Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter 23: The Departed Ones, 1909

Oldest Settlers - All Gone - Later Comers Fast Following Them - A New Generation Comes in as the old Goes out - Truth the Only Monument That Will Stand the Test of Ages.

Among the first comers were Lewis and Frances Johnson. They had a daughter, Anna. About the same time came Ransom Moss. And it is said of Ransom and Anna that they moved from the same county in Virginia about the same time to the same place in Tennessee, then from that state to Jefferson county, Illinois, without becoming acquainted. They were also both the same age - born in 1 798 on the same day. Mr. Moss had been married and was the father of Lucillius C. Moss, who figured in the early history of Mount Vernon and died at an advanced age in Ashley a few years ago. Moss and Anna Johnson met and married - said to be the first marriage in Jefferson county - which marriage ceremony was performed by William Casey - ^wherein Zadok Casey said William announced that "marriage was ordained in the days of man's ignorance." To Ransom and Anna were born eight children - five boys and three girls, the first being Thomas L., the father of Thaddeus

C, W. D. and "Judge" and Mrs. George W. Smith, Mrs. J. L. Fergerson and Mrs. William Maxey; James F., who lived and died in Jersey county; William; John Riley, who married George W. Allen's daughter and they were the parents of Angus I., farmer and stock raiser of Shiloh township ; Norman H.. lawyer, of Mount Vernon ; a daughter who married Doctor McAnnually, of Carbondale ; Lillie, who married a Mr. Neal, of Knoxville, Tennessee; and Dr. Harry Moss, of Albion, Illinois. Capt. John R. recently died at the home of Harry in Albion, and was buried at Oakwood cemetery near here. Then came Elizabeth, Amanda and Nancy, the latter of whom is the wife of James C. Maxey, of Mount Vernon - both being well advanced in age.

Ransom Moss died in 1835. After the lapse of time his widow, Anna, married a Mr. Latham, from which union was born Samuel Latham, who served as postmaster of Mount Vernon in the seventies. Latham died, and Anna, or "Grandma Moss" as she was better known, lived a widow for fifty years, until she died in great peace in Mount Vernon in October, 1 890, aged ninety-two years and a half. Her descendants number about two hundred souls, running down to the fifth generation. She was mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. For eighty years she was a consistent member of the Methodist church and lived a faithful Christian.

the parents of ten children: Ed V.; John N.; Mary E. ; Mrs. Prudence Fry; Mrs. Martha Cooper; Maud; James R. ; William R. ; Rebecca and Laura. They are all gone, except Mrs. Cooper and Laura. At an advanced age he was buried at Old Union twenty years ago and his aged wife a few years later.

Thomas H. Hobbs married a Miss Holtsclaw in 1843 and Henry Hobbs, the machinist who died recently, was their son. The wife died and Mr. Hobbs took Ellen Guthrie to wife and Charles A. ; Alva L. ; Edward and Homer were their children. Mr. Hobbs was well known as an enterprising citizen, a Republican. Odd Fellow and a Methodist.

S. T. Stratton was a later comer, but a valuable citizen - full of business enterprise - filled well his mission and died full of years and honor. His children : R. L. ; Charles T. ; A. M. ; Mrs. A. C. Johnson ; Mrs. R. F. Pace ; Rynd, the hardware man ; and Miss Anna. David and Mrs. Dr. Johnson and R. L. are the only ones left.

J. E. Fergerson came from Tennessee in the fifties, farmed and merchandised successfully, until age stopped him. He was father of James, John L. and Frank by his Tennessee wife. He married a Mrs. Westcott and farmed on the Centralia road for a while. His wife died and he came to town, formed a partnership with Stratton and they together made things lively for a season. He then married Rev. G. W. Allen's girl, Sarah, and reared another family: Mrs. John Mahaffy; Mrs. Deeds, of Nashville, Tennessee; Mrs. Hill Williams (dead) ; Mrs. Stuckey and Mrs. Scott, being his daughters, with two girls and one boy dead. His widow is still with us. He was a way-back Methodist.

Sam Gibson married a Newby and raised a family consisting of four boys and three girls - all useful people in the communities in which they live. Uncle Sam is still enjoying life, a good citizen and a Christian.

