Sangamon County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1881 (part 12 of 21)

Joseph E. Hoss was born October 13, 1823, in Clark county, Ohio, and came to Sangamon county in 1841. His father, John Ross, married Rachel E. Wallace in Ohio, who died there. He then married Catharine (Keyser), then widow McCurdy, and then came to this county, where they both died.

Joseph E. mariied Mary J. Fairchild, March 24, 1852, in this county. She was born in Essex county, New York, May 27, 1827, the daughter of Moses and Ada Fairchild, who came to this county in 1832, near to Rochester. They have had four children, John Henry, born August 19, 1853, and married Annie Troxell, February 22, 1876, daughter of Peter and Susan (Fiery) Troxell. Mrs. Ross was born February 2, 1849, and has three children, Wilbur, Mary and Plomer; and lives section twenty-eight, Cooper township. The other son, Cbarles Oscar, born October 27, 1862, is with his parents. They have four hundred and sixty-five acres of land, mostly under cultivation.

H. H. Jioss, a farmer, in section eighteen. Cooper township, was born in Clark county, Ohio, August 7, 1844, and came to this county March 15, 1855; the son of John Ross, born in Mason county, Kentucky, December 7, 1793, and died March 9, 1877, and Catharine Ross, who was born in Virginia, June 1, 1802, and died April 19, 1870. H. B. married Mary E. Johnson, September 23, 1868, and they have six children, all now under twelve years of age, viz: Carrie B., John E., Winn J., Daisy P., Origin C, and Orville E. - the last two are twins. Mrs. Ross was born in Sangamon county, August 29, 1848. Her parents, Zachai'iah and Delilah Johnson, are dead. Mr. Ross owns three hundred and forty acres of good land, mostly under cultivation. He inherited eighty acres from his father, and all the rest of his property he has acquired by his own means. His father died in 1877. Of his four brothers and five sisters, two are dead; one brother, Charles, enlisted in Company B, Eleventh Missouri Volunteers, and served three years, and was severely wounded in battle at Corinth, being shot through one lung, and his recovery was one of the most remarkable on record. He is now living in Shelby county, Illinois, engaged in milling. A sister, Lethe, married Dr. Lee and moved to California.

Mr. Ross has been an active citizen in his township, and at present holds the offices of school director and coramisssioner of highways, and acting the third year as treasurer. In politics they are Republicans.

William Miley Hoss was born in Rah way. New Jersey, October 3, 1809. His father, William Ross, was born in Essex county, New Jersey, February 15, 1769; married Nancy Dunn, born in Bound Brook, New Jersey, and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1813; they were the parents of thirteen children, of whom six were born in New Jersey. The father was a blacksmith and general iron worker, at the time of his death, doing an extensive business, requiring a large force of workmen. He was stricken down with the cholera, November 18, 1832, leaving a large, unsettled business. Wm. Riley Ross was appointed administrator and after closing up the estate he continued in his father's old business for two years, then moved with the family to Springfield, Illinois, in December, 1838. He soon rented and settled on a small farm in Rochester township, and in the spring of 1840, purchased part of his present farm and moved to it, where he has lived over forty-one years. Although farming has been his principal occupation, his natural love for mechanicism, has induced him to retain his shop and kit, and at intervals, indulged his tastes in using them. From 1850 'till 1854 he was engaged as foreman in plow manufactury and foundry, of Lowry, Lamb & Co., who made the first scouring plows in this part of the west. Mr. Ross had married Miss A. Flagg, in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 18, 1834. She was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, and died with consumption, February 18, 1844; was mother of three children, now all deceased. One of the daughters, Lauretta, left an infant daughter three weeks old, which was taken by her grandmother Ross, who reared her to womanhood and now married, October 26, 1881, to Joseph S. Morris, and resides in this township. Mr. Ross married again December 28, 1845, to Mary E. Crowe, of Washington county, Maryland, who came to this county in 1833. They have three sons, George R., Mordecai V., and Joseph H. The eldest son studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became a member of the law firm of Palmer, Palmer & Ross, Springfield, Illinois. He is now engaged in farming in Cooper township. The other sons still reside with their father, on the old homestead. Mr. Ross is a Democrat, and has held nearly all the offices of the township. Mr. Ross is now the only man remaining that lived on the old road between Mt. Auburn and Springfield, when he came here, in 1840.

then came to Sangamon county, and settled in Cooper township. He married October 20, 1861, to Mary Ellen Buzley, the daughter of William M. and Priscilla (Evans) Buzley. They have had ten (.-hildren, namely: James Henry, born August 21, 1862, died October 25, 1862; infant daughter born October 25, 1863, and died same day; infant son born December 29, 1855, died same day; Priscilla Catharine, born November 10, 1866, and died December 6, 1866; Benjamin Franklin, born February 17, 1868; Jesse Davis, born November 28, 1870, died May 22, 1877, from a wound in the knee, caused by his falling on an axe, just one month after the accident; Fannie Maria, born August 23, 1873; William Otterbein, born March 10, 1876; Cynthia Viola, born February 24, 1879; Mary Josephine, born December 29, 1880.

Mrs. Sprinkel's father, William M. Buzley, was born in Kentucky; and her mother, Priscilla (Evans) Buzley, was born in Meigs county, Ohio. Two of her brothers, Joseph and Christopher C, served in the Federal army in the war of the Rebellion, and died in Federal hospital in Missouri. Her father returned to Missouri and purchased land; but before he got his family upon it, the battle of Wilson's Creek was fought, and their farm was near the battle-field. Her brother was taken prisoner, but made his escape, and with his father's family he hurriedly left for Sangamon county, where they arrived in September, 1861. One of Mrs. S's. brothers owned a nursery in Arkansas during the war, but being a Union man, he was constantly in danger, till at last his seighbors put a rope around his neck to hang him, but by some means he made his escape and reached Sangamon county in September, 1861, and afterwards returned to Missouri, where he now resides. Her father died in Missouri, in 1880, in his seventy-sixth year; and her mother is making her home with her, at the age of seventy-four.

Mr. Sprinkel's maternal grandfather was born in 1785, and his grandmother in 1786. He died in the year 1836, at the age of fifty-seven, and died in 1831, aged forty-five. Mr. Sprinkel's father was born in the year 1813, in Frederick county, Maryland, and died August 13, 1867; and his mother was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1815, and is living on her own farm in this township. They were married in 1835.

William P. Sprinkel was born January 7, 1846, in Arkansas; came to Sangamon county in the spring of 1860, with his parents, and married Sarah Staines, April 16, 1871; who was born May 9, 1854, in Ohio. Her parents came to Sangamon county in the fall of l8o5. William P. has four children: Minnie E., born June 27, 1872; Nora A., born February 7, 1875; Gertie A., born February 24, 1878, and Ina May, born July 24, 1880. Mr. Sprinkel's father and brother died in the Union army of the late war. Joseph M., born March 1, 1841, married Mrs. Charlotte Cre, and lives in Efiingham county, Illinois. He was a member of Company A, One Hundred and Seventy-third Regiment Illinois Infantry - three years' service. John, born June 22, 1844, and married Rebecca A. Patts, in October, 1869, and lives in Montgomery county, Kansas. Mrs. William P. Sprinkel's mother now lives in Mechanicsburg with her second husband, Hugh McCarty, who owns in Cooper township, one hundred and fifty acres of land under good cultivation, and worth $60.00 per acre. The family ai'e members of the U. B. Church, and Mr. S. is a Republican.

Charles Stafford, an old settler of Sangamon county, born October 12, 1820, in Essex county, New York He came to this county in July 13, 1825, with his parents, who settled in Rochester township the same year, and then married Julia A. Stafford, March 21, 1847. They had one child, Julia A., born December 6, 1847, who married Mitchell Dickerson. Mrs. Stafford died December 17, 1847, and Mr. Stafford was again married to Mrs. Sarah A. (Wallace) Stafford, September 27, 1848. She was the widow of John Stafford, and the cousin of Charles. She was born December 24, 1822, in Culpepper county, Virginia. They have had ten children, Mary A., born February 12, 1854, and married G. Woyce; Albert R., born September 17, 1856, and married Liza Ramond, September l7, 1878; Ida L., born January 4, 1860, and died May 26, 1874; Wm. W., born April 6, 1868. Mrs. Sarah Stafford had two children when married to Mr. Stafford: Thomas Oliver, the oldest, born April 18, 1844, in Wapella county, Iowa, and was killed in the battle of Stone river, or Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862, while a member of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Infantry Volunteers.

Mr. Stafford's father, Jewett Stafford, was born January 13, 1795, in Kent county, Rhode Island, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and fought in the battles of Plattsburg, Boquet River, etc. He was also Colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Illinois Militia, in 1834. His mother, Harriet (Eggleston) Stafford, was born in New York. He farms about eighty acres of land, but, having also the largest store in Clarksburg, and other interests in care. His first crop of corn was sold In Springfield, 111., at six and one-fourth cents per bushel, and says that another year he burned part of his crop rather than gather it at the market price. Mr. Stafford is a public spirited man, and looks into all the improvements of the age with confidence and success,

Geo. W. Taylor, a farmer, in section four, Cooper township, was born December 10, 1836, in Wayne county, Indiana, and married the widow of Isaac T. Darn all, the daughter of Joseph and Mary Ann Crowl, who was born in Maryland, October 18, 1831, and died September 29, 1881, at home; was married in Sangamon county, December 14, 1852, to Isaac Darnall, who died September 10, 1870.

