Beaucoup Township

Beaucoup Township

Is situated on the line of the St. Louis and South-eastern railroad, east of Nashville, in Ashley precinct It was laid out in 1870 by James Garvin and Daniel Hay, proprietors.

Major J. White, one of the oldest settlers of Washington .county, lives in the vicinity. He came and settled in what was Washington county, near the present town of Carlyle, in 1818. He removed to the Beaucoup settle¬ ment in 1821, where he has since resided.

Biographical Sketches James H. Hudson

Was born in Maury county, Tennessee, July 23d, 1839. Eldest of three brothers, son of Rev. C. Y. and Mary M. Hudson. Educational advantages in early life limited to the common schools and private instructions of his father. His father removed to Hardin county on the Tennessee river when the subject of our sketch was about twelve years of age. He assisted on his father's farm during the summer months and attended school during the winter months. He entered Clifton Masonic Academy and completed an irregular scientific course. He afterwards taught several terms in the com¬ mon schools. In 1860 he commenced the study of medicine, teaching during the day and reading evenings, but at the breaking out of the late civil war was compelled to abandon reading medicine and never resumed. Emigrated to Illinois with his father's family in 1862, stopped temporarily at Du Quoin, Perry county, came to Ashley in the spring of 1863, was soon after engaged as a clerk in the mustering and disbursing office under Cap¬ tain B. G. Daniels, 13th United States Infantry, on whose recommendation he wasappointed sergeant-major of the 136th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and and was discharged in October, 1864. On his return to Ashley was elected principal of the public schools, a position which he has acceptably filled sev¬ eral times since. He was united in marriage May 7 th, 1867, to Miss Lydia A. Carter, daughter of R. P. Carter, who are among the oldest citizens of Washing¬ ton county. They have had born to them a family of five children, four living, viz.: Anna May, Freddie Logan (dead), Chesley Young, James Meharry, and Martha Eleanor.

Mr. Hudson attended and graduated at the St. Louis Law and Business University in 1869, was book-keeper for the firm of Coffey, Brown & Co. nearly two years. In 1869 was appointed deputy and acting collector of Internal Revenue for the Sixth District of Tennessee, composed of twelve counties, and assigned to duty at Columbia, Tennessee. In the latter part of 1870 he resigned this position and accepted a Professorship in McGee College, near Macon, Missouri, which he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people, for three years. He then resigned and returned to Ashley, and having in 1869 been admitted to the bar, commenced the practice of law in partnership with Judge S. E. Catterlin, of Ashley. This j partnership continued about five years, after which he opened an office alone, j and is doing a large share of the legal business in the east part of the county. Mr. Hudson is politically a strong republican, and though reared in the south was always anti-slavery in sentiment; he is never boisterous or pro¬ scriptive politically, and' has a host of personal friends who are democrats.

He received the republican nomination for county superintendent of schools | in Washington county in 1878, and was elected by a large majority, receiv- j ing a large share of democratic votes. Accustomed to attend upon the services of the sanctuary from a child, the subject of our sketch received in early life strong religious impressions leading to such convictions of trust and duty that at an early age he made a public confession of his faith in | has been five years Master of his lodge. He lives quietly on his little farm in the suburbs of Ashley, surrounded by a pleasant family. He spends most of his time in his law office, giving in the meantime necessary attention to the office of county superintendent In official as well as in private life, his character and bearing has been that of an honest, conscientious, Christian gentleman. In his habits plain, temperate, and unostentatious.

James Smith

Was born in Cumberland county, Kentucky, on the 1st of November, 1806. He is of Irish ancestry on the paternal side, and Scotch and Welsh on the maternal. His father, John Smith, was a native of North Carolina. He at an early age removed to Bedford county, Tennessee, and from there to Ala¬ bama. then to Kentucky, and back again to Tennessee. He died in 1828. The subject of our sketch is the eldest in a family of seven children, and is the only surviving member. He in company with his mother emigrated to Illinois, arriving in Washington county on the 15th of September, 1828. He squatted on a piece of land, a part of which the town of Ashley now stands. He still remains on the s&me quarter section on which he settled nearly a half century ago. On the 22d of January, 1833, he married a Miss Taylor. She was a native of Kentucky, but a resident of Kaskaskia, Illinois,' at the time of her marriage. This union has been blessed with ten children, i seven of whom are still living, and all married except two, who still remain beneath the parental roof.

Mr. Smith may be justly regarded as one of the pioneers of Washington county. He encountered the hardships of the pioneer era of the state, and right manfully did he bear his portion of the burden. The two first years of his residence in the county was full of trials and difficulties. He was com¬ pelled to haul all of his supplies of every kind from St. Louis and Shawneetown. This occasioned trips of considerable length, aud through a country unsupplied with roads or bridges. To give the reader some idea of the state of the roads and the difficulty of crossing streams in those days, it may be mentioned that Mr. Smith was no less than seven days in coming from Mt I Vernon to Ashley, a distance of only fifteen miles. If space would permit it would be our pleasure to recount more fully the trials and tribulations through which this hardy old pioneer passed, to safely emerge at last, and now as he glides serenely down the vale of life he sees the land around him filled with wealth, prosperity, and the enlightened intelligence of the nine¬ teenth century, which but for him and those like him, might yet be a barren waste. All honor to the sturdy, honest pioneers of^thc by-gone days.

