St. Clair County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1881 (part 4 of 13)

DANIEL PIEECE (deceased), One of the early settlers in the vicinity of Shiloh, was born in Bradford county, Penna., May 15, 1788. He received a common-school education, and afterwards learned the blacksmith trade. He was married at Tioga Point, (now Athens) Bradford county, Penna., November 10, 1811, to Alice Tozer, a native of Connecticut. Her father, Col. Judas Tozer, served in the Eevolutionary war, and moved from Connecticut to Bradford county, Penna. Daniel Pierce moved to St. Clair county. 111., in 1812, and settled in Sec. 10, Tp. 1 N., E. 7 W., purchasing a small improvement which had been previously made. Some time after settling here, he built an ox mill, which was a great convenience to the early settlers, and to which people often came to get their grinding done from a distance of twenty or twenty-five miles. He subsequently erected a distillery adjoining the mill, which was carried on for several years. He was a man of great industry, and of a persevering disposition, and possessed much more than ordinary enterprise. He was one of the men who in 1837 undertook the building of a railroad from the blufi'to the Mississippi. This was the first railroad constructed in the state. Gov. Eeynolds was one of the men interested in it. The road was successfully built and put in operation, but proved a disastrous speculation to the projectors of the enterprise, the cost largely exceeding the original estimates. This venture, together with the payment of security debts to a large amount, swept away a great portion of his property. He died on the 17th of May, 18^5. His widow died February 21st, 1852. He had seven children : Juliet C; Emily J., who married Daniel S. Osborn. of Lebanon, and is now deceased ; Hannah, now Mrs. Sciota Evans,' who resides in Iowa; John O., who resides near Bunker KiU, Macoupin county; Daniel E., who now lives in Iowa; James A.,' who died on the old homestead where his family still reside, and Hiram A.

HiEAM A. PiEECE, now one of the leading farmers of the Shiloh valley, was born August 22, 1822, on the farm on which his father settled on coming to St. Clair county. For one year he was a student in McKendree college. February 18, 1847, he married Mary Amj Middlecoff, daughter of George and Sarah Middlecoff. Mrs. Pierce was born in the Shiloh valley. In March, 1861 Mr! Pierce purchased his present farm in Sec. 3, Tp. 1 N E 7 W " which consists of three hundred and thirty-six acres ' The im' provements are of an excellent character. He owns altogether .five hundred and ninety-five acres of land ; he has devoted much attention to the raising of fine stock. He has eight children and in his politics IS a democrat.

Oasbyville Precinct

|HIS is one of the northern tier of precints, bounded on the north by Madison county, east by O'Fallon, south by O'Fallon and French Village, and west by East St. Louis. It contains twenty-three sections or about 14,720 acres. It is drained by Canteen creek and its affluents in the northern and eastern part, and the Grand Marias in the south-western. Caseyville, situated a little north of the geographical centre of the precinct is the only village within its borders. The Ohio & Mississippi, and the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroads enter the western part of the precinct and run side-by-side until they reach Caseyville, when the latter takes a north-easterly course and passes out on section three. From Caseyville the 0. & M. runs in a south-easterly course and passes out on section 27. The surface of the precinct is divided between bottom lands And bluffs. The line separating the two passes through Caseyville in nearly a north-eastern and southwestern direction from that point. In early times the bottom lands included in this precinct were covered with water the greater part of the year, and only for a few years back have they been drained so as to insure crops when sown. The bluffs in the region of Caseyville are very rugged, and mostly covered with a heavy growth of timber. They are composed principally of sand, clay and gravel. Hence, from these facts, the territory embracing Caseyville was not so early settled as some of the precincts adjoining it.

Below we give the lands that were entered in what is now Caseyville precinct, in the year 1814, as taken from the county records which may show the names of some old settlers. In T. 2 N. E. 8 W., we find the following : Joseph Cornelius, S. W. }, Sec. 5 153 acres, Sept. 28 ; John Swigart, 324 acres in Sec. 7, Aug. 31 ; heirs of J. R. Simpson, S. W. i, Sec. 10, 160 acres, Dec. 22 ; Joseph Baird, W. i of the N. W. }, Sec. 18, 89 acres, Dec. 2 ; Robt. Marlott, 96 acres in Sec. 18, Sept. 29, in T. 8 N. R., 9 W., we fiud^ heirs of Solomon Brown, S. E. J Sec. 13, 160 acres, Sept. 28, 1811 In 1826 George Moffett, a native of Delaware, settled near the Madison county-line. He was quite a wealthy man, and purchased considerable land in the vicinity. He left several descendants. The same year Marcus Pelham, a South Carolinian, located at the edge of the bluffs, near the present site of Caseyville. He and part of his family are buried here, and at this writing none are residing in the neighborhood. Simon Kingston, also from South Carolina, came with Pelham and located just south of him. His son, Simon Kingston, a druggist in Troy, Madison county, is the only descendant of his now living. He and his wife were buried in the bluffs near Caseyville. A man by the name of Decker, settled early in the decade of 1830 on the bluffs east of Caseyville, and afterwards moved to California. One McClanahan settled near Decker, on the present farm of T. Hueckel, and subsequently emigrated to Minnesota. Mr. Kennedy, an Irishman, settled in the same neighborhood about 1834. He left a small family. Levi Nichols, who resides about four miles from Caseyville, settled here at an early date. Dommique Morback, a native of France, settled in this county in 1838, and owns a fine property on section 15 of T. 2 N. R. 9 W., where he now resides. Joseph Delorme, who lives on section 12, T. 2-9, is an ative of this county born in 1837.

Coal mining is the leading interest of this precinct. On the Vandalia line there are three" mines. The Abby shaft N"o. 1, was sunk by Mauleand Williams in 1868.' It is 160 feet in depth, and the vein will average six feet. The Abby shaft No. 2 was sunk in 1873 by the Abby coal mining company, the present operators. The depth and vein is about the same as the other mine. They employ about 160 men and boys. The Springwell mine, still east of the others, was sunk in 1874, by the Bartlett Coal Company, and is now operated by the Springwell Company. Coal is reached at 160 feet, and the vein is full six feet in thickness. The other mines will be mentioned in the history of the

Village Of Caseyville

The village was named in honor of Zadock Casey, who held many high offices in the state. In 1830 he was elected Lieutenant Governor, was a member of Congress for many years, and forseveral terms served in the state legislature.

Prior to the laying out of the village, Charles Harbour, a wealthy Frenchman, erected a fine large brick residence, and a steam saw mill, which he operated for several years. The mill was erected in 1845.

It was laid out as a village in 1849, by the Illinois Coal Company, consisting of the following named parties: Hon. Zadock Casey, Judge Walter B. Scates, Charles Harbour, Malconib Robinson, Dr. Charles Barrett and John Roy. This company began the operation of coal raining extensively about this period. The mines were then worked by drifts, instead of shafts as now, two of which they dug into the side of the bluffs at this point. Until 1851, the coal was hauled to St. Louis by ox and mule teams across the bottoms. In February, 1851, the company completed a railroad from Caseyville to Brooklyn on which they immediately placed a locomotive, and rolling stock, and large quantities of coal were daily carried into St. Louis. /

The first house erected after the village was laid out, was in the spring of 1849, by Jameson Robinson. Dr. Barrett, erected four houses, John Eoy, eight, and Gov. Casey, two, about the time the company began operaticn?. In the same year, 1849, the following erected residences : - Belshazar Warner, Ealph Whitehead, Edward Bone, AVilliam Grice, and Mr. Bumesaw. The latter was a Frenchman, and the following year was killed in the mines. He was the first miner killed in the village. The same year, John Eoy built a large two-story frame building, and kept in it the first hotel, store and saloon. Eichard Gofi" was the company's blacksmith, and the first in the village. B. Warner also had a saloon in 1849.

In 1850 there were in the place about forty persons, including men, women and children, and the year following, when the railroad was completed, about one hundred and fifty were added to the population. The village has grown a little each year, with the increase of the mining interests and improvement of the surrounding country, and now contains about 800 population.

Ineorporation. - The place was incorporated by special charter in April, 1869. The members of the first board were - C. L. Muilberger. President; J. T. Hoeltmann, Frederick Euemler, John Eoy, J. W. Owens. In April, 1875, it came under the general law for villages. The present members are - John T. Hoeltmann, President ; Frederick Euemler, George Haig, David Morgan, G. Nuetzel, James Doyle, Sr., James Throly, Clerk.

School. - The present public school building in the south-east part of the village, was erected in 1872, and cost upward of |5000, including furniture. It is a fine brick building, two stories high, with belfry. It is a graded school and employs three teachers.

Business Teade Of 1881

General Stores, J. T. Hoeltmann, J. W. Owens, M. Jenkins, and Miller & Hueckel. Groceries, E. Webb, Mrs. A. Williams. Flour and Feed Store, F. Hoeltmann. Blacksmith Shops, F. Euemler, C. Schwarzkopf. Wagon Shop, Fred. Moser. Carpenter Shop, Wm- M. Kersey. Butcher Shop, Joseph Maisch. Motel, Brown House, Peter Brown, proprietor. Saloons, John Meyer, Jacob Mees, John Michel, F. Geisert, David Molloy, Fritz Nuetzel. Mill. - The saw mill built by Harbour, mentioned above, was converted into a flouring mill by John Eoy, and a few years afterwards was blown up. In 1866, Mr. Eoy rebuilt it and put in two run of burrs. It is a frame building, three stories high, in good condition, but at present it is not operated. Jerome Winstanley is the present owner.

