1906 Historical Encyclopedia Of Illinois & History of Morgan County IL

TANDY, O. E., a resident of Franklin, Ill., and by profession a teacher and traveling agent for Rand, McNally & Company, publishers, of Chicago, was born in the place of his residence June 23, 1865, the son of Dr. William N. and Jane E. (Martin) Tandy. Dr. Tandy was born in Green County, Ky., June 4, 1814, his parents being Smith and Susan Tandy. O. E. Tandy was educated in the public schools and the State Normal School at Normal, Ill.; has been a teacher in Morgan County for fourteen years, and in 1900 was appointed by Rand, McNally & Company, their general agent for Southern Illinois.

Mr. Tandy was married January 17, 1892, to Myrtle Wright, daughter of George M. Wright, and they have one child, George W. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Independent Order of Odd Fellow, and one of the State Instructors of the latter order for Illinois; is also Worshipful Master of Wadley Lodge, No. 616, A.F. & A.M., and of the Mutual Protective League. He is a member of the Christian Church, and, politically, a Democrat. He takes an active interest in politics, attending State and County conventions, and has acted as their Chairman. Mrs. O.E. Tandy was born August 27, 1872, on a farm two miles south of Franklin. She is a member of the Rebekah and Eastern Star Lodges, is president of the Assembly of the former order for the twenty-second district, composed of Morgan, Sangamon and Scott Counties, and is Official Instructor and Examiner of the State organization of Rebekahs.

TAYLOR, George, (deceased), at an early period one of the most prominent and successful farmers of Morgan County, Ill., was born near Fisherville, Ky., twenty miles from Louisville, on July 20, 1805. He was a son of Henry Taylor and Frances (Dale) Taylor, natives of Virginia. The mother was a member of an old Virginia family, and her marriage to George Taylor's father occurred in Kentucky.

In boyhood, Mr. Taylor received his mental training in the district schools in the vicinity of his birthplace, in the fall of 1833, journeying to Morgan County, Ill., where he entered Government land twelve miles southeast of Jacksonville. He afterward bought land adjoining this and also purchased another tract in Sangamon County. About the year 1872 he located at Jacksonville, where he died September 23, 1886. He was a very industrious farmer, and his diligence and thrift resulted in the accumulation of a handsome competence.

On July 18, 1827, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Polly E. Tucker, a native of Kentucky. This union resulted in ten children, namely: Maximilia, wife of John W. Swigert, of Edinburgh, Ill.; Edward A., of Jacksonville; Benjamin H., deceased; William P., of Sangamon County, Ill.; c. Riggs, of Jacksonville; Phoebe J., widow of George Scott of Norfolk, Va.; Sarah F., wife of Edward T. Tellings, of Broadlands, Ill.; George Z., who occupies a portion of the home farm in Morgan County; John H., of Mattoon, Ill.; and Shelby D., of Champaign, Ill. The mother of this family died January 22, 1894.

The Taylor family was of sturdy stock, and George Taylor typified in his career the robust and sterling traits of his progenitors. He wasted no time but applied himself with diligent perseverance to every task which confronted him. He was instinctively honest, and all his actions were inspired by a spirit of rectitude and equity. As a farmer, he was intelligent, methodical and thorough, and as a citizen was deeply concerned in the moral, industrial and educational welfare of the community in which his lot was cast. A firm Republican in politics, in religion he adhered to the Christian Church. His life was eminently useful, and he enjoyed to a rare degree the confidence and respect of his neighbors and associates.

TAYLOR, C. Riggs, a prominent and much respected resident of Jacksonville, Ill., who in his active life was one of the most successful and substantial farmers of Morgan County, was born in that county December 2, 1839. He is a son of George and Polly E. (Tucker) Taylor, natives of Kentucky, whose parents in turn were Henry and Frances (Dale) Taylor. In boyhood Mr. Taylor received his mental training in the subscription schools of his neighborhood, and in early manhood became a soldier in the Civil War. In August, 1861, he enlisted at Jacksonville, Ill., the commissioned officers of his company being: Captain, Barbour Lewis; First Lieutenant, James Burnett, and Second Lieutenant, George W. Moore, all of Morgan County. The command, known as "Duncan Rangers", was ordered to St. Louis, Mo., and was sworn into the service as Company G, First Missouri Cavalry, under Colonel Ellis. Mr. Taylor participated in numerous severe skirmishes, and in the one near New Madrid, Mo., on June 3, 1864, when his horse was shot in the breast and his hat perforated by a ball. In the afternoon of the same day, while holding his disabled horse in order that his wounded comrade, Thomas J. Marshall, might be provided with a mount, the command was ambushed by Confederate guerillas. Mr. Marshall fell mortally wounded, having received seventeen balls above the belt, and Mr. Taylor was shot in the side, two of his ribs being fractured. The latter has never completely recovered from the effect of his wounds.

