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African-American Biographies

Select Name Benjamin Allen Peter Baker Florence Barbour Andrew Martin Van Buren Bell Lewis Bradshaw Richard Carter Amanda Kitchen Chavers Rev. Henry Depugh Jane Durham Thomas Eustace Archibald Ford Thomas Franklin Sandy Freeman Arasmus Green Jane Griswold Jennie Hensley Andrew Jackson Hindman Henry B. Hunter Jarret Andrew Johnson William "Scotch" Johnston Reuben Judy Isaac H. Kelly Rev. George Kimball Henry Martin Lewis Martin Anderson Riley Carrie Samuels George Lincoln Samuels Sr George Lincoln Samuels Jr Doc Shannon Benjamin Skinner Stephen Stewart Mary E. Wells Albert Williams Celia Williams Chloe Wilson William Wilson William "Buck" Wilson  

ALLEN, BENJAMIN/Source: Alton Telegraph, November 14, 1878
Freed from Slavery at Age 100
(date of death unknown)
Benjamin Allen, a colored resident of Alton who has been mentioned in the Telegraph as voting at the late election, and who is supposed to be 111 years old, is a member of one of the “First families of Virginia,” as he was a slave formerly owned by William Allegre of that State. He was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, lived there until quite an old man, and then removed with his master’s family to Franklin County, Missouri, where he resided until after the war broke out. He was a man grown, when his first mistress, the wife of William Allegre, was born. After he came to Missouri, by the death of his original owned, he became the property of John Haynes, who was a strong rebel, though he did not join the army, rather inclining to bushwhacking.

Benjamin Allen was of such a venerable age, that for years before the Civil War, he was considered of but little service as a laborer, and was assigned light tasks. The advance of the Union forces into Missouri freed him, among thousands of others, and at the age of almost one hundred years, he stood relieved from shackles, “redeemed, regenerated, disenthralled by the genius of” American emancipation. He came to Alton during the second or third year of the war, and has resided while here with his nephew, William Walker, who kindly attends to the wants of the centenarian. The old man is rather feeble, but his mind is active and his memory of past events quite good. Of course, there is some question as to the exact number of his years, but from the best evidence procurable, he has reached the patriarchal age given above. He voted at the last election with the men through whose efforts he became a man, not a chattel, the Republican Party.

 

BAKER, PETER/Source: Alton Telegraph, February 19, 1880
Former Slave
We regret to learn of the death of Peter Baker of Wood River Township, a much-esteemed colored resident of this county, who had lived in this vicinity forty years, and who died Monday morning at the age of seventy. “Uncle Peter,” as he was generally called, was straight-forward, upright, and honest in his dealings, thoroughly trustworthy, and ever took a prominent part in all measures calculated to advance the interests of his race. He knew something by experience of the yoke of bondage, having been a slave in his earlier years. The funeral took place this afternoon, and the remains were interred in deceased’s family burying ground at Rocky Fork, beyond North Alton.

 

BARBOUR, FLORENCE A./Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July 8, 1918
Lovejoy School Principal
Miss Florence A. Barbour, principal at Lovejoy School since that school was opened, died in a hospital in East St. Louis Saturday, while undergoing a surgical operation to remove a goiter in her neck which had rendered her incapable of attending to her school duties. Miss Barbour was one of the best known colored women in Alton. She was a highly successful instructor in the public schools. When the school board opened the two colored schools, Lovejoy and Douglas, Miss Florence Barbour was selected as principal of one and her sister as teacher of the other. Her move was at first a very unpopular one with people of her own race, but later they became reconciled to it and they afterward approved heartily the plan that had been adopted. So valuable were the services of Miss Barbour considered, the school board made special provision for her during the time of her long illness, though it was known that she would probably not be able to teach school again. She leaves three sisters, a niece and a large number of friends. The members of the school board will probably have much difficulty in finding anyone who can discharge the duties of the position she held as efficiently and as satisfactorily as she did. The funeral will be held Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock from the family home, 1819 Maple Street. [Burial was in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.]

 

BELL, ANDREW MARTIN VAN BUREN/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 31, 1902
Old Cobbler Dies on His Work Bench
Andrew Martin Van Buren Bell, an old colored shoe maker and cobbler, was found dead on his work bench in his little shop at 1006 Common Street, at noon Friday. Bell was a well known character in the neighborhood where he had lived a number of years. He had lived alone working at his trade of cobbling, which served with a small pension to keep him comfortably. The last few days he had been complaining of being ill, but the people who visited his shop to have work done thought nothing of his complaints and paid no attention to him. Friday afternoon, when a neighbor visited the shop, he found the door locked. Officer Parker and B. C. Few broke open the door to the house when informed that the door had not been open all morning. Bell was found lying over his work bench, cold in death, where he laid down to sleep on Thursday night. Deputy Coroner Streeper was notified of Bell's death and will hold an inquest this evening. [Burial was in Oakwood Cemetery]

 

BRADSHAW, LEWIS
Lewis Bradshaw was an African-American who lived in Alton. He was known as a hardworking, kind old man, but didn’t have much to call his own. He knew the Bible by heart, and he often talked of the certainty of future rewards and punishments according to their deeds. His home was near an old quarry in Alton, and was made of two large piano boxes – one which he slept in, and other he used as a kitchen where he cooked him meals. There he lived with his two dogs – one of which was a descendant of a dog who saved his life.

In June 1906, it was reported in the Alton Telegraph that Bradshaw was arrested for keeping two dogs without a license. During this time period, Alton was having a difficult time with dogs running loose in the community biting people, and the city officials enacted laws, such as licensing, to curb the problem. He either had to pay the fee for a license (which he didn’t have), or his dogs would be put to death. Bradshaw pleaded with the Chief of Police to have his animals spared, and finally won over the police officer and Magistrate Rose. They agreed to let him go, on condition he would take his dogs outside of the city limits and keep them away from town. Bradshaw’s friend, Charley Wood, loaded the makeshift home into his wagon, and together they located it near the water works pumping station up the river. Bradshaw stated he was comfortable and happy in the little house he made of the two large piano boxes, but he was unaware that John W. Tonsor of Alton paid the $2 for the license fee for Bradshaw’s dogs, so they wouldn’t have to leave town.

In August 1906, during a time of intense heat, Bradshaw was found lying in a clump of weeds, suffering from heat exhaustion. Dr. Squire was called, and the doctor attempted to take him to the hospital. Bradshaw asked if his dogs (now numbering seven) could go with him, but the answer was no, so he refused to go to the hospital. The water works crew gave him assistance, and after the doctor’s visit, said they would give him his medicine. When carried to the water works pumphouse, the seven dogs followed, and when they laid Bradshaw down, the dogs laid on top of him. When given something to eat and drink, he took a few bites and laid the remainder down beside him, telling his dogs not to touch it. Although hungry themselves, they did not eat a mouthful of the food that belonged to their master. There they faithfully waited for several days until unconscious from exhaustion and no longer able to object to being separated from his faithful pets, Bradshaw was picked up and moved to the hospital in an ambulance. After a few days, Bradshaw’s health improved and he left the hospital. He wanted to get home, and was anxious about his dogs being alone.

In January 1907, Bradshaw, now at the age of 76 years, complained to the police of the systematic larceny of his possessions from his “home.” He had to purchase a “strong lock” for his home, after people began stealing household furnishings until the house was stripped so bare, he had to go to a neighbor’s home to spend the night. Finally, one Saturday night while he was away, someone stole his piano box home and carried it away. He earned enough money to purchase a tent, but when he returned one night, it too was gone.

Bradshaw was able to get enough money to purchase an old houseboat. He drifted down river with his dogs to Kentucky to visit his old home there. But times had changed, and his former friends were no longer there. He decided to walk back to Alton, sawing wood along the way to make expense money. He slept out every night, building a campfire when the air was too cold to suit him. He arrived in Alton in fairly good health, and was accompanied by three of his faithful dogs. Even considering his age, he had no difficulty in remembering what he heard or what was read to him, and was very glad to have someone read the current news from the newspaper. When Mr. C. Young in Richview, Illinois, read in the newspaper about Bradshaw’s travels, he sent word to Alton, asking for Bradshaw’s picture. Mr. Tonsor arranged for Bradshaw to have his picture taken with his dogs and sent the photo to Young.

In 1908, Bradshaw announced that he was going to leave Alton with his dogs, and go back to Kentucky, his former home. He had been living outside mostly, and found it disagreeable. After this time period, Bradshaw was never in the newspapers again. It is assumed he left for Kentucky, and never returned.

