Biographical Sketch of P. H. McBride, M. D.

P. H. McBride, M. D., a well-known physician of Coffee County, was born in that county, December 27, 1825. He is the son of William S. and Milly (Conwell) McBride, the former born at Lynchburg, Va., and the latter born at Abbeyville, S. C. in 1801. They died in 1879 and 1877 respectively in Coffee County, where he was a farmer. Our subject, one of ten children, after his school life ended, was for two years a blacksmith. Serving in the Mexican war for over a year, he fought at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. Returning to Coffee County he … Read more

Biography of I.C. Stone

I. C. Stone, is of English, Irish and Scotch descent. His ancestors settled in the colony of North Carolina. Their descendants mainly kept pace with the tide of immigration to the new States and Territories. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Stone, probably of English, and Scotch origin, married Miss Sally Corder,of Scotch family, about 1789 in North Carolina on the waters of the Yadkins River, and not long after settled in Tennessee, where the father, C. H. Stone, was born December 22, 1796. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Allison, supposed to be partly of English and known to be partly of Irish … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dudley Hopper

Dudley Hopper, farmer; P. Q. Mattoon; one of the first settlers of Coles Co.; was born in Knox Co., Ky., Aug. 18, 1826; came to this State with his father’s family in 1837, when he was but a boy. He was married to Miss Jane Dixon, now deceased; they have had four children, viz., Felitha, George, Harvey and Matilda. Mr. Hopper was married the second time to Miss Margaret Easter. His farm consists of 330 acres, valued at $9,900; since his residence in the township, he has held the office of Commissioner three years. He was a participant in the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of James Anderson

James Anderson, farmer, Sec. 20; P. O. Mattoon; owns 133 acres; was born in Monroe Co., Md. , Dec. 25, 1825, and lived with his parents on the farm in Maryland until 7 years of age; then went with them to Ohio, where he resided until the year 1846, when he went to the Mexican war, and returned in 1855. He was married to Lucinda Knight Dec. 29, 1847; she was born in Licking Co., Ohio, June 12, 1826; they have had eight children, seven of whom are living, viz., Mary Ann, Columbia, William H., Sarah P., Emma, Martha, Charles … Read more

Biography of Fenton M. Slaughter

Fenton M. Slaughter is one of the well-known and prominent men of San Bernardino County. A brief review of his life is one of interest in the annals of Southern California. Mr. Slaughter was born January 10, 1826, a descendant from an old colonial family of Virginia, who emigrated from England in 1616. His father, Robin Lewis Slaughter, was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, April 25, 1779, the son of Robin and Ann Slaughter. October 25, 1803, he married Miss Elizabeth Gillem, a native of Rockbridge County, Virginia. He died in 1834, leaving a family of eleven children for his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Lucas Hoagland

Lucas Hoagland, a rancher near San Bernardino, was born in Michigan in 1837. His father, Abraham, and his mother, Margaret (Quick) Hoagland, were born in the old country. They moved to Michigan in 1824, where Mr. Hoagland worked at his trade, that of a blacksmith. He was Captain of the militia that serenaded General Lafayette, and moved to Hancock County, Illinois, in 1845. After a short sojourn there he moved to Council Bluffs, where he spent one winter, and then moved to Salt Lake, where he died in 1879. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of seven children. … Read more

Biography of Matthew Cleghorn

Matthew Cleghorn, a farmer of San Bernardino County, was born in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1829, a son of Rev. Lorenzo D. Cleghorn, who was a native of Virginia and a minister of the Christian Church. His mother, Mary (McLain) Cleghorn, was of Scotch parentage. They had five children, of whom our subject was the second. He left home at the age of twelve years and subsequently entered the Mexican War. He enlisted in the Sixteenth Kentucky Volunteers, but was afterward attached to the Eleventh. He carried the express for eight months from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico … Read more

Mexican War Records

The Mexican–American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. In addition to a naval blockade off the Mexican coast, American forces invaded and conquered New Mexico, California, and parts of what is currently northern Mexico. Another American army captured Mexico City, forcing Mexico to agree to the sale of its northern territories to the U.S. Territorial expansion of the United States to the Pacific coast was the goal of President … Read more

