Logan County, Illinois - Chapter 28: Mt. Pulaski Township, 1886 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 28: Mt. Pulaski Township

This is the largest and one of the best townships in the county. It contains sixty square miles of land, being ten miles north and south by six east and west. It is bounded on the north by Chester Township, east by Laenna and Lake Fork townships, south by Sangamon County, and west by Elkhart Township. It is crossed by the Illinois Central and Peoria, Decatur & Evansville railroads. Salt Creek passes near the northern border, and Lake Fork drains the southern part of the township.

Official List

1877 - Supervisor, John Reinders; Clerk, Jacob Yager; Assessor, Robert Copeland; Collector, George Mayer; Highway Commissioner, Fred Fueten; Justices, James Muldoon and Jacob Yager; Constables, John H. Dement and A. F. Banner.

1881 - Supervisor, Amos Dillsaver; Clerk, M. L. Mathews; Assessor, Mahlon A. Newton; Collector, H. W. Curtis; Highway Commissioner, Henry Gulso; Justices, M. L. Mathews and Fred Fueten; Constables, J. H. Dement and J. W. Dillsaver.

Statistics Political

Some of the earliest settlements in the county were made along Salt Creek, on the north of Pulaski, and Lake Fork on the west. Tlie physician who sometimes practiced here was Dr. Alexander Shields, who then resided in Springfield. In the early part of 1836, during one of his visits to his patients in these settlements, he was struck with the great natural beauty and advantages of an elevated portion between these two creeks, and on his return to Springfield spoke enthusiastically of the location to Jabez Capps, then a merchant in Springfield, and an extensive owner of real estate there, then not held at a very high figure. He was not then progressing as he desired in business, and was thinking of removing to some other locality and laying the foundation for a new town. Dr. Barton Robinson, who was in an adjoining room, heard the conversation passing between Dr. Shields and Mr. Capps, and became at once interested. Dr. Robinson became one of the most prominent men in this part of the county. He was well educated, and was an excellent physician and a very publicspirited man. He was born May 19, 1819, in New Malton, Yorkshire, England. He studied medicine in London, where he graduated. He came to America and joined his brother, James T., at Buffalo Hart Grove, Sangamon County, in December, 1831. Ho was married in this county in May, 1833, to Mahala Barber. In 1836 he went to Mt. Pulaski, and was. always most prominently connected with the town. Here he practiced medicine many years, and was widely known. In 1858 he removed to Kansas. Soon after a company, consisting of Mr. Capps, Dr. Robinson and G. W. Turley, was formed, and in August these persons, with Thomas Skinner, a surveyor, came to the present site of Mt. Pulaski and laid out a town. The company had a few months before this entered considerable land here, and made one of their number agent. After completing the survey, the party returned to Springfield. Mr. Capps made arrangements with Jerry Birks, a settler on Lake Fork, to remove a cabin he had previously built there to the west side of what was laid out for a public square. It was moved there, and placed on a spot of ground now occupied by the postoffice. Mr. Capps's wife had died early in the spring preceding these movements, leaving him with three small boys. He married again on his return from the survey, and on the morning after his wedding started with his family for their new home. He put into his wagon some necessary furniture, some provisions, and a few goods, and with these followed the road leading to the Lake Fork settlement. From this settlement to the Mound was only a trail, which instead of leading to its top passed by the base on to Salt Creek. Following this, the family soon came to their new habitation, which they found moved and set up. Placing the family in this, the upper story of which they occupied, Mr. Capps returned to Springfield for other necessaries of life and additional goods. After making a few trips, he had a well-selected stock of a miscellaneous assortment of merchandise

Trade soon began to come to the enterprising pioneer. People from where Clinton is now situated to the site of Decatur made this point one to purchase common household necessities. Thosewho could not pay in money brought peltry in various kinds, which Mr. Oapps took to Springfield and exchanged for goods. He made nearly all his purchases for several years in St. Louis.- His goods were shipped up the Mississippi to the Illinois River, thence up that stream to Pekin, where he received them into his wagon, and hauled them across the country home. His route lay through Postville, then containing only a house or two. It was, however, quite a point, as the stages coming from Chicago to St. Louis, and from Peoria down would often meet there. The " tavern " on Sugar Creek, was kept by "William ("Pap") Ryan. He was a rather eccentric but excellent man, and faithfully observed evening prayers, to which he would always invite any travelers who chanced to be stopping with him. On a certain evening, while conducting this service,a rather amusing incident occurred. For a light he used a " dip," being nothing less than a kettle-lid inverted, the hollow filled with tallow and a cotton rag placed therein, one end of projected slightly over the edge of the lid and being lighted made a good substitute for a lamp or a candle. While at prayer, one of the travelers, a rather wild fellow, by some means got one of his hands in this dish, and, pullirg the rag wick into it, set it all ablaze, and severely burned his hand. Forgetting where he was, and being frightened by the sudden pain, he very emphatically exclaimed, "Gosh ! dara the thing!" "Amen!" said Ryan, at that instant closing his prayer. For many days after the two expressions were common by-words among the amused travelers.

During Mr. Capps' first two years of life at the Mound he and the adjacent settlers often drove their hogs to Pekin, where they were slaughtered, and the pork shipped to St. Louis by the rivers^ Occasionally he would exchange goods for dressed pork, which he hauled to the same place, and then shipped to the same market.

At the expiration of nearly two years he was joined by three young men, Andrew Danner, a blacksmith, a Mr. Miles and Horace Roe, carpenters. All these boarded with Mr. Capps, and worked at their respective trades. Christian Danner, a brother of Andrew, came soon after with a family. These persons were from Pittsburg, and had probably come to St. Louis by water, and there- hearing of some of the interior Illinois settlements, and their great desirability as homes, finally found their way to Mr. Capps's new town. Thus far it had received no name. In deciding upon one, the few residents chose that of Pulaski, and the place heretofore being called, from its location, the Mound, easily came to be called its present name. The situation is, indeed, enchantingly beautiful. At the date of which we are writing, the scene musthave been beyond description. The wildness of the prairie, bounded on the north and west by the Salt Creek and Lake Fork timber, and on the east and south by an extended plain, whose boundary was beyond the vision, covered with the wild, rolling prairie grass, is a scene vividly impressed on the minds of those pioneers, and one on which they love to linger.

Christian Danner built a frame house soon after his arrival, it being the second in the place. Mr. Capps had erected one about a year and a half after his arrival, the upper story being used for a dwelling, the lower for a store. The carpenters found work enough among the surrounding settlers. The two named were soon joined by Willis Roe, who afterward lost his life by the fall of a beam in a building on which he was working. The blacksmiths set up a small shop immediately on their arrival, in which they sharpened hoes and plow points, and made other instruments used by the frontier settlers. The plows then had only a wooden moldboard, and attached to the plow-point was an iron shoe, in which a socket was made for the insertion for the wooden plow-point. The corn was generally cultivated with the hoe and a single corn-plow.

No sooner had these families located here than ministers of the gospel came to visit them. Even when Mr. Capps was the only resident on the " point," some stopped with him over night when on their way from one settlement to another. Prominent among these was " Father Bowles," as he was called, of the Christian church. In 1840 or 1841 Dr. John Clark located in the village, on the lot his family yet occupy. His was the fourth or fifth family in the place.

The second store was built by Benjamin Davis, which stood near the corner of the square, on the ground now occupied by Scroggin's hotel. This store was in all respects like its predecessor, and contained every article demanded by the settlers. Jefferson Scroggin built a house about this time, in which he accommodated travelers. Frank Schick, a German, was among the earliest residents of Mt. Pulaski, and afterward one of her most enterprising citizens.

Soon after coining, he worked for Mr. Capps in his garden for 50 cents per day. Next he tried making shoes, and being the first, and for some time the only shoemaker in the village, soonbuiltup a good trade. His shoes at first were more noticeable for strength than elegance; but people's tastes were at that time not so difficult to satisfy as now. The " wear and tear " of the article was more considered than the appearance. The only tannery in the vicinity was at Carter Scroggin's - a " trough " tannery. The location of the persons and industries mentioned had given the frontier village quite a business appearance, and made it a good trading place. In 1846 the third store was built by Thomas Lnshbaugh. (Jomfortable frame houses were being erected, and the comforts and luxuries of life were beginning to appear. In 1844 a frame school-house was built, and school regularly held therein. The Methodists held weekly services in Dr. Clark's house, and at Nicholas Moore's, a few miles north. The first brick house was built by Alexander Morgan, and used as a hotel. Brewer Bunn, since then a prominent lawyer in Decatur, carried brick and mortar as a day laborer during its erection. The first brick business block was built by Dr. Robinson, referred to. It is now torn away. A brick house was not long after built by Mr. Zimmerman, also one by Mr. Craig.

At the organization of the county in 1839, the seat of justice had been placed in Postville, nearly the center of the county. Then the county's limits were not the same as now - portions of Tazewell and De Witt having since been added - and, as has been noted in the history of the county, a division of Logan was anticipated. In 1848 the county seat was, by a vote of the people, removed to Mt. Pulaski, with the hope that a new county would be formed from the southern part of Logan. At that time Mount Pulaski had increased to a prosperous village of 300 inhabitants, and was enjoying an excellent trade. The town by subscription raised $2,700; the county gave $300, and a comfortable court-house, two stories in height above the basement, was built on the public-square. It faced the west, and was ready for occupancy soon after the location of the seat of justice was fixed. The village had been incorporated in 1852; but this by some means, was after a few years not recognized. The next year after the erection of the court-house, the incorporation was revived, and kept in active existence until 1872, when it was re-incorporated under the general law for the incorporation of towns. By some means the boundaries to the town had never been stated.

and any suit brought bj the village would not stand in court. After a few years the citizens saw that this would n6t do, as criminals would always go free on an appeal to the county courts. A petition was presented to Judge Dicks early in 1876 to order an election to be held, to decide for or against an incorporation of Mt. Pulaski. The petition was dated March 16, 1876. The election was held April 3, at the office of Dr. John Clark, and resulted in favor of incorporation.