 

CARTER, RICHARD
Former Slave Re-Marries
Source: Utica, New York Morning Herald, May 28, 1896
At Alton, Illinois, on May 25, Richard Carter and his wife Nellie went through a marriage ceremony for the third time with no divorce intervening. Carter is a colored man, and was married in slavery times. After the war he was legally married In Virginia, but soon after the courthouse was destroyed, together with the record of his marriage. In the meantime, he had lost his marriage certificate, and has since depended on the slave marriage, of which he had proof. When the supreme court decided adversely to slave marriages, Carter decided he would again go through a ceremony, so his children would be sure to inherit the competency he has saved. Carter is of mixed race.

 

CHAVERS, AMANDA KITCHEN
A Slave Who Obtained Her Freedom in Alton - 1853
In January 1853, Amanda Kitchen, a young woman of mixed race, was arrested in Alton. She had previously been a slave, owned by a Mr. Leach in Memphis, Tennessee. In the early part of 1852, she was brought to Alton by the son of Mr. Leach, after some kind of a family difficulty. In Alton, the son gave her what they thought was her freedom. She lived in Alton quietly, and married a young man named Chavers. It became known in Memphis where Amanda was, and two slave traders by the name of McCullum went to Mr. Leach in Memphis, and purchased his claim to her. They traveled to Alton and brought their case before the U.S. Commissioner, Mr. Davis. Amanda was arrested, and a crowd of citizens attended her hearing. The Commissioner returned Amanda to her masters. Word went out through the Alton community, and there was outrage. An effort was made by the Chavers family to secure her freedom. Citizens of all colors contributed to Amanda’s fund, and the sum of $1,200 was raised. The money was paid to the slave traders, and she was restored to her husband and friends. On January 24, 1853, a meeting at the African-American Baptist Church in Alton was held, with Rev. W. Brooner called to the chair. It was decided that an article would be placed in the Alton newspapers, thanking their “white friends” for the assistance in obtaining Amanda’s freedom.

 

DEPUGH, HENRY (REV.)/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, Nov. 6, 1901
Preacher at Rocky Fork Where Son Was Murdered
Rev. Henry Depugh, late of Upper Alton, died in Chicago at the home of his son, Baker Depugh, November 4, at 2:40 o'clock. He will be buried at Rocky Fork in Godfrey Township. He was 82 years of age, having lived over 40 years in this vicinity. His wife has been stricken with paralysis and cannot recover. As an illustration of the noble character of the man, it is recalled that when Felix Henry, the murderer of his son, was about to be executed, Rev. Mr. Depugh mounted the scaffold and taking the murderer by the hand, he freely forgave him for the crime, and said he hoped God would do the same. Henry had asked forgiveness of the father of his victim, and due appreciation of the spirit that prompted the father to grant the forgiveness can be gained, when it is recalled that the murder was a most atrocious one, and was prompted by purely mercenary motives. The funeral will take place tomorrow from the colored M. E. Church at 2 o'clock. [Interment was at Rocky Fork Cemetery]

In 1883, Henry Depugh, son of Rev. Henry Depugh Sr., and his cousin, Henry Ross, were murdered in their home in Rocky Fork, Godfrey Township. After the investigation, it was found that William Felix Henry murdered them both. Rev. Depugh visited Felix in the jail, and forgave him for the murderous act. To read more on the story, please click here.

 

DURHAM, JANE/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September 20, 1921
Born a Slave in Virginia
Jane Durham, an aged negro woman whose family claim she had passed her century mark by eleven years, died this morning from old age at her home, 105 West Ninth Street. It was said that she was born in 1810, a slave on a plantation in Virginia, afterward West Virginia. She leaves two daughters, one of them 89 years of age and the other 82. The deceased lived with the 82-year-old daughter, Martha Jackson, and the other daughter, Betty Hall, lives at Bloomington. The two daughters appear to be very old. Members of the family say that there were five generations living in the family, and that the death of this aged woman leaves only four. The Telegraph's authority for the age of the woman said that she frequently referred to having seen "the stars fall," an event that happened back early in the 1830s, when there was a remarkable display of "shooting stars," and many an aged negro, whose age was not kept accurately and whose knowledge of figures were insufficient to enable them to keep a close track of their ages, give a clue as to how old they are. Those who knew the deceased testify that she had the appearance of great age and many of them readily credit the claim that she had passed the century mark. She came here after she was freed from slavery. All her years as a slave she had lived on one place, the property of one family.

NOTES:
Jane Durham was listed in the 1910 census as being 95 years of age, born in Virginia, and living on State Street in Alton. Of course, census records can be wrong.

 

EUSTACE, THOMAS
The Story of Hominy Tom
Thomas Eustace, or “Hominy Tom,” was a kind, gentle, old African-American, who went from house to house in Alton selling homemade lye hominy, and captivating his customers and children by the use of "big words." He was once a slave, and by his labor purchased his freedom and that of his wife. It was said he could inject more uncommonly used words into a three-minute sales talk than a Philadelphia lawyer could put into a 10,000-word brief. After he made the sale, the housewife didn't know if she paid for the hominy or for his conversation - in either case, she had not been cheated. Tom would enter a front gate, bucket in hand, and make his way to the back door of the house. He and his regular customers understood one another. The trip from the front gate to the back door was always slow enough to give the housewife ample time to acquire a nickel or dime from the glass tumbler on the top shelf of the cupboard, and place it in her apron pocket. And then the conversation began. As the old man lowered the bucket of hominy in his right hand to the ground, his hat would come off in his left. There would follow the four and five syllable words from Tom, suggesting to the customer that they would like to buy some of his hominy. Conspicuously clutching the coin in her apron pocket, the woman at the door might inform Tom that neither she nor her family ever ate hominy. But Tom knew better. Last week she had taken ten cent's worth from him, and would do so again this week, after Tom had spoken a sufficient number of his choicest words. Tom would talk until the housewife would produce a dish into which he dipped a tin cup full of hominy. The same process would be repeated at the next house.

Hominy Tom lived in a log cabin on top of a hill on Alby Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets. It was there he manufactured the product from which he derived the fore part of his name. The hominy was made by soaking the grains of corn in lye water, to swell them and crack the hulls. Tom made the lye himself from wood ashes. After the hulls had come off and floated to the surface, nothing remained to be done except washing the finished product.

Hominy Tom became a local institution, as much a part of home to those early inhabitants of the town as were the hills over which he carried his bucket of hominy. He died in the late 1850s and was buried in Alton City Cemetery. A. G. Woford passed by "Hominy's" house in going from his home to his business place. He noticed that he had not seen smoke coming from the chimney for a day or two. Mr. Wolford forced the door in, and found poor "Old Hominy Tom" dead in his bed, frozen stiff. It was supposed he died from natural causes, and that the body was frozen after death, as the mercury had been as low as 25 to 30 below zero about the time of "Hominy's" death. His customers, who had become his friends, erected a marble headstone. In the northern portion of Alton City Cemetery, in that part known as the "old cemetery," stood an old, weather-worn tombstone, on which is carved a brief legend that was so worn by the action of the elements that it was scarcely legible in 1905, except if you stood at an angle, which would throw the letters in shadow. It read, “Erected by the Citizens of Alton to the Memory of Poor Old Hominy Tom.” I have no idea if the old tombstone still stands. The tombstone once stood next to Josephine Washington gravesite. She died in 1857.

 

FORD, ARCHIBALD "ARCHY"/Source: Alton Telegraph, June 27, 1878
Murdered in Cold Blood
A fearful occurrence took place just beyond the eastern limits of Alton, near what is known as the Barler place, about 4:30 or 5 o’clock yesterday evening, that resulted in the almost instantaneous death of Archibald Ford, a young, hard-working, inoffensive colored resident of Alton, at the hands of a stranger who was passing through the place. It appears that the deceased and a colored companion had been out harvesting, and while coming to town, stopped below the city where the stranger who committed the murder was trading horses and selling cheap watches. The stranger had a light spring wagon with a large bay mare attached. He passed through the city in the afternoon with this rig, with another animal leading behind. This animal he disposed of just before the shooting. In the course of a conversation between the stranger, deceased, and other bystanders, disparaging remarks were made about the horse attached to the wagon, and deceased said that he knew a blind horse that could pull more than this animal. Several words passed with but little apparent excitement, the parties standing in the main road at the place mentioned above.