Lodges. - Crescent, No. 426, 1. O. O. F., was instituted July 1st, 1870. Has a membership of 67, and is in good standing. Star of Hope, No. 149, Encampment, was chartered April 8th, 1880, and has considerable membership. A Temperance Society was organized here as early as 1851, and has a good membership.

Coal Mines. - The Savitz Bro's of St. Louis, are operating two coal mines on the O. & M. track, just east of the village, and employ about 120 miners. The mines are known as the Union and St. Clair. They are about one hundred and sixty feet in depth, and the veins will average full six feet. The former shaft was sunk by Walter Williams, in 1858, and the latter by Thomas Mayer & Bro., in 1862. The Black Diamond mine was sunk by Smith and Winnemier, in 1864. This mine is not now in operation.

J. R. MiLLEE, representative from St. Clair county in the legislature from 1869 to 1872, was born in Warren county, Ohio, Oct. 31st, 1831. He was a student for several sessions at College Hill, six miles north of Cincinnati. Among his fellow students were Beu Harrison, of Indiana ; W. C. Gray, editor of of the Interior, and Murat Halstead, the editor of the Cincinnati Commercial. The means with which to get an education he obtained by working on a farm during the summer months. During the winter of 1850-1 he taught school near Cynthiana, Harrison county, Kentucky. He there formed the acquaintance of a couple of young men, with whom, in the spring of 1851, he started for California. He reached Salt Lake on the 24th of June, and remained there till the spring of 1852. He was in the employment of Howe & Cogswell, who carried on the mercantile business. He then went to California where he lived till 1856. He was engaged in farming in the Vacca Valley, Solano county, and part of the time followed teaming from Sacramento to the mouutains. He left San Francisco by steamer on the 21st of April, crossed the Isthmus, and arrived in Madison county, of this state on the 23d of May, 1856.

He engaged in farming near Collinsville. On the 25th of May, 1858, he married Melinda Nicklous, a native of Tennessee. In company with his brother, he then leased one of the O'Fallon farms near Caseyville. December 20th, 1860, he lost his arm in a threshing machine. Thinking that his days for physical labor were over, he left the farm, and for two terms taught school in Madison county ; but finding there was no prospect of accumulating money in that business, he went back with his brother to the farm near Caseyville. In the fall of 1868 he built his present residence, where he has lived since that date. He has been engaged in farming and fruit growing. He has four children living : Charles R., John E., Elsie and Mary Miller.

He at first belonged to the democratic party. His sentiments, however, were always anti-slavery, and in company with other freesoil democrats, when the republican party was organized, he became a republican. During the war of the rebellion he did all he could to aid the sanitary commission, assisted "in organizing the Union League at Caseyville, and was also an^ctive member of the Union League at Belleville. In November, 1868, he was elected a member of the state legislature, and was re-elected in 1870. The last General Assembly, of which he was a member, was the first which met after the adoption of the new constitution of tl^e state, and consequently much labor was entailed on the body. There were three regular sessions, and one called session occasioned by the Chicago fire. Mr. Miller served on the committee which visited Chicago to ascertain what measures were necessary for the restoration of the records of Chicago and Cook county. In the 26th General Assembly he was chairman of the committee on Federal relations. In the next assembly he was appointed chairman of the committee on education, at the solicitation of a number of the prominent educators of the state. His services in the legislature met with the approval of his constituents, and gained even the approbation of those who had been his political enemies. He efficiently supported the interests of St. Clair county, and early interested himself in the passage of a bill for the protection of coal miners, the bill compelling owners of mines to furnish an additional shaft for the purpose of ventilation and safety.

In 1872 he identified himself with the temperance movement and has since done everything in his power to forward the cause of temperance. His services as an orator, before temperance meetings, have been in frequent request. Since 1857 he has been a member of the Presbyterian church. In 1881 he was a delegate from the Alton Presbytery to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, which met at Buffiilo. He has been connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for twenty-three years, and has been frequently chosen to represent that order in the Graud Lodge of the state. At the sessions of the Grand Lodge held at Danville, November, 1880, he was elected Deputy Grand Master, and in that capacity, has traveled extensively over the southern portion of the state, as a lecturer and instructor before Odd Fellows' Lodges.

John Shultz

One of the leading farmers of the American Bottom, was born at Wantage, Sussex county, New Jersey, August 16th, 1818. His great-grandfather, Christopher Shultz, was a native of Denmark, emigrated to America, and settled in Maryland, near Baltimore. Mr. Shultz's grandfather, John Shultz, was born in Philadelphia, and was a young man at the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, in which he enlisted at three diflferent times, serving altogether in the American army, several years. Frederick Shultz, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born on Merritt's island, between New York and New Jersey, in 1792. He was raised principally in New Jersey, and at Wantage, in Sussex county, of that state, married Eleanor Dsnnis. Her fa,ther, Joseph Daanis, was born in New Jersey, though his parents came from England. After the war of 1812, Joseph Dennis moved to Lundy's Lane, Canada, and built the first mill constructed at thatplac3 after the war. His first wife died in New Jersey ; he was married again in Canada, and died there.

Mr. Shultz's father learned the miller's trade in New Jersey, serving an apprenticeship of fourteen years. About the year 1822, he went to western New York, and took charge of a mill at Attica. He was afterwards at Alexandria. He gained an excellent reputation as a miller; thoroughly understood the business, and assisted in securing for the flour of the Genesee Mills its wide reputation for excellence. Receiving injuries in his back, he engaged in farming, near Attica, New York. In 1834 he removed to Illinois) and died at French Village, in 1840. Mr. Shultz's mother died in 1852.

The first four or five years of Mr. Shultz's life were spent in New Jersey, and he then 'accompanied his father to the western part of New York. He was the third of a family of twelve children, of whom only three are now living. He went to school but little in New York. The free-school system was introduced into that State too late for him to take advantage of it. After coming to Illinois, he attended a night school one winter, kept in the hollow, about a mile above Caseyville. The teacher was James B. Needles, father of the ex-State Auditor, T. B. Needles.

Mr. Shultz first set foot on the soil of St. Clair county, on the 10th of December, 1834. In company with a younger brother, he traveled across the Bottom, past the spot where he now resides, and during the winter of 1834-5, was employed by a man living on the bluff, half a mile south of Cassyville. Part of the next year he worked in St. Louis, and, in 1836, he went to work on a steamboat - the old Chester - which ran between St. Louis and New Orleans. He was steamboating during the summer of 1636, 1837 and 1838, and rose to the position of mate. In 1838 he engaged to go as mate on the Moselle, a boat running between St. Louis and Cincinnati. Through some misunderstanding, the mate who had accompanied the boat from Cincinnati, refused to give up his position, claiming that the time, for which he had hired, had not expired, and consequently Mr. Shultz postponed going on the boat until the next trip. This misunderstanding proved very fortunate, for, on that trip, the Moselle blew up in front of Cincinnati, and one hundred and seventy lives were lost in the disaster. This accident, which was one of the most terrible that ever occurred on the river, so alarmed his mother that she begged him to quit the river.

Fur sixteen years he hauled coal from the bluffs to St. Louis. He followed this business in winter. The occupation was not the easiest. Coal brought, in St. Louis, from eight to twelve and a half cents a bushel. In 1840, after his father's death, he rented a farm on the bluffs, below Caseyville, where the Sweigart stone house now is, and mined coal, bought teams and hauled the coal to St. Louis on his own account. This occupation was heavy and laborious, but profitable. In 1844 he bought eighty acres of land, in section fourteen of township two north, range nine west, for twelve dollars and a half an acre, which, at that time, was considered a high price. His present residence stands on this piece of land. He made this purchase during the high water of 1844. The highest part of the land was five feet out of the water during that flood - a fact which convinced Mr., Shultz that he would never have any trouble from high water. He fenced the land and brought it under cultivation in 1846. After raising a few crops of corn, he began growing wheat, and the place has since been famous for its large crops.

As soon as he had means, he began trading in stock. The breaking out of the war with Mexico gave him an opportunity for making considerable sums of money. Cattle rose in value from a cent and a half to three and four cents a pound. After the high water of '44, he purchased large quantities of stock at a low price, and was in a position to take the best advantage of the rise in prices.

He shipped many cattle to New Orleans. He followed trading in stock till 1854, when he went to California. Two of his younger brothers had gone to California in the spring of 1850, another in 1852, and, thinking there was money in the cattle business in California, where cattle then commanded a high price, he started in 1854, with several teams, and one hundred and eighty head of cattle, for the Pacific Coast. The journey, from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Summit Valley, California, occupied ninety-three days. At Fort Laramie he left a letter for home, and started on his journey westward, at four o'clock in the afternoon. That night the fort was attacked by the Indians and burned, and the garrison killed. He was in California fourteen months. He came home by the Nicaragua route, and passed through Nicaragua when Walker's filibustering expedition had control of the country. Part of their baggage was seized, but the passengers were not interfered with. He had taken his sisters to California, and there they remained. All his brothers and sisters are now dead, except one brother and one sister, who live in California.

