St. Clair County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1881 (part 1 of 13)

Biographical sketches

This distinguished citizen of Illinois and of St. Clair county, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of February, 1788. His father, Robert Reynolds, and his mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Moore, were natives of Ireland, and emigrated to the United States, landing in Philadelphia in 1785. When he was about six months old, his parents removed with him to Tennessee, and settled at the base of the Copper Ridge Mountain, about fourteen miles north-east of Knoxville. The Governor, many years afterw;ards, writes thus of his childhood home in Tennessee: "My earliest recollections are connected with this spot at a period when I was probably not more than five or six years old. The nightly alarm of hostile Indians and the mountains with their majestic summits, often veiled in clouds, made an impression upon my mind which the lapse of years and the scenes through which I have since passed have failed to obliterate I well remember seeing my parents when a night attack of the Indians was expected bar the door of our cabin. After one of these alarms, my father, with gun in hand, looked cautiously out in every direction to see that no Indian was lurking near the house before he would venture to open the door. My grandfather, who resided in the vicinity, had built a fort, to which our family and others repaired in times of more than ordinary danger, and there remained till the danger was over." For many years previous to Wayne's treaty with the Indians in 1795, the Cherokees were in deadly hostility to the frontier settlers, and killed not a few of the pioneers of Tennessee. In 1794 young Reynolds' father rented out his frontier farm, and retired, with his family, into the interior of the state.

During the same year the man to whom he had rented the farm was killed by the Indians, and his entire family escaped destruction at their hands only by the merest chance.

in February, 1800, and settlerl at Kaskaskia. More than half a century afterward, -when nearly three score and ten years of age, Gov. Reynolds re-visited the frontier home of his childhood in Tennessee. We give a short extract from his beautiful description of it in his work : " My Own Times," as serving to exhibit his literary skill when he chose to indulge it, and also the strong pathos and filial affection of the author. He says : " In 1853 I paid a visit to the state of Tennessee, and made a pilgrimage to the home of my infancy and childhood, the place where once stood the humble frontier cabin of my father. I now re-visited that spot for the first time since we bade it adi,eu in 1800, and removed to Illinois. I left it a mere boy, a carekss, happy child. I returned to it in the wane of life. More than half a century stood between those two points of time. During all that long period of my humble, yet eventful history, the home of my early years lived fresh and green in my memory, just as I had seen it in childhood. I knew the place where our cabin had stood, though every vestige of its walls and roofs had disappeared for more than a generation. Nothing now remained to mark the spot, except a slight elevation of the ground where the chimney had been, and a few flat stones that had once been our hearth. I visited this hallowed spot alone. I stood upon the hearth-stone of my childhood. The memories of early days thronged around my heart. It almost seemed as if I was once more a child listening to the stories my mother told me in the long winter evenings around that very hearth. How well did I remember telling her all my childish griefs, and with what gentle ness she chided my waywardness, banishing all my sorrows with her affectionate, soothing words. I almost fancied that I could again feel her gentle band parting the luxuriant hair that shaded my youthful beard, and her warm kiss upon my forehead and lips. I care not who may sneer at the confession. I wept like a child as I stood alone upon that hearthstone and thought of you, my fond, my affectionate, my sainted mother."

Young Reynolds entered with zest into all the amusements and athletic exercises of the young pioneers, among whom he was remarkably popular. He says: " In the early days of Illinois horseracing was a kind of mania with almost all the people, and almost all indulged in it, either as spectators or otherwise. In my youth I possessed, like many others, a species of mania for horse-racing, and was tolerably successful in the vocation ; delighted extremely in a fine race-horse, and have expended much time in training them. Just preceding an important race I have slept on a blanket in a stable loft to take care of my horse. Much titne, money and morals were lost in these early sports of the turf. Foot-racing, jumping, and wrestling were practiced by the Americans in early times,. and many bets were made on the foot-races as well as on the horse-races. I was delighted with these rural sports, and became a swift foot-racer myself. When I arrived at the years of eighteen or twenty I grew large and active. My ambition urged me to excel in these athletic sports. I practiced foot-racing incessantly, and discovered I was hard to beat. The first race I ever run for a wager was in Kaska.skia in the autumn of 1808, with the Houi John Scott, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. After the above race a bet of a hundred dollars Was made on a foot-race of one hundred yards, to be run by me and a man by name of Paine. The race was to be run at the place of Gov. Kinney's, a few miles east of Belleville." How remarkable it now appears to us to find this young athlete ten years afterward elevated to the Supreme bench ;of the state of Illinois !

He says further : " It was considered at that day both fashionable and honorable to game for money. Card-playing was sustained by the highest classes, as well as the lowest in the country. A person who could not, or would not play cards, was scarcely fit for genteel society. The French delighted much in this amusement, which gave the card-parties much standing and popularity with the Americans. The French at that time had the ascendency In the country, and their manners and habits gave tone and character to many such transactions. I never considered card-playing as the most innocent amusement, but I yielded to the custom and habits of the country. When I was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State in 1818, 1 abandoned card playing and every other species of gambling for money."

About the year 1805, a small school was formed in the neighborhood where his father resided. This the future Governor and Supreme Judge attended during the winters and "wet days." Still he was ambitious, and studied much alone, and with such private aid as he could procure. He gave a young colt, a present from his father, to a man to work in his place while he went to school. In the winter of 1806 and 1807, he attended a good school taught by a competent teacher. This school was situated a few miles northeast of the present city of Belleville.

He says : " I have often examined with deep feeling the tumuli of earth where this school-house once stood. I ravere and respect the site with the same feeling as the Jews in ancient tiiues did the city of Jerusalem." In the year 1809, through the influence of his uucle, John Reynolds, of Tennessee, he entered college at Knoxville, Tennes-iee, being then in his twentieth year, and a fine specimen of a sharp backwoods western youth.

He says that he was in an " unsettled condition - ready for a college, horse-race, or a tour to the Rocky Mountains. I was a singular spectacle when I started in 1809 to college. I looked more like a trapper going to the Rocky Mountains than a student to college." " I was well educated in the arts and mysteries of horse-racing, and foot-racing, shooting-matches, and all other wild sports of the backwoods. My clothes were made up without tailors, and did not fit. so that I was placed in fashionable and polished society in Tennessee, in a most ludicrous position. I wore a creamcolored hat, made out of the fur of the prairie wolf, which also made a rather grotesque appsarance." Hs says further : " When I turned my head back on leaving home, and saw my mother shedding tears I bitterly condemned the college, but honor and obstinacy propelled me onward, though I had died on my horse."

In October, 1810, he also commenced the study of law in the office of John Campbell, aud was intensely studious. Bjlng threatened with consumption, he was compelled to omit study for almost a year.

" I possessed then," he says, " nothing on earth save a few clothes and the commencement of consumption. But the hearts of my uncie and aunt overflowed with kindness to me. I was furnished with a fine horse and money, and started home to Illinois in the spring of the year 1811."

In January, 1812 his health being restored again, he entered the college at Knoxville to renew his studies. But he was more prudent in his studies, and occasionally attended and engaged in foot-races. He says : " The race was run, and I won the bet. I paid off some debts I owed in town, and that was I believe the last foot-raqe I ran for a wager. My preceptor and staid -friends did not approve it ; but they excused it in mej as it was, they presumed, about the last of ray wild backwoods education oozing out" He states also that he won a horse at a horse race in Cahokia, Illinois, the preceding fall, and says : " I sold the horse I won to a hotelkeeper in Knoxville, and boarded it out with him while I studied law." These incidents serve to illustrate the spirit of the pioneer times.

Returning home in 1813, he served a while as a private in the war against the Indians. In the fall of 1812, he was admitted to practice law, having been examined by two United States Judges for the Territory of Illinois. On the 3d of March, 1813, Captain Wm. B. Whiteside organized his United States Hanging Company, and in it Reynolds enlisted as a private.

This service gave him the " soubriquet " of " the Old Ranger," by which he was in after years known ail over the state. His friends gave him the cognomen in electioneering campaigns, being indicative of services as a ranger on the frontier in the last war with Britain.

In the spring of 1814, he opened his law office in the French village of Cahokia, without, as he tells us, " a cent of money, and scarcely any books or clothes," and with a " horse, but no decent saddle or bridle." He was, he says, like the man's oxen, " strong in light work." But he had a press of business, in selling land and practicing law. In the course of the four successive years, he purchased two stores, valued at ten thousand dollars. He says that when in 1818, he was appointed Judge, he " ceased land speculations and entered another field of more trouble and less profit." In the spring of 1817, he was married to a French Creole lady, a native of Cahokia, who died in Belleville in 1834. Her death, he tells us, was the severest shock he ever experienced.