The names of the "first families," such as the Tuntstalls, Hicks, Reardens, Nortons, Snodgrasses, Parsons, Upshaws, Crabtrees, Adams, Dickens, Southwards, Porters, Eastes, Fosters, Mays and others, who figured in the early years of the town, have entirely disappeared, with not even a descendant to speak for them. But they performed their part and passed on.

Jarvis Pierce went to Harrisburg and was a "court-house fixture" there till he died. James, one of his boys, was elected County Clerk there and served many years. David Hobbs and Aaron Yearwood came in 1826. Robert Breeze and Joseph McMeens settled up towards Jordan's Prairie, 1827. Enoch Holtsclaw and Sam Cummins came in 1828; also the Bullocks, Billington Taylor, Caleb Barr, Elisha Meyers, Peter Owen, William Finch, Thomas Nichols. But it is impossible to keep this up. This brings us up to 1830.

The Tromleys are all gone - George A. lives at Fairfield and Lawrence and Theodore are still in the printing business at Galena, Missouri. Theodore has just been elected to the Legislature.

All the men of the Ham National Bank - Ham Taylor, Grant Holland, Noah Johnston - are gone. Mrs. Ham is still living with her two sons, Sidney and Grant, and her daughter, Mrs. Martha Pavey, Evans, of the other bank, is gone, and absenteeism is the rule rather than the exception.

The Warrens, the Scanks, the Millers, the Klines, of the early day are all gone. The Frizzells died with the cholera in 1 849 and a row of tombstones mark their graves in Old Union. In fact, nearly all the good people of "our day" seem to have left us to "fight it out," that is, with the exception of a few chums, like the

Roda Allen, grandfather to Hibe and Jack Allen, was the first one to be buried at Union graveyard, in 1820. The spot is marked by a neat monument erected by his grandson. Rev. S. K. Allen. The gravestones in Union, Salem, Pleasant Grove, Hopewell, Sursa, Bethel and even Oakwood cemeteries, contain several names not now claimed by any living persons in this community.

All the old Caseys are dead,W. Barger, son of Uncle Tommy, being the oldest one we know of. He still lives in Mount Vernon and pursues the even tenor of his way - just as he always did. He can tell you all about the Caseys.

The old Johnsons are also missing. Washington S., son of "Uncle Jackey," Abraham C, son of "Uncle Jimmy," and Leander C, son of John T., being the only old "seedlings" left, and there is multiplying evidence that we are passing away - we are living in another generation. Wesley Johnson's widow is still living, quite aged. Her children are: Thomas and Harry, Florence, Emma and Lucy, at home, Sallie Coberly, married. Fletcher's widow is also still living and her children are: Mrs. Mary Moyer, Eva, (deceased). Susie and Mattie, and Willie, dead. They are some of our best people.

And even those who came here in the forties, after the writer did, have been called "old settlers" and passed off the stage of action. The Greens, the Fergersons, the Strattans, the Tolles, the Herdmans, the Hobbs, the Gibsons.

Doctor Gray and his tribe are all gone ; so with the Dan Baltzel family, and the Thorn family, and the Doctor Short tribe, and largely so with the Newby people. The Bowmans are all gone; the Paces have largely decreased in numbers ; the Hinmans are out but Bob and children ; the Bennetts are unknown to this generation, the Melchers are absent; the Ridgways are gone; the well known fist fighters who used to come to town and whom everybody knew, are doing the pioneers stunt in some other unexplored country; the Andersons, prominent as they were, are no more seen upon our streets ; Noah Johnston has but one representative left - his son, Ed. And even Zadok Casey, the noblest Roman, nay, the noblest American of them all, has but one representative left among us, and he a grandson, Sam Casey.

The great fire that burned out the Phoenix Block, occurred March 17, 1868. C. L. Hayes lost twelve hundred dollars in his printing outfit, but was soon on his feet with another press and resumed the publication of the Free Press.

George H. Varnell died in 1889. His wife is still living, quite old and an invalid. The children are: George, John and Tiney, and Mrs. Tate.

