Macoupin County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1879 (part 6 of 15)

In the spring of 1831 there were several settlements made in different parts of the township. About this time came the Weatherfords, Jefferson Hardin and others, and located in what was for many years known as Weatherford's prairie, in the north-east corner of the township. Soon after, came [lijah Mitchell, and Thomas Hughes, with their families, and settled on Brushy Mound prairie. About the same time came Henry and Thomas Beauford, Willis and William Whitworths, and their families.

The most notable characteristic of the early settlers was a fondness for hunting and fishing, hospitality, sociability, economy and poverty.

Karly Mills and Carding Factories - In 1833 or '34 Jefferson Weatherford built an ox mill on Weatherford's prairie, on the line of the Carlinville and Hillsborough road. This mill was a great convenience in its time for the neighborhood.

In 1837 Haskins Trabue built a carding factory in Spanish Needle prairie, some five miles south of Carlinville, on the Alton road. This factory, fora number of years, supplied the settlers with woolen yarn, from which their wives and daughters manufactured the family clothing.

In the spring of 1851 Thomas Corr and Elijah Mitchell built a gristmill on Honey creek, and in 1853, B. F. Clark and J. R. Mitchell built a mill in Spanish Needle prairie. And some time after, was erected Braley's mill, on Honey creck, and Borough's mill at Borough station. The milling interest, however, was allowed to languish, and at the present writing there is no mill operated in Brushy Mound.

First birth - The first child born was Theodorus, the son of John and Ann Moore, on the 16th of September, 1830. At the early age of seventeen this patriotic youth enlisted as a volunteer soldier in the war with Mexico, and fell a victim to yellow fever at Tampico, Mexico, September 30th, 1847.

built by the Honey creek Baptist denomination, and located in the northeast part of the township, on section 12. It was a very unpretending structure, 20 feet by 30 feet, built of hewn logs, covered with oak shingles, and floored with oak boards without dressing or jointing. Neither were the spaces between the logs chinked or pointed. This rude structure served as a place of worship during the summer months for many years, until it was superseded about the year 1852, by a good substantial frame building, which was located on the south side of Honey creck timber. In 1873 a new building was erected to take the place of the old one, and was located on the north-east corner of Gillespie township, along the line of section 36 Brushy Mound.

Schools. - The first school district was organized in 1834, and a log-building erected; Thomas P. Low was the first teacher ; he is spoken of by several of the old settlers as having been a most excellent teacher. At that period the school districts were not defined by any regular boundary lines as now, but embraced a territory as large as the children were able to traverse. There was no classification of school books. Hach pupil was furnished with such books as the family happened to have. The school readers in those days were Testaments, English readers, old Geographies, the lives of Washington, Marion, Jackson and Legal form books, Universal vocabularies, etc.

Game. - The early settlers of this township were surrounded with an abundance of game, such as deer, wolves, prairie fowl, quail, rabbits, raccoons and opossums, &c., and in the spring and fall of the year, immense flocks of migratory birds came, among which were geese, ducks, brants, cranes, &c. The streams abounded with fish, and furnished sport for the angler's skill.

First entries of Government land. - On the 19th of October, 1829, Travis Moore entered 80 acres in section 5, and David Gimlin entered 8) acres in the same section October 8th, 1830. The next entry was made by Harding Weatherford, of 80 acres in section 12, on the 16th of October, 1830, after which time land entries were quite frequent.

The following are the Justices of the Peace since 'Township organization . M. B. Robinson and Stephen White, elected in 1871; S. White and A. Hacke, elected in 1873; Stephen White and A. Hacke, elected in 1877; R. Drury, elected in 1878, and re-elected in 1879.

Sige Ranges

Acres improved lands, 12,531, value $88,361; acres unimproved lands, 10,598, value $24,494; total value of lands, $111,858. Of horses there are 528, valued at $8,202; cattle, 1,309, valued at $10,265; mules, 110, value $1,841; sheep, 438, value $508 ; hogs, 1,199, value $1,016; 2 steam engines, value $185; 157 carriages and wagons, value $2,081; 104 watches and clocks ; 47 sewing machines, 16 organs. Total value of personal property $13,960. The wealth and productions are mainly agricultural, and its rich soil responds to the labors of the husbandman in abundant harvests of corn, wheat, oats, hay, potatoes, fruits, etc., and considerable attention is given to the raising of cattle, horses, mules, sheep, hogs, poultry, ete.

Drainage, Timber, ete - This township is well drained by the Macoupin and its affluents, the principle one of which is Honey creek. Along the streams there is a heavy growth of timber, affording plenty of fuel, fencing and lumber.

The C. & A. R. R., crosses Brushy Mound in the north-west corner of the township, entering it in section 5, and leaving it in section 7. There are at present four good school-houses with well sustained public schools. Also two substantal church buildings. Baptist church located on section 30, and M. E. church on section 34. The early settlers of this township, were mainly of the poorer classes from the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. They were a hardy and vigorous race; prudent, industrious and honest.

Among the older residents of the county, now living in this township, may be mentioned the name of John Burleson, who came here in 1827 with his half brother, Seth Hodge, and Rey. D. P. Deadrick, who was born in the county in 1828. Levi Mitchell and R. W. Huddleston became citizens here in 1831°; Henderson Gimlin and Giles M. Adams in 1830; Joseph F. Clark in 1832, and F. M. Mitchell in 1833; John C. Ramey and C. Wheeler in 1835, and J. M. Wilson in 1834; William E. Taylor in 1837, and Elihu Hall in 1836.

Joseph F. Clark

Tue father of our subject was Samuel B. Clark, a native of Virginia. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Floyd, of Pennsylvania. They were both born in the year 1792. Samuel Clark came to Illinois in 1828. At the outbreak of the Black Hawk war he took an active part as a soldier. He moved to Macoupin county in 1836, where he remained. until his death, which occurred in 1840. i

Joseph F. Clark was born in 1825, and was united in marriage to Miss Malinda Huddleston, March 4th, 1850. She was born in Macoupin county, February 28th, 1832. Her father, John Huddleston, died December 3d, 1836. Her mother, Nancy Huddleston, survived her husband a number of years, and died in 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are the parents of nine children, all of whom are now living.

Mr. Clark served for a time in the Mexican war. Since his return he has given his attention to farming. He has a farm of 460 acres. He isa man of good mind and social standing, a reputable citizen, and one who enjoys the competency his prudence and foresight has brought him. A fine view of his home appears elsewhere in this work.

Samuel Huddleston

Amona the most. successful agriculturalists of this township is Samuel Huddleston, who was born October 24th, 1823, in Hardin county, Kentucky. His father, John Huddleston, was also a native of Kentucky. He emi grated to Illinois from Indiana in 1825, and to Macoupin county, TUinois, in 1831, being among the early settlers of the county; he had a family of seven children, six' of whom are now living, as follows, Samuel, Melvina, Robert W., Melinda, Mary Ellen, and Lydia; Elizabeth is dead. Samuel's mother's name was Nancy Huddleston. She was born in Kentucky, Jan. 2d, 1808, and died in 1879. Samuel Huddleston married Miss Elizabeth Buck, July 7th, 1842, who died March 18th, 1862; by this union he had six children. By his second marriage he had four children. His life has been a successful one, starting in life as he did with a bare pittance, scarcely more than $100. His first tax was 30 cents. He has by his force of character and determination risen to an enviable position among his fellow farmers. He has now over 1000 acres of land, and is one of the most progressive farmers in the township.

Elahu Pembroke

Mr. PEMBROKE was born in Ontario county, New York, April 27th, 1802. His grandfather John Pembroke, was an Englishman who emigrated to this country and settled near Schenectady. He wasasea captain, and was taken sick and died while making preparations for a voyage. His father, Enos Pembroke, was born in New York, and moved to the western part of that state, and settled there when it was almost a complete wilderness; he married Lucinda Warner and the third child by this marriage was Elahu Pembroke. He was raised in western New York and attended school mostly in Genesee county. His mother died and his father married again, and in 1818 the family emigrated to Kentucky. They lived two years within three miles of Louisville, and in February, 1820, came to Madison county, Illinois. His father bought ten acres of land where the main town of Alton is now built, where they lived three or four years, but found the location so sickly that they were compelled to remove elsewhere. At that day the Mississippi river opposite Alton was covered with a green scum like that which may now be seen on the surface of stagnant ponds, and fever and ague prevailed to such an extent along the river banks that the settlers were obliged to remove. About 1825 or 1826, his father moved with the younger children to the vicinity of Ottawa, in La Salle county. Mr. Pembroke remained in Madison county, and in 1827 married Sarah Stout, who was born and raised in Madison county. After his marriage he went to farming in the American Bottom. His wife died in December, 1831. He had three children by his first marriage, all of whom died young. In June, 1833, he married Louvisa Knowland. She was born in Madison county, Kentucky, March, 1811, and was the daughter of Wesley Knowland and Clara Armstrong. Her father moved to White and Smith counties, Tennessee, when she was three years old, and in the fall of 1820 to Clark county, Indiana, and settled at Charleston, three miles from the Ohio river; in 1828 he came to upper Alton.

