Jefferson County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1909 (part 1 of 6)

Biographical sketches

The Pace family is one of the oldest families in the state of Illinois. It is an English family, and traces its history back about four hundred years to England, where one of its members was a member of the British Parliament. About two hundred years ago two brothers of the family came to America, one locating in the southern part of the now United States, the other in New York. The descendants of these brothers are distributed in almost every state in the United States. It is thought by members of the family that the Declaration of Independence was signed by one of them, where the name is usually taken for William Paca, the original of the Declaration of Independence having been examined by one of the family, and the name having been written in such a manner as to cause him to belive it was William Pace instead of William Paca. Some of the family then resided in Virginia. The Paces have taken part in all the wars in which this country has been engaged. Two brothers, Joel Pace, Sr., and John Pace, were in the Revolutionary war, both from Virginia. The latter was a captain in that war. Two sons of said Joel Pace, Sr., being Joel Pace, Jr., and Joseph Pace (twins), were in the War of 1812, and in General Harrison's command. Members of the Pace family were also in the Mexican war, and on both sides in the Civil war, some wearing the blue and some the gray, also in the Black Hawk war, the war with Spain and in the Philippines. The older members of this fam- ily who settled in Jefferson county, Illinois, came from Virginia and Kentucky, a portion of them locating here before the county was organized. The oldest member who located here was the above named Joel Pace, Sr. His family was composed of John M. Pace, Joel Pace, Jr., Joseph Pace, Spencer Pace, William West Pace, Thomas East Pace, his sons, and Mary Atwood (wife of James Atwood), Martha Goodrich (wife of Nathan Goodrich), Milly Baugh (wife of Judge Downing Baugh), and Frances Watson (wife of Dr. John W. Watson), his daughters.

Joel Pace, Jr., was the first County Clerk, the first Circuit Clerk and the first County Judge of Jefferson county, Illinois. His family consisted of Charles T., Williamson C, Newton C, Addison M. and Samuel F., his sons; and Eliza McCreary (wife of Warren McCreary), Letitia Haynes (wife of James Haynes), and Isabella F. Pavey (wife of Charles W. Pavey), his daughters.

Charles T. Pace was a successful merchant in Mount Vernon, Illinois, and is now deceased. Williamson C. Pace now resides in Ashley, Illinois, and has been successful as a physician and surgeon and business man; was Mayor of Ashley, Illinois, and was surgeon of the One Hundred Tenth Illinois Infantry in the Civil war.

Edward C. Pace, now deceased, was a banker in Ashley, Illinois, and was once the Democratic nominee for State Treasurer of Illinois, and was prominent in the Masonic Order.

Newton C. Pace, now deceased, was a successful merchant, and was Mayor of Mount Vernon, Illinois, and was captain in one of the Illinois regiments in the Civil war, and with his brother-in-law, Charles W. Pavey, was for about two years held by the Confederates as prisoner of war. He was wounded in assisting to carry one of his wounded comrades from the battlefield. In doing so he took a risk his duty as captain of his comapny did not require, but was actuated by his kindness and consideration for those under his command. He was also prominent in the Masonic Order.

Addison M. Pace has for many years been a resident of Kansas. Samuel F. Pace and Mrs. Eliza McCreary and Mrs. Letitia Haynes are now deceased. Isabella F. Pavey is the wife of Gen. Charles V/. Pavey, who was State Auditor of Illinois, and they are residents of Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Joseph Pace, the twin brother of Joel Pace, Jr., was the first County Surveyor of Jefferson county, Illinois. His family consisted of Samuel T. Pace, J. Thomas Pace and Warren G. Pace, his sons; and Susan F. Dillingham, Pamelia Dillingham, Margaret Downey, Elizabeth Allen and Mary A. Pace, his daughters. Samuel T. Pace was in the Sixtieth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, in the Civil war, in which he had an arm so badly shot it had to be amputated. He was a successful business man and is now deceased. His brother, J. Thomas Pace, became eminent in his profession as a physician and surgeon, and is now deceased. Warren G. Pace died in infancy. Two of the daughters of Joseph Pace, Mrs. Elizabeth Allen and Mary A. Pace, now reside in Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Spencer Pace, William West Pace and Thomas East Pace departed this life many years ago. William West Pace went from Jefferson county to Salem, Illinois, and was a prominent man there, and was Clerk of one of the Courts of Marion county. Some of his children and their descendants now reside in Salem, Illinois. His youngest daughter, Josephine, is the wife of J. E. Bryan, a lawyer of Salem, Illinois, a cousin of William Jennings Bryan. Two widowed daughters also reside there.

John M. Pace was the oldest son of Joel Pace, Sr. He came from Virginia to Kentucky and from Kentucky to Jefferson county. Ilhnois. His family consisted of Harvey T., George W., John H. and Joel F., his sons; and Amelia Guthrie and Amanda Rogers, his daughters.

was a successful merchant and business man, and for many years did the largest business of any merchant in Mount Vernon. Illinois, and was in general merchandising there without intermission from 1 832 to the date of his death, in 1 876, on the same corner, being where the Third National Bank now stands. He was a progressive man and held offices of trust. He was president of the first railroad company in this county, and was three times elected a member of the Legislature of Illinois, serving in that body with Lincoln and Douglas. His wife's maiden name was Nancy Bruce, a native of Wilson county, Tennessee. Her ancestors participated in the Revolutionary war, and War of 1812, one being with General Jackson in the battle of New Orleans. Harvey T. Pace and his wife were zealous members of the Christian church, and he bought a church in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 1 854, for the use of that denomination, which was used by it from that time till his death. He also built at his own expense a Ladies' Seminary and maintained it for sometime. His sons were James M., George W., William H. and Aurehus N., and his daughters, Martha E. and Mary E.

James M. Pace was the oldest son of Harvey T. Pace, and was a lawyer and business man. He was public-spirited and progressive and was ever ready and willing to do anything that would promote the welfare of the city of Mount Vernon and of the county and state. He was elected to many offices of trust and confidence. He was the first Mayor of the city of Mount Vernon, Illinois, the first County Superintendent of Schools of Jefferson county, which position he held for eight years, having been twice elected to this office, and was Master in Chancery of this county. Police Magistrate of Mount Vernon, Illinois, and was for about twenty years a member of the Board of Education of Mount Vernon, a portion of the time being its president, and was a member of a board which maintained a seminary here for four years, of which Rev. Thomas

H. Herdman, who afterwards was president of McKendree College, at Lebanon, Illinois, was principal. When County Superintendent of Schools he held the first teachers' institute in Jefferson county and was largely instrumental in establishing the graded schools in Mount Vernon. He was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge in Mount Vernon, and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He did as much as any other person in securing the building of the first railroad in this county, being now the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. It was strongly opposed, and was submitted to a vote of the county. He contributed of his own means and time in assisting to carry the proposition, and did so from no motive whatever except for the general good of the community. He had surveyed at his own expense a railroad route from Mount Vernon to Benton, in Franklin county, which substantially now forms a portion of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. His life was an unselfish one - generous, kind and courteous to all - and he was permitted to live to see these enterprises for which he so faithfully and earnestly labored all consummated, demonstrating the correctness of his foresight and judgment, having departed this life July 18, 1907, at the age of eighty years. He married Eleanor C. Vaught, a daughter of Thomas F. Vaught, who was a merchant of Shawneetown, Illinois, and also County Clerk of Gallatin county, Illinois. She, from her kind and gentle manner and disposition, was a suitable companion for her husband, and they were permitted to round out life's day in this county, whose history they had assisted in making and upon which they had left their impress for the good and elevation of the community in which their lives had been chiefly spent and together they entered life's evening twilight, the portal to perpetual day, she having departed this life February 16, 1907.

and a daughter, Virginia M. The son, Thomas V., died in infancy. The daughter, Virginia M., is the wife of Louis H. Bittrolff, and now resides in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The other son, William T. Pace, is a lawyer, practicing his profession in Mount Vernon. He was three times elected County Judge of Jefferson county, and also acted as County Judge of Wayne county, this state, for a time while County Judge of Jefferson county on account of a vacancy occurring by the death of the County Judge of Wayne county. He was an alternate delegate-at-large for the state of Illinois to the Democratic National Convention in 1896, when William J. Bryan was first nominated for President.

Of the other children of Harvey T. Pace, one, William H. Pace, died in youth from injuries received in falling from a tree. Another, George W. Pace, departed this life when a young man, just entering upon a prosperous business career. The other son, Aurelius N. Pace, resides in Montgomery, Alabama. Of the daughters, one, Mary E., departed this life in childhood; the other, Martha E., is the wife of Dr. Hiram S. Plummer, and resides in Mount Vernon, Illinois.