On February 27, 1868, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Mary Foster, daughter of Jonas and Anna Hoopes (Carlile) Scott, who was born in Chester County, Pa., March 20, 1821. Mr. Scott was a native of Essex County, N.J., born January 23, 1818, and came to Morgan County in 1845. The lady who became his wife located there in 1844, the marriage occurring the following year. The couple located three miles west of Franklin, where Mary Foster Scott was born on September 5, 1846. Her family dates back to the early times of the United States, Mrs. Scott's father being of English stock, and her mother of English and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. In religious faith they were Quakers.

TENDICK, Gottfried, (deceased), formerly a well known business man of Jacksonville, Ill., and the owner of the Edgemore Brick yards at Morton and Tendick Streets, of that city, was born in Germany, November 4, 1830, a son of John and Jennie Tendick, who came to America in 1853. The father lived but one month in his adopted country, when he died, leaving a widow with eight children, all of whom are now deceased. Godfried Tendick was educated in Germany and there became familiar with the spool and weaving industry, but at the age of seventeen years commenced learning boot and shoe-making which continued to be his business for a period of thirty-five years. In 1850 he emigrated to America and was soon established in the boot and shoe trade, in which he employed from seven to ten men; but he discontinued this business, in 1878, and engaged in brick making as a member of the firm of Caspold, Reid & Tendick. This connection continued for two years, when the partnership became Reid & Tendick, and three yeas later Mr. Tendick purchased his partner's interest and conducted the business alone until his death, which occurred, May 21, 1895. Mr. Tendick was very successful in this enterprise and was enabled to erect two stores and several residences in the city, besides owning a fine farm of 300 acres. He was a substantial, public spirited citizen and his loss was sincerely felt by his family, his friends and the community in general. Not long before his death he built a handsome residence at the corner of Fayette Street and College Avenue, where Mrs. Tendick still resides.

Mr. Tendick was married October 14, 1854, to Miss Tendick, a daughter of Peter and Jane (Schutten) Tendick, natives of Germany, and of this union five children were born, viz.: Jennie, wife of George Porter; John S.; Edward; Clara, wife of A. D. Hoover; and Peter, who died in 1884, at the age of twenty-four years. The family are members of the German M. E. Church.

THOMASON, Charles, who fills with signal credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the official management, the position of Superintendent of Farms and Gardens of the Illinois Central Hospital for the insane, at Jacksonville, Ill., was born on a farm in Scott County, Ill., April 9, 1860, the son of William and Mary (Allinson) Thomason. The father was born in England, in 1830, and the mother in Morgan County, Ill., in February, 1833. William Thomason came to the United States in the fifties and located in Scott County, Ill., where he was engaged in farming until his death in 1860. His widow died February 22, 1905, on her farm just west of Jacksonville.

On February 26, 1883, Mr. Thomason was united in marriage with Anna Lee McFarland, of Scott County, Ill., a daughter of Walter B. and Mahala (Hornbeck) McFarland. Mrs. Thomason was born in Bath County, Ky., April 29, 1864. This union has been the source of three children, namely: Georgia Etta, who was born October 12, 1883, and died December 13, 1896; Mary Elizabeth, born December 2, 1885; and Allinson May, born July 25, 1890.

On political issues, Mr. Thomason is arrayed on the side of the Republican party. While living in the country, he served four years as Road Commissioner in district in No. 6. Religiously, he is an active and consistent member of Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has officiated as Sunday-school Superintendent and Trustee. Fraternally, he is identified with the M. P. L. and Jacksonville Lodge No. 152, K. of P. He is a man of absolute rectitude of character. In his management of the farms and gardens of the public institution with which he is connected, he is intelligent, careful, systematic and practical, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all with whom he is associated.



THOMPSON, Owen Pierce, Hon., Judge of the Seventh Judicial District of Illinois, residing at Jacksonville, was born in Bethel, Morgan County, Ill., February 3, 1852, the eighth and youngest child of James B. and Mary (Meguier) Thompson. His father, James B. Thompson, who was one of the early pioneers of Illinois, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1810, a son of Bernard Thompson, a native of Maryland, who removed to Ohio in the early days of the history of that State, and served through the War of 1812 with the Ohio troops. The grandfather (also named Bernard) enlisted with the Maryland troops attached to the Continental Army, and fought in the Revolutionary War. He was descended from Scotch ancestors, who came to America during colonial days. Various members of the family, in succeeding generations, distinguished themselves in the various walks of American life.