In the spring of 1834 Mr. Pembroke moved eight miles north of Alton, in what is now Jersey, but was then Madison county. He entered and improved 160 acres of land, afterward bought fifteen additional acres, and lived on this farm of 175 acres for thirty-three years. This farm was about five miles south-west of Brighton. In 1867 he bought 200 acres of land lying in section 7, Honey Point township, and section 12 Brushy Mound township, and moved to Macoupin county. He has seven children living, whose names are as follows: Clarissa, the wife of Thomas J. Pinkerton ; Wesley N., who is farming in Montgomery 'county ; William K., who is practicing medicine at Gillespie ; Thomas C., who lives in Texas ; Alton W. ; John J., living in Texas, and Albert W. He was originally a whig in politics. He cast his first vote for president for Henry Clay, in 1824, and three different times had the pleasure of casting his vote for Clay for the highest office in the gift of the American people. He became a republican on the formation of that party. He has not, however, been a man who has cared much about party, but has generally voted for the best man for the office. He is one of' the oldest settlers now in the state. When he came to I]linois, in 1820, there was not a house in Jersey or Macoupin counties, and J]linois had been admitted as a state only two years. It was never expected at that time that the prairies would ever improve. He says that when his father came to Ilinois an old hewed log-house and some cabins were the only signs of civilization which marked the site of the present city of Alton.

Travis Moore Mitchell

Ts the second son and the fifth child in a family of twelve children, and was born February 13th, 1833. Elijah Mitchell, his father, was a native of North Carolina, but removed with his father to Kentucky when he was quite young. He married Jane Moore. He left Kentucky in 1830 and removed to Illinois, and stopped one year in Marion county where he made one crop, and then removed to Sangamon county, seven miles north of Springfield, where he remained until the next year, when he came to Macoupin county and purchased eighty aeres of land. He afterwards entered two hundred and cighty acres more. He lived here until his death, which occurred August 16th, 1877. After the death of his wife in 1848 he married Hannah Tfollinesworth, by whom he had nine children. The latter wife is still a resident of the old homestead. Trayis M. remained at home until he reached his twenty-first year when he left home, bought a yoke of oxen and went to work breaking prairic in order to earn money to pay for them. Inthe fall of 1856 he made his first purchase of land and has added to it until he now owns nearly five hundred acresin one body. On the 15th of April, 1858, he was married to Sarah Eliza Jackson. She is a native of Honey Point, in this county. I°our children have been born to them. All are dead except a son, Frederick Elijah. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, Mr. Mitchell is an old resident of Brushy Mound township. In polities he is a democrat, and cast his first vote for James Buchanan in 1856.

E. HARLAN Was born in Christian county, Kentucky, December 22d, 1810. His father was John Harlan. He was born in Virginia. He died in Kentucky, October, 27th, 1834. The family were originally from Wales, and came over in the Mayflower in the seventeenth century. John Harlan was married to Frances Rench. She was a native of Maryland. She was of German descent. The subject of our sketch remained at home until November, 1834, when he left Kentucky and came to Illinois. His father had come here and entered land on whatis now known as Spanishneedle prairie. The father returned to Kentucky, and died soon after. Then Mr. Harlan and his brother came here and put in a crop, and then sold out the land. The subject of this sketch then went up to Galena and followed mining. In 1839 he came back to Sangamon county and worked for his uncle until 1848. He continued working on a farm until the 23d of February, 1866, when he married Emily Wooten. She was born in Jefferson county, Ten- ° nessee. She came to Jasper county, Missouri, where she remained until the war broke out, when she removed to Macoupin county where she resided at the time of her marriage. One child, a girl, has been born to them. Her name is Frances Illinois. In September, 1867, Mr. Harlan removed to Missouri, and in March of the next year returned to Illinois, and on the 9th of April came to the place where he now resides and purchased land. He is republican in politics, and cast his first vote for John Q. Adams in 1832.

Columbus Wheeler

Was born in Christian county, Kentucky, April 7th, 1826. His father, James Wheeler, was a native of the same state. He married Catharine Harlan. In 1835 he came to Macoupin county, and settled on section three in Gillespie township, where he remained until his death, which occurred February 29th, 1852. Catharine Wheeler died July 15th, 1845. The subject of our sketch spent his boyhood days in the log school-houses and working upon the farm. On the 26th of April, 1849, he married Miss Naoma Wilson. She was born in Kentucky, June 13th, 1831. Her father came to Madison county in 1834, where he remained one year, after which he removed to section nineteen, Brushy Mound township, where he remained until his death. Columbus, in 1848, received eighty acres of land, and built a house on it. He afterwards added four hundred acres more, and at the present time has upwards of five hundred acres of well tilled and improve dland. There have been sixteen children born to Mr. Wheeler and wife, six of whom are living. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Wheeler has been engaged all his life in farming, stock raising and trading.

~ 3) HIS township of Brighton is bounded on the north by Shipman, on the east by Bunker Hill, on the south by Madison county, and on the west by Jersey county, and is geographically known as town 7, north range 9, west of 3d principal meridian.

Drainage is mostly toward the south by the tributaries of Wood river. The farms are highly improved and well drained ; it does not contain pools of stagnant water or swamp to generate miasma, hence the location is as healthy a poiat as, perhaps, can be found in the West. It is traversed by two railroads. The Chicago, Alton and St. Louis R. R. and the Rock Island Division of the C. B. & Q. R. R.

The First Land Entries were made May 6th, 1830, by James Brown, who entered 80 acres in section 19. May 9th, 1830, Alfred Kennier entered 80 acres on section 19. The third entry was made November 12th, 1830, by Joseph Anderson, on section 6.

The First Settlers* were Oliver Brown and Wm. Cowan; who built a cabin sixteen feet square, just south of where the Gilson Mansion now stands. This cabin was built in February, 1826. Mr. Cowan was a nephew of Mr. Brown; he was unmarried, and came from Ohio, but did not remain here long. He was a giant in strength, and was able to do the work of two common men. One day in February he split six hundred and seventy rails ; and one day in June split one thousand six hundred feet of boards. Mr. Brown at first held only a " Squatter's " claim, but he afterward entered the land, now comprising the south part of the town of Brighton. His nearest neighbor for three years was Nathan Scarritt, six miles south, on the Alton road. An incident occurred which serves to show the privations to which the pioneers in a sparsely settled country are subjected, Mr. Brown's family one morning lost their fire by a heavy rain, and matches not being oasiwig rete ane sigh anvedned wasn 30v3y '183g NOLHO Rig dO. SYIUNLOVANNYW 'SHO WdONd 'ONG YB YILLNN "HD : lanooyw NOLHOINE STUN ALID NOLHOING known in those days, they were under the necessity of procuring fire six miles away, at Mr. Nathan Scarritt's, on Scarritt's Prairie, before they could proceed in cooking their breakfast.

In 1828 William Brewer, from Virginia, arrived in the country, and engaged to labor for Mr. Brown. He married a Miss Delaplain, of Scarritt's Prairie, and this was without doubt the first marriage in the township, but after living with her a few years, he left for California; he traveled on foot carrying his provision with him. Aaron Husong arrived in 1828 and settled near Mr. Brown. The land is now owned and occupied by H. G. Stall. In the year 1830 Michael Brown, his brother, and Thomas Cowan, brother to William Cowan, came here and erected a rude dwelling near thé creek that leads south-east of the site of the present town of Brighton. In 1831 James B. Pinkard adopted this locality as his permanent place of residence. In 1832 Herman Griggs and some others arrived.

Among the old settlers of this county now living in Brighton township, may be mentioned the following: John Andrews, a Virginian, who came in 1830; Col. J. R. Miles, a Kentuckian by birth, came in 1832; Henry F. Martin and William Jones came in 1833; James Palmer, O. A. Chase, and the late Nathan D. Barber, located in 1836 ; and John Montgomery, of Madison county, Illinois, in 1839.

The first Sunday-school was organized about 1832, and was held in a log school-house on the land known as the Butterfield place, situated about one mile from the present business centre of Brighton. The superintendent was Jonathan Brown, father of Michael and James Brown. Miss Charlotte Sherman, who afterward married Enoch Moore, was selected as teacher. The religious portion of the community were divided into sects, as follows, Baptists and Methodists. The Baptist Church contained fifteen or twenty members.

Some of the early settlers would ride to Alton, a distance of eleyen miles, in wagons drawn by ox teams, to attend church. When preaching was held in the township, it was in private houses, until about 1835, when the Baptists erected a building. In 1838 this church was removed from its original site to the east side of Main street, on the ground now occupied by the residence of Dayid Collins, and was occupied both for church and school purposes. It was destroyed by fire in 1857. The first pastor, after the edifice was erected, was Rev. Amos Dodge.

The first school taught was in 1832, by Miss Charlotte Sherman. Oliver Brown appropriated his smoke-house for the use of a neighborhood school. The next summer the school was taught by Mrs. Stratton, in the same loghouse in which the Sabbath-school had been organized the summer before.

The first school-house was built in 1834 of logs; it was 16 by 18 feet. The house was built on government land. In the fall of 1835 John Squires purchased the land, and was about to occupy the house. It, howeyer, was moved at night by some parties to the present site of the Water Cure! Here Michael Brown occupied it with his family for a number of years. Mr. L. P. Stratton was the first teacher in the new school-house. Ife taught a subscription school at two dollars a scholar, per quarter.

