PICKAWAY TOWNSHIP
(Shelby County)

PICKAWAY TOWNSHIP
(Shelby County)

YANTISVILLE

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
PICKAWAY TOWNSHIP. (SHELBY COUNTY.)

PICKAWAY township is bounded on the north by Penn township, on the east by Moultrie county, and Todd's Point township, on the south by Ridge, and the west by Flat Branch township.

Early Settlers. -- Elias Armstrong has the honor of being the first settler and builder of the first log cabin. He located here in the year 1828 on section n7. Soon after he came he married a young lady residing in Madison county, Illinois. He resi ded here for a few years, and sold out his improvements to his brother John, and removed to Flat Branch, and settled where he lived until his death.

John Lee moved in the year 1829, from Robinson creek to this vicinity, and settled on the north-west corner of section 7, where he built a cabin. He lived there a few years, then sold his improvements to Elias Armstrong, and migrated to the state of Misso uri.

Samuel Whitehead moved here from Madison county, Ill, in

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1835, and located on section 18. He lived there a few years, and then emigrated to Kansas.

John Whitehead came the same year and remained but a short time.

Jerry Goodwin settled on sec. 17, near the little grove where J. M. Davis now resides. All the early settlements began in the north-west corner of the township.

Washington Armstrong improved the place now occupied by Daniel Yantis, called Buck Grove. Old settlers say it was no uncommon sight to see a herd of one hundred deer at a time, in or around the grove.

Daniel Yantis, a native of Maryland, came to Shelby county, in 1853. After remaining here a short time, he moved to Ohio, but returned and settled on section 29, in the year 1855, raising a family of nine children, all married and living in this county.

Collins McKee came from Ohio, and settled on sec. 35, in the year 1846, and lived there until his death.

The place is now owned by W. H. Jackson, a native of Ohio, who emigrated to this county in the year 1845. Mr. Jackson enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war, and served as a private in Co. 13., Third Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ferris Foreman. The wa r over he received an honorable discharge, and returned to the state of his adoption, and began, as it were, life anew, opening one among the finest stock farms in the county, containing about seven or eight hundred acres of land, where he now resides.

Among the early settlers we find Harrison Hopkins, D. F. Durkee, John Durkee, John Luffers, John Foster, J. Atkinson, and John Casey, who settled his place in 1834, and A. James, who was the Nimrod of the settlement, being remembered for killing the black bear, in 1838, that was driven by George Royse some four miles or more. Mr. Royse was riding through the prairie from Decatur, and came upon bruin near what is now called the Davis grove. He drove the bear to the grove on the farm now owned by Nathan Cor ley. It was in the month of August, and as the bear was inclined to "go West," he became pretty well worried and warmed up, and when he came to the branch his bearship refused to go any further eastward, and laid down. Royse then rode down to the cabin of James, who took his rifle and hounds, and went to the grove; he soon came upon the bear, and in a shorter time than it takes to write this narrative his bearship was "treed," and James with the pioneer's trusty rifle brought him to the ground.

In 1836 Mr. James had a very severe tussle with a panther at or near the same grove, and succeeded in killing him. Upon measurement, he was found to be nine feet long, from the end of his nose to the tip of his tail.

Edward Reddington, from Indiana, settled on the south-west quarter of section 34, in 1847, living here but a short time, then removing to Texas.

Nathaniel Corley was born in Ridge township in the year 1827; enlisted as a soldier in the Mexican war of 1846, in Company " B," Third Regiment; was promoted to the rank of third sergeant; after serving with credit to himself, was honorably discharged. Re turning home, he laid his land warrant on section 34, and at once began improving the farm and erecting the necessary buildings; and what was then a wild timber and prairie plot is now a beautiful farm, surrounded with many of the comforts of life.

The first school-house was built on section 7, in the edge of the timber. It was a log structure of no mean dimensions for those days.

St. Mary's Church, on the north-east corner of section 25, was built by the Methodist denomination. Grove Church, on section 20, was erected by the United Brethren in the year 1858, and was the first church erected in the township. It proving too small to accommodate the congregation, it was removed, and the present beautiful edifice was built on its site in 1875.

The Baptist denomination are now building a church on the north-west corner of section 34, on N. Corley's place.

This township contains an area of thirty square miles, or 19,200 acres of fertile and productive land, capable of producing in large quantities all crops grown in this part of the state.

Drainage. -- The southern part is drained by Robinson creek and its affluents, and the north-western portion by the tributaries of Flat Branch, all of which give a good supply of water for stock purposes. There are no pools, swamps or stagnant wate r to generate miasma, hence this is a healthy portion of the county.