Bernard Thompson, the grandfather of Judge Owen P. Thompson, reared a family in Ohio, and spent his life in that State and in Illinois, dying in Morgan County. One of his sons, Andrew Jackson Thompson, removed to Morgan County with the family in 1834, and became conspicuously identified with public affairs in this county, serving as County Judge and as a member of the State Legislature. For several years he lived in retirement at Hotchkiss, Colo. James B. Thompson, Judge Thompson's father, located in Morgan County in 1834. Taking up Government land near Bethel, he developed a farm, tho which, by purchase, he subsequently added. He was a man who was highly esteemed throughout the county by reason of his unimpeachable integrity and his public spirit; and though he never sought nor consented to fill public office, he was always alive to the best interests of his community, which he endeavored to promote in all possible ways. His death occurred in 1897. His wife, who was born near Harrisburg, Pa., died in 1881. Of their family of eight children, two died in infancy, and C. M. Thompson, the eldest son, died in Texas in August, 1901. Those surviving are: Mary, wife of John T. Crawford, of Pueblo, Colo.; Sarah, wife of A. A. McPherson, of McPherson, Kans.; Elvira, residing in Jacksonville; Dr. P. C. Thompson, of Jacksonville, and Judge Owen P. Thompson.

Judge Thompson was reared upon the farm and attended the public schools of the neighborhood. After a course of study in the State Normal School at Normal, Ill., he engaged in teaching, a vocation in which he had been engaged for a portion of the time while still a student. Five years of his life were spent in this work, and the training and discipline thereby received undoubtedly exercised a most potential influence in strengthening the characteristics which have been more or less conspicuous in his mental structure - order, self-control, a rare freedom from prejudice and a continuous desire carefully to analyze all problems which have presented themselves to him before considering their solution. Having decided upon a legal career in his youth, in 1875 he entered the Albany Law School, which was at that time regarded as one of the strongest institutions of its kind in the United States, was graduated therefrom in 1876, and admitted to the bar the same year. Upon the completion of his law course, young Thompson found himself seriously handicapped by a lack of funds, which prevented him from entering at once upon the practice of his profession. In order to obtain the money necessary for the equipment of an office, he taught school for a while, in the meantime looking about for a suitable location. In 1880 he removed to Hiawatha, Kans., where he opened his first office and began practice. A year later he returned to Illinois, and since 1881 has been engaged in practice alone in Jacksonville, with the exception of the years when he has been upon the bench. Always a stanch and unwavering advocate of the principles of the Democracy, in 1886 he was elected County Judge of Morgan County as the nominee of that party, and was reelected in 1890, serving two terms of four years each. Retiring to private practice at the expiration of his second term, he thus remained until his first election to the Circuit bench, in 1897. That his labors upon the bench met the approval of his constituents was evidenced by his reelection in 1903. His term will expire in June, 1909. The district over which he presides includes the counties of Morgan, Sangamon, Macoupin, Greene, Jersey and Scott.

Judge Thompson has been closely identified with those projects which have advanced the best interests of Jacksonville and Morgan County along all lines. For some time he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Illinois College and of Illinois Woman's College, and during the administration of Governor Altgeld, from 1892 to 1896, served as a Trustee of the Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane. Since 1873 he has been a Mason, and is now a member of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, A.F. & A.M., and of Hospitaler Commandery No. 31, K.T. He is also a charter member of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 152, Knights of Pythias, of Duncan Camp, No. 152, M.W.A., and of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 682, B.P.O.E. He was united in marriage May 31, 1883, with Elizabeth Ruddick, a native of Jackson County, Ind., and a daughter of Solomon Ruddick. They are the parents of three children, namely: Mary, Perry Paul and Irene.

Personally, Judge Thompson is highly regarded by the citizens of Morgan County, many of whom have watched with interest his career from the days of its earliest struggles for recognition at the bar. The sterling traits of character which were so conspicuous in his rugged Scotch ancestry manifest themselves in his personal characteristics - sometimes to a marked degree - and the traditions of the race probably should receive no inconsiderable share of recognition in an analysis of the foundation of his strength among his fellow-men. Self-made in every sense of the term, he has become widely known as an upright, conscientious, public spirited citizen and man of affairs, a wise counselor and just Judge; and the record of his life entitles him to a place in the historical literature of Illinois.