He returned to Illinois in July, 1855, and on the 11th of September following, he married Amelia M. Williams, daughter of William W. and Nancy E. Williams. Mrs. Shultz was born in the American Bottom, January, 1837. Her father was an early settler of the Bottom, and his house, in section fifteen, was, at one time, the only house on the Caseyville road, between Papstown and the bluff. He was a carpenter by trade ; settled in the Bottom in 1832, and died in 1846. Mr. Shultz owns two hundred and forty acres of valuable land. A view of his farm and residence is shown on another page. He has nine children living : Nannie E , Jesse L., John D., Amelia Malvina, Ida J., Sarah A., Frances May, Mary Helen and Frederick William. Two beside, Isabelle and Agnes, died in infancy, the first, three weeks', and the latter, six months' old.

He has always been a democrat in politics. He voted for Martin Van Buren for President in 1840, and has voted for every democratic candidate for President since, except in 1876, when he was too unwell to go the polls. He is a man who has won success in life by his own efforts. His industry and energy have been the chief means by which he has made his way successfully through the world. In early life he possessed a strong and vigorous constitution. There was no labor or hardship too great for him to withstand. This course naturally brought its fruits, and, in late years, his health has suffered in consequence. He has been a man of temperate habits, and, though thrown much into various kinds of company, while on the river and in California, has never been addicted to the vices of drinking, card-playing, or other bad habits.

Dr. Wiggins, who has been engaged ia the practice of medicine at Caseyville since March, 1877, was born in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, on the 16th of October, 1855. His father, Louis Wiggins, was born at Cape May, New Jersey, was raised in that vicinity, and married' Anna R. Edwards, a native of the same part of New Jersey. In his early life he was in the mercantile business in Baltimore. In the year 1839 he came west, lived in St. Louis till 1858, and then moved to a farm near O'Fallon, and was engaged there in fruit-growing till his death on the 19th of July, 1878. His mother died near O'Fallon in 1863. Dr. Wiggins' health in early life was delicate, and for this reason, at the age of nine, he went to live with some relatives at New Orleans, where he resided the most of the time till he was fifteen. His education was chiefly obtained in the district schools in the neighborhood of O'Fallon. For two years he was a student at the Natchez Institute, Natchez, Mississippi. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Charles Oatmen, and in 1875 entered the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1877. Immediately after his graduation he began practice at Casey ville. His marriage occurred on the 21st of October, 1880, to Miss Louisa Moeller, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, the daughter of Charles Moeller. In bis political affiliations. Dr. Wiggins is a member of the republican party. He has devoted himself to his profession with energy and assiduity.and though still young in the profession, has made a successful record as a physician. He received his ad eundem degree in 1879.

Dr. Lloyd T. Miller

Dr. Miller, who has been practicing medicine at Caseyville for the last fifteen years, was born near Burkittsville, Frederick county, Maryland, May 15th, 1841. He is descended from a family of German origin, though his ancestors had for several generations lived in Maryland. His father was Peter Miller, and his mother's name, before marriage, was Huldah Arnold. The former was a farmer, and died in Washington county, Maryland. The latter died in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. The subject of this sketch was the younger of two children by his father's second marriage. He was principally raised in Washington county, Maryland, and attended the ordinary subscription schools in that part of the state. In May, 1857, then sixteen years of age, he came west, and for a time nrade his home at Palmyra, Marion county, Missouri, where some of his brothers and sisters had settled. He attended the high school at Palmyra, Missouri, and there completed his scholastic education. Having determined on the study of medicine, in the fall of 1861 he entered the old McDowell Medical College, and pursued his medical studies during the winter of 1861-2. The McDowell School having gone to pieces, in consequence of Dr. McDowell leaving St. Louis for the southern confederacy, (the war of the rebellion then being in progress), the next winter he attended lectures at the St. Louis Medical College, from which he was graduated in March, 1863.

After his graduation he was commissioned as assistant-surgeon of the Third Missouri Regiment, to which, however, he was attached only a short time. In the fall of 1863 he entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia. In the spring of 1864 he received a diploma from this institution, which then had a world-wide reputation as a medical school. The succeeding summer he began I)ractice in St. Louis, but in June, '66, came to St. Clair county and established himself as a physician at Caseyville, where he has since remained. He was married in April, 1868, to Margaret Blake, daughter of Ezra and Mary A. Blake. Mrs. Miller was born and raised about a mile north of Caseyville. Her father was a native of New Jersey. Her mother was a daughter of George Moifett, one of the early residents of that part of St. Clair county. Dr. Miller has three children, one son and two daughters..

He is a democrat in politics. He served one term as justice of the peace. He was appointed post-master at Caseyville under Grant's administration, and has filled that office for the last six years. For ten years he has been engaged in the mercantile business. He has the only drug store in Caseyville, and carries beside a general stock of groceries and hardware. He has been employed continuously in the practice of medicine, and has gained the reputation of an able and successful physician, and takes a warm interest in his profession, and has embraced every opportunity to

During the winter of 1878-9 he attended lectures at the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, and graduated ; so that he now holds diplomas from three leading medical colleges. Two years ago he also undertook farming, and now resides on a farm a mile north of Caseyville.

John T. Hoeltmann

Mr. Hoeltmann, now the oldest business man at Caseyville, is a native of Werne, Westphalia, Prussia, and was born on the 6th day of July, 1826. His father was also named John T. Hoeltmann, and his mother's name before marriage was Catherine Jagetho. The subject of this sketch was the next to the youngest of a family of seven children. He was raised in the same town where occurred his birth. As is the custom in that country, he went to school from the age of seven to fourteen, and secured the elements of a practical business education. After leaving school he learned the tailor's trade, following an apprenticeship of three years. On the 1st of October, 1850, he married Magdalena Ermann, who was born at Seuden, Prussia. After his marriage he established a shop of his own and followed the tailoring business, till he concluded to emigrate to America. Disposing of his shop in March, 1855, the following May he left his native country. Landing at Baltimore, from that place he proceeded at once to St. Louis. He only remained two mon hs in that city.

Finding that there was an opening for a small business at Caseyville, he came to that town in August, 1855, and bought out an old store which had been carried on by John Roy and Charles Borkey. The store was small, and contained nothing very valuable. He purchased the whole stock for one hundred and twenty-five dollars. He began business in a modest and unpretentious way, but succeeded from the start, and was soon able to purchase a larger stock of goods and increase his business. The second year after coming to Caseyville he built, at a cost of nine hundred dollars, a building which he used for a store and residence, and in which he lived and did business till he erected his present store and dwelling in 1870. lie has given his whole attention to business matters, and enjoys the reputation of being an excellent business man.

The death of his first wife took place in 1869. By her he had seven children, whose names are Lena, Frank, Lizzie, Josephine, Phine, Amelia, and Frank William. Of these Frank, Phine, and Frank William are dead. Lena is the wife of Charles A. Singletary, of CoUinsville. His second marriage was on the 10th of November, 1870, to Louisa H. C Peters, who was born in Hanover, Germany. He has five children by this marriage - Anna, Ferdinand, Rosa, Louis, and Louisa. The two last are twins.

Ever since his residence in America Mr. Hoeltmann has been an active member of the republican party. His first vote for president was cast in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln, and he has been a member of the republican organization from that time to the present and has voted the republican ticket at every general election. At nearly every election since his residence in St. Clair county he has served as judge of election. In 18ti0 the citizens of Caseyville precinct had hard work to bring the total vote up to one hundred, but Mr. Hoeltmann has seen the place increase in population, until now three hundred votes are polled. From the time Caseyville was organized as a town, he has been a member of the Board of Trustees, and for about ten years was president of the board. A view of his store and residence appears on another page. He has always been regarded as a useful citizen and a man of great uprightness in his business dealings. He came to Casey ville without means, and has now reached a position among the substantial business men of St. Clair county. His career is a good example of what may be accomplished by due attention to business and fair and honorable dealing.

Louis Eversmann

A ErsiDEKT of Caseyville precinct, was born at the little settlement of Bunkum, on the 28th of August, 1846. His father, John Matthias Eversmann, was a native of Hanover, Germany, and was born on the 2d of February, 1816. He was married in Hanover to Elizabeth Obernuefemanu. In 1842 he emigrated to America and arrived in St. Clair county in June of that year. He settled on section nineteen, of township two north, range eight west. He brought with him to this country about two hundred dollars. He leased land for several years, and in 1846 or '47 purchased the farm of eighty-eight acres on which he lived till his death, on the 11th of February, 1873. When he died he owned one hundred and twenty-eight acres of land. He was a man of enterprise, and gave his children good opportunities for securing an education, sending e £ch one to St. Louis to school. His first wife died in 1853, and he then married Katharina Obernuefemann, her sister. He had nine children, of whcm five are now living. Mary, the oldest, is the wife of Herman Hannibal, of St. Louis. The next is Louis Eversmann. Louisa married Louis Thomas. Anna is the wife of John Berthesmann. The youngest, Lizzie Eversmann, is still unmarried. He was a man of industrious habits and a good citizen. He died in the communion of the Catholic church, and was buried at French Village,

Louis Eversmann was raised in the county and obtained his education principally in St. Louis, at a school connected with St. Joseph's church and the St. Louis university. He was married in October, 1871 to Louisa Gansmann, who was born at Collinsville, August 10th, 1854, daughter of Nicholas Gansmann and Clara Seitz. In 1878 he bought out the interest of the other heirs in his father's old farm of one hundred and twenty-eight acres, which he now owns. He has five children: John Matthias, Anna, Lizzie, Nicholas, and Lcuisa. He is a democrat in politics, and one of the enterprising young men of the county.