Village Officees

1876 - Trustees, "William A. Schafer, Uriah Snider, John W. Sevfer, Alexander Fisher, John Krieg and Charles S. Capps. Charles S. Capps was President, and Jacob Yager and Charles Gapps, Sr., eacli served a part of the year as Clerk.

1880 - Trustees, Charles S. Capps, H. B. Roe, W. H. Ralston, Uriah Snider, Henry Yonderleith and George P. Zeiss; President, Uriah Snider; Clerk, Charles Capps, Sr.; Constable, E. Werlich; Treasurer, C. F. Schafer; Attorney, A. G. Jones. The Trustees drew lots for long and short terms, so that in the future but three need be elected annually. Those drawing for the long term were, Henry Vonderleith, H. B. Roe and W. H. Ralston.

1881 - Trustees, Uriah Snider, Charles S. Capps and J. F. Schick; to fill vacancy, G. L. Schafer; President, Uriah Snider; Clerk, John H. Capps; Police Magistrate, F. V. Nicholson; Treasurer, C. F. Schafer: Attorney, A. G. Jones; Constable, A. G. Green.

1885 - Trustees, E. A. Danner, Uriah Snider and John F. Schick; to fill vacancy, R. S. Hershey; President, Uriah Snider; Clerk, Charles Capps, Sr.; Attorney, A. G. Jones; Treasurer, C. F. Schafer; Police Magistrate, F. Y. Nicholson-; Constable, G. W. Connolly.

With the advent of the court-house, a remarkably rapid growth of the town began. In ten years the increase of population was over 100 per cent. New stores and comfortable dwellings were rapidly built, and several new industries came quickly into existence. A jail was completed shortly after the court-house was built. It was constructed of brick, and was made two stories in height. The windows were covered with iron grating. This jail contained criminals' and debtors' cells, and, though considered an improvement on the old log jail at Postville, could hardly be recognized as equal to it in safety. The contractor received $1,000 for its erection.

In 1850 the Methodists erected their church - the first in town. Two years after, tlie First German Evangelical Lutherans erected their first house of worship.

The industries of the town were the ordinary blacksmith and wagon shops, carpenter shops and small mill. Prior to the opening of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Eailroad, in 1853, mail was brought from Springfield, or from the stages on their route from Chicago and Peoria to St. Louis. When this railroad was completed, a stage made regular trips to Postville or Lincoln, which was then just coming into existence. At every session of court lawyers from Springfield and Peoria were in attendance, and during that time the town presented an animated appearance. Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, David Davis and others since famous in State and national history were often seen in attendance at the Mt. Pulaski courts. The gentlemen named gen-

On the adoption of the new State Constitution, in 1848, all hope of a division of Logan County was lost. Ere long, people living in the north part of the county began to complain of the long distance they were compelled to go to court, and a more central location was demanded. Colbey Knapp was in the Legislature at the time, and succeeded in passing a bill allowing the residents of the county to vote on a re-location of the seat of justice. This was in the session of 1852-'53. .The bill authorized the people to vote upon the question, but contained certain provisions relating to the removal of the county offices and county records, stipulating that they should remain in Mt. Pulaski until the completion of the new court-house. This was not ready until late jn December, 1855, at which time the change was made.

This was a severe blow to Mt. Pulaski. During the next four years the population, fully 600 in number, increased only fiftythree. The lawyers moved to Lincoln, and that town began to partake of the early prosperity of Mt. Pulaski. Its founders were men of energy, money and enterprise, and made vigorous efforts for the advancement of their town. They hSd the advantage of a direct railroad between the two largest cities in the West, and were not slow to improve their opportunities. '

From the removal of the seat of justice, the growth of Mt. Pulaski was marked with no important events. It has been slow and sure, and since the completion of railroads, crossing here, has been reasonably speedy. On the east, west and south sides of the public square, and on the west side of the street leading south from the southwest corner, good brick business blocks have been built.

The old court-house yet stands, and is used by the village for offices of the village clerk and magistrate. An attorney also offices here. The upper story is unused. The Supreme Court decided that the building and square are held in trust for public purposes. It has been proposed to replace the historic structure by a new and safer one.

The first postmaster of this place was Jabez Oapps, and the second was Ezekiel Bowman. Dr. John Clark held the appointment from 1851 to 1857, in December of which year S. LinnBeidler was appointed. This gentleman held the office continuously until June, 1882, except the last two years of Johnson's administration, when the appointment was held by T. H. O. Mattfeldt. In June, 1882, the present courteous and popular postmaster, John W. Seyfer, succeeded Mr. Beidler. This latter gentleman deserves more unqualified praise for his public-spirited life than often is permitted to the historian to record. No man was ever more devoted to the interests of his town and more unseliish in his desires for its prosperity. Too often, however, others have reaped the profits which sliould have been awarded the man who made them possible.

Mt. Pulaski is the only place in Logan County enterprising enough to have a fire department. The matter was talked of long before action was taken. In 1875 the merchants of the place contributed fnnds and purchased some " Babcocks," but no one seemed familiar withj;hem when they were needed, and they became entirely unused. When Priest & Gordon's mill burned, in July, 1884, the people were aroused ; and in response to the general sentiment the board purchased an engine , hose cart and hookand-ladder truck. The Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company was organized in March, 1885, with "W. H. Stafford as captain and 0. G. Bekemeyer as secretary. The company meets every month in its handsome quarters at the northeast corner of the square.

The Mount Pulaski Mining Company

was organized in April, 1883, with John Lincoln, President ; H. C. Suttle, Secretary ; L. K. Scroggin, Treasurer ; and D. Yanhise, Superintendent, these gentlemen owning the entire capital stock. In November, 1884, F. P. Heyle purchased the interests of Messrs. Lincoln and Yanhise and has since been Secretary and Treasurer. L. K. Scroggin sold to his son, A. C. Scroggin, in April, 1885, since which time the officers and stockholders have been : A. C. Scroggin, President ; F. P. Heyle, Secretary and Treasurer; and H. C. Suttle, Superintendent. One hundred men are on the pay roll and the monthly output of the mine is about 3,500 tons. The pitmen are mainly Scotch and English, with a sprinkling of Germans, Americans and Irish. James Small, an experienced miner is foreman. Tliis work is done on the "long wall" system, a method used in this part of the State for the first time - the coal is broken by the downward pressure of the earth and entirely excavated without the use of explosives. The shipments of the company are made along the entire line of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville road, north to Chicago on the Illinois Central, and a very gratifying trade has developed for the few months now passed under the new management. This shaft was sunk in the spring of 1883 by Wm. Beard, who operated it about six months and sold it to B. F. Fox, who disposed of ii six or eight months later to the original company above spoken of. Mr. Beard struck a fonr-and-a-half-foot vein at 360 feet and erected the tower, engine house, etc. Mr. Fox sunk it forty feet to the next vein, without satisfactory results, however, and erected the sixty horse-power engine that now lifts the coal. The company has recently sunk an air shaft to the same level as the original shaft and put in a twelvefoot ventilating fan, rendering their equipment as complete as that of any mining plant in this section.

Educational Interests

In the early life of Mt. Pulaski the educational advantages were not of the best, and not until 1844 was any permanent provision made for the education of the children. Until this time there were butfew residents in town, and these taught their children in their own homes, or paid any one who desired to engage in the work during the winter a small sum per scholar for teaching. This person would hire a room in some dwelling, or the loft of a shop or store, and therein teach the young idea. This condition could not long continue among an enterprising people, and the year mentioned saw a comfortable frame house erected for school purposes. It was also used for divine worship, town meetings, or for any public gathering. When this became too small, in after years, the basement of a church would be rented or a room wherever vacant, until 1858, when the Legislature gave to the town the old courthouse for a school-house. It has remained in use ever since. The little frame is now the dwelling of some farmer or gardener, having been sold when the change of houses was made. On entering the court-house, two teachers were employed. John Kent was probably the first teacher within its walls.

ducted, to a graded system, under the control of a Board of Eduoatiorj, and an application for funds to erect a new school-house was made. Twenty thousand dollars was granted, and with this the board purchased a very eligible site in the eastern part of the town, and erected thereon an excellent eight-room building. The Trustees at that time were George Huck (President), Dr. F. D. Cass (Secretary) and John M. Tomlinson. The annual expenditures for school purposes are $4,500 to $5,000. The present Trustees are: John Myer (President), R. S. Hershey (Secretary) and H. C. Suttle. There are employed nine teachers, George W. Monroe being principal.

The Press

The Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest in town. It was organized in Dr. John Clark's house, about the year 1841 or '42, with but few members. This was the first religious service in town. The first preacher of this denomination here was probably Eev. D. P. Bunn. He was shortly after followed by Rev. Hardin Wallace, who conducted one of the largest revivals ever known to this region in pioneer days. People came from all directions to attend the meetings, and over fifty were converted and joined the Methodist church. A class had been formed at Henry Dement's, where meetings were held. The class at Mr. Dement's became the nucleus around which the Hurricane Point Church was gathered. Among the earliest ministers in this denomination was the noted and eccentric Peter Cartwright, so well known to the early residents of Central Illinois. He was then living on his farm near Springfield, and was presiding elder of this conference. The church in town continued to meet at Dr. Clark's house until 1844, when, the school-house being completed, they occupied that until 1850, when they finished a house of worship. This was replaced iu 1884 by another church, which cost $2,500. The present pastor is Rev. P. S. Gay. The society has about fifty members, and the attendance at Sunday-school, of which R. J. Beggs is superintendent, is about 150. The church stewards are Mrs. Mantle and J. A. Mussenden.

they erected a small brick church, the work being geuerally performed by the members themselves. By the year 1856 there were thirty-six members. Their first minister was Kev. P. S. Staiger. In 1865 they sold their church to the Catholics, it having become too small for their growing congregation, and began the erection of their present house of worship, which was dedicated May 13, 1866. The present pastor is Rev. John Boettiger. There are about seventy-five voting members of the church. The attendance at Sunday-school is about fifty. Jacob Bowman is superintendent. The Second German Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in the autumn of 1868, with sixteen members. The pastor was Rev. William A. Deininger, who remained about two and a half years. The organization was efi'ected in the Universalist church, where they continued to meet until 1873, when their present house of worship was completed at a cost of $3,300. The second pastor was Rev. G. Pracht, who remained nearly two years, and was succeeded by Rev. O. F. Ebert, who filled the pulpit two years, when Rev. R. C. Starck was called. The present pastor. Rev. M. During, came in 1879. The membership is now over forty, with a Sunday-school of more than double that number.