The homestead was settled by Hiram. Robins, and Mr. Darnall located upon it in February, 1857, and remained there till his death. He came to this county in 1840. The children are H. W., Benjamin F., Charles A., and Maryland. Jos. E. is a practicing physician at Mechanicsburg. The farm upon which Mr. T. resides belongs to the heirs of Robins, and consists of four hundred and fifty acres, about the half of which is under cultivation.

JJcmiel Waters, was born in Loudon county, Virginia, September 14, 1830, and came to Illinois in 1852, and settled in Round Prairie, in what is now Rochester township. He is the son of Levi and Sarah Waters, who are both dead. Mr. W. came to the county a poor man, and commenced farming and working at the carpenter business, which he continued ten years, and thereby accumulated a small capital. He married Harriet V. Miller, February 9, 1862, who was born in this county October 13, 1840, the daughter of Jno. C. and Melvina (Sattley) Miller, "who settled in this township, and so remained till the death of Mr. Miller, January 13, 1853. Mrs. Miller is now living in Rochester, where she lived before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Waters have had five children, two of whom are dead, George C, born February 17, 1864, and died in his third year; and Lulu, born January 29, 1878, and died in infancy. The three living ones are Anna A., born December 17, 1862; Charles M., born February 28, 1867, and Lilla M., born January 29, 1870 - twin to Lulu, and lives with her parents. Anna is now pursuing her studies at Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, Illinois.

Mr. and Mrs. Waters have accumulated a fine property, owning a farm of two hundred and forty acres, well stocked and handsomely improved, where they reside and enjoy their pleasant home, and are highly respected wherever known. He has long been associated in the township government, holding in turn several of the important oflices, and for some years trusted and honored as treasurer of the school funds. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically Mr. Waters is a Demociat.

John W. Wigginton was born in Kentucky, January 12, 1835. Son of Sidney and Elizabeth Wigginton, who were born, raised and died in Trumbull county, Kentucky. Mr. W. married Melissa Taylor, daughter of William E. and Susan Taylor, September 27, 1866, in Sangamon county. He came to Illinois in 1854, first locating in Logan county, where he farmed till 1866; then moved to Cooper township, and has here farmed and raised stock. His land adjoins the village of Breckenridge, which he assisted in making, and has held most of the town oflices, and is now supervisor of the township. He is a Democrat, and a member of the Masonic order.

The township of Cotton Hill lies in the southeastern part of the county, and is bounded on the east by Cooper township and Christian county; west, by Ball township; north, by Rochester, and south, by Pawnee township and Christian county. The soil is of good quality, and the township is well watered by Horse creek and the south fork of the Sangamon river, and Brush creek, and numerous springs. Horse creek enters the township on section thirty-one, and running in a northerly course, passes out from section six. The Sangamon river enters on section twelve, and by a meandering course, passing through sections twelve, eleven, two, three and four, into Rochester township. Horse creek waters the western half, from south to north, and enters Rochester between sections five and six.

The first settlers of the township were Henry Funderburk and William Nelson. The date of their arrival is a matter of dispute, which does not seem to admit of settlement. The first settlers of the township are either now dead, or have no means of establishing satisfactorily their claims. J C. Power, when compiling ''The History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County," claims that he spent much time to correctly fix the date of the first settlement. Jacob Henkle thinks that Funderburk came in 1817, as his father and family came in 1818, and he says that he well remembers shocks of corn on the Funderburk place, which must have been raised the year previous. He does not remember William Nelson so well, and it is an undisputed fact that they came about the same time, or together, and both raised a crop of corn that same season. Other parties, or their descendants, maintain that Funderburk and Nelson did not come until 1818; that the question was often discussed as to

The place where he first settled was on section thirty, of this township. He remained here but one or two years, when he moved across the line into Ball township, where he died, in 1843,

Mason Fowler, was born about 1766, in Virginia. He was married and had five children in that State, and the family moved to the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, where they had seven children. They moved thence to Southern Illinois, in 1816, and in the spring of 1818, Mr. Fowler, with his two sons, Edward and John and a young man by the name of Frederick Wise, came to what is now Cotton Hill township, Sangamon county. They raised a crop, built a house that Slimmer, returned south and brought Mr. Fowler's family to their new home on Horse creek, in the fall of that year. Edward and John were born in Virginia, married in Sangamon county to two sisters by the name of Hale, and moved to Wisconsin, near Galena. The two brothers and ten other citizens, including an Indian agent and interpreter, were riding over the countT-y without suspecting danger, and were attacked by Indians, and eleven of them killed. Only one escaped - a man by the name of Pierce Holly, who had the fleetest horse, and that alone saved his life. Thomas, another son of Mason Fowler, after the death of his brothers, Edward and John, left home with the avowed pui'pose of avenging their death. After an absence of ten years with the Indians, he visited his friends in Sangamon county, went again to the Indians,

William Baker was born about lv98, in Sevier county, Tennessee. He came to St. Clair county, Illinois, when a young man. Phoebe Neeley was born December 14, 1799, near Nashville, Tennessee, and was taken to St. Clair county, Illinois, when she was a young woman. Williarh Baker and Phoebe Neeley were married about 1818, near Belleville. They had one child born there, and the family moved to Horse creek, in what became Sangamon county, in the spring of 1819, in what is now Cotton Hill township, where seven children were born. They then moved to a mill on the north fork of the Sangamon river, three miles north of Rochester. William Baker went to Texas previous to 1844, started from there to California about 1852, and died on the road. Mrs. Phoebe Baker died, August, 1861, in Rochester.

David Funderburk was born January 9, 1795, in Orange District, South Carolina, and was bound as apprentice to a hatter, but instead of teaching him how to make hats, his master put him to work in the fields with the negroes and otherwise treated him harshly, so he ran away and enlisted in the Third United States Rifle Regiment for five years, from August 15, 1814. It was so near the close of the war with England that he was not in any battle. His five years were spent in garrison duty on the frontier, and was at Ft. Osage, on the Missouri river, near the present line between Missouri and Kansas, when his term of enlistment expired, August 15, 1819. He, with eight other discharged soldiers, fastened two canoes together, with a platform over them, and all left for St. Louis with their knapsacks. Mr. F. says that they were somewhat crowded, and on the way down he stole a canoe, and taking a comrade left the other seven who began drinking and ran their craft on a sawyer, which upset it, and they lost everything except what they had on their person, but the men clung to the sunken log, and but for the stolen canoe they must all have drowned. Mr. F. and his comrade took them all safely to shore. He has always, in his quaint way insisted that that was "Providential stealing." On arriving at St. Louis, he learned that his uncle, Henry Funderburk, had moved into the San-ga-ma country, and he determined to visit him. He found his unc-le on the 31st of August, 1819, in what is now Cotton Hill township, between Brush and Horse creeks, and went to work to supply himself with clothing, in place of that which was lost on the

Christopher Haines was born July 4, 1795, in Russell county, Virginia. His parents soon after moved to Allen county, Kentucky. He was married in that county, October 12, 1815, to Myrah Gatewood. They moved to Bureau county, thence to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving October 22, 1829, in what is now Cotton Hill township.

John Rape was born about 1794, in South Carolina, and taken to Tennessee by his parents, at eight years of age. He was a soldier from Tennessee, in the War of 1812, and arrived at New Orleans the day after the battle of January 8, 1815. His father, Gustavus Rape, was a soldier from North Carolina during the war of the Ameiican Revolution. John Rape was married August 18, 1818, in Tennessee, had two children there, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in Cotton Hill, February, 1826. He died January 29, 1872.

Henry Rape came to Sangamon county in 1825, and settled in Cotton Hill township. He subsequently married Polly Snodgrass, and died November 11, 1851. Mrs. Ripe never formed a letter with a pen until her sixtieth year. Her son, James H., was in the army, and she found it diflScult to induce others to write to him as often as she desired, so she resolved to learn, and commenced by copying letters and other documents, and was soon able to communicate with him. She continued this correspondence, to the great satisfaction of both, until his three years of service terminated.

Mathias Vigal was born August 28, 1779, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. His father died and his mother married Adam Mung. They moved to Jefferson county Kentucky. Mathias Vigal and Mary Roney were married in Jefferson county. They moved in 1820, to Clark county, Indiana, and from there to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1830, in what is now Cotton Hill township. Mr. Vigal died December 25, 1862.

Abraham Viney and family were from Kentucky, though Mrs. Viney was by birth a Virginian. He married in Sangamon county in what is now Cotton Hill township, in the fall of 1819, and died August 4, 1820.

Elias Williams was born near Clarendon, Vermont, February 27, 1770. He there married and the family moved to Essex county. New York, about 1804, where two children were born, thence to Hamilton county, Ohio, where one child was born, and from there to Butler county, in the same State, where three children were born. In 1819, the family moved to Wayne or Henry county, Indiana, and from there to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in February, 1822, in what is now Cotton Hill township, where he remained about one year and then moved into Rochester township.

Robert W. Sanders was born April 10, 1815, near Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His father died when he was a child, and his widowed mother, with her eight children, moved to Rutherford county, Tennessee, in 1827. Robert W. was married there, in 1834, to Kesiah Johnson. They had two children in Tennessee, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1838, in what is now Cotton Hill township, where two children were born. Mr. Sanders assisted in quarrying the stone for the State House, then in process of construction at Springfield. His family suffered greatly from sickness, and in 1840 he returned toTennessee,whei'e he died May 31, 1857, leaving a widow, nine sons, and one daughter. Robert W. Sanders was a minister in the Baptist Church for thirteen years previous to his death. The widow felt that some great calamity was about to befall that part of the country where she lived, and without any definite idea of what it was, she meditated long upon the subject, and when her children were wrapped in slumber, she resolved, if possible, to take them again to Illinois, as a place of safety. She wrote at once to her eldest son, who had returned to Illinois soon after the death of his father. He was glad to give them such aid and encouragement as he could, and they all arrived in Sangamon county, October 10, 1859, just in time to understand the situation of the country and add five soldiers to the Union army.