Centerville Precinct

' HIS is an irregularly shaped precinct, in the western part of the county, bounded on the north by Prairie du Pont, Cahokia and Belleville ; on the east by Belleville and Bichland ; on the south by Richland precinct and Monroe county, and on the west by Monroe county and Prairie du Pont precinct. It contains 51i square miles, or 33,120 acres. Agriculturally it is an excellent body of land, especially well adapted to the raising of wheat. From its centre, water flows to every point of the com pass. Ross' creek rises in sections 16 and 17, T. 1 S. R. 9 W., flows a south-easterly course, emptying its waters into "West Fork, on section 36. West Fork of Richland, takes its rise in sections 23 and 24, flows a southerly course, leaving the township on section 36. Spring creek takes its rise in a perennial spring, on section 31, flows a southerly course, leaving on section 33. Prairie du Pont creek is fed by numerous springs in sections 18, 9 and 3, the tributaries from which leave the precinct along its northern boundary. It is well watered and well drained. Along its northwestern boundary are the bluFs which overlook a part of the Great American bottoms. At the foot of these bluffs on an old military claim is Hill Lake, a resort for fishermen. Not alone are the water courses followed by strips of timber, but here and there, are fine natural grovesi which seem to beautify the landscape.

Not only is this precinct well adapted to the raising of grain, but underneath the surface lie great mines of wealth. Coal of excellent quality abounds, in places cropping out at the surface. The first ever taken out was by a blacksmith, Joshua Hughes, as early as 1830, from a hill-side, about a half mile south-east of Centerville. Stone, both lime and sand, is quarried in sections 31 and 32, T. 1 N. R. 9 W. It is claimed to be of very superior quality. The quarries of Wm. Lark were the first opened, in 1835.

Vague rumors are circulated, too, about silver having been once mined near Centerville. Two Mexicans, years ago, no one knows when, directed by divining rods, staked a claim, built a cabin in the solitudes of a vast wilderness, and every now and then visited the settlements with pockets well lined with silver. At last they disappeared. A visit to their hut led to the discovery of an earthen oven, of perhaps eighteen inches in thickness, which bore traces of having been used in the reduction of silver ore. It is also affirmed that a tanner living in Monroe county knew the location of the mine. Now and then he would mysteriously appear from the surrounding woodlands, carrying sacks of crude ore, which he exchanged in St. Louis for provisions. Before his death he told his wife the location of the silver quite accurately, describing the vicinity of the deserted hut of the Mexicans. Search was instituted and quite vigorously prosecuted without avail, yet many citizens firmly believe silver to be among the undeveloped resources which will yet contribute to the wealth of this community. This precinct was formed by order of the county court, June 5th, 1839. The first election was held at the house of Lewis Pulse. Isaac S. Reed, Robert Gooding and Philip Creamer acted as Judges of the election. At present there are three voting places in the precinct.

Fiest Laxd Enteies

The first land entries in T. 1 S. R. 9 W., were by Thrmas Harrison, of 320 acres, being the West J of section 1, Sept. 7th, 1814 ; by Sinil Lacey, of 340 acres, being the N. E. \ and the S. W. \ sect. 2, Aug. 15, 1815; by Daniel Whitesides, 160 acres, being the N. W. i sect. 2, Dec 16, 1814 ; by James Johnson, 320 acres. South half sect. 3, Dec. 16, 1814; by Martin Randleman, 160 acres, being the S. E. i sect. 9, Aug. 16th, 1814; by Mathew Langford, 160 acres, being the N. E. i.sect. 23, Sept 6th, 1814 ; by Cornelius Gooding, 160 acres, being the 8. W. i sect. 10, Sept. 10th, 1816; by "William Morriscn, 160 acres, being the N. E. i sect. 1, April 10th, 1815. In that part of T. 1 S. R. 10 W., which lies in this precinct, firtt entiies were by Absalom Bradshaw,160 acres,. being the N. E. i Kct. 24, Sept. 17th, 1814; by Samuel Hill, 122S, acres in ftct. 4, Jan. 24lh, 1817. Before government lands had been survejcd, £cme claims had been made, and confirmed as follows : Claim l&CO, survey 429, to George Lunceford; claim 1054 survey 782, to Thomas Warrs; claim 339, survey 430, to George Lunceford ; claim 598, survey 557, to widow of Jacob Groot. All these lands were first claimed in payment of military services rendered in 1790, although some of the claims had been transferred. Representatives of the Lunceford family yet own and live on claim made by George Lunceford. Lunceford had been a soldier under Clark in the service of Virginia, in the conquest of Illinois. He settled first near Kaskaskia. In 1796 he and Samuel Judy opened a farm on Sugar Loaf, on claim above-mentioned, which, in 1800, became the sole property of Lunceford, Samuel Judy saying he desired more elbow-room than this tract furnished. George Lunceford died there in 1809. His son "William was born here in 1796, the first birth in the precinct.

To him should be accredited the honor of being the first settler in this precinct. For many years it was occupied as a common hunting ground. The breaks in the bluffs which arose from the Mississippi bottoms afibrded excellent harborage for panthers, wild cats, wolves and bears, whilst the prairie strtetches, dotted here and there by groves, ofttimes with a spring of living water, laughing under their shade, invited deer in great numbers to luxuriate upon their fatness. It was indeed a hunter's paradise. An old man yet living in the precinct, told the writer that he had counted fortyone deer in one gang, and was met in his pathway by a panther the same night.

Old settlers speak of a deserted house-site on the bluffs, about two miles south of Falling Springs, and just within the limits of this precinct. Occupied by whom or when deserted no one knows. It perhaps was built by one of the parties that attempted making a settlement in this vicinity in 1796, including such pioneers as Short, Griffen, Gibbons, Roberts and Valentine, which was soon after abandoned. A grave-yard to the south-west, in Monroe county, marks the location.

In the north-eastern part, some of the parties who came from Bardy county, Virginia, and the vicinity of Hagerstown, Maryland, settled in 1800. - For history of this immigration, including the Stookeys, Eymans, Millers, Randlemans and others, see the chapter on Pioneers. Of their number Randleman and Teter stopped in this precinct.

Among other early settlers might be mentioned Cornelius Gooding, (1816), James Glass, Robert Gooding, (1816), John Mauzy, Charles Jones, Matthew Roach, (1815), the Laceys, John Primm, of Cahokia, at an earlier date, and Goodner, the Baileys, John Little, Simon Stookey, 1822.

John Little selected a home on section 4, and exercised the precaution of setting out a small cedar tree as a guide when he should return with his family, which he shortly afterwards did. The tree is yet standing.

In early times these settlers were compelled to repair to "Whiteside's station, in Monroe county, for safety from marauding bands of Indians.

Reynolds, in his history refers to John Primm as follows : " In 1803 John Primm emigrated from Virginia, and settled first in the New Design - made a crop there, and settled at the foot of the Misssisippi bluff, south-east of Cahokia ; remained there several years, and moved to his plantation, a few miles south-west of Belleville. Here he died in 1836, aged almost eighty-seven years. Mr. Primm was born in Stafford county, Virginia ; served in the Revolutionary war, immediately under General Washington, and assisted in the glorious capture of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in the year 1781. This was the crowning battle for the freedom of the colonies, and Primm enjoyed the honor of aiding in this great and glorious victory. He had a large family - seventeen children - four girls and thirteen sons. He lived the even, temperate life of an agriculturist, and performed all his duties to the Creator, and to man, in a moral and correct manner."

It is believed that within the limits of this precinct, or its extreme western boundary, was enacted a tragedy which resulted in the death of Vallis and capture of Biggs, in 1788. The old trail from Bellefontaine to Cahokia passed through here, and at the point where it begins its descent into the valley is a fit place for such scenes. The account, as given by Reynolds in his history of Illinois, is as follows: "In the spring of 1788 Lieutenant Biggs had been out hunting, and had got some beaver fur, which he was desirous of selling at Cahokia. He then resided in Bellefontaine, and started in company with Vallis for Cahokia. Early in the morning of March 28th, whilst riding on the road to his trading post, they heard the report of two guns. Biggs supposed them to be hunters ; but soon after he saw sixteen Indians with their guns presented. He and Vallis whipped their horses, but in vain - all the Indians fired their pieces at him and his comrade. The bullets riddled the horse of Biggs, killed him, and shot four holes through Biggs' overcoat, but did not hit him. A ball entered the thigh of Vallis, of which wound he died six weeks afterwards. The horse of Vallis carried him to the Fort. Biggs, his furs, saddle and all fell off his horse ; and, after running some distance, the Indians caught him and made him a prisoner. He was taken to an Indian town on the Wabash river, traveling the three hundred miles in ten days. He was ransomed, by agreeing to pay a Spaniard, Bazedone, two hundred and sixty dollars ransom, and thirty-seven more for other necessaries with which to enable him to reach home. He descended the Wabash and the Ohio to the Mississippi - up that river to the Kaskaskia, and on home to Bellefontaine. In 1790 he was appointed by Governor St. Clair Sheriff of St. Clair county, which ofilce he held for many years.

Frank Koacli built the first mill more than sixty years ago, a primitive corn mill, erected on section 12, T. 1 S. R. 9 W. Subsequently Samuel and Matthew Roach built a mill on Forbes' Fork, which was washed away the same year. Frank Roach lived to the great age of 106 years. When 102 years old he went with a grandson to the store kept by William McClintock, in Belleville, and challenged him to a wrestle.

The first cemetery was that near the Union Meeting House, on sect. 11, T. 1 S. R. 9 W. John Ross was the first person interred, October 1st, 1823. Thomas Jarrott, the second, October i6th, 1823. Union Meeting House was the first house for worship built, which was in 1819.