Illinois became a state in 1818, and the first legislature which commenced at Kaskaskia, in September, 1818, elected him one of the supreme judges, as he tells us, much to his surprise. He presided in the counties of St. Clair, Madison, Washington, Monroe and Bond. It will not be amiss to quote from his experience as a judge. " The judges of the supreme couit of Illinois in 1 818, were all young men and had not that practice at the bar that was necessary to give standing and character to their decisions, but the law was administered at that day with less form and ceremony, yet with as much equity and justice as at the present time. The judges had laborious duties to perform, to hold both the circuit and supreme courts throughout the whole state. The first court I held was in the spring of 1819, in Covington, Washington county, and it was to me a strange and novel business. I commenced my official duties among my old comrades with whom I had been raised, ranged in the war with them and lived with them in great intimacy and equality, so that it was difficult in my situation to assume a diflerent relationship than I had previously occupied with them. And moreover, I utterly despised a mock dignity that is sometimes assumed. Both the sheriff and clerk of Washington county were rangers in the same company with myself, and it seemtd we were still in the United States service, ranging on eqiial terms in pursuit of the Indians. And it appears that the sherifi" Bowling Green entertained the same opinion, as he opened court in a very familiar manner. While he was sitting astride on a bench he proclaimed, without rising, that " the court is now opened. John is on the bench " Not long after in Union county, the deputy-sherifi" opened court (myself presiding) by saying " Oh yes " three times, and then in a solemn manner proclaimed " the Honorable Judge is now opened." In 1825, he again resumed the practice of the law, and in 1826 was elected to the legislature, where he remained for two sessions. In August, 1830, he was elected Governor of the state, after a most exciting political campaign. During his administration he was commander of all the Illinois

As illustrative of the distinguishing traits of Gov. Reynolds as a man and politician, we cannot do better than to quote from Ford's History of Illinois in describing his race for Governor in 1830 Governor Ford says of him : " Judge Reynolds was a man of good natured, easy and pliable materials. He had received a classical education, and was a man of good talents in his own peculiar way, but no one would suppose from hearing his conversation and public addresses, that he had ever learned more than to read and write and cipher to the Rule of Three : such acquisitions being supposed to constitute a very learned man in the times of his early life. He had been a farmer, a lawyer, a soldier, a judge and a member of the legislature. He^^had passed his life on the frontiers among a frontier people : he had learned all the by words and catch words, old sayings and figures of speech invented by vulgar ingenuity, and common among a backwoods people : to these he had added a copious supply of his own and had diligently compounded them all into a language peculiar to himself which he used on all occasions both public and private.

He was a man of remarkably good sense and shrewdness for the sphere in which he chose to move, and possessed a fertile imagination, a ready eloquence, and a continued mirthfulness and pleasantry when mingling with the people; He had a kind heart, and was always ready to do a favor, and never harbored resentment against any human being."

In 1836, he with a few others determined to construct a railroad from the bluifs to the Mississippi, and actually did build it, which was the first railroad ever built in Illinois. They were forced to bridge a lake over 2000 feet across, and to drive down piles more than eighty feet into the mud and water of the lake on which to build the bridge. The road was six miles in length, and built for the coal traffic. They graded the track, cut and hauled the timber, piled the lake, built the road and had it running in one season of the year 1837. It was the first railroad built in the Mississippi valley.

He was again elected to Congress in 1838. In the summer of 1839, he went to Europe under appointment of Gov. Carlin for the purpose of negotiating a loan of four million dollars. In this capacity he visited London, Liverpool, Paris, Brussels, Dover, and other cities.

His was indeed an eventful life, so illustrative of the spirit and quaint novelty of pioneer times that we may well say, " We shall never see his like again." His library effijrts consist mainly of " Pioneer History of Illinois," " My Own Times," " Development of the Human Mind," " John Kelly," and a sketch book descriptive of scenes and places by the way on a tour to Crystal Palace at N. Y. He was a representative from Illinois to the World's Fair also held at New York.

Among the many prominent citizens of St. Clair county of the past, who aided and did much to advance the material interest of the county, was Samuel B. Chandler. A history of the county to which he contributed so much would be incomplete without proper mention being made of him. It is also fitting that a man possessed of 80 many good traits of character, of so benevolent a disposition jand liberality, should be passed down to posterity as an example worthy of imitation. He was of Eoglish ancestry on the paternal 'side, and German on the.n)^,ternal. He was the son of Samuel and Soloma (Hofiman ' Chandler, and was born in Rockbridge ijounty, Virginia, February 9th, 1808. At the age of twenty-one he came west, and for several years worked in the lead mines at Galena, Illinois. It not proving remunerative, he came south to St. Louis, and from there to Belleville. Here he found work at his trade of saddler, in the shop of John D. Hughes, who paid him the small pittance of twenty-five cents per day. He continued at the trade but a short time, and then engaged in general merchandizing, in which he continued actively until hii death, August 7th, 187L On the 21st of January, 1834, he was united in marriage to Miss Adilini La Croix, daughter of Michael and Catherine (Dubuque) La Croix. Mrs. Chandler was born Dec 6, 1806, at Marivais Ferre, then an Indian trading post on the Illinois River, near Peoria, Illinois. She still survives her husband, and is a resident of Belleville. By this marriage there was one child, which died in infancy.

During Mr. Chandler's life he became prominent in the local politics of the county. He was not a politician, however, but his well-known probity of character, busiuess sense and fidelity to trusts and friends, made him almost invincible as a candidate for public place. If he accepted a nomination or office, it was only at the earnest solicitation of friends. Once accepted, he entered upon the duties thereof and discharged them with a strict impartiality and fairness that won the respect and confidence of all classes. In 1840 he was elected sherifl' of St. Clair county, and became his own suceessor, and held the ofiice for a number of terms. In 1849 he was elected to represent St. Clair county in the Legislature, and while acting as legislator, it is said of him that his acts were marked by great prudence and economy, and a due regard for the will of his constituents. All enterprises which had for their object the good of his county or locality, or the increase of the material wealth, always found in him an advocate and friend, ready to take hold and give it substantial aid, and that too without hoping to reap any direct personal advantage. In short, his greatest pleasure seemed to be doing good to others, or in doing something that would redound to the advantage of the public or the benefit of individuals. He accumulated wealth rapidly, but wealth in his hands was simply the means of enabling him to do good to others He was industrious in making money, but seemed equally industrious in giving it away. No object of charity ever appealed to him and went away empty-handed. Every worthy enterprise of a public character found in him a donor to the full extent of his ability to give. The sums he gave were not so large and princely, but he was constantly giving; and yet in such a quiet, unostentatious manner, that it may truly.be said of him that the right knew not what the left hand hand did. In the origination and organization of the Agricultural Society, he had more to do than perhaps any other man in the county. He was one of the origiual directors, and continued his connection with it until his death. He was for some time its president, and, in fact, held all the offices. The society sustained a great loss in his death. He was, for many years, a director in the Belleville Savings' Bank, and, at his death, resolutions of respect were passed by the Directors, and placed upon the records of the bank, extolling his many virtues as an officer and a man.

Hon. John Thomas

Among the old settlers of St Clair county, and of those who have exercised a marked influence in the county, is Colonel John Thomas, the subject of the following sketch : His ancestors were from Wales, and emigrated to America about the beginning of the last century. His great-grandfather, Daniel Thomas, was the father of seven sons and three daughters. His son, Griffith Thomas, had a family of eight sons and two daughters. Of this family was John Thomas, the father of Colonel John Thomas. He was a native of Virginia, and married Jane Smith, of North Carolina. By this union there was a large family, five of whom are still living. Colonel John Thomas was born in Wythe county, Virginia, January 11th, 1800. His father was a blacksmith, and followed that trade and farming. The family was large, and the means of Mr. Thomas limited, therefore all the sons had to become helpers, and provide for their own support and that of the family at a very early age. Being poor, and living in a slave country, where schools were the exception, their education was limited and neglected, except that which they received from their excellent mother, who taught all of her children to read and write. It was the intention of his father, who abhorred the system of slavery, to remove from Virginia as soon as he could do so, and take his children to one of the free western States, where they could grow up, and not be under the blighting influence of slavery. Full of this resolve, he left Virginia, and arrived in St. Clair county, Illinois, April 28, 1818. He halted near the present village of Shiloh, and there set up a blacksmith shop, in what was known as the Alexander settlement. There he remained until his death, which took place in 1848. His wife survived him, and died in 1854. John remained at home and worked for his father until he was twenty-one years of age. He then started out in life for himself. The first year after leaving home he divided between going to school and working. He felt the need of more education. In June, 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Arabella, daughter of William Kinney, afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. After his marriage he commenced farming in a very small way, on a rented farm. Six years later he made his first purchase of land, bought and stocked a farm ; and from that first investment in land dates his prosperity. He was shrewd and far-seeing, and knew that permanent prosperity would come to him who would invest liberally, or place his means in land. He knew it was only a question of time as to when the broad and fertile prairies of Illinois would be brought into market, and a great demand by the tide of emigration was pouring in from foreign shores, and that was rapidly moving westward from the east. He therefore constantly purchased all the land he could get, and pay for, notwithstanding he was advised that he was acting foolishly and inviting bankruptcy, and sooner or later he would repent his rashness.