Game. -- The early settlers of this township were surrounded with an abundance of game, such as bears, deer, wild turkey, prairie chickens, quails, rabbits, wolves, raccoons, opossums, &c. Also numerous flocks of migratory birds came in the spring and fall, among which were geese, brants, ducks, cranes, &c.

The first land entry of government lands was made on the third day of August, 1833. John Armstrong entered the W. 1/2 of the S. W. 1/4, section 6, town 13, range 3 east, containing 160 acres. On November 23d, 1833, David Watkins entered the S. W. 1/4 of the N. W. 1/4, section 6, 39 97-100 acres. On the 25th day of July, 1834, Ebzemond Basye entered the S. W. 1/4 of section 35, 160 acres. Robert Porter laid his land warrent on section 26, in 1848. Also Nathan Corley on section 34, in 1849.

Supervisors. -- The following gentlemen have represented Pickaway in the board of supervisors: J. Casey, chairman, elected in 1860, re-elected in 1861; G. M. Thompson, elected in 1862; John Casey, chairman, elected in 1863; G. M. Thompson, elected in 1864; John Casey, elected in 1865; William Baird, elected in 1866, re-elected in 1867, and chairman in 1868 and 1869; W. L. Ward, elected in 1870; N. Corley, elected in 1871, re-elected in 1872; J. Casey, chairman, elected in 1873, re-elected in 1874; N. Corley, elected in 1875, re-elected in 1876-77; C. H. Hilliard, elected in 1878, re-elected in 1879; J. C. Noon, elected in 1880, and is the present incumbent.

YANTISVILLE.

A post-office on section twenty-nine, was established November 15, 1880, with Henry Yantis as post-master. Longenbaugh and Yantis have a general store here.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

JOHN BARBEE.

JOHN BARBEE, one of the residents of Pickaway township, like many of the settlers of Shelby county is a native of Ohio, and was born in Ross county of that state, on the 21st of December, 1821. His father, Hazael Barbee, lived in Ross county, Ohio, and carried on farming. His mother's maiden name was Phoebe Ann Clayton. The subject of this sketch was the fourth of a family of six children by this marriage. When he was a boy of about four years of age his father died. His mother was married again to James Miner, and subsequently moved to Shelby county, Ill., and settled in Holland township, south of Shelbyville. Mr. Barbee was four years old when he left Ohio. He had gone to school pretty regularly in that state, principally in the winter season. Af ter he got old enough to be of much service he worked on the farm during the summer. He was raised in Holland township of this county, and on the 23d of November, 1875, he married Deborah Ellen Compton, a native of Pickaway county, Ohio. Her father, Jonat han Compton, moved from Pickaway county to Illinois in 1853, and settled in Holland township seven miles south of Shelbyville, where his death resulted from an accident by a mowing machine, in July, 1875. Mrs. Barbee was one year old when she came to this county. In December, 1875, Mr. and Mrs. Barbee moved on their present farm in section 19, of Pickaway township. They have one child, Charles Milton Barbee. In his politics Mr. Barbee has always been a member of the democratic party. His first vote for pr esident was cast for Samuel J. Tilden, in the presidential campaign of 1876. He is still a young man, but is active and enterprising, has paid considerable attention to public affairs, and is known as a good citizen. Mrs. Barbee's father, Jonathan Compton , was born in Virginia, came to Ohio when about eighteen years old, and married as his first wife, Lucinda Brinker, and his second wife, her sister, Elizabeth Brinker. Mrs. Barbee was born in 1852.

W. H. JACKSON

A view of whose farm in Pickaway township, appears on another page, is a native of the State of Ohio. His grandfather, Thomas Jackson, was a resident of Pennsylvania. His father, who was also named Thomas Jackson, was born in Pennsylvania, and marr ied Elizabeth Mainley, a native of the same state. In the fall of 1822, he moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and remained at Steubenville about a year, and then not liking the country, returned to Pennsylvania; but after a couple of years residence in that state he came back to Ohio and was engaged in farming in the neighbor hood of Steubenville eight years, and then moved to Richland county, in the same state. The birth of William Henry Jackson occurred at Steubenville, Ohio, on the 15th of February, 1823 , in the winter after the first arrival of the family in the state. He was ten or eleven years old when his father settled in Richland county, Ohio. In 1840, the family moved from Ohio to Illinois, and settled in Fayette county, ten miles north of Vandali a. Mr. Jackson's father died there in 1844, and his mother at Assumption, in Christian county, in 1869. The subject of this sketch had limited opportunities for acquiring an education. The schools which he attended were subscription schools, held in log s chool-houses for three months during the winter season. He went to school usually a short time during the winter, and was kept from forgetting all he had learned during the next summer by the fact that his mother made the children study at home on Sundays . Mr. Jackson went to school two winters after coming to this state. The greater part of his education he acquired outside of school, partly during his experience for a short time as clerk in a store, and partly by his actual connection with business affa irs. He was seventeen when the family settled in Fayette county. He lived at home till he was twenty-one.