Excellent schools are now found in all parts of the township. The young man or woman of to-day can scarcely form an idea of what a great change fifty years has made; not in schools alone, but also in improvement and wealth on every side.

The Town Of Brighton

Is located mostly on the north-West quarter of section 19. Herman Griggs was the founder of the town, and it was laid out by Luke Knowlton in the year 1836. A short time before a company had bought 280 acres of Mr. Brown, on the same section. They proceeded at once to survey and lay off a town-plat of 40 acres, which they named Bristol. Nathan Scarritt had the management for the company. The two town-plats were only twenty or thirty rods apart. Quite a competing spirit arose between the parties in town proprietorship. In 1837 there was a financial panic, which operated severely upon the towns of Bristol and Brighton. Mr. Scarritt had built what is known as the " Hill House," on Main street, and occupied it with a stock of goods. The company became disheartened and sold the entire tract of 280 acres of land to Daniel Nelson for $1,000, and the latter sold one-half of it immediately to J. W. Gilson. Improvements were quite slow for some time ; perhaps the only building erected for the first few months was the Methodist church in 1837, which has since been occupied for a dwelling and a liquor saloon by John Thole. They have at present a handsome brick church. On the 4th of July, 1838, the people of Brighton and vicinity celebrated for the first time the great day of national independence.

The first physician was Dr. McKee, who came in 1836. Until this time there had been no physician in the vicinity nearer than Alton. The Doctor was doubtful whether it would justify him to remain. He circulated a subscription list, in which men of families by their own consent were assessed ten dollars, and the unmarried men five, which secured them his services for one year. His sheet-anchor was the mercurial dose. On one occasion he spilled his calomel, upon which he declared he " might as well stay at home." Dr. L. S. Pennington arrived in 1838, with the intention of permanent location, and to insure his support he drew up a similar subscription list.

The first post-office in the township was at Brighton in 1838. Daniel Blodgett was appointed post-master. His commission for the first year was six dollars. Before that time this region of country was included within the delivery of the post-office at Alton.

The first passenger train passed through Brighton July 4th, 1852. The operating of the Chicago and Alton road had the effect of imparting new life and energy, and inspiring hope to the long-depressed communities. With renewed vigor little Brighton began to show signs of life and to look up. Herman Griggs was appointed station agent; he put up a brick store close by the railroad, and admitted as co-partners with him in trade William Loveland and Lucius Griswold. The same year he built the brick building adjoining for a warehouse, and in 1853 he converted it into a steam custom mill. In the fall of 1853 R. H. Peter and John Moore opened a store of dry goods and groceries on Main street. In 1857 Mr. Peter and Rey. Horatio Nelson built a store on Main street, since owned by Daniel Blodgett. J. Burton built a store west of the mill in 1857, which has been occupied for some time by C. W. Heidemann. The first drug store was opened in 1857 by W. C. Merrill and T. S. Bean.

The first marriage in the town took place at the old house, now owned by James Palmer, September 14th, 1836. The parties were Herman Griggs and Mary Starkweather.

In September, 1854, the people formed a company for the purpose of building a school-house. The stock was fixed at ten dollars a share. The house was built on the first lot south of the M. E. Church. The stockholders afterward sold out their interest to the district. There has been a school in the place since 1832, but it was a subscription school up to the time of-the district purchasing what now is the primary school. In 1860 the front part of the school-house was finished.

More could be said about this enterprising town did space permit; but we must content ourselves by giving the names of the leading business firms.

Hotels. - Brightwood Cottage, the leading hotel in the town, is owned and carried on by Mrs. Kate R. Glenny. It is one of the neatest hotels in the county; the rooms are large, airy, and well-furnished, and the table is supplied with all the delicacies of the season. The other hotels are the El Dorado and Moore House.

Churches. - There are seven churches in the town: Methodist, English and German M. E., Lutheran, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist and Catholic church.

Brighton Lodge, No. 366, I. O: O. F., was instituted by (P. G. M.) A.S, Barry, March 5th, 1868. The charter-members were J. G. Dickerson, Geo. Compton, J. Howell, A. S. Hart and F. W. Heidemann. The present officers are J. Howell, N. G.; Philip Louck, V. G.; William Brant, Treasurer; George L. Bean, Secretary. The number of members at this writing is fifteen. (To the secretary, Mr. Bean, we are indebted for the facts concerning this lodge.)

Brighton Lodge, No. 1253, Knights of Honor,* was instituted November 18th, 1878. The following is a list of the first officers: J. P. Strong, Dictator; M.S. Brown, Vice Dictator; G. G. Kenny, Assistant Dictator; C. H. Bliss, Reporter; A. J. Howell, Financial Reporter; N. W. Waldo, Treasurer; J. E. Martin, Guide; H. Lippold, Guardian; T. R. Owen, Sentinel ; R. H. Peter, Chaplain; E. T. Davis, Past Dictator; J. T. Dickerson, Medical Examiner; Trustees, G. L. Bean, T. L. Keas, Dr. J. T. Dickerson. The present officers are J. P. Strong, Dictator; G. G. Kenny, Assistant Dictator; T. A. Jones, Vice Dictator; C. H. Bliss, Reporter; A. J. How - ell, Financial Reporter; N. W. Waldo, Treasurer; J. E. Martin, Guide; H. Lippold, Guardian; A. Behler, Sentinel; F. A. Clement, Medical Examiner; E. T. Davis, Past Dictator; J. Howell, Chaplain. The membership at present numbers thirty-seven, and the lodge is in a healthy and flourishing condition.

Is situated on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. The proprietor was Col. J. R. Miles, and it was platted by S. F. Spaulding, surveyor, in the

It occupies a portion of the north-west quarter of section 9, and a small portion of the east side of the north-east quarter of section 8. The business is not extensive, yet it affords many advantages for the neighborhood. It contains one large steam flour-mill, a depot and post-office, blacksmith shop, etc., a Methodist church, and a district school. Much credit is due to its enterprising proprietor. It is located in the midst of a rich agricultural community.

Supervisors. - Henry F. Martin, elected in 1871; re-elected in 1872; re-elected in 1873. George A. Brown, elected in 1874; and by re-election held the office up to 1879. E. T. Dain, elected in 1879, and is the present incumbent.

L. P. Strarron was born at Bedford, then in Hillsboro, now in Merrimac county, New Hampshire, December 18, 1808. His grandparents lived at Marlboro, Massachusetts, and from there emigrated to New Hampshire, His father, Lemuel Stratton, was born at Marlboro, Massachusetts; was eighteen when the family moved to New Hampshire; and married Phillipe Jackman, who was born in New Hampshire, at Boscawen, the town adjoining Concord. The subject of this sketch was raised in New Hampshire. Leaving home at the age of fourteen he went to Keene, in the same state, and worked for Dr. Charles G. Adams and the Hon. Salma Hale. March, 1827, he went to Salem, Massachusetts, and while there was mostly employed by the Salem Lead Manufacturing Company. August, 1831, he married Sarah B. Johnson, a native of Andover, Massachusetts. Soon afterward he came west, reaching Alton, October 14th, 1831, and remained there working at the trade of a carpenter till March, 1833, when he came to Brown's prairie, entering forty acres of land a mile west from Brighton. Finding this location injurious to his health, he returned to Alton in the spring of 1836, where he lived till the spring of 1840, following the carpenter's trade. From 1840 to 1857 he was farming in Jersey county. February, 1857, he bought two warehouses at Brighton, and began the grain business, to which he afterwards added the lumber business. In 1868 he quit the grain and lumber trade to engage in the banking business, which he has since followed, and is now the senior partner in the banking house of Stratton & Amass, a banking firm which stands high in the confidence of the business community for sound financial standing and honorable dealing. His first wife died July 2d, 1865. His second marriage occurred May 25th, 1868, to Mrs. Sarah A. Thompson. He was elected magistrate in Jersey county in 1835, but resigned the next spring on his removal to Alton. He was again elected, in 1840, and served till he changed his residence to Brighton. He has had five children, four of whom are living. He joined the Congregational church at Salem, Massachusetts, when eighteen. He assisted in forming the Presbyterian congregations both at upper and lower Alton. In the absence of other church facilities, he was a member of the Methodist church at Brighton, and for four years class-leader. He was also connected with the Presbyterian church at Brighton and for twenty years was an elder in the Brighton and Alton churches. He is now connected with the Congregational church at Brighton of which he is deacon. Heis aself-made man; has won success by his own energy; and bears a blameless private character.