He, however, kept on buying land. He had an abiding faith that real estate was the true source of wealth, and he who would invest in it liberally would in time reap permanent prosperity. This has been the secret of his success and wealth. He has seen the land for which he paid a few dollars per acre grow in value to over one hundred dollars per acre. The history of his success is the history of nearly all the rich men of Illinois. In early life Mr. Thomas was considerably devoted to military pursuits. In 1832, during the progress of the Black Hawk war, he enlisted and raised a company, and was elected colonel of the regi- ment, and participated, with his command, in the skirmishes, and helped to break the power of Black Hawk in the west. In the same war was Abraham Lincoln, John J. Hardin, E. D. Baker and other subsequently noted men of Illinois. Politically Col. Thomas has, to a certain extent, been in politics for many years That is to say, he never was an office-seeker. He was one of those men who were outspoken upon all subjects in which the people were interested, therefore his opinions were sought for, and his position upon public questions was known to be sound and the result of honest conviction, and generally in accord with public sentiment. While yet a resident of Virginia, he imbibed principles antagonistic to slavery. He knew its baneful influence and effect upon society, and had felt its force. He believed that the normal condition of all men was to be free and equal before the law. As early as 1824, the first opportunity presented itself of giving him a chance to raise his voice and deposit his ballot against the system of slavery. At that date the Legislature submitted to a vote of the people the question of the admission of a slavery clause in the constitution. He acted with the old line whig party, and belonged to the advanced wing of the party. In 1854, when Congress, un. der the domination of Southern influence, passed what was known as the Kansas-Nebraska bill, with a view to the extension of slavery into the territories, he took an active part in opposition to its passage, and did what he could to prevent the measure from becoming a law. In 1856 he was zealous and active in forming the Republican party, and one of its first members. In short, he and Lincoln, Trumbull, Palmer, Lovejoy and a few others were the leaders, and may be regarded as the founders of the Republican parfy. In the political contest of 1856 he was named as the leader of the party in this Congressional District, and was nominated for Congress on the ticket. He was beaten by Col. J. L. D. Morrison, the democratic nominee, but not until he had demonstrated that he was a strong man, and on equal grounds would have defeated him. In St. Clair county, where both lived, he beat Morrison over seven hundred majority, and also made an equally good showing in Madison county. In 1830 Col. Thomas was elected to the State Legislature, and served in the last session held at Vandalia, and the first at Springfield. In 1862, during the exciting times of the Rebellion, he was again elected, and re-elected in 1864. During the war he was loyal and patriotic, and favored every measure for the speedy ending of the war and restoration of the Union. In 1872 he was elected for the fourth time to represent his District in the Legislature, and in 1874 was re-elected. In 1878 he was nominated and elected by the Republican party to represent St. Clair county in the State Senate. He was a very useful member, and brought to the Senate much intelligence, accumulated from long experience. Col. Thomas is a believer in the general education of the masses, and believes that therein lies the future hope and perpetuation of free institutions in America.

By his marriage with Miss Arabella Kinney there were ten children born, five sons and five daughters. Two sons and three daughters are yet living. In January, 1875, he married Magdalena Holdner, a widow, daughter of Jacob Von Eue, a native of Switzerland. Such is a brief history of Col. John Thomas. His career is full of encouragement to the poor young man starting out in life. The sequel of his success shows how, with industry, perseverance and the practice of economy, and guided by correct principles, a man may attain wealth and honor in this free land of ours.

One of the early German settlers of St. Clair Co. was John Schcel. He was born at Falkenstein in Eheni.sh Bavaria, German}', May 20th, 1808. He was educated for the Furrcstry at the Academy of Aschaffenberg, in 1823 ; he emigrated to America, and in Augii.st of the same year, together with the Engelmanns, Koerners,aud other German families came west and settled in St. Clair county, Illinois. Here he took up the profession of Civil Engineer. In 18:!G he received an appointment as Civil Engineer under the so-called " Internal Improvement Law," which position he retained until 18.39, when the system was abolished. He was afterwards elected County Assessor, for St. Clair county. In 1849 he become County Clerk, which office he held eight years, or for two full terms. In 1858, while absent on a visit to the country of his birth, he was elected a member of the Legislature. He served with distinction in that body. In 1860 he was unanimously nominated for the office of State Senator by the Republican party. Although he receceived a heavy majority in his own county, and reduced the Democratic majority in Monroe (wdiieh with St. Clair formed the Senatorial District), he was defeated, and his opponent. Judge W. H. Uuderwood, elected by a small majority. In 18G2 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Ivevcnue for what was then the 12th Congressional District of Illinois, and held that office until the time of his death, January 17th, 18G4.

On the 17th of October, 1838, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Engelmaun, who still survives him. Mr. Scheel, in hi^ line, was a man of more than ordinary ability, and stood very high in the estimation of his fellow citizens. His death was universally lamented by all classes of people, and he was one among the many prominent Germans, who have left their impress upon the history of St. Clair county. As a public officer he was noted for strict integrity and probity in all of his official acts. Of a genial disposition and equitable temperament he endeared himself to all who knew him. Progressive and enterprising he was ever ready to aid in promoting and furthering all laudable undertakings which had for their oliject the moral, intellectual and material advan "tmeut of the State and county of his ado]ition.

Hon. GUSTAVUS KOERNER. This distinguished German-American writer and statesman was born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, November 20th, 1809. His father, Bernhard Koerner, was a book publisher and a prominent citizen of Frankfort, and was repeatedly elected to the Legislative Assembly, in which he became conspicuously known for his strong liberalism. Young Koerner attended the Academy (Gymnasium) of his native city. This university was then the centre of those associations of students known as " Burschenschaft." The patriotic tendencies of the youth of Germany at the universities, found in Koerner an active adherent in whom was instilled a warm and sincere devotion to the cause, and a clear comprehensive knowledge of the questions and principles involved. In the fall of 1830 he studied at the University of Munich. During his residence there, he was charged, with some others, with having resisted the police. For this he was arrested and imprisoned for four months, when he was released and discharged from the complaint, by judgment of the Supreme Court of Bavaria. He completed his studies at Heidelberg iu 1832, graduating with honors and receiving the degree of LL. D. After his graduation, he was admitted by the Supreme Court of his native state to practice law.

In 1833 the movement undertaken in behalf of the introduction of a different form of government, based upon Republican principles, enlisted the ardent and active support of young Koerner, and thousands of others, principally young professional men and students. He became involved in the uprising at Frankfort on the.3d of April, 1833, and in the conflict with the soldiery was wounded-. After his recovery, with the aid of friends, he escaped to France. The French government would not permit him to stay, and sent him under escort to Switzerland. He, howeverj again made his way back to France, went to Paris, and from there to Havre; where he fvund theEnglemann family, friends of his, who were embarking for America. He joined them and arrived in New York June 18th, 1833. In July following, he came west, and settled in Belleville, in St. Clair county, Illinois, where he has continued to reside.

Soon after his ai rival here, he turned his attention to the study of American law, and for the purpose of fitting himself thoroughly for the practice, attended the law school at Lexington, Kentucky, where he prosecuted his studies with great energy, and in 1835 was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice and soon attained considerable reputation as a lawyer, and was retained as counsel in most of the important cases occurring in the courts of St. Clair county, and Supreme court of southern Illinois.

In 1846 his reputation as a clear, logical reasoner and sound jurist,-received commendable and honorable recognition, by being appointed by the governor of the state to a position upon the Supreme Bench. In the following year he was elected to the same position by the Legislature of the state. He served in that official capacity until 1849, when the office was made an elective one. He declined to be a candidate, and returned to Belleville and resumed his practice. His judicial opinions while upon the bench were marked by great clearness, exhibiting thorough research and careful analysis, and are yet held in high estimation by the bar of the state.

