C. W. SMITH BIOGRAPHY
Donated by ©Crystal

History of Madison Co Illinois, 1812-1912, pages 1176-1178, Volume#1

C.W. Smith: "Like Father, Like Son" proves true so often that it has come to be a trite saying. Frequently this is by personal selection, the son following in the footsteps of his sire in some particular calling, there being many reasons why this is both desirable and natural.

Less often is the son seen emulating the father in the latter's public record. C.W. Smith, of Mitchell, Madison county, Illinois, and his father, Nathan Robison Smith, of Staunton, Macoupin county, have in many respects presented a parallel in their activities.

Each has followed farming with success, but with the achievement of success has not cared to seek a home in some city and sink into idleness, but preferred rather to continue active in the pure air of the country. Each also has served his particular county in the same way - as a member of the county board of supervisors. The senior Mr. Smith was one of the first members of the board that paid the debt on the famous "million dollar" court house at Carlinville, on whose construction earlier officers had expended money so wildly that the county seemed hopelessly plunged in a financial mire.

After conditions had settled Mr. Smith and others began care fully to plan to retrieve the fortunes of Macoupin, a difficult task but one which was eventually crowned with success.

In similar wise the son, Charles Wesley Smith, in the county of Madison, was called by his constituents to a place in the county board of supervisors of Madison county. First elected in 1904, he has been returned to the board from Chouteau township at every election since and is the present representative.

He was chairman of the board three successive terms,in 1907, 1908, 1910, and in 1909 was also a member of the board. During these years, by reason of the many important events that were transpiring and grave matters that were continually coming up for consideration, he had much to do. His parlia-mentary rulings were given the approbation of the board and he was a popular and efficient executive.

Charles Wesley Smith was born Septembcr 18, 1859, at Staunton, in Macoupin County. His father, Nathan Robison Smith, was born in Greene County on December 5, 1838. He represented Dorchester Township for over twenty years as its supervisor. He now lives near Staunton, blessed with good health and activity even if his life is crowned with more years than the Biblical "three score and ten." Mr. Smith is a staunch Democrat and in addition to the place named has filled the positions of commissioner of highways and school direc- tor. His people were originally from Carolina, and the relatives of his wife, Serelda Walker, a native of Macoupin County, came from West Virginia.

By his first marriage Mr. Smith had six children: Charles W., of Mitchell; Rebecca, William, Thomas H., James 0. and Carey L. Of these only two, Charles W. and Thomas H. are living. The second marriage of Mr. Smith was to Hannah Cornelius, who is now also deceased. Their three children are living: Nathan C., Verna Ray and Cornelius. The third wife of Mr. Smith was before her marriage Julia Perrine.

Charles W. Smith, the subject of this sketch, attended school in Dorchester Township (during his boyhood) and assisted his father about the farm. When at twenty-one he attained his majority he rented a farm for one year, at the expiration of which time he bought forty acres, which he soon thereafter exchanged for an eighty-acre tract and proceeded to occupy the latter.

Coming to Madison county in 1893, he located at Mitchell in Chouteau Township. Three years later he was made assessor of the township and held the place for eight years.

A thorough inspection convinced him of the fertility of the ground in Chouteau and he bought a farm and built a fine homestead in 1906. This farm, together with the modern improvements upon it is considered one of the best country places in the county.

His services on the board of supervisors and his experience as assessor caused his knowledge of tax matters to be in demand and in 1909 he was appointed to the board of tax review. He filled this important post for four years, being chairman of the board three terms. He is a Democrat in Politics and, it goes without saying, is one of the most prominent members of that party in his vicinity.

Much of his time at present Mr. Smith devotes to dealing in livestock. He has on one corner of his premises at Mitchell, where it is convenient to shipping on the railroads, a very large and well-equipped series of barns and outbuildings. His operations cover several states and he buys and sells horses and mules in carload lots, singly or in team or any desired number in between.

He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, having a record of over twenty years in that order. The Smith family are affiliated with the Methodist Church. Mr. Smith is of a genial nature, quick to make friends and of the cordial disposition that retains them. He is generous and open-hearted and, stands high throughout the American Bottom.

On August 25, 1880, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Lyda Hutchinson, the ceremony taking place at the home of the bride in Macoupin County. She was a daughter of James W. Hutchinson and Elizabeth F. (Walker) Hutchinson. Her father was a Methodist preacher and came from Kentucky.

