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City of
Sullivan -
WILLIAM ELDER, who is engaged in the banking
business at Sullivan, is a native of East Tennessee, and
was born on the 17th of May, 1824. His grandfather,
William Elder, was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war, and an early resident of East
Tennessee. His father, James Elder,
married Didama French, a native of North
Carolina. The subject of this sketch was the oldest of
six children. In the spring of 1834, when he was ten
years of age, his father moved with the family to this
state, and first settled in Morgan county, on the site
of the present town of Waverly. He remained there during
the summer, but not being able to obtain cheap land, in
the fall came to what is now East Nelson township,
Moultrie county. Mr. Elder's father
subsequently moved to Sullivan, and for several years
carried on the mercantile business. He was a man of
considerable prominence. Before the organization of the
county he acted as justice of the peace; for several
years was county judge and also served as representative
in the state legislature. He died in 1870. The
subject of this sketch obtained his education in the
old-time log school-houses, with split poles for
benches. On the 12th of April, 1846, he married
Louisa Ewing, daughter of Reuben
Ewing. one of the pioneer settlers of Moultrie
county, representative in the legislature and one of the
commissioners to locate the county seat. After his
marriage Mr. Elder went to farming near
Sullivan, where he has since improved several farms.
From 1854 to 1858, he was a resident of Dallas county,
Iowa. In 1870, he became interested in the banking
business at Sullivan, which his father had commenced the
preceding year. The Merchants' and Farmers' Bank has
maintained an excellent reputation as a solid financial
institution. He has also been engaged in dealing in real
estate and trading in stock. He was formerly a Whig in
politics, voted for Taylor in 1848, and has been a
Republican since the organization of that party. He has
been a shrewd and successful business man, and is now
one of the old settlers and representative business men
of Moultrie county. He has two children, James W.
Elder, now in the hardware business at Sullivan, and
Lena Elder.
Source:
1763 Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois - Published by
Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia -
Corresponding Office, Edwardsville, ILL -
1881 - Page 192 |
Lovington Twp. -
LIEUTENANT WILLIAM C.
FOSTER was born in Wayne county, Ohio,
March 28th, 1832. He is the eldest son of seven children
of John E. and Jane (Coulter) Foster. His
father removed from Wayne to Pickaway county in 1843,
and died there in 1847. His mother the next
year (1848), came west, and settled with her family on a
piece of land two miles north of Lovington, in Moultrie
county. There she remained until her death, which took
place in 1865. Soon after the breaking out of the late
war on the 31st of July, 1862, he enlisted in the 126th
regiment Illinois Vols. Infantry, and was mustered out
July 12th, 1865, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He was
promoted to the position of orderly sergeant, and
commissioned Sept. 4th, 1862. He was commissioned
second lieutenant July 15th, 1865. In 1863 he was
appointed by Gen. Grant to go upon the
recruiting service, and was stationed for five months at
Rock Island, Illinois; after wards rejoined his
regiment, and continued in active service until the end
of the war. On the 1st of September, 1853, he was
united in marriage to Miss Isabella Cochran,
a native of Ross county, Ohio. She came to Illinois in
1849. By this marriage there are five children,
four sons and one daughter; all of whom are yet at home,
except Eliza J., wife of Geo. W. Ruckle,
who is a resident of Newton, Kansas. After Mr. Foster
returned from the war, he settled in the village of
Lovington, and engaged in the grocery and provision
trade, and from that time to the present has been one of
the active business men of the village. Politically, he
is one of the few original Republicans, and cast his
first presidential vote for John C. Fremont in
1856. He has never swerved from his allegiance to that
political organization, from that day to the present,
but it has strengthened with his years, and he may be
classed among the stalwarts. He has held various
offices of a local character, and was the first Police
Magistrate of Lovington. He was commissioned
Notary Public April 24th, 1867, and has held the office
ever since. He was commissioned Justice of the
Peace, May 27th, 1872, and Police Magistrate May 9th,
1874. On the 18th of October, 1875, he was appointed
postmaster of Lovington, and re-appointed in 1879.
Mr. Foster is among the oldest settlers of
the northern part of Moultrie county. He has been a
resident of the county since 1848, and in all these
years has sustained the character of an honest man and
good citizen.
Source:
1763 Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois - Published by
Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia -
Corresponding Office, Edwardsville, ILL -
1881 - Page 228 |
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