One of the witnesses heard the stranger say something about jumping, when deceased remarked, “You can’t jump me.” He had a pencil in his hand, and as he said this, he slipped it into his pocket, the stranger watched him closely, at which Ford said, “I have no weapon.” The stranger then asked deceased to step to one side. They went around the wagon, and as they did so, the trader drew a revolver, at which the unfortunate colored man started to run. The pistol was fired when he was about 20 yards from the man who held the weapon, the aim was accurate, the bullet went in at the back of the fleeing man, passing through his body and coming out at the upper part of the left breast, evidently passing through the heart in its course. Ford ran something near twenty yards after receiving the bullet, and then fell exclaiming, “My Lord,” three times. He breathed his last in about five minutes after falling. The stranger who committed the crime manifested great coolness and indifference in the matter, and after glancing at the body of his victim as he lay in the road bathed in blood, said, “that’s the way I serve n------,” or words to that effect. He was accompanied by a boy, supposed to be his child, about six years old. As the trader called his victim to one side the boy cried to his father, “O papa, papa,” as though anticipating some terrible deed.

Some gentlemen in Alton have seen this stranger several times as he has passed through here in the last five or six years, and regard him as a desperate character who holds human life at a very cheap rate. One gentleman understood that he lived in Christian County, but his name could not be learned. As soon as the news was heard, several persons started after the assassin, but he had got so much the start, and hid his track so well, that he has not yet been caught. He passed through Edwardsville about eight o’clock last evening, the boy still with him, but shortly after leaving that place, all traces were lost.

Coroner Youree arrived in town this morning, and after impanneling a jury, proceeded to the residence of Mrs. Washington, a cousin of the deceased, where the body had been removed and where the inquest was held. This place is about a quarter of a mile northwest of the cemetery, in the part of the city called “Mexico.”

Henry Fizer was the first witness examined, and testified to most of the points given above. He also stated that immediately after the shooting, the murderer put his boy into the wagon, got in himself, and rove off rapidly to the east, appearing to be somewhat under the influence of liquor. Witness immediately went to Upper Alton and notified a Constable of the occurrence.

John W. Dobbs, who also witnessed the shooting, gave evidence to the same effect. He said that he had no idea that anything serious was intended, supposing from the expressions used, that the parties were merely trying the “bluff” game. Deceased lived about five minutes after falling, but merely twitched his limbs a little and uttered no words but those recorded above. The murderer was a small man, with dark complexion, much tanned from exposure to the sun, sandy whiskers and mustache. He was joined just before the shooting by a man who appeared to be on acquaintances, and who followed the wagon on foot as it was driven off.

After hearing the evidence, the jury found that deceased came by his death by a gunshot wound, the ball entering the back and coming out at the upper side of the left breast. And they further found that the ball was fired from a pistol held in the hand of a man whose name is unknown to the jury, Tuesday afternoon, June 25, in Wood River Township, Madison County.

Immediately after hearing of the affair, Sheriff Cooper sent telegrams to the various places, in an eastern direction, through which it is supposed the murderer might take his way. A number of men are in pursuit, and certainly the assassin will soon be apprehended. Sheriff Cooper offered $100 reward on his own responsibility, and no doubt this amount will be largely increased.

NOTES:
The murderer, Mr. J. W. Clark, was arrested near Hamel, Illinois. He was jailed in Alton, along with his son, who refused to be seperated from him. Following his trial, Clark was sentenced to life in prison. The boy lived with the jailer's family for a time.

 

FRANKLIN, THOMAS
Former Slave
Still Actively Working at Age 103
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 23, 1908
Tom Franklin, an aged negro who is said to be over 100 years of age, has worked every day of his life, he says, and will not stop working. He does odd jobs and chores such as cleaning yards and chopping wood. He was a worker in tobacco for many years of his life, even when a slave before the war, and holds the unique record of having never at any time tasted the weed. He has a family of several children who also have children. He says that he has never been sick a day in his life. 

 

FREEMAN, SANDY
Former Slave; Civil War Veteran; Rocky Fork Farmer
Sandy Freeman was born in Virginia, May 23, 1841 (the 1900 census listed him as born in May 1836 in Missouri; his military records list his birth date as 1835). He was a slave, and later was either sold or the family moved to the Mayes farm near Gray Summit, Missouri. His mother was a slave, and his father was the slave owner. Sandy’s death record has Charles Gillham listed as father. While in Missouri, Sandy became acquainted with a slave girl on a nearby farm, named Lucy. She was born May 23, 1844, and was also brought to Missouri from Virginia.

Sandy was a hard worker and an excellent hunter. He provided meat for his father’s family and his own. During the Civil War, he served with the 49th Colored Infantry, 1863-1865. Following the Civil War, Sandy’s father gave him a rifle, a skiff boat, and provisions, and advised him to go to Illinois, which was a free State. Sandy invited Lucy to go with him. They found their way to the Mississippi River, then traveled upriver near Alton. They made their way to Rocky Fork in Godfrey Township, where he had heard former slaves could find a home and freedom. He took on the last name of Freeman, because he was now a free man.

Sandy and Lucy married, and he was able to work and save money for their future. On August 16, 1869, Sandy bought a four-acre tract of land from Solomon and Elizabeth Johnson. The land was on the north side of Riehl Lane, extending from the east line of Jersey County. Sandy worked hard and farmed his land, while his family begin to grow. He and Lucy had the following children: Lillian “Lilley” M. Freeman Perry (who became a nurse in St. Louis); Lincoln A. Freeman, Elizabeth M. Freeman Ramirez; Unknown Freeman Walters, and Mathie Williams. The Riehl and Freeman family lived and worked together. Their children attended school together, and the families often broke bread and celebrated events together.

Sandy, how highly respected, continued being known for his hunting skills and his gardening abilities. He was reported in the newspaper as shooting a wolf and foxes, which were a nuisance to farmers. He grew many vegetables, and sold them for profit. In 1903, he purchased a 40-acre farm near Melville from John Levi for $1,700. This farm was located on the south side of Rt. 3, west of Melville, on Section 30 of Godfrey Township.

On January 25, 1912, it was reported that Myrtle Walters, Sandy & Lucy Freeman’s granddaughter, died at the age of 18 years. Her mother died when she was 3 years old, and the grandparents had raised her.

On April 23, 1920, Sandy Freeman passed away on his farm near Melville. The funeral was large with many friends and acquaintances attending. He was buried in the Rocky Fork Cemetery. When his will was probated at Edwardsville, his estate was estimated to be worth $200 personal, and $3,000 in real estate. His widow, Lucy, was given the whole estate for her life. At her death, the 60 acres farm on Grafton Road was to be given to his son, Lincoln Freeman, on condition he paid to each of his sisters $500.

 

GALLOWAY, MARY/Source: Alton Telegraph, March 8, 1894
Former Slaver Dies at 110 Years Old
Mrs. Mary Galloway, whose 110th birthday anniversary was recently celebrated, died Friday evening at the home of her son, Madison, on Main Street. Mrs. Galloway was a slave, and eleven of her thirteen children were sold into slavery also, and she never could ascertain their whereabouts. Old age and its infirmities took her off, and she passed away quietly and peacefully, with a firm belief that “Old Master,” and all of her loved ones, would meet and welcome her on the other shore.

 

GREEN, ARASMUS
Civil War Veteran; Co-Founder of Rocky Fork Church
Arasmus Green (also spelled Erasmus) was born to a slave woman. He was freed, and served in the Civil War in the U.S. Colored Infantry from 1863-1865. Upon returning home to the Rocky Fork area in Godfrey Township, he and his fellow war veteran friend, Andrew "Jackson" Hindman, built the Rocky Fork AME Church in 1863. Arasmus became an ordained preacher. He married Eliza “Mary” Jane Duncan (1841-1927), a native of Tennessee. Their children were Joseph Green, born July 28, 1868 in Godfrey Township, and married in 1893 to Mary Perry; Mary Green Hindman; and Florence Green Cannon.

Rev. Arasmus Green and Jackson Hindman became part of the Underground Railroad, helping former slaves who fled captivity and made their way north to the Alton area. They were given a place to stay, along with supplies, and many made their way further north to Chicago or Canada.

Arasmus received a pension from the U.S. government due to disabilities incurred during his military service in the Civil War. He was totally blind in one eye, and couldn’t see much with the other. In 1890, he received $3,000 in back pension. He died January 25, 1907, at the age of 66 years, and is buried in the Rocky Fork Cemetery. After his death, his wife continued receiving a pension from the U.S. government.