Joseph Dixon was among the earliest settlers on Horse creek. He was the principal mover in establishing Zion Chapel, in Cotton Hill township, in the spring of 1821, to which he afterwards deeded five acres of land for church and cemetery purposes. His family are buried there, but he died in 1844, at the house of a daughter, near Franklin, Morgan county, Illinois, and was buried there.

Fikst Events

The first birth in the township was that of Sarah Funderburk. This was also the first birth within the present limits of Sangamon county, and the honor of being the first born is rightly claimed for Sarah Funderburk, who was born April 8, 1819.

Rivers Cormack preached the first sermon in the township, Mr. Cormack was a local Methodist Episcopal preacher. Peter Cartwright was the first circuit rider to visit the township, in 1821, at which time his circuit embraced Sangamon and Christian counties, and part of Macoupin.

Elijah Henkle and Mary Funderburk were united in marriage by Zachariah Peters, in 1819. This was the first couple married in the township, and he was the only justice of the peace in the county, at that time.

Among the first religious teachers in Cotton Hill township, were Rev's. James Sims, Rivers Cormack, and Peter Cartwright, Mr. Cormack having preached the first sermon; all of whom were ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and who have long since died; and this denomination is foremost in point of numbers, in the township. This denomination has two church organizations and two church edifices, one on section nine, erected in 1869, at a cost of about $2,000; the other on section twenty, erected in 1864, at a cost of $2,200. The Baptists have a church edifice on section thirty, erected in 18 - , at a cost of $2,500. Each of these churches have regular services, and are doing much for the moral welfare of the community. There is also a Disciple or Christian Church edifice on section one.

Cotton Hill is behind no exclusively agricultural township in the county, in point of education. There are now eight school houses in the township, as large a number as in any other township of its size in the county. These school houses are valued at $6,500.

Village Of Cotton Hill T0V7Nship

Between the years 1836 and 1838, speculation was rife throughout the West. Thousands of villages were platted and visions of untold wealth floated before the minds of many who were possessed of small tracts of land. Paper villages were the rage. Johnson Whaley, of Cotton Hill, platted the southeast quarter of section fourteen, township fourteen, range four, the plat being recorded June 2, 1837. How many town lots were disposed of, the prices obtained, and what else was done here, history and tradition are silent. The village plat was long ago vacated.

The village of New City, in the corner of sections nine, ten, fifteen and sixteen, originated with the building of the prairie chapel by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1869, and that by a good school house in 1868, and that by a residence by W. H. Park about 1875, and a store house by the same about the same time, a blacksmith shop by Zimmerly & Lederbrand, and the same season a residence by Dr. W. B. Smith. A town hall was erected in the same year. There are now two physicians and a notary public. The place is pleasantly and centrally located and promises to be a place of note in the far future.

Organization

At the first election held under township organization on April 2, 1861, there was chosen for supervisor for 1861, Craig White, and for town clerk, E. L. Rusk, and for assessor, W. H. Boyd, and collector, Thomas Williams; for commissioners of highways, T. C. Spicer, J. B. Williams and J. H. Colean; for justices of the peace, William C. Williams and John T. Evans; for constables, James Snodgrass and Benjamin Britain, and C. P. Barton as overseer of the poor. The present town oiHcers are:

Among the spirited and enterprising farmers and stock feeders of the township in the past and present might be named: Preston Breckenridge, George Bronk, Craig White, John Penn & Sons, of the past; of the present, John North, J. R. Kincaid, D. L. Rusk, David Marshall, W. H. Vigal, J. H. Colean, L. M. Babb, George Paine, etc.

As school teachers, W. H. Vigal and his son, E. A., and daughter, Marcia, also Miss Sarah A. Williams, now W. H. Vigal's wife, and D. M. Vigal, his brother; W. S. Matthews, Mary Miller, William Shake, Mary Jane Shake, Thomas Williams, Emeline Hatler, Rose Hatler, Sarah Lawley, Peter and Benjamin Deardorff, brothers, and Virgil Deardoff, J. H. Beam, Joseph Orton and others, and thus in literatui-e and morals the township has acquired a highly commendable reputation. And one skillful young physician in the person of J. D. Mathews, was raised and educated here, and graduated with honors at St. Louis as an M. D., and is now practicing at Mt. Auburn, Christian county.

Jacob Boyd was born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 30, 1807. His father, John Boyd, was born February 5, 1777, in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Susannah (Hyner) Boyd, was born in Virginia, December 22, 1780 ; they were married June 26, 1802, and had nine children. They moved to Ohio about the year 1806, and to this county in 1819 ; they came with a wagon, camping out and doing their own cooking. The father was frozen to death in the great snow storm of 1830, as he was returning from work at a mill on the north fork. He was a millwright by occupation. Jacob has always been a farmer, and had limited school advantages. He was married December 1, 1833, and by this marriage there were seven children - four sons and three daughters. The sons are all farmers. Mrs. Boyd's father was named Thomas Boyal, an Englishman by birth,; he settled in Ohio, and came to this country in 1824. His first house was a log cabin, sixteen by sixteen, with a puncheon floor ; the furniture was home-made. Springfield was the first town where there was a store.

W^illiam, H. Boyd was born in Rochester township, this county. May 1, 1837. His parents, Jacob and Rebecca Boyd, were natives of Ohio, and emigrated to this county in 1819, where they have resided ever since, engaged in farming. William H. was raised on a farm, and received a district school education. He remained at home until he was twenty-two years of age, then married Miss Mary A. Vigal, daughter of Jnhn T. Vigal, a native of Kentucky. She was born in this township April 30, 1837. They have one child, Delilah, born in this township, March 27, 1860. The family are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Boyd has held several township offices. He owns four hundred and two acres of land, two hundred and sixtv acres

Cleophas Breckenridge, son of Preston and Catharine (Moler) Breckenridge. The father was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, August 5, 1807; the mother was also born in Kentucky. They were married November 17, 1827, and came to this county in 1834. They had thirteen children - twelve grown to maturity - eight sons and four daughters. The father was elected to the legislature of 1851-2, beating Abraham Lincoln for the nomination. He was also a member of the board of supervisors for the year of 1873. He died July 25, 1880. Cleophas, Hugh, Joseph and Preston were in the army. The name Breckenridge was derived from a circumstance that occurred in one of the religious wars that took place in Scotland. Two brothers, named Mcllvain, were Protestants, and engaged in the conflict, when their party was defeated. They took refuge on a ridge, under some shrubs called "brack," and finally escaped and came to America, settling in Virginia, and in remembrance took the name of "Brack-on-ridge," from whom the family descended. Mr. Breckenridge has in his possession a twig plucked from this brack or bush in Scotland, and brought to America by John Craig. Mr. B., is a lover of strange and quaint old relics, and of the many among his collection are two gourds, carried by his grand-father through the War of 1812, one of which he used for dipping water and the other for carrying priming powder. Mr. B., also has a pocket compass used by his grandfather during the same war, for a guide in cloudy weather, and as a time piece when the sun shone.

The subject of this sketch was the sixth son, and was born in this township, at the old homestead, August 7, 1836. He was married to Lillian T. Cave, from Kentucky, January 30, 1868. They have two children living: Inez A., and Ida B.; one who died in infancy. When Mr. B., first settled here, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land and commenced farming, and erected a carding machine, the first in this section of the country; also owned and run the first water mill on the south fork of the Sangamon river. Mr. C. Breckenridge noM^ owns four hundred and eighty acres of land valued at $50 an acre; two hundred and fifty acres are under good cultivation. He raises grain, and feeds cattle for market. Himself and wife are members of the Christian Church, at the south fork, which, at present, is in a flourishing condition. In politics, he is a Republican.

James Clay, post ofiice, New City, is a native of England, who came to America in 1844, and settled on section fourteen, township fourteen, range four, where he has ever since resided. In July, 1861, he married Dorcas Davy, a native, also, of England; she died August 5, 1872, and January 25, 1874, he married Mrs. Mary A. Kearns; she was born in Ohio, September 10, 1836, daughter of Jacob and Jerusha Harman. She married Perry J. Kearns, September 10, 1854, by whom she had two sons and four daughters; four of these children died in infancy; one son, William, M. D., died August 17, 1878; Iva Ellie, the only survivor, married Thomas L. Matthews, December 31, 1877. Mr. K. enlisted August 12, 1861, in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of Tupelo, Mississippi; he died from the effects of a wound, August 10, 1864. By the second marriage one child was born, September 2, 1875, who died August 19, 1876, named Ola Eva. Mr. Clay owns two hundred and seventy-three acres of land, valued at |50 an acre; and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The following is the record of the Kearns family: William, M. D., was born October 16, 1855; Mary E., April 20, 1827; Louis H., June 27, 1858; Eva Ellie, August 27, 1859; Ida Eva, October 6, 1860; Liewy Bell, September 14, 1862. Sally M. Clay, an adopted daughter of James and Mary A. Clay, was born November 15, 1875, and died October 11, 1877; she was a daughter of Mr. Ashford, who lost an arm in the late war.