George W. Pace, Sr., a brother of Harvey T. Pace, after he became grown moved from Mount Vernon to Salem, Illinois. He was a successful merchant and business man, and was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1 847, of Illinois. Two of his sons are deceased. George W., Jr., died when quite a young man. The other deceased son, Granville R., was a prominent merchant and was Mayor of Salem, Illinois. The sons living are Harvey T. Pace, Jr., a business man of Salem, and Oscar H. Pace, residing in Mount Vernon. He also had two daughters, Tabitha J. Badolett, now deceased, and Ophelia E. Tryner, now residing in California. George W. Pace, Sr., married Tabitha J. Rogers, who formerly resided in Jefferson county, Illinois.

John H. Pace, a brother of Harvey T. Pace, was a prominent merchant, and at the time of his death was Police Magistrate of Mount Vernon, Ilhnois. Two of his daughters are deceased, one dying in childhood, the other, Cora A., married William D. Tabb, who is also deceased. They left surviving them two daughters, Gertrude and Louise. The other daughter of John H. Pace is Gussie Manning, wife of William Manning, of Howell, Indiana Of the two sons of John H. Pace, one, Willis A., departed this life when about grown. The other son, Robert F. Pace, is a prominent business man residing in Mount Vernon, this state.

A portion of the time he has taken an active part in politics, and has been Master in Chancery of Jefferson county and postmaster of Mount Vernon.

The other son of John M. Pace, Joel F., and a daughter, Amanda Rogers, are deceased. The other daughter, Amelia Guthrie, now resides in Mount Vernon with her son, John P. Guthrie.

The Pace family were never clannish in any manner. Some were zealous members of various church denominations. Locally most of the denominations to which they belonged were the Christian, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Episcopal. In politics they belonged to different parties, some ardent Democrats and others as loyal Republicans. As a family they have evei been progressive, conservative citizens, of firmness and of strong character, boldly and fearlessly upholding that which was elevating and conducive to the welfare and best interests of the community, the state and nation. And they, with other families who located in Jefferson county, about the same time they did, have played well their part in making a history for Jefferson county, Illinois, of which they feel a just pride; and with those families, in life's battles, can truly say, "We have kept the faith. We have founght a good fight."

Hon. Norman H. Moss

A distinguished member of the Ilhnois Bar with a reputation extending beyond the limits of his state and for many years one of the leading citizens of Southern Illinois, the subject of this sketch holds distinctive prestige among the representative men of Jefferson county and is pre-eminently one of the influential factors in the public life of the city, which he makes his home. The family to which Hon. Norman H. Moss belongs is an old and prorninent one and from an early day has been closely identified with the development and progress of Jefferson county and influential in various lines of thought and activity. Several of its members have risen to high positions in professional and political circles, but to the subject is due the credit of adding to the prestige of the name and to the brightness of an escutcheon which shines with peculiar luster in a community long noted for the high standing and distinguished achievements of its public and professional men.

Norman H. Moss is a native of Jefferson county, born four and a half miles southwest of Mount Vernon in McClellan township, on the 25th day of March, 1856. He comes of a long line of sterling ancestry, inherits many of the sturdy characteristics for which his family has long been distinguished and is a splendid type of that high order of American manhood and citizenship which have contributed so much to the progress of the country and solidity and popularity of its institutions. Capt. John Riley Moss, his father, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere, was a pioneer of Jefferson county, a farmer by occupation and one of the leading men of his day in this part of Illinois. Permelia C. Allen, wife of Captain Moss and mother of the subject was born in this county, November 23, 1835, and died on March 1 6th, of the year 1 908. She was the daughter of Rev. George W. and Eliza Allen, the father a pioneer minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and for a number of years a prominent farmer and pubhc-spirited man of affairs, who held various official positions and achieved an honorable reputation for his activity and influence in promoting the interests of the community. Mrs. Moss was early instructed in the tenets of Methodism and from her childhood lived the life of an earnest and sincere Christian, taking especial delight in assisting the needy, and leading souls to the better life. For about two years prior to her death she was totally blind, despite which heavy affliction, however, she continued to be bright and cheerful and contributed to the enjoyment and happiness of all who came within the range of her influence. Hers was indeed a grand and beautiful poem of duty faithfully and cheerfully performed and her descendants mention her name with something of the profound love and respect which the pious pilgrim feels in the presence of some sacred shrine.

Norman H. Moss is the second of a family of six children, the names of his brothers and sisters being as follows: Angus I., of Shiloh township; Mrs. E. W. Neal, of Knoxville, Tennessee; Dr. Harry C. Moss, a practicing physician, of Albion, Illinois; Mrs. Rufus Grant, of Mount Vernon, and Addie May, deceased, who married Dr. John T. McAnally, of Carbondale, this state. Of the early life of the subject little need be said as it was devoid of incident or experience of striking nature, having been spent on the farm^ where in close touch with nature, in a daily routine of duty, he acquired the bodily strength and independence of mind which subsequently developed into well rounded manhood and enabled him to successfully grapple the problems by which he was confronted from time to time. His preliminary education acquired in the district schools was supplemented by a course in the Illinois Agricultural College at Irvington. He subsequently entered the Southern Illinois Normal School at Carbondale, where he made commendable progress in the higher branches of learning. On leaving the above institution young Moss turned his attention to teaching during the winter of 1 879-80 at Toney Point, and the following year taught the first term in what is known as the Arlington School, Moore's Prairie township, Jefferson county, Illinois, meeting with encouraging success as an instructor, but using the work as a stepping stone to something better and more permanent.

Having early manifested a decided preference for the law, a profession for which a naturally strong and analytical mind peculiarly fitted him, Mr. Moss in 1 880 entered the office of Hon. Seth F. Crews and George M. Haynes, a well known and successful legal firm of Mount Vernon, where he prosecuted his studies with such diligence and satisfaction that on May 5, 1882, he was admitted to the bar and at once began the practice of his profession at the county seat. Without entering into a detailed review of Mr. Moss's legal career, suffice it to say that from the beginning his progress was not only commendable but rapid, and it was not long until he forged to the front rank among the rising attorneys of the Jefferson County Bar and won his full share of professional patronage. His was the standard by which younger lawyers seek to be measured in the field of legal learning, eloquence, general attainments and industry which hestitated at no obstacles however numerous and formidable, and a faithfulness to the cause of clients which invariably gained their confidence and paved the way to higher achievements and success.

Mr. Moss possesses a peculiar charm of voice and manner which render him especially strong as an advocate ; but he is no less distinguished as a counsellor, his familiary with the science and principles of law, his independent character of mind, his quick perception and sound judgment and above all his well known integrity, eminently qualify him to act the part of a discreet and trusted adwall's history of JEFFERSON CO., ILL. 349 viser. It is a combination of these and other equally as strong qualities which has secured to him the respect and esteem of the bar and the confidence and commendation of the public.

In 1884 Mr. Moss without any solicitation on his part, was appointed State's Attorney to fill out the unexpired term of Hon. W. N. White and so ably and satisfactory were his official functions discharged that at the expiration of the term he was the unanimous choice of his party for the office but failed of election by reason of the overwhelming strength of the opposition. Politically he is a stalwart Republican, and for a number of years has been one of the leading factors of his party in Jefferson county, besides taking, since 1 889, an active and influential part in state politics and assisting very materially in the various victories gained in the meantime. He has long been recognized as one of the ablest and most judicious politicians in Southern Illinois and in campaign years his services are in great demand, his judgment, foresight and ability as an organizer being especially appreciated in party counsels. On various occasions he has been honored by nomination for important official positions, the first time in 1 884 for State's Attorney, as already indicated, in 1 886 for County Judge and again in 1888 for State's Attorney. Although unsuccessful in these different contests, he carried much more than the strength of his ticket and succeeded in reducing the normal Democratic majority to the lowest minimum in the history of the county.

From 1 890 to 1 892 inclusive Mr. Moss served as secretary of the Republican committee of the old Nineteenth Congressional District, and in the latter year was nominated by acclamation for Congress, but as usual in the district lead a forlorn hope, though making a brilliant canvass and causing wide spread uneasiness in the ranks of the enemy. In 1890 he was appointed under President Harrison's administration Supervisor of census for the Eighth District, comprising twenty counties, and discharged the duties of the position with his accustomed care and abihty, winning the approbration of his superiors and favorable comments from the head of the department. In 1893 he was elected City Attorney of Mount Vernon, which office he filled with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public for a period of two years and in 1 898 he was further honored by being elected from the Forty-sixth District, composed of Jefferson, Wayne, Franklin and Hamilton counties, to the lower house of the General Assembly.