Dr. W. C. Goforth, alias " old pills," was the first physician to practice in the precinct. He lived in Columbia and Cahokia, afterwards in Belleville, where he died.

Joshua Hughes was the first blacksmith, as well as the first coal operator. His smithy was opened in 1829. He took out coal from a hill-side, about a half mile south-east of Centerville, in 1830. This bank was afterwards transferred to, and operated by Benjamin Goodner. It has long since been abandoned.

Among the earlier marriages were Isaac Gooding, to Polly Cox, March 28th, 1820, and Nathan Cox, to Elizabeth R. Gooding, September 13th, 1826, by Cornelius Gooding, J. P.

Coal Mines. - George Grossman has a mine on section 25, T. 1 S. R. 9 W., which was first opened by Andrew PfeiflTer, in 1842. It is entered from a hill-side, thus becoming what is known as a coal bank. The vein of coal is about 6 J feet in- thickness, and is of very superior quality. It is not worked to its full capacity, only sufficiently to meet local demands.

Teuerhahn, Muskopf & Co. operate a shaft about fifty feet deep within the corporate limits of Millstadt. Vein six to seven feet thick, local trade.

In early times Simon Stookey and Daniel Eastwood ran for Justice of the Peace. Eastwood was elected. The first case brought before him was for assault and battery. He fined the victor in the fight three dollars, which he promptly handed to the vanquished party, saying, " You got licked and are entitled to the fine." The squire's ideas of justice were more consistent with equity than with law, as many of his decision prove.

In 1825, a dollar of paper money passed current for twenty-five cents, cut in two ; each half would pass for twelve and a half cents, or a " bit," as it was termed. Bits being popular change, half bills were common.

Jacob Randleman brought the first clock to the precinct, an oldfashioned wooden one, about six feet high. His brother Michael was a blacksmith. One day he proposed to Jacob the feasibility of their making a duplicate clock so that each could have a time-piece. Jacob, being a carpenter, agreed, saying, " I can make the woodwork, if you can iron it," says Michael ; " I know I can iron it.' So at it they went, taking the old clock apart, using its wheels by which to mark out patterns for the second edition. Having all their patterns completed, they concluded to put the old clock together, which they attempted. A sorry job it was. After it was together, and when they couldn't see another place to put a wheel, they had material enough left for another clock. They wound it up, the hands refused to move, not so the striking weight. It went lustily to work, and without ceasing rung out a full week's striking. The brothers thought the thing bewitched, and after repeated trials to replace

We have phrases peculiar to states, to districts of country, and why not one peculiar to a precinct ? Of such a character is the expression, "a Bornman trip." Its origin is this. About 1840, Daniel Bornman started for St. Louis on horseback, with two baskets of eggs slung across his horse. On his way the rope broke, and as a consequence the eggs also were broken. He returned home rather crestfallen at his ill luck, and ever after a disastrous trip is called by the neighbors " a Bornman trip."

The first German settlers here were Daniel Wagner, Theobald and Jacob Miller, who crossed the sea together in 1834. They landed at New Orleans, thence proceeded to St. Louis and Centerville, where they bought land the same year. This was the nucleus of a settlement that continued to grow until now the German population occupy the territory included in this precinct almost exclusively. There are but seven families of English descent in the congressional township in which the town of Millstadt is situated. They are an industrious, frugal, and energetic people. Thoroughly awake to every improvement which promises additional comfort or added wealth, they sufier no idlers among them, believing that " by the sweat of the brow man should earn his bread." They perpetuate their social societies for purposes of mutual improvement, and are loath to give up the customs they brought with them as an inheritance from the "Vaterland."

Town Of Millstadt

In 1836, Simon Stookey was having a baru built on section four. Several men were lending a helping band, among them Joseph Abend, a bachelor saddler, and Henry Randleman. It was there proposed to Randleman that this would be a most eligible townsite. The matter was talked over. Abend said it was seven miles to Belleville, seven to Columbia, and seven to the lake, and he proposed the name of Centerville for the embryo city. Randleman acted on the suggestion, and on March 13th, 1837, Centerville was platted, forty lots being set apart in section 9, T. 1 S. R. 9 W. To the original site four additions were made, respectively July 15, 1837, sixty lots; October 27, 1842, eleven lots; October 28, 1842, fifty lots, and October 15, 1845, two hundred lots; all in the S. W. i section 9. August 27, 1847, George Heuckler made an addition of seventy-nine lots on W. i S. E. i, same section, followed by another addition, same party, of sixty-nine lots, November 25, 1848. Cornelius Gooding made an addition, north of town, of forty lots, August 1, 1850; James Glass, one of thirty-six lots, August 1, 1850. James Glass et al. addition of twenty blocks, March 25, 1852 : George Hencklcr, addition on the W. J N. E. \, section 16, and Joseph Kopp, addition, August 21, 1860, of thirty lots. Thus, from time to time, ample provision was made to accommodate the growth of the town. The name Centerville was retained until the year 1880, when the Board of Trustees, after giving thirty days' notice wherein to ofier any remonstrance, changed the name to that of the post-office Millstadt.

It was incorporated by the unanimous vote of her citizens, Oct. 26th, 1867. The first board of trustees were elected Nov. 2d, 1867. George W. Seiber, Adam Hoff'mann, John dinger, Henry Schultheis, and Nicholas Theobald, Trustees.

Dr. W. S. Van Cleve, now a resident of Belleville, was the first physician to locate in Centerville. Located here in 1845. His practice extended for fifteen miles.

Loyat Brater kept the first general store in 1849. Cumraings opened the first house for public entertainment, on the site now occupied by Brenfleck's Hotel in 1843. The original building was a two-story frame. Leonard Daub built a brewery in 1846. Continued in operation until 1874. In 1842 Conrad Schmidt had erected a brewery on section 16, south of Centerville, which was abandoned in 1849. All traces of its location are gone.

Valentine Brenfleck built a brewery in 1849, at a cost, including improvements made since, of $31,000. Operated it until 1878, since which time it has stood-idle. After it was first built, he stored his beer in a coal bank, west of Centerville, paying for the privilege two kegs of beer per annum.

Prominent among the enterprises of Millstadt, in fact the most important in the town, are two extensive merchant mills. That now owned by Becker and Sterns was first built in 1857-8, by Franz Baur. The present proprietors have added to its original capacity, by putting in a new Corliss engine, and erecting an elevator attachment, with a capacity of storing 40,000 bushels. The mill is provided with five run of stone, and can turn out 32.5 barrels of flour per day. Edward Schoening is Manager, and Chas. Jacobs, Clerk.

Franz Baur's mill was erected in 1876, at a cost of $-50,000, and has the latest improved machinery ; six run of stone, with a capacity of 450 barrels of flour a day. It is kept constantly busy, and manufactures an average of 300 barrels of flour per day, which is shipped chiefly to St. Louis, Mo., and Providence, Rhode Island. Jacob Theobald, Clerk.

Business Op Millstadt

. Hotels; "Planters' House," by Val. Brenfleck; "City Hall," l)y Joseph Carl; John Darr; Peter Kalbfleisch has a Hotel in progress of erection.

Cigar Makers; Francis Wilkens, No. 81, established 1862, makes from 75 to 80,000 cigars annually, for which a home market is found ; Wm. Tennis.

Secret Societies

In addition to these there is a local Union Aid Society, organized Sept. 23d, 1866, with seventy members, which meets semi-monthly on Saturday evenings.

Roach Town

is a small collection of houses in the S. h of the N. E. i of section 12, clustered about Roach's Mill. This mill was built in 1864. It is a frame building, one story with basement. Has one run of burrs. In 1867 a saw mill was attached to the grist mill. Owners are Samuel P. Roach & Son. This mill occupies the site improved by the erection of a mill by the grandfather of the present proprietor more than sixty years ago. Samuel and Matthew Roach also aided in perpetuating the reputation of the Roach's as mill owners and builders, by erecting one on Forbes' Creek, which was washed away the same year.

Crime : - A most atrocious murder was committed in this precinct March 19th, 1872, by whom or why are matters yet to be determined. Stelzenriede, his son and his son's wife, and two children were all killed the same night. The coroner's inquest developed the fact that their heads had been pounded as though by a billet of wood and their throats cut.

This precinct furnished three soldiers to the Black Hawk war, Joshua W. Hughes, who was 1st lieutenant of a rifle company, C. T. Askins, and Gregory.

There are churches, here and there, throughout the precinct, among them a Presbyterian, not heretofore referred to on section 28, T. 1 N. R. 9 W. For additional history of schools, churches, &c., see appropriate chapters in this work.

Tais gentleman, who is now practicing medicine near Millstadt, is a native of Nassau, and was born at Naunstadt am Usingen, April 1st, 1838. His parents were John William Saltenberger and Elizabeth Miller. He was the third of seven children. In the year 1847 his father emigrated with the family to America. Landing at New Orleans, they came up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and after living in that city about a mouth, came to St. Clair county, where his father bought a farm of ninety-nine acres, a mile and a half south of Millstadt, where he lived till his death on the 18th of May, 1877. Dr. Saltenberger was about nine years old when the family left Germany. In the year 1858, at the age of twenty, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Peter Brower, at Millstadt. He afterward pursued the study of Latin under Dr. Gander of Waterloo, Monroe county, and was under his instruction at the time of the breaking out of the war of the rebellion. He went to St. Louis, and in April, 1861, enlisted in Co. H, of the 4th Missouri regiment. He took part in the capture of Camp Jackson, St. Louis ; was afterward stationed at Bird's Point, Mo. ; then at Cairo ; and then returned to St. Louis, where he remained till the expiration of his term of service, with the exception of making an expedition to central Missouri.