His political sentiments at that time were in accord with the democratic party. He was elected by that party in 1842, to represent his district in the Legislature of the state. In 1852 he was the candidate of the same political organization for the office of Lieutenant-Governor, and was elected by a large majority, being the first German in the state nominated and elected to that position. As a presiding officer in the Senate, he was distinguished for the correctness of his rulings and thorough knowledge of parliamentary law.

In 1854 came the slavery agitation and the Kansas and Nebraska troubles. Prior to that time, as intimated above. Governor Koerner had been a conspicuous member of the democratic party. His whole life and teachings had been in the direction of the largest liberty to the masses. That idea had been impressed upon his youth, and had grown with his strength, and in his maturer years it dominat-'d and controlled all others. Educated in the advanced schools of republican theories, associated and constantly in contact with the advanced thought of the age, he abhorred mental or physical slavery in whatsoever form it appeared. He therefore unhesitatingly approached the question of the admission of slavery into the territories, and took a decided stand against it. This action was exceedingly unpopular, particularly in the southern portion of Illinois, and iu fact throughout the western country. He and other leaders found themselves without the lines and sympathy of the democratic party by their refusal to subscribe to the principles and uphold the tenets as represented by the slave oligarchy of the south, who represented the dominant wing of the party. His action and position upon the Kansas-Nebraska question brought him in sympathy and accord with Abraham Lincoln, Lyman Trumbull, John M. Palmer, and all the great leaders of the progressive thought of that day, and together they constituted the leadership through whose agency the republican party was formed and brought into organization and power. Governor Koerner was the acknowledged leader of the new party in southern Illinois.

In 1 858 Governor Koerner was president of the convention that nominated Lincoln for United States Senator, and stumped the state for him, and did valuable service in presenting the issues and principles of the new party to the people. In 1860 he was a delegate for the state at large to the Chicago convention which placed Abraham Lincoln in nomination for the presidency. He was a member of the committee who wrote the memorable platform of the party. Upon the same committee were Governor Boutwell, Carl Schurz and Horace Greeley. With the election of Lincoln came the war of the rebellion. In the summer of 1861, Governor Koerner put aside his practice and business, and was active in raising a regiment ( f Infantry, known as the 43d Illinois, but before its organization was completed he received from President Lincoln an appointment as Colonel of volunteers, and was assigned to duty ou the staff of Gen. Fremont, and afterwards assigned to a position upon the staff of Gen. Halleck. Severe illness, however, compelled his resignatiou in March, 1862.

It was due in part to Governor Koerner's influence that the mas3 of German voters took position and espoused the cause of the Union. The war records of the country show that the German- Amei leans were sound, union loving men, and the successful termination of the war, and re-establishment of the Union was in a great measure due to their patriotic efforts.

In June, 1862, Governor Koerner was appointed by President Lincoln as Minister to Spain,, which honorable position he held until his resignation, two and a half years later. During that period, as will be seen by the diplomatic correspondence with the State Department, his prudent and able management of the questions growing out of the war had much to do in maintaining the strict neutrality of that foreign power during the progress of the civil

In 1868 he was appointed one of the electors for the state at large on the republican ticket, and presided over the Electoral College of Illinois, and cast the Electoral vote for Gen. U. S. Grant. In 1871 he was appointed by the governor of the state one of the newly created Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners, of which body he was subsequently chairman, and in which capacity he was

In 1872 he became dissatisfied and disgusted with the abuses and corrupt influences at work in the party with which he had affiliated since 185G, and he became an advocate of liberalism, or reform, in all that the term implies. The questions that compelled his severance from the democratic party had been settled by the war, and the principles which brought the republican party into power and sustained the organization through that trying ordeal, had also been settled by the arbitrament of the sword. Its plea for further continuance in power was based upon its record of the past. Its promises for the future were self-reformation. Gov. Koerner's wellknown statesmanship and his liberal views on qnestions of public policy, indicated him as a leader in the political contest of 1872, and he accordingly became the candidate of the liberal democratic party for governor of Illinois. His fitness for the post was generally admitted, and his name gave strength and character to the ntw party born at Cincinnati, of which Mr. Greeley was, the champion. The political canvass, which failed, demonstrated that he was a strong and popular man ; although sharing defeat which attended the liberal movement everywhere, he ran 16,000 votes ahead of the presidential nominee of the party. With a record untarnished, and integrity and honesty of purpose unquestioned, he again assumed the duties of his profession, in which he still continues, and gives evidence of long usefulness.

Governor Koerner's has been a long and busy life. Aside from the many duties and labors depending upon official and- professional life he has found time and devoted much labor to literary work. In 1834, soon after his arrival in this country, he wrote valuable articles for the monthly magazine " Das Ausland," published in Stuttgardt, Germany, which contributions did much to enlighten and correct German views in relation to American institutions. He was a frequent contributor to various other magazines and leading papers, both at home and abroad.

In 1840 he translated into the German all the laws of a general character found in the Revised Code of Illinois, of 1833. The translation was printed at St. Louis. After his return from Spain he published at Frankfort, Germany, Spanish reminiscences under the title " Aus Spanien," and in 1880 quite a large work, printed at Cincinnati, entitled " Das Deutsche Element in den Vereinigten Staaten, von 1818-1848," - The German Element in the United States from 1818 to 1848, which has been very favorably reviewed in the New York Nation, N. Y. Tribune, and in the principal German periodicals in Germany and this country.

Oil the 16th of June, 1836, he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia, daughter of Frederick Theodore Englemann, late of St. Clair county. By this union there has been eight children, five sons and three daughters. One son and two daughters are yet living. Theodi)re, the oldest son, was born in 1837, and was a cadet at West Point. la 1856, while there, he contracted an acute inflammation of the bowels, and died after a few days' illness.

This in brief is a biographical sketch of one of the old settlers of St. Clair county, and one who has played a conspicuous part in the history of the state during the last half-century. Few men, now Jiving, have been more prominent in the state, and few have exerted more influence, or have been more thoroughly representative of tliL'ir class or people than Mr. Koerner.

Hon. Edwaed Abend

to its material wealth than he whose name heads this sketch. Since he first settled here he has seen the State grow from an insignificant, unimportant frontier State to the fourth in population, importance and wealth in the great union of States. This change has occurred as he advanced from boyhood to mature years. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, May 30, 1822. Henry Abend, his father, was an officer in the revenue service of his native country. He was a man of broad views and liberal ideas, which led him to favor and espouse the principles'of Republicanism. His well-known opinions and intimacy with the leaders of that sentiment bfought him into disrepute with the government. Knowing that he was looked upon with disfavor, he tendered his resignation, which was accepted. He then, in company with other prominent families, emigrated to America, and landed in New York in the spring of 1883. The destination of the party was Missouri, of which they had glowing accounts, but, upon their arrival in St. Louis, the cholera was raging, and Mr. Abend and two of his children fell victims to the disease. The mother then brought the family to St. Clair county^ Illinois, and settled at Shiloh, where they remained several years and then removed to Belleville, where Mrs. Abend lived until her death, which occurred in 1865. Her maiden name was Margaret Lavealle. By her marriage with Henry Abend, there were seven children, four of whom are still living. The subject of this sketch is the eldest living of the family. His education was obtained in the primitive schools of St. Clair county of half a century ago. His first teacher was George Bunsen. After the family removed to Belleville, he attended the subscription schools of the town. He afterwards spent one term at McKeudrec College, Lebanon, and altogether received a fair English education. He, however, before attending school at Lebanon, had served an apprenticeship of two years at the carpenter's trade. He quit the carpenter trade to take charge of a farm that his mother had purchased, near Belleville. Soon after that he concluded to study law, and with that idea in view he entered the law office of Lyman and George Trumbull, and pursued his studies until 1842, when he was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice which he continued for a number of years, or, until his mother, who had become possessed of a large amount of property, demanded all his time in looking after and taking care of it. That, and other growing interests, absorbed so much of his attention, that he gradually abandoned the practice and quit it entirely about 1 850. In 1849 he was elected by the Democratic party to represent St Clair county in the State Legislature. He served through the session of 1849-50, and took part in the Senatorial fight between Gen. Shields and Judge Breese. In 1852 he paid a visit to his native country, and while there, he made the acquaintance of a number of German capitalists, who made him their American agent, and sent him large sums of money for investment in American lands and securities. This new business added to his other, made Mr. Abend a very busy man, which he has continued to be to the present time. Very few enterprises of a public character were started without his having a direct or indirect connection with them, and all the enterprises with which he had any connection, were originated for the public good, or the increase of the material wealth of the city or county. In 1856 the Belleville Gas and Coke Company was formed. He was one of the original directors, and has been its treasurer and secretary for many years. In 1860 he was prominent in forming the St. Clair Savings and Insurance Company, which, by an Act of the Legislature, was afterwards changed to the Belleville Savings Bank. He was elected its first president, and has held that position ever since, except for a short time, when he was temporarily absent in Europe. The Belleville Savings Bank is one of the best known and most 'firmly established institutions of its kind in St. Clair county. Since the day of its first opening, it has never closed its doors in business hours, or refused to pay every legal demand made upon it. During the financial crisis of 1873, when banks generally throughout the country closed their doors, it kept open. No one made the second demand for money, or time, or other deposits in the keeping of the bank. To do this required sacrifices, but, in the judgment of Mr. Abend and others associated with him, it was better to suffer financially than to sacrifice the reputation and standing of the bank- The bank was organized to pay every legal demand made upon it> and it has redeemed every promise made from the first opening down to the present. Mr. Abend has been, and is yet, secretary and treasurer of various other corporations and companies in St. Clair county.