Silt The Dairy & Stock Farm Of

Is the oldest settler now living in Brighton township. Champaign county, Ohio, two miles south of Mechanicsburg, June 4th, 1810. His grandfather, Jonathan Brown, formerly lived in the state of New York, where his father, whose name was also Jonathan Brown, was born. About the year 1805 his father emigrated from New York to Ohio, and was one of the early settlers of Greene county, where he married in the year 1806 Delilah Spencer. The Spencer family was of English origin. Mr. Brown's great-grandfather, on his mother's side, settled in Virginia while it was yet a colony of Great Britain. His grandfather, Michael Spencer, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and after the conclusion of that memorable struggle on the part of the colonies for their independence, emigrated to Kentucky, having previously been married in Virginia. Michael Spencer was a man of great strength and activity, and possessed remarkable powers of endurance. He took part in the Indian troubles which marked the first settlement of the whites on "the dark and bloody ground" of Kentucky. His superior bodily strength and courage made him usually the leader in the pursuit of the bands of Indians who would frequently make incursions on the white settlements, stealing horses, carrying off children, and sometimes butchering the surprised inhabitants. His home in Kentucky was in Washington county. He afterward removed to Greene county, Ohio. Delilah Spencer was born in Washington county, Kentucky. About the year 1808, Mr. Brown's father moved with the family to Champaign county, Ohio, and lived there until 1817, and then came to Illinois, settling at Upper Alton; he afterward removed to Brighton, where he died July 4th, 1836. When his father moved to Alton, Mr. Brown was seven years old. The first school he attended was a little log building which stood about half a mile from his father's house. The rough floor was made of split timber, the door of clap-boards, and a log conveniently left out along the sides answered the purpose of a window. There was no fire-place, for school was kept only during the summer months, and then only at irregular intervals. His first teacher, to whom he went three months, was David Rose, a nearsighted and cross-eyed man, who added to these physical peculiarities a hasty disposition and irregular and eccentric habits. It may be imagined that his proficiency as a teacher was very moderate. His next teacher, two years afterward, was a man named Jencks, who had better educational qualifications. He was a writer of respectable poetry, but had an ungovernable appetite for liquor, and when under the influence of the intoxicating bowl would go to sleep in school, leaving the children to amuse themselves in any manner which suited their fancy. In May, 1828, just befere his eighteenth birthday, Mr. Brown started for the lead mines at Galena. He formed a partnership with Enoch Long, and they bought an interest in the Mineral Point Mining Company, and built the first shanty ever erected at Mineral Point. The enterprise proved fairly remunerative, though the low price of lead prevented large profits. His partner, Mr. Long, was a native of New Hampshire, twenty years older than himself, a man of ability, and is still living at Sebula, Iowa, to which place he removed from Galena. He reached Alton on his return, Christmas, 1829, and spent the next two months at school.

His uncle, Oliver Brown had settled at Brighton in February, 1826, and on the 9th of March, 1830, Mr. Brown also came to Brighton, where he has resided ever since. At that time he was not quite twenty years of age. In partnership with his brother, James Brown, he entered eighty acres of land, the east half of the north-east quarter of section nineteen. The entry was made in his brother's name. The land was partly timber and partly prairie.

At first his home was with his parents, who had moved out from Alton. November 15th, 1836, he married Sarah B. Peter, daughter of John Peter, who settled at Godfrey about the year 1829, and the spring of 1836 removed to Whitehall. After his marriage he changed his residence to where he now lives on the west half of the north-east quarter of section nineteen. Nature had endowed him with abundant energy, a good constitution, and great pawerg of endurance. He began life without any capital except good health, industrious habits, and a determination to succeed in the world. He pnt the land, of which he was owner, under cultivation as rapidly as possible ; and his activity, energy, and ability to undergo exposure and perform a great deal of hard work without detriment, have been the chief instruments of his success in life. He now owns 550 acres of land, part of which lies in McLean and Madison counties. The death of his first wife occurred in July 16th, 1851. His second marriage was on the 3d of March, 1853, to Mrs. Margaret A. Sumner. Her maiden name was Hackney; she was bern in the state of New York, and came to Illinois with her father, William Hackney, in 1836, and settled at Delhi, in Jersey county. Mr. Brown has nine children as follows: James McKendree Brown, of MeLean county; George A. Brown and M. Spencer Brown, who live in Brighton township ; Emma J., the wife of James B. Pinckhard, of Venice, Illinois; Thomas C. Brown, who is in the mercantile business at Greenfield; Charles W. Brown, an attorney at Springfield; Edward B. Brown, who is farming in Montgomery county, near Litchfield; and William H. and Allen R. Brown, whose home is still with their father. The last two named are children by his second marriage. Mrs. Brown also has two children by her first husband, Mrs. Mary Simmons, of Jersey county, and John E. Sumner, now residing at St. Charles, Missouri.

Of the personal traits of his character we can speak with the fullest freedom, knowing well that no man stands higher in the community, nor is more deserving of commendation for a long life, whose influences have all been thrown on the side of religion, morality, and virtue. He is one of the oldest members of the Methodist Church in the county, becoming connected with the church at Alton in 1823, when thirteen years old. He was one of the founders of the Brighton Methodist Church, and its first class-leader. While his sympathies have connected him with the Methodist denomination, he has not loved his creed so much as he has loved the whole Christian church more, and he has been glad to assist other denominations. To the building of every church in Brighton, with the possible exception of the Baptist, which was erected when all his means were taken up in assisting the Methodist Church, he has contributed, the antagonism usually existing between Protestants and Catholics not even being sufficient to induce him to refuse aid for the erection of the Catholic Church. He believed there were good people among the Catholics, and that they should have a house of worship. He was also one of the earliest advocates of the temperance cause about Alton. In February, 1830, he attended the first temperance meeting ever held at Alton, and signed the pledge to abstain from ardent spirits. The pledge was afterward amended to include all intoxicating liquors, and he has kept it. The society formed in 1830, was the first temperance organization in existence in Alton. He has been connected with all the temperance organizations which have ever been formed at Brighton, including the old Washingtonians, the Sons of Temperance, the Good Templars, and the Red Ribbon Society, and has never missed an opportunity of voting for prohibition, and against the sale of intoxicating liquors.

consecutive years. He was captain of a militia company during the war, and a member of the Union League. He was originally a member of the Whig party. His sentiments were always strongly opposed to the institution of slavery, and in the early days of the Republican party, when questions concerning slavery were the most important themes of political discussion, and during the war of the Rebellion, he was an active and outspoken Republican. Of late years he has occupied an independent and conservative position in politics.

It may be said of Mv. Brown, that an ambition to accumulate money was never a trait of his character. He desired a comfortable abundance, with which to supply the wants of himself and family, but to become rich for the mere sake of money was beyond his wishes. He had natural ability and business sagacity, and had he dévyoted his energies to that purpose, he might doubtless have been one of the wealthiest men of the community. His expenditures have been liberal in all directions. He has paid ten large security debts, one of which of eight hundred dollars he was called upon to meet the third year after his marriage, when he was just beginning to get a good start in life, and when it seemed impossible for him to raise and spare a sum of such magnitude. He could have managed his property so that the debt could never have been collected, but instead he strained every nerye-to meet the obligation. Its paymept in the end he regards as a benefit to himself, as his efforts to meet the amount taught him valuable lessons of economy, and his honorable and straight-forward course gave him standing in the community. He has raised a large family of children, and provided for them liberally, having divided among them about seven thousand dollars. During the recent Rebellion he contributed to the Sanitary Commission and other benevolent objects growing out of the war about $350 annually. He was always an earnest supporter of free schools and all,educational enterprises. Even before he was married, he assisted to carry on the subscription schools of the neighborhood. The proposition to build a school-house at Brighton was at first defeated at four successive elections, and then the friends of a school determined to accomplish their object by private subscriptions. A joint stock company was formed, to which Mr. Brown subscribed three different times, and the much-needed building was erected. By a change in the law, however, which authorized school directors to purchase property, the building was finally sold to the school district. To other public enterprises, (such as the Rockford and Rock Island railroad, to which he subscribed fifteen hundred dollars, and the Park Hotel company), he has given his means and his influence, and it may with justice be said that Macoupin county possesses few citizens whose lives have been more creditable to themselves, or more useful to their fellow-men.

Wuose death happened May 31st, 1878, was one of the old residents of Brighton township. He was descended from a family who were residents of New England, from an early date. He was born in the town of Lyman, Grafton county, New Hampshire, January 10th, 1814. He was one of the oldest of a large family of children. His father was a farmer in moderate circumstances, and the opportunities he enjoyed in early life for obtaining an education were limited. He went to school but little, and for what education he obtained he was obliged to rely wholly on his own efforts. He grew up to manhood in New Hampshire, but left his native state when past twenty-two years of age, with the purpose of making his home in the west, to which many of the enterprising young men of New Hampshire were then emigrating. Hereached Alton in May, 1836. His first stopping-place was at Nathan Scarritt's on Scarritt's prairie, he having known the Scarritt family back in New Hampshire. He came to Brighton in the winter of 1836-7, and made that place his home until he moved on the farm where he lived till his death. This farm is a mile and a half north of Brighton, and at the time he purchased the land it was unimproved, and had on it no buildings or fences. He hauled the first load of rails on the land in February, 1839, and went to work improving it gradually, succeeding in bringing it under cultivation, and making a good farm. January 10th, 1841, he married Miss Emeline Moore, daughter cf Capt. James and Arethusa Moore. She was born in the town of Lyman, New Hampshire, in September, 1820. The town was afterwards called Monroe. Her father emigrated to Illinois, and settled on the Sweetser place, a mile north of Brighton, in the fall of 1837. After he was married, Mr, Barber settled on his farm, and was engaged in carrying it on till his death. He departed this life May 31st, 1878. His wife survived him nearly a year, and died May 7th, 1879. Both died of pneumonia.

