1906 Historical Encyclopedia Of Illinois & History of Morgan County IL

VANWINKLE, Alexander, retired farmer, Franklin, Ill., is one of the worthiest citizens of Morgan County. He is a veteran of the Civil War, in which he received a severe gunshot wound. He was educated at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill. His intelligence, his upright life and Christian character unite in making him one of the worthiest citizens of the county. The ancestors of the VanWinkle families of Morgan County came to New Amsterdam in 1642. The great-grandfather of Ransom A. VanWinkle at one time owned 13,000 acres of land near New York City, which he sold for twenty-five cents an acre, and two years later became a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His maternal great grandfather was in the same war. Ransom A. VanWinkle's father was for a time Sheriff of Wayne County, Ky.; and was a Justice of the Peace in the same county for thirty years. He died in Iowa at the age of seventy-seven years. Micajah VanWinkle was an original Abolitionist, and he and his son Ransom supported Cassius M. Clay for Governor of Kentucky. Ransom is still living at Arrington, Kans., being eighty-six years old. He took an active and prominent part in public affairs in the early history of Kansas, and was one of the founders of the Kansas State Agricultural Society. He has also filled a number of important public offices. Of Ransom A. VanWinkle it has been said that no State Convention was complete without him. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature of 1860, and of the State Legislature of 1862. He helped write the Kansas constitution, and was a member of the first executive committee. The VanWinkles from the beginning have been among the leaders in all civil and moral reforms. The same honorable mention deserves to be made of those who have lived in Morgan County, and who still preserve the high character of the ancestral name of their old Dutch stock.

VASCONCELLOS, Emanuel Martin, who holds the position of Purchasing Agent and Superintendent of Grounds of the Illinois School for the Blind, at Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born on the Island of Madeira, March 4, 1852, a son of Joseph J. and Joanna (Martin) Vasconcellos, also natives of that island, where the father was born April 5, 1804, and the mother, in 1826. Joseph J. Vasconcellos was a prosperous farmer in his native place. He was born and reared a Catholic, but in 1848 embraced the Protestant faith. On account of religious persecutions ensuing, he and his family left their home in 1853, arriving in Jacksonville on November 25th of that year. All of his property had been confiscated or stolen. He reared a family of three daughters and six sons, all of whom are living except a daughter, Mary. Joseph J. Vasconcellos died in Jacksonville May 5, 1892, and his widow passed away September 1, 1898.

Emanuel M. Vasconcellos was but a babe when his parents brought him to Jacksonville. He received his early mental training in the public schools; attended the High School for two years; at a later period was a pupil in Whipple Academy for one year; spent two years in Illinois College, and was a student for an equal period in Hanover (Ind.) College. In 1876 he began teaching in the district schools of Morgan County, at Trinidad school, and taught the same school for eighteen consecutive years. He was engaged for the nineteenth season, but was compelled to abandon the task on account of sickness. In 1894, he accepted the office of Deputy County Clerk, and served in that capacity eight years. In May, 1903, he was appointed City Comptroller, but resigned on August 1st of the same year, in order to accept the position of Purchasing Agent, Storekeeper and Superintendent of the Grounds at the Illinois School for the Blind. In 1887 he made an extended trip abroad, visiting the place of his birth and many other interesting points.

On October 6, 1881, Mr. Vasconcellos was united in marriage with Carrie Estaque, daughter of John and Antonio Estaque, of Jacksonville. Six children have resulted from this union, namely: Lillie Pearl, born July 31, 1882; Arthur Blaine, August 8, 1884; Blanche May, December 10, 1886; Estella Belle, June 5, 1889; Flora Ethel, March 2, 1892; and Gilbert Kalley, July 22, 1896.