The Evangelical Association was organized in the spring of 1857, in the Universalist church, by Rev. H. Schelp. The membership is now twenty-eight. They occupy their own church, which was completed in 1861. Their first pastor was Rev. A. Strohmeier. The present one is Rev. George Barth. The oflicers are: P. Reinders, Class-Leader; P. Reinders, C. J. Foley and P. Miller, Trustees. Mr. Reinders is also superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has about thirty attendants.

The Catholic Church was organized about 1866, in a private house. They purchased the First German Church, and occupied it until the spring of 1886, when they occupied a new frame structure in the southeast part of town, bailt at a cost of $3,000. The church has about twenty families, mostly residing in the country. Services are held the first Sunday in each month by Father Reynolds, of Elkhart.

The Christian Church was organized in the spring of 1868, with thirty members. They had just completed a frame church, which they used until the society became inactive, a few years since.

Church, four miles south of town, the Oopeland Church, five miles south, and a Baptist church, four and a half miles south. The two former are of the Christian denomination.

Miscellaneous Organizations

The Mt. Pulaski Zyceum was organized Monday, November 23, 1885. It is to meet every week or two for literary and social entertainment. The officers are : President, MJton Lesem; Vice- President, Prof. G. W. Monroe; Treasurer, C. S. Landis; Secretary, F. L. Tomlinson.

Mi. Pulaski Lodge, No. 87, A. F. (& A. M., was chartered October 8, 1858, with D. P. Bunn as W. M.; I. R. Braucher, S. W., and Robert Carlisle, J. W. The present membership is seventyone. The lodge meets on Saturday evening, on or before the full moon of each month. The officers for 1886 are: T. F. Whitaker, Worthy Master; "W . A. Scliafer, Senior Warden ; W. S. Whitaker, Junior Warden; George Meister, Treasurer; F. V. Nicholson, Secretary; John H. Toole, Senior Deacon; William Acton, Junior Deacon; James Poe and AbramMcKinney, Stewards; J. Weidenbacher, Tyler.

Mi. Pulaski Chapter, No. 121, R. A. M., was chartered October 29, 1868, with seventeen members. There are now forty-four members. The chapter meets the first Monday evening in each month. The present officers are: John H. Toole, High Priest; C. F. Schafer, King; George Mayer, S.; W. A. Schafer, C. H.; John R. Ayres, P. S.; J. W' Ewing, R. A. 0. ; George Meister, Treasurer; F. V. Nicholson, Secretary; Abram McKinney, M. 3d Y. ; M. J. Reinheiraer, M. 2d V. ; S. H. Newlin, M. 1st V.

Mt. Pulaski Commandery, No. 39, K. T., was chartered October 24, 1871, with twelve members. There are now fifty members. Meetings are held the first Thursday evening of each month. The officers are: William A. Schafer, Eminent Commander; Isaac J. Michener, Gen.; George P. Zeiss, C. G. ; John H. Toole, Prelate; Joseph W. Ewing, S. W.; Samuel L. Beidler, J. W.; George Meister, Treasurer; J. W. Ewing, Rec. {pro tern.); David Patterson, St. B.; George C. Yocum, Sw. B. ; John W. Dillsaver, Warden; Gustav Weidenbacher, G. of G.

Mi. Pulaski Lodge, No. 451, /. 0. 0. F., was chartered October 10, 1871. The first members were John G. Fox, Henry Fox, P. L. Corby, J. M. Reitz, Milton Deere and Jacob Bollin. The pres- ent officers are: W. H. Henderson, Noble Grand; Moses Cooper, Vice-Grand; M. P. Phinney, Secretary; William McGonnick, Treasurer. The lodge meets every Tuesday evening at Odd Fellows' Hall. Present membership, twenty-five.

Lucas Lodge, No. 516, /. 0. 0. -F., was chartered October 14, 1873, with fifteen first members. It has now twenty members, and meets every Monday eveninu; at Odd Fellows' Hall. The present officers are: George Jenner, Noble Grand; Fred Weiler, Yice- Grand; George Meister, Treasurer; John W. Seyfer, Secretary.

Samuel Walker Post, No. ^05, O. A.Ji.,waLS chartered March 23, 1883, with twenty-nine comrades. C. 0. Mason was the first Commander. The post has now thirty-eight members, and meets the first and third Saturdays of each month, at Odd Fellows' Hall. The officers for 1886 are: William McCormick, Commander; William Adlerman, Senior Vice-Commander; M. A. Dubois, Junior Vice-Commander; M. P. Phinney, Adjutant; Charles Wood, Quartermaster; M. P. Phinney, Surgeon; Philip Miller, Chaplain; John Danley, Officer of the Day; John Mier, Officer of the Guard.

James Ayres, farmer, was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1834, and is a son of Darius Ayres, who was born in 1800, in Hamilton County, Ohio. He married Orpah Rosebrough, and removed to Miami County, Ohio, where, in 1839, he died, leaving seven children - Richard F., since deceased ; Mary, deceased; Alfred, John R., Susan, James and Rebecca, deceased. The family came to Logan County in 1852, settling on the present farm of James Ayres in 1854. Mr. Ayres has made substantial improvements here in the way of building, tree-planting and fencing. His widowed mother is living with him, at the age of eighty-one years. In 1883 our subject, James Ayres, was married to Mrs. Christine C. Webster, born in Schoharie County, New York, and daugliter of Henry I. Warner, who was born May 10, 1796, in Schoharie County. He was in active life a farmer, and came in 1857 to Lincoln, Illinois, where he died in November, 1884. His wife, Margaret Becker, was from an historic New York family, and was a granddaugliter of Major Joseph Bi3cker, a prominent officer in the Border war, and later in the war of the Revolution. In 1776 he built a stone house, whieli was used as a fort, and here Mrs. Warner was born. She died November 15, 1858, in Lincoln, Illinois, leav- ing four children - Florine, now Mrs. Horace Lawrence, of Cayuga County, New York; David B., of Lincoln; Sarah C, wife of Samuel Jones, of Lincoln, and Christine C, now Mrs. James Ayres, of Mount Pulaski. Mrs. Ayres has in her possession a brass-bound Bible, printed in German in 1748, which was inherited bv her mother from her ancestors.

John B. Ayres, a retired farmer of Mount Pulaski, was born March 13, 1831, in Hamilton County, Ohio. His father, Darius Ayres, was born in April, 1800, in New Jersey, and married in 1824, in Hamilton County, Ohio, to Orpah Rosebrough. Darius Ayres was a son of Benajah, born in 1774, and Susan (Ferris) Ayers, who were among the earliest settlers of Hamilton County, where they located at the beginning of the present century, removing thence to Miami County, Ohio, in 1833. Here they died and were buried, and here also died Darius Ayres, December 29, 1839. His widow, who is still living, brought the family to Logan County, Hlinois. There were seven children - Richard, who died in 1882, in Chestnut, this county, had been sheriflF of Logan County, and for many years supervisor of JEtna Township; Mary, married J. C. Webster, a distinguished citizen of this county; Alfred is a De Witt County farmer; John R, our subject; Susan, married Thomas Clark, and lives in Nebraska; James is farming in Mount Pulaski, and Rebecca, now deceased, the wife of J, H. Dement, of Mount Pulaski. John R. Ayres enlisted, August, 1862, in Company E, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry, and served three years, without furlough or sickness, participating in all the movements and services of the regiment. Mr. Ayres married, in 1871, Mrs. Eliza Shupe, of Mount Pulaski, daughter of the Rev. Richard W. Clark, deceased, and the adopted daughter of Dr. John Clark, deceased, and was born November 9, 1841, in Mc- Donough County, Illinois. She was married in Mt. Pulaski, to Jonas Shupe, of Ohio, who died January 13, 1865, leaving a daughter - Mary E. Shupe, who married Dr. E. C. Nolan, of Mount Pulaski. Mr. and Mrs. Ayres also have a daughter - Lena Ayres. Mrs. Ayres died March 5, 1882, and was buried in Mount Pulaski, and her eldest daughter, Mrs. Dr. Nolan, died at the age of twenty years, leaving a daughter - Ella, now with the family of Mr. Ayres. John R. Ayres is in politics a Prohibitionist of Republican antecedents. For many years he has been trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, although not a member. He belongs to the Mount Pulaski lodge and chapter, A. F. & A. M., and has been master of the lodge. Though not engaged in active farming for the past fifteen years, he still owns and supervises a farm in Laenna Township.