Aaron C. Colean, farmer, post ofiice, Pawnee, is a son of Joseph H. and Maria L (Gillham) Colean, natives of Illinois. They had nine children, four sons and five daughters. Five died in childhood, and four grew to maturity. Aaron was the fifth child, and was born March 4, 1848, in Jersey county, this State. He came with his parents to this county in 1855, and October 3, 1869, married Mary J. Spicer, daughter of Thompson C. and Melvina Spicer, who was born in this county, November 2, 1850. They had four children: Luther E, born May 0, 1871; Etta A., born October 27, 1872; Charles A., born February 25, 1876, and Mary Melvina, born November 4, 1877. Luther E. died August 13, 1872. Mr. C. OAvns two hundred acres of land, worth $50 an acre. His antecedents were Spanish and French; hers were German. Both are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He enlisted in the Thirteenth United States Regiment, served three years in the late War of the Rebellion, and was discharged in November, 1867.

Joseph 11. Colean, farmer, post office, Pawnee, a son of Francis and Polly (Cox) Colean, the former a native of Illinois, and born July 15, 1794, and the latter born November 3, 1797, in North Carolina; they were married in Madison county, August 20, 1814, and were the parents of fourteen children; ten grew to maturity - six sons and four danghters. The father was a corporal to General Harrison, during the War of 1812, when about eighteen years of age, and was at the battle of Tippecanoe. Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, was born August 31, 1818, in Madison county, this State, and has always followed farming. On October 3, 1839, he married Maria L. Gillham, and they had nine children; five died in childhood. Of the four living, three are sons and one daughter; their names are Aaron C, born March 4, 1848; Mead W., born in Jersey county, September 9, 1852; Maria Louisa, born in Sangamon county, December 12, 1855; Joseph Harrison, born in this county, August 8, 1858; they descended from Spanish and Fiench ancestors. Mr. C. owns four hundred acres of valuable land, worth $50 an acre; the improvements are a commodious dwelling house, a large barn, and other buildings in good order. He was educated in the old-tashioned log school house where there were puncheon floors and seats, oiled paper used for windows, and the room heated by a mud and stick fireplace.

Francis Marion Cross, a farmer, post office. Pawnee, is a son of Alvin and Margaret (Forbes) Cross, whose father was born in Kentucky about the year 1800, and his mother, also born in Kentucky, June 2, 1802; they were married in Tennessee, and had twelve children, six sons and six daughters; five sons and three daughters were raised to maturity; the father died in 1858. Francis M. Cross, was born December 14, 1838, in this county. He married Emily A. Hayden, November 16, 1870; she was a native of Pike county, Illinois. They have three children, William F., born October 5, 1872; Henry Edgar, born April 28, 1870; Charles J., born February 20, 1880. Mrs. Cross' mother, Elizabeth (Vancil) Hayden, was born in this county, May 2, 1830, and her father, Abner Hayden, was born in Virginia, December 3, 1816; they were of German extraction. Mr. Cross' parents were Scotch and French. Mr. Riley Cross, a brother, died in the army during the Mexican war, and his father was in the Black Hawk war. Mr. Cross owns one hundred and eighteen acres of land, worth -^40 an acre. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his

Michael Fay, farmer, post office. Pawnee, was born in Baden, Germany, July 18, 1824, and was brought by his parents to this county in 1831; first settled in Island Grove, and in 1861 came to this township, where he married Mrs. Mary Greenawalt, widow of Jacob Greenawalt, daughter of William and Elizabeth Bradley. Mrs. Fay had seven children by her former husband: Francis M., John W., George W., Sarah, Sarah E , William J., Mary F., and James N. Mr. Fay was first married to Jennie A. Youngblood, and had two children, Sarah F., who married Lewis Clein, and lives in Burlington, Kansas; Martha married Henry Beel, and lives in New Berlin, this county. By a second marriage to Martha Burton, he had a son, Andrew J., who married Etta B. Laughton, and lives in Burlington, Kansas, and Jacob H., who married Mary Reynolds^, and lives in this county.

l>avid Funderburk, was born in South Carolina, January G, 1795. His father, Joseph Funderburk, was born in South Carolina, about the year 1769, and his mother, Mollie (Sturkey) Funderburk, was also born in South Carolina, aboutl767; both parents were of German descent, the date of their marriage was about 1792. They had five children, Margaret, David, Joseph M., Daniel and Henry. David was the second child, and was apprenticed to Conrad Barch, a hatter, but instead of teaching him the trade they required him to work on the plantation with the negroes; he ran away and enlisted in the Third United States Rifle Regiment for five years; this was in 1814. He was discharged at the expiration of his term in 1819; then came to this county and worked at whatever he could find to do until the lands came into market in 1823, when he entered the land on which he now lives, on section eighteen, town fourteen, range four. In 1821, he married Hannah Henkle, who was born in Virginia, and died September 22, 1873, and was of German origin. They had twelve children, eight of M'hom are still living, namely: Mary Jane, John, Newton, David, Phoebe, William, Frank, and Thomas J.; all are married. Mr. F. owns three hundred and ninety acres of land, mo-tly timber, about one hundred and sixty acres under good cultivation. His early school advantages were very limited, having attended only about four months, and that at irregular periods. The first school in his district was kept in a log house on Horse creek. The first camp meeting in the county was held on the land now owned by Daniel G. Jones, October 19, 1S19.

Rev. Mr. Walker, an old man, was presiding -elder, and Rivers Cormack, preacher in charge. Mr. Sims and Mr. Randall were also there as preachers; there were only four or five tents, and about one hundred people present. David and Frank were both in the array; ihe former in the Eleventh Missouri Regiment, and the latter in the One Hundred and Fourteenth. The Funderburk family generally have been Republicans, and are members of the M. E. Church.

James M. Haines, a farmer; post ofiice, New <City, son of Christopher and Mira (Gatewood) Haines; the former born in Virginia, in 1795, and the latter in Alabama, June 9, 1797; married October 12, 1815. They had seven children born in Kentucky, and moved with them to this county, in 1829; entered land and commenced farming, which he continued until his death, March 29, 1850.

The subject of this sketch married Myrah Ricks, of Kentucky, May 24, 1853; had nine children: Alice E., born July 22, 1854, and married Dr. W. B. Smith, June 7, 1877, and with him resides at New City, in this township; Benelta S., born February 16, 1856; Margaret Emma, born December 19, 1857; William C, torn February 5, 1860; Ulysses G., born July In, 1863; Ida M., born May 4, 1865; Newell E., born October 15, 1867, and died February 17, 1868; Freddie G., born April 9, 1869, and died September 19, 1869; Arthur G., born June 13, 1871. Mr. H. owns three hundred and eight acres of land, of which two hundred and fiftysix are under cultivation, and worth $50 per acre. The house in which he attended school in Sangamon, was a small log cabin, with puncheon floor and split slab benches, with oiled paper for window lights. Thomas Laughlin was his first teacher, in 1833. His father was born July 5, 1795, in Virginia, and died in Sangamon county, March 30. 1850, and his mother Mira (Gatewood) was born in 1797, and died in this county November 18, 1859. They were members of the Protestent Methodist Church. Mr. Jas. M. Haines and his family are of the M. E. church, and in polit'cs they are Republicans.

John G. Haines, son of Christopher Haines, a farmer in Cotton Hill township, was born, January 5, 1818, in Allen county, Kentucky, came to Sangamon county October 22, 1829, with his parents. (See sketch of Jas. M. Haines). The subject of this sketch married Mary A. Palmer, February 20, 1840, the daughter of Ambrose Palmer, of East St. Louis, and came to this county in the year 1835. They had eight children, Hester Ann, born Julv 29, 1848, and married A.

J. Maxfield, and lives in Springfield, Illinois; Dotia C, born April 15, 1843, died January 8, 1873; James T., born January 18, 1846, and died October 9, 1846; Margaret V., born November 22, 1841, and died November 2, 1852; Mary F., born November 8, 1852, and died December 13, 1852; Martha J., born Jan. 15, 1854, and married June 12, 1873; Jno. F.,born June 15, 1856, and died October 18, 1860; Nancy A., born January 10, 1859, and died September 14, 1859. Mrs. H. died January 31, 1874, and Mr. H. married again September 7, 1874, to Eliza P. Criteser, the daughter of Peter Criteser, of Ohio, and Ann (Cowgill) Criteser, of Indiana. They have three children, Winfred I, born July 19, 1875; James M., born March 22, 1877; and Samuel S., born October 25, 1871. Mr. Haines was justice of the peace eight years previous to 1869, and has held other oftices of trust in the township. He served with the Second Artillery, Company C, in the late Union army, one year, and was crushed while mounting a cannon at Paducah, Kentucky, March 7,1862, and was discharged by reason of injury, August 6, 1862, and has never fully recovered, and is drawing a small pension. He and wife are members of the M. E. church. They are Republicans in politics.

Andrew Jones was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, January 10, 1783. His parents died when he was a child. About 1808, he went to Bath county, Kentucky. There he married Eleanor Goodan, in 1812, who was born March 16, 1793, in Pennsylvania, and was taken by her parents to Kentucky when she was quite young. They had five children in Bath .county, after which the family moved to this county, in 1825, and settled at Round Prairie, in Rochester township, locating on government land, where a son, John, was born, October 4, 1829. They made a home, and resided there until their death. The father died in 1854, and the mother in 1859, leaving five children, who settled in the immediate vicinity.