THOMPSON, Perry Commodore, M. D., physician, Jacksonville, Ill., was born on his father's farm near Bethel, Morgan County, Ill., February 2, 1850, and is a son of James B. and Mary (Meguier) Thompson. (A detailed sketch of the life of James B. Thompson will be found elsewhere in this volume.) Dr. Thompson was reared upon the home farm, and attended the district schools in the neighborhood of his home. For one winter he was also a student in Whipple Academy, Jacksonville. For eight years after leaving school he taught in the country schools of Morgan County, in the meantime, during his summer vacations, attending the Normal Schools at Bloomington, Ill., and Valparaiso, Ind. Having decided upon a career in medicine, he prepared himself for his college course by reading with r. T. J. Pitner, of Jacksonville, and Dr. Wilson C. Carver, of Bluffs, Ill., and after the prescribed course in Rush Medical College, Chicago, was graduated therefrom in the class of 1883, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately thereafter he pursued a special course in the same institution on diseases of the lungs and diseases of women and children. In the spring of 1883 he opened an office for practice in Meredosia, Ill., where he was located for three years. During his residence in Meredosia he took a post-graduate course at Rush Medical College. In 1886 he removed to Jacksonville, where he has since been continuously engaged in a general practice.

Dr. Thompson served as a member of the United States Board of Pension Examiners during the second administration of President Cleveland, and under Governor Altgeld filled the post of physician to the Illinois State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. For two years he was also Physician to Oaklawn Retreat, of Jacksonville. He is an active member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Morgan County Medical Society and the Jacksonville Medical Club. Though a stanch Democrat, he has never been actively interested in the politics of his party. In the midst of a laborious practice, he has taken time for recreation by travel through various sections of the United States and Europe, his wife having accompanied him on a trip to the Old World during the summer of 1903.

Dr. Thompson was united in marriage May 24, 1899, to Mina Borden, of Dundee, Ill., formerly a teacher of elocution at Elgin and Lake Forest, Ill. He is thoroughly devoted to the science of medicine, and has remained a profound student throughout his entire professional career, keeping fully abreast of the most advanced thought in his profession - a fact which doubtless accounts, in a large measure, for the success which has attended his practice. He is highly regarded by both the profession and the laity, who join in honoring him as an upright citizen and a successful practitioner.


   
THORNLEY, Hugo (deceased), was born in Yorkshire, England, August 18, 1831, the sixth child of Ralph and Hannah (Scholes) Thornley, who had a family of nine children. With his wife and six children Ralph Thornley sailed for America in the spring of 1840, landing at New Orleans, and reaching Beardstown, Cass County, Ill., on July 4th. About five weeks thereafter he bought 80 acres of land in Township 16, Range 11, Morgan County. With the exception of a small clearing, where corn had been grown, the tract was timber land, and had no improvements other than a hewn log hut. Deer and wild game were abundant, which Mr. Thornley was accustomed to shoot near his door. After clearing the land of stumps around the cabin, he added one room to it, and in 1858 built the present residence - his farm then consisting of 440 acres, on which place he resided until his death, on February 13, 1867.

Mr. Thornley attended the subscription school in the log school house now known as Mt. Vernon, in the winter, and worked during the summer, on the farm, during his boyhood driving an ox-team several days for a neighbor, for which he received twenty-five cents per day. He assisted his father in farming until the latter's death; then, until 1883, conducted the farm jointly with his brother Samuel. They had purchased the property in 1872, and in the year named (1883) Hugo bought his brother's interest. Samuel continued to live with Hugo and family until his death, March 26, 1901, when he bequeathed his estate to Hugo's children.

On March 27, 1855, Hugo Thornley was united in marriage with Mary Williamson Emmerson, who was born near Hebron, Morgan County, Ill., October 30, 1837, the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Mushem) Emmerson, who, in 1834, had come to this country from near Scarborough, England, with his wife's parents, Thomas and Mary Williamson Emmerson. They bought and settled on a large tract of land, about nine miles northeast of Jacksonville, Ill., near what is now known as Sinclair, and where, for a short time, they all lived together. Then Thomas bought another tract of land, a few miles north of the first, where he built a house, grist mill (afterward named Everly Mills), and other buildings of note, and where the parents resided until death.