Mr. Smith, in 1832, was one of the soldiers of the Black Hawk war, and in the late rebellion he gave freely of his means to its suppression, and furnished four stalwart soldiers in the persons of his sons. Frederick G. and John L. entered in 1861, in Company I, 44th Illinois Infantry. Frederick G. was killed at the battle of Adairsville, on the 17th of May, 1864. John L. was wounded in several engagements. Charles P. enlisted for three years in the 18th Illinois Infantry. He contracted disease while in the army, and died about one year after his term of enlistment had expired. S. R. Smith enlisted in Company C, 152d Illinois Infantry, and remained in the service until the close of the war. He was one of the gallant soldiers who accom¬ panied Sherman in his famous " march to the sea." At Peach Tree Creek he captured the sword, horse, saddle and bridle of Col. Baker, of the 7th Geor¬ gia regiment, for which he was complimented and received the sword as a reward for his gallant conduct.

Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics. He however was formerly a Dem¬ ocrat. He cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson in 1828. He had a per¬ sonal acquaintance with "Old Hickory," whom he admired, and regarded as the first statesman of the age. He remained steadfast to the party of his first choice until 1860, since which time he has voted the Republican ticket. He has occupied offices of trust in the gift of the people, and is one of the oldest justices of the peace in the county. It is with pleasure that we thus briefly outline the life of James Smith. In the community where he resides none

Was born in South Carolina, May 8th, 1820; he was the son of Joel and Elizabeth Carter; his father was a soldier of the war of 1812, and his grand¬ father was a soldier of the revolutionary war. During the revolutionary war Joel Carter was a small boy, and the Tories came to his father's house in search of his gun; in order to make the boy tell where the gun was con¬ cealed they resorted to the vilest means, and small as he was they hung him three times in order to get the desired information, but every time they would let him down'his answer was, I don't know where father is or his gun. Joel Carter with his family moved to Alabama, in the year 1833, where he followed the life of a planter until his death in 1852. The subject of our sketch was principally raised in Alabama and brought up to farming pur¬ suits ; he received a common school education. He was united in marriage Feb. 20th, 1845, to Miss Amelia S. George, w'ho was born in Lincoln coun¬ ty, Tennessee, March 7th, 1829. Her grandfather was one of the early set¬ tlers of Indiana. By this union they have had a family of nine children born to them, five girls and four boys in the order of their ages. They are, William Joel, Amanda C., Adkins Harrison, Martha Amelia, George D., Artelia E., Robert Henry, Emma Z., and Minnie May. During our late civil war Mr. Carter, whose interests were identified with the south, and his adopted state, whose institutions and liberties he believed to be imperiled by the arrogant manner of the northern abolitionists, like a patriotic citizen he was among the first of the sons of the south to rally to that standard which had for its object the preservation of its homes, firesides and property; he fought with a patriotic zeal, and was willing to lay down his life in the cause he thought a just one. Though the armies of the south were vanquished by the superior numbers, yet the cause they thought a just one still lives in the minds of those who participated in that sanguinary conflict But after the war was over and peace and quiet restored, Mr. Carter forgot the past, and in March, 1868, he with his family emigrated to Washington county, Ill., and settled in the south-east part of Ashley township, where he lived until his death, Jan. 26th, 1878. During his residence in this county he built a fine farm residence on his place, a view of which can be seen elsewhere in this work. A lover of nature and a farmer of choice he sought by all means to improve and adorn his rural surroundings; and he cherished an ambition to excel in agriculture. His wife is still in possession of and carries on the farm. He was a member of the M. E. Church, South. He professed his faith in that church as early as 1842; he was a faithful member, and for twenty years was class-leader, steward and Sabbath-school superintendent in the church of his choice. As a man, the various duties of life, enjoined by the laws of associa¬ tion upon each member of a community were performed by Mr. Carter with a full sense of his responsibility in those essentials and with laudable hearti¬ ness. He was a master mason and a member of the chapter where he always proved himself worthy, and when his brothers were called to perform the last sad rites and consign him to his narrow home in the valley, they could all say with sorrowful hearts, one more good and true brother has gone to his lodge celestial; u that building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Robert P. Carter