Daniel G. Jones, the subject of this sketch, was born November 15, 1822, in Bath county, Kentucky, where he was raised on a farm, and received an elementary education in the schools of the neighborhood. He remained at home until he was twenty-seven years old, then married Amanda J. Brunk, in 1849. She died September 28, 1865, leaving two children, Laura and George. Her parents were George and Mary Brunk, who came to this county in 1821, and en tered land in Ball township, where they remained many years. She was born January 1, 1830. Mr. Jones moved to the place where he is now living in 1855, and has a farm of seven hundred and ten acres, valued at #50 an acre; has a fine residence, and is one of the solid men of the township. His father came to the township in limited circumstances. Their first house was a log cabin about high enough for a man to stand in, sixteen feet in size, covered, and a puncheon floor. The family consisted of nine persons.

On May 5, 1869, Mr. Jones married Mary F. Rickard, who was born near Springfield, Illinois, August 16, 1840. At the age of twelve years, she was sent to the Science Hill Female Academy, Shelbyville, Kentucky, and took the full course of study. Her parents were Noah and Harriett (Talbott) Rickard. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have two children: Mary R., born November 3, ISVO, and Helen, born January 4, 1876. Both reside at home with their parents.

John R. Kijicaid, post oftice. Cotton Hill, is a son of James and Mary (Gwin) Kincaid, who were natives of Virginia, and were married about 18-29. They had three sons and one daughter ; all are living except one - James W. - who died as a soldier, in the late war. The subject of this sketch was the second child, and w^as born in Virginia, November 14, 1833. He was taken by his parents to Ohio, and came to thie State April 15, 1857, He taught school in the winter, and broke prairie during the summer months, for several years. He was married January 1, 1863, to Miss Mary J. Meredith, daughter of Davis and Mary Meredith, who came from Ohio to this county in 1829. Mrs. Kincaid was born December 3, 1842. They are the parents of eight children, five of whom survive, viz: Luther E., born March 23, 1864; Mary J., born December 28, 1865, and died September 4, 1867 ; James W., born September 25, 1868 ; Louisa A., born August 28, 1870, and died August 11, 1871; Margaret E., born June 14, 1872, and died July 20, 1873 ; Catalina M., born May 30, 1874; Fred. C, born June 29, 1876 ; Charles J., born October 12, 1878. Mr. Kincaid purchased land in this county in 1874, and has resided on it since. He received his education principally in the common schools of Ohio, and attended the academy at Gallipolis, Ohio, two years. He owns a large farm of two hundred and fifty acres, valued at $50 an acre, and has a neat, commodious frame dwelling house. Mrs. Kincaid is a member of the M. E. Church. Mr. K. votes with the Republican party.

James 31. Martin, post office, Springfield, ^Evans' Box), is a son of George and Leah (Fahs) Martin. His father was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, October 28, 1805, and died October 25, 1841; his mother was born in same county, August 12, 1802, and died August 8, 1860. They had six children, two were born in Virginia, one in Ohio, and three in this county; four lived to maturity. John Martin, the father of George, purchased land in 1834, the same now owned and occupied by James Martin, the subject of this biography; they were of Scotch and German ancestry. James married Mary Williams, daughter of I. B. Williams, who was born in Ohio; her grandfather was a native of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Martin have had seven children; four died in childhood, and three are living, namely: George B., Mary Frances, James H., John Edgar, William L., Phoebe Adaline, and Susan Alice. Mr. Martin owns ninety-six acres of land, seventy under cultivation; it is worth $40 an acre. He is, in politics, a Democrat.

David Marshall, post oflice Cotton Hill was born November 6, 1843. His parents, Stephen and Amada (Smalley) Marshall, were natives of New Jersey, and came to this State and settled in Macoupin county in 1845. His father was a miller, also farming to some extent. They had nine children - two died in childhood, and seven grew to maturity. David was the seventh child and came to this county about 1857. On October 27, 1864, he married Emily C. Spicer, born August 13, 1843; they had four children, two died in infancy and two are living, Mary F., born November 3, 1867, and Louisa, born May 27, 1875. Mrs. Marshall's parents, U. D. and Nancy Clifton Spicer, were natives of Delaware. He was born September 24, 1793, and died February 15, 1855; the mother born October 30^ 1800; and the father, Mr. Marshall, owns one hundred and ten acres of land valued at $50 per acre; makes a specialty of cattle and hogs for market. He had limited advantages for early education, and always worked hard; he iised to work sixteen days for a hog, and worked all summer for five acres of corn. He bought a colt, and the next year worked for six acres of corn, and in the winter worked for his board. When he was sixteen years old he worked for seven acres, and when he was seventeen, herded cattle for $30 a month; bought calves and run them with the herd, then sold oiit, and had about $400, with which he bought forty acres of land, cut the wood off, and sold it in Springfield; from that time he continued to prosper as a speculator. They are Democrats politically.

Ann Popp, the former born in 178:5, in Germany, where he also died; the mother's birth is unknown; she was born, and died in Germany; they were married in 1821 and had five children, three of whom died young. John was the fourth child, and came to this country and settled in New Jersey, where he lived four years, then came to this county and settled were he now lives, in 1860. He married Susan J. Billings who was born in this county; her parents were from Maryland, and of Welsh and German ancestry; they had five children, Mary E , born December 21, 1861, and died March 20, 1876; Herschel V., born July 20, 1863, and died January 17, 1872; Judith A., born September 3, 1865, and died December 1, 1866; Theodore, born March 31, 1867; and Julia A., born January 18, 1872. Mrs. Popp died December 1, 1874. Mr. P. owns seventy acres of land, worth $40 an acre. He had good educational advantages, having attended the higher schools in the old country, and the English schools after arriving here; he belongs to the German Lutheran Chui-ch.

James T. liape, post oflice, New City, is a son of John and Elizabeth Rape, whose children were as follows: Joseph, born January 25, 1840; John, born December 16, 1843; James, born September 27, 1845; Mary, born October 18, 1848; Samuel, born January 20, 1852; Nancy Eveline, born April 27, 1856; and Emily Jane, who died at the age of nineteen. James T., the subject of this sketch, was born in this county, September 27, 1845, and always lived on the farm now occupied by him. On January 10, 1866, he was married to Miss Mary West, who was born in Vermilion county, Indiana, and of German ancestry. They have had five children, four of whom are living: Delia M., born May 22, 1868; Florence R., born December 15, 1869, and died at the age of nine months; Fred R., born September 28, 1871; Izora R., born March 31, 1875, and Pearl, born March 9, 1878. Mr. Rape owns seventy-five acres of land, and has held several township oftices. In politics they are Democrats. The family are generally Methodists,

Andrew Milslagle, post office. New City, was born in Virginia, March 25, 1801; his parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Cooper) Mislagle, the former born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, They had eleven children, five sons and six daughters. Andrew was the first son and came to this county in 1834. In 1832, he married Miss Mary Martin, in Virginia. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy, and two after arriving at mature age. The living are:

Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Mopin, and now living in Kansas; and Jacob M., who married Elizabeth Peek, and resides on the homestead with his parents. When Mr. Milslagle first came here, he entered land and commenced farming, and has continued that occupation ever since. He owns one hundred and fifty acres of land, eighty of which is under cultivation. He belongs to the U. P. Church. His son, William, was in the army, a member of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, Infantry, and died at home in July, 1863, from diseases contracted in the army. Mr. Milslagle has been married twice. His first wife died in 1837, and his second in 1845, and he is now a widower,

William B. Smith, M. D., post office, New City, was born in Williamsburg, Claremont county, Ohio, March 15, 1846; son of Robert D., and Margaret (Burkitt) Smith, the former of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. They lived and died in Claremont county, Ohio, the mother on July 10, 1849, of cholera, the father, January 15, 1862. William B., attended the higher schools of Ohio and Kentucky, until he was twenty-one years of age, when he commenced the study of medicine in Dover, Kentucky, with his uncle, and was with him three years; afterward studied with Samuel Burkitt, and H. Clay Lassing, of Boone county, in the winter of 1869 - 70. He attended lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at Keokuk, Iowa, in the spring of 1878. where he graduated with honors. He practiced three years in Kentucky and seven years in this State. He mai-ried Alice E., daughter of J. M., and Myra O. Haines, of Cotton Hill township, where she was born. They have two children, Robert M., born March 9, 1880, and Newell Jay, born September 13, 1881. The doctor has a good practice in the county; is at the present time town treasurer, and has been two years. He was elected justice of the peace, but declined to serve. He laid out the village of New City, and gave it the name, and was the first postmaster in it.

Hartman Spengler, post office, New City, was born in Baden Baden, Germany, February 10, 1840. His parents were Michael and Catharine Spengler and were natives of Germany. The father was born April 1, 1812; the mother's birthday unknown; they were married in Germany in March, 1837; they had five children, of whom three are living, and all in the United States. Hartman was the first child, and came to this country with his parents in 1843, when four years of age. On May 16, 1867, he married Miss

Malinda Moyer, who was born in Pennsylvania, November 5, IS 43, daughter of Abraham Moyer, who was born also in Pennsylvania, and of German parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Spengler have had eight children, seven of \vhom are living: Thomas M., born March 14, 1868; Samuel H., born October 11, 1869; Winnie L., born November 6, 1870 and died November 21, 1879; Artemus L., born September 9, 1872; Mary M., born November 1, 1874; Alice J., born January 21, 1877; Rose A., born November 23, 1878; and Gilbert, born March 24, 1880, and an infant son born November 4, 1881. Mr. S. owns forty acres of land, valued at |40 an acre. He has been supervisor of Cotton Hill, two terms. Mr. S. is a Presbyterian and she a Lutheran.