Mr. Moss proved an able and judicious legislator and was recognized as one of the strong and influential members of the House during his incumbency. He at once became one of the Republican leaders of that body and in addition to serving on a number of important committees took a conspicuous part in the general deliberations, displaying marked ability as a debater and as a member of the "Steering Committee," which virtually determined the course of the majority, he impressed his personality upon his associates and took the initiative in a number of important preceedings. He rendered especially valuable service on the judiciary, corporations, elections and claims committees, where his influence was duly recognized and appreciated, also succeeding in passing a number of bills of vital interest to the people of the state and was untiring in his efforts to promote the interests of his constituents, the majority of whom irrespective of party allignment reposited the utmost confidence in his ability and judgment and expressed themselves as fully satisfied with his course. Additional to the various official positions indicated Mr. Moss from time to time has been called to other places of responsibility and trust, all of which he worthily filled and added to his reputation as a capable and painstaking public servant. In 1 889 he was commissioned Special Bank Examiner to investigate the affairs of the first National Bank, of Arkansas City, Kansas, and later was appointed by Hon. Charles G. Dawes, Comptroller of the Currency, receiver of the same institution, also of the First National Bank, of McPherson, Kansas, legal and financial ability of a high order being required in both instances. Suffice it to state that in these important and responsible trusts, his course was eminently satisfactory to the authorities and creditable to himself.

Mr. Moss in August, 1903, was appointed by Governor Yates, chief clerk of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary, and after holding the position until 1905 was appointed Parole Commissioner of the same institution, which place he still holds.

He is an honorary member of the Cook County Republican Marching Club of Chicago and for a number of years has served on the Republican Central Committee of Jefferson county, and for four years (last past) was a member of and chairman of the Congressional Committee of the Twenty-third Congressional District. He IS also an enthusiastic member of the Sons of Veterans, in which organization he has held various official positions including that of Judge Advocate of the Illinois Division and delegate to both State and national encampment of the order. At the present time his membership is with Camp No. 1 00, Chicago, but his interest in the organization has made his name a familiar sound throughout the bounds and he appears as much at home in one camp as another. . Mr. Moss is a charter member of Camp 1919, Modern Woodmen, of Mount Vernon and also belongs to Jefferson Lodge, No. 121, Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all chairs besides taking the grand lodge degree, and attaining a prominent position in the higher work of the order. In addition to the above fraternal societies he is a Mason of exalted rank, holding membership with Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 31, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, H. W. Hubbard Chapter No. 160, Royal Arch Masons and Patton Commandery No. 69, all at Mount Vernon, Illinois.

By reference to the foregoing review, the life of Mr. Moss appears to have been a very strenuous one, filled to repletion with duty ably and faithfully performed and characterized throughout by a devotion to principle, above reproach and a sense of honor defying adverse criticism. He has a capacity for large undertakings and his professional success, political activity and influence and official integrity, have not only commended him to the people of his own county and state, but have given him a reputation much more than state wide and an honorable name among the leading men of his day.

Mr. Moss is a man of fine sensibilities and a high sense of justice and honor, and it has ever been his aim to be on the right side of every question with which he has had anything to do and to lose sight of self or selfish interests in the noble endeavor of striving for the greater good of the greater number.

Broad-minded, public-spirited, fervidly patriotic and taking liberal views of men and affairs he has impressed his individuality upon the community as an enterprising large-hearted, progressive American citizen of the best type, while among his immediate friends and neighbors, he will always be regarded as a man without pretense and a courteous gentleman whose integrity and loyalty will bear the closest and strictest scrutiny.

An interesting chapter in this history of Mr. Moss is his happy domestic life which dates from September 4, 1889, when he was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Mary McAnally, whose birth occurred at Decaturville, Tennessee, on the I I th day of September, 1 860, but who at the time of her marriage was living in the city of Carbondale. Mrs. Moss is the daughter of John F. and Martha E. (Haley) McAnally, natives respectively of North Carolina and Tennessee, and has borne her husband three children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows : Robert Allyn, April

6, 1893; Norman McAnally, August 12, 1895; and Eugenia, who first saw the light of day November 1, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Moss have a commodious and pleasant home in Mount Vernon, where all their children were bom, and in ntany respects their family circle approaches the ideal. No efforts are being spared to rear the sons and daughter to useful and honorable lives, and if the example of their parents and the pleasing environment of the home have the usual mfluence it is eminently proper to predict for these young people a bright and hopeful future. Mr. and Mrs. Moss are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Mount Vernon and manifest a deep and abidmg mterest in all good work under the auspices of the same. Mr. Moss has been a member of the official board of the church for a number of years and displays the same interest in the affairs of the congregation as he does in his secular enterprises.

J. T. Turner

America is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is the land of opportunity, not for the chosen few, but for all. It is this that has endeared it to the hearts of its people, and has developed on this continent a country that is the marvel of the world. Although the demagogue charges that wealth rules, yet no fact is more evident than the one that merit wms recognition above everything else. The man that lays hold of opportunity and makes for himself a peace in society is readily respected, regardless of birth, station in life, or ancestry. A glance over the pages of our history reveals a host of examples of this type of men, and in the industries and the commoner walks of life we find the places of responsibility occupied by men who have "made good," as we say, in the positions that have been thrown open to them.

This is pre-eminently the home of the "self-made man" and a striking exam.ple is found in the person of J. T. Turner, manager of the Central Union Telephone Company, of Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Mr. Turner was born at Lebanon, Laclede county, Missouri, on April 18, 1878. His father, \V. R. Turner, was a native of Bowling, Green, Kentucky, and is now living on his farm in Macon county, Illinois. Our subject's grandfather was a native of Kentucky also, and left that state for the West, starting overland with a team of oxen. He reached Missouri and there g&ve up the trip, settling upon a farm where he ended his days. Mr. Turner's mother, Celia (Barker) Turner, was born in Arkansas, and passed to her reward at Bolivar, Polk county, Missouri, August 8, 1905. She was the mother of six children, all of whom survive. They are: Mrs. Ida Browning, of Bolivar, Missouri; Berry E., of Macon, Illinois; Mrs. Roxie Henderson, of Topeka, Kansas; J. T., our subject; Mrs. Maud Schaumleffle, of Belleville, Illinois; and Joseph A., of Denver, Colorado.

Mr. Turner lived with his parents until he was thirteen years old, and received his education in the district schools near Lebanon, Missouri, in the vicinity of which was located the parental home. He was a boy of steady habits and of industrious turn of mind, and these characteristics have enabled him to forge forward in spite of difficulties and discouragements. From 1891 to 1893 he worked at farming in Polk county, Missouri, and during the next two years was similarly employed in Henry county, same state. In the fall of 1895 he came to Illinois, locating at Wanensburg, in Macon county, and continued at farm work there until 1 897.

In the spring of 1898 he concluded to abandon farming for a while, and accordingly went into the employ of the Wanensburg Telephone Company. He felt a keen interest in this line of work, and readily adapted himself to the necessities that confronted him.

He retained his connection with this company for three years, and then became engaged in construction work for the Central Union Company at Decatur, Illinois. After about one year's employment at this location, he was transferred to Taylorville, Illinois, and continued there until April, 1 903, at which time he resigned and came on a visit to his home at Mount Vernon. While here he was offered the position of inspector of the Southern Illinois Telephone Company, which offer he accepted. A few months later his meritorious work attracted the attention of the directors of the Citizens Gas, Electric & Heating Company, of Mount Vernon, and he was tendered the position of foreman of their construction work. This he accepted, and held until March, 1904, when he took the inspectorship of the Central Union toll line at Taylorville, from which appointment he was later transferred to Effingham, Illinois, and given the management of that office. In 1906 he was made manager of the Central Union office of Mount Vernon, which office he is filling at the present time. Through all these years he has advanced steadily and has won for himself recognition and promotion through efficiency and strict attention to business.

On May 10, 1903, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Bessie Bradford, who was then chief operator in the Mount Vernon office. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. M. Bradford, both highly respected residents of the county. This union has been blessed with one child, Clara Louise, who was born September 2, 1905.

Mr. Turner is a member of the Modern Woodmen and of the Knights of Pythias, filling the office of Chancellor Commander in the latter order. He is well known in the community and allies himself with the progressive element, assisting materially in promoting the advancement and welfare of the city.

James C. Maxey

The family is the first institution and lies at the base of everything that is good in society and it is well to study the history of our family and try to improve wherein our ancestors may have done amiss in the past, or at least maintain the record of sobriety, patriotism and honor handed down to us. It ought to be an inspiration to every one to know he has descended from a long line of upright, intelligent men and women. Vicious indeed is the one who would bring reproach intentionally upon a name that has been maintained in honor for many generations, and it is always a great pleasure for an individual to know the origin and beginning of his house and surname, and how long it has stood, with good actions and virtue of his predecessors. No family in Southern Illinois has a longer line of traceable ancestors, worthier to be honored and more sterling in characteristics than the Maxey family, which name has existed in America for nearly three centuries, and which is the oldest and best known in Jefferson county, Illinois, therefore it is with no little pleasure that the biographer herein sets forth the record, in brief outline of the Maxey family, of which the subject is an honored representative.