After his three months' military experience he resumed his Latin studies. In the fall of 1861 he entered the St. Louis Medical College, and after attending three courses of lectures, graduated in March, 1864. He first located at Bethalto, Madison county, but three months afterward removed to Ogle's Station, St. Clair county. February, 1865, he enlisted as private in the 149th Illinois regiment. He acted as hospital steward at Charleston, Tennessee, and then accompanied his regiment to Dalton, Georgia. For three days he had charge of the smallpox hospital at that place, and was then detailed to the brigade hospital as hospital steward. He was afterward hospital steward for six months and a half at Atlanta, and toward the close of the year 1866 rejoined his regiment at Dalton, Georgia. He was mustered out at Camp Butler, Springfield. After returning from the army he practiced his profession for six weeks at Vincennes, Indiana, and then was located three months at Freelandsville in the same state. He returned to St. Clair county in the summer of 1866. While visiting St. Louis he was attacked with the cholera, and after recovering, settled at Fayetteville, in this county, where he remained (with the exception of one year, during which he practiced at a place five miles from that town) till 1872, when he moved to Washington county, Illinois. In the fall of 1875 he returned to the old homestead to live with his father, who had been left alone by his brother's death, and has since been

He was married on the 11th of November, 1872, to Anna Liuisa Sumnicht, who was born at Pottsdam, Prussia, on the 10th of April, 1863. He owns the old homestead farm on which he has erected a substantial and handsome residence, a view of which appears among our illustrations. The doctor has always been a republican in politics.

George Jacob Lindauer

George Jacob Lindauer, one of the representative farmers about Millstadt, is a native of Gruppenbah, Wurttemburg, Germany, and was born March 21st, 1835. His father was George Lindauer, and his mother's name before marriage was Christina Glumm. The subject of this sketch was the third of a family of nine children, of whom eight are now living. His father was a farmer, and owned land in Germany. Mr. Lindauer was raised in his native town of Gruppenbah, and, as is the custom in Germany, attended school from the time he was six till he was fourteen years old. After leaving school he worked at home on the farm . In 1 852 the whole family emigrated to America. After a voyage across the Atlantic, which lasted fifty-two days, they landed at New Orleans in the beginning of the year 1853. From New Orleans they came up the Mississippi to Cairo, where they found the river frozen by the extreme cold weather ; and from that place they made the journey by wagon to St. Clair county, which they designed making their residence. His father settled in the High Prairie, four miles south-east of Millstadt, and died in 1863, His mother is still living on the old homestead farm.

When he came to America Mr. Lindauer was about eighteen years old. He was living at home, working on the farm till October, 1863, when he married Katherina Lindauer, daughter of Frederick Lindauer. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Lepper. Mrs. Lindauer was born in the town of Millstadt. The same year that he was married he went to farming, half a mile west of Millstadt, where he has since lived and been engaged in carrying on agricultural operations. He owns one hundred and twenty acres of land. A picture of his farm and residence may be seen on another page. The names of his four children are Loms, Frederick, Carolina and Katherina. He has been one of the enterprising farmers of that part of the county, and has carried on agriculture with intelligence and success' He is known as an industrious and hard-working man, and has paid close attention to his farm and his business affairs. He possesses good busi- ness qualifications, and is one of the progressive citizens of that portion of St. Clair county. He has taken no specially active part in politics, nor has ever cared- to be a candidate for public office. He has generally acted with the democratic party, and believes that the principles of that organization are best fitted to secure the perpetuation of American institutions. His name is worthy of mention in this work as a representative of that numerous and industrious class of citizens of foreign birth, who have made their home in St. Clair county; have assisted in the development of its agricultural resources, and have secured for themselves the reputation of good citizens and useful members of the community.

Peter Kalbfleisch

Is a native of Millstadt, and was born on the I7th of April, 1846. His father, Peter John Kalbfleisch, was born in Darmstadt, Germany, and when a young man came to America, and was among the early German settlers of St. Clair county. He was a carpenter by trade. In the year 1837 he was employed in building the railroad from the bluff to East St. Louis. This was the first railroad constructed in the state. He helped to drive the piles across the lake at the foot of the bluff, where the water was then eighteen feet deep. He married Anna Elizabeth Barbara Oldendorf,. also a native of Darmstadt. Mr. Kalbfleisch's father settled at Millstadt where for some time he carried on the carpentering business, and then bought a farm, half a mile south-east of the town, on which he lived till he died. The subject of this sketch was the third of a family of five children, of whom four are now living. He was raised in the town of Millstadt. He was married in December, 1866, to Mary Keller, who was born on a farm near Millstadt, and was the daughter of John Leonard Keller.

After his marriage Mr. Kalbfleisch went to farming for himself, and was so engaged till 1874, when he met with a serious injury, a rifle being accidentally discharged in his hands, the ball passing through one of his legs, and carrying away pieces of the bone. This disabled him from labor for two years, and he expended a large amount of money for surgical advice. The effects of this wound rendered him incapable of active work on the farm, and he accordingly moved to Millstadt. In 1881 he erected a large brick building to be used for hotel purposes. This building is the largest structure in the town, outside of the mills, and a view of it appears among our illustrations. He has had nine children. The names of the five now living are Louis, Ida, Peter, Edward, and Anna. He has taken no active part in politics, or in public affairs, but has given his attention to his business.

G. Valentine Brenfleck

Has lived at Millstadt since 1848. He was born at Ilmspan, Baden, July 6th, 1823. His parents were Antoine and Marianna Brenfleck. He went to school from the age of six to fourteen, and was then apprenticed to the milling business. In 1846, at the age of twentythree, he emigrated to America. In 1846 and 1847 he was in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri, remaining a short time in each state, his principal object being to see the country. He worked at his trade for a short time in St. Louis and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. In 1848 he married Barbara Funsch, who was born il^Bavaria in 1824, and came to America in 1846. The same year in which he was married he settled at Millstadt. In 1849 he erected a brewery at that place. He was engaged at different business enterprises, and at one time owned two hundred and twenty-five acres of land. He also carried on a brewery at Waterloo. The payment of security debts deprived him of a great part of his property. He now carries ou a hotel at Millstadt, and is the owner of Union Park, adjoining the town. Four of his ten children are living. His sou, Valentine Brenfleck, is farming near Mt. Vernon, Jefferson county. His three daughters are named Lena, Sophie Barbara, and Carolina Katarina. He has always been a democrat.

Charles T.-Askins

Who is now the oldest settler in Centerville precinct, was born in Grayson county, Kentucky, May 27th, 1810. His grandfather. El ward Askins, settled iu Virginia, and was one of the army that accompanied General Braddock on his expedition to Western Pennsylvania, and was present at Braddock's defeat. Philemon. Askins, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia. He had a brother by the name of John Askins, who served in the revolutionary war, and was considered one of the stoutest men in the American army. Mr. Askins' mother's name was Philenor Stayton. She was born in Maryland. Mr. Askins' parents, at an early date, moved to Kentucky, and first settled at Louisville, -where they lived for a number of years, and then moved to Grayson county. There were twelve children in all, of whom nine were born at Louisville, and three in Grayson county. Charles T. Asking was the tenth child, there being two younger than^himself.

In -the fall of 1819 Mr. Askins' father and mother came to Illinois, to look at the country and visit a daughter who had married John Bloom, and settled in Illinois in 1802. This John Bloom made the eighteenth entry of public lands in Illinois. The land which he entered was the one-half of section three, of township one south, range nine west. Part of this identical land is now owned by Mr. Askins. Liking the country, Mr. Askins' parents sent back for the younger children, who reached Illinois in Feb., -1820. They lived part of the time on the tract of land north of Millstadt (sec. three, township one south, range nine west), and part of the time near Venice, in Madison county. Philemon Askins died in St. Clair county in 1831 : his wife had died previously in 1826.

Mr. Askins was in his tenth year when he came to this state, in February, 1820. The school facilities in those days were extremely limited. He had gone to school a little in Kentucky, but after he came to St. Clair county,. there were for several years no schools in his neighborhood. He went to school for a while at Venice, and also at Jacksonville. The first school he attended in St. Clair county was in the year 1828. The teacher's name was Gallop. He lived at home till his father's death, and then continued to live on the old homestead, and engaged in farming on his own account. He was married on the 10th of January, 1854, to Mrs. Jane M. Drew, who was born in Gallatin county, Illinois. Her maiden name was Russell. He has since been occupied in farming on the same tract of land on which the family settled on coming to the county. He has had six children, whose names are as follows: Louisa, wife of George W. Vance, who resides in the State of Virginia ; John W. Askins, who died at the age of twenty-two ; Charles T. Askins, George Askins, Nancy Askins and May Askins.

He has always been a democrat in politics. He cast his first vote for president for Andrew Jackson, and has been a staunch supporter of democratic principles from that time to the present; and has voted for every subsequent democratic candidate for president, with the exception of Greeley in 1872.

He formerly held a commissioD as captain in the militia, in the old days when the whole male population of the county between the ages of eighteen and forty-five were required to muster three times a year. He served in the last campaign of the Black Hawk war in 1832, as a member of Capt. John Tate's Independent Company of Eiflemen. He took part in all the marches of that campaign. Mr. Askins was the democratic candidate for representative in the legislature, against G. A. Koerner, Jr., and was only defeated by twenty votes. For the last twenty years he has been a director in the county fair association.