Jacob Bmmami was born in 1833, in Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1852, he and his brother Philip, came to America, the joint-stock capital of the two being just 25 cents on arriving in Cincinnati. They at once hired out as farm hands, north of the city, at first receiving $8 per month and for the last of their five years labor $220 per year. In 1858 they came to liliuoia, buying eighty acres in partnership, near Kinney, De Witt County. Tiiis they farmed for three years in company, living in a log house. They then divided said eighty acres of land, and Jacob Baumann began with his forty acres, but soon bought the 120 acres adjoining, thus making a 160-acre farm, on which he erected fair buildings and grew hedges around each forty acres. He sold the land in 1874:, for which he received $50 per acre, buying then the 341-acre farm, where he now lives and for which he paid $12,000. On this he first built a roomy and substantial barn at a cost of $1,000, and in 1875 his handsome farm house, at a cost of $3,000. The farm is in a splendid location, and would readilj' sell at $75 per acre. In 1880 he bought another 160 acres on section 2, township 18 north, range 1 west of third principal meridian, and in 1884 another eighty acres on section 31, township 18 north, range 1 west of third principal meridian. Since 1883 Mr. Baumann has devoted ranch attention and money to the purchase and breeding of Holstein cattle, he having in the year mentioned bought of Pratt, of Elgin, Illinois, a pair of extra fine animals, and later an imported heifer. He now has eight head of registered Holsteins, several of them carrying off first prizes at the Logan County fair. He has also a large herd of high-grade short-horn cows, and makes a specialty of butter-making. He is likewise trying the qualities of the Jerseys and has a noticeably fine cow among his herd. In 1857, in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio, he married Margaret Lohr, who came from Hesse-Darmstadt in 1853. She died in De Witt County, leaving two sons - William and Philip. By his present wife, Mina (Wagner) Baumann, born in Saxony, coming to the United States in 1853, he has had eight children - Fritz, Ernest, Marie, Emma, Albert, Henry, Katie and Jacob. Mr. and Mrs. Baumann belong to the Lutheran church. He is a liberal Democrat in politics.

Jersey. He was a son of John Beam, two of whose sons, William and John Beam, now reside in Springfield, Illinois. S. C. Beam came to Mount Pulaski about 1845, and worked as a carpenter. In 1851 he built a saw-mill, and about 1857 the flouring mill in connection. Previously he and Mr. Johnson had operated, a corn-mill in the saw-mill. About 1872 he demolished the saw-mill and built the elevator in connection with the flouring mill, and it may be noted that the engine he brought from St. Louis in 1851 still drives the mill and elevator machinery. About the time of the erection of the elevator Mr. Beam began speculating in wheat futures on the St. Louis and Chicago boards, and though remarkably successful for a few years, this business finally caused his financial ruin, forcing him to turn his property over to his creditors. So great, however, was the confidence of his friends in his business enterprise and ability that means were freely offered him with which to renew business in more conservative walks, but he died March 8, 1880, leaving a wife and six children, in whose hearts the memory of this kind husband and father will ever be kept green. Mrs. Beam was Miss Mary L., daughter of George W. Turley, Esq., and was born near Lake Fork. The six children are - Richard E., Elizabeth Alice, George A., Lander R., Frank Y. and Anna K. Mr. Beam was an enthusiast in whatever he undertook in business, public enterprises or politics. In politics he was a Democrat. He served as supervisor, road commissioner, school director, etc. It was under his direction that the trees were planted that now beautify the court-house square. The most notable monument of his energy, however, is the palatial residence which he built in 1875-'76. It is a model of architectural beauty, and the largest private residence in Logan County. It is now owued^by others, the family occupying the old homestead " where," as the widowed mother says, "all his happy days were passed." Samuel Linn Beidler was bora in Mo unt Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1837. In 1838 his father with wife and eight children moved on a farm in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, seven miles east of Harrisburg. With a new suit and a little ilag, little " Sammie " was taught, as he still well remembers, the campaign song of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" of 1840. The father, John Beidler, moved in 1844 to Hammelstown. The campaign of Polk and Dallas vs. Clay and Frelinghuysen of that year is a vivid picture in 'Our subject's memory. He heard his father, in conversation, deplore the pros- pects of a war with Mexico sliould Polk be elected President. Dire calamity in that event would befall the country, as ihey then understood and viewed the matter. The father was a Whig, but, belonging to the Mennonite religion, took no part in elections, not even voting. April, 1845, another move was made - three miles east, on the Korse-Shoe Pike, where the family lived two years. In view of the probable high prices following the declaration of war by President Polk ,in that year the father purchased twelve barrels of flour for $60, supposed to be, as still recollected, a year's supply. Our youthful subject dropped corn during the planting season of 1845 and 1846 for a neighbor, at a " fip" a day, receiving in cash at the end of a week three levies {S7^ cents). The Mexican war caused a good deal of anxiety and fear, under the impression that fighting was really going on in the towns, which proved, however, to be no more than recruiting for the army. Millerism had been a topic of much interest with a good deal of misgivings. Stories of silver being thrown away by the followers of Miller are still fresh to his memory. A sister (Mary) taught Samuel to read, schools being too far off to attend. The family moving to Middletown in 1847, a place was found with a farmer in an adjoining town, where he found employment, without pay, except daring frosty corn-gathering time, where a bushel of corn, worth 40 cents, was given the father for each week's work done by the boy. The work was to put the corn in heaps, as the " buskers " threw it very scatteringly. Later, wagons would follow and gather it up for cribbing. Doing this barefooted on the eve of cold wintry weather is not a forgotten event. A little schooling followed during the winter. On the 6th of Jane, 1848, the lad was placed in the drug store of John I. Landis, in which store he remained until 1850, when Histand & Miesse became proprietors, who started a branch store in the adjoining town of Portsmouth. In the latter place the entire business devolved upon the little clerk, who not only sold but ordered goods and ran the business. During this time, too, the campaign of Taylor and Fillmore vs. Cass and Butler occurred, and he saw General Taylor on his way to Washington to take his seat. The fugitive slave law when signed by Fillmore created intense excitement among the people. Vengeance against the slave-owner and his blood hounds was the topic that greeted his ears on all sides. He was a welcome visitor at a Mrs. Spayd's, who told him all about the part she took in the exodus of the Millerites to the

Hill Island on the Susquehanna River - where several hundred had gathered, expecting to be wafted to realms above. His father dying in 1849 and mother in 1850, and he becoming ambitious to see the world, early in 1852 started for Lancaster Citv, with a letter of introduction from Bruce Cameron to Thad Stevens and Walter Evans, who both treated him kindly but failed to find him employment, after which he went to Trenton, New Jersey, in which city he found a good place in a drug store. "While there he studied hard, attending a course of lectures in electrical psychology, became an adept, and feels that he has not lost any of its secrets to this day. That year, 1852, occurred the campaign of Pierce and King vs. Scott and Graham, and he saw General Scott before his famous campaign tour West. The anniversary of the battle of Trenton was fought in sham array in those days and always to the defeat of the Russians. It was the big occasion to Jersey men. It was in May, 1853, while on their way to the inauguration of the World's Fair at New York that President Pierce and his cabinet stopped over and put up at the United States Hotel. It was made a half holiday and he availed himself of the opportunity and made his way to the reception room of the hotel where were President Pierce and his cabinet. The President laughingly acquiesced in the sentiment offered by a blacksmith present that we, the people, are the masters and you, the President and cabinet, are the servants. Getting the Western fever, especially from a visitor from the then Western end of the world, Toledo, Ohio, he packed his valise and in September, 1853, made his way to New York to view the Crystal Palace and the wonders of the city. After a ten-days stay he took a steamer for New York around the coast via Cape May to Philadelphia, stopping a few days in the latter city. His next point was a visit home to his sister and brothers. He stayed in Chambersburg until July 1, 1854. Returning to Middletown to say good-by, in company with a man by the name of Job Deckard, who with his horse and buggy started via Harrisburg, July 1, 1854, westward, passing through Carlyle, Chambersburg, Bedford Springs, Washington, Wheeling, Canton, Ohio, to Columbus, Circleville, to Yellowbud in Ross County. At Bedford Springs they saw James Buchanan and other dignitaries. That trip over land was made in the dry, cholera summer of 1854. At a number of places they were warned off and compelled to go many miles out of the way to avoid cholera-stricken towns. Arriving at Canton, Ohio, after robbing him of the little money he had, Deckard stole away with his team from the hotel after night, leaving him alone, penniless, among strangers. The sale of his watch paid coach fare to Columbus and Circleville and to Yellowbud, where his brother, Dr. J. H. Beidler, was located. The campaign of 1856 occurred while there. "Know-nothingism" was then in its glory. Dissolution propositions of the Democracy brought much fear over the possibilities of a disrupted country. He was clerk in the Yellowbud postofflce about a year before taking liis departure, February 12, 1867, for Illinois, on Inrseback. Passed through Washington, Xenia, Dayton, Cambridge City, Richmond, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Paris, Mattoon, Decatur, Mechanicsburg to Elkhart, Logan County, reaching there March 2, an eighteen-days ride over a boundless prairie from the Wabash River to his destination; clerked a little while at Elkhart, and became an early victim to the Illinois mange. In the spring assisted to dig a well; when fifty feet down asked to be let down to see stars, an old story thought in boyishness to be true. When down, the hired men pulled the buckets up leaving him to contemplate the chances of life and death for the well-digger, and surrounded the dinner table enjoying the fun of liis desertion and probable fright. Ayounglady, Miss Clarissa Shasteen, shamed them into hauling him up again, and half an hour later the well caved in, it being of course a providential escape for our subject. Entering the employ of Kelso & Boren, druggists, of Lincoln, he was placed in charge of a branch store in Mt. Pulaski, in November, 1857. soon after he was made deputy postmaster, but nearly lost the place owing to his coolness toward the the " Danite " wing of the Democratic party. In 1860 he voted for Douglas for President, but was continued in office by President Lincoln, as it was known that he was a loyal man, true to the Union and opposed to nullification or secession. Returning from Springfield with the news that the Star of the West had been fired upon by South Carolinans, he was greeted by a crowd of his townsmen who asked his opinion as to the outcome of this high-handed act. His reply was that war was sure to follow, and that he was in favor of the coercion, subjugating, and necessary annihilation of a State or States that attemped secession. This sentiment was cheered. Mr, Beidler held the postoffice and voted Democratic until the National Democratic Convention of 1864 declared the war a failure, since which time he has beau a radical Republican. During Johnson's administration, 1866 and 1868, Mr. Beidler was retired as postmaster, and was re-appointed by General Grant in 1869, and he held the office interruptedly until 1882. He was made a Master Mason in 1868, was a charter member of Mt. Pulaski Chapter, No. 121, in 1871, and a charter member of Mt. Pulaski Commandery, No. 39, of which he was commander in 1880. He was the second man to propose the building of the G. C. & S. R. R. (now Springfield division, Illinois Central Railroad), and was one of its organizers and first directors; was village trustee and treasurer from 1872 to 1874. February 8, 1866, he married Miss Prudence Ann Capps, daughter of Jabez Capps, founder of Mt. Pulaski, and eleven children have blessed the union. He has taken an active interest in all the old settlers' meetings held in Mt. Pulaski, usually becoming general manager of all the arrangements, letiring from the platform in favor of the old settlers at and during their deliberations. To the' best of his means aided in the prospecting for coal and all other enterprises entered into for the prosperity and building up of his town. Mr. Beidler spent a thousand dollars in building a bath house in 1883, with a view of bringing the invaluable spring at the foot of Mt. Pulaski hill into prominence and use; lack of public interest made it a failure. He has been a regular correspondent of the Lincoln Herald for a decade - for other journals occasionally. Is now owner and local editor of Mt. Pulaski Repuhlican. Has continuously been in the drug trade in this place since arriving here in 1857. Has bought and sold much real estate in lands and town property. Mr. Beidler has always been a good money-maker but a poor moneykeeper - using it unselfishly and for other's good. In religion he is a believer in the great over-ruling Jehovah of the universe - also believing that the finite is incapable of comprehending the infinite, that the miracle of existence here is more mysterious and less liable to our comprehension than a continued state of intelligent existence hereafter.