James C. Maxey was born in Shiloh township, Jefferson county, June 14, 1827, and he enjoys the distinction of being the oldest living native born citizen of this county, the son of Burchett Maxey and the grandson of William Maxey. Jesse Maxey was the subject's great-grandfather. He was one of the earliest settlers of Tennessee, and in a fight with the Indians near Gallatin he was shot and scalped by an Indian and left on the field for dead, but revived and lived for twenty years. He was the son of Edward Maxey, whose father was Walter Maxey, the first of this distinguished family to emigrate from Wales, where it originated. This was about the year 1 725 when Walter Maxey crossed the Atlantic ocean in an old time sailing vessel that required weeks to make the passage to America. He settled in Maryland and ever since the name has been prominent in various states, his descendants having settled in Virginia, then removed to Sumner county, Tennessee, later came to Jefferson county, Illinois, one of these being Burchett Maxey, father of the subject of this review, who was one of the earliest of the pioneers in this county, having set about the establishment of a new home in the wilderness for his wife and two children, having for neighbors red men and wild beasts, but he was of heroic mould and nothing daunted him, consequently he laid a sure foundation for succeeding generations in this locality. It was in the year 1818 that Burchett Maxey brought his good wife and two children, Eliza and Perigan, overland from Sumner county, Tennessee, the youngest child, Perigan, being about one year old, died soon after they reached Moore's Prairie, where it was buried, having been the first white person buried in Jefferson county. It was in the springtime that this long and arduous trip was made through an unfrequented country, over almost impassable roads and across dangerous streams, consequently the hardships of the undertaking is apparent. The family soon afterward settled near the present city of Mount Vernon and in 1823 Mr. Maxey built a log house on the site now occupied by the Third National Bank. Additions were later added and the house stood where it was originally built until about 1902, when the old buildings were wrecked to make way for the new building of the Third National Bank. This was the first building erected on what is now the public square of Mount Vernon. Burchett Maxey also built the first jail in Jefferson county, having been the lowest bidder when the county authorities asked for bids on the first bastile. It was built of logs and cost three hundred and twenty dollars, having stood near the site of the present jail. Mr. Maxey was a prominent character in the early days of Jefferson county and took

James C. Maxey, the subject of this sketch, received his early educational training in the log school-houses of the pioneer days in Jefferson county, one of the schools which he attended having been taught by Henry G. Hook near Walnut Hill, which school the father and mother of the honorable William J. Bryan also attended. This was about the year 1837. Reared amid such rural environments it is not strange that our subject should early turn his attention to farming and stock raising, making these his life work and, useless to add that he has been eminently successful, establishing an excellent home and laying by a competency for his declining years.

James C. Maxey's happy domestic life dates from October 3 1 , 1850, when he was united in marriage with Nancy J. Moss, who was also a descendant on the maternal side of an influential pioneer family, Lewis Johnson. Her father. Ransom Moss, settled near Shiloh church in an early day and when his first wife died old Shiloh cemetery was laid out and she was the first person buried there.

Eight children were born to the subject and wife, namely : John R., deceased; Walter S., who is a member of the firm of Rackaway & Maxey; Oliver W., deceased; Oscar S. and Albion F., both successful farmers of Mount Vernon township ; James Henry, agent of the Standard Oil Company and secretary and treasurer of the Mount Veronon Ice & Storage Company; Lillie, who is the wife of I. F. Sugg, a merchant of Kinmundy, Illinois; Moss, a physician and surgeon of Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Our subject was one of the loyal defenders of the national government during the days of the rebellion, having enlisted in Company I, Fifty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, performing well his duty at all times and was honorably discharged at the close of the war.

though he has been called upon to serve in various responsible public offices. He has been school trustee of Shiloh township; also Supervisor of Moore's Prairie township for two years and also was Supervisor of Mount Vernon township for a period of four years. By strict economy as Supervisor, and by encouraging paupers to at least partially support themselves he cut down the expenses of the township about one half, and it was due to his untiring efforts and good management that he succeeded in inducing the County Board of Supervisors to vote with him in a decision to build the four splendid granitoid walks leading from each door of the court-house, connecting with the curbing around the court-house square. He has always manifested an abiding interest in the development of his county and township and his support could always be depended upon in furthering any movement looking to the betterment of the public in general.

Mr. Maxey and his faithful life companion are now living at their pleasant and cozy home on Taylor avenue, both enjoying splendid health and a well earned respite from very active and useful lives, the subject being now (1909) in his eighty-second year and Mrs. Maxey in her seventy-sixth year, having rounded out fiftyeight years of harmonious and blissful married life. They have the undivided respect and admiration of a wide circle of friends who know them only as ever honest, kindly and gentle.

Capt. Samuel Thompson Maxey

The career of the well known gentleman whose name appears above has been a strenuous and varied one, the distinction which he has attained in different spheres of activity entitle him to honorable mention among the leading men and representative citizens of the county with which his Hfe has been so closely identified. The name of Maxey has been prominent in the annals of Jefferson county ever since this part of the state was opened for settlement, and to the subject's grandfather belongs the credit of having been one of the first white men to introduce civilization into what is now one of the most progressive and enlightened sections of the state. The Maxey family was among the early settlers of Virginia, in colonial times and shortly after the Revolutionary period one, Jesse Maxey. a native of that state, moved to Tennessee, locating near the present site of Gallatin, where he took refuge in a fort for fear of the Indians. Having left the block-house in search of his horse, he was attacked by the savages a short time afterwards, and was shot, scalped and had his throat cut, but through the interposition of a renegade white man by the name of Fenton, his skull was not cleft, the man detecting signs of life which had escaped the eyes of the "Indians. The firing of guns brought immediate assistance from the fort and although left for dead, he subsequently recovered and survived the massacre for a period of fifteen to twenty years, during all of which time he suffered continuously from the wound in his throat which refused to heal. Instead of making him fear the red skins this fearful experience seemed to exasperate him to such an extent that from that time onward he never ceased in his attempts to rid the country of the savages, taking part in a number of movements against them and displaying unusual boldness and ferocity in fight. This brave and intrepid pioneer died many years ago but left to perpetuate his name a number of descendants in whom were reproduced the bravery and sterling worth which made him known and respected among his contemporaries. One of his sons, the grandfather of the subject, a native of Virginia, was a young man when the family migrated to Tennessee. He later became a successful farmer and large slavewall's history of JEFFERSON CO., ILL. 361 holder. After some years he was converted and joined the Methodist church, following which he studied the question of human servitude in all of its phases until he came to the conclusion that the system was antagnostic to the spirit of the Gospel and that he could not maintain his Christian character while holding another in bondage. In due time therefore he emancipated all of his slaves except one negro girl and became one of the active and influential abolitionists of his part of the country. The unpleasant relations with his neighbors to which this radical change gave rise together with a desire to escape the presence of slavery led him as early as 1818 to move to Illinois. In May of that year he arrived in what was then Franklin county, now the county of Jefferson, and as stated in a preceding paragraph he was one of the original pioneers of this part of the state and for a number of years one of the leading men of the community in which he lived. After entering land and founding a home he freed and educated the negro girl whom he brought with him, in addition to which he also began teaching the doctrines of abolitionism among the settlers and in due time was largely instrumental in arousing a sentiment against slavery and keeping the county free from its blighting presence and influence.

Mr. Maxey built the first mill in Jefferson county, a small primitive affair which was operated by horse power, but which was highly prized by the settlers, who, prior to its construction, were obliged to go to Carmi, fifty miles distant, for their breadstuff, or make it by hand at home. Water was afterwards used as a motive power, and for many years the mill manufactured both flour and lumber, and was extensively patronized. Mr. Maxey was also one of the founders of the old cotton factory on the Cumberland river, near Gallatin, Tennessee, and after becoming a resident of Illinois, took a prominent part in developing the country and introducing various industries, becoming a leader among his fellow men and to no small degree a moulder of opinion in matters of public as well as local interest. He lived a useful life and was highly esteemed by the early residents of Jefferson county, all of whom deplored his loss when stricken by the hand of death in 1837, at the age of sixty-eight years, his wife preceding him to the grave by only a few months. He was a contemporary and a neighbor of the great grandfather of Hon. William Jennings Bryan and between the two a warm and loyal friendship was maintained as long as they both lived. Seven sons and three daughters constituted the family of this sturdy pioneer, all of whom lived to rear families of their own, one son and two daughters, being married at the same time by the same ceremony. The gentleman who officiated at this triune marriage was Zadok Casey, afterwards Governor of Illinois, and for a period of twenty years a member of Congress from the district where he lived. Bennett Maxey, one his sons, was a soldier under General Jackson, and took part in the battle of New Orleans.