 

GRISWOLD, JANE
Former Slave
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 16, 1900
Upper Alton News - The funeral of an aged colored woman known as Aunt Jane Griswold will be held at 2 o'clock in the Baptist Church at Salu tomorrow. Mrs. Griswold was past eighty years of age and as may be said of most of the older residents of Salu belonging to the negro race, she was at one time a slave. She was the mother of the blind, colored minister, Mr. Griswold.

 

HENSLEY, JENNIE/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 29, 1905
Body of Woman Who Died in Poorhouse to be Moved to Alton
The remains of "Aunty" Jennie Hensley, who died at the poorhouse a month ago leaving abundant finance to give her a good funeral and to reimburse her friends for any outlay they may have made for her, will be brought to Alton tomorrow and buried in City Cemetery beside the body of her husband, Peter Hensley. "Aunty" Hensley was always careful to keep up her insurance so she would not be buried like a pauper, and she said she wished that at least $100 be spent on her funeral. She stinted herself to gratify this one vanity of hers, that she be given a proper funeral when she died. Unfortunately she died in the poorhouse without the poor farm officials knowing she had made arrangements for her burial, and she was interred as a pauper. Mr. W. H. Bauer will go to Edwardsville tonight and will disinter the body, bring it to Alton in a nice casket, and lay it away in City Cemetery tomorrow morning. Cornelius Natt will have charge of the funeral, as administrator of Aunty Hensley's estate.

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 30, 1905
Mr. W. H. Bauer went to Edwardsville last evening, disinterred the remains of "Aunty" Jennie Hensley, and brought them here in a metallic casket. The remains were interred in City Cemetery at midnight by the undertaker, beside the body of her husband. The colored woman weighed 315 pounds at the time of her death.

 

HINDMAN, ANDREW JACKSON
Co-Founder of Rocky Form A.M.E. Church
Civil War Veteran
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 15, 1906
Andrew Jackson Hindman, colored, co-founder of the Rocky Fork A. M. E. Church, died at 9 o'clock Thursday night after a long illness, aged 68 [born about 1838]. He was a veteran of the Civil War. The A. M. E. Church at Rocky Fork was founded in 1862, and immediately afterward Hindman enlisted in the Union army and served three years. He returned to Rocky Fork after the war and lived there ever since, respected by all who knew him. He leaves three sons (one was Andrew Jackson Hindman Jr.) and four daughters. The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon from the Rocky Fork church.

NOTES:
Known also as Jackson Hindman, Andrew Jackson Hindman, a former slave, was born about 1838. He made his way to the Rocky Fork area of Godfrey Township, and married Lucinda Bell. He and Rev. Erasmus Green, a Methodist minister, organized the Rocky Fork Methodist Church in 1862. The original members were Lundun Parks, Reuben Jacobs, Carter Russell, Jacob Galloway, George North, George Fox, Robert Kinney, John Conway, Arthur Cannon, Lamuel Welsch, Benton Jones, Andrew Dickison, and John Davidson. Listed as Deaconesses were Sisters Berry Thompson, Jane Kenny, Jane Williams, Marjorie Henderson, and Eliza Daugherty. The church meetings were conducted on a “camp ground.” When Rocky Fork Methodist Church was erected, it was built on land deeded for $1 by Lundun and Jane Parks.

The original land owners of the Rocky Fork area were the Don Alonzo Spalding and Andrew T. Hawley families. They set up a system of selling and working the land to former slaves, and soon Rocky Fork was dotted with log cabins. The former slaves were in the Rocky Fork area as early as 1816, and they found nearby Alton and North Alton accepting of their community.

In 1863, both Rev. Green and Andrew J. Hindman joined the Union Army, and took up arms in the battle between the North and South, in Company B, 56th U. S. Colored Infantry Regiment, which was organized in St. Louis in August 1863. Both men returned to Rocky Fork after the war. One of Hindman’s sons, Andrew Jackson Hindman Jr., died in 1930 in Alton. He was buried in the Rocky Fork Cemetery, along with his father. [The spelling of his name is sometimes seen as Hyndman.]

 

HUNTER, HENRY B./Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July 10, 1936
Prominent Alton African-American
Worked 62 Years at Mill in Alton
Founder of “Hunter’s Band” and Alton Republican Club
Henry B. Hunter was born February 18, 1856, in Washington, Missouri [Telegraph states his birth year as 1857]. His parents had been slaves. After the death of his father, Henry and his mother came to Alton, Illinois. He was sheltered on the Breckenridge farm, owned by a branch of an old Kentucky family. The family educated him and taught him to love music. He learned to play several instruments, and in 1878 organized “Hunter’s Band,” which continued in existence for 25 years.

At the age of sixteen, Henry worked for Thomas Corbett in his brickyard in Alton. In 1873 he got a job working as a coal-passer for Farber & McPike, who owned a flour mill on Broadway in Alton. He received a promotion to fireman after six months on the job as coal-passer. Later, he was advanced to assistant engineer, and in later years held the title of engineer. The mill changed hands, and was renamed Stanard-Tilton Mill. Throughout the years, Henry was a faithful, hard worker. He enjoyed the work in the engine room of the mill until his death in 1936, at the age of 79 years.

Henry Hunter was a leader among the African-American residents in Alton, and was a charter member of the African-American chapter of the Odd Fellows Lodge, organized in East St. Louis. The lodge was later revised into the United Brothers of Friendship, which met many years in its hall on Easton Street, until it was disbanded in 1935 after its membership was depleted. Then the Odd Fellows Lodge was reorganized in 1936, and Hunter was elected its noble grand. In 1881, he organized the Alton Republican Club (African-American), and for 40 years was president of that organization. Henry Hunter, George W. Cross, and William Carter were selected as delegates to attend the meeting of the State Republican League at Springfield, Illinois, on August 18, 1892.

Henry married Martha Unknown in 1878. His wife died in May 1922, leaving three children - a son who served in the Spanish-American War, and who died shortly after his return from the war; and two daughters, only one of whom was still living in 1936 – Lulu Mae Hunter. Another daughter, Minnie Hunter, taught at Lovejoy School in Alton. She died in 1935.

Henry was also a cornerstone of the Union Baptist Church in Alton, raising funds to keep the church going in hard times. He also conducted memorial services at the grave of Elijah P. Lovejoy from 1885 – 1936.

The Hunter Band which he organized was famous in southern Illinois, and marched in the old-time torchlight processions that marked political activities of a past generation.

Henry B. Hunter died on Thursday, July 9, 1936, in his home at 901 Gold Street in Alton. He had been ill only a few hours. He had worked his job at Standard-Tilton Milling Company on Wednesday, and went home complaining he was tired. He was attended by a doctor, and did not return to work on Thursday. Henry was 79 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in the Alton City Cemetery.

 

JARRET AND THE WOMAN WHO SAVED HIM
(Excerpt of "Talks with Old Settlers" by George T. Allen, M. D.)
Source: Alton Telegraph, December 31, 1874
"There were many noted fighting men about in those days. Does anyone remember James Henry? He was a shoemaker; but a stalwart, six-footer, who "neither feared God nor regarded man," when in his cups. Eventually he reformed and, for a time, was a leading man in the State, I have been told. James Henry was a Kentuckian and a very bitter pro-slavery man. During one of his quarterly sprees, he fancied that Jarret, the slave of a lawyer named Conway, had insulted him. Henry demanded of Conway permission to punish Jarret. Conway's cowardice led him to grant the favor. Informed of this, Jarret hid away in the hay in my father's stable. I knew this and secretly fed and watered the poor man, but a drunken hostler [man who tends to the horses], yet living, and whose name I can give, accidentally found Jarret, and to flatter Jim Henry, reported the fact to the desperate son of Southern chivalry. Jim Henry then provided himself with five hickory whips, fresh from the timber, a rope, his sword, his dagger - a regular bowie knife - and a pistol. He then sought and found Jarret, tied him, brought him out, stripped him of all clothing excepting his pants, and fastened him to the end of a horse-rack, on the public street, so as to compel him to stand on his toes. Henry laid his sword and pistol on the horse-block some three feet from his victim, and with the dagger in his left hand and a hickory in his right, commenced the castigation.