Macoupin county was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Smith for some time after their marriage. Four children were born to them: Charles E., who is located in Oklahoma and follows the stock business; Donna P., who married William Dean and is living in Terre Haute; Margaret B., who married Roscoe Brown, of Terre Haute, and Sue, who is at home with her parents...Donated by Crystal
 

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GEORGE F. J. BARNSBACK
Donated by ©Kim Torp
 

BARNSBACK, George Frederick Julius, pioneer, was born in Germany, July 25, 1781; came to Philadelphia in 1797, and soon after to Kentucky, where he became an overseer; two or three years later visited his native country, suffering shipwreck en route in the English Channel; returned to Kentucky in 1802, remaining until 1809, when he removed to what is now Madison (then a part of St. Clair) County, Ill.; served in the War of 1819, farmed and raised stock until 1824, when, after a second visit to Germany, he bought a plantation in St. Francois County, Mo. Subsequently becoming disgusted with slavery, lie manumitted his slaves and returned to Illinois, locating on a farm near Edwardsville, where he resided until his death in 1869. Mr. Barnsback served as Representative in the Fourteenth General Assembly (1844.46) and, after returning from Springfield, distributed his salary among the poor of Madison County.
- Julius A. (Barnsback), his son, was born in St. Francois County, Mo., May 14, 1826; in 1846 became a merchant at Troy, Madison County; was elected Sheriff in 1860; in 1864 entered the service as Captain of a Company in the One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois Volunteers (100-days' men); also served as a member of the Twenty-fourth General Assembly (1865).

DANIEL BOONE SAVAGE
Donated by ©Kim Torp

Highland Illinois to Greene Co, Missouri
From the HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY, MO (1883)

Mr. Savage is a son of Thomas B. and Frances S. (Robinson) Savage, and was born April 6th, 1838, in Madison county, Illinois. He received his education at Highland, Illinois, and lived upon the farm with his father until the war commenced. He enlisted in company O, 117th Illinois infantry, as a private, but was afterward promoted corporal. He participated in the battles of Clinton, Mississippi; Fort De Russey, Louisiana; Pleasant Hill, Louisiana; Yellow Bayou, Louisiana; Lake Chicot, Arkansas; Tupelo, Mississippi; Hurricane Creek, Mississippi; Franklin, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee, and Blakely, Alabama. In 1865 he returned home and engaged in farming. In 1869 he came to Missouri and settled in Greens county. He was a member of the police force of Springfield in 1878, and deputy constable in 1874-5. In 1876 was elected constable of Campbell township, and re-elected in 1878 and served until 1880. He is now of the firm of Winkel & Savage, on St. Louis street. They have the largest meat market in the city. Mr. Savage was elected a justice of the peace of Campbell township in November, 1882. He was married November 29th, 1865, to Miss A. L. Hanptly, of Madison county, Illinois. Their union has been blest with nine children, seven of whom are living. He is a member of the M. E. church South, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. His father was killed by a team running away in St. Louis in 1868. His mother died in 1871. They had ten children, five boys and five girls; seven are yet living, Daniel being the third son and fifth child.

 
SAMUEL JUDY

Samuel Judy became a permanent and valued citizen of the county, having fought in the War of 1812 and served in the first legislature and on the county commission.  He was married to Margaret Whiteside, a sister of Gen. Samuel Whiteside.  The first or second year after his arrival he set out an orchard in what was known as Goshen, at about the present site of Peter's Station. He also bought land from a Ephriam Conner who is thought to be the first American to build in the county. Conner had built a cabin the northwest corner of the present Collinsville township around 1800. Conner apparently decided to move one and he sold his holdings to Judy after about a year.

Jacob Judy, oldest son was register of the Edwardsville land office from 1845 to 1849.  Another son, Col. Thomas Judy was in the legislature in 1852 and 1853.



GILLHAM FAMILY

Another of the first families to settle in Madison County was the Gillham family.  The first to come to America, Thomas Gillham ws a native of Ireland. His fourth son, James, was the first to arrive in Illinois, coming here in 1794 to search for his wife and chldren who were held captive by Indians.  He settled in the American Bottomm, apparently south of St. Louis, and later moved to Madison County.  Two other brothers, John and William, arrived in Madison Co. in 1802.  Another brother, Thomas II had reached Illinois in 1799.  A fifth brother Issac, settled in this county in 1804-1805.

The large Gillham family became one of the most prominent in the county. The Gillhams were strong supporters of morality and order, opposed introduction of slavery into Illinois.