Henry Huber

One of the citizens of St. Clair county of German birth who have become successful business men is Henry Huber, a resident of Millstadt, who for a number of years carried on business in that town. He is a native of Rheinfalz, Bavaria, and was born at Elmstein on the 4th of October, 1834. His father, Charles Philip Huber, at one time carried on an extensive business at Elmstein. A short distance from that town he bought a property which had .formerly been used as an iron works, and established a saw mill, an oil mill, and a flouring mill, all under one roof, and propelled by water power. Here he carried on business for some time, but subsequently lost a considerable part of his property by the payment of security debts for other people.

Mr. Henry Huber was the youngest of a family of seventeen children. His mother died when he wag four years old. "When he was six years old he went to live with an older sister, who had married and had gone to live at Kaiserslautern, Bavaria, and that town was subsequently Mr. Huber 's home till he was nineteen (19) years old. He went to school till he was thirteen. At the age of fifteen he began to learn the tailor's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of two years. The idea of emigrating to America, where two of his sisters had previously gone, had occupied his mind for several years. In 1853 all the unmarried members of the family, two sisters and two brothers beside himself, five in all, sailed for the United States. His father had died in Germany previous to this date. Landing at New Orleans, from that city they ascended the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and thence came to St. Clair county, reaching Millstadt, where his sister lived, on the 29th of November, 1853.

Mr. Huber was then nineteen. His first occupation was as clerk in the store of his brother-in-law, F. M. Fass. He remained in this store one year and nine months, when he was taken sick, and after recovering from an illness which lasted about four months he entered the store of Jacob Miller, with whom he remained four years. He became thoroughly acquainted with the business, was industrious and attentive to customers, and in 1859, at which time Miller disposed of his business to Joseph McKee, there was an understanding that Mr. Huber should become Mr. Mckee's partner. This partnership lasted about one year, when Mr. McKee became anxious to quit the business, and Mr. Huber bought out his interest. From that time till 1865 he carried on the mercantile business at Millstadt, on his own account. He paid close attention to his business, and managed itwith enterprise and success. The period during which he conducted the store covered the war of the rebellion, when the rise in values and activity in business circles gave favorable opportunities to shrewd and enterprising business men. From 1860 to 1865 he acted as postmaster at Millstadt. Since the latter year he has been employed in no active business, but has lived in a comfortable and leisurely retirement at Millstadt. In 1866 he revisited Europe, leaving this country in April and returning in November. He reviewed the scenes of his early childhood days in the fatherland, and spent several months of pleasure in the midst of old acquaintances and associates.

His marriage occurred on the 5th of August, 1860, to Miss Sophie E. Krieger, who was born in St. Clair county, three miles west of Millstadt, on the 2d of February, 1843. She was the daughter of George Philip Krieger. Her mother's maiden name was Mary Justina Stemraler. From the time he could take any active participation in politics he was a member of the republican party. On coming to the United States his sympathies inclined, him to side with the free-soil party, in its contest against slavery and when he became capable of exercising the right of suffrage he cast his first vote for president for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and thus assisted in the election of the first republican president of the United States. He has, however, been no politician, and has confined his efforts to the support of the measures and candidates of the republican party. While proprietor of the store he carried on business on business principles, and was straightforward, honest, and energetic. His name is here presented as one of the successful business men of the county.

W. J. McBride was born in Loudon county, Virginia, on the 15th of March, 1808. His father was John McBride. His mother's name before marriage was Sarah Watkins. He was the third of a family of seven children. When he was five years old the family moved from Loudon to Hampshire county, Virginia, where two years afterward his father died. Our subject passed most of his useful days in Hampshire county. He obtained an average common-school education. He came to Illinois in 1829. His mother and the rest of the family also came to this state and settled at Belleville. Mr. McBride came to Centerville township, April 5, 1831 ; he married Dovej Harrison, daughter of Thomas Harrison. Her father was born in Georgia, December 13, 1779, moyed to Illinois in 1804, and settled in section six of township one south, range eight west, and about the year 1815 moved to section one of township one south, range nine west. Mrs. McBride was born April 30, 1814. In the year 1826 Thomas Harrison moved to Belleville where he bought an ox-mill which had been started by Wilkinson & Riiigold which he ran for some time, and then in 1831 started the first steam mill ever built in Belleville. He was subsequently prominently connected with the milling and manufacturing interests of Belleville. He died at Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 27th of August, 1867. Mrs. McBride's mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Gilbreth, was born in one of the Carolinas on the 10th of July, 1782.

Mr. McBride lived some years after his marriage in Belleville and then settled on the farm in section one of township one south, range nine west, on which he lived till his death. He began life without any means except his own energy and industry, and succeeded in acquiring a competence. He was a man of good business qualifications. At the time of his death he owned three hundred and sixty-three acres of land. In early life he was a member of the Whig party and afterward became a Democrat. He became connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1830, of which he was a member for the remainder of his life. His time was devoted to his farm and his business affairs, and he was never a candidate for any public office. Of his seven children, four are now living. John McBride resides at Des Moines, Iowa.

Margaret Olive is the wife of J. C. Wilderman of this county. Thomas H. McBride is engaged in the practice of medicine at Joliet. William E. McBride, the youngest child, and the only son now living in the county, was born on the old homestead farm on the 1st of August, 1849. He graduated from McKendree college in 1871. He was married September 1, 1875, to Jennie L. Thatcher, who was born at Marion, Williamson County, and graduated from McKendree college in 1872. Her father, the Rev. John Thatcher, now deceased, was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

D. C. ScHMAHLENBERGEE, a picture of whose residence and blacksmith establishment in Millstadt shown on another page, is a native of Center ville township, and was born October 6th, 1850. His grandfather John Schmdhlenberger, emigrated to America in 183;5, and settled in St. Clair county in the year 1834. He was among the early German settl -rs of the county, and entered land in section twenty-one of township one south, range nine west, a mile and a half south of Millstadt, where Dr. John Saltenberger now lives. Jacob J. Schmahlenberger, the father of the gentleman whose names heads this sketch, was born in Germany, and was about ten years old, when he came to America, and about eleven, when his father settled in this county. When twenty- four years of age, he married Sophia Weckler, also a native of Germany. Her father had settled five miles south-west of Millstadt. After his marriage, he went to farming in section thirty-two of township one south, range nine west, where he has since resided. He owns two hundred and thirty acres of land. He has had five children, all sons : Daniel C, Jacob, William, August, and Frederick.

Daniel C. Schmahlenberger, the eldest child, was raised in this township. He obtained a common school education, and when seventeen, began learning the blacksmith trade at Millstadt. After completing his trade, he went to Wisconsin, and from 1872 to 1874, was working at the blacksmith business at Fort Atkinson, in that state. He came back to Millstadt, and in 1877 started a shop of his own, and has since carried on business. He was married July 31st, 1876, to Carolina Ohlendorf, who was born near Millstadt, and was the daughter of Henry and Philopena Ohlendorf. He has three children, whose names are Richard, Edward and Sophia. He is independent in politics, and generally votes for the man whom he considers best fitted for the office, without regard to the party to which he belongs.

Caspar Boemer

Was born at Warstein, Prussia, May 8, 1813. He was the only child of Frank Boemer and his wife, Clara, whose maiden name was Semmelmann. His father was a farmer, and died when Caspar Boemer was six years old. Mr. Boemer went to school at Warstein till thirteen, and afterwards was eighteen months at a college at Liepstadt and one year at a college at Geseke. In 1833 he volunteered in the Prussian army and served till 1836. After leaving the military service he determined to emigrate to America, and in company with his mother's brother sailed from Bremen and landed at New York, June 27, 1837. He was then twenty-four. After a few months stay in Ohio he came to St. Louis where he lived till 1841. He was married in St. Louis in November, 1840, to Catherine Rodemich, daughter of Philip Rodemich. She was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and came to America in 1836 when fifteen.

In 1841 he came to St. Clair county, and for five hundred dollars bought eighty acres of land in section eight of township one south, range nine west. lie had lost in St. Louis all the money he had brought from the old country and borrowed one hundred and twenty-five dollars with which to make the first payment on his purchase. There were then no improvements, not even a fence rail ,on the land. He began the improvement of the place, put in a crop, and through the winter season, worked in St. LquIs to secure money with which to meet the payments. He was obliged to exercise great industry and economy in order to obtain a start. Once in St. Louis, when left unable to work by a spell of the ague, he had to borrow money with which to buy bread for his family. His first crop of wheat he hauled to St. Louis, and received for it thirty -one and a third cents a bushel, and worked two days to pay for the use of the wagon in which the wheat was hauled. Under these circumstances it took some years to pay for the land. He built a small house in which he lived till November, 1846, when one night it burned to the ground, his wife and children escaping without even their clothing. In 1851 the first eighty acres were all paid for, and that year he bought twenty additional acres. He received that year eighty-five cents for his wheat, the highest price he had so far obtained.