In 1852, while in Europe, he was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Wetermann. She died in 1854 On the 26th of October, 1856, he married Miss Anna Hilgard, a native of St. Clair county, and daughter of Theodore Hilgard, Jr , who was one of the early German settlers of this county. By this marriage there are six children, four sons and two daughters. Politically, Mr. Abend was originally a Democrat In 1854, during the Kansas-Nebraska troubles, he took strong grounds against the admission of slavery into the territories, and became a free-soiler. In 1860 he voted for Abraham Lincoln for President, and continued a Republican until 1872, when he joined the Liberal party, and afterwards went back to the Democratic party. He has occupied offices of local trust, and was Mayor of the city of Belleville for four terms In official positions he sustained the character of a careful and economical officer, and all his official acts were dictated by a just regard for the interests of his constituents.

The Abend family, and others that came with them, were among the pioneers of the German emigration to St. Clair county. They were composed of the wealthy and prominent class in their native country. After their arrival here, they were instrumental in bring, ing others of the same class to this section of the country.

This, in brief, is a sketch of Mr. Abend's life. During his long residence here, and connection with the business interests, and association with the people of St. Clair county, he has proved himself a useful citizen, and one entitled to the respect and entire confidence of the community.

Felix Scott

This venerable gentleman is a member of one of the oldest American families in St. Clair county. They are of Scotch descent on the paternal side and Irish on the maternal. William Scott, the grandfather of Felix, was a native of Botetourt county, Virginia ; born May 17lh, 1745. His wife, Mary Scott, was born in same county and state in 1748. He removed to Kentucky about the time that state was admitted to the Union. In 1794 he came north to the country now known as Illinois, on a tour of observation, and while here he picked out some land with a view to settling upon it at a later date. He returned to Kentucky, and remained there until 1797, when hs came with his family t) a point known as Turkey Hill in this county, and then opened a farm, and remained there until 1820. After which he lived with the widow of his son^ James Scott, until his death in 1828. He had six sons and on.e daughter. Joseph Scott, the father of Felix, was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, September 14th, 1781. He came with his father from Kentucky to Illinois, and here he married Nancy Harrison, a niece of Gen. Harrison. She was born in Ohio, where her parents

Joseph Scott in his day was quite a remarkable man. He was in the Ranger Service during the war of 1812. He was also the first manufacturer of powder in the state. He had learned the secret of its manufacture from a man by the name of Dixon. He manufactured powder during the spring of the year, or on his return from "Ranging;" then would distribute it to the different posts, and by that means kept the old Rangers supplied with' powder.

During his life he held the office of Justice of the Peace for the term of twelve years. He died from apoplexy Nov. 9th, 1867, in his eighty-seventh year. His wife had died as early as 1826. By his marriage with Nancy (Harrison) Scott there were eight children, three of whom are living. Felix is the eldest son. He was born in Shiloh Valley, St. Clair county, Ills., July 16th, 1807. He grew to manhood on the farm, and received some little schooling. It must be recollected that he was in his boyhood some years before Illinois was admitted to the Union, and consequently in those early pioneer days, a school was an exception as they are now the rule. They perhaps learned to read, which was regarded as a very fortunate circumstance, and then their information from books was got from such as fell in their way. But it must not be supposed that they were entirely ignorant in those days, because schools were not plenty. On the contrary Illinois in her pioneer days produced some of the brightest minds and greatest intellects of modern times, men who have become famous in the world's history. Men drew their inspiration from nature and nature's laws, and reasoned not from forms laid down in books, but from cause and effect. Felix remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, then went to the lead mines of Galena. While at Galena he helped to build the forts as a protection against the Indians. In 1827, after the completion of the forts, he went into the military service, in the Winnebago War, under General Whiteside, who was a resident of Madison county, Illinois. During the Black Hawk war in 1831, Mr. Scott enlisted in Capt. Miller's company, which was afterwards divided, and he went with those who formed the company under Capt. Moore. His enlistment was for three months. In his youth Mr. Scott was quite handy in the use of tools, and had considerable mechanical genius, and therefore he worked at carpentering, mill-wrighting, or in fact in any kind of wood work. He quit the trade in 1835, and went to farming, and engaged in that calling until 1877, when he retired from active life, and came to Belleville, where he is at present a resident. In 1832 Mr. Scott was united in marriage to Miss Nicey Moore, daughter of Gen. James B. Moore, one of the pioneers of Illinois. The Moore family are of English ancestry. James Moore was born in England in 1716. He emigrated to America and settled in Virginia. His son, James Moore, was born in \ irginia in 1750, and brought his family to Illinois in 1781. He was a captain of militia, and was sent out first to Illinois county, by the Governor of Virginia. Gen. James B. Moore was his son. He was born in Virginia in 1780, and was captain of a company in the war of 1812. He also represented his district in the senate in 1838-40. In 1810 he married Sarah Shuck. She died in 1860, and Mr. Moore in 1841. By the marriage of Felix Scott and Nicey Moore there are two children living, both sons, who married and have families. Their names are James and Joseph Scott. Joseph Scott, the youngest son, was a soldier in the late war. He enlisted for three years in the 117th Reg't Ill's Vol's, and remained in the service until the close of the war. Mr. Felix Scott was during the war a very strong Union man, and did much to sustain the Union sentiment in Sfc

Clair county. During the dark days of the Republic, in the winter of 1862-63, hen treason stalked through the land, and the sympathizers of the South in St. Clair county and other portions of the State began to be defiant, and bold, Mr. Scott counseled the friends of the Union to prepare and organize to maintain the peace by the force of arms, if necessary, and for this purpose, personally visited Gov. Yates, at Springfield, and asked his support, and supply of arnis from the State. But the Governor was powerless to provide them with arms. Mr. Scott then went to St. Louis and bought arms, using his private means. They were placed in the hands of the members of the Union League, who were loyal men. Companies were formed, armed and drilled, and thus with the victories won by our armies in the field in the next campaign, the rebel sentiment in the community was overawed and kept in subjection. After Mr. Scott purchased the arms in St. Louis, they received arms from the State, for which he became personally responsible. Politically Mr. Scott was originally an old line whig, then became a free soiler, and from that position it was but a step into jibe republican party. He has been a member of the last named political organization since 1856. While he has been active in local politics he has never sought ofiBce. He was one of the first Board of School Trustees. Wm. Moore and William Hendricks were the other members. He was, in early life, a member of the M. E. Church. His wife is still a member. He never belonged to any secret organization except the Union League during the war. Thus, in brief, have we sketched one of St. Clair county's oldest native-born citizens. Born here in 1807, three-quarters of a century ago, he has seen the county and state, the latter grow from a territory, then an insignificant -frontier state, to one of the first in population, wealth and importance in the Union.

Joseph Ogle

Prominent among the early settlers of St Clair cunty, Illinois, is Joseph Ogle, a native of Newcastle county, Delaware. He was born on the 8th of February, 1809, and is the son of Samuel Ogle and Deborah nee WoUaston.

His father, a native of Maryland, was born in 1775, and named in honor of Samuel Ogle, then Governor of Maryland. His mother was born in Delaware in the year 1781, and belonged to the Society of Friends- Her original ancestors in this country emigrated from England with William Penn. The Ogle family is of Welsh origin, and removed from Virginia to Illinois in 1789. One of this family, Joseph Ogle, was a captain in the revolutionary war, a copy of whose commission, signed by Patrick Henry, is found below. It is highly prized as a relic, and has descended in a direct line from the original receiver to his namesake, the subject of this sketch.