He was a man who was universally esteemed as a good man, and a peaceful citizen. His manners were quiet and unassuming, and he was content to lead the unpretentious life of a simple farmer, without ambition to oectlpy public station. He was on good terms with all his neighbors, and it is not known that he had a single enemy in the community. He was endowed with a retentive and accurate memory, and by reading and observation, had supplemented what he lacked in early education. He came to this state without capital, bought his land on time, and was obliged to rely wholly on his own exertions to make his way in the world. His death was sincerely regretted by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In politics he had always been a member of the democratic party, though he took no active part in political movements. His character for honesty and integrity was beyond reproach, and in his death Brighton township lost a good citizen. He had three children, all sons, all of whom are now living: John H. Barber, the oldest son, married Mattie E. Simmons, daughter of Samuel C. Simmons, one of the oldest settlers of Jersey county. He has been in business in south-west Missouri and resides at Pierce City, Missouri; George L. Barber married Minta Simmons, also a daughter of Samuel C. Simmons, and is farming in Brighton township. The youngest son, Charles A. Barber, is living on the old homestead.

Heuer Esretereu Chul Tartu Tutte

Tue great-grandfather of Col. Miles was an Englishman named Abraham Miles, who emigrated to America and settled in Maryland while it was yet a British colony. His grandfather, Jacob Miles, was born in Maryland, and subsequently removed to Caswell county, North Carolina, where he was living at the time of the Revolutionary War. He served for a time in the Continental army. He married Nancy Rice, who belonged to a family residing in Halifax county, Virginia, members of which were afterwards among the pioneer settlers of Logan county, Kentucky ; - the birthplace of the subject of this sketch. Col. Miles' father, Alexander Miles, was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, February 8, 1788; and about the year 1808 removed from North Carolina to Tennessee; he was married in Robertson county, Tennessee, to Mary Irvin, who was born and raised in Greene county, Georgia, and was a daughter of, William Irvin. William Tryin was a North Carolinian by birth, but had removed to the State of Georgia; he was seventeen years of age at the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, and at once entered the American army, and served during the whole of the long and arduous struggle of the Colonies for their independence. He was in the army commanded by General Gates, during the Campaigns in the South, and also served in the Northern States; and fought as a soldier until the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown brought an end to the war. He removed from Georgia to Robertson county, Tennessee, soon after the Revolution, and settled on a tract of six hundred: and forty acres of land adjoining the State of Kentucky. Alexander Miles, on his marriage to Miss Irvin, settled on land which he purchased in Logan county, Kentucky, adjoining the Tennessee line. Toward the close of the war of 1812 he enlisted in the forces raised by General Coffee for the assistance of General Jackson, and was in the battle of New Orleans. He was farming in Logan county, Kentucky, till his removal to Illinois in 1832. On- coming to this state he settled on the north-east quarter of section six, Brighton township, next to the Jersey county line. He lived there engaged in farming, till his death in 1856. During almost his entire life he had been a member of the Methodist church, in which he was deacon. He was a good citizen, and was held in respect for his many excellent qualities as a man and a neighbor. Col. Miles' mother was born about the year 1793, and died November 20, 1874.

Jonathan Rice Miles was the next to the oldest of a family of eight children. Hewas born in Logan county, Kentucky, five miles from Russellville, November 17,1817. He was fourteen or fifteen when his father removed with the family from Kentucky to Illinois. When he first came to Brighton township the nearest school was at Alton, but a year or two after their arrival a log school-house was erected, in which the children of the neighborhood were taught the elementary branches of an education. He had previously attended school some little time in Kentucky, and when about nineteen, had the benefit of instruction for a short period at Alton ; but for his acquirements in the way of an English education, he is mostly indebted to his own efforts, In 1837, when about twenty years old, he began improving the farm on which he now resides, in section eight of Brighton township; his home, however, was with his father until his marriage, which took place on the 10th of August, 1844, to Eliza A. Stratton, daughter of Robertson Stratton. (Mrs. Miles was born March 28, 1826, in Robertson county, Tennessee, where her father died; her ancesters were from Virginia, and were early settlers of that part of Tennessee.) He was occupied wholly in farming, till 1853, and then embarked in the mercantile business. Soon after the building of the Chicago and Alton railroad, the line of which runs through his farm, a station was established opposite his residence, and called Providence; the name has since been changed to Miles' Station. At this point he opened a store, and carried on a large business in selling goods and buying grain; in a few years his operations were extended still further, and in 1857 the commission firm of Gilbert, Miles & Stanard, was founded, carrying on business first in St. Louis, and after the breaking out of the war, also in Chicago, his partners were Charles E. Gilbert, (at present a resident of Chicago), and Ex-Goy. E. O. Stanard, now of St. Louis. Stanard & Gilbert at that time possessed but little capital, and the principal part of the means with which the business was first started was furnished by Col. Miles; his partnership with these gentlemen continued till 1862, and then, feeling unwilling to risk the hazards incident to carrying on business while he was absent in the army and unable to give his personal attention to its operations, he withdrew from the firm. Both his partners have since become business men of wide reputation and ample means.

The breaking out of the war of the Rebellion in 1861, found Col. Miles ready to respond to his country's call for assistance. On the 10th of August, 1861, he enlisted in the 27th Illinois regiment as Captain of Co. F. He was mustered in at Camp Butler, and after two or three days' stay at Jacksonville, his regiment was moved to Cairo. The first battle in which he took part was that of Belmont, Missouri. The 27th Illinois was the first regiment to enter Columbus, Kentucky, after its evacuation by the rebels, and the first to take possession of Island No. 10 after its capture. On the organization of the army into Corps the regiment was placed in the Ist Brigade, ist Division of the 20th Corps. His first promotion was to the rank of Major, on the 18th of December, 1861; his commission was dated January 31, 1862. The 27th was at Fort Pillow, and was turned back from that point after the battle of Shiloh, and took part in the siege of Corinth. While before Corinth he received his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, dated April 24, 1862; his promotion running back to the 16th of the same month. From Corinth the regiment moved along the line of the Memphis & Charleston railroad, and in September, 1862, arrived at Nashville. It participated in the battle of Stone River while he was home on a short furlough, but he afterward assisted in driving the Confederate General Brage out of Tennessee, and was in the battles of Chickamaugua and Mission Ridge; and subsequently went with his regiment to Knoxville, to which point it was despatched with the object of relieving Burnside. The 27th Illinois was transferred in 1863 to the 2d Division of the 4th Corps, of which it formed a part till the close of itsservice. He had been commissioned Colonel, January 1, 1863. While stationed at Cleveland, Tennessee, less than ninety days before the expiration of his three years' term of service, he resigned his commission ; reasons connected with his business and his family requiring his inmediate presence in Illinois, . The regiment which he had the honor to command, was considered one of the finest and best disciplined in the service. It did its full share of fighting, and bore a reputation for bravery and endurance unsurpassed by that of any other body of troops in the army. From' the it wax reduced by hard fighting and exposure to one-third that number. Since the war, he has been living at Miles' Station, principally engaged in mereantile business at Brighton ; and Frank, whois still living at home. Col. Miles is a man so well known in Macoupin county, that no mention need be made of his personal traits of character. Nature gave him an energetic disposition, and he has been prompt to lay hold of the opportunities which have come to him through life. His business relations have never been tainted by a suspicion of dishonesty, and his character as a man and a citizen stands aboye reproach. He is a member of the Methodist church. He was connected with the whig party till its dissolution and the forrmation of the republican party, when he became a republican. He has carried to the support of the political principles in which he is a believer, the same earnestness and decision that have marked his opinions on all other subjects.

Mr. CLARK is one of the substantial farmers of Brighton township. He is a native of Kentucky, and was born in Greene county, of that state, December 27th, 1826. His ancestors had come to Kentucky from Virginia. His grandfather, William Clark, was a Virginian, and on his removal to

Kentucky was one of the earliest pioneers of that state. He first settled in Barren county. The name of Mr. Clark's father was Howard Clark, and his mother's name before she was married was' Eliza J. Wilson; her father was a Virginian who served under Gen. Washington fourteen years, first in the wars against the Indians and then in the war of the Revolution, when the thirteen colonies gained their independence from Great Britain.

The subject of this sketch was the second of a family of six children, composed of five boys and one girl. While they resided in Kentucky, the home of the family was in Logan, Greene and Barren counties. In 1831 they left Kentucky for Illinois, and first settled at Edwardsville. While liying there > his father volunteered and took part in the Black Hawk war. About the year 1836 his father bought and entered some land in Jersey county (at that time still a part of Greene) about two miles west of Brighton. Mr. Clark was about five years of age when he came to Illinois, and about ten when the family moved to Jersey county, where he was principally raised. The schools in that neighborhood were of a fair character, and he enjoyed the advantages of a good common school education. After he was married he also attended a commercial college in St. Louis. He became twenty-one years old during the Mexican war, and toward the close of the war went to St. Louis, with the purpose of enlisting in the service. Being unable to get in as a soldier he enlisted as a teamster, and in that capacity went from Jefferson barracks to Fort Leavenworth and thence to Fort Kearney, on a government expedition, to establish forts for the protection of overland emigration to Oregon. The country which the expedition traveled was then known as the " far west,' and had never been traversed except by some few adventurers. After remaining in the government service five months and a half, he returned to Illinois.