David Bi/rks, farmer, section 8, township 17, range 2, is a native of Logan County, a representative of one of its oldest families. His grandfather, Jeremiah Birks, was born in Georgia, lived several years in Tennessee, and about 1812 moved to White County, Illinois, being one of the first settlers of that county. Three or four years later he removed to the Currant River, Arkansas, and there engaged in farming till 1822, when he was visited by his daughter Polly, and her husband, Robert Buckles, who rode from "White County on horseback, each carrying a child, who are now well known in Logan County as William R. and Jeremiah Buckles. This visit led to the return of both the Buckles and Birks families to Illinois, and to their settlement on Lake Fork, in 1822. Jeremiah Birks bought a log house and a six or seven acre claim of John Porter, near the mouth of the Lake Fork. This he sold and then located on a claim, now the Zelle farm, near Lake Fork Station, and from there moved to the Steenberger farm, on which was a doable log house, or two cabins ten feet apart. Mr. Birks was a prime mover in laying out the cemetery on this farm. He was energetic and as ingenious as a Yankee, though born in Dixie, and did his own work in his own carpenter and blacksmith shop. He was twice married. First to Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had eight children - Polly, Rial, Riley, Levina, David, Rolland, Sarah and Betsey. Polly, David and Rolland are the only ones living. To his second marriage were born six children - Isom, Sarah, Riley, Ann, Permelia and Richard. Of these, only Isom and Richard are living. Mr. Birks is buried on the old Steenberger farm. His son, Rolland Birks, was born in White County, Illinois, December 23, 1814. He is a large land-owner and farmer of Logan County, living on section 16, township 17, range 2. He first married Mary Yandeventer, who died August 20, 1876. To them were born five children - Melinda (deceased), David, James, John and Rebecca. His present wife was Mrs. Elizabeth J. Montgomery, daughter of Green Herring, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and widow of John Montgomery. David and James Birks (twins) were born in Mt. Pulaski Township, March 18, 1839. The latter is a farmer of Dakota. John Birks was born in April, 1841, and is now a farmer of Macon Coun'y, Illinois. David Birks has been a life-long resident of Logan County, and is now one of the most extensive farmers of this township, controlling about 1,100 acres. He has lived since 1853 on Bold Knob, a high hill commanding a beautiful landscape view. The first improvements were made and the present buildings were erected by his father. Mr. Birks married Sarah J. Copeland, who was born on her father's homestead (where he still lives), on Lake Fork, February 7, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Birks have one son - William Edward, born January 30, 1861. They are members of the Christian church. In politics Mr. Birks is a Democrat.

Isom Birks was born March 12, 1820, in Missouri. His boyhood was spent among the timber and on the prairies of Logan County. He has followed farming all his life, and has lived on his present farm since 1846. Including the land deeded to his sons, he has owned and reclaimed about 600 acres of Illinois, and is to-day a fine example of the open-hearted, hospitable, hard-working men, who laid the foundations for the upbuilding of the State of Illinois. In 1839 Mr. Birks was married to Mary Lucas, daughter of John Lncas. She was born May 26, 1824, in Ohio. By this union there are eight living children - Riley Birks served nearly three years in the Union army, enlisting in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry. He removed to Iowa in 1881, and is now farming at Portsmouth, Shelby County, that State. He married Hethey J. Martin, by whom he has six daughters and fonr sons. Jerry Birks also served three years as a private in the One Hundred and Sixth. He married Mary A. Lanham,by whom he has one daughter. He is farming near his father. John L. Birks married Martha S. Wilmot and has two daughters. In 1872 he removed to Iowa, and is now farming at Portsmouth that State. Sarah E. Birks married Levi Wilson and moved to Kansas in 1869, where Mr. Wilson died five years later, leaving two sons. Thomas R. Birks, married Mary C. Gasaway, by whom he has three sons and one daughter. He is now living in Persia, Harrison County, Iowa, to which place he went in 1877. Rhoda A. Birks married T. J. Gasaway, of Logan County, by whom she has a son and a daughter. Isom F. Birks, now farming in Lake Fork, married Anna R. Treft. They have one son. Permelia I. Birks is unmarried and lives with her parents. Politically Isom Birks and all his sons and daughters are Democrats. The father of the subject of this sketch, Jeremiah Birks, was born in Georgia. He was twice married, the first wife being Elizabeth Brown, by whom he had eight children. His second wife was Rhoda Collins, daughter of Hngh Collins, who settled in Lake Fork in 1822. By his second marriage six children were born, and of his fourteen children only five are now living - David, Roland and Polly, by the first wife, and Richard and our subject, Isom, by the second. Of these, David and Richard live in Iowa; Roland and Isom are Lake Fork farmers, and Polly, at the age of eighty-four, is the surviving widow of Robert Buckles. Jeremiah Birks settled in White County, Illinois, in 1812, where he lived about four years, going from there to Missouri, and in 1822 came to Logan County, Illinois. He, with his wife and family of eight children, came with team and wagon, and made his claim at the mouth of Lake Fork, built a rude log hut, and with his stalwart sons began the work of clearing away the timber. A year later he sold his land and removed to what is now the Turner farm, whera he bought eight or ten acres of cleared land, and in 1824 he bought of Hugh Collins the farm best known as the Steinbergen farm. There he built a two-story hewed log house, 20 x 24, with kitchen addition. On this farm was the Steinbergen graveyard, noted as the burial place ot many pioneer settlers.

Isom F. Birks, farmer, section 13, was born February 3, 1857, on the Birks homestead in Mount Pulaski. His parents, Isom and and Mary (Lucas) Birks, were among tlie early settlers of this township. February 22,1877, he married Anna R. Treft, daughter of John Treft. Her father was born February 25, 1816, came to Springfield in 1837, and died December 22, 1862, on the Lake Fork. His widow, Margret (Liecom) Treft, was born August 18, 1824, came to Springfield, November 15, 1840. She married Joseph Thomas and is now living in Lake Fork Township. Mrs. Birks was born November 15, 1857, in Lake Fork Township. Mr. and Mrs. Birks have one son - Herbert Elmer Birks, born May 30, 1880. They belong to the Christian church.

Jeremiah Birks is a son of Isom and Mary (Lucas) Birks, and was born October 21, 1842, in Mount Pulaski Township. He lived on the paternal homestead until August 16, 1862, when he, with his brother, Riley Birks, enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry. The regiment went direct to Jackson, Tennessee, and from there in June, 1862, to the rear of Vicksburg, guarding the Yazoo Yalley. After the surrender of Vicksburg they went to Helena, Arkansas, and thence to Little Rock, assisting to capture that city. Later, a forced march was made toward Wichita, to cat off the Rebel cavalry that was trying to get in the rear of General Steele from the Red River battle near Shreveport. From August 16, 1864, until his discharge, March 7, 1865, Mr. Birks was disabled on account of sickness. Since the war he has lived on his present farm and remembers well his impressions formed during the war that the rank and file of the Confederate army were willing to acknowledge that the war was for the benefit of the ofiicers of the Confederacy and wrong. Mr. Birks was married November 16, 1865, to Mary A. Lanham, born August 2, 1844, in Illinois, daughter of John Wesley and Harriet Lanham. Her father died when she was but six weeks old, and her mother January 5, 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Birks have one dauehter - Lucy L., born on the Lake Fork homestead December

9 1866. The first President Mr. Birks cast his vote for was the Honorable Horatio Seymour, and the last one was the noble Cleveland. He was a soldier who supported the red, white and blue, but yet a Democrat in politics.