In 1850 Richard Emmerson, with his family, removed to Beardstown, and died soon after, leaving the wife and five children, who, except Mary (Emmerson) Thornley, all reside either in the city or its neighborhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Thornley became the parents of nine children, namely: James Emmerson, unmarried, who is a farmer living near Ashland, Ill.; Hannah Elizabeth, unmarried, who lives with her brother, James E.; Anna May, who died in 1901; William Franklin, who died in 1865; Emma Lu, who died in 1867; Mary Eleanor, who lives with her mother; Edwin Howard, a farmer near Ashland, Ill., who married Elsie Rawlings, and has one child, Mildred; Samuel Walker and Carl Spencer, who also reside on the homestead.

The father of this family died December 13, 1898. He was one of the most prominent farmers and extensive and successful stock-raisers in Morgan County. At the time of his death, Hugo Thornley was the owner of 680 acres of land in Morgan County and 153 acres in Cass County, besides considerable stock and other personal property. He had served as School Director for a number of years. In politics, Mr. Thornley was a stanch Democrat, active in behalf of his party's success, but not a politician. Fraternally, he was a member of Arenzville Lodge, I.O.O.F. Religiously, he belonged to no church, but contributed liberally to religious and charitable work. A man of high character and strict integrity, he enjoyed the confidence and respect of all who made his acquaintance.

TICKNOR, Elmer E. H., General Foreman of Farms and Gardens at the Illinois Institution for the Deaf, in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born on a farm near Markham, Ill., June 24, 1862, the son of Levi F. and Flora (Thompson) Ticknor, the farm born in Broome County, N. Y., about the year 1825, and the latter, in Cattaraugus County, the same State, September 30, 1827. Levi F. Ticknor made a trip to Morgan County in 1852. Then, after spending some time in Texas inspecting that part of the country, he returned to New York State and moved with his family to Morgan County in 1854. He responded to the call of his country in 1862, but was rejected on account of physical disability. He is still living, and for forty years has been a fruit-grower and gardener six miles west of Jacksonville.

In his youth Elmer E. Ticknor received his mental training in the district schools of Morgan County, afterward working for his father on the farm until he was of age, when he began the operation of a rented farm. By industry, frugality and economy, he was eventually enabled to buy a farm in Township 15, Morgan County, which he conducted until appointed to his present position, July 4, 1897. Mr. Ticknor recently sold his farm. He is the owner of considerable city property, and is also a partner with E. R. Carter in the Jacksonville Selzer Spring Water Company.

On October 25, 1883, Mr. Ticknor was united in marriage with Avarilla Bramham, who was born on a farm near Markham, Ill., January 2, 1865, a daughter of George and Mary (Allison) Bramham, her mother's family having been among the early settlers of Morgan County. This union was the source of three children namely: Leroy E., born July 31, 1884; Arthur E., January 24, 1888; and George B., February 1, 1891.

While living in the country, Mr. Ticknor was elected Highway Commissioner of District No. 6, and was chosen Chairman of the Board of Highway Commissioners. During his residence in Jacksonville, he has also taken an active part in its public affairs. He was elected a member of the City Council in 1903, and is now serving his second term in that office. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., belonging to Jacksonville Lodge, No. 570, and to the Blue Lodge. He is also identified with Jacksonville Lodge, No. 4, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Jacksonville Lodge, No. 228, Loyal Americans, of which he is President.

While living in the country, Mr. Ticknor was an active member of the Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church. In this connection he was a Sunday-school teacher, Vice-President of the District Sunday-schools, Sunday-school Superintendent and County Superintendent of Union Sunday-schools. He has also attended many of the State Sunday-school conventions. Financially, religiously and in local politics, he has proved one of the most prominent and influential members of the community in which he lives.

TICKNOR, Harry Montford, attorney-at-law, Jacksonville, Ill., was born on a farm five miles west of Jacksonville, August 16, 1868, a son of Levi F. and Flora (Thompson) Ticknor. His father, who was a native of Binghamton, N. Y., located permanently in Illinois in 1854, and has since been engaged in agriculture in Morgan County. Harry M. Ticknor was educated in the country schools and the Jacksonville High School. After completing his classical course he pursued his legal studies for two years with Messrs. Morrison & Whitlock, after which he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated June 30, 1892. Immediately following he was admitted to the bar and began practice independently in the office of Hon. Owen P. Thompson, of Jacksonville. A few months later he entered into partnership with Newton H. Peer, a classmate at Ann Arbor, and a year later went to Tacoma, Wash. After practicing there for six months, he removed to San Francisco and entered into partnership with Thomas H. McGowan. One year later (or in 1895) he returned to Morgan County, locating for a time in Meredosia, but not engaging in professional labor there. On September 1, 1896, he once more returned to Jacksonville and resumed practice with Richard Yates and Fred H. Rowe. In 1899 he was elected to the office of City Attorney, and reelected in 1901. Since the expiration of his second term, in 1903, he has been engaged in private practice. For the past seven years he has also acted as Attorney for the Board of Education of Jacksonville. Among the most noteworthy cases in which he has been retained was that of the People of the State of Illinois against W. W. Ferguson, accused of murder of Dr. Barnes in Jacksonville. Mr. Ticknor was appointed by the court to defend the case, and, despite the overwhelming evidence against the accused, his 3efforts resulted in obtaining the comparatively mild sentence of twenty years in the penitentiary, although it had seemed a foregone conclusion that the prisoner would be compelled to expiate his crime by paying the extreme penalty.