 
HON. OWEN LOVEJOY, who attained distinction as a defender of human rights, and whose brilliant career added luster to the pages of history, taught men the real meaning of self sacrifice as few have done either in this state or elsewhere throughout the country. He was born at Albion, Kenebec County, Maine, January 6, 1811, a son of Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth (Patte) Lovejoy, the former a Congregational minister and farmer.
Reared on the homestead until he was eighteen years of age, Owen Lovejoy up to that time only attended school during the winter months, but at that age began to prepare himself for a high educational training, and entirely through his own efforts put himself through Bowdoin College, following which he took up the study of theology. In 1836 Mr. Lovejoy came to Illinois to join his brother, Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, at Alton, and after the latter's tragic death in 1837, in the historically known "Alton trouble," he vowed to continue his brother's work in behalf of abolition of slavery. Going to Jacksonville, Illinois, Owen Lovejoy was licensed to preach as a Congregational minister, and in October, 1838, he was ordained as pastor of the church of that denomination at Princeton, where he labored effectively for seventeen years, and then resigned the only pastorate he had ever held. Of strong convictions, he stood like the adamantine rock for the cause of human justice and freedom, in the pulpit, on the rostrum and in the halls of Congress. Possessed of great physical as well as mental power, Owen Lovejoy, with equally strong eloquence, soon became a leader in the thought and movements of his day. In the cause of human liberty he was soon drawn into politics, first as a candidate of the liberal party for Congress in 1844. In 1854 he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, and in 1856 to the National Congress, of which he continued a distinguished member until his death, which occurred at the home of a friend at Brooklyn, New York, March 25, 1864. Adhering always to his views and opinions with great tenacity, and being a vigorous thinker, Owen Lovejoy was convincing and eloquent of speech. His keen perception and forcible diction were readily understood. He had no fear, and as a public speaker he had no superior; he had faith in truth, and never doubted its final triumph. Of him Abraham Lincoln said in a letter written after the death of Mr. Love-joy:
"Throughout my heavy and perplexing responsibilities here (in Washington as President) to the day of his death it would scarcely wrong any other to say he was my most generous friend." And also in the same letter Mr. Lincoln added: "my acquaintance with him began about ten years ago, since which time it has been quite intimate, and every step in it has been one of increasing respect  and esteem, ending with his life, in no less than affection on my part."  This heartfelt and highly gratifying testimonial to the high appreciation in which Mr. Lovejoy was held by his associates, however, was not the only one which came to his sor rowing family following his untimely demise. In a sixty-page pamphlet issued by the government following his death, the country at large were given in full the addresses made at memorial meetings delived in the Senate and House of Representatives, Monday, March  28, 1864. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)



LEVI DAVIS was born July 20, 1808, in Cecil County, Maryland, and died in 1897. From infancy to manhood he was a fatherless orphan whose training and development was wholly under the guidance of his mother. He was educated in Newark Academy, Delaware, and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. He obtained the degree of B. A. when he was twenty years old, and immediately began the study of law. Two years later he was examined and licensed to practice law, at Baltimore, Maryland, and the following spring began his professional career at Vandalia, Illinois, then the capital of the state. Governor Duncan appointed Mr. Davis to fill a vacancy in the office of auditor of public accounts, and he was twice elected to the same office by the general assembly. Upon removal of the capital to Springfield he became a resident of that place, and continued to reside there until 1846, when he removed to Alton.
Before going to Springfield he gained an enviable reputation as a lawyer. When he was succeeded in office by General James Shields he engaged in the practice of law in the state and United States courts, at Springfield. Levi Davis was in intimate relations with such eminent men as Lincoln, Browning, Norman B. Judd, David J. Baker, Stephen T. Logan, E. D. Baker, was often associated with them, and as often their opponents in the trial of cases. After his removal to Alton he was attorney for the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company, and for the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company, and was for a long time a director of the last named company.
His unselfishness, rectitude of purpose, and fidelity to all that is highest and best in the ethical standards of the legal profession made him a peacemaker. He probably made more amicable settlements of lawsuits than any of his contemporaries, and this was especially true of suits against the railroads which he represented. He could not tolerate, much less countenance or encourage trickery, deceit, meanness or corruption in the practice of law, or in the rivalries of business or politics. Though born and reared in a slave state, until the defeat of Henry Clay as a candidate for president, he was an ardent supporter of all public measures which looked to the immediate restriction and ultimate extinction of slavery. When Clay was defeated he foreswore active participation in party politics for the rest of his days, and kept the vow. ("ILLINOIS, The Heart of the Nation" by Hon. Edward F. Dunne, Volume IV, 1933, Transcribed by Kim Torp)


MONKS MOUND:  An area of 400 acres around Monks Mound (then known as Cantine Mound) was first owned by Nicholas Jarrot (of Jarrot mansion fame), affirmed to him Dec. 31, 1809.  He had given the land to the Trappist Monks in April, 1809, before he had official possession, and when they left in 1813, they reconveyed the land to Jarrot.  They actually lived on a smaller mound, even though they big mound was named after them.  Amos Hill took possession in 1831 and built a farm house and outbuildings on the top of Monks Mound and he, or a subsequent owner, dug a well from the second terrace on the west side.  Thomas Ramey took possession around 1860 and his family owned it until the State purchased some of the land from the Rameys in 1925 to establish Cahokia Mounds State Park.

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