Among the substantial farmers of Washington county, Robert P. Carter, of Ashley Precinct, is justly accorded a place. He was born in Tennessee, Nov. 8th, 1813. His father, Richard P. Carter, was a native of Virginia, and of English ancestry. When a young man he settled in Tennessee, where he married Miss Sarah Winrow, a native of Tennessee. In about 1819 he emi¬ grated with his family to Illinois, and settled in what is now Clinton county, where he lived three years; he then removed his family near Nashville, where they remained for about seven years. In 1829 he removed to Morgau county, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1837. The subject of our sketch, at the death of his father, returned to Washing¬ ton county, where he has since resided. Dec. 24, 1840, he was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Logan, a resident of Washington county, but a native of Tennessee; by this union they have a family of five children; viz.: William H., now living in the town of Ashley, Lydia A., now the wife of J. W. Hudson, county school superintendent, James M., teacher, Philander A. C., now living at home, Marietta J., wife of C. W. Mitchell, now living in Nashville. For nearly forty years Mr. Carter has lived upon section twentytwo, near Ashley. He has a fine, well-improved farm. He has grown with the growth of the country. Sixty years has wrought a wonderful change in the civilization of the west; then a wilderness with Indians, trees and grasses indigenous to the soil, overspreading the entire state. Now we have rail¬ roads, cities, villages and fruitful fields, with the promise of a future that is designed to startle the world with its wonderful progress. The pen never tires eulogizing those hardy pioneers, the forerunners of civilization; but pioneering will soon cease, and we will know of it only in song and history. In politics Mr. Carter was formerly a Whig, and when the Republican party sprang into life he identified himself with that party, and has always been a strong supporter of its principles. Religiously, he and his wife have been members of the M. E. Church for the last forty-five years. Such is a brief sketch of one of the oldest citizens in Washington county. Quiet in his demeanor, industrious and honest, he is a fair type of the early pioneers of the west.

Is a native of Illinois, and was born in Galena, August 12th, 1830. John R. Hammond, his father, was a native of New York. He emigrated to Equality, in Southern Illinois, in 1822, where two years later he married Miss Catherine Tomlinson, who was a native of North Carolina. In 1827, Mr. Hammond removed to Galena, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1832. There were three children bom to John R. and Cathe. rine Hammond, two of whom are yet living ; viz.: the subject of our sketch and Hahala, wife of Samuel H. Scales, Shullsburg, Wis. C. E. Hammond remained at home until his fourteenth year, when he entered the printing office of W. T. Carpenter, and learned the printer's trade. He remained so engaged for one year and then returned Tiome, where he remained for some time, and then again entered the printing office. After eight months had passed he quit the office, and in the fall of 1849, went to California via New Orleans. He remained in the gold diggings until 1852, when he, in connec¬ tion with J. O. P. Burnside, started the Freeport Bulletin. In 1855 he re¬ turned borne and sold the paper. He afterwards settled in Nora, in his native county, and engaged in general merchandising, and continued the business until 1858, when he received the Democratic nomination for sheriff, and was beaten by a small majority, although the county was largely Re¬ publican. In 1860 he removed to Nashville, in this county, where he en¬ gaged in the printing business, publishing the Washington County Herald until 1862, .when he sold out and removed to Tamaroa, Ills., and in the spring of 1863 removed to Ashley, where he has since resided. On the 1st of May, 1856, he married Miss Mary C. Graves, a native of Kentucky, but a resident of Illinois at the time of her marriage. Six children have been bom to them, three of whom are living. In politics he is a Democrat He is a member of the M. E. Church. Me at present is actively engaged in the hardware and grocery trade, and is also one of the firm of Pace, Bros. & Co., bankers, Ashley, Ills. He has an interest likewise in a bank at Marion, Williamson county, Ills. Mr. Hammond is one of the true, energetic busi¬ ness men of Ashley, and has been eminently successful in his business pur¬ suits during the last fifteen years. As a man and a citizen he is universally respected for his sterling worth and strict probity of character.

a S situated in the extreme north-eastern part of the county, bounded on the north by Clinton county, east, by Marion and Jefferson counties, south, by Richview, and west, by Hoyleton. It com¬ prises a good body of land, a portion of which was originally tim¬ ber land, and is now occupied by a thrifty, intelligent class of farmers.

Early Settlers

The first settler was a Mr. Scott and family, who located on section 16, in the year 1827. In 1828 came Richard and Abner Jolliff, and John Lock in 1829. In 1830 John Faulkner, Daniel Waller, John Williams, Thomas A. Nichols and William Crabtree. In 1831 came M. G. Faulkner, and the next year, 1832, Jhiel Williams.

The early settlers who continued to locate in what is now Irvington pre¬ cinct, prior to the year 1840, were L. B. Baldwin, Miles Hewett, William Trout, Robert Davis, R. Foster and Charles Downer.

Early Schools And Teachers

The first school-house built in the township was on section 22, in the year 1844, and the first teacher was William Leeper. Prior to 1844 schools were held at different places, in vacant cabins.

The first school taught uas by Alexander Ford, who was soon taken sick, and Alexander Faulkner finished his term. This school was held in a vacant residence on section 16, belonging to M. G. Faulkner. There are now seven school-houses in the precinct.

The preaching in the early days was done for many years at the resi¬ dences of the settlers. There are now four church buildings in the precinct - three in the village of Irvington, and one on section 23.