It was "court week" and there seemed to me - a little boy then - five hundred men in town and all present and looking on! Henry wore out two or three, I think three, hickory gads on Jarret's bare back. With nearly every blow the blood ran. The poor negro would sometimes draw up and hang upon the rope and beg for mercy. Then Henry - the white brute - would draw the keen edge of his immense knife over the prisoner's naked abdomen and threaten to let out his bowels if he failed to stand it all, most manfully. Henry was a man of wonderful size and strength, and all knew him to be fearless and reckless. He dared any man to interfere and intimidated the Sheriff and constables and all the men present, with his sword, his dagger and his pistol.

If the man had been white, Henry would not have struck him the second blow and lived. The negro then had no rights the white man even pretended to regard. Just when the second or third whip had been used up, my mother, Sarah Townsend Allen, first heard the poor negro's cry and she went immediately to his rescue. She appealed to all the men present, but unheeded. Then she retired to her kitchen, armed herself with a formidable carving knife and immediately advanced upon the enemy. Henry did not see her until she had nearly touched the negro; when he suspended his blow, in astonishment, but with still a threatening gesture. She raised the knife, cut the rope and ordered the sufferer into her own kitchen, where she dressed his wounds most carefully, with her own hands. Henry, watching her as she retired, raised his hand with the dagger in it, as she disappeared, and turning to the crowd, said: "A woman might tie my hands, but let a man thus try to oppose my will," swinging his dagger threateningly at the men.

I may be like some of the men who were there that day, but my mother was a true heroine!"

NOTES:
George Townsend Allen, the young lad and author of this story, was a leading physician of Madison County, and was one of the first physicians in the village of Marine. His father, Rowland P. Allen, settled in Marine Township in the Spring of 1818. George T. Allen represented Madison County in the General Assembly in 1855, and served as a surgeon in the Army during the Civil War. He was later in charge of the U. S. Hospital in St. Louis for many years.

The heroine of this story was George’s mother, Sarah Townsend Allen. She was born April 5, 1789, and came with her husband and son (George) to the Marine settlement. When others coward under the brutality of the evil James Henry, she single-handedly stood up to him and stopped him from killing Jarret. Sarah died October 7, 1846 at the age of 57. Her son, George T. Allen, died September 5, 1876, at the age of 63. His father, Rowland P. Allen, died December 6, 1858, at the age of 73. All three are buried in the Marine Cemetery, St. Jacob, Illinois.

 

JOHNSON, ANDREW
Sold into Slavery by His Father
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, May 21, 1906
Andrew Johnson, a negro boy aged 13 years, arrived in Alton last night on the Spread Eagle from St. Louis, and says that he is waiting here for the Gaskill Carnival Company, which will be here next week. The boy is small for his age and is well educated, being able to read well. He is bright and very talkative. When taken to the police station he claimed that his home was in Georgia, but that his father sold him to the Gaskill Carnival Company for $1. The boy says that he is employed in doing the "basket" trick in the Gaskill shows. The boy crawls into a basket and lays very close around the outer edge of the inside of the basket, while a man passes a sword through the basket repeatedly, giving the impression the boy had disappeared. The Johnson boy said that he ran away from the Gaskill shows, but would join them again when they come to Alton.

 

JOHNSTON, WILLIAM “SCOTCH”/Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 10, 1885; Alton Telegraph
The Scotsman Who Buried Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy
At Alton, a few days ago, at an advanced age, died a colored man named William Johnston, who was something of an historical character. He was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland, and was a Freemason there. When a very young man he was body-servant to a Scotch nobleman, and in that capacity traveled extensively in Europe. He saw and heard Lord Byron make a speech in Aberdeen in acknowledgment of a reception given him when he succeeded to the title.

Johnston came to America more than fifty years ago, and worked at his trade as stone mason in St. Louis for some time. He laid the last stones on the tower of the old cathedral on Walnut Street, and used to say that when the work was done, Bishop Rosatti gave him a glass of wine and five dollars in gold. While walling a well in St. Louis, he was buried by the caving earth and released with difficulty after many hours interment, losing the sight of one eye by the terrible ordeal.

When Elijah P. Lovejoy was killed in Alton, in 1837, by a proslavery mob, Johnston was living there, and, without fee or reward, dug the grave of the first anti-slavery martyr. He performed on the same terms the same office twenty years later, when the remains were removed to another part of the Alton Cemetery. If all men did their duty as well as William Johnston did his, the world would be a much more desirable place to live in. [Burial was in the Alton City Cemetery.]

The “Scotch” Johnston Home in Alton
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 12, 1906
The league house, a brick structure on Weigler Street recently purchased by Messrs. Tonsor and Meyers, which is being wrecked to make room for a fine, modern flats building, was one of the sure enough landmarks of Alton. It was built in the woods far from other houses in 1845, and everything used in its construction was handmade. The brick is in good shape and can be used again, and while the handmade cedar shingles cannot be used again, they are sound as a dollar. When Contractor Schuelle began the work of wrecking the building, he found there was a double roof thereon, the original cedar shingle roof being a couple of feet below the more modern roof, which had been put on sometime later when an addition was built to the rear of the house. The builder and owner of the house was a colored man named Johnston, and he was considerable of a character himself. He was born in Scotland and was never a slave. He was a Free Mason, and one of the first in Alton it is said, and he was an educated, industrious, respected citizen.

 

JUDY, REUBEN “OLD RUBE”/Source: Alton Telegraph, July 24, 1884
Former Judy Slave Killed in Accident
About 9 o’clock Monday morning, “Old Rube,” a colored man who has long been engaged around the city gathering rags, old iron and paper, was the victim of a railway accident attended with fatal results. The old man, at the time mentioned, was on the Chicago & Alton main track on Piasa Street, near the freight depot, engaged in his usual occupation, when Engine No. 7, with a car attached, was backing down the track. Mr. John Dow, who was passing at the time, saw the danger to which the old man was exposed, and warned him, telling him to get off the track. For some reason he did not hear or heed the warning, and was thrown down and run over by the trucks of the car and tender, those on the engine not at the time being aware of his presence, hence no blame attached to them. Mr. Dow says when he called the second time, the old man, who was apparently searching for something between the rails, looked up, saw that the car was almost on him, caught hold of the bumper with one hand and tried in vain to save himself, still clinging to the sack used in his work. Both thighs and one foot were crushed to such an extent, that the poor victim breathed his last in a few minutes, having first been removed on a stretcher to a room of the depot. The old man had been complaining of illness, but a short time before the accident, and had been kindly furnished with some medicine by Mr. Joseph Crowe, who had frequently supplied his wants.

It is thought by those best qualified to judge that “Old Rube” was a centenarian. He had been a resident of Alton for 50 years, and was long a familiar object about the streets. It is said that he was a slave in the early part of the century, belonging to the Judy family, residing in the vicinity of Edwardsville. We are informed that the members of the family to which the old man formerly belonged, often desired to help him and offered to give him a home, but he preferred to depend on his own exertions. After a long and checkered life, a slave, freeman, and citizen of the republic, he rests at last.

Coroner Youree arrived on a Chicago & Alton engine, and proceeded to hold an inquest, Captain H. Brueggeman as foreman of the jury. The witnesses examined were engineer Price of No. 7, Charles Cheney, fireman, and Yard Master William White. The facts developed were as have already been stated. The verdict was to the effect that the deceased, Reuben Judy, came to his death by being run over by a Chicago & Alton railway car, attached to Engine No. 7. After the inquest, the remains were taken in charge by undertaker, W. L. Klunk, for the purpose of burial. [Burial was in the Alton City Cemetery.]

 

KELLY, ISAAC H.
Former Slave
Sub-Contractor on the North Star Line of the Underground Railroad
Isaac H. Kelly was born to slave parents on December 24, 1825, in Macon, Georgia. The Kelly family were slaves on the Thomas Cooper plantation. In 1845, the plantation owner died, leaving in his will provisions for sending Kelly and two other slaves to Liberia in West Africa. Cooper was a member of the Liberia Colonization Society, formed to free slaves and return them to their homeland. This idea was hotly contested by his three daughters and son, which resulted in the public sale of all the property belonging to Cooper. Mare A. Cooper, the son, was a noted politician and Congressman from Georgia. He bought Isaac Kelly, then 21 years of age, and two brothers named Jerry and Aleck Cooper. Later, Isaac would tell the story with his eyes filling with tears, of how he was put on the block and sold. Isaac and the two Cooper brothers were freed by Mare Cooper. He sent them north to Upper Alton, Illinois, where they would have a greater chance at freedom. Mr. Cooper appointed a guardian named Mr. Sherwood for the young men, but since Sherwood was out of town, Major Charles W. Hunter took charge of the men. They were welcomed and settled into homes. Isaac opened a barbershop with Mr. R. J. Robinson, next door to Moore’s Hotel in Upper Alton.