Another son by the name of William M. A. Maxey was born in Tennessee and was six years of age when the family moved to Illinois in 1818. He was reared amid the stirring scenes of the pioneer period and when a young man bought timber from which he split rails, at fifty cents per hundred, to pay for his tuition for a few months at a subscription school, in which the three fundamentals "readin', writin' and 'rithmetic," constituted the course of study. Despite this indifferent intellectual discipline, however, he subsequently became not only one of the best informed men of the community, but in due time read medicine and for more than forty years was one of the most successful physicians in Jefferson county. Medical men being few in those days caused a wide demand for his services, and it is said that his patients were scattered over three counties. In waiting on them he rode many hundred miles and was not infrequently absent from home three weeks while making his prowall's history of JEFFERSON CO., ILL. 363 fessional calls. He also devoted considerable attention to agriculture, and his farm now owned and occupied by his son, the subject of this review, was one of the best improved and most productive of the part of the county in which it is situated. Captain Maxey has in his possession the old pair of saddle bags in which his father carried medicines to treat all diseases, common to humanity in the early times, the leather being still strong and the contents of the bags the same as when he discontinued practice, after his long and arduous service.

The maiden name of Mrs. William M. A. Maxey was Edna Owen. She was born in Silver Springs, Sumner county, Tennessee, but was reared in Wilson county, that state. When a young woman she came to Jefferson county, Illinois, in 1823, with her parents, Peter and Mary (Overbey) Owen, who were born, reared and married in Virginia, and carried all their earthly belongings across the mountains on horseback to Tennessee. Peter Owen was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and his hatred for a Tory was proverbial during his lifetime.

Capt. Samuel Thompson Maxey was born August 29, 1834, in Jefferson county, Illinois, and passed his early life on the family homestead, attending in winter season the subscription schools in a primitive log house which had long been used for the purpose. When old enough to be of service he worked in the woods, clearing the ground, cultivating the soil, etc., and during the greater part of his minority his life consisted of a ceaseless round of labor which resulted in a strong physique and the formation of habits which had no little influence in developing a well rounded character and directing his thoughts and actions in proper channels. Young Maxey remained with his parents until the national sky became overcast with the ominous clouds of rebellion when he laid aside the implements of husbandry and tendered his services to the government. In June,

1861 , he rode horseback to Cairo, where he enlisted in Company H, First Illinois Cavalry, and after a brief period of instruction at that place accompanied his command in the Southeastern Missouri and the Southwestern Kentucky campaigns, taking part in the battle and capture of New Madrid, Island No. 10, Tiptonville, and the capture of Memphis, reaching the latter city the day after the arrival of the Federal gun-boats. In July, 1862, his regiment reported at Benton Harbor, to be mustered out by a general order from the War Department, after which he returned home. Within three weeks he assisted in organizing what subsequently became Company B of the One Hundred Tenth Infantry, of which he was elected first lieutenant. For brave and meritorious conduct at the battle of Stone River, where he rendered especially valuable service, he was promoted the following February, captain of the company, although suffering at the time from a painful wound received in the above engagement. Notwithstanding the loss of an eye and the lacerating of his arm by the explosion of a shell. Captain Maxey persisted in remaining with his men and continued at his post of duty until the One Hundred Tenth was consolidated, when by reason of there being more captains than companies and he the junior officer of that grade he was mustered out of the service. Returning home the captain devoted three months to provost duty, but in February. 1864, reentered the service by enlisting as a private in the Sixth Illinois Cavalry, which he joined at Memphis, where he was soon afterwards appointed a drill master. Later he was made second lieutenant of Company H, and after campaigning through Mississippi, Western Tennessee and Northern Alabama he took part in the movement to check the Confederate forces under General Hood, who were advancing on Franklin and Nashville. In the battle at the former place Captain Maxey commanded the company which brought on the engagement and as in other actions signalized himself by brave and gallant conduct which won the confidence of the men of his command, and the approbation of his superiors. After the battle he went to Nashville, thence to Kentucky, but returning to that city in time to take part in the battle, was again sent with his company to the front to draw the fire of the enemy and bring on the action. He proved equal to the trying emergency and was not only in the thickest of the fight but captured the first bastian and was the first to capture a battery and turn the guns on the enemy, besides seizing with his own hands the Confederate colors which he returned to headquarters after the fighting had ceased. Captain Maxey assisted in the pursuit of the enemy to the Tennessee river and in the taking of many prisoners, later went to the Gravalla Springs, Alabama, where he was promoted captain and for a short time commanded the regiment during its march to Eastport, Mississippi. In the latter state he served for a time in the quartermaster's department, subsequently being detailed on general court martial duty until the following July when he marched over the mountains to Montgomery, Alabama, thence to Demapolis, in the same state where he was appointed provost marshal of the post, which position he held until mustered out of the service at Selma, Alabama, on November 6th of the year 1865.

On the first day of December following Captain Maxey arrived home and again resumed the duties of citizenship, which he has since discharged with the same conscientious convictions which characterized his long and active career as a brave and honorable defender of the Union. In 1867 he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, being appointed by the presiding elder as a supply in the Southern Illinois conference. Two years later he became an itinerant and during the thirteen years ensuing served various circuits and churches until failing health obliged him to discontinue further active work. At the expiration of the period indicated he retired to his farm in Jefferson county where he has since lived and prospered, the meanwhile devoting considerable time to his ministerial labors and doing much good in leading men to the higher life.

Captain Maxey has a beautiful and finely improved farm of two hundred and twenty acres, with good buildings, his residence being the old family dwelling erected by his father and so substantially constructed that it bids fair to stand another half century, a commodious, and to all intents and purposes a comfortable and attractive homestead. His other buildings are up-to-date and in excellent repair, and the splendid condition of the farm and everything thereon bespeak the presence of a man familiar with the latest development in agricultural science and is abreast of the times in all that relates to progress and improvement. In addition to general farming the captain is quite extensively engaged in the breeding and raising of fine stock and is also an enthusiastic and successful horticulturist, as his fifty acres of fine orchard in which the choicest varieties of all fruits grown in this latitude are produced. Believing in the conservation of the country's natural resources, the captain has not been destructive of timber as have many of his neighbors, having retained a valuable tract of woodland in which are many fine walnuts and other varieties sufficient for all purposes for many years to come.

Captain Maxey's wife before her marriage was Miss Sarah Pearcy, a native of Jefferson county, and daughter of John B. and Amanda (Moss) Pearcy, who moved to Illinois a number of years ago from Tennessee. Four daughters and one son constitute the family of this couple, namely: Lena Maud, born July 5, 1881, now the wife of Otto Fox, of this county; Edna A., born November 26, 1884, still a member of the home circle; Mary B., wife of Alva Swift, was born August 12, 1886; Harriet R. was born on August 26, 1888, died in infancy, and William Olin was born on March 17. 1894.

Captain Maxey is an unswerving Republican in his political views and at various times has been honored with local offices, being at this time official Surveyor of Jefferson county. He has been active and influential in promoting an interest in agriculture, is a leader and effective lecturer in Farmer's Institutes and some years ago was a delegate to the Farmer's Congress of the United States. He is closely identified with the agricultural interests of Illinois and is frequently called to different parts of the state to address institutes and other assemblies in behalf of the farmers. He has been a consistent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for fifty three years and one of the oldest Odd Fellows in the state, and has filled all the chairs in the local lodge with which he is identified besides representing it on a number of occasions in the Grand Lodge. He is also a leading member of the Grand Army of the Republic in which he has held every office within the gift of the fraternity and keeps well informed concerning the old soldiers as well as profoundly versed in the history of the country for the preservation of which he has devoted several years of his life.

Maurice J. Seed

Few men in Jefferson county occupy as prominent a position in political circles or as large a place in public view as the well known editor and publisher whose brief biography is presented in the following lines. The record of a busy and successful life must ever prove of interest to the student who would learn the intrinsic value of individuality and lessons to be derived from such a career cannot fail to have great influence in shaping the character and fixing the destiny of the youth with an ambition to rise above the common level and reach an honorable position among his fellow men.

Maurice J. Seed, editor and publisher of the Mount Vernon Daily Register, and a journalist of wide repute in central and southern Illinois, is descended on the paternal side from an old and eminently respectable family whose history is traceable through a long line of ancestry to the early part of the seventeenth century, at which time the name was well known in various parts of England. In 1 869 two brothers, John and William Seed, who espoused the cause of William of Orange, enlisted under the standard of that Prince and took part in the struggle against King James, participating in the celebrated battle of the Boyne in Ireland, where that unfortunate monarch was overthrown and at the close of the war settling in County Down, where for a period of one hundred and forty-eight years their descendants have been among the well known and sturdy yeomanry of that land.

Thomas H. Seed, the subject's father, is a native of Lawrence county, Illinois, born in the town of Lawrenceville on the 1 2th day of June, 1843. He served during the late Civil war as sergeant of Company A, Sixty-third Illinois Infantry, was with Grant at the siege and capture of Vicksburg and subsequently took part in the Atlanta campaign under General Sherman; after the fall of that Confederate stronghold he accompanied his command in the celebrated march to the sea. At the close of the war he engaged in the milling business at Lawrenceville and later at Bellmont, Illinois, where he remained until 1 889, when he disposed of his interests in that town and purchased the Sumner Press at Sumner, this state, which he published with encouraging success during the fourteen years ensuing, achieving the meanwhile creditable reputation as an able editor and judicious newspaper man. Disposing of his publishing plant at the expiration of the period indicated, Mr. Seed in 1 902 came to Mount Vernon and has held an important position in the office, proving an able and valuable assistant and contributing much to the success of the paper, editorially and otherwise.