Alfred Vigal, of Cotton Hill township, section twenty, son of John T. Vigal, was born in this township, April 28, 1835, where he has since resided, and married, December 17, 1857, to Dianna Carpenter, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, February 6, 1831. She came to Shelby county, Illinois, when eight years old, and thence, in 1839, to Sangamon, where she married and had eight children - Clara J., born October 2, 1858, and married October 20,1880, to Charles C. Jones, and resides in this township ; John F., born January 30, 1860 ; an infant, born January 29, 1861, and died February 20, 1861 ; Adaline, born February 11, 1862, and died January 19,1875; Tonia, born June 19, 1863; an infant, born February 10, 1865, and died same day; Edwin, born Novembers, 1867, and Mary, born August 26, 1870. Mr. Vigal's father, John T. Vigal, was born near Louisville, Kentucky, April 8, 1808, and married March 10, 1830, in Clark county, Indiana, to Hannah Coble, who was also born there. May 20, 1811. They came to Sangamon county the same year of their marriage, and settled in Cotton Hill township, where he has continued to reside since that time, and had nine children - five sons and four daughters. Three sons and one daughter (Mrs. W. H. Boyd) are yet living, all in this township. Mrs. John T. Vigal died May 12, 1853. Mr. Alfred Vigal has always been a farmer, and owns ninety acres of valuable land, well cultivated.

William H. Vigal, farmer, on section twentyone, post cfiice, New City, is a brother of the preceding, and was born January 22, 1833. He was raised on a farm and received a common school education. He married Miss Sarah Willian, daughter of Thomas Willian, of Kentucky, and was born in Cotton Hill township, August 29, 1833; they have had six children, as follows:

Martha A., born September 3, 1857, now Mrs. Chester G. Willaims; Everett A., born November 6, 1859; Metta E., born December 2, 1865^ William M., born February 2, 1869; Ermen C, born October 17, 1873; Freddie H., born May 16, 1871, and died December 22, 1879. Mr. V. has held the office of supervisor for several years, and also other local offices of trust. He owns three hundred and sixty acres of land, under good cultivation, worth $40 an acre; he raises corn, and is largely engaged in feeding cattle. Mr. V. is a self-made man, and has earned his propeity by hard work, industry and economy. He has a fine residence; his wife and oldest daughter are members of the M. E. Church, In politics. Republican.

Jonathan Weaver, post office. New City, is the seventh son of Jacob and Susan Weaver, natives of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and of German ancestry. They had fourteen children, most of whom grew to maturity. Jonathan was born December 20, 1816. Becoming an orphan at the age of six years, he was put on a farm until he was eighteen years of age, and then was apprenticed to carpentry and cabinet-making. In February, 1842, he married Miss Mary Ruth, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Ruth, of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, who was of English descent. She died the following year, in January, and on May 14, 1846, Mr. W. married Mary Hammer, of Washington county, Maryland, who was born July 7, 1818. By this marriage there were five sons: George H., born July 1, 1847; Willie H., February 1, 1850; Samuel R., April 24, 1853; Jonathan L , March 16, 1856; and James B., October 15, 1863. Mrs.W, died November 21, 1872, and was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Mr. Weaver's farm comprises one hundred and twenty acres, which is valued at $35 an acre. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically a Republican.

Richard White, post office. Pawnee, was born in Tennessee, October 15,1830. His father, Craig White, was born in January, 1800, in Tennessee. At the age of eighteen, he married Sally Lane, of North Carolina, and they had thirteen children. They came to this country in 1830. They had but little money, and bought land at second hand. Richard was but a few weeks old when his parents settled here. In March, 1866, he married Hannah Ward, who was born in Virginia, March 20, 1845. They had two children: William, who died in infancy, and Lilly Elizabeth, born October 16,1869. Mr. White owns one thousand acres of land, valued at $40 an acre, and is engaged in general farming.

The township of Curran is situated in the second tier of townships from the west and the third from the south, and comprises township fifteen, range six west.

Topo Graphical

The township or Curran is chiefly rolling prairie, having but little timber, and that along the banks of Lick creek and Spring creek. The soil is of good quality and the farms second to none.

The township is watered by Lick creek and Big Spring creek, and their tributaries. Lick creek waters nearly the entire southern tier of sections entering Woodside township, from section twenty-five. Spring creek heads on section nineteen, and leaves the township from section four. Plenty of water is found for the stock.

Railroad

The Wabash railroad passes through the center of the township, entering from Springfield on section twelve, and passes out from section nineteen. It has two stations in the township - Curran and San station.

The first settlement was made in this township in 1819. Among the early settlers were Joshua Brown, Jacob Earnest, Thomas Earnest, William Archer, David Cloyd, Thomas Cloyd, Samuel Cloyd, Stephen Shelton, William T. Brawnes, Ivins Fostei*, James Parkinson, John Smith, Thomas McKee, Elisha McKomas, Mr. Lamb, John Kelly, James McKee, Barney Vanderen, Henry Alsbury, Thomas Hilliard, Thomas Foster, William Withrow, and others.

Joshua Brown was born May 20, 1V92, in Davis county, Kentucky. Nancy Wilcher was born December, 1789, in the same county. They were there married, early in 1812, and in November, 1818, moved to St.^ Clair county, Illinois, and from there to what became Sangamon county, arriving April 18, 1819, in what is now Curran township, east of Archer's creek, and south of Spring creek, and later, entered one hundred and sixty acres of land south of Spring creek, in Gardner township.

Jacob Earnest was born April 24, 1799, in South Carolina, was married there to Elizabeth Sims, who was born April 26, 1798. She was a sister of James and William Sims, one of whom was older and the other younger than herself. They moved to that part of Simpson which later became Logan county, Kentucky. In 1817, the family moved to St. Clair county, Illinois, and they moved to what became Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fail of 1819, on Spring creek, in what is now Curran township,

Thomas Earnest was born June 3, 1792, in South Carolina. His parents moved, when he was a boy, to Simpson county, Kentucky. In the autumn of 1819, he came to Sangamon county, and joined his brother Jacob, who had previously arrived with his family. Thomas Earnest commenced improvements south of Spring creek, eight miles west of Springfield, and entered land when it came into market. He was married October 15, 1822, to Alletta Lanterraan.

William Archer was born July 30, 1793, in North Carolina, and in 1807 his parents moved to Tennessee, where he was married to Elizabeth Jackson; moved to Madison county, lUi- nois, where Mrs. A. died, and he married Elizabeth Holt, December 20, 1818. She was born December 3, 11 93, in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, and, losing her parents when quite young, she was taken by an uncle, Robert White, to Madison county, Illinois, in 1811. Wm. and Elizabeth Archer had twins in Madison county, and moved to Sangamon county, arriving April 80, 1820, in what is now Curran township.

William Archer died August 31, 1867, from the effects of being thrown from a horse, and his widow resides at the farm where they settled in 1820.

In the fall of 1873, Mrs. Elizabeth Archer, then eighty years of age, gave to the writer a piece of a dress made with her own hands more than sixty years before. The family of her uncle, with whom she moved from Georgia, to St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1811, brought some cotton in the bolls, for the purpose of using the seed in growing cotton in their new home. Miss Holt, as her name then was, obtained the consent of her uncle to apply the coiton to her own use. She picked it from the bolls and separated the cotton from the seed with her fingers, and spun it on a wheel, borrowed from a neighbor more than thirty miles distant. She had a rude loom constructed for the purpose, and had just commenced weaving, when the first assassination among the white settlers, by the Indians took place, as the beginning there of the war with England. That occurred in June, 1812. She, with her uncle's family, fled to Fort Bradsby, a rude wooden fortification near by. Appealing to the Lieutenant in command for protection, he reported the case to Governor Edwards, who authorized him to grant her request. A guai'd was accordingly placed around the cabin, and kept there until the weaving was completed. The design was unique and beautiful. The cloth was carefully preserved, some of it bleached to snowy whiteness and made into a dress. She wore it for the first time to a quarterly meeting in 1818, just after the close of the war, and attracted universal attention as the finest dressed lady in all that region of country.

David Cloyd was born about 1766, in Botetourt county, Virginia. He was married there, moved to Culpeper county, and from there to Washington county, Kentucky, about 1815. He moved in company with his sons, Thomas and Samuel, and his daughter Polly - who married Henry Lucas - to Sangamon county, arriving October, 1825, in what is now Curran township. David Cloyd died about 1839, and his widow in 1844 or '5, both in Sangamon county.

Thomas Cloyd, son of David, was born January 14, 1798, in Botetourt county, Virginia, and went with his parents to Washington county, Kentucky, in 1815. He was married there April 27, 1820, to Ann Withrow. They had three children in Kentucky, and in 1824 moved to Fayette county, Illinois, where they had one child, and from there to Sangamon county, arriving Oc'ober, 1825, in what is now Curran township, north of Lick creek, where they had two children. Of their six children - Samuel Cloyd, brother to Thomas, was born November 20, 1802, in Culpeper county, Virginia. He was taken by his parents to Washington county in 1815, and to Sangamon county, in 1825. He was married May 1, 1832, in Sangamon county to Eliza Clements. They had but one child.

Stephen Shelton was born 1777, in North Carolina, married there to Lydia Heath, and at once moved to Ohio, near the mouth of Sciota river; the family moved across the Ohio river into Cabel county. West Virginia. He was a soldier from Virginia in the War of 1812, and from there moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in May, 1826, in what is now Curran township. He died in 1859.

William T. Brawner, was born August 9, 1799, in Maryland. His father died when he was seven years old, and his mother moved to Madison county, Kentucky, when he was eighteen years old. He was there married, December 25, 1822, to Elizabeth Ball; the family moved to Sangamon county Illinois, arriving in October, 18 29, in what is now Curran township.