In politics, Mr. Ticknor is a devoted and active Republican. A strong and convincing speaker, he was engaged by the National Republican Committee, in 1900, to campaign the State of Illinois in behalf of President McKinley and the Republican nominees, and for a period of seven weeks delivered many speeches in Chicago and elsewhere in the State.

Mr. Ticknor has attained an eminent position in the ranks of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, having served as Exalted Ruler of Jacksonville Lodge, No. 682, and First Vice-President of the Illinois Elks Association. At the meeting of the latter body, May 23 and 24, 1905, he was a candidate for President of that body. He is also a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 3, Ancient Free and Assepted Masons, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. While residing in Tacoma he was identified with Troop A, of the Washington State Cavalry.

Mr. Ticknor's wife was formerly Anna Florence, daughter of the late George W. Graham, a banker and merchant of Meredosia. They have one daughter, Adelaide Constance Ticknor.

TINDALL, Isaac F., who, until 1904, was successfully engaged in farming on an extensive scale, but is now living in honored retirement in Jacksonville, Ill., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., February 22, 1828, the son of Isaac N. and Jeanette (Ferguson) Tindall. Isaac N. Tindall was a carpenter by trade. In 1835 he traveled with his family by stage and canal to the Ohio River, continuing thence by boat to the Illinois River, and up that stream to Meredosia, Ill. Thence he came to Jacksonville, where he began working at his trade, one year receiving but $25 in cash, the remainder of his income being based upon barter. He worked in Jacksonville two seasons and then removed to the country, where he followed his trade during the remainder of his life, one of his contracts being the erection of a house for Daniel Smedley on the Smedley farm. Mr. Tindall died when eighty-two years of age, his wife having previously passed away. They had five children, who reached maturity, namely: Samuel, a farmer, who died in 1903; Ann E., who died single; Daniel, who lived in Taylor County, Mo., and died in 1904; and Robert, who lives near Cameron, that State.

Isaac F. Tindall attended the subscription school at Jacksonville - a small one-room building, located near the square, in which Mr. Devore was the teacher. When he moved seven miles into the country he attended school in a log house, with puncheon floor and slabs for seats. His first teacher there was Mr. Wright, and his final schooling was received under him.

When a boy Mr. Tindall worked for Daniel Smedley, plowing for $5 per month. The next year he and his elder brother operated a small farm for their father, while the latter plied his trade. After they had obtained sufficient means to buy a team, he and his brother Samuel worked in partnership. In 1848 they bought 240 acres of land on a small cash payment, and that year sowed 100 acres, which yielded 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. This they sold at $2.50 per bushel. Soon afterward they purchased 200 acres adjoining their farm from Col. Samuel Mathews, continuing in partnership until about 1867, when Isaac bought his brother's interest in the farm. There the former remained until 1904, when he located at Jacksonville, but still manages his farm, which now comprises 1,040 acres, all in the same neighborhood.

Mr. Tindall has bought and fed cattle for a great many years. In 1860 he and Thomas Orear went to Iowa, where they purchased 260 head of cattle and drove them to Illinois. Mr. Tindall fed from 300 to 500 head of cattle each year. During his long experience as a farmer, he has seen corn sold at five cents per bushel, wheat at twenty-five cents, and hogs at one cent and a quarter per pound.

Mr. Tindall is one of the most prominent agriculturists of Illinois. He is thoroughly self-educated and self-made, having begun his active life without means. Charitable, although judicious in his benefactions, he is so unostentatious that few of his kindly deeds have become generally known. He has contributed liberally to all enterprises tending to promote the public welfare, and represents that type of men to whom is due the abounding prosperity of Morgan County. In politics he is a Republican.




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