J. D. Wagner, of Gillespie township, was born in Madison
county, October 29, 1814, near Upper Alton. He descended from the thrifty German
settlers of Pennsylvania on the father's side and from the pioneers of Tennessee
on the mother's.
His father moved to this county in March of 1823, and
settled on what was afterward known as Wagner's Prairie, two miles north of
Plainview on the farm since owned by Uncle Jimmie Witt. This section of the
county was then an almost unbroken wilderness and the only settlers in that
neighborhood were James Grey and his son-in-law John Hilyard from whom the
township take its name. The Thomas family, father and son, W. A., came the next
year. Pleasant Lemary, the father of J. C. and James Lemary was living on what
was then known as Lemary's Branch. He was a man of sterling worth and has left
the imprint of his character on his many descendants.
To tell anything
near the truth as to the state of the country at that time would only gain, for
the writer, a reputation for exaggeration that he does not wish to possess. The
original settlers of the soil had been gone but a few years. Herds of wild deer
roamed the prairies at will and droves of wolves kept the early settler on his
guard to protect his young stock. Game of all kind was abundant and hunting was
not only an amusement but a means of obtaining a living.
Alton was the
nearest market and Carlinville the post office. Mr. Wagner was married to
Lucinda McDonald near where Fosterburg is now, August 22d, 1834, and entered
part of the Sam Welch farm near Plainview. He went to Alton and bought his
kitchen furniture consisting of a pot and skillet and carried them home, then
went to the forest and hewed out a puncheon for a table. Five children came to
add interest to this new home, William and John now living near their father;
Mrs. Neely who lives east of Carlinville; Mrs. Dan Adams and Mrs. John Lilly
both living in Montgomery county. His first wife died in 1849, and Mr. Wagner
moved to Spanish Needle prairie and married for his second wife Mrs. Ginsy
Huddleston and bought the farm owned by James Wheeler where August Perrottet now
lives. In 1864 he bought the place where he now lives on the south edge of
Spanish Needle Prairie.
The first mill that he remembers was an old tread
mill on Weatherford's prairie east of Carlinville. The next was a water mill on
the Macoupin, owned by John Harris who was a state senator, perhaps one of the
first.
The first election he attended was held in Carlinville, and Bill
Coop, son of the first settler of this county, and Jef. Weatherford were
candidates for sheriff. Whiskey was passed out to the crowd in buckets and was
free.
Mr. Wagner related an anecdote of John Coop, another son of the
first settler, which illustrates the spirit of the times. Coop was on a visit to
friends in Madison who were fortunate enough to have apples, something unknown
in Macoupin. The kind hospitality of that day required that John should take
some apples home to his folks, but he had nothing to carry them in. Not
discouraged by this fact, he tied a string around each ankle of his leather
pants, filled them with apples, then swung them across his horse and set out for
his home, twenty-six miles distance. A ride over the same road in that costume
would attract some attention in this day.
Mr. Wagner cast his first vote
for Van Buren in 1836 and has been a steadfast democrat ever since, voting the
ticket without a scratch except in two instances when he voted for personal
friends on the opposition ticket. In this as in everything else he has followed
the dictates of conscience and pursuing this line has won for him a reputation
of uprightness and honesty that is second to none.
Contributed by Sue McMurry, extracted from The Macoupin Enquirer, April 21, 1886
Macoupin County ILGenWeb Copyright
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