Ivins Foster, was born November 23, 1794, in Harrison county, Kentucky. Margaret McKee was born January 24, 1796, in the same county. They were there married, February 26, 1819; then moved to Gallatin county; they then moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in November, 1829, in what is now Curran township, north of Lick creek.

The early settlers, as a general thing, looked well to the educational interests of their children. A settlement was no sooner founded with children enough to form a school, than a teacher was employed. The first schools attended by children from this township, were over the line in Chatham. A school house was erected on section thirty-two, just before the deep snow, which is supposed by the old settlers of to-day to be the first in the township.

held by William Sims. The first generallyremembered were conducted by Rev. Mr. Rice, in the summer of 1823, at the house of Thomas Smith. For many years all services were held either in the cabin of the pioneers or in the school houses. There are now three church edifices in the township - two Methodist Episcopal and one Presbyterian.

A class was formed in the southeast part of the township, of those belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church at an early day, which met at a school house in the neighborhood. Under the ministerial care of men who feared God and loved their fellow man, it grew until it became so large the school house was too small and inconvenient to hold the number who desired to attend the services. The project of building was discussed, and on its location the class split, forming two classes, one of whom proceeded at once to the work of the erection of a building on the northeast quarter of section thirty-three. The building known as Wesley Chapel was erected in 1866, at a cost of $2,600. Mount Zion Chapel was erected in 1868, at a cost of $3,000. Both edifices are neat frame buildings and are an honor to the citizens of the township.

Railroad Station

The Railroad company has had a flag station, known as San station, on the northwest quarter of section thirteen. A large amount of grain is annually shipped from the station by the farmers of the neighborhood, for whose benefit the 8tation was made.

The first frame and plastered house in the township was built by Ebenezer Dove, on section twenty-six, in 1889. It was called the White House, on account of its being painted that color.

The first settlers were from the South. Thomas McKee started a blacksmith shop in 1821. Mr. McKee was also a gunsmith, and an excellent one. The repairing of guns was the principal part of his business.

Village Of Curran

Thomas Moffett and A. J. VanDeren, had surveyed and platted the north part of the west half of the northeast quarter of section twentyone, township fifteen noi-th, range six west, the plat bearing date September 19, 1857. To the village thus platted was given the name "Curran," in honor of one of the leading citizens of the county.

Shortly after the village was laid out, a Mr. Fox commenced the sale of merchandise in the place, being the first to engage in the mercantile trade. Mr. Fox also received the appointment of postmaster, being the first to occupy that position. He was succeeded as postmaster by James W. Gibson, Noah Richards, Mr. French, and O. S. Hotchkins, the present postmaster.

The village has made a slow growth, and has never numbered many inhabitants. Its nearness to Springfield has tended to retard its growth. At present the business of the place is represented by the following: O. S. Hotchkins, dealer in drugs and groceries; Nicholas Powers, groceries; J. W. Hammond, drugs and perfumery; Joseph Dickerson, blacksmith; William Search, wagon maker; Nicholas Powers, dealer in grain.

School Trustees

Reminiscenes of James Parkinson. - *' I was born in Ohio, near Wheeling, W. Va., Dec. 22, 1805. My parents removed from there when I was an infant to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and remained there till I was ten or twelve years old, then moved into Green county and lived there several years, and while there my father made the first printing press that was ever used in that county, he also invented a machine for rifeling gun barrels, and put one up at Harper's Ferry for the United States Government, which proved a great success for the government, and some government officials lied and swindled him out of it. That same machine is used in a manner in rifeling gnu barrels to this day. That machine was put up in about from 1815 to 1820. My grandfather (Parkinson) was a British soldier in the Revolutionary War with England, and did not return to England at the close of the war. He married a woman of Irish descent who lived to be nearly ninety years old. What little education I got, I received in the common schools of Pennsylvania. I have worked for five and eight dollars per month. My parents raised twelve children to be men and women. From Green county, Pennsylvania, we moved to what is now Marshal county. West Virginia, and the family remained there until my father died, August 11, 1848. Some time after that my mother removed to this State with one of her daughters, Mrs. Craig, near Oquawka, and died there October 24, 1853. In the fall of 1830, my elder brother and I started from home in Virginia for Illinois, on horseback, with a model of a mill that our father had invented, which would do the work of a four foot stone with a two foot one. We carried that model behind us on our horses to Sangamon county, and stopped at David Mc- Coy's, (who had a mill, and lived aboutten miles west of Springfield), and there started one of our mills and stayed there all winter, that was the winter of the deep snow. We went deer hunting before the snow got over two feet deep one day, and caught two deer on our horses, but when the snow got to its greatest depth, there was no such thing as getting about on the prairies.

"We were happily situated to what most of the people were, for we had a mill and plenty to grind and eat, while a great many had to live on hominy. It was about the last of February before people could crop the prairies, for the snow. That winter we sold our interest in the mill business in Illinois, and went back to Virginia in the spring of 1831, and remained there till the next fall, and then returned to Illinois, and stopped at the same place that I did at first. That fall the cold weather set in very early, and had frosts and freezing weather so soon that it spoiled all the corn from seed, so in the spring of 1882 we had to send south for seed corn, and pay $2 per bushel, and that did not grow well, so we had a very poor show for a crop that year, but made a light crop. In January, 1833, I went to Arkansas and stopped near Little Rock, and started a mill there, sold out, and came back to Illinois, making my home at David Mc- Coy's. I then began to think I was old enough to marry, and thought that the first girl I found, that I thought enough of and would have me, I would marry. I had formed an acquaintance with a Miss Mahala Earnest previously, and had become somewhat smitten with her, and the longer I knew her the better I liked ber, and so on November 7, 1833, Mahala Earnest, who was born December 18, 1811, in Kentucky, and was the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Sims) Earnest, and I, were married. We have raised three girls and two boys, viz: Mary Jane, born November 1, 1834, and married William Baldwin; Grizella Ann, born March 22, 1836, and married W. T. Bradford; Clarinda Adeline, born Jannary 22, 1838, married Thomas B. Petefish; John. J., born January 23, 1840, married Augusta Patteson, and William H., born October -51, 1842, mai-ried Sarah Jane Bradford. Mr. Petefish and family live in Kansas. William H. and family live in Missouri. My son, John J., served three years in the war and was honorably discharged, and my son, William H., aided the cause by sending a substitute. I had the first scouring ])low ever used on Spring creek, invented and made by William Sprouse, of Rock creek. I became quite interested in the success of Mr. Sprouse and furnished the money to aid him in procuring the patent. I have served twelve years as justice of the peace, before this county adopted township organization, and was elected first and second supervisor of the town. I reside one mile from where we were married. Own two hundred and fifty acres of land, on the road leading from Springfield to Jacksonville, eight miles from Springfield, under a fair state of cultivation. My wife and I are supporters of the Methodist Church."

We have thought best to give as a part of the history of Curran township, a number of brief memoirs of the best known residents, together with many who have lived here in an earlier day and are now deceased.

Carroll Archer, farmer, was born in St. Clair county, September 30, 1819, and is the son of William and Elizabeth (Holt) Archer. His father was a native of North Carolina, and born December 3, 1793, and his mother in Oglethorpe county, Georgia, in December 1791. They moved from Madison county, Illinois, in April, 1820, to Sangamon county, in what is now Curran township, where they resided until their death. His father died August 31, 1867, from the effects of being thrown from a horse. His mother died in March 1878.

Carroll Archer came to the county when quite young, and his educational advantages were limited, which has been a great trial to him all through life. He was brought up on a Tarm and might be termed one of Sangamon county's early settlers. He remained with his father until he was married, November 24, 1842, to Delilah Eenshaw, who was born in St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1822. They have three children, Martha T., now Mrs. Lorenzo Stillman, and resides in Curran township; Ann E., now Mrs. Edward Robinson, and resides in Linden, Kansas; Sarah C, now Mrs. Henry Gaines, and resides near Odell, Illinois. His wife died May 31, 1865, and he again married September 4, 1866, Elizabeth Houton, who was born October 25, 1 830, in Menard county. They have two children, Edwin, and Maria Belle. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he resides. He cast his first vote for General Harrison, in 1840, for President, and he is an ardent supporter of the Republican party.

tucky. He was married about 1819, in Posey county, Indiana, to Nancy Wilkinson, a native of Kentucky, also. Mrs. Barbre died there, in 1828. Mr. Barbre moved to Edgar county, Illinois, and was married there January 17, 1829, to Anna Wilson. They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1835, in what is now Island Grove township, where they continued to reside on a farm until his death, which occurred at Waverly, Illinois, in the fall of 184t>. His mother afterwards married William Withrow, and died in the fall of 1871. The subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm and was deprived of the school privileges on account of having to help support the remainder of the family.

He came to this county with his parents, and was first married January 15, 1845, to Rebecca Smith, born October 21, 1828. She was the daughter of John and Jane (Drennan) Smith, who now reside in Curran township. They had two children - Nancy and Jane - the latter now Mrs. James McKee. He lost his wife October 18, 1847, and was again married, February 6, 1849, to Lucy M. Smith, sister to his first wife, who was born April 17, 18 23. They had a family of nine children, six of whom are now living - Mary A , Johnnie E., James W. Richard S., Samuel M., and Martha C. - three dead. Came to the township soon after marriage, and has continued to reside in the same ever since. He enlisted in the late war, September, 1861, in company B, Tenth Illinois Cavalry, for three years. He was wagon-master and veterinary surgeon, and underwent many trials ; was in several skirmishes in Missouri, and received a sunstroke at the battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, in 1862, and was disabled on account of same. He was honorably discharged, in June, 1863. He is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres of land in Curran township ; is well improved, and worth $60 per acre. In politics, is a Democrat.