In 1850 Isaac Kelly moved his barbershop to Alton. In about 1855, he purchased a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor, at 304 Sixth Street, from Samuel Boone, where he lived for many years with his wife, Elizabeth Kelly, a native of Tennessee. They had at least four children, one of whom was Lucy Ann Kelly (1857-1879), who died from spinal meningitis at the age of 22 years. Mr. Kelly erected a story and a half clapboard house around the one-room cabin. He became a “sub-contractor” on the North Star Line of the Underground Railroad, possibly working with Major Charles W. Hunter who helped him get settled in Upper Alton, and who was also a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Perhaps Mr. Kelly assisted slaves by hiding them in his home or barbershop, and gave them provisions to make their way further north. Or perhaps he drove them further north in Major Hunter’s wagon or carriage, where the former slaves could find their way to freedom.

Mr. Kelly became a well-known and respected barber in Alton. Most of his customers were from the white community. His shop was considered one of the best in Alton. Kelly was a devoted member of the Union Baptist Church, where he was an officer for many years. He became a Grand Master of the Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masons. Kelly worked in his barbershop for the greater part of his ninety-five years, until he had to close because of health problems. He became confined to his bed for a year, and died in November 1920. He was buried in the Alton City Cemetery.

When the old Kelly home was being torn down in 1975 to make way for a parking lot, the one-room cabin was discovered inside the clapboard home. Alton preservationist Robert St. Peters purchased the old cabin and had it taken apart, piece by piece. He wrapped the wood in plastic, and stored it in his back yard. Tom Thompson of Grafton purchased the log cabin from St. Peters, and erected and restored the cabin near Grafton, where it still stands today.

 

KIMBALL, GEORGE (REVEREND)/Source: Alton Telegraph, March 7, 1878
Former Preacher; Minister
From Edwardsville - Elder George Kimball, colored, a Baptist Minister of the Gospel, died in Edwardsville in the 55th year of his age. The deceased was liberated from slavery by the Emancipation Proclamation, and for many years, even while in bondage, had been a preacher of the gospel. His death is sadly mourned by his congregation, widow, children, and friends.

 

MARTIN, HENRY "PRESS"/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April 4, 1910
Henry Martin, an Upper Alton negro, is the real iron man at the glass works. "Press," as he is generally known, has a record of doing more work than any other person in the city of Alton and vicinity. Eight hours a day is not in his schedule. He works double eight hours and then some. It is said on good authority that for years Martin has been holding two men's jobs at the glass works, and he gets paid every payday for working double time. He works night and day, and each working week he puts in eleven days, according to men who work with him.

"Press" starts in the morning at 7 o'clock, and works during the day shift, then he gets busy when the night shift starts to work and he works as long as the night shift does. He snatches a few minutes sleep as he can. When lunch time comes he eats a small lunch, then drops down to sleep. He can go to sleep instantly. When it is time for him to wake up for work, he gets busy again. He wastes no time in play, but puts in every minute he can get in sleep.

Martin was drawing pay for two $1.50 days every day for a number of years. He does what is known as "carrying in" work in No. 8 on his regular shift, and on his extra shift every day he takes a place wherever vacant. Martin claims that on Sunday he does not sleep much. He gets up early Sunday morning and gets busy taking care of his place he has bought in Upper Alton. He raises chickens and takes much pride in them. He has a wife and several children. Martin claims that he took a job at the lead works, but his wife insisted upon his quitting and going back to his old job at the glass works. Martin is sick now. The long strain of hard labor has caused him to feel bad, and he is not working, but he expects to get back to holding down the two men's jobs again soon. Martin may well lay claim to being the most industrious man in Alton. The long hours of work has taken all superfluous flesh off him, but until recently he felt well enough.

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 17, 1923
The funeral services held yesterday afternoon in the Allen Methodist Church for Press Martin on Salu Street were very lengthy, and were participated in by a number of colored preachers. The services commenced shortly after 2 o'clock, and were attended by many colored people from all parts of the city. Deceased was a native of Upper Alton and was one of the best known colored men in this locality. When the funeral cortege got started away from the church to go to Oakwood Cemetery for burial, it was just a few minutes before 5 o'clock and was almost dark.

 

MARTIN, LEWIS
Civil War Veteran
Company E, 29th U.S. Colored Regiment of Volunteers
The colored regiment raised in Madison County, Illinois, was part of Company E of the 29th U.S. Colored Regiment of Volunteers. Not all in this unit were African-Americans – some were Native Americans and Asians. By March 4, 1864, forty recruits enlisted in Madison County under Captain William Flint. The men, who were paid the same salary as white soldiers, were sent to Quincy, Illinois, where they mustered in and learned basic squad and company drills. They were ordered to Annapolis, Maryland, and from there to Alexandria, Virginia. The men saw action in the Battle of the Crater, Battle of Globe Tavern, Battle of Poplar Grove Church, and the Battle of Boydton Plank Road. They then served on the Bermuda Hundred front and at Richmond, until participating in the Appomattox Campaign. They were then assigned garrison duty until they were moved to Texas in May 1865. They served in the Rio Grande Valley until November 1865, when they were mustered out of service. Three officers and 43 enlisted men were killed in action, and 188 enlisted men died from disease.

Lewis Martin was an African-American from Alton who served in the 29th Regiment during the Civil War. He was severely wounded in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia, on July 30, 1864, and his right arm and left leg had to be amputated. Federal engineers exploded a powder keg which had been buried under the Confederate lines by digging a deep tunnel underground. After the explosion, the Union forces attacked, and unfortunately ran right into the massive crater created by the explosion. They were trapped, and the Confederates quickly countered and began firing down on the men, mostly from the U.S. Colored Troops. Many were killed or wounded. It was a massive debacle that would have General Burnside, the commander, removed from his position. Martin was among those trapped in the crater. After his release from the military, Martin lived in Springfield, Illinois, and was well known. He was a member of the John A. Bross Post (African-American unit) of the Grand Army of the Republic. During the funeral services for Captain John G. Mack in October 1887, Martin fainted at the cemetery, the walk being too much for him. He lived on a pension from his military service, and in 1889 he received $6,500 in back pension payments – part of which he used to buy property along West Jefferson Street in Springfield. Martin was found dead on January 26, 1892, in a home on that property. His cause of death was listed as stroke, however, newspaper articles stated he probably died of exposure and alcoholism. He was known to be a “hard drinker.” Martin was buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper’s section of Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. He left no direct descendants. Through a community effort, he finally received a headstone on November 2, 2013.

 

RILEY, ANDERSON/Source: Alton Telegraph, August 14, 1884
Former Slave Died at Rocky Fork, Godfrey
Anderson Riley, an old colored man, formerly a slave, died Thursday at his home at Rocky Fork, at the age, according to his own statement, of 111 years. He had for a long time been only able to move around slowly in a stooping posture. Tuesday, he went out into his cornfield, and as he did not return when expected, a search was instituted, but in vain until Wednesday, when he was found lying on the ground, helpless and speechless. He was removed by kind hands to his house, where he, yesterday, passed quietly from earth. The old veteran came to this section after the war, having become a free man through President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He often stated that he had formerly worked for Thomas Jefferson, and hence, no doubt was a Virginian. He was possessed of many curious and unique household utensils, relics of a former age. He left a widow much younger than himself.

NOTES:
The 1880 census has him born around 1790, and his wife around 1818. The 1870 census has him born in 1820 in Virginia, and his wife born about 1825 in Missouri. He was possibly buried in the Rocky Fork Cemetery in Godfrey Township.

 

CELEBRATES 110TH BIRTHDAY
Mary Galloway
Source: Alton Telegraph, February 15, 1894
Last Saturday, Mrs. Mary Galloway, colored, celebrated her 110th birthday at the home of he4r son, Madison, who lives in the alley in the rear of Broderick’s saloon on Belle Street. Mrs. Galloway was born in Virginia in February 1784, and knows all about the stirring times of those days. Her son is nearly 60 years old, and he is the youngest in the family. Mrs. Galloway is hale and hearty for one so old, and is full of interesting reminiscences. She has seen the United States develop from a few colonies into a leading power of the earth, and she is firmly of the opinion that the world is full of miracles. A number of friends of the family met and enjoyed a good social time, and left hoping that she may live to see many more birthdays.