This expedition only gave him a taste for further adventure, and in the spring of 1849 he joined one of the first companies to cross the plains for California, where gold had been discovered the previous year. He left Brighton on the 27th of March. The company was composed of fifteen wagons drawn by ox teams, and Capt. Elan Eldred, of Carrollton, was the commander. Mr. Clark bought and fitted out a team in partnership with William Jones, now of Brighton township, and William H. Loveland, now of Golden City, Colorado, and recent democratic candidate for governor of that state. The train was made up of farmers and men used to traveling and handling cattle, made good time in crossin the plains and mountains, and got into California among the very first arrivals - on the 18th of August, 1849. He was employed in mining over two years, chiefly near what is now Nevada City. He was moderately successful, and had abundant opportunity to experience some of the incidents and adventures which marked life in California during the times of the " forty-niners.'" He came back to Illinois in the fall of 1851. He bought a piece of land consisting of 185 acres in section 5, Brighton township, and began its improvement. December 9, 1852, he married Eliza L. Shaw, who was born near Zanesville, in Muskingum county, Ohio. She was on a visit to her aunt, Mrs. Herman Griggs, of Brighton, at the time of her marriage. He continued to live on section 6 till the spring of 1859, and then moved to his present residence, just north of and adjoining the corporate limits of Brighton. He here bought eighty acres and planted a nursery, which for a year he carried on in partnership with Dr. B. F. Johnson, now deceased, and afterward for nine years by himself. The business was conducted on quite an extensive scale, and large quantities of trees were sold through Greene, Jersey, Madison and Macoupin counties, and also in Missouri. In 1864 he enlisted for the hundred days' service, and was sergeant of company E, 133d Illinois regiment, and commanded by Col. Phillips. During his service he was principally on garrison duty at Rock Island. He took a trip to California in 1876, and in that now great and prosperous state, overlooked the scenes of his early gold mining days, traveling in a spring wagon more than fifteen hundred miles over various portions of the state. He has had four children. The oldest daughter, Clara F., is now the wife of T. A. Jones, of Brighton ; Leonora and Henry Clinton live at home; the third child, Howard Colburn, died in 1865, when about five years old. He was originally a whig, and voted for Gen. Taylor in 1848 ; he has been connected with the republican party from its first organization. He was the first assessor of Brighton township after the adoption of township organization, being elected in 1871, and holding the office for six years. He seems to have a natural taste for travel and adventure, and has made several long trips, partly for business and partly for pleasure. In 1874 he went to New Orleans with 1615 barrels of apples, which he disposed of in that city and in Galveston, Texas. He is known as a good citizen and an enterprising man.

Joun Kurtsty, one of the largest farmers of Macoupin county, is a native of Yorkshire, England. His birth-place was sixteen miles from Doncaster, and about twenty from Hull, the nearest seaport town. His grandfather was a farmer. His father, whose name was also John Kelsey, learned the trade of a harness maker and saddler, and for a time carried it on at Epworth, England, but afterward went to farming. Mr. Kelsey was the youngest of four children, and was born January 12, 1824. The first ten years of his life were spent in ngland, and in the summer of 1834 the whole family emigrated to America, making the voyage from Hull to New York in a sailing vessel. From New York the family came by the Erie canal through New York State, and then across to the Ohio river, which they descended to its mouth, and then up the Mississippi to Alton, where they arrived August 20, 1834. Shortly afterward his father went to Edwardsville, then the location of the land-office, and entered a hundred and sixty acres of land on the northwest branch of Wood river, about three miles east from Monticello, in Madison county. A cabin was built and the family settled on this tract in the fall of 1834. At that time the country presented a widely different appearance from the present. The settlements were confined to the edges of the timber. In the immediate vicinity of their settlement schools had not yet been established, and there were few advantages in the way of getting an education. For parts of two winters Mr. Kelsey went to school on Smooth prairie, about two miles from the present town of Fosterburg, in Madison county. His father was a hard-working and industrious man, and Mr. Kelsey was early initiated into the full meaning of the old precept that man should "eat his bread in the sweat of his face." He was accustomed to labor from boyhood, and learned those habits of industry and self-reliance which were of much service to him in after life. On growing up he showed the business capacity and judgment which have since been prominent traits of his character.

In the year 1842, when eighteen years of age, he began improving a tract of a hundred and ninety-six acres of wild land which his father had purchased for three dollars an acre in section three of township seven, range nine, Macoupin county. His piece of land forms the part of his present farm, on which stands the house and other improvements. He still had his home with his father in Madison county, and while improving the Macoupin county farm kept bachelor's quarters. The older children had married and left home, and his brother, next older than himself, died shortly after Mr. Kelsey began improving the farm in Brighton township. From 1842 Mr. Kelsey was mostly engaged in work on this farm to which his father, having sold the Madison county farm, removed in June, 1854. His father died there on the 6th of December, 1874, nearly ecighty-two years of age. He was a man of considerable energy and industry, honest in his dealings with his neighbors, and had many excellent traits of character. Mr. Kelsey's marriage occurred on the 24th of December, 1863, to Sarah Hvans. She was born in Brighton township, a mile anda half southwest of Mr. Kelsey's present residence. Her father was John Ivans, and her mother, whose maiden name was Merey H. Loveland, was born in Rhode Island, May 23d, 1824.

Mr. Kelsey is one of the large farmers of the county, and is the owner of nine hundred and thirty-two acres of land, which, with the exception of sixty-five acres, lies in one body in the northern part of Brighton and the southern part of Shipman township. His farm is finely improved, has a large and commodious residence and excellent buildings. A full page illustration may be found elsewhere. It has good hedges and orchards, and all the requirements and conveniences of a first-class farm. There are also three tenant houses on the premises. Most of this large farm he carried on until within two or three years; he has since rented out the greater portion, and has lived a life of greater ease and leisure. He and his father were associated together in financial affairs till the latter's death, and it was largely through Mr. Kelsey's business judgment and sagacity that their joint property was accumulated. With the exception of the one hundred and ninety-six acres which composed the original tract, he has purchased this large and valuable farm from the results of his own labor, industry and business management. Mr. and Mrs. Kelsey have been the parents of six children; Mercy, May, Mary Alice, John H. and James R. who are living, and Nellie Atkinson and Leroy who are deceased. Nellie Atkinson was a twin to John H. and died December 1st, 1874, at the age of two years and eight months. Leroy, the next to the youngest child, died on the 4th of April, 1876, at the age of seven months and sixteen days.

In his political principles Mr. Kelsey was first a member of the whig party. His father, on coming to this country, became a whig, and Mr, Kelsey followed in his footsteps, casting his first vote for President, for that gallant son of Kentucky and cham pion of whig principles, Henry Clay, in the exciting campaign of 1844. Afterward, however, he supported the democratic organization, and on general elections has voted for its candidates. He isa man of broad and liberal spirit, is not a strict party man, and in county and township elections has felt himself free to support the best man for office irrespective of his political sympathies.

In presenting a sketch of Mr. Kelsey's history to the readers of this work, we can speak of a man who stands in the front rank of the farmers of Ma- coupin county. Like many men who are now recognized as among the best citizens of the state he is of foreign birth, and his career furnishes an excellent illustration of what may be accomplished by those who come to America from other countries. The broad acres of this free land are open to every man alike, native or foreign born, and furnish an equal opportunity to men of all classes for building up fame and fortune. Although born in England Mr. Kelsey is essentially an American in his training and his character. Coming to Illinois when only ten years of age and settling in a country which was rapidly developing from a wilderness into as fine an agricultural region-as the sun ever shone upon, he imbibed the American ideas of progress and enterprise which have since formed conspicuous elements in his character. These combined with that vigor and sturdy perseverance which belongs in a marked degree to Englishmen have been the main factors in his success. He began life with few advantages except those which are within the reach of all, and his history is well worthy to be handed down to the rising generation as an instance of what can be accomplished by a farmer on the fertile and generous soil of the great State of Illinois. Personally Mr. Kelsey is a man who stands well in the community as a good neighbor, an honorable business man, and an enterprising citizen. While he has accumulated wealth he has not clung to his means with a close and avaricious disposition, but, on the contrary, is a man of liberal frame of mind, generous in his expenditures for the support of his family and the education of his children, desirous of bringing his farm up to the highest state of culture and improvement, and never falling behind in any work of public spirit and enterprise. The guest under his roof meets with a hospitality which savors of the olden time, in dispensing which he is ably assisted by Mrs. Kelsey, a lady of more than ordinary worth and accomplishments. He has never been ambitious to shine in the field of polities or to occupy public office. His business plans have occupied his attention through life, and he has only been anxious to excel as an enterprising farmer and a good citizen. As a man of personal honor and integrity no one stands higher in the. community. He belongs to that class of whom it may be said " His word is as good as his bond," and promptness in meeting his just obligations and rendering to every man his honest due, has been characteristic of him throughout his business career. He is an honored member of the Masonic order, and is connected with Hibbard Lodge at Brighton, and with the Royal Arch Chapter at Alton.