Caldwell. - The origin of the Caldwell family, now living in the town of Curran, can be traced back to the fourth generation removed. Thomas Caldwell, the great-grandfather, was born in Ireland, but emigrated to America prior to the Revolutionary War. The name is Scotch, and it is quite probable there was a union of Scotch and Irish blood in the family. Thomas Caldwell married in Ireland, Betsy Harris, a Welsh lady, and the couple decided to remove to the New World, where they would have a better opportunity of making for themselves and family, a borne. They landed at Charleston, South Carolina, where they remained a short time, and then moved to Virginia. Here they remained a few years, and here William Caldwell was born, December 15, 1779. When the latter was but a youth, his parents removed to Jessamine county, Kentucky, where they subsequently died, at the house of their son, William. William Caldwell was a man of more than ordinary ability, and while living in Kentucky held several important public positions, being elected and serving as sheriff of Jessamine county, and representing the county several terms in the State legislature. William Caldwell was married in Jessamine county, Kentucky, to Nancy Robards, a native of Virginia. Six children were born unto them: George L., John, Jane R., Elizabeth, Charles H., and William, Jr., all of whom are now dead.

William Caldwell moved from Kentucky to Greene county, Illinois, in 1831, and to Sangamon county in 1836, locating in Auburn township. Subsequently he moved to Curran township, where he died, August 1, 1844, his widow surviving him something over fourteen years. When he moved to Curran township, there was near him no place for holding public worship. In order to afford temporary accommodations, he constructed his residence in such a manner that it could be used for that purpose. It consisted of a large central room, with three other large rooms opening into it. Plans were laid, before his death, for building a church, and on his death bed he requested that it be calkd Bethel, which was done. He was a man of great public spirit, and was Captain of a company from Jessamine county, Kentucky, in the War of 1812, After his removal to Sangamon county he served one term in the legislature.

John Caldwell, the second son, was born January 21, 1807, in Kentucky, and came to Carrollton, Illinois, in 1827. He was there married, January 23, 1834, to Mary J. Davis, likewise a native of Kentucky, who was born near Danville, in that State, January 16, 1816. Five children was the result of this union; William C, Jane, Betsy, Henry C, and Ben. F., three of whom are now dead - Jane, Betsy, and Henry C. John Caldwell and family came to Sangamon county in April 1853, and located on the farm purchased by his father some years previous, on section thirty-six, Curran township, one and a half miles from the village of Chatham, and eight miles from Springfield. This farm Mr. Caldwell further improved, and here died after a painful illness, August 1, 1863. His widow and youngest son, yet reside upon the farm. Mrs. Caldwell when a young lady took a journey that few in this year, 1881, w^ould care to take. She Tode on horseback from Danville, Kentucky, to Tallahasse, Florida, returned the same way, and after a short stay, continued on to Carrollton, Illinois, a distance of about two thousand miles.

William C, first son of John and Mary J. Caldwell, was born in Greene county, Illinois, March 15, 1835, and came with his parents to Sangamon county, in 1853. He was raised on a farm, and attended the common schools of the county at intervals, obtaining the rudiments of an English education, and subsequently from Shurtlelf College, Upper Alton, Illinois. He has been twice married, and now resides in Chatham township. No children came from either union.

Benjamin F., fifth child of John and Mary L. Caldwell, was born August 2, 1848, in Greene county, Illinois, and came with his parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1853. In the common schools of the neighborhood in which he was raised and in the graded schools of Chatham, he laid the foundation of a thorough business education, which in later years has served him in good stead. On the 27th of May, 1873, Benjamin F. Caldwell, and Julia F., daughter of Matthew Cloyd, an old citizen of the county, were married, and immediately started upon a wedding trip which occupied several months and traveling a distance of fourteen thousand miles, going and returning. They first went to New York by way of Detroit and Suspension Bridge, where, on the 4th of June, they took steamer for Queenstown, Ireland, where they landed June 14. Passing through Ireland to Belfast; thence to Scotland; down through the center of England to London; from there through Holland, Belgium and the smaller German States to Berlin; thence to Vienna, where they took in the great World's Exposition; across the Alps to Italy, meeting with the unexpected pleasure of an audience with Pius the IX. Returning, they passed through Mount Cenis tunnel; thence by Geneva to Paris; from Paris back to London; thence to Liverpool, wJ ere they took steamer for Boston, arriving October G, of the same year. Two children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell - Mary Jane, born March 20, 1874, and John Harvey, born September 9, 1877.

Mr. Caldwell, since arriving at man's estate, has been an active business man. Securing quite a competency from the estate of his father, by careful and judicious management he has added largely to his possessions. For some years after the death of his father, he personally managed the large farm, but since 1871 he has rented the land and turned his attention to other business, principally the loaning; of money, and dealing in western unimproved lauds, lie has bought and sold many hundreds of acres of land in Kansas and Missouri.

In January, 1878, he began the mercantile business in Chatham, and the same unvarying good fortune has attended him in this line of trade. In 1879, he set about the organization of a bank in the village of Chatham, for the accommodation of the villagers and neighboring farmers. On the election of its first officers he was elected president of the institution, and in 1881 was re-elected to the same position.

Politically, Mr. Caldwell is a Democrat, and has been an earnest worker in that party. He has served a term and a half as a member of the board of supervisors, and was selected by that body as its chairman, notwithstanding he was one of the youngest members on the board, and had no previous experience - an honor seldom conferred. In 1874, he was nominated as a reform candidate for the legislature, but was defeated.

Mr. Caldwell, on arriving at his majority, united with both the Masonic and Odd Fellow lodges of Chatham and Springfield, and has since been an active worker in these truly benevolent orders, having filled the chair of W. M., in the Masonic lodge, and N. G., in the Odd Fellows.

In 1876, Mr. Caldwell and mother erected upon their farm a dwelling house, at a cost of 120,000. It is conceded to be the best farm house in the county, and is furnished with every modern convenience, being lighted with gas, the rooms all supplied with water and heated with steam. Few houses, even in the larger cities, are so well or conveniently constructed or elegantly furnished. Here with his family and mother he lives and enjoys life, and where he entertains in a royal manner friends as they call.

E. D. Canfield, broom manufacturer, was born in the Geneseo Valley, New York, April 17, 1837, Son of John and Mary Ann (Blair) Canfield. His parents moved to Ohio and thence to Cambridge City, Indiana, where he resided until his death. His mother afterwards moved to Minnesota Avhere she resided previous to her death. The subject of this sketch received only a common education in the common schools of Indiana, and moved to Minnesota with his mother with whom he resided until twenty-two years of age. He then came to Illinois and enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Illinois Infantry, in August, 1861, and served three years and five months. After he received his discharfife he returned to Minnesota and followed farming. In 1866, he married Harriet Kelley, who was from Sangamon county, Illinois, and daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Kelley, who were residents of Sangamon county in 18*73. He moved to this county where he resides, and carries on the business of growing broom corn, which consists of fifteen acres each year. His family consists of two children, Jonathan and Wellington. His first wife died in 1878, and he was a second time married to Elizabeth Rogers, who was born in Ohio. They own a small farm of twenty-five acres of land on which they reside. In politics he is Republican.

Charles W. Canfield, farmer, Curran township, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 22, 1826; son of Robert and Helen Canfield, who were natives of New Jersey. In 1815, they moved to New Orleans, where he engaged in the dry goods business, in which position he continued until his death. Both he and his mother are now dead. The latter died with cholera, while on a steamboat.

Charles W. Cantield received a common school education, and worked in the store until the breaking out of the Mexican war. He volunteered under General Taylor and served until the close of the war, after which he entered the New Orleans Custom House, which position he held three years, and then concluded to come to Illinois, and engage in farming. The people of New Orleans feeling that they were losing a faithful servant and companion, presented to him a silver pitcher in token of their respect toward him which he still holds as an emblem of gratitude to them. He was married in 1864, in Sangamon county, to Mary Ann Parker, who was born in New Orleans. Their family consists of twelve children, now living. He is now the owner of four hundred and fifty acres of land, on which he resides. Politically, he is a Democrat.

John C. Cloyd was born September 6, 1821, in Washington county, Kentucky. When he was four years old, came with his parents to reside in Vandalia, Illinois, and in the spring of 1826, removed to Sangamon county. He was employed on a farm, in Woodside township, about five years. At the expirat.on of that time, his father purchased a farm in Curran township, where he settled with his family. John C. remained with his father on the farm until his marriage with Miss America Clements, which event occurred in Sangamon county, March 25, 1841. They now have two children, the eldest, Thomas, born June 2, 1844, and died May 7, 1848. Dicey Ann Cloyd was born

October 16, 1846, and married James H. Jones, and now resides in Plenry county, Illinois. Mrs. America Cloyd died, and J. C. Cloyd was married, September, 1848, to Sophia L. Lanterman, They have eight children, viz : Charles, married to Elizabeth J. Brauham ; they have one child - Eliza M. - and are residents of Curran township ; Eleanor, was married to Ashbury M. Branham. They have three children - William C, Cord F. and a daughter, and live in Curran township. Nancy J., Cordelia, Wallace E.., Gordon, Amanda M. and John C, Jr., live with their parents, three miles southeast of Curran. In politics he is a Democrat, and a member of the Baptist Church. His wife is a Methodist.