 

SAMUELS, CARRIE
Leaves 187 Grandchildren & Great-Grandchildren
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, December 30, 1915
Mrs. Carrie Samuels, colored, who died at the home of her daughter at 302 Mildred Avenue this morning, leaves 187 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Alton has long held a reputation for being the stork city, but this old woman, who was very well known in Alton, breaks all records so far as is known in this vicinity. She had great-grandchildren all over the country. Mrs. Samuels was born in Georgia in the days of slavery. After the Civil War, she came to Alton and made her home here for the past fifty years. There was no exact way of telling her age. Some claimed that she was very close to one hundred years of age, but her close relatives say that they do not believe she was over eighty. Mrs. Samuels is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Missouri Scott of Pin Oak; and Miss Carrie Eerxsion of Alton; and three sons, Walker Elbert and Arthur Samuels, all of Edwardsville. The funeral will be held on Sunday afternoon from the North Alton church to the Upper Alton Cemetery.

 

SAMUELS, GEORGE "POP" LINCOLN SR. (DOCTOR)
Alton’s First African-American Physician
George Lincoln Samuels Sr. was born January 12, 1884, in Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois. Sometime before 1905, George married Mary A. Mack (1886-1953), and they had one son, George Lincoln Samuels Jr. (1905-1964).

After receiving his medical degree in 1909 from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Samuels established his first practice in Luther, Oklahoma. He moved to Alton by 1911, and set up his practice at 617 Belle Street (this location is now home to the Alton Transit Station). He was the first African-American physician in Alton. Dr. Samuels served the African-American community and delivered generations of black children both in the hospital and in their homes. He delivered jazz great Miles Dewey Davis on May 26, 1926, in the Davis home at 1112 Milnor Avenue. Dr. Samuels later moved his practice to his home, located at 1928 Marilla Avenue, just west of the Central Jr. High School (now Lovejoy Elementary School). During World War One, Dr. Samuels served as First Lieutenant in the Medical Corps.

During his lifetime of service to the community, Dr. Samuels received an award from Meharry Medical College as one of 15 living people from the 106 graduates of the 1909 class. The college also honored him “for 50 years of service to mankind, 1909-1950.” Dr. Samuels served four successive terms as president of the Negro Business League, which he retired from in 1947. He was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the Alton Association of Commerce; and was a 33rd degree Mason. He and his family were members of the Union Baptist Church.

Dr. Samuels died in Alton on January 14, 1970, and was laid to rest in the Alton City Cemetery. He had retired just two years earlier, and was 86 years of age at the time of his death.

 

SAMUELS, GEORGE LINCOLN JR.
Alton’s First African-American Pharmacist
George Lincoln Samuels Jr. was born January 9, 1905, in Luther, Oklahoma. His parents were Dr. George Lincoln Samuels Sr. (1884-1970) and Mary A. Mack Samuels (1886-1953). The family moved to Alton, where he received his early education. He attended Roosevelt High School in Alton, where he ran track, and graduated from there in 1922. He received a degree in pharmacy from the Howard University School of Pharmacy in Washington D.C., and was a member of the Washington Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity in 1926. He married Rosie L. Samuels.

George Samuels Jr. was the proprietor of the Tip-Top Drugstore, located at 620 Belle Street (which was later home to the Belle Street Key Service). He transformed his business into one of the largest pharmacies in Alton. George created a private label liniment called Samuels Liniment, formulated for arthritis and sprains. His drugstore contained a soda fountain, where he specialized in chili dogs and shakes, which were enjoyed by both white and black customers. It became a gathering spot in the community.

George Samuels Jr. died on March 11, 1964, after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor at what is now Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He left behind a daughter, Oneita Samuels-Johnson; a son, George “Danny” or “Doc” Lincoln Samuels III; and grandchildren. Burial was in the Alton City Cemetery.

 

SHANNON, DOC
Former Slave
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 7, 1900
Doc Shannon, a colored resident of Salu, died last evening at 8:30 o'clock, after a lingering illness. Deceased was sixty-six years of age, and leaves a widow with a large family, six children being under thirteen years of age. He was at one time a slave, and lived near Palmyra, Missouri. He ran away from there and came to Quincy, Illinois, where he enlisted in the Union army. After the war he came to Alton, and has lived here ever since. The funeral arrangements have not been completed, but it will probably occur on Friday from the A. M. E. church, of which he was a member.

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 9, 1900
The funeral of Doc Shannon took place this afternoon from the A. M. E. church. Pallbearers: Louis Comely, Thomas Lytel, A. Hamilton, L. Leadbetter, Henry Holdman and James S. Johnson.

 

SKINNER, BENJAMIN/Source: Alton Telegraph, September 30, 1886
Former Slave
Died at 115 or 123 Years of Age
From Upper Alton – Mr. Benjamin Skinner, colored, familiarly known as “Uncle Ben,” who has lived here for about twenty years, died Friday, aged, upon the best attainable authority, one hundred and fifteen years. The enumerator for this district for the census of 1880 wrote to his old Virginia home for information as to his age, and the figures given are based upon the reply received by him. For years past, Uncle Ben’s figure has been a familiar one, as he sat in his cottage door, or made his frequent trips downtown, leaning upon his faithful staff. He had been married three times. His third wife died a few months ago. He leaves a large family of children, several of whom reside in this vicinity.

Source: Alton Telegraph, October 21, 1886
Aged Man was 123 Years Old
At the time of the death of the aged colored man, Benjamin Skinner, in Upper Alton, the Telegraph published the fact and gave his age as about115 years. His exact age was not known even by his relatives. Mr. W. C. Lowe claims that Skinner was older than reported at the time of his death. He says that “Uncle Ben” worked for him 25 years ago, and was then 97 or 98 years old. Mr. Lowe also says that Skinner’s “freedom papers” have been discovered within a day or two, and that they give his age at the date he was set free, from which it is shown that his age at the time of his death was 123 years. This is certainly one of the most remarkable cases of longevity ever known in this country. If 1763 was the year of Uncle Ben’s birth, he was 13 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

 

STEWART, STEPHEN/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, Jan. 7, 1901
Alton Barber
Stephen "Steve" Stewart, a well known colored man, long a residence of Alton, died Sunday at his home, Seventh and George Streets. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, August 6, 1806, and came to Illinois when he was quite young. He went to Nashville, Tennessee, to be married, March 10, 1841, and his bride of that day is left to mourn him. She is about 100 years of age and is very feeble. She wants to attend the funeral but will have to be carried to and from the carriage and cemetery. Years ago when some of the old persons now in Alton were young men, Stephen Stewart ran a barber shop on Second Street [Broadway], about where Charley Miller's saloon now is. He was an agreeable, attentive man, and a good barber, and had a great run of customers. He afterwards went to South Dakota and operated a shop, but tired of that country and returned to Alton. He was a resident when Lovejoy was killed, and remembered all of the incidents and uproars of those troubled times. He had many friends here and elsewhere. People always had a good word to say for him, and many kindly words will be said of him by those men who knew him when they were boys. Besides his widow, he leaves one daughter, Miss Lucy Stewart. He was a member of G. T. Watson Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and the funeral Tuesday afternoon will be under the direction of that lodge.

 

WELLS, MARY E.
Former Slave
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, October 6, 1906
Mrs. Mary E. Wells, an old colored resident of Upper Alton, was found dead beside the road this morning by two boys a short distance north of Upper Alton. Mrs. Wells has been at work yesterday at the E. B. Young dairy farm one mile from town. Last night she started for home shortly before dark, and was stricken with apoplexy before getting out of the Young place. After leaving the house it is necessary to walk a half mile before getting on the public highway, and the road in the farm is through a cornfield. It was there that Mrs. Wells fell. Her children at home supposed, when she did not return, that she had decided to stay in the country all night. The body was found early this morning after it had been lying on the ground all night. It was taken charge of by Coroner C. N. Streeper, who will hold an inquest this evening. Mrs. Wells was a slave in the south, and her exact age is not known, but she was supposed to be between sixty-five and seventy. She was a big, strong woman, weighing about two hundred pounds, and was always in good health. She leaves two sons and three daughters, all of whom are grown and reside in Upper Alton. Mrs. Wells made a practice of going into the country to do washing and she was widely known in the rural districts. Her husband, Willis Wells, was murdered about ten years ago by his son.