" By virtue of the power and authority to me delegated by the general convention of the represeutatives of this commonwealth, I, reposing especial trust and confidence in your patriotism, fidelity, courage and good conduct, do, by and with the advice of the privy council, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be captain of militia in the County of Ohio. You are, therefore, carefully and diligently to discharge the duty of captain of the militia, by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging. And you are to pay a ready obedience to all orders and instructions which from time to time you may receive from the convention, privy council, or any of your superior officers, agreeable to the rules and regulations of the convention or general assembly; and to require all officers and soldiers under your command to be obedient and to aid you in the execution of this commission, according to the intent and purport thereof. "Given under my hand and seal at Williamsburg. 2d day of

Mr. Ogle's early educational advantages were very limited, and he received only a meagre knowledge of the ordinary branches. In 1818 he left his native state, going by wagon to Pittsburg, Penn'a, thence by flatboat down the Ohio river to Louisville, Kentucky, and thence overland to Belleville, Illinois. Here he passed his early life in farming, but did not begin for himself till 1 843. From that time he gave himself unremittingly to his work, and by his persevering industry, integrity, frugality and good management, he has made for himself a competency.

He served as second sergeant during the Black Hawk war, and at its close engaged as assistant surveyor in connection with the survey of the line between Wisconsin and Illinois. In 1832-3 he spent Christmas in Chicago, and there engaged as assistant surveyor under the late John Messinger, commissioner for Illinois. In 1851 he engaged in the construction of the Belleville and St. Louis turnpike, of which he is now president. He is also director of the Belleville mail line, director of East St. Louis and Carondelet Railroad, and of the American Bottom Board of Improvements. His travels have been- confined to the United States. In 1843 he crossed the plains as far as Green river, and in 1872 went to Portland, Oregon, as a witness in the case of Joseph Thomas alias " Wrestling Joe " vs. Carruther's Estate, involving five million dollars.

Mr. Ogle is not a member of any church, but he adheres to the Presbyterian faith and liberally supports its services. He was married on the 15th of February, 1844, to Miss Felicite Boneau, a lady of French parentage, whose father served under Gen. Harrison, and fought in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. They had eleven children : Charles M., Joseph Decatur, who died in the summer of 1881; Edward Rufus, Thomas Winstanley, William Linn, Russell Hinckley, Isabella, wife of Richard Roman, a lawyer ; Mary Louisa, wife of Edward Underwood, merchant; Amelia, Celena and Susan R. Ogle.

Marshall W. Weir

The Weir family are descendants of Scotch-Irish ancestors. Samuel Weir, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Williamston, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1807. His father, Samuel, was also born in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, the great-grandfather of Marshall W., was born in county Londonderry, province of Ulster, Ireland. He there grew to manhood and married, and came to this country with his wife about the middle of the eighteenth century.

Samuel Weir, the father of Marshall W., was by trade a cabinet maker. While yet young he removed to Ohio, and settled in Trumbull county. There on the 16th of March, 1835, he married Miss Nancy Sophia Barnes, who was born in the town of Gill, Franklin county, Mass., September 14, 1812. Her father, Samuel Newton Barnes, and her grandfather, John Barnes, were both natives of New England. Her father married a Miss Elizabeth Morley, a daughter of John Morley. Both of her grandfathers, John Barnes and John Morley, were soldiers in the Revolutionary war.

riage he removed to Indiana ; from there he went to Mississippi, where he remained about five years - until the year 1843 - when he returned to Trumbull county, Ohio. A year later, leaving his family in Ohio, he went on a prospecting tour to Texas, which place about that time was attracting considerable attention. He did not live to reach home again ; on his way back he was taken sick and died.

By his marriage with Nancy Sophia Barnes there were four children - three sons and one daughter. The eldest, Virgil Newton Weir, enlisted at the breaking out of the late war, and was lieutenant in Company B of the 86th Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He remained in the service until discharged by death, the result of disease contracted in the service and in the regular line of duty. He died February 3d, 1863. Mary the only daughter, is the wife of Judge A. H. Foote, a prominent lawyer of Lawrence, Kansas. Henry Barnes Weir, the youngest son, has established himself in a prosperous mercantile business in Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, not more than half-a-dozen miles from the spot where he was born. He has never lived elsewhere than in Trumbull county.

The mother, Mrs. Weir, still survives. She is and ever has been a remarkable woman. In early life she received as good an education as the times afforded, and she paid special attention to the education of her children. The latter remember the constant encouragement and assistance given by her during their early life at school. No branch was too difficult, in estimation, for her children to pursue. When they encountered a lesson too intricate for their young minds and calculated to discourage them, she never wearied in her endeavors to keep up their courage until the task was accomplished. She was gifted with rare qualities of mind and grace of person. Now, at the age of nearly sixty-nine years, she is of tall, commanding presence, exceedingly interesting in conversation, affable in her manners and loved and esteemed by all who know her.

Marshall W. Weir is the second of the family. He was born in Amite county, Mississippi, February 9, 1889. About four years after he was born his father removed to Ohio. At an early age Marshall was placed in the " Western Reserve Seminary " of Trumbull county, where he remained a number of years, making rapid advancement in study, from which institution he afterwards received the degree of A.M. It may be mentioned in this connection that the honorary degree of A.M. was conferred on him in 1877, by Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, Illinois.

After leaving school he taught one year in Ohio, at the end of which time he came to Illinois, arriving at Springfield March 26, 1857. In less than a week thereafter, (March 31st) having engaged a school, he commenced teaching near Loami, Sangamon county. At the end of his engagement there, in the spring of 1858> he removed to St. Clair county, where he has resided ever since, and where he followed the vocation of a teacher for several years.

In the summer of 1861 he concluded to adopt the profession of law as the business of his life, and with that object in view read the standard text-books, and pursued his studies until he had made sufficient progress to entitle him to admission to the bar. On the 13th of June, 1863, he passed a creditable examination, and on the 8th of July following he received his license to practice in the courts of the state.

At the time that he was admitted to practice, George Trumbull, Esq., was about removing from Belleville to Chicago, and desired to have some competent young man in his office to take charge of his unfinished business. He offered the place to Mr. Weir, which offer was gladly accepted, and thereby Mr. Weir was assisted materially in getting what young attorneys most desire - " a start." Since then he has continued alone in the practice.

As a lawyer Mr. Weir takes front rank at the bar of St. Clair county. He is a man of liberal education and scholarly attainments. He has always been a close student. His libraries, law and miscellaneous are well filled with works of the best authors. He possesses much natural aptitude for the law ; he is a concise, logical reasoner, and always has his cases and the law governing the points well in hand. In his business transactions he is methodical and exact. Method is the governing principle, and he carries that trait of character into his practice as well as in his private business.

On the 5th day of November, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Angle Stookey, a most estimable and accomplished young lady, the daughter of Simon and Hannah Stookey, an old and respected family of this county. Hannah Stookey was the daughter of Major Cornelius Gooding, who was born in Virginia in the year 1767. Major Gooding married Sept. 12, 1786, a lady named Peggy Scott. Ten children were born to them, from whom descended many well-known and honored families in this section of country. Hannah was born January 12, 1802, in Fleming county, Kentuck . She came to this county with her father's family in the fall of 1816, two years before Illinois was admitted into the Union. She married in 1819 ; she died April 9, 1879, at the age of over seventy-seven years. Her husband, Simon Stookey, died in 1849.

Mr. Weir has never been ambitious to shine in the field of politics, or to occupy public office. His profession and business plans have occupied his time and absorbed his attention. Financially he would be able to leave his family provided for, should he be taken away from them. He has been a Republican from his boyhood to the present time, and sincerely believes that the principles of the political organization to which he has given his constant adherence are best calculated to secure the progress of free government and perpetuate our institutions on the basis proposed by the founders of the Republic.