The first work he did for himself after he became of age was to help another man raise a crop, in the summer of the year 1844. The other party furnished everything, and Mr. Jackson received one-fourth for his labor. Part of his share of the grain he trade d for a horse, and thus became the owner of the first horse he could call his own property. This crop was raised in the southern part of Shelby county. The summer of 1845, he hired to a store-keeper in the same part of the county, on a salary of seven a d ollars a month. He worked three months and received five dollars. The next year, 1846, witnessed the outbreak of the war with Mexico. Mr. Jackson volunteered his services. In May, 1846, he enlisted at Shelbyville, in Co. B., Third Regiment Illinois Volunt eers. His company was commanded by Capt. Freeman, and the regiment by Col. Ferris Forman, of Vandalia. He went to St. Louis, and the regiment proceeded from that place by boat to New Orleans, and thence across the Gulf of Mexico to Brazos Island. The regi ment ascended the Rio Grande some distance. In the fall he was taken seriously sick with the measles, a disease which gave the American army in Mexico much trouble. During the winter of 1846-7, he was employed mostly on guard duty at Matamoras. He was hon orably discharged from the service on account of disability at Matamoras, on the 1st of April, 1847, and reached Illinois on his return home on the 3d of May.

Before enlisting in the army he had bought a small improvement on Congress land, and when he came back from Mexico he settled

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on the improvement and began farming. He had received a land warrant for his services as a soldier in the Mexican war, and in the fall of the same year (1847), he came to what is now Ridge township and laid this warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he settled. He was full of industry and energy, and managed gradually to improve his circumstances and buy additional land. He was married in September, 1849, to Margaret Jane Walters, who died about two years and a half afterward, on the 8 th of March, 1852. His second marriage took place on the 25th of August, 1853, to Mary Ann Burk, who was born in Sadsbury township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of December, 1826. Her parents, whose names were Robert Burk and Esther Fergurs on, were both natives of Ireland, and came to this country when small; from Pennsylvania they emigrated to Ohio, where the family lived seven years, then to Indiana, where they remained about a year and a half, and about the year 1841, came to Shelby coun ty, Illinois, and settled in Ridge township, on Robinson Creek, and afterward on Mud Creek. Mrs. Jackson's father died in 1863, and her mother is still living.

Mr. Jackson was a resident of Ridge township till 1862, and then moved to Section 35, Pickaway township, where he has since lived. He is known as one of the progressive and substantial agriculturalists of Shelby county. He is the owner of about nine hundr ed acres of land situated in Ridge and Pickaway townships. Five hundred acres are comprised in his home farm, of which one hundred and sixty acres are in cultivation, one hundred and twenty in meadow, and the remainder devoted to grazing. The buildings an d improvements are of a substantial and attractive character, and the farm is known as one of the best in Shelby county. He has had eleven children; two by his first, and nine by his second marriage. John Thomas, the oldest, died on the 24th of March, 1 864; William H. is now living in Texas; the others are: Robert, who is farming in Todd's Point township; Samuel, who is farming, in Pickaway township; Margaret Jane; Louisa, who married Samuel Debaun; Mary Ann, Esther Isabel, Lizzie, Andrew K. and Charles . In his politics Mr. Jackson was originally a Democrat. His first vote for President was cast for James K. Polk, in 1844. He voted the Democratic ticket uninterruptedly till he became convinced that the laboring classes must look elsewhere for relief fro m the oppression of monopolized capital, and he then joined the National Greenback organization. In 1880, he voted for Weaver for President. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife of the Presbyterian. He is one of the large farmers of the co unty who have reached their position by means of great energy, judicious economy, and the prudent management of their business affairs. When he left home to begin the world on his own account, he scarcely had sufficient money to buy an axe. Although the c ontrast between his circumstances then and now is very great, he accounts for it by hard and steady work and good judgment in investing his means. He always endeavored to raise all he could from his land, and then to invest his surplus money where it woul d be likely to bring the most profitable returns. He has been a good neighbor and citizen; his integrity has been unquestioned; and his name deserves a place in this work as a man who has assisted in developing the material resources of the county.