 

WILLIAMS, ALBERT/Source: Alton Telegraph, June 26, 1884
Murdered in Cold Blood at Rocky Fork
A cold-blooded murder was committed at the Sidway farm, Godfrey, at 10 p.m. Monday, with Albert Williams, a colored man, being the victim of the assassin’s bullets. It appears Williams, at the hour mentioned, went out of his house to procure a drink of water. In a short time, three reports as from a revolver were heard, one striking him in the heart, one in the side, and the third striking a log in the house. He fell, exclaiming, “I am shot.” His wife dragged him into the house and closed the door, and he expired soon after. The assassin escaped across a cornfield and into the woods. Mr. Williams leaves a wife and a son, about 14 years old. An inquest was held by Justice Melling. The verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his death from bullets fired by some party unknown.

The section in Godfrey Township known by the name of Rocky Fork is a wild, romantic region, with deep rocky ravines, a stream of water flowing through, heavily wooded slopes, and darkly shaded valleys – a fit place for mysterious tragedies. The place has long had an unenviable reputation, on account of the scenes that have transpired in the neighborhood. Years ago, a gentleman stopping there had two horses stolen, the animals disappearing so completely that their owner never again got a trace of them. At another time, a gentleman went to that neighborhood with a sum of money, intending to make some purchases, but disappeared one night as mysteriously as though the earth had swallowed him, leaving no trace behind. Then the bloody tragedy when DePugh and Ross, cousins, were slaughtered, and lastly the murder of Albert Williams. As is known, Felix Henry is confined, awaiting trial on his own confession of having committed the double murder of DePugh and Ross [Felix Henry was hung for the crime], but the last crime remains a mystery, although suspicions are aroused and officers are working in the case with a hope of developing some definite evidence.

NOTES:
Rocky Fork was founded by former slaves, who made their way up from the South to freedom. It is located west of Camp Warren Levis, on Rocky Fork Road in Godfrey. While former slaves found it a refuge, the area also had its tragedies. On June 23, 1884, Albert Williams, an African American who lived at Rocky Fork, went out of his home to get a drink of water from the well. As he stood in the doorway of his home on the Sidway farm at Rocky Fork, three shots rang out, and he fell. The assassin was never found. I could not find any record of his burial, but it may have been in the Rocky Fork Cemetery.

 

WILLIAMS, CELIA
Former Slave
Claimed to Have Been 117 Years Old
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, October 22, 1909
Mrs. Celia Williams, who claimed to be 117 years of age, died Thursday evening at the home of her niece, Mrs. Mary Morgan, at 16th and Easton streets. The age of the old woman was not fully authenticated, as naturally her early life was clouded in a haze of obscurity, when she was a slave. She did not know exactly the year she was born, but from her recollections of happenings she was believed to be very old, although few credited her age as being as high as she claimed it was. She was a sister of old Gilbert Williams, the old time negro who died a few years ago, and whose feet turned out until the toes pointed like the hands of a clock, pointing to 10 minutes to 2. For many years the old woman had been assisted by the county, and she was the oldest person on the list of the supervisors for many years. Her age was doubtless very great, even though she was not as old as she claimed to be, but her people credited her claims of great age, fully, and so did other people who knew her. She was bent and shriveled from age, but until a few years ago she used to call in person for her county paycheck. She was the oldest of a family of thirteen children, she claimed.

 

WILSON, CHLOE OR CLARA
Former Slave; Stolen by Cherokee Indians
Source: Syracuse, New York Daily Standard, March 29, 1853
A Mr. Melvin, traveling recently in Madison County, Illinois, stopped at a Negro settlement on the Wood River, and calling at one of the houses, the door was opened to him by a tottering Negro, aged 90 years. On entering, he found a withered old Negro female, who turned out to be the mother of his venerable host. On enquiry he learned that she was 119 years of age. She gave her name as Chloe, and says that she is a native of South Carolina, having been there the slave of a farmer named Wilson. When very young she was stolen and carried away from home by a party of Cherokee Indians, from whom she subsequently escaped. She professes to remember perfectly well Lord Cornwallis and the British officers of note, who figured in the War of Independence. She is supported at present by her son, who in turn receives material assistance from a promising young stripling of forty-five or fifty.

Source: The New York Times, January 9, 1860
Death of Centenarians - A negro woman named Clara Wilson died near Alton, Ill., Dec. 13, at the age of 124. She settled near Alton in 1840, being then nearly one hundred years old. The Alton Courier says:

"She was born and raised in South Carolina, and her earliest recollections were of Charleston, in that State, which she remembers as a small village, instead of the great city it now is. She grew up on the plantation, field work being her task so long as she was a slave.”

Former Slave Dies in Alton
Source: The American Almanac & Repository of Useful Knowledge for the year 1861; Vol. XXXII
Died: December 13, 1859, Near Alton, Illinois, Clara Wilson, said to be 125 years old. She was born a slave in South Carolina, and was carried to the western country about seventy years ago. She was ordinarily called "Granny Wilson," or "Granny Buck."

 

WILSON, WILLIAM/Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 28, 1903
Veteran of Spanish-American War; Blacksmith
Isaac S. Wilson, the well known colored blacksmith, received a message Friday evening from the Soldier's Home at Quincy, which notified him of the death at that institution of his son, William, who went to the home from Alton, February 19. William Wilson was 33 years of age and unmarried. He served in the Spanish-American War, and contracted the disease which caused his death. He has been a hopeless invalid for more than two years. The body will be brought home for burial.

 

WILSON, WILLIAM “BUCK”
Former Slave; Civil War Veteran; Trail Guide
Source: Alton Telegraph, November 15, 1867
Died in Wood River Precinct [the town of Wood River didn’t exist yet], Madison County, November 9, 1867, William Wilson, a colored man, better known as “Buck” Wilson, supposed to be over ninety years of age. As will be recollected by many of your readers, “Old Chloe,” [also named in the newspaper as Clara Wilson] mother of Wilson, died in this county about ten years since, at the age of 120. She was a native of Charleston, South Carolina. When Wilson was quite young, she escaped with him from her owner and went to Tennessee. They were taken prisoners by the Choctaw Indians, and held in slavery by them for many years, and then sold to separate masters. For some time, Wilson was owned by David Bailey, Esq., of Memphis, who employed him as a guide and interpreter in expeditions to the Rocky Mountain regions. Through the kindness of his owner, and the influence of a party of gentlemen whom he had safely conducted through one of their long and perilous adventures, he was enabled to buy his freedom. He then had a wife in slavery, and several children. After long years of toil, he accumulated sufficient means to buy his wife and one child. After receiving his pay, the owner repented of his bargain and refused to execute the necessary papers until, through the assistance of his old master, he was compelled to do so, with the delays of a lawsuit.

Wilson left Tennessee about twenty-five years ago and came to Alton, bringing with him his wife, one child, and his mother – the latter having remained in slavery till after she was 100 years old. No charge was made to him for the remainder of the service that she owed.

It was the frequent boast of Wilson that he was never whipped by any of his masters. His tall, athletic frame, and ideas inculcated by the Indians upon this subject, may have led to this immunity. Although unable to read, he was possessed of more than ordinary intelligence. He took a lively interest in the late war with slavery [Civil War], and kept well posted in passing events. To the writer of this, he foretold its coming many years since, and prognosticated its results with remarkable accuracy. His slave life, as narrated by himself, was replete with interesting incidents. He was one of the number who were pressed into the service at the Battle of New Orleans. He stated that during the fight, there were no “cotton bales” visible where he stood. As a guide and interpreter, he was frequently called to pass through hostile tribes of Indians, and his knowledge of the various Indian dialects was of great service to his party. His various experiences in this vocation would, if properly depicted, form a volume as strange and interesting as the wildest romance. He was naturally sedate. His attitude and appearance were not unlike those of an Indian Chief. He was temperate in all things – truthful and strictly honest. For several weeks before his death, his constant prayer was that he might be removed from this world. He died in full faith of a blessed immortality. [It is unknown where William Wilson is buried.]

NOTES:
William’s mother, Clara or Chloe, died near Alton on December 13, 1860, at the age of 120 or 124. The Alton Courier stated she was born and raised in South Carolina, and she remembered Charleston as being a very small village. She grew up on the plantation, working in the fields. She and her son, William, escaped from the plantation and traveled to Tennessee, where they were taken prisoners by the Choctaw Indians, and held as their slaves. They were then sold to separate slave owners. William gained his and his mother’s freedom, and moved to Wood River Township, near Alton. It is unknown where he and his mother are buried.

 

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