The maiden name of the subject's mother was Emma Pope. She was born July 29, 1850, in Burlington, Ohio, spent her youth and received her education in Ironton, that state, and later came with her parents to Flora, Illinois, where she lived until her marriage to Thomas H. Seed, after which she resided at Bellmont and Sumner and in 1 902 moved with her family to Mount Vernon where she still makes her home. Thomas H. Seed's mother, Sabilla Ryan, came also from an old family whose antecedents were among the early settlers of Virginia in which state her grandmother, who was a Zane, was born. The latter's husband was killed by the Indians in a very early day, the Zanes being among the best known and most highly connected families of the Old Dominion state. Mrs Seed's people removed from Virginia to Zanesville, Ohio, many years ago, thence about 1838 to Illinois in several counties of which a number of descendants still reside. Thomas H. and Emma Seed are the parents of two children, Maurice J., whose name introduces this sketch and Rhoda Seed, instructor of English in the Mount Vernon township high school, and one of the most accomplished and successful teachers of Jefferson county. After a preliminary educational training in the common schools and at Northwestern Academy, Miss Seed entered the college department of Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, where she was graduated with the class of 1 906, since which time she has devoted her attention to educational work and, as indicated above, now stands among the leading teachers in this part of the state.

Maurice J. Seed was born December 13, 1871, in Lawrenceville, Lawrence county, Illinois, and spent his early life in that city, and the town of Bellmont, attending the public schools in the meantime. Endowed with strong mental powers and an ardent desire for books and study he made rapid progress and in due time completed the common school course and took up the more advanced branches of learning. He did the greater part of his high school work in Northwestern Academy at Evanston, and after being graduated from that institution in June, 1 899. entered the college department of Northwestern University at the same place, where he prosecuted his studies until completing the full course and receiving his degree in June, 1902, devoting special attention to English and Political Economy, during his collegiate experience and receiving the N. W. Harris prize of one hundred dollars for his thesis on the trust question. He made an exceptionally creditable record for scholarship, stood high in all of his classes and in addition to the above signal reward of merit he was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa honors, besides gaining confidence and good will of his fellow students and the esteem of the professors and officers of the University. September following his graduation, Mr. Seed purchased the Mount Vernon Daily and Weekly Register, and since 1902 he has devoted his entire attention to the interests of the paper, with the result that he now has one of the best equipped offices in the southern part of the state and a paper which compares favorably with the large and more pretentious sheets of the great metropolitan centers. Since taking possession of the Register it has constantly grown in favor, and in addition to being the official Republican organ of Jefferson county, it is highly prized a clean dignified family paper, in which nothing low or offensive is given publicity, being devoted to politics, home and foreign news, education, choice literature, humor, etc., and at all times it has advocated public improvements and stood for enterprise and progress in all the terms imply. Mr. Seed has demonstrated marked ability as an able and forceful writer, wielding a graceful as well as a keen and incisive pen, and in discussing the leading questions and issues of the day, proving a strong and fearless but always a courteous antagonist. Although one of the Republican standard bearers in the county of Jefferson and rendering valuable service to his party he conducts his paper in such a way as to win esteem of his political adversaries and to please the people. The Register has under his able management proven financially successful and as an enterprising broad minded man of liberal views and progressive tendencies he has forged to the front rank among his contemporaries and is today considered one of the ablest as well as one of the most popular newspaper men in Southern Illinois.

Mr. Seed has accomplished much for the good of his party, not only through the medium of his paper, but as a successful organizer and judicious adviser in its councils, being at this time secretary of the Republican Central Committee of Jefferson county in which and other capacities he has added to the strength of the ticket and made his influence felt in reducing the strong normal majority of the opposition. Aside from his political work he is interested in the material progress of the city and county, and takes an active part in promoting all enterprises for the good of the public and the benefit of his fellow men. He holds membership with several secret fraternal organizations, being especially interested in Masonry in which he has attained high rank and been honored with a number of positions of responsibility and trust. He belongs to Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 31, Free and Accepted Masons, Hubbard Chapter No. 160, Royal Arch Masons, of which he has been sojourner for four years, Patton Commandery, No. 69, Knights Templar, and is also a member of Jefferson Lodge, No. 131, Knights of Pythias, of this city.

On October 18, 1905, Mr. Seed was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Fickes, a native of Steubenville, Ohio, a graduate of Adrian College, Michigan, and a lady of varied culture and beautiful character who is highly esteemed by the many friends she has made since becoming an influential factor in the religious and social life of her adopted city. The only offspring of this union was a daughter who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Seed are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Mount Vernon and maintain a lively interest in all religious and humanitarian enterprises contributing liberally to these and other movements for the good of the community and lending their influence to all means for the alleviating human suffering and elevating the standing of the race.

Walter S. Maxey

In every community, large or small, there are a few men who, by their force of character, are intuitively recognized as in the front rank of representative citizens, men who are successful in their business undertakings, generous and fair in their business relations and who perceive and advocate warmly those measures which msure the public welfare. They succeed not necessarily because of extraordinary talent or because of the influence of others, but very largely because of close application to whatever they have in hand and thus master details and go forward step by step, always to higher planes. In the thriving city of Mount Vernon there is a representative of this class found in Walter S. Maxey, the son of James C. and Nancy J. Maxey, who was born in Field township, Jefferson county, Illinois, Mc(rch 8, 1854. (For full sketch of subject's parents and ancestors see sketch of James C. Maxey.)

The subject received his early education in the common and high schools of his native county. Being a diligent student he soon acquired a good education and was enabled to begin teaching at the age of twenty and in a short time had established quite a reputation in the Jefferson county public schools as an able instructor, following this profession for a period of nine years in three districts. In the winter of 1 876 he taught in Jersey county, this state. His services were in great demand and he succeeded in pleasing both pupil and patron. But notwithstanding his success in teaching Mr. Maxey decided to take up merchandising, consequently in the fall of 1880 he began clerking in the grocery store of the late S. K. Latham, continuing in a most satisfactory manner in Mr. Latham's employ for a period of three years, a part of the time for S. G. H. Taylor, who purchased the former's business.

In the winter of 1884 Mr. Maxey served on the United States grand jury at Springfield, Illinois, for three months and was unanimously elected clerk of that body, the duties of which he performed in a very faithful and able manner.

In July, 1 884, our subject entered the drug store of Porter & Bond as clerk and apprentice to learn the drug business, having worked for this firm continuously until October, 1 889, when, having become a registered pharmacist he formed a partnership with Dr. A. C. Johnson and J. H. Rackaway in the drug business, which partnership continued until 1900, when Mr. Maxey and Mr. Rackaway bought the interests of Doctor Johnson in the drug business which they are still continuing at the old stand on the southeast corner of the square, making twenty-five consecutive years that this business has been located there, consequently the store in known not only to everyone in Mount Vernon but throughout Jefferson county and an extensive trade has been built up, for the managers are courteous and considerate to all customers and handle a complete line of drugs, sundries, etc., of excellent quality. Their store is a neat and well managed one.

Mr. Maxey was married to Almeda Hicks in 1 888. She was the youngest daughter of the late Col. S. G. Hicks, a well knovra family of this county. Mrs. Maxey passed to her rest in 1891 and in 1 900 the subject married Estella Wiedeman, a graduate and very eflficient teacher in the Mount Vernon pubhc schools. To this union three children have been born, namely: Walter Charles, James Wayland and Margaret Moss.

The subject has filled the office of Assessor for Webber township; also Collector, and several terms as School Trustee of Mount Vernon township. In all the relations of life he has proven true to the trusts reposed in him and performed his duties conscientiously, consequently he is spoken of in highest terms of approval by all who know him, and is a worthy representative of the old and honored Maxey family.

Elijah H. Marteeny

It is with no intention of understanding the enterprise and success of the many representative farmers of Jefferson county or of memorizing their influence in the noble vocation to which their energies are devoted when we say that by universal consent the subject of this sketch is pre-eminently the leading agriculturist of this part of Illinois and among the most progressive men of his calling in the state. Believing in the dignity of his chosen work and the nobility of true knight of the soil he has labored long and earnestly to realize his high ideals of husbandry and the reward which usually follows wisely directed industry and patient endeavor, has come to him in lavish measure, as is mdicated by his palatial country seat on one of the model farms of the state and a fortune which places him among the financially independent men of the county which he honors by his citizenship.

Elijah H. Marteeny was born near Bloomington, Illinois, in the year 1856, and is the son of William and Sallie (King) Marteeny. From the most reliable data obtainable his paternal antewall's history of JEFFERSON CO., ILL. 375 cedents came originally from Germany and settled many years ago in Pennsylvania in various parts of which state the family has been well known for several generations. Mr. Marteeny's grandfather was born and reared in Pennsylvania and like his ancestors from time immemorial, followed tilling the soil for a livelihood. He was a man of sterling worth, succeeded well in his chosen calling and after a long and useful life died of infirmities incident to old age on the family seat near the place of his birth. His good wife, who also lived to be quite old, bore him seven children, the majority of whom grew to maturity and became well settled in life and highly esteemed in their respective places of residence.