Allin, Illinois, Political and War Record

Unlike the greater portion of McLean County, Allin is Democratic. In all State and national questions, it turns out strongly for the old party which it has honored with its suffrage for so many years. In township elections, the dominant party is generally remembered, although the returns do not always show strict party tendencies. Further than a general scare, we hear of no harm from the Indian war of 1832. If there were persons who enlisted in the companies sent out from this county, we were not fortunate enough to learn their names. They rest in their unknown graves, with … Read more

Biography of James R. Daniel

JAMES R. DANIEL. – The subject of this sketch was born in 1826, and has lived a life that might well be described in poetry as succinct as that in which Othello related his own. The son of a machinist and shipbuilder of Philadelphia, Mr. Daniel early learned naval craft on the schoolship North Carolina in New York harbor, and on the brig Washington of the Coast Survey, and was then transferred to the Independence and Potomac. After his honorable discharge from the United States navy, he made voyages as able seaman to Havre and Liverpool, and to the West … Read more

Biography of Hon. Charles P. Cooke

HON. CHARLES P. COOKE – The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Erie county, Ohio, in 1824. His early life was spent in his native place. In 1846 he went as a volunteer to the Mexican war, and served as second lieutenant in the first regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He was in the army a full year, and participated in the engagements at Monterey, Buena Vista and other bloody battles of that war. He then returned home, but in the spring of 1849 left for the Pacific coast, crossing the plains with ox-teams … Read more

Biography of Major Theodore J. Eckerson

MAJOR THEODORE J. ECKERSON. – Major Eckerson, so long and favorably known among the old pioneers of our coast, enjoys also a like enviable reputation in military circles. He was born January 22, 1821, in New York City, and on December 20, 1838, in his eighteenth year, entered the United States army. He served throughout the Seminole Indian war, 1840-42, and in the Mexican war from its commencement to its close. He was a member of the storming parties in the battles of Cerro Gordo and Churubusco. He came to Oregon with the first troops sent after the settlement with … Read more

Biography of Hon. John Kelly

HON. JOHN KELLY. – Prominent in almost every department of business and public life, Honorable John Kelly is known throughout the length and breadth of our state as a man of great abilities and irreproachable integrity. As a pioneer, none has a more deserving record, nor has sustained amore honorable part. Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1818, he crossed the Atlantic to Canada in 1838, and in 1840 came to Franklin, Vermont. Three years later he began a career at the West, coming to Wisconsin, and there exercising his natural bent for business and capacity for organization, by which he … Read more

Biography of General Joseph Lane

GENERAL JOSEPH LANE. – Joseph Lane first saw the light of day in North Carolina, December 14, 1801. He was reared in Henderson county, Kentucky. At the early age of twenty he was married to Miss Polly Hart, soon afterwards settling in Vanderburg county, Indiana, where he followed the humble life of a farmer for twenty-five years. While in the pursuit of this occupation, he was prominent as a leader in all matter of enterprise in the county. He soon drifted into politics, and was chosen to represent the county in the state legislature. He was continued in the same … Read more

Biography of M. B. Valodin

M. B. Valodin, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Oakland; born in Portsmouth, Scioto Co., Ohio, March 28, 1828; at 8 years of age, he removed with his parents to New Madrid, Mo., living there until 1838, at which time his father died, when he removed with his mother and sister to Edgar Co., Ill., where he engaged in farming until 1844, with the exception of one year in which he attended school in Paris; he then went to Wisconsin, where he was engaged at work in the shot tower at Helena, six months, and followed mining the same length of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. F. Shaw

A. F. Shaw, Police Magistrate, Charleston; is a native of Illinois; he was born in Paris, Edgar Co., Feb. 10, 1824; he is a son of Smith and Elizabeth Shaw; his father was born in North Carolina; was raised in South Carolina, and when a young man, emigrated to Tennessee, and from there to Kentucky; he was one of the pioneers of Missouri, from which State he was several times driven by the Indians; he afterward came to Illinois, long prior to its admission as a State, and finally, in 1822, settled in Paris, where he died about sixteen years … Read more