Was born at Grenzhausen in the Province of Nassau, Germany , April 18, 1838. He attended the common schools of his native village four years, and was awarded by the school authorities with a gratuitous classical education as a reward for his extraordinary diligence in his studies and good behaviour. In 1853, at the age of about fifteen, together with his father, one brother and two sisters, he emigrated to America and settled at Belleville, St. Clair county, Illinois. One brother and a married sister had preceded the family to this country the year before. Young men who had a good education were received with open arras in those days in the Western country. Mr. Kohl's services were secured by Mi; Kelerman, a prominent druggist of Belleville, who h niself had received a fine education in Europe under the celebrated Professor Liebig. Mr. Kelerman was consequently just the man to train a student of medicine properly. Young Julius took hold of his new vocation with his accustomed energy, and in a short time had charge of Mr. Kelerman's business. The idea of becoming a Doctor of Medicine, being favorably received by his senior brother, Ferdinand, now a prominent citizen of Centralia, Illinois, Julius concluded to adopt it as the business of his life, and with this idea in view he devoted his time to it. Dr. Trapp, now a resident of Springfield, Ills., can be named as his first teacher. Having completed his engagement with Mr. Kelerman, he went to St Louis in the year 1856, to enter the St. Louis Medical College. Having no means at command, except some kind donations from his brother and sister, he attended the drug store of his friend. Dr. Berghoif, during the summer months, in order to raise the money to study during the winter. This, together with a loan from Mr. Kelerman, enabled him to get through the first two years. One day, while visiting the City Hospital, together with the professors and students for clinical studies, the thought struck him, that a residence at the hospital would be the best thing in order to have opportunities to study the different phases of disease, and become a thorough physician. Here was an opportunity that could not be had in any other place than this. But there were barriers in the way. The city council of St. Louis at that time, allowed only one resident physician with two assistants at the hospital - the salary of the assistants being very small. Julius was determined to get in, but how ? He was poor, a stranger, and not yet a graduate of medicine. Matters in those days were managed very much as at present. Politics and patronage went a long way. The Mayor with the concurrence of the city council made the appointment of the principal physician, and he appointed his assistants with the sanction of the Board of Health. An election coming off, Julius secured through his friend. Dr. Berghoff, the promise of assistant from the doctor, who seemed to have the best chance to secure the position ; but unfortunately his friend failed, and he was left apparently in the cold. Dr. P. M. Cornytr was appointed. Julius mustered up courage and went to him and plead his case in the best English he could command, and somewhat to his astonishment, but to his great joy, he received the appointment. Dr. Comyer was a kind man. He gave Julius permission to pursue his studies. The hospital gave him a home, a little salary, boarding and washing, all the dissecting matter he needed, and ample time to attend lectures. He worked hard and graduated in 1859. He remained in the hospital until the expiration of his time contracted with the city, and then went to Centralia, wht re the greater part of his family had settled. He there practiced a short time, and in the mean time married Miss Kate Berghoff, sister of his St. Louis friend. Dr. berghoff. From Centralia he went to Columbia, near Waterloo, in Monroe county, and practiced there for six years ; then removed to Belleville, his first American home, and here he has remained, practising his profession, which has grown very large and lucrative. He was a partner in the St. Clair drug store for a number of years, and three years with his son Emil in the National Drug Store. He was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Belleville, and its first president for five years. He is physician to the St. Elizabeth hospital, and several other institutions. He is a member of several medical societies, and has been Becording Secretary of the St. Clair Medical Society for the past twelve years. He has had thirteen children, of whom seven are living, four sous and three daughters.

one of the oldest residents of St Clair county, was born east of Belleville, within a short distance of his present residence, on the 26th of January, 1817. The Moore family is of Welsh descent. Mr. Moore's ancestors emigrated from Wales to America in the year 1732, and settled in Delaware. His grandfather, Risdon Moore, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and his grandfather's brother served as paymaster in the American army. Mr. Moore has now in his possession an interesting and valuable relic of Revolutionary times, in the shape of two statements of the expenditures of General Washington during the war, made out in the handwriting of Washington himself, and signed by his name. After the Revolution, his grandfather, Risdon Moore, went to North Carolina where he was married, and afterward settled in Georgia, where he resided till his emigration to Illinois in the year 1812. His second wife, the grandmother of the subject of this sketch, was Anna Dent. He engaged in farming in Georgia. Though a man of quiet disposition, he occupied a prominent and influential place in the community, and was three times elected to represent his county in the state legislature, and was once speaker of the house of representatives.

William Moore, the father of the subject of this biography, was born in Georgia in the year 1791. He lived in his native state till twenty years of age. He made a trip to Illinois in the year 1811, with a view to the selection of a location to which the family might remove from Georgia. He carried back a favorable report of the country, and the next year, 1812, the whole family came to this county. With the family of Risdon Moore came S(jme negroes, fifteen or eighteen in number, whom, as soon as they became of age, he allowed to look out for themselves and use thtir own earnings. Risdon Moore was strongly opposed to slavery, and that was one cause of his removal from Georgia. It was his boast that, while owning slaves in Georgia, he never struck a negro, and sold but one, and this sale was necessary in order to allow the negro to remain with his family, and for him he received only one-fourth of his value.

On coming to St. Clair county, the family resided one season on Turkey Hill, and then settled on survey number 762, about three miles east of Belleville. Here Risdon Moore died in the year 1828. He was elected two or three times to represent St. Clair county in the state legislature He was elected a member of that body in 1824, in the exciting contest of that year, in which the main question was the proposed change of the constitution to permit the introduction of slavery into the state. He made the canvass for the legislature on this issue. He did all in his power to resist the proslavery movement, and he is one of the men to whom credit and honor should be given that Illinois maintained her place among the free states, and that the blot of slavery never rested on her name. During the session of the legislature he made a speech, published in the journals of the day, in which he urged the members to vote against the proposed convention to change the constitution, and made use of the expression that " unborn millions would thank them for their action." His pcr.^istent efforts in favor of freedom excited the enmity of those who wished to make Illinois a slave state, and he and Churchill, the member from Madison "ounty, were burnt in effigy at Troy.

daughter of David Alexander, -who was born in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of September, 1794. The Alexander family, from which Mr. Moore's mother was descended, was of Scotch origin. Members of the Alexander family fled from Scotland to the North of Ireland on account of the religious persecutions in the former country Hugh Alexander, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came to America with his father in 1736, then about twelve years of age. He made an early settlement in Sherman's Valley, Perry county, Pennsylvania, from which he and his family were often driven back by the Indians to their former home in Cecil county, Maryland, east of the Susquehanna. Hugh Alexander was a member of the conference of deputies from the different counties of Pennsylvania which met in Philadelphia^ on the 18th of June, 1776, a short time before the Declaration of Independence was made. He there represented in part the large Scotch-Irish population of the Cumberland valley which was enthusiastically on the side of independence, and which did its full share toward securing the freedom of the thirteen colonies. He was also a member of the first free legislature, dr assembly, of Pennsylvania, which met at Carpenters' Hall, in the city of Philadelphia, on the 28th of November, 1776. He was one of the three representatives from Cumberland county. He died in Philadelphia while attending the sessions of the body, in February, 1777.

David Alexander, son of Hugh Alexander, was born about 1760, in Sherman's Valley, Cumberland, (now Perry) county, Pennsylvania. At Tioga, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, he married Margaret Miller. About the year 1810, he moved to St. Clair county, and settled first a short distance west of Shiloh, and afterward moved to a location east of that place. He was killed in the year 1822 by lightning, while walking behind a wagon during a thunder storm. The blade of a knife which at that time he held in liis hand was completely melted away.

William Muore took part in the Winnebago war and the Black Hawk war. He was cai)tain of a company raised in St. Clair county. For several years he served as county commissioner. He also filled the office of county surveyor, and for two years was assessor of the county. He represented St. Clair county in the legi^lature two terms He was a member of the Methodist Church and a local preacher in that denomination. His death occurred in the year 1849.

Eisdon A. Moore, whose name appears at the head of this sketch, was the second of a family of nine children, and the oldest son. Seven of these children, four sons and three daughters, are now living. He was raised east of Belleville, in the neighborhood in which his father settled. His education was obtained in the subscription schools, which then oflfered the only educational opportunities. These schools were usually held three months during the winter season in log school-houses. Slabs were used for benches, and the floors were made of puncheons. Greased paper pasted over an aperture in the side of the building, made by leaving out a log, furnished the only excuse for a window. St. Louis, in his boyhood, was a place of comparatively small size and importance, resembling a village in its size and proportions. Mr. Moore frequently hauled corn there, for which he was paid ten cents a bushel. His father was a blacksmith, and before his marriage, Mr. Moore's time was mostly employed in the blacksmith shop. His first marriage took place on th6 26th of November, 1835, to Ann Middlecofi", who was born on Ihe 6th of August, 1818. Her father, John Middlecofl'', emigrated from Virginia to Illinois in 1818 After his marriage he settled on his present farm in Section 19, of township 1 north, range 7 west. His place was at that time unimproved. Where his dwelling-house now stands was a thicket of. hazel brush. He cleared a farm, of

In the spring of 1845, he joined Gen Fremont on his exploring expedition to California. He was under the army regulations, though not regularly enlisted as a soldier. He marched overland with Fremont by way of the present town of Pueblo, Colorado ; thence up the Arkansas river ; across the Rocky mountains, and so on to the Pacific coast by Salt Lake, at which the Mormons had not at that time, yet made a settlement. On this journey the expedition experienced considerable privation. From Salt Lake to California game was scant, and the men were compelled to live on the flesh of mules and anything that could be found to satisfy their hunger. He was in California in 1846, on the breaking out of the Mexican war. When the Spaniards ordered the Americans to leave the country, he, with the other Americans, gathered at Sonoma, and raised a flag on which was a lone star and a grizzly bear. On the arrival of Commodore Stockton, who hoisted the American flag at Monterey, he, with Fremont, joined Stockton. Here his knowledge of blacksmitbing came into play. The resources of the American troops were limited, and Mr. Moore mounted the eight guns which composed the entire American artillery. For this work he has not yet received his whole pay, though he held vouchers signed by both the quarter-master and Gen. Fremont. He held two vouchers ; and the commissioners to settle the accounts incurred by the army in California held, though unjustly, that when the latter voucher was given, the first was merged into it, and that only the latter could be paid.

