875 and he was married in 1876 to Lavinia Waggener Jones, widow of Nat Jones, who is still living at the old home in Shawnee- town. Marshall E. Lambert was born Jan. 17, 1873, and is the only one of five children born to John M. and Elizabeth Lambert now living. After attending the public schools of Shawneetown and private school at Louisville, Ky., he entered the law department of the University of Michigan in 1896 and graduated in 1899. Upon leaving college he formed a partnership for the practice of law with C. N. Hollerich of East St. Louis, and practiced there until 1900, when he returned to Shawneetown and opened an office there. In addition to his law practice he assumed the manage- ment of his father's business, which consisted of large landed in- terests, and upon the latter's death became the sole heir to the large estate, as no children were born to his father's second mar- riage. Mr. Lambert, like his father before him, takes a great inter- est in politics, and is regarded as one of the coming men of his section of the state. In 1901 he was elected city attorney of Shawneetown, which position he still holds. This selection was a 'tribute to both his ability and his personal popularity. He be- longs to the Knights of Pythias, and is always a welcome visitor at the meetings of his lodge, because of his genial disposition and general good-fellowship. On May 15, 1901, he was united in marriage to Miss Katherine I., daughter of Judge James Marshall, of Spokane, Wash., and they have two children: Elizabeth Sprague and William Payne.
II-18
274
MEMOIRS OF F THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
DAVID M. KINSALL, of Shawnee- town, Ill., ex-judge of Gallatin county, and one of the leading members of the Southern Illinois bar, is of English de- scent, the first of the name in this country having come from England some years prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in North Carolina. Later he removed to Tennessee, where he reared a large fam- ily of children, among whom was John Kinsall, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. John Kinsall was born in Tennessee about 1791, was reared on a farm, received such an education as the schools of that day afforded and at the age of eighteen years began life on his own account as a wood chopper at Werd's salt works. After working at this for some time he, in company with two friends, bought a barge load of salt and started south with it. The barge struck a snag and sank, the three young salt traders barely escaping with their lives. This unfortunate termination of his first business venture left him con- siderably in debt, but with courage characteristic of the early pioneers he returned to the salt works and by strenuous efforts and rigid economy succeeded in clearing up his indebtedness. Soon after this he was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John Han- cock, of Virginia, a representative of one of the oldest and most prominent families of the Old Dominion, and removed with his young wife to White county, Ill., the region at that time being on the frontier. For two years he lived upon a rented farm in White county, at the end of which time he rented another farm near Shawneetown, and lived there until he entered government land a short distance east of Omaha, where he passed the remainder of his life, he and his wife both dying in 1854, within six months of each other. He took a keen interest in political affairs in his day, his house frequently being the place of holding the election, and he was one of the first commissioners of Gallatin county. Both he and his wife were earnest church workers. He fought in the war with the Creek Indians, and at the beginning of the war of 1812 he enlisted as a private under General Jackson. At the his- toric battle of New Orleans he received a bulle't which he carried to the day of his death. John and Elizabeth Kinsall were the parents of seven children, viz .: Hiram, William, Benjamin, Thomas,
275
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
David, Moses and Jane. Moses lives on the old home farm, Jane is the widow of Sterling Edwards, and now lives in Omaha, and all the others are deceased. Thomas Kinsall, the fourth son, was born in 1827, in Gallatin county, and passed his whole life in that part of the state. From the subscription schools of that day he acquired a meager education, which he supplemented by self-study and reading, becoming one of the leading citizens of the com- munity in which he lived. In 1850 he was married to Malinda E. Harrell, and soon afterward settled in the southwest part of White county, where he followed farming for two years, and then removed to Bear Creek township, in Gallatin county, where he lived the remainder of his active life. Upon retiring from the active conduct of the farm he removed to Omaha, where he lived until his death in 1889. His wife, who was born in 1829, died in 1876. They were both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and in politics he was always a consistent Democrat. Their children are all living. David M. is the subject of this sketch; Alvin H. is a banker at Eldorado, Ill .; John H. is a farmer in Clinton county of the same state; Samuel S. is a merchant and farmer in Colo- rado, and Jennie is the wife of B. L. Rodgers of Harrisburg, Ill. David M. Kinsali was born near Omaha, May 6, 1851, and has always lived in Gallatin county. After attending the public schools until he was eighteen years old he became a teacher, and for four terms taught in the common schools. In 1872 he attended the Fair- field high school for five months, and from that time until 1875 worked at different times as deputy assessor of Gallatin county. While thus employed he devoted his spare time to the study of law. In 1874 he attended the law department of the Indiana State university at Bloomington for the entire school year, and then, after teaching one term, entered the office of Hon. R. W. Town- shend and read for one year. In 1878 he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in the office of Mr. Townshend, who was at that time a member of Congress. In April, 1879, he was elected city attorney of Shawneetown for a term of two years and in September of the same year was appointed master in chancery for Gallatin county. This appointment was for two years, and in No- vember, 1880, he was elected state's attorney for the county and was re-elected in 1884, without opposition, holding the office for eight years and making an enviable record as a public official. In 1890 he was elected to the office of county judge, was re-elected at the close of his first term, making eight years that he dis-
276
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
charged the duties of this position. Since his retirement from the judgeship he has devoted all his time to the practice of his profes- sion and in looking after his large landed interests. His clientage is one of the largest in Southern Illinois, embracing all classes of law, in which Judge Kinsall is thoroughly versed. In politics he is one of the strong Democrats of his section of the state, and stands high in the councils of his party. He was married on Nov. 27, 1883, to Miss Edith, daughter of A. K. and Cassandra J. Lowe, of Shaw- neetown, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Edna, who is at home with her parents.