William C. Merrill

Tue history of the Merrill family is traced back to one Major Merlé, who was an officer in the French army under the reign of Louis XIV. He was a Protestant, and when the persecution of the Hugenots began he fled to England, and obtained in the British army a position similar to the one he had held in France. While in command of a small force in one of the towns on the coast of Ireland, a riot broke out which he was prompt in him to the favorable notice of the Crown, and he was knighted. The spelling of the name became changed to Merrill, an orthography which some branches of the family still maintain. Three brothers, named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Merrill, descended from the Major Merlé above-mentioned, formed part of the original colony which founded Hartford, Connecticut, and the different families of " Merrill" and " Merrell" in this country are readily traceable back to this old stock.

Mr. Merrill's father, whose name was Enoch Merrill, was born in New Hampshire ; married Betsy Bean, and in 1820, directly after his marriage, settled near Chateaugay lake, in Franklin county, New York. That country was then a wilderness, and only one other family had ventured to make a settlement within a distance of several miles. Mr. Merrill was born in Belmont, Franklin county, New York, May 4th, 1828. His birth-place was the first log house which his father built after coming to the state. The district schools which he attended in boyhood were well conducted, and have turned out men who subsequently made their mark in life. The first school-house in which he went to school was a log building, but this a few years afterward was supplanted by a neat and comfortable frame structure. When eighteen he became a student for a year at an academy at Malone, the county-seat, twelve miles distant from his home. In this academy, Vice-President Wheeler, who is a native of Malone, received the greater part of his education. After leaving the academy Mr. Merrill taught school for three winters in Franklin county, and afterward two terms in Jefferson county. He came to the determination that he could better his condition by going away

He sailed from New York in the old ship " Pioneer." The great emigration then going to California caused a serious lack of adequate transportation facilities over the Isthmus of Panama, the usual route, and to avoid this delay, the voyage was made around through the Straits of Magellan. This voyage usually required three months, but twice that time elapsed before the vessel reached its destination. At Rio Janiero, where a stop of twelve days was made, the yellow fever was raging. The machinery was in bad condition for so long a voyage, and the ship was compelled to put in at several ports on the Pacific coast for coal and repairs. At Tallchuauna, on the coast of Chili, the heaviest storm ever known on the Pacific coast, drove the vessel across a reef of rocks and very nearly brought the voyage to an untimely end. Her injuries affected the vessel to such an extent that constant pumping was required to keep the water out of the hold. A stop of several days was made at Valparaiso in the hope of getting coal, but being disappointed there they précceded toa smaller port farther up the coast, where they were more successful. At Panama a serious trouble occurred with the crew, who were unwilling to continue the voyage on account of the unseaworthiness of the ship. Two hundred miles south of San Francisco the coal gave out, the pumps stopped in consequence, and the water gained on them so rapidly that the captain was obliged to run the vessel ashore to keep her from sinking. The passengers were fortunately carried off in safety by another steamer. It was in the fall of 1852 that he reached San Francisco. During the three years that he was in California he was engaged mostly in mining, the greater part of the time in Calaveras county, and for a while in Jackson county. Murphy's camp, in Calaveras county, where he spent a year and a half, was twelve miles from the celebrated grove of big trees which have made California famous. This grove Mr. Merrill was accustomed to visit frequently, and was present while the first big tree, thirty feet in diameter, afterward exhibited in New York, was cut down, the task requiring the labor of four men for twenty-two days. He was moderately successful, and underwent much the same experiences as were common in the early gold mining days of California.

He reached his native county on his return in the spring of 1855. His father had died about a year previous. During the summer, after coming back, he had the management of the old farm, and the succeeding winter taught school in the town of Burke, in the same school-house in which he first began his experience as a teacher at the age of eighteen. In the spring of 1856 he visited Iowa, having purchased some land at Irving, in that state, and the latter part of June of the same year came to Brighton, where he had relatives living. The winter of 1856-7 was spent in Iown, where he taught school and sold his land, and the next spring returned to Brighton. In partnership with T. S. Bean he opened the first grocery store ever established in Brighton, afterward purchased a stock of drugs and medicines, and thus also started the first drug-store. He was appointed deputy post-master under Taylor G. Chase, and on the latter's resignation was made post-master, and held the office until after the inauguration of Lincoln. In 1859 he bought the interest of A. H. Loveland (subsequently the founder of Golden City, Colorado, and a prominent citizen' of that state), and became a partner of J. R. Crandall, in the firm. of Crandall & Merrill. From 1860 to 1861 he carried on business himself, and the latter year the present firm of Merrill & Chase was established. Of late.years the firm has confined its business exclusively to dry-goods, boots and shoes, hats, caps, clothing and_ notions, and it occupies a prominent building, carries an extensive stock, and does a large business.

In August, 1858, he was married to Harriet Augusta Smith, who was born in Franklin county, New York, in the town of Chateaugay, adjoining Belmont, near Mr. Merrill's birth-place. They have three children living, Herbert S., Almeda, and Frank Merrill. He has always been a democrat in politics. His time, however, has been so taken up with business that he has had little opportunity for active participation in political movements. He was a member of the first board of trustees of Brighton, after the incorporation of the town. He was one of the early members of Hibbard Masonic Lodge, joining it in 1857, the first year of its organization. As an honorable and active busines' man, an enterprising and intelligent citizen, and a gentleman of genial and social manners, he is one of the representative men of the south-western part of Macoupin county. He was the third of seven children, and has two brothers and four sisters. His oldest brother, B. S. Merrill, lives in Oswego county, New York; L. P. Merrill, his youngest brother, is a resident of Malone; and twa sisters, Mrs. William Weed and Mrs. V. Huntley, reside in Belmont. A sister, Mrs. W. W. Walsworth, lives in Chicago, and the remajning sister is Mrs. T. S. Bean, of Brighton.

WuosE death occurred in 1876, was one of the early settlers of Brighton township, and was intimately connected with the development and growth of that part of the county. He was a New Englander by birth, and like many who came from that section, contributed greatly to the prosperity of Illinois. The history of the Chase family in America dates back to the year 1629, when three brothers of that name came over from England to Massachusetts. This was only nine years after the first landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. From one of these brothers, named Aquilla Chase, the branch of the family with which Mr. Chase was connected was descended. His grandfather, Moses Chase, moved from Sutton, Mass., to New Hampshire, about the year 1770. The greater part of New Hampshire at that time was an entire wilderness. The Chases had obtained a charter to the town of Cornish, which for several generations since has been the home of a portion of the family. Among the descendants have been several distinguished men, the most prominent of whom has been Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States, who was born at Cornish and afterward moved to Ohio. John Chase, the father of Taylor G. Chase, was born at Sutton, Mass., in 1756, and was about fourteen years of age when the family removed to New Hampshire; married, as his second wife, Lovisa Joslyn, who was born at Braintree, Mass. He died in the year 1844. For a long number of years he was a deacon in the Congregational church at Cornish. Taylor Gilman Chase was born at Cornish, New Hampshire, November 4, 1801.

His native town furnished all the advantages for obtaining an education he ever enjoyed. These advantages were limited to the common schools. His father was a farmer, the proprietor of a flouring and saw-mill, and one of the leading business men of Cornish. At the age of twenty-one he began farming for himself. His first marriage took place in the year 1827, to Ursula Nevens, of Cornish, who died in less than a year afterward. His second marriage was in September, 1831, to Emily Spalding, daughter of Waterman Spalding. Mrs. Chase was born in Roxbury, Vermont, July, 1808, but was raised mostly in Plainfield, {New Hampshire. The Spaldings were among the early Puritan settlers of New England. Mrs. Chase's grandfather, Philip Spalding, entered the Colonial army, as private, at the commencement of the Revolutionary war ; served as a soldier during the whole seven years of the contest with Great Britain; was in several battles; held the rank of captain at the close of the war, and afterward drew a pension from the government for his services. He died at the age of ninety-two. In the year 1837 Mr. Chase emigrated with his family to Illinois. Railroads had not at that time become a popular means of travel, and few lines had, indeed, been constructed. The journey from New Hampshire to Macoupin county was made by wagon, and required forty-two days. The route was by way of Utica, New York, Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis. He had previously visited Illinois, in 1833, and at the land-office at Edwardsville, with a view of bringing out his family and making a permanent settlement, had entered 160 acres of land in section 18 of the present Brighton township. After coming to the county in 1837, he occupied with his family a cabin on rented land in section 20 till the fall of 1839, when he settled on the quarter section he had entered, where Robert H. Crandall now lives. From 1840 to 1347 he lived in Jersey county, a mile and a half west of Brighton. In 1850 he moved to the location in section 17, where his family now reside. He purchased this tract from the man who made the original entry, and it was wild and unimproved at the time it came into his possession. He began the work of putting it under cultivation with his characteristic energy. He went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and procured the lumber with which to build his house and fence the land, and had it rafted down the Mississippi. His attention was devoted entirely to farming. His capital on coming to Illinois consisted of only a few hundred dollars. He was a man of decision of character, of energy and perseverance, of shrewd businers habits, and these qualities enabled him to be successful in business, and to accumulate a competence. At the time of his death he owned 525 acres of land, all of which is still in the possession of members of his family. He was actively engaged in the management of the farm until failing health during the last two or three years of his life admonished him to take things more at ease. His death occurred July 30, 1876, and his remains now rest in the cemetery at Brighton. As a citizen he was enterprising and public-spirited ; he assisted in the establishment of schools and in advancing every measure designed to promote the best interests of the community, and few of the early settlers of Brighton township did more toward its development and improvement. He was a Democrat in politics. His children were five in number - O. A. Chase, in the mercantile business at Brighton ; Don Carlos Chase, who died in 1857, at the age of twenty-four ; Emily S., now Mrs. Geo. H. Aylworth, of Brighton; Alonzo, who died when four years old, and Celia A., the wife of Geo. W. Hilliard of Brighton township. The oldest son, O. A. Chase, was born in New Hampshire, July 1st, 1832. He was about five years of age when he came to Illinois. He was a student for two terms at McKendree College. He entered into the mercantile business at Brighton, in partnership with William C. Merrill, in 1861, and this business is still continued. August 30, 1864, he married Miss Calista E. Smith, a native of Chateaugay, Franklin county, New York. He is one of the representative business men of Brighton.