Mr. Marteeny's maternal ancestors, the Kings, were of English extraction and among the substantial j'eomanry of New York, where his grandparents lived and died and where descendants of the family are still to be found.

William Marteeny, father of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania, but after his marriage with Sallie King, moved in 1839 to Illinois and settled near Bloomington, having been among the pioneers of that part of the state. The journey to the new home was in what was then the western wilderness, was a slow and tedious experience, having been made in a wagon which held all the couple's earthly possessions. They were many days on the way and ere reaching their destination were obliged to traverse the long distance through wild and uninhabited country and encountered numerous difficulties and hardships, including the absence of roads, inclement weather and at times the lack of the simplest necessities of life. On arriving at his objective point Mr. Marteeny purchased land on which he at once proceeded to erect a small cabin of the most primitive type, which he equipped with rude furniture made by hand, and for several years he and his good wife experienced their full share of the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life.

Wall S History Of Jefferson Co., Ill

The conditions of William Marteeny's childhood were such as to interfere very materially with his education and at his marriage he could barely read and perhaps laboriously write his own name. His wife, however, had enjoyed superior advantages in her younger days and at the time referred to was not only well educated but a woman of wide general information and refined tastes. No sooner had the couple become well settled in their new home than the wife began in their hours of leisure to instruct her husband, he being an apt and ambitious pupil made rapid advancement and in due time acquired a thorough knowledge of the ordinary school branches, which served as a foundation for his subsequent wide range of reading and the intelligent observation which made him one of the best informed men of the community. He also became one of the most enterprising agriculturists of his neighborhood, reducing the quarter section of land which he entered to a high state of cultivation and by the addition of a number of substantial improvements made a farm which for many years was considered a model by the people of the neighborhood.

William and Sallie Marteeny had a family of eleven children, eight of whom grew to maturity. James Monroe, one of the sons, who reached the years of manhood, entered the three months' service at the beginning of the Civil war in the Sixtieth Illinois Infantry, and re-enlisted at the expiration of that time for three years, and was killed at the battle of Atlanta. William Delos, another son, also entered the three months' service, later re-enlisted for three years or until the close of the war, but by reason of disability was afterwards discharged, later dying from the effects of disease thus incurred. Tillman was also a soldier in an Illinois regiment at the beginning of the rebellion, but some time after re-entering the service procured his discharge in order to look after his mother's interests, who in the meanwhile had become a widow, her husband dying in the year 1863, and one of the sons was killed by a stroke of lightning at a Fourth of July celebration near Centralia, a daughter died in 1863, at the age of seventeen, and another daughter, who married and moved to Colorado, departed this life in that state.

A few years prior to his death William Marteeny sold his farm near Bloomington and purchased a farm in Jefferson county to which he removed and on which he spent the remainder of his days, being forty-six years old when called to the other world. His widow survived him until 1874, when she too passed away, being fifty-four years of age at the time of her demise. Both belonged to the Methodist church and were noted for their religious zeal and good works, having always been interested in the cause of Christianity and their influence was ever on the side of right living and correct conduct. Mr. Marteeny was an uncompromising Republican and a zealous friend of the Union, having been a leading member of the Union League, during the early part of the war. Through his efforts a number of young men were induced to enter the service and do battle for the national banner.

Elijah H. Marteeny spent his early life on the family homestead in Jefferson county and enjoyed the privileges usually accorded country lads, after which he became familiar with the duties of the farm and grew, up with the conviction that honest toil is the only true passport to success and honorable manhood. Reared to agricultural pursuits he early evinced a decided liking for the vocation and after remaining with his father until he passed into the great beyond he took charge of the homestead in Jefferson county to which the family had moved in the meantime, and after his marriage purchased at intervals the interests of the other heirs until he became sole owner of the place.

of which is under high state of cultivation, while the improvements of all kinds from the splendid modern dwelling to the fences and smallest out buildings are of the latest and most approved type and compare favorably with the best improvements of the kind in the state. Mr. Marteeny has made a careful and critical study of soils and their adaptability to the various crops grown in this latitude and in the most liberal sense of the term is a modern farmer who believes in progressive methods and in the dignity of the calling. In some respects he has departed from long accepted theories of tillage, one of which is the rotation of crops as far as the cultivation of timothy is concerned, contending, with good reasons, that the longer ground is devoted to this crop the richer the soil becomes. As proof of the correctness of this theory he presents the fact that for thirteen consecutive years the part of his farm devoted to timothy not only kept up an average yield of from one and a half to three tons of excellent hay per acre, but when put in corn produced a larger and finer crop than any other field on the place, the average per acre also being greater than that of any other farm in the neighborhood. In view of this fact he pays a great deal of attention to timothy which yields him from seventeen to thirty-two dollars per acre, and as there is always a great demand for first class hay of this kind, he realizes bountiful returns on his meadows. His success in the raising of grain and other crops has likewise been most gratifying and in all that pertains to general agriculture he is fully abreast of the times and far in advance of the majority of farmers, cultivating the soil according to scientific principles and making use of the latest modern implements and machinery in prosecuting his labors. By judicious fertilizing he has not only attained but enhanced the productiveness of his land, every acre of which is cultivated to its utmost capacity with results that have fully justified his many innovations and earned for him the reputation of one of the most intelligent and successful men of his vocation in the southern part of the state.

Mr. Marteeny, as already indicated, believes in imp^rovement and has not been sparing in the matter of adding to the beauty and attractiveness of his home which is now conceded to be the finest residence in Jefferson county outside of the county seat.

The splendid modern dwelling, but recently completed, is little less than palatial in size, comfort and adornment, the walls being of concrete with cement finish, the thirteen rooms and several halls amply commodious and admirably adapted to their respective purposes, the entire edifice from basement to the lookout tower being a model of architectural skill and a home calculated to gratify the tastes of the most critical and exacting observer. Water is supplied to every part of the house from a large tank in the cellar, from which it is forced by air pressure to the different rooms, and in case of fire streams of great force can be thrown into every nook and corner of the building thus obviating any danger from this source. The artificial light plant by which the building is illuminated is a triumph of scientific achievement, every room being supplied with lamps of sufficient power to convert night into day, as is also the basement which extends the entire length of the building, and is finished with reference to various uses to which adapted. No pains were spared in the decorating and furnishing of this superb dwelling, all parts of which display exceedingly fine taste. At the same time the matter of comfort was by no means overlooked, and it is doubtful if in any other county in the state another building answering all the purposes and meeting all the requirements of a model rural home can be found surpassing this.

The other buildings on Mr. Marteeny's place are in keeping with the residence, the barn being the largest in the county, complete in all its parts and appointments, while the smaller out buildings are also first class, modern structures, all in good repair and well adapted to the various purposes for which designed. The en- tire farm is enclosed with woven wire fence, the splendid dwelling surrounded with trees that yield both fruit and shade, the lawn interspersed with beds of the choicest flowers, the excellent condition of the fields, the presence of herds of fine cattle and other high grade stock, indeed, the appearance of the entire premises and everything thereon indicate a home of an intelligent gentleman of refined tastes and progressive tendencies, as master of the vocation to which his life has been devoted and an influential factor in promoting an interest in agricultural science.

Mr. Marteeny was married December 17, 1877, to Miss Ida Laird, of Jefferson county, daughter of Samuel and Eleanor Laird, a union blessed with children as follows: Ray, born May 4, 1878; Maud Estella, born June 19, 1882, married Chfford Bartell, resides at Victor, Colorado. She was a graduate of the State Nornal School at Greeley, Colorado, and for three years a teacher in the schools of that state; Ethel Blanche, born February 4. 1884; Alice Gertrude, March 8, 1886; Morton K., December 4, 1888; Lethel v., born July 5, 1890; Hazel K., born April 25, 1892; Orville H., who was born October 22, 1894, and died July 11, 1896, and Merle, whose birth occurred on the 21st day of January, 1897.

In public affairs Mr. Marteeny is one of the influential Republicans of the county but has never aspired to office, the only elective with which his fellow citizens ever honored him being Highway Commissioner, in which capacity he served with great acceptance for a period of three years. For many years he has been a warm friend of education and it was through his influence and liberality that a public school building at one time was erected on his farm, near the site now occupied by his beautiful modern residence. Two of his daughters are teachers in the public schools of Jefferson county, and at the present time three members of his family are students in the high school of Mount Vernon and will graduate in the class of '09. Fraternally Mr. Marteeny belongs to the Court of Honor and has filled all the chairs in the local lodge with which identified.