Rev. John, Theodore Boetticher, pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Zion Church, Mount Pulaski, was born April 4, 1829, in Duesseldorf, Rbinish Prussia. His secular studies were pursued at Essen, and in August, 1855, he graduated from the Theological Seminary in Barmen, Rhine Province. In December of the same year he came to America, settling in Illinois, his first congregation being in Monroe County. He spent two years in Vandalia, Illinois, and from 1861 to 1865 in La Grange, Missouri. From 1866 to 1870 he was in Golden, Illinois, in August of that year taking charge of his present congregation in Mount Pulaski, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Boetticher was married in Quincy, Illinois, to Henrietta "Waldecker, born 1832, in Lippe Detmold. Five children have been born to them - Wilhelmina,born December 16, 1857, now wife of Fred Bachman; Augusta, born May 9, 1861, now Mrs. H. Barmeister, (Messrs. Bachman and Barmeister are partners in the grocery business in Decatur, Illinois); Johannes S. P., born July 8, 1864, in La Grange, Missouri, died July 25, 1865; Simon W., born July 14, 1867, in Golden, Adams County, Illinois, is now pursuing his studies in St. Louis, and Emili, born December 28, 1872, in Mount Pulaski.

James Broughton^ farmer, section 6, was born October 2, 1814, near the line of Fairfield and Pickaway counties, Ohio. In the spring of 1831, he came to Sangamon County, hiring out on a farm, and remembers as a boy he was furnished with a poor scythe, with which, dull as it was, he kept his place among the hay-makers. During the next few years he crossed Indiana seven different times on horseback. In 1837 his father, Isaac Broughton, step-mother and eleven children settled in Sangamon County. Isaac Broughton married, first, Mary "Watkins, who died in Ohio, leaving three children - James, Nancy and Perry. By the second marriage with Becky Rumor, there were eight children. James Broughton married Mary (Iden) Greenslate, born in Pike County, Ohio, daughter of Humphrey and Nancy (Rollins) Iden. Her mother died when she was seven years old and three years later she came to Logan County, where she married George Greenslate, of Greenup County, Kentucky. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry, in July, 1862, and died in the service at Colambus, Georgia. He left four children - Peter, James W., Sarah E., and Charles H. Mr. and Mrs. Broughton have four children - Samuel M., Malissa L., Eli E. and Lewis E. Mr. Broughton bought his present farm at $2.50 per acre. He now has nearly 500 acres of valuable and well-improved land in Mount Pulaski and Chester townships, a tasteful farm house, substantial barn, good fences and orchards and has done the greater part of the work with his own hands.

George Brucher, section 8, was born September 16, 1828, in Wurtemburg. In 1833 his father, George Brucker, came to the United States and settled in Zanesville, Ohio. Ten years after, he came to a new prairie farm, in Mount Pulaski Township, where he lived until his death, whicii occurred in 1853. His widow survives him, aged eighty years. There were ten children, three born in Germany, four in Ohio and three in Illinois. George Brucker, whose name heads this sketch, was employed for many years in Springfield, Illinois. In 1857 he began farming and now has 243 acres of fine farming land, ninety acres of timber. In 1865 he built one of the finest farm houses in Mount Pulaski Township. In March, 1856, he was united in marriage with Margaret Weller, who had come from Germany only two years previous, with her brothers George and John Weller, now substantial farmers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Brucker have six children - Mary, Martha, Charles, Lizzie, Gottleib and Fredericka, all born in Mount Pulaski Township. Mr. Brucker is a Democrat and a member of the Lutheran church.

Andrew Buckles is a son of Eobert and Mary Buckles, who settled in Logan County in 1822. He was born December 20, 1827, on the paternal homestead, Mount Pulaski Township,and has spent his life here. In early life he was an enthusiastic hunter, keeping a pack of greyhounds, and in winter often capturing three and four deer per day to say nothing of the turkey and wolf shooting. For the past forty years he has been a successful and devoted bee hunter, finding on an average six to eight trees per year. After 1856 the deer-hunting was a sport of the past, though geese, ducks, brant, etc., seemed to increasejfor a few years. About 1851 Mr. Buckles built the house in which he now lives, and began farming on 320 acres of land. He now has a home farm of 480 acres, with good buildings and improvements, and has 133 acres additional. March 1, 1855, he married Elizabeth "Whiteside, born May 15, 1828, in Cumberland County, Kentucky, and is the only living daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Graves) Whiteside. In 1831, her parents, with their ten children settled on a farm near Springfield, Illinois, and there Charles Whiteside died. The widow and family came to Logan County in 1851. There Were seven brothers - William A. and N. B. Whiteside are Sangamon County farmers; Franklin resides in Springfield; Milton is a resident of La Cygne, Kansas; Thomas resides in Fort Collins, Colorado; Harvey is living in San Francisco and George is a resident of Olympus, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles have three living children - M. Frances, born October 17, 1858, now wife of John England; Henry Sherman, born June 17, 1866, and Robert Emmet was born March 2, 1869. Four children are deceased - Charles Andrew, died in infancy; Margaret C, died in her seventeenth year; Flora, died at twenty-two years of age and Emma L., at eighteen. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles belong to the Cliristian church. In politics Mr. Buckles is a Republican.

Elias Buckles is the oldest son of John Buckles and was born September 30, 1848, on the Buckles homestead and has spent his entire life in Logan County. As a son of one of the largest farmers and most extensive stock dealers in Logan County, much of his time was spent in the saddle on cattle buying excursions, with his father, and in supervising the work on the home farm, under his father's instructions. September 1, 1868, he married and at the age of twenty years began life for himself on a part of his present farm. This was known as the old Thomas Lushbaugh farm, though the place was occupied early in the '' '20.'8 " bf G. W. Turley, who laid out the embryo city of Jamestown about 1830. Early settlers remember the surveying of Jamestown on the beautiful mound, now the iiome of Mr. Buckles. The enterprise came to nothing and Squire Turley became one of the founders of Mount Pulaski. Vestiges of the old brickyard and log buildings of the Turleys yet appear on the farm. This hill is about six feet higher than the Mount Pulaski hill, and upon it, in 1870, Mr. Buckles built his handsome two-story house which he has environed with beautiful and ornamental trees. His barn, 44 x 66 feet, was built eight years later and his place is laid out on a plan similar to that of his father's beautiful home. Mr. Buckles has been an extensive feeder of cattle, turning off an average of 100 head of fat cattle per annum for the past eighteen years. A few years ago he bought iift)' head of mule colts, kept them till they were three years old, when he sold the entire lot. Mr. Buckles and his wife have now

1,200 acres of fertile land in one tract, being an inheritance from both the Buckles and Dyer estates. Both Mr. and Mrs. Buckles are members of the Christian church, having made an early profession of Christianity. Politically Mr. Buckles is a Eepublican, keeping up the religious and political traditions of the family. Mrs. Buckles is a daughter of Harrison and Sarah (Turley) Dyer. She was born on the farm she now owns and is the only survivor of seven children. Harrison Dyer was born and reared in Ohio. In 1834:, his father, Israel Dyer, a millwright, brought his family, with a four-horse team, to Illinois, settling at Two-Mile Grove, where he died. Harrison Dyer, born August 31, 1814, was married in Logan County to Sarah A. Turley, a daughter of John Turley and granddaughter of James Turley, one of the first white settlers of Logan County. Sarah Turley Dyer died in 1850 and is buried in the Carlysle cemetery. Harrison Dyer married again Martha Rankin, who survives him. She was born in Kentucky, settled in childhood in Menard County, Illinois, came to Lake Fork in 1851, and is now making her home in Mount Pulaski, Illinois. Her husband died, beloved and respected by all who knew him, May 17, 1866, and is buried beside his first wife. Mr. and Mrs. Buckles have six living children - J. Harrison, born Jnly 24, 1869; Ora Ella, born November 13, 1871; MyrtaL., born April 5, 1872; Edna Jane, born March 19, 1876; Elias F., born March 20, 1878, and Hubert, born September 19, 1883. Ira Lee, born October 30, 1870, died October 17 of the following year, and Darius W., born October 26, 1874, died September 20, 1875. All the children were born on the Mount Pulaski farm and represent the fifth generation of this notable family in Logan County. John BuoMes, of Mount Pulaski, is a fine type of the early settlers of Central Illinois. A native of the State, born October 7, 1822, in "White County, he came when an infant in arms to Logan County, and has spent his lifetime on practically the same farm which he now owns. His boyhood and young manhood were spent in the saddle in caring for the herds of his father, in deer hunting, and the manly athletic sports of that early day. He dressed in homespun, and knew nothing of the ways of the modern young man, or of "plug" hat and patent leathers. He attended the schools taught by Uncle "Billy" Copeland, Thomas Skinner, etc., the same being taught in a floorless log building belonging to his father. Arrived at his majority he took charge of a drove of hogs which he sold in Ricine, Wisconsin. The following year he led the advance ox of a goodly drove of cattle bound for New York, actually walking nearly the entire distance. His pay was $12 per month. The trip was repeated the next year on better pay, in a better position. In December, 1847, he married Esther Jane Scroggin, daughter of Carter T. Scroggin, a pioneer of 1828, in Logan County. Mr. Buckles rived out the shingles for his first house, cut and hauled the logs to the saw-mill and built the house which stood sixty yards south of his present mansion. The new house bnilt in 1864 of brick manufactured on the ground is one of the stately homes of this county. Mr. Buckles has about 1,400 acres in the home farm, and, with his sons, owns about 4,000 acres of fertile Illinois land. On his farm Mr. Buckles has always made a specialty of the breeding, buying, rearing and traflScking in cattle, being regarded as one of the large cattle dealers of Central Illinois. From his youth he has been an active member and supporter of the Christian church, and none have done so much in its interests and support, his ample means being held at the disposal of church advancement. From his early manhood Mr. Buckles has affiliated with the Republican party, advocated its principles and worked for its interests when a large per celit. of his neighbors and pioneerday friends were of a different political faith, and entertained ideas radically at variance with his own. The same sturdy manhood and resolute courageous indifference to the opinions of others leads Mr. Buckles to the advocacy of the formation of a third party on a temperance platform. No stubborn, wrong-headed willfulness actuates him in taking this stand, but it is rather the outgrowth of years of calm, careful, dispassionate consideration of the subject, and a broad-minded, unselfish desire to benefit his fellow creatures. As in politics is it in every question with which he is identified. Doing a " seven by nine" scale was never to his liking or practice, and his entire life has been modeled on an essentially broad-gauge, liberal, enlightened Christian-like plan. In the busy and active life of John Buckles we find a wonderful exhibition of vital power and endurance. From the time that he first became a stock-dealer and trader, reaching over a period of twenty years, he was almost constantly in the saddle. In those twenty years, deducting for sundries, he averagad no less than twenty miles a day, making in that time, counting 300 days to the year, 120,000 miles, enough to span the circumference of the earth more than four tioaes. These figures may astonish many living men, and there may be some who will feel inclined to discount them, but there are manj' things that have occurred in the early life of many men and many things that have been done in the lives of the early pioneers that the rising generation of to-day can not grasp and comprehend. The state of the weather was of no consequence; through wind and storm, rain and cold, he moved unchecked. His mind and energy were directed toward a given point; nothing turned him to the right or the left. In these twenty years, while his headquarters were in the saddle, he often rode as far as forty or fifty miles in a day, and in that time scarcely ever took his dinner at home, save on Sunday. Mrs. John Buckles was born February 29, 1828, in Logan County, where she has spent her life, a prudent, careful wife and faithful mother. The children are - Elias Buckles, born September 30, 1848 (see sketch); Darius Buckles, born February 18, 1850, married Miss Alice Turley, daughter of Eobert Turley, of Mount Pulaski; Catherine, married J. O. Turley (see sketch); John Marion Buckles, born March 16, 1858, married Alice Eankin, of Mount Pulaski, and will inherit the homestead which he is now managing with his father.