ALBERT G. RICHESON, proprietor of the Pioneer Store, one of the leading mercantile establishments of Shawneetown, Ill., is a native of Gallatin county. He can trace his ancestry on both sides back to old Virginia families, some of whom played important parts in establishing the independence of the United States. John Richeson, his grandfather, was a farmer in Amherst county, Va., and married Nancy A. Dickinson, whose father, David Dickinson, was a commissary for the Vir- ginia troops during the Revolutionary war. One of his sons was John D. Richeson, who was born in Amherst county, May 16, 1810. At the age of sixteen years he started out for himself. Making his way to Charlestown he hired out to some flatboatmen named Mays for $8 a month. That was on the first day of March, 1826. His first trip was down the Kanawha and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, then a town of less than ten thousand inhabitants. He continued flatboating until the fall of 1832, when he returned to Virginia and for the next four years followed trading in live stock and slaves and looking after a farm. He was then engaged in contracting on some public work at Louis- ville for about a year. In 1837 he came to Shawneetown, where he secured contracts for paving the levee in front of the town, and for grading the Shawneetown & Alton railroad to Equality, a distance of eleven miles. Being favorably impressed with the future prospects of Shawneetown he engaged in the general merchandizing business in 1838, and conducted it on both a wholesale and retail basis until his death in 1893, a period of more than fifty years. In 1839 he was
277
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
married to Mrs. Judith M. Carroll, née Williamson, the widow of James Carroll, and to this marriage there were born three children : Albert G., Mary, wife of Judge McBane, and Eleanora, who married Judge J. D. Turner and died in 1900. Both parents were active workers in the Presbyterian church. Albert G. Richeson received his education in the public schools and at Notre Dame university, South Bend, Ind. Upon leaving college he engaged for about a year in conducting a saw and grist mill at Equality. He was then for a time in the stock trading business; was next in partnership with Henry Richeson in operating a saw mill at Cypress in Johnson county ; after which he embarked in the hardware business at Shawneetown and continued in that line until 1887. For the next three years he farmed and traded in stock, and in 1890 formed a partnership with his father, under the name of the J. D. Richeson Co., for general merchandiz- ing. Upon the death of his father he succeeded to the business and is now the sole proprietor of one of the oldest and best known mercantile establishments in Gallatin county. In addition to his mer- cantile interests Mr. Richeson owns about 1,500 acres of land and is extensively connected with the saw mill business about Shawneetown. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Honor. On April 15, 1875, he was married to Miss Mattie L., daughter of Andrew and Mary McCallen, of Shawneetown. Her father was at one time the law partner of Abraham Lincoln, and Mrs. Richeson has in her possession a great many keepsakes in the way of letters, etc., that have passed between her father and Mr. Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Richeson have had. four children: May, Judith and Johnnie are deceased, and Helen is a student in school.