He returned home by a more northern route, by way of Fort Hall and Fort Laramie. The winter after his return, that of 1847-8, he spent at Washington, where he was a witness in the trial by courtmartial of Gen. Fremont, against whom charges had been preferred by Gen. Kearney. While there, on the 16th of March, 1848, his second marriage took place, to Sarah Ann Duncan, daughter of William Duncan. In the spring of 1848, he returned to his farm in St. Clair county. His second wife died on the 14th of February, 1856.

He was married. again on the 30th of November, 1856, to Sarah Ann Wilderman, who is a native of St. Clair county, and was born two miles north of Freeburg, on the 1st day of February, 1821. Her parents were Dorsey and Phoebe Wilderman. Her mother was a daughter of Joseph Carr, who emigrated from Virginia to Illinois about the year 1797. He had been a soldier in the Revolutionary wa.r. He first came to Kaskaskia, and then settled at New Design, in the present county of Monroe, and was there during the great sickness which in one summer carried off" half the entire population. He lost two children at New Design. About the year 1802, he settled at Turkey Hill. George Wilderman, Mrs. Moore's grandfather, was born in Maryland, was married in that state, and then moved to Pennsylvania, and came to Illinois in 1806 or 1807. His wife was named Patience Dorsey.

From 1871 to 1873, Mr. Moore resided in Boone county, Missouri, but becoming convinced that there was no place like Illinois, he returned to his native county. For a few years he. resided in Belleville, and in February, 1880, moved back to the old farm where he now resides. By his first marriage he had four children : Nancy M., Margaret Ann, John M., and Emily A., all deceased except the first. Nancy M. married Samuel B. Scott, and now lives in Crawford county, Kansas. By his second marriage he had four children : Martha, William D., Helen and Charles D., of whom the latter two are living. Helen, now Mrs. William Alexander, resides in Monroe county, Missouri, and Charles D. still has his home with his father. He has one child, Sarah Ann, by his last marriage.

Histoby Of 8T. Clair County, Illinois

Mr. Moore is a gentleman of enterprise, and has carried on agricultute in an intelligent and practical manner, and has always sought to take advantage of the most improved methods of farming, and to bring his land to a high state of cultivation. He early directed his attention to under-draining, and demonstrated the great utility of that system. He was the first in the county to begin to raise potatoes under straw^-a custom which is now universally followed. His home farm consists of three hundred and thirteen acres. He owns a fine farm of one hundred and sixty seven acres east of Lebanon, and is the owner beside of fifty acres of timber, and a quarter section of land in Crawford county, Kansas. In his political opinions he was first a Whig, and cast his first vote for President for Gen. Harrison in 1840. Since the dissolution of the Whig party he has been a Democrat. In 1857, he was president of the St. Clair county agricultural society. He became connected with the Baptist church in 1 866. Through the many long years he has resided in St. Clair county, he has sustained the reputation of a useful citizen and_a valuable member of the community.

James Waugh

Is one of the prominent business men of Belleville, and stands at the head of the leading manufacturing establishment in St. Clair county. He was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, and is of Scotch ancestry on the paternal side. His father, William Waugh, was a farmer and land-owner, and possessed of considerable means. He married Jane Crowl, a native of the county above-mentioned. By that union there were ten children ; James Waugh is the eldest. He was born February 12, 1817. He was reared in the family of his uncle, where he received private instruction and tuition. In 1833 he left Ireland and emigrated to America, landing in New York in July of the same year. He went to Philadelphia, where he remained three years. During that time he was employed as a clerk in the dry goods business. In 1836 he came west to St. Louis, and engaged as a clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Isaac Burnett & Co. He remained with that firm until 1841, when he embarked in business for himself in the same line, and continued until 1845, at which time he retired from active pursuits until 1850, when he received the appointment of .assistant-auditor and book-keeper in the auditor's oflBce of St. Louis. He continued in this capacity until 1856, when he was elected auditor. He retired from the oflSce in 1858, at the expiration of his term. He then purchased a flouring mill in St. Louis, and operated it until the close of 1859. From that date until 1868 he was engaged in general trading and management of his private business. In 1868 he purchased the Bogy nail mills, and operated them until 1869, when he came to Belleville, Illinois, and here formed a corporation and removed the works and machinery to this place. Here he made large additions to the machinery, and also added various improvements. The corporation was known as the Belleville Nail Mill Company, of which Mr. Waugh was elected president. He remained as the principal officer of the company until 1873, when he was succeeded by C. Bormann, who conducted the management until 1876,* when the company failed. The works were sold, and purchased by the bondholders, and the company reformed under the name and title of the Belleville Nail Co. Mr. Waugh was again elected president, and has continued in that capacity to the present time.

manufacturing establishment in the county. They have a capacity for manufacturing 120,000 kegs of nails annually, and employ an average daily force of two hundred men. To operate these vast works successfully, requires large capital, administrative ability, and good business management.

- On the 7th of December, 1843, Mr. Waugh was united in marriage to Miss Emily L. Papin, a native of St. Louis and a descendant of an old and influential French family, who were among the first settlers of St. Louis. She died in 1849. By this marriage there are three sons. The eldest, James C, is one of Belleville's enterprising business men. He is largely engaged in the grocery and provision trade, and is also secretary of the Nail Mill Company. William is a graduate in medicine, and is at present prac;ising his profession in Minnesota. Robert F , the youngest son, is engaged in the manufacturing of kegs, and assistant-manager with his father in the nail mill ; he is also treasurer of the company. Politically, Mr. Waugh was originally an old line. whig and frce-soiler. He was elected auditor in 1856 on the first free-soil ticket ever run in the State of Missouri. In 1860 he joined the democratic party, and voted for Stephen A. Douglas for President, since which time he has acted with that organization. He, however, is not entirely in harmony with its principles and traditions, as he is a believer and advocate of protection for home manufactures. In the matter of religion, he comes from the old Presbyterian stock, and was reared in that religious belief; but of late years he is inclined to liberalism. Since his residence in Belleville, Mr. Waugh has done much to build up the to'wn, particularly its manufacturing interests, and add to its material wealth, and is regarded by all as an enterprising and useful citizen.

Henry Huhn

Editor of Der Stern, was born at Landau, in the Palatinate, Germany, on March 3d, 1830. In his youth he received a common school education, and learned the trade of book-binding. In the years 1848-49 he participated in the republican uprising of the people in southern Germany against the royal power, and in consequence thereof came to the United States in the summer of 1849. Landing in New York, without any means, he was compelled to remain in the great metropolis, where he soon became connected with the German press. In 1851 he visi'ed his native country, from whence he returned to the U. S. in 1852, landing at New Orleans, and from there he came to St. Louis. In 1853 he married, and first came to Belleville in 1854. He afterward removed to Chicago, and from there to Cincinnati, and at the outbreak of the war he entered the service of the U. S., as a private soldier. Afterwards he was promoted to an ofiicership and appoint d regimental adjutant. He was taken prisoner by the rebel forces shortly before the battle of Stone River, and afterward resigned his commission. He then came to St. Louis, and took a position on the editorial stafi" of the Westliche Post. In 1864 he re-entered the service of the U. S. as adjutant of the 41st Mo. regiment, and when the war was over he removed to Washington, Mo , where he started the Washington Freie Presse In 1866 he was elected a member of the legislature of the state of Missouri. In 1868 he came back to Belleville, and took the editorial management of the Stem des Westens, which he held until 1872, when the paper was sold to Mr. F. E. Scheel. In 1871 he was appointed deputy collector of the United States, which position he held till 1876. In 1878 he took control of the editorial department of the Stern, which he still holds.