GEORGE A. DURKEE.

NOW the oldest inhabitant of Pickaway township, was born in Vigo county, Indiana, April 1st, 1823. His grandfather, John Durkee, was born in Vermont, moved to the State of New York, and about 1816 settled in Vigo county, opposite Terre Haute, and a fterward removed to Tippecanoe county, Indiana. He was a physician. His father, David F. Durkee, was born in Vermont in 1801. He was married at Terre Haute, to Freelove Frink, who was born near Saratoga, New York. In 1848, David F. Durkee settled in Picka way township and died at Shelbyville in l871. The subject of this sketch was raised principally in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. His father lived on the land now comprised in the limits of the city of Lafayette. He was married March 5th, 1845, to Salome Ell is. On coming to this county in 1848, he settled on a piece of timber land now comprised in his present farm, and in 1849 moved to his present location. At that time there were few settlements in Pickaway township. There is no one now residing in the town ship who lived in it when he came. All have died or moved elsewhere. He has four children living: Walter B. Durkee, Lizzie, wife of Samuel Martin, now residing in Kansas; Fannie, who married Albert White, of Shelbyville, and Edward Durkee. In his politics he was originally a Whig and voted for Henry Clay. He was an early republican and one of the few men in Shelby county who supported Fremont in 1856. In his voting precinct, which comprised a number of the present townships in the northern part of the cou nty, he was the only one who supported the republican candidate in that campaign. He has since been one of the strongest supporters of the Republican organization in Shelby county. He represented Pickaway township on the Board of Supervisors. He has been interested in agricultural matters, and for a number of years was president of the Shelby County Agricultural Board.

CAPT. GEORGE WRIGHT.

CAPT. WRIGHT was born at Hutton, Yorkshire, England, October 13th, 1825, and was the fourth of six children of Robert and Ellen (Bradley) Wright. After the age of ten or twelve, he earned his own living. He had but little chance to obtain an educat ion, and the greater part of it was acquired after reaching years of maturity and mostly after coming to this country. His life in England was spent on farms in Yorkshire and Durham. In the spring of 1848, he emigrated to America and settled in Stark coun ty, Ohio. In 1858, he came to Shelby county, Illinois. He purchased 240 acres of land in section thirteen of Pickaway township, now comprising his present farm. He began improving this tract, and in the spring of 1861, commenced building a house, but went into the army on the breaking out of the war of the rebellion. He was mustered into the state service as a private at Shelbyville, May 11, 1861, and on the 25th of the same month was mustered in the United States service at Jacksonville, as a member of C o. B, Fourteenth regiment, Illinois infantry. He had enlisted under the three months call, but the quota for that service having been filled, he was mustered in the three years service.

July 5th, 1861, his regiment crossed from Quincy to Missouri, and served in that state till the next winter, being stationed at Rolla, Macon City, Sturgeon, Jefferson City, Tipton, Springfield, Sedalia and Otterville. At the last place the great part of t he winter of 1861-2 was spent. The regiment was sent to re-enforce Lyon at Wilson's creek, and Mulligan at Lexington, but both times arrived too late to be of much service. While he was at Jefferson City, September 28th, 1861, he was promoted to second li eutenant. Crossing to the east of the Mississippi, the regiment reached Fort Donelson the Sunday morning after the battle. The regiment took part at the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, on the 6th of April, 1862. This engagement was very severe, th e regiment losing two hundred out of the five hundred men with

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which it entered the battle Sunday morning. Capt. Wright received a bullet wound in his left arm. October 25th, 1862, he received a commission as first lieutenant to date from September 13th, 1862. His commission reads: "Promoted for meritorious service r endered at Pittsburg Landing." During the advance on Corinth, the Fourteenth Illinois was in the front. It afterward marched to Grand Junction and La Grange, and June 17th, 1862, arrived at Holly Springs, Mississippi, and in October, 1862, took part in th e battle of Metamora, or as it is sometimes called, the battle of the Hatchie. The regiment spent the winter of 1862-3 at Lafayette, Tennessee, and the next spring and summer took part in the siege of Vicksburg. While lying in front of that stronghold, ju st before its capture on the 30th of June, 1863, he received a commission as captain dating from May 8th, 1863. He was subsequently in the fight at Jackson, Mississippi, and the regiment afterward camped at Natchez. He was afterward detailed with his comp any to escort Adj. Gen. Thomas to New Orleans, and rejoined his regiment near Vicksburg. January, 1864, he accompanied a number of the veterans from the regiment to Illinois, for whom he obtained furloughs at Springfield, and afterward for a month was on detached service as recruiting officer in Shelby county. He met his regiment in the spring at Memphis, but returned with Col. Hall, who commanded the regiment, to Illinois, to assist in obtaining recruits. After having recruited the regiment it reached Ca iro, May 13th, 1864, to again take the field. While at Huntsville Alabama, the three years term of enlistment expired, and soon after the regiment came back to Springfield, where Capt. Wright was mustered out in July, 1864.