Robert Buckles, deceased, was a descendant of an old German family founded in the colonial days of America. Born April 29, 1796, in Tennessee, he was brought by his parents, John and Anna Buckles, to White County, Illinois, where he grew to manhood and married, in 1818, Mary Birks, who survives him. She was born in Georgia, May 26, 1803, and is a remarkable woman. In 1822 Eobert and Mary Buckles made a wonderful horseback journey to the home of her father, Jeremiah Birks, in Missouri or Arkansas, a ride of 800 miles over the swamps, bills and prairies. Each carried a child before them - the children who grew to be stalwart men and well remembered substantial Logan County farmers - Jeremiah and William E. Buckles. The hardships and privations of such a journey can be but faintly comprehended by the people of this day. Disliking the country South, the two families resolved to return North and make a final settlement in the "Sangamon country," through which Mr. Buckles had previously traveled. He and his wife made the return trip in their saddles, Mr. Birks and family coming in a twohorse wagon. Arrived at the mouth of the Lake Fork in May or June, 1822, Mr. Birks bought a "claim" of a Mr. Chapman, a log cabin constituting the "improvement." Mr. and Mrs. Buckle returned to White County, where a son, John Buckles, wps born, and a few weeks later, or in the fall of 1822, they returned and built a very small.

rude cabin of logs near Mr. Birks's house. Mr. Birks moved farther up Lake Fork that fall, however, and the long, dreary winter was passed by Mary Buckles in a room ten-feet square. It was floored with puncheons, roofed with " shakes," was windowless, had a door swung on wooden hinges, and a mud chimney or fireplace. Robert Buckles built this primitive home with only an ax and his strong hands. It was a wet, cheerless winter, and Mrs. Buckles did not see a white woman until spring. A more lonesome, wretched experience falls to the lot of but few of the wives and mothers of our land. The family lived on game and the fine fish taken from Salt Creek. In the spring of 1823 Robert Buckles removed to the farm on which he died. Here was a log house which was a slight improvement on the one already described, and in this the family lived several years. For more than a quarter of a century Mrs. Buckles did without a cook stove. A good brick chimney was built by Mr. Buckles, he and Thomas Skinner haying started a brick-yard early in the " '20'8." Both flax and cotton were raised by the early Lake Fork settlers, the cotton being "ginned" by hand, the staple being placed before a fire, and so heated as to loosen the seeds. It was carded, spun, woven, colored and made into garments wholly by hand labor, and about the same tedious method was taken with the flax. Many a day did Mrs. Buckles walk over a mile to her father's house, spin or weave all day, walk home and repeat next day, meanwhile caring for a large family absolutely without help of any kind. What would the housewives of to-day say or do were they confronted by the difficulties, hard work, and awkward implements and furniture of that olden time ! A bench and a beadle instead of a washing machine, and a hollow tree split in halves for a cradle,and in just such a cradle were rocked all the older children of Robert and Mary Buckles. Corn was beaten in the end of a log hollowed out for the purpose by a spring pole and iron wedge rigged for this business. This was sifted, sometimes through the perforated hide of an animal, the coarse part made into hominy, the finer into corn bread, rather unpalatable bread though, as remembered by the few now living who ate of it. It was baked on a smooth board placed before the fire, though later a tin " reflector' took its place. Wolves were very troublesome, and sheep-raising practically a failure. Bounties of corn were offered the men who could produce the greatest number of wolf scalps, and on one occasion Robert Buckles carried ofi" the first prize, 250 bushels of corn. George Girtman took the second, 125 bushels. " Bee trees" were common and the settlers used to vie with each other in finding them. Mrs. Buckles herself found three well-stocked trees in one day. Honey took the place of sugar, though the rock maples of Lake Fork were regularly tapped with fair results in the early day- Robert Buckles was a successful and enthusiastic hunter, and hundreds of deer, wolves and wild turkeys fell before his steady rifle. Iq 1827 he enlisted in the Winnebago war and did good service. It was said that he was the strongest man and best shot in his battalion. Abraham Lincoln was a fellow soldier. They roughed it side by side, and between the two sprang up a close and lasting friendship which endured throughout the lives of both - lives so eventful and closing so nearly together. In his home, surrounded by his wife and children, Mr. Buckles showed the happiest phases of his character. As a husband he was kind; as a father he was just and generous. He became the father of fifteen children, all of whom are living but five. No man of his time and generation passed through more hardships and endured more privations than did Mr. Buckles. His life was early devoted to raising and driving stock to the then distant markets - Galena, St. Louis and Chicago. He drove cattle to Chicago in 1835. Chicago was then but a small trading post, situated, as it were, in a dreary swamp. " On 'Change " was then an item of the future. "Corners" had not invaded the marts of trade in the Northwest. " High freights " did not at that time disturb the populace. In those days monopolies did not sway imperious scepters over the heads of the people. The highway of that time was one of great antiquity. No bonds had been voted as a bonus. The rates upon the road were uniform and regular. Kobert Buckles was not taxed as much for moving his cattle 100 miles as he was for moving them 200. That was indeed a golden day of equity and cheap freights. There were no stopping-places along the way - no " middle-men " with habitations and stock yards had been provided for the weary drover. In driving hogs to Galena Mr. Buckles was compelled to remain night after night out upon the prairie with them, the broad canopy of heaven being his only shelter. He also drove hogs to St. Louis and other points, and upon these various trips he endured many hardships in the open and wild country. The territory was full of Indians, who caused him much trouble and involved him in many difficulties. These troubles and difficulties which he was called upon to encounter in this, at that time, unsettled country, the dangers he was called to meet, his toils, his adventures and his conflicts incident to pioneer life, were of a most trying character. The history of the "deep snow," in the winter of 1830 and 1831, has been many times detailed and portrayed by writers of pioneer history. The trials and bitter privations of that winter the young people of to-day can form but a faint conception of. In fact, they can poorly comprehend the various hardships and conflicts through which the early settlers of this country passed in the whole period of pioneer history. Such days can never come to the pioneers who still advance toward the West. For to-day we behold that a restless civilization has rolled its wheels across the mountains to the golden shore, and calls to the pioneer to follow and "possess the goodly land." In the next fifty years the pioneer will not face as many difficulties as was faced by the pioneers of fifty years ago. Mr. Buckles died February 18, 1866, and it is the least that can be said that his decease left a vacancy in the ranks of the old settlers that must be a source of lasting sorrow to all who survive him. His children were - William R., Jeremiah, John, Elizabeth, Levinia, Andrew, Peter, Chalton C, Mary, Robert, Wiley, Henry H., Sarah, Jemima and Lucinda. His widow, a hale, strong woman, is to-day, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, a wonderfully interesting person to meet. In full possession of all her faculties, her memories of the eventful past are keen and her vivid descriptions of singularly graphic power. She was the mother of fifteen children, ten of whom are now living, and is grandmother to seventy-three people, greatgrandmother to 101, and great-great-grandmother to one - there thus being five living generations of this historic family. Conversation with one whose life spans so great a portion of this century is like an interview with one of a past and almost forgotten age; but not forgotten, for there should come joy and honor to a woman who, like Mrs. Buckles, faced the storms and privations of an untried wilderness, without seeing the face of a white woman for six months at a time, in the midst of savages, being compelled to fasten with props the doors of their log cabin when alone with her children for successive nights, to shield her and her charge from the inhumanity of the Indians of that day, which marked the era of the Black Hawk and other Indian wars. Such a woman should be loved and cherished until life's latest hours; and when she has passed from earthly toil to a rest beyond the tomb, she should be remembered as a light and power, who left the impress of her life and character so grandly upon the earth. Although her life was one of toil and hardship - one full of burdens - she never faltered. Her aim was victory. She gained it,and, having lived more than four-score yearsjshe looks over the times and places of her life's struggles with a happy contentment, standing upon the shore, waiting to be" hold the stars show their faces through the glimmering twilight of the evening of life. By and by the harvester will come to garner the golden sheaves for immortality; and in going from home to home, the tireless and unselfish energy of this aged pilgrim for the comfort of her children, and that motherly love and devotion when the north winds sighed around the lonely pioneer cabin, will not be forgotten.