John S. Bogan died in 1892. His wife is still living, as also his sons, William and Frank, and daughter, Mrs. Marsh Goodale. Mrs. W. T. Goodrich, and Mrs. N. C. Pace, widow.

James B. ToUe came in 1843 and was the first to put up a modern mill near town. His children were: Lewis, in St. Louis; Charles, Bert, Mary, deceased; and Alice, here. Brother ToUe was a thorough three-link man and the links that suited him best were the Methodist church, the Republican party and the Odd Fellows.

Edward McAtee came in early, married W. B. Thorn's daughter, and they were the parents of James W., Theodore and Charles A., and the McAtee girls.

Pollock, Varnell, Tanner, and others, who have done nobly, all of them have hoed out their row and gone home, and in their places we behold an entire new set of bread winners, battling for the bread and meat that perisheth - just as the old settlers did during their sojourn here.

A fact - and it is a fact - worth mentioning here, is this : There is not a man now in sight that was in business here in 1 842 when the writer first came to Mount Vernon - all gone. James M. Pace was the last to go and he was then only a clerk in his father's store. We believe H. T. Pace's youngest son, A. N., is still living in Florida, but his grandson, William T., and his sister, Mrs. Dr. Plummer, are the only representatives of the H. T. Pace family here. Another fact is that there is not a house in sight in the limits of Mount Vernon that was a house then, except the old Methodist church, which is now being used as a lumber yard office on Eleventh street and the part of the old H. T. Pace store house, being torn down, now on Johnson alley, having been used as a carpenter shop. So the reader can readily see the importance of renewmg their Jefferson county history - at least every twenty-five years.

We have just been presented with a copy of the "Unionist," published by the writer in Mount Vernon in November, 1863, and the list of business men in town then were:

Merchants - J. Pace & Son, corner of Main and Union; H. T. Pace, S. W. corner Main and Union; R. W. Lyon, N. E. corner Bunyan and Union; T. H. Hobbs & Co., S. E. corner Union and Bunyan; Stratton & Fergerson, N. E. corner Bunyan and Washington; J. F. Watson, Main, below Washington and Union; D. Baltzel & Son, Main, corner Casey. Johnson & Ham, S. W. corner Main and Casey.

Groceries - W. D. Watson, Union, north of Main; E. J. Winton, Main, below Union and Washington ; John Kleine, Main, one door west of J. F. Watson.

In this paper were the returns of an election held for County School Commissioners. The writer had been put on the Union ticket to lead the "forlorn hope," knowing that there would be no chance of election. The Democratic majority against him was six hundred and twenty-one, whereas the majority against the Union candidate for Congress at same election was eleven hundred and twenty-one.

Rev. W. T. Williams, father of John D. and William T., was then pastor of the Christian, or Campbellite, church, and Rev. Gordon pastor of the Presbyterian church.

Dr. E. E. Welborn was keeping drug store where the Grand Hotel now stands and Ed Noble had just quit the tinner's business to go to Centralia and become landlord of the Merritt hotel.

The Collins are all gone but John and family. His cheerful "get up" can still be heard out among the teams. His mother. Lydia Watson Collins, is living with her other son, Ogie, at Arthur.

The fellows who used to forage and get chickens for Maria to "burgoo" are also missing. We remember one night the other fellows left Asa Watson to help Maria get up the supper while they went out and got the chickens. When they came in with them, Asa saw in a moment they had taken them from his own roost. Asa "got even" with them at supper, but we will have to whisper in your ears just how he did it.

And so it will be seen that we are all going somewhere else - and it is important to each individual to know where. Happily we need not be left in the dark, for "we know Him" in whom we have trusted, and that hath prepared mansions of joy and rest for us, for, spiritually speaking, we can all exclaim with one of old

Back of the bread, the grinding mill. Back of the mill, the reaper's task; Back of this, the Father's will And blessings more than we can ask.

Back of honest toil, the rain and sun. Back of these, the productive sod ; And back of all our work - when done - We come - we come - to God.

There is absolutely nowhere else to go - except to the devil - and we hope that no reader of Wall's Jefferson County History will dare do that.