He returned to Shelby county and resumed farming, at Todd's Point, his land being under lease. In 1870, he moved back to his present farm. His wife, to whom he was married December 29th, 1864, was formerly Miss Jennie Turner, a native of Lancashire, Engla nd, daughter of John Turner. She came to this country in 1862. He has five children, John Sherman, Florence Agnes, Frances Helena, Annie Jane and Alice Maud. Capt. Wright is worthy of mention in this work as a man, who made a brave record as a soldier, fo ught well in the field, and assisted in preserving the liberties of his adopted country. He was a Douglas democrat before the war, and has since been a republican of a strong and steadfast type.

E. S. FRENCH

WAS born in Jefferson county, East Tennessee, December 10th, 1829. His grandfather, Lefford French, was born in New Jersey, and moved to South Carolina, where he lived during the Revolutionary war, in which he served as a soldier. Mr. French's fath er, William French, was born and raised in South Carolina, near the line separating that state from North Carolina, and married, as his second wife, Cassindia Cantrell, who was born in North Carolina. He moved to Jefferson county, East Tennessee, and from there, in the fall of 1842, emigrated to Clinton county, Illinois, where he died in November, 1845. The family in East Tennessee lived in a rough but healthful country, possessing but few school advantages. He was thirteen when he came to this state. He resided in Clinton county till twenty-one years of age. About the year 1850 he came to this part of the state, and for some years was engaged in different occupations. February 14th, 1855, he married Julia Ann Ward, daughter of William L. Ward, who came t o Illinois from Shelby county, Kentucky.

Mrs. French is a native of the county. Her mother's name, before marriage, was Sallie McKiver. After his marriage, Mr. French went to farming for himself in Moultrie county, and in the spring of 1856 came to Pickaway township, and in 1857 settled where he now resides in section 23. He began improving his present farm in 1856. At that time there were few settlements on the prairie in the township. He has been one of the large farmers of that part of the county, and owns 789 acres of land, 735 of which is i n Pickaway township. He has six children: Ada, who married B. P. Deering; Mary, Jennie, Maggie, Ellsworth, and Geneva. Three beside died in infancy. He was brought up a whig, and voted for Fillmore in 1856, but has been a republican since 1860, when he vo ted for Lincoln. For about twenty years he has been a member of the Methodist church.

ISAAC LONGENBACH

WAS born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on the seventeenth of December, 1821. His grandfather emigrated from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania. His father, Jacob Longenbach, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Eleanor Shofe, whose father was a nati ve of Ireland. Jacob Longenbach, at an early period, settled in Fairfield county, Ohio, near the present town of Lancaster, then a wilderness. He was fond of hunting, and spent several years among the Indians, with whose language he was well acquainted. H e served in the Ohio militia during the war of 1812-14, and acted as scout, and took part in several battles. He died in Pickaway county, Ohio. Isaac Longenbach was the youngest of fourteen children, of whom two sisters and six brothers reached maturity. His opportunities for acquiring an education were confined to the old-fashioned Ohio schools. On growing up, he worked on a farm and rented land. In 1856 he came to Pickaway township, and in 1858 settled on a quarter section of land he had purchased from the Illinois Central Railroad Company in 1855. At that time he was the farthest settler, out on the prairie in Pickaway township. He was industrious and energetic, and is one of the representative farmers of the township, owning four hundred and forty acr es of land. His wife, to whom he was married on the 28th of May, 1854, died February 27th, 1873. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Cole. She was of Irish descent, and born in Pickaway county, Ohio. His children are -- Jacob, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Pinkston, Eliz a Ann, Mrs. Sarah Jane Shride, Agnes Amanda, Abraham Lincoln, Flora May, Isaac William, and Emma Hettie. He was brought up a democrat; voted for Polk in 1844; became a republican, and voted for Lincoln in 1860; and is now a member of the national greenbac k party. For many years he was connected with the Methodist Church, and is now a member of the German Reformed denomination.

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