Macoupin County

Richard R. Barnstable, one of the prosperous tillers of the soil of this county, is a resident on section 5, Polk township, where he has a fine and attractive farm. He is a native of England, having been born in that country on the 23d of December 1830, in Othery, Somersetshire. After having grown to manhood in his native place he decided to seek what the New World held for him and coming to this country in the spring of 1852 proceeded to America, where he remained but a short time before returning to New York State to get a […]

Reuben K. Barnes, a general farmer and dairyman, residing on section 22, Bunker Hill Township, has since his fifteenth year lived on his present homestead. He is a representative of one of the early families of the community. His birth occurred in the county of Hillsboro, N.H., June 20, 1838, and he is descended from an early and represented New England family. His paternal grandfather, William Barnes, was a Hillsboro farmer and married Abigail Parker. After her death he was again married, his second wife surviving him for some time. Her death occurred in Lowell Mass. Throughout his entire life

Joseph H. Barber, who owns one of the finest stock farms in the county, located on sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, Brighton Township, was born in the Keystone State, his birth having occurred in Columbia County, June 23, 1825. The family was originally of Scotch origin, but in early Colonial days was established in America. Thomas Barber, father of our subject, was also born in Columbia County, and when he had attained to mature years wedded Miss Mary Henderson, a native of the same county, where they spent their entire lives, both passing away when past the age of

Erastus Bancroft. Many intelligent families whose culture and experience are a benefit to any community in which they may be called to live, are to be found in Macoupin County. Such people are in themselves an educative force, and help to form the standard to which those less favored in the better advantages may look. Among such we are pleased to mention the household of which our subject was the representative. His father was Timothy Bancroft, who was born in Worcester, Mass., and his mother, Mary Clark, of the same city. Timothy was a farmer by occupation and died in

Capt. Joseph F. Ballinger, now deceased, was born January 14, 1812, Garard County, Ky., and died at his home in Brighton, on the 16th of February, 1882. He was one of the leading citizens of the community and a man held in high esteem by all who knew him. In the State of his nativity he was reared to manhood, the days of his boyhood and youth being passed in the usual manner of farmer lads. During the summer season he worked upon the farm and in the winter he attended school. When twenty-seven years of age he left Kentucky

Wiley Ballard. The well-cultivated farm of one hundred and seventy acres which is part of section 27, North Otter Township, is owned by him of whom we write. Mr. Ballard is a Southerner by birth, his father being Lewis Ballard, who was a North Carolinian. His mother was Lucy (Pace) Ballard a native of Georgia. They were, however, among the early settlers of Greene county, where they both died. Our subject was born near Whitehall, Greene County, December 27, 1833. The father of our subject was a farmer and on his place the son was reared and remained until he

Richard Ball, a member of the County Board of Supervisors, in which he represents Virden Township, is a man who has not only been strikingly successful in business, but has also made good use of the property which he has been so fortunate to acquire. He was born in Braconshire, Wales, December 18, 1831, and was one of the children of Richard and Maria (Evans) Ball. For further minutiae in regard to the personal history of this family, the reader will be pleased to read the biography of Henry Ball, which appears on another page of this work. After receiving

Henry Ball, an extensive and successful farmer and stock-raiser of Girard Township, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, September 25, 1844. His father Richard Ball, was born on the Yatt farm, near Old Radnor, Radnorshire, Wales. His father, William, was born in Herefordshire, England. The grandfather was for many years a farmer, but in his later years opened a limestone quarry, and engaged in burning lime in Radnorshire, Wales, lime being extensively used as a fertilizer in Wales. The father of our subject was reared in his native land and becoming a veterinary surgeon, practiced in Breconshire and adjoining counties.

Jerome B. Baldwin, a resident of the village of Virden, is classed among the wise-awake and prosperous farmers who are upholding the great agricultural interests of this county, and are thus closely associated with its progress and material welfare. He was born April 22, 1843, on a farm near Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Ind. He is a son of the late William C. Baldwin, who was a native of Butler County, Ohio, coming of the old pioneer stock of that State, and his parents are also thought to have been natives of Butler County. The father of our subject was reared

Henry Baker is one of the leading and most successful English-American farmers and stock raisers of Brighton Township, where he owns a very beautiful farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is highly improved, and where he has a beautiful residence that is conspicuous for its completeness of finish and detail. There are also fine barns and outbuildings, which have been erected by himself, for this has been his home since 1860. he has besides some good land in Bunker Hill Township. Mr. Baker’s advent to this county was made in 1856. He lived for one year