William B. Buckles, deceased, was the eldest son of Robert and Polly Buckles, and was born July 10, 1819, in White County, Illinois. In 1819 he came with his parents to Lake Fork, and spent his entire life here as a farmer. Perhaps no man who ever lived in Logan County was more successful as a hunter. In the days of his young manhood game of all kinds abounded in the timber on the prairies, and hundreds of deer, turkeys, wolves, etc., have been slain by him. As a bee-hunter he excelled all, even in his later days pursuing this amusement with more zeal and success than any younger and more active man. He located on the farm where he died and where his widow now lives, in 1841. He was married October 12, 1841, to Mary A. Scroggin, born November 27, 1820, in Gallatin County, Illinois, coming with her people to Logan County early in 1827. She is the daughter of Carter T. Scroggin. Mr. Buckles died February 11, 1'885, and is buried in the Carlysle burying-ground, the last resting-place of so many of the early settlers of Lake Fork. Both Mr. and Mrs. Buckles were for about forty years connected with the Lake Fork Christian church, Mr. Buckles being a trustee of it for most of the time. At his death his large landed estate was willed to his wife and children, save two acres, which he dedicated to religious purposes. His children were - Louisa, who married James T. Wright, and died April 2, 1878, leaving three children, who have the care of a parent in their grandmother; Phebe C. Buckles, born November 30, 1842, married D. C. Eidgeway; H. H. Buckles, born November 29, 1845, now a prosperous hardware merchant of Oxford, Kansas; C. T. Buckles, born October 15, 1848, residing with his mother on the homestead, and R. F. Buckles, born June 16, 1850, now State's Attorney of Brown County, Kansas. All the children were born on the Lake Fork homestead, which was the first settled farm in

Lake Fork, it being the "claim" of James Turley, a settler of 1820. Jabez Caj}ps, Sr., is of Saxon and Huguenot lineage and was born September 9, 1796, in London, England. At the age of twentyone he decided to come to America, and after a three-months voyage landed at Boston. Later he visited N ew York and Philadelphia, traveling on foot from the latter city, over the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He then voyaged on a flat-boat to Cincinnati, where he remained two years. He then visited Louisville, Kentucky, and from there proceeded on foot to St. Louis, where he spent the winter of 1819-'20. He then came to Illinois. Mr. Capps hab been twice married; the first wife was Prudy Ann Stafford, born in Vermont, married December 7, 1828. She died May 13, 1836, leaving three children - Charles, Ebenezer and Oliver. Another son, Thomas, died in youth. Charles S. Capps is now manager of Mount Pulaski nursery, which he and his father founded in 1858. Ebenezer is a resident of Kansas, and Oliver is in California. By the second marriage, with Miss Elizabeth Baker, of Kentucky, there were ten children - John H., now of Mount Pulaski; Prudence, Mrs. S. Linn Beidler, of Mount Pulaski; Mary, wife of M. McNattin, died in 1877; William, Benjamin D., Jabez, Jr., Edward, Harry and Maud are at home; Frank died in youth. Mrs. Capps died May 8, 1877. Jabez Capps, Sr., now in his ninetieth year, is active, clear-headed, and in full possession of all his faculties, even to the reading of ordinary print without the aid of spectacles. He was the first school-teacher in Sangamon County, and taught his second term in the old log " court-house" in Springfield, erected at a cost of $62. He was also one of the first merchants in Springfield, where he owned much real estate, and carried on a large dry-goods and general mercantile business, with a branch store at Vandalia, then the State capitol. He at one time owned the ground on which the tomb of Abraham Lincoln is built. He was one of the three founders of Mount Pulaski, at one time owning most of the town site and all the land north to Salt Creek. He was considered the leading business man and capitalist of Logan County. He served one term as recorder of deeds, when the county seat was at Postville, and was postmaster at Mt. Pulaski for fifteen years. In early life he had been a Whig, but since the organization of the Republicans has cast his vote for that party. He has a large home-like residence in the village and is peacefully passing his time, rich in the esteem of all fortunate enough to know him.

Jonathan Comis, grain dealer at Mount Pulaski, came to Logan County in 1860, buj-ing eiglity acres of wild prairie on section 23, Chester Township, paying$11.25 per acre. Two-thirds of the township was wild land at that time, the average price being about $7 per acre. Mr. Combs built a frame house 24 x 26 feet and began farming operations in the fall of 1860, which has resulted in his present ownership of a well-improved and valuable farm of 320 acres in Ciiester Township, besides which lie owns 240 acres on sections 5 and 8, Laenna Township. These farms are leased under his supervision, he having resided in Mount Pulaski since 1877. He has a pleasant and well-appointed home, a block of ground, well fenced, and the needful buildings erected by himself. In 1880 he formed a partnership with Z. K. Wood for the purpose of carrying on the grain business. Mr. Combs still keeps up the active habits of a busy life, attending to the oulside business and street buying. Mr. Combs was born March 11, 1829, in Ross County, Ohio, and was reared a farmer. His father, Joshua Combs, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and was in early life a carpenter and cabinet-maker. He married Sarah Brancher, born in Pickaway County, Ohio, who died in 1863. She was of a pioneer family in Ohio and a sister of Colonel I. R. Brancher. The father came to the home of his son, our subject, and there died during the same year. Four sons and one daughter had been born to them. One son, Albert Combs, died in Mount Pulaski Township in 1883, after a residence of about three years in Illinois, His family resides near Lake Fork. Jonathan Combs was married in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1849, to Anne Rose, a native of Germany, born March 17, 1826. Her fathei settled in Albany, New York, when she was eight years old, and a year later removed to. Ross County, Ohio. They have six living children - Nelson, Mary, Sarah, Augustus, Eliza and Katie. The three eldest were born in Pickaway County, Ohio, and the others in Logan County, Illinois. Mr. Combs is a Republican, of Whig antecedents and is a member, with his wife, of the Universalist church.

And/rew Danner,^8r., farmer, section 23, was born in 1808 in Wurtemburg, and is the son of Christian Banner, a blacksmith who was crippled by the freezing of his lower limbs in Andrew's boyhood. This compelled him to drag himself around on his hands. Andrew Danner served as a blacksmith's apprentice four years and worked at the trade for eight years, in the fatherland. In 1839 he came to America, working at blacksmithing for four years, in Hagerstown, Maryland. He came to Springfield in the fall of 1839, walking from there to Mount Pulaski soon after. Here he found only Jabez Capps and Dr. Robinson, living in log houses. He purchased an outfit of tools in Springfield and immediately opened the first permanent blacksmith's shop in Mount Pulaski, and worked at that trade for eighteen years. In 1841 he bought eighty acres of Government land, which he still owns, his farm now consisting of 120 acres, besides forty of timber. Mr. Danner has made good improvements on this farm, in the way of building, tree-planting and fencing. He married Magdalena Merganthaler, by whom he lias six children living - Christiana, now Mrs. Becker; Margaretta, now Mrs. Sommer; Christian, Mrs. Catherina Epting, John, and Marian, now Mrs. John Khinder. The sons are with the parents, on the homestead, and the family are members of the First Lutheran Church, Mount Pulaski.

Christian Danner, section 23, Mount Pulaski Township, is one of the pioneers of the township, locating here in the spring of 1840. He and his brother Andrew were the first permanent blacksmiths of the township. Jabez Capps and Dr. Robinson were the only residents of the village at that time. Each of the brothers was given a lot and on one they built the first frame house in Mount Pulaski. It stood south of the square, now the site of Danner's clothing store. Mr. Capps was the only merchant and the Danners were the onlj' blacksmiths between Springfield and Clinton. There were no roads nor bridges in the country, and prices for labor were very low, $1.50 being the price for shoeing a horse all around with new shoes. They bought their iron on credit of Jabez Capps, and made their own shoes. Late in the fall the farmers would take their pork to Mr. Capps, who paid them $1.50 per hundred pounds for it, deducting the amount of their blacksmith's bill, and from that his own bill for iron and pay the Danners the balance. " Many a time," says Mr. Danner, " has a farmer rode up to my shop, saying ' I want a couple of old shoes set for two. bits and will pay in venison,' and while I was setting the shoes he would go out on the prairie, in plain sight, and shoot the deer." At the close of the Mexican war, the California gold excitement brought in money more plentifully, and "Mr. Danner went to St. Louis and bought a quantity of damaged iron at 1^ cents a pound. He then began the manufacture of heavy wagons, which he sold to the gold hunters for $125. He also made the first iron plows in Mount Pulaski, buying the pattern in

St. Louis, and doing the entire worli himself. He made the mill spindles for Bowers and other mills in the county, and the early settlers still remember his skill and ingenuity in devising ways and means to do these difiScult jobs of blacksmithing; also the strength and agility he displayed in shoeing the refractory horses, which, unaccustomed to being shod more than once a year, were naturally hard to handle. Mr. Danner was undoubtedly the most skillful blacksmith in the county, and has often been called from his farm to the shops in Mount Pulaski to do nice pieces of work. He has lived on his farm since 1857. Mr. Danner was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, December 13, 1810, and came to America with his brother Andrew in 1834. He worked in the large blacksmith shops and carriage works of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, six years. He was married in 1838 to Eva Smith, a native of "Wurtemburg, who came to America in 1837. She died in 1854, leaving four children - Andrew, born July 7, 1841, was the first German born in Mount Pulaski; Henry, a farmer of this township; John, on the homestead and Kate, wife of Fred Binder. In 1855 Mr. Danner married Dorothy Birkhardt, a native of Wurtemburg, who came to America in 1852. She died in 1873, leaving five children - Mary, wife of John Roth; Christena, Christian, George and Gottleib. Mr. Danner is a member of the Lutheran church and has helped build three churches in Mount Pulaski.