John Montgomery

Tuer name of Montgomery, is one which has been honorably connected with the history of this county. Two brothers by that name came to America as soldiers in the British army, at the time of the Revolutionary war. It is related that they sympathized with the cause of the colonists, instead of that of Great Britain, and at the first opportunity went into the American army, and thenceforward, fought bravely against British tyranny and oppression. One of these was Thomas Montgomery, the grandfather of the subject of this biography. He was in the Continental army till the close of the war, and was present at Yorktown, and saw the surrender of Cornwallis; the last great act in the seven years struggle of the colonies for independence. Thomas Montgomery was a cousin, it is said, to Gen. Montgomery, who commanded the hazardous expedition against Quebec, and gained a reputation for gallantry and bravery, upexcelled by that of any other officer in the American service at the time of his unfortunate death. Thomas Montgomery settled in Virginia, and afterward emigrated to the state of Kentucky. Mr. Montgomery's father, William Montgomery, was born in Virginia, and at the time the family went to Kentucky, was a boy of ten or fifteen. The Montgomerys were ainong the pioneer settlers of Nelson county, Kentucky. William Montgomery was raised in Nelson county, and on reaching manhood, determined to move still further west. He accordingly came to Illinois, and settled in Madison county. The time of his coming to this state is not exactly known, but he was living in Madison county during the war of 1812, and was a soldier in one of the companies of rangers organized for protection against the Indians, who then roamed undisturbed over the whole county to the north of Madison county. He married Sarah Rattan, who was also born in Kentucky. Rattan's prairie, a well-known district of country in Madison county, took its name from the father of Mr. Montgomery's mother, who was an early settler there.

John Montgomery, the second of a family of twelve children, was born on Rattan's Prairie on the 7th of February, 1817. At the time of his birth, Illinois was yet a territory with the seat of government at the little French town of Kaskaskia. It was not admitted in to the Union as a state, till the succeeding year. The white settlements at that date, had scarcely extended beyond the northern limits of Madison county, the remainder of the state being wild and uninhabited, except by Indians and wild beasts. His father lived on Rattan's Prairie, six miles from Edwardsville till his death, and Mr. Montgomery was raised in that vicinity. The schools were of a rough and rude character, and only the commonest opportunities for obtaining an education were at his command. He never attended a free school in his life, such institutions being the product of the civilization of a later day. He lived with his father till 1839, and then came to Macoupin county and settled on section four of township seven, range eight, where his father had entered land the previous year. He went to work to improve this land, and has been living at the same place ever since. He was first married on the 15th of October, 1848, to Mrs. Mercy H. Eavens; her maiden name had been Mary H. Loveland, and she was born in Rhode Island, May 23d, 1824. At the time Mr. Montgomery moved to Brighton township, it was a wild and unsettled country, and he is now one of the oldest citizens of the southwest part of the county. His first wife died January 15th, 1862. His second marriage, occurred on the 11th of September, 1866, to Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson, formerly Miss Elizabeth Johnson; her father was Reuben Johnson, and she was born in Wayne county, Indiana.

In politics he is an old democrat, and on general elections has never voted any other than the democratic ticket. He cast his first vote for Van Buren in 1836. He has a farm situated in the northern part of Brighton township, containing five hundred and ninety-six acres, which is made up of a fine and valuable tract of land. An illustration of his farm and residence appears on another page. He has four children, whose names in the order of their ages are as follows: Thomas J. Montgomery, who is now living in Colorado, Maranda A., the wife of A. D. Wood, of Woodburn; John P., and Mary Alice, who are living at home. He has been one of the substantial farmers of Brighton township, and during the forty years he has resided on his present farm, he has witnessed wonderful changes in the development and growth of the surrounding country. The prairie was then uncultivated except along the edges of the timber; now it is covered with magnificent farms, and costly improvements in the way of residences and buildings. In all this progress he has taken a part with the others, for he is a man of enterprise, and fortunately has accumulated sufficient means to enable him to take life easily and comfortably. He has never been a candidate for any public office, and it has better suited his tastes to lead the quiet and retired life of a farmer.

The Farm

Capratn Srumons has a record as a soldier during the war of the rebellion well worthy of preservation. He was born in Jersey county, November 26, 1834. His primary education he obtained in the common schools and afterwards, in his sixteenth year, entered McKendree College, where he was a student for three years, leaving the year before he would haye graduated. In the spring of 1859 he went to Colorado. This was only a few months after the discovery of gold at Prke's Peak, and he was one of the first to cross the plains and reach the mountains. While there he was employed in mining, and returned to Illinois in the fall of 1860. When the rebellion broke out, in the spring of 1861, he enlisted under President Lincoln's first call for troops, in Co. F, 14th Illinois regiment infantry. 'The regiment was made up of men from the tenth congressional district. He was second-lieutenant. The regiment rendezvoused at Jacksonville, and thence proceeded to Quincy where it lay till July 1, 1862, and was then sent to Missouri and remained in that state till February, 1862, when it was dispatched to reinforce Halleck, at Fort Donelson, arriving on the ground just at the close of the battle. The regiment next took part in the memorable battle of Shiloh, fought on the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, entering the fight at sunrise on the morning of the 6th. Soon after the commencement of the engagement Capt. Simmons wasshot through the thigh, but in spite of this wound remained with his company, of which he had command in the absence of the captain. Two or three hours afterward another shot pierced his left lung. He fell to the ground without being seen by his men, and on the regiment falling back to another position, he was left on the field between the lines uncared for and with his wounds unattended. He lay in that position for forty-eight hours, while the fortune of battle shifted from one army to the other, part of the time within the Union lines and part within those of the enemy. While lying between the two armies and exposed to their fire he was struck by another ball in the right hip. To add to his distress and dangers a heavy storm of rain came on the night succeeding the battle, by which he was nearly drowned. His regiment had been ordered to another part of the field, and it was supposed that he had been killed in the engagement. THe was finally discovered by some Ohio soldiers, who were searching the battle field for the dead bodies of some comrades, and was taken to the Mound City hospital. The hospital was crowded with the wounded, and the surgeons supposing that he was certain to die, in any event, neglected him in order to give their attention to others of whom there was some chance of saving their lives. He had been wounded on Sunday morning and he received no surgical aid until the next Saturday. In spite of these circumstances he recovered. After lying in the hospital nearly three months, in July he returned to Illinois. The last of August, 1862, he rejoined the army as senior aid-de-camp to Gen. Palmer, commanding a division. He held this position till the battle of Stone River, when he was again wounded, this time a fragment of a shell striking him in the left side. This happened on the 31st of December, 1862. He came home again to recover from the wound and recruit his strength, and in March, 1863, re-joined Gen. Palmer's staff. A short time afterward he joined the veteran reserve corps, with a commission from President Lincoln of first lieutenant, and was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, where he took charge of a company at the arsenal. October, 1863, he was ordered to Camp Morton, Indianapolis, where; as post-adjutant, he was stationed until November, 1865. His duties were those of post-adjutant, regular-adjutant and provost-marshal. The war having then been closed for some months he resigned his commission and returned home. His career in the army speaks for itself and shows that he always at least tried to do his duty as a brave man and as a faithful soldier, and never hesitated to face danger on the field of battle, while the history of the war shows not many cases of recovery from wounds of such severity when neglected so long.

While home on a furlough he had been married, September 20, 1863, to Miss E. J. Andrews, daughter of John Andrews, a sketch of whose history is found elsewhere. During 1866 he was in the oil regions of West Virginia, and in the spring of 1867 settled down on his present farm two miles north of Brighton. His active participation in politics commenced with the birth of the Republican party; in 1856 he cast his first vote for President for Gen, Fremont. In the fall of 1876 he was the Republican candidate for Sheriff. He could scarcely expect an election in a county so strongly Democratic, but reduced considerably the customary Democratic majority. He has two children living. The family from which he descended is of English and Welsh origin, and settled in Montgomery county, Maryland, in the early history of that state. His-great grandfather, Samuel Simmons, was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and the musket which he carried is now in Capt. Simmons' possession. His grandfather, James Simmons, and his father, Samuel Simmons, left Maryland in 1816, settled near Knoxyille, East Tennessee, and from there emigrated to Illinois, arriving April 1, 1830, on the spot five miles north-west of Brighton where Capt. Simmons' father is yet living. The name of his mother was Martha Miles.