EDGAR MILLS, proprietor of the Mills Hotel and postmaster, Ridgway, Ill., was born at Shawneetown in the same county, Aug. 3, 1843. His father, whose name was also Edgar, was a native of New Jersey, of English descent, and came to Shawneetown about 1840, and there engaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he continued until his death in 1846. He married Miss Sarah Ridgway, a native of White county, Ill., and a daughter of John and Mary (Grant) Ridgway. To this union there were born two sons: Edgar and Walter. The latter died at Memphis in 1863, while serving in the Union army. After the death of the father the mother in 1852 married Silas Hemingway, and by this marriage had one daughter, Harriet, now a resident of Chicago. The mother died in 1863 and Mr. Hemingway in 1854. Edgar Mills was educated in the Shawneetown public schools and
278
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
the Spencerian business college of Cincinnati. In 1855 he began life as a clerk in the store of John & George A. Ridgway, and remained with them until 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, Eighteenth Illinois infantry, commanded by Col. M. K. Lawler. The regiment was first ordered to Cairo, where it was assigned to the com- mand of Gen. John A. McClernand, but was later attached to the Army of the Tennessee. Mr. Mills took part in the first battle of Fort Donelson, was at the battle of Shiloh, and in a number of skir- mishes. After seven months of service he returned to Shawneetown, his brother taking his place. From the time he left the army until 1865 he was engaged as a clerk in a store in Shawneetown. He then married Miss Zue E. Hunter, daughter of Matthew Hunter, a native of Pennsylvania. By this marriage he had one child, now deceased. His wife died in 1866, and Mr. Mills went to Evansville, Ind., and remained there until 1871, when he returned to Shawnee- town and became a member of the firm of Waggener & Mills. In ad- dition to their store at Shawneetown the firm established one at Ridgway, and when the partnership was dissolved some four years later the latter establishment fell to Mr. Mills. He continued in the mercantile line until 1884. In 1880 he was appointed postmaster of Ridgway by President Hayes. He continued to serve under the ad- ministration of Garfield and Arthur and during Cleveland's first term, up to Jan. 15, 1886. On June 10, 1889, he was again appointed post- master under President Harrison, and in 1897 was appointed by Pres- ident Mckinley, having held the position ever since. Mr. Mills is one of the leading Republicans of Gallatin county, and is one of the two members of that party that have been elected to county office. In 1876 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners and was re-elected in 1879. For fourteen years he has served as jus- tice of the peace of Ridgway township; was twice elected mayor of Shawneetown; and served two terms on the board of aldermen of that city. Since 1876 he has been nearly half of the time chairman of the Republican county central committee, and has always been active in behalf of his party. After the death of his first wife, already mentioned, he married her younger sister, Eva, in 1872, and they had four children, two of whom are living. Ridgway is a merchant in the town of the same name, and Ella is the wife of Professor Blackard, superintendent of the public schools of Gallatin county. The second Mrs. Mills died in 1884, and in 1886 he was married to Sophronia Crawford, a daugh- ter of John and Mary Kanada. No children have been born to this union. Mr. Mills has been proprietor of the hotel that bears his name
279
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
since 1895, and in that time he has made it one of the popular hos- telries of Southern Illinois. He and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian church.
JOHN T. HOGAN, a prominent grain dealer and vice-president of the Exchange bank, of Omaha, Ill., was born near Dover, Stewart county, Tenn., Jan. 7, 1850. His grandfather, John Hogan, was a native of Virginia and of Irish parentage. On his return from the battle of New Orleans at the close of the war of 1812 he settled in Tennessee, married Sarah, daughter of Noah McGregory, who served with Wash- ington during the Revolutionary war. To this marriage were born six children. Ed- mund Hogan, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Stewart county, Oct. 2, 1818. He married Ala- bama Owens, daughter of Major James Owens, a veteran of the war of 1812 and native of Virginia. After his marriage he followed farming in Tennessee until 1861, when he removed to White county, Ill., where his wife's parents had gone the preceding year. He bought a farm there and lived there until his death at the age of sixty-five years. His wife died at the age of forty-four. They were both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and he was a Democrat in his political views. Their children were John T., the subject of this sketch; Thomas B., now living in Kansas; Bettie, now Mrs. Stevens, living in Missouri; James R., of Omaha; Charles F., who was captain of a company in the First California regiment in the Philippines and now living in that state; George, in Missouri; Waite, deceased; A. P. and Malinda, twins, both dead. John T. Hogan was educated in the public schools and lived at home until twenty-two years of age, having charge of his father's affiairs for some time on account of the latter's ill health. At the age of twenty-two he went to Nevada and California and remained there about three years, then returning to Illinois for a short time. In 1877 he again went to Nevada, where he followed farming and min- ing until 1880, when he came back to White county, married Martha C., daughter of D. W. and Jane (Riley) Galloway, and located on a farm near Roland. His wife died in 1884 and in 1887. he came to Omaha and engaged in the milling and grain business. Since 1893
280
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
he has devoted his attention to the grain business alone. By his first marriage he has two children, Claudia and Harry, both living in Omaha, where the former is a teacher in the public school. In 1890 he was married to Mahala C. Kinsall, a native of Gallatin county, and they have two children, Althea and Harold, both at home. Mr. Hogan has been a prominent figure in Omaha business circles ever since coming to the town. In addition to his grain business he over- sees his large farm; was one of the organizers of the Exchange bank, of which he is now vice-president; served six years as super- visor ; was president of the board of school trustees for nine years, and is one of the active Democrats of Omaha. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Lodge No. 723, and of Royal Arch Chapter, No. 165. In the lodge he has filled all the offices and is a representative to the Grand Lodge. In Lodge No. 472, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he has also passed through the chairs and is a representative to the Grand Lodge. He and his wife both belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder for many years.
