Rice P. Hackett, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Charleston; was born in Coles Co., Ill., Nov. 28, 1838; he is a son of Levi Hackett, who came from Scott Co., Ky., and settled in Coles Co. in 1835, and now lives in Douglas Co., to which he removed in 1861. Mr. Hackett is the second of a family of eight children, five of whom are living. He was married Feb. 25, 1857, to Miss Ann M. Waltrip, of Hutton Tp., also a native of the county, and a daughter of John Waltrip, one of the early settlers of the county. They have nine children – William J. Eliza E., Noah M., Legrand A., Henry J., Ida J., Lula E., Eva R. and Reason A. In August, 1862, Mr. Hackett enlisted in Co. K, 123d I. V. I., and served three years, participating in all the principal engagements of that regiment; he was severely wounded at the battle of Milton, Tenn., and carries to this day a bullet in his hip as a memento of that engagement; he was again slightly wounded during a skirmish while on a foraging expedition below Murfreesboro; he settled on his present farm in 1872, where he owns 205 acres of land, well improved. Mr. Hackett and family are members of the Church of god, of which he is a Trustee and Deacon; he took an active part in the erection of their house of worship in 1876, donating a lot for that purpose from the corner of his farm.