In politics Mr. Vasconcellos is a Republican and since reaching his majority has taken a lively interest in public affairs. In the spring of 1892 he was elected Alderman from the First Ward of Jacksonville and thus served for two years. He was Secretary of the Morgan County Republican Central Committee in 1888, and Chairman of the same committee in 1894, when Gov. Yates was chosen County Judge, at the first election which was successful for the majority of the candidates on the Republican ticket. Religiously, Mr. Vasconcellos is a member of the Portuguese Presbyterian Church, which he joined at the age of eighteen years. He was Sunday-school Superintendent from 1882 until the union of that church with the United Presbyterian Church, in October, 1900, and afterward until January 1, 1904. He was Elder and Trustee for nearly the same length of time, and was for many years Treasurer of the Board. Since the union he has been Clerk of Elders and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Fraternally, Mr. Vasconcellos is affiliated with the A. O. U. W., Athens Lodge, No. 19, in which he officiated one term as Master Workman. He is a member of the M.W.A., and on December 3, 1889, was transferred from Duncan Camp, No. 132, to Jacksonville Camp, No. 912, of which he was Clerk for many years. He is affiliated with the K.O.T., Bena Tent No. 12, and was its first Record Keeper, which position he still holds. He belongs to Urania Lodge, No. 243, I.O.O.F., in which he has served two terms as Noble Grand. He is connected with Harmony Lodge, No. 3, A.F. & A.M., and is a member of the Portuguese Philanthropic Society, in which he has served several terms both as President and Secretary and Treasurer.

VERTREES, Charles M., M. D., practicing physician and surgeon, Murrayville, Morgan County, was born in Pike County, Ill., March 1, 1838, the son of John and Nancy (Bradbury) Vertrees, the father a native of Hardin County, Ky., and son of John Vertrees, and the mother born in Withamsville, Ohio. They had a family of five children, viz.: Charles M., Mehitabel, Jennie, Nathan B. and Mary Eliza. Dr. Vertrees' grandfather, John Vertrees, farmed in Morgan County, and his son John, father of the subject of this sketch, who was born in 1812 and was a carpenter and farmer by occupation, was a soldier in the Black Hawk War and later a great friend of the Abolition champion, Lovejoy. The Doctor's maternal grandfather, Nathan Bradbury, during the War of 1812, was for a time a prisoner on a British war vessel.

Charles M. Vertrees was reared on the farm, principally in Fulton and Knox Counties, and secured his preliminary educational training in the district schools. On May 25, 1861, he enlisted at Knoxville, Ill., in Company E, Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, being at that time a resident of St. Augustine, Knox County and was mustered out at Springfield, June 4, 1864, with the rank of First Sergeant. He was wounded at Fredericktown, Mo., October 1, 1861, and again at Vicksburg, May 22, 1862; took part in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and was for several weeks an invalid in the hospital. After his discharge, in 1864, he rested a short time and then, on April 4, 1865, enlisted at Philadelphia, Pa., as Sergeant Major of the Seventh Regiment, United States, Veteran Volunteers, receiving his final discharge at Philadelphia, Pa., being in Washington City at the time of President Lincoln's assassination.

Soon after the war he attended one term at Abingdon College and began studying medicine under Dr. S. D. Pollock, continuing his professional course, in 1868 and 1869, at the Rush Medical College, Chicago. He then passed an examination before the State Board of Health and commenced the practice of his profession at Bath, Mason County, Ill., where he remained two years, and then, in 1876, moved to Murrayville, where, for nearly thirty years, he has practiced continuously. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the State Society and the Morgan County Medical Association, and was a member of the World's Congress of Physicians abroad. He has also been Examining Surgeon of the Bureau of Pensions in Jacksonville for nearly sixteen years.

Dr. Vertrees was married July 20, 1871, to Amelia D. Field, daughter of Drury F. Field, a physician and extensive land_owner of Mason County, Ill., and they have had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The surviving daughter, Sadie A., born in Murrayville, Ill., is the wife of Dr. W. U. Kennedy, of St. Louis, a prominent and rising physician of that city. Dr. Vertrees has served as President of the Village Board, on the School Board and as Township Trustee. He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, and carefully conducts a large and lucrative practice.




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