JOSEPH DEVOUS, of the firm of De- vous & Rice, millers and grain dealers, Ridgway, Ill., is of French descent. In 1814, his grandfather, Isadore Devous, left his native province of Alsace-Lorraine and with his wife and two sons, Jacob and Isadore, came to America. For about a year the family lived at New Orleans, where Jacob died. They then removed to New Albany, Ind., where the grandfather followed the business of contractor and builder for many years, dying at the age of ninety-nine. Isadore Devous, the father of the subject of this sketch, was about two years old when his par- ents came to America. He remained at home until he was thirteen years of age, when he started in to learn the trade of engineer. After serving his apprenticeship he was for two years an engineer on the Alva Adams, a steamboat running between Louisville and New Or- leans. He then left the river and for about two years was engaged in peddling goods through the country, then a popular occupation, and one in which there was considerable profit. His next venture was to establish a general store in Brown county, Ohio, which he con-
281
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
ducted successfully for four years, when he came down the river to Gallatin county, and engaged in farming near Ridgway. Most of the land that he bought at from 50 cents to $10 an acre is still in the possession of his heirs, and is now worth about $100 an acre. He was a member of the Catholic church, and took an active interest in promoting its worthy charities. While living in Brown county, Ohio, he was married to Catherine Bartell, a native of France, who came with her parents to this country in her childhood. To this union there were born fifteen children, eight of whom are still living. John is in Oklahoma; Joseph is the subject of this sketch; Sebastian, Louis and Charles live on the old home place ; Leonia is Mrs. Hish, of Ridgway; Kate married a man named Moss- man and lives in White county, Ill .; and Mary is the wife of a Mr. White, of Mount Vernon, Ind. The father of these children lived to the age of eighty-seven years and eight months, and the mother died in her eighty-third year. Joseph Devous was born in Brown county, Ohio, Nov. 12, 1845. Up to the age of eleven years he attended St. Martin's academy there, which constituted his entire schooling. He then worked on the farm until he was twenty-six, when he engaged in farming for himself near his father's place. After five years in this occupation he embarked in the grain business. In 1889 he pur- chased an interest in the firm of Trusty & McDaniel, proprietors of the Ridgway flour mills, of which Mr. Devous is now the manager. The product of these mills, which is placed on the market under the names of Lily, Snow Bouquet and Red Rose flour, is known all over Southern Illinois, and even in other states. This firm also conducts the elevator at Ridgway and buys most of the grain from the farmers of the surrounding country. Mr. Devous is a Democrat in his polit- ical views but is not an active politician. In his religious belief he clings to the faith of his father and belongs to St. Joseph's Catholic church. Of this church he was one of the founders and for twenty- five years he has been at the head of the board of trustees. Besides his interest in the firm of Devous & Rice he owns 500 acres of fine land, several pieces of town property, mining stocks and other invest- ments. In 1872 Mr. Devous was married to Miss Anna Aman, a native of Posey county, Ind., and they had two children : Catherine, now a Mrs. Cirkelbach, of Ridgway, and Mary, wife of John Hans- borough of Enfield, Ill. Mrs. Devous died on July 17, 1900, and Mr. Devous was subsequently married to Miss Emma Smith, of East St. Louis. Mrs. Devous is now one of the leading milliners of Ridg- way.
282
MEMOIRS OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY
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.