From that time he was prosperous and successful. He mostly raised wheat, and more of it to the acre than any other farmer in that part of the county. He was ready to adopt modern methods of farming, and used on his farm the first threshing machine ever seen in the vicinity of Millstadt. As soon as he was able he bought more land. He still owns the eighty which he first purchased, oh which stands his present residence and farm buildings. His judgment in selecting this particular tract of land ©.1 coming to the country is justified by the fact that the location is considered one of the best for a farm residence in that portion of the county. He owns two hundred and fifty-five acres of land besides property in the town of Millstadt. He has had twelve children. Of these nine are now living. The oldest, Catharine, is the wife of Louis Diesel, a farmer of Centerville township. William Boemer resides in Millstadt. Frederick Boemer is farming near Millstadt. Mary married William Schuette, a millwright, who resides in St. Louis. The remaining children, Louisa, John, Henry, Henrietta, and Amelia, still have their homes under the parental roof. The youngest son, Henry, graduated from a commercial college in St. Louis in 1877, and for several winters has taught school.

In early life Mr. Boemer was a member of the democratic party, with which he acted up to the time of the war of the rebellion. In 1864 he supported Lincoln for the presidency, and has been a member of the republican party ever since. He has held no public office, but has been content with the quiet and peaceful life of a private citizen. During the many years he has resided near Millstadt he has been a respected member of the community, and maintained the reputation of an honest and upright

Charles L. Probstmeyer

Was born at Bockenem, Hanover, February 26th, 1835. He was the second of four children, of Henry and Regina Probstmeyer. His father was a middle class farmer, and died when the subject of this sketch was eleven years old. After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Mr.- Probstmeyer learned the butcher's trade. In 1857, he emigrated to America, and after living a year in St. Louis, became a resident of Millstadt. He followed the butchering business till 1865. Ficm that date to 1870, he was in the coal mining business, purchasing one mine and opening another. In 1873, he was electedjusticeofthepeace, and re-elected in 1877, and has been filling that office ever since -with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people. Before he was elected justice of the peace he served two terms as constable. He was married on the 26th of March, 18£9, to Elencra Wagner, a native also of Germany.

Amokg the former residents of Centerville township was John M. Little, who died in 1865. He was born near Boonesville, Kentucky, on the 8th of November, 1814. He was the fifth child and only son of seven children of Henry and Elizabeth (Jackson) Little. In the fall of 1820, when he was six years old, his father moved with the family to Illinois, and settled in the Badgley neighborhood, north of Belleville. A few months after coming to this state his father died, and his mother soon afterward bought land in section five of township one south, range nine west; where the family settled, and where Mr. Little afterward lived till his death. He obtained an ordinary education, and was obliged to walk three miles during the winter months to school.

February 28th, 1838, he married Nancy Atchison, who was born July 23d, 1817. Her father and grandfather were both named George Atchison ; they emigrated from Pennsylvania, and settled in the American Bottom, in the present county of Monroe, and were among the earliest American settlers of Illinois. The place where they settled adjoined the old farm of Gov. Bond. Mrs. Little's father and grandfather lived in a fort for protection against the Indians, and her uncle, Alexander Atchison, was killed by the red skins. When Mrs. Little was twelve years old, her father moved to St. Clair county, and settled on land which he entered, four miles west of Belleville. Mrs. Little's mother's name was Elizabeth Smirls, whose father was an early settler of Jefferson county, Missouri.

John M. Little died on the 4th of September, 1865. He was a good citizen of the county. In his politics he was first a democrat, but became a member of the republican party when it was first formed. He was the owner of one hundred and seventy-two acres of land. He had ten children. Henry, George, James, and Emeline are deceased. Sarah is the wife of Joseph Leach, and lives in Harvey county, Kansas. Mahala married Monroe M. Stookey. Hester is the wife of Edward Anderson of Jackson county, Illinois. Elsie married James Proffitt, and lives at Alma. Jackson and Lucinda still reside at home. The three oldest sons, Henry, George, and James, served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion. Henry enlisted in January, 1864, in Co. E, 59th Illinois regiment, and served two years, or till after the close of the war. He returned home in bad health, and died June 9th, 1869. George enlisted in 1863, and while at Camp Butler, Springfield, died of the measles on the 3d of February, 1864, James enlisted in the 154th Illinois regiment on the 11th of February, 1865, and served till the following September. He came home sick from disease contracted in the service, and died on the 28th of October, 1865. Emeline married Alpheus Badgley. She died February 13th, 1875.

Eyan Baied, one of the early residents of Centerville township, was a native of Kentucky, and was born in Fleming county of that state, on the 18th of December, 1804. His parents were among the early settlers of Kentucky. His father died when he was small, and his mother having married again, he lived with his step-father till twenty-one years of age. He secured a fair business education in the old-fashioned subscription schools of Kentucky, held in log school-houses with floors of puncheons and benches of slabs. He was apprenticed to the tanner's trade, in Kentucky, at which he worked as long as he lived in his native state, and several years afterward. In 1827 he came to Illinois, reaching Belleville on the 27th of May of that year. He went into the tanning business at Belleville, and after carrying on that occupation some time, entered forty (40) acres of land in section four of township one south, range nine west, on which he moved and went to farming. This entry was made under Gen. Jackson's administration, and the original patent bears his name. While living at Belleville he married Mary Miller, daughter of Wm. Miller. She was born in Pennsylvania. Her father came to St. Clair county, and settled a short distance southwest of Belleville, and lived in a log house which may still be seen standing on the Centerville road.

Mr. Baird afterward entered additional land, and at the time of his death owned one hundred and seventy-one acres. He died February 8th, 1860. He was a man respected for his good qualities as a neighbor and a citizen. He was first a member of the democratic party, with which he acted till new parties were formed on the question of slavery, when he became a republican, and was one of the early members of that organization in St. Clair county. He never filled any public office, but gave his time to his farm and business aflfairs. He was an industrious and hard-working man, and all that he accomplished in life was the result of his own efforts. He carried on the tanning business for some time after moving on the farm. His widow is still living on the old homestead at the age of seventy-four, having been born March 7th, 1807. There were six children whose names are as follows : William, born Apl. 30th, 1831 ; Mary Jane, born Apl. 4th, 1834, died in infancy ; Edward, born September 23d, 1837 ; Margaret Ann, born December 20th, 1840, married Thomas Lask, and died February 11th, 1869 ; Elizabeth, born September 20th 1843 ; and David Winfield, born November 15th, 1847. The four who are living all reside on the old homestead farm, carry on farming operations, and own two hundred and eleven acres of land.

Jacob E. Henrici

JACOB E. HENRICI, Was born at Anspach am Usingen, Dukedom of Nassau, September 25th, 1833. He was the second of seven children of John George Henrici and Catharine Wueirich. Three brothers by the name of Henrici came from Sweden and settled at Anspach d-uring the thirty years war, and from one of these Mr. Henrici is descended. After leaving school at fourteen, he assisted his father in the brewing business. In the fall of 1846, he came to America. The family landed at New Orleans. While ascending the Mississippi, seventy miles below St. Louis, his mother was accidentally drowned, falling from the side of the boat while trying to draw a bucket of water from the river. His father settled in Marion county, Missouri where he died in 1856. After staying ten days in St. Clair county] Mr. Hennci found employment as a baker in St. Louis, receiving four dollars a month wages. In the spring of 1847, he worked at Columbia in Monroe county, and afterward went to Marion county, Missouri, and with his father established a brewery While living at Palmyra, Missouri, he married Elizabeth Lindenstruth born at Reiskirchen, Hesse Darmstadt, daughter of Christian and Catharine (Magel) Lindenstruth. In 1848, he returned to St Clair county. In 1849, he was employed in St. Louis as a coachman by a physician who, finding that he had a good education.

made him a clerk in his drug store. Mr. Henrici resided in Marion county, Missouri, fifteen months, and then in the fall of 1850, came back to St. Clair county, where he has since resided.

Before leaving the old country, he served three years in the German army. When the war of the rebellion broke out, a company of home guards was organized at Millstadt, in which he held the position of first lieutenant, and did the active drilling for the company. He was offered a lieutenant's commission in a regiment raised in the county for the war; but on account of his health was obliged to remain at home. He began teaching in the fall of 1861, and has taught school every winter since, with the exception of from 1862 to 1864, during which period he suffered from sickness. He has four children : Catharine, now the wife of Adam Bohley ; Conrad August ; Mary Magdalena, wife of Joseph Geissel of St. Louis, and Elizabeth. He was first a democrat in politics, and has been a republican since that party was formed. His education has been obtained by his own efforts, and is the result of self-study.

THENS is situated in the south-eastern part of the county. It is separated from Fayetteville on the north by the Kaskaskia river ; on the east and north-east from St. Clair by Big Mud Creek, ex cept that part lying along the line of Washington county ; on the south it is bounded by Randolph county ; on the west by Monroe county and Fayetteville precinct, from both of which it is separated by the Kaskaskia river. Geographically it embraces most of T. 3 S. R. 7 W. ; T. 3 S. R. 6 W., and parts of T. 2 S. R. 7 W., and T. 2 S. R. 6 W., in all 44,470 acres. It is well watered by the streams which are its boundaries, and numerous small affluents among them. Dosa creek, which enters the township three miles south of Marissa, on section 34, flows a northwesterly course, then westerly and southerly, leaving the township on section 33, seven miles west of where it enters. Belts of timber skirt the streams, but it is principally a beautiful prairie, in a high state of cultivation. Passing through it, diagonally, from northwest to south-east, is the Cairo Short Line Railroad, which furnishes means for transportation of surplus products, stock, etc. The honor of having been the first settler belongs to John Lively, who came from South Carolina, and located on section 34, T. 8 SR. 7 W. in 1805. On November 28th, 1816, he entered the S.W. quarter of section 34, where he lived for several years.