In all that constitutes upright manhood and progressive citizenship Mr. Marteeny is easily the peer of any of his contemporaries in the county of Jefferson and his sterling integrity and stainless honor mark him as one who has ever tried to do his duty and to live in a manner becoming a broad and liberal minded American of noble aims and high ideals. He has acted well his part in the affairs of his fellow men and the conspicuous place he holds among the enterprising and public-spirited citizens of his adopted county has been faithfully and honorably won.

The following items of family history are deemed an appropriate close to the foregoing review: Mr. Marteeny 's paternal grandfather was born April 9, 1791, and died October 14, 1845, aged fifty-four years; his grandmother was born June 19, 1791, and departed this life on June 11,1 833, aged forty-two years. William Marteeny, our subject's father, was born December 17 1818, married Sallie King, July 4, 1 839, the latter having been born on June 30th of the year 1815. Their children were Delos, born January 5, 1830, died January 18, 1876; George Tillison, born July 1 7, 1840, died July 30, 1841 ; Mary Elizabeth was born November 26, 1841, and at the present time lives in Colorado; James Monroe, born March 30, 1844, killed at Adanta, Georgia, September 3, 1864; Tilman Augustus, born March 17, 1846, lives in Chicago; George W., born March 10, 1848. was killed by lightning July 4, 1865; Clarinda M., born June 9, 1849, died June 12, 1854; Jane B., born March 5, 1851. died May 22, 1902; Missouri was bom October 1 1, 1853, died September 3, 1854; Elijah H., of this review, October 17, 1856; Ella, the youngest of the family, was born June 15, 1859, and died April 15. 1860.

In an age when there is no little just discrimination between the true and the false, when real assurance is better appreciated than unpretending merit, it is a pleasure to contemplate the career and character of such a man as the subject of this memoir, who, though unassuming, has not been underestimated by the people and who in return for their confidence and attachment has taught them how valuable may be those professional services that must be sought for and are never obtrusively displayed, as it were, from the house tops or on the public square. Though a man of unpretentious worth, he possesses the magnetic force that silently attracts men and those mental qualities and personal graces that grapple them to him as with bands of Steele, also the tact and power that make his fellows, as events, subserve his purposes and add to his honorable reputation in one of the most useful and exacting callings which appeal to the human mind.

Dr. Moss Maxey is scion from superior stock. In his life currents are mingled the stury strength of old Virginia ancestry and the ardor of antecedents whose early experience was closely interwoven with the pioneer history of the West. For many years both branches of his family have been closely identified with the rise and progress of Jefferson county and today there are few names as widely known or as greatly esteemed in Southern Illinois, as the one which he so honorably bears.

first house on the present site of Mount Vernon in the year 1819, was a native of Virginia, where his birth occurred in 1 795, and to his son, James C. Maxey, the subject's father, belongs the distinction of being the oldest native born citizen of Jefferson county at the present time. Burchett Maxey removed from his native place to Sumner county, Virginia, in his younger days, thence migrated to Southern Illinois and was one of the first permanent settlers in what is now the county of Jefferson. He bore his full share in the pioneer history of this part of the state, but has long been sleeping the sleep that knows no awaking, leaving to his descendants a name that lives in the memories of the present generation and is destined to be handed down to future years as one of the leaders of civilization into what is now one of the most prosperous and enlightened counties of the commonwealth.

James C. Maxey, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume, married Nancy Moss, like himself, a native of Jefferson county, and became the father of eight children whose names are as follows: John R., deceased; Walter S., a druggist of Mount Vernon; Oscar, a farmer and stock raiser of Jefferson county; A. F., who is also engaged in the pursuit of agriculture in the county; Henry, manager of the Standard Oil plant and of the Ice & Cold Storage Company, of Mount Vernon; Lillie married Frank Sugg, of Kinmundy, Illinois; Oliver, deceased; and Dr. Moss Maxey, of this review.

Doctor Maxey is a native of Jefferson county, Illinois, and since infancy his life has been very closely associated with the place of his birth. In the free wholesome out-door life of the farm, he spent his early years and while still quite young learned the lessons of industry and thrift in his father's fields and under the direction of his parents laid broad and deep the solid mental and moral foundation upon which his subsequent career as a distinguished member of the medical profession rests. After attending the district schools until acquiring a pretty thorough knowledge of the branches taught therein he turned his attention to farm labor and was thus engaged on the family homestead until deciding to what vocation or profession his future life should be devoted. Having selected medicine as the calling most suited to his tastes and inclinations, the doctor in 1 894 entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, where he pursued his professional studies and researches until completing the prescribed course three years later, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in 1 897.

Immediately after his graduation Doctor Maxey located at Mount Vernon, where he soon gained recognition and built up a practice which continued to grow in magnitude and importance until his place among the successful physicians and surgeons became permanently fixed and a liberal income assured.

At the beginning of his career he was actuated by a laudable ambition to advance in his noble calling and become a true healer of human ills and with this object in view he devoted every energy to the acquiring of a profound knowledge of medical science with the ability to apply the same to the treatment of diseases. His watchfulness over the interests and welfare of his patients, his devotion to his profession, his sound sense and good judgment combined to complete his acknowledged fitness for his calling and in due time his name and fame spread far beyond the limits of the field to which his talents were principally devoted and earned for him an honorable reputation among the distinguished physicians and surgeons in the southern part of the state. In addition to his general practice the doctor was for eight years one of the surgeons of the Mount Vernon Car Manufacturing Company, discharging the duties of the same with signal ability which has added much to his reputation as a painstaking and untiring devotee of the healing art.

Doctor Maxey has met with unusual success as a surgeon and among his professional brethren is considered a skillful operaor. In medicine he has few equals and no superiors in the city of his residence as is indicated by the extensive practice he now commands, which has been as successful financially as professionally and which has resulted in the accumulation of a handsome competency and gained for him a place among the well-to-do men of his city and county. The doctor has spared no pains to keep abreast of the times in all matters relating to his life work and in touch with the trend of professional thought, being a close and diligent student, a critical observer and to no small degree an investigator whose discoveries have added very materially to his own success and assisted others in their professional work. He holds membership in various societies and organizations for the advancement of professional thought, among which are the Jefferson County Medical Society, the National Association for the Study and Preservation of Tuberculosis; the Association for the Advancement of Science and other societies of like character, in the deliberations of which he keeps well informed and in close touch with the leading spirits among the membership.

Doctor Maxey is highly esteemed in the community and his intercourse with his fellows has been such as to command the respect and confidence of all. Like most enterprising men he takes an active interest in secret fraternal work and belongs to several organizations with this principle as a basis, the most noted being the Masonic Order, in which he has risen to a high degree and been honored at intervals with positions of honor and trust. He is past master of Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 3 1 , and is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter besides having a wide acquaintance among the leading Masons of his own and other states. In politics he is a Democrat, entirely inactive as far as participation in party affairs is concerned notwithstanding which he is famihar with the leading questions and issues of the day and profoundly versed in the history and policies of the various political oragnizations which have marked the progress of the United States from the founding of the government to the present time.

As indicated in a preceding paragraph Doctor Maxey is a student not only of matters relating to his profession but of a wide range of subjects including history, science, sciology, evolution and history of comparative religion, his acquaintance with the world's best literature being both general and profound.

He has always been a good reader and finds his chief enjoyment in his magnificent library where in converse with the wise and great of the ages he acquires the knowledge and intellectual acumen which renders him an authority on the literature of all countries and- all times and make him a welcome addition to circles and gatherings having in view the mental improvement of their members.

The doctor has exercised sound judgment and wise discretion in building up his library which is pronounced by scholars and others capable of judging to be the finest collection of standard works in Mount Vernon and one of the largest and most valuable in the state. He selects his books with the greatest care, keeping in mind their literary merit and worth, allowing none but those of recognized ability on his shelves, the number of volumes at this time being considerably in excess of one thousand, among which are none of a light or frivolous character, all being standard and of the highest order of literary excellence. In his collection are a number of very rare editions that have come down from remote times and not a few of his choice books are beyond price and cannot be duplicated.

Doctor Maxey was first married in 1892 to Miss Lulu Swift, of Mount Vernon, the union resulting in the birth of two children, a son, Hugh W., and a daughter by the name of Vivian, aged fifteen and twelve years, respectively. His second marriage vs^as solemnized in 1904 with Miss Winnie Tanner, the accomplished and popular daughter of Allen C. Tanner, a prominent citizen of Mount Vernon and one of the enterprising men of Jefferson county.

Sidney Breese Ham

One of the leading business men of Mount Vernon and an honorable representative of the old and well known family whose history is briefly outlined in the sketch of Christopher D. Ham, is a native of Jefferson county, and the son of Christopher D. and Helena (Grant) Ham. He was born May 23, 1874. in the city where he still resides, received his intellectual discipline in the schools of the same and at the early age of seventeen years began his business career by entering his father's bank, where he acquired a practical knowledge of financial matters and in due time became one of the institution's ablest and most trusted employes.