Biographies

James N. Rigg – Biography

  JamesN. Rigg  JAMES N. RIGG, of the firmof Rigg & Smith, merchants of Camden, one of the well-known pioneersof Brown county, settled in 1869 at Camden. He was born in Anderson county,Kentucky, January 18, 1826, being a son of Richard and Margaret (Utterback)Rigg, natives of Virginia. Each removed with their respective familiesto Kentucky, where they were married. In 1831 they emigrated to Illinoisand settled in what is now Brown county, but was then a part of Schuyler.Mr. Richard Rigg purchased land near Mount Sterling, and entered land,and then became the owner of 400 acres of land on which he … Read more

Sidney J. Hood – Biography

  SidneyJ. Hood  SIDNEY J. HOOD, of the firmof Allard & Hood, publishers and editors of The Evening Starand The Star of the West of Beardstown, was born in Spring Green,Sauk county, Wisconsin, October 10, 1864. He was reared and educated atthat place and acquired a knowledge of the carpenter and mason trades,but later went into the newspaper business. His father, Captain ThomasR. Hood, came from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin when a small child with hisparents, Moses and Sarah Hood, natives of Pennsylvania, but who died inWisconsin. Thomas R. Hood grew up as a farmer and carpenter, and when thewar broke … Read more

William Hackman – Biography

WILLIAM HACKMAN, a practical German farmer and stock raiser of section 30, township 17, range 11, is the owner of a good farm where he lives. He was born in Hanover, near the city of Osnabruck, on September 13, 1820. He was the third son born to John E. and Maria (Struve) Hackman, natives of Hanover, who came of pure German blood. After his marriage, John E. settled in his native land as a farmer, on a small scale, and there all the children were born. Later in life, Mr. Hackman sold all his interests in his native land and … Read more

Henry W. Meyer – Biography

  HenryW. Meyer  HENRYW. MEYER, a successful farmer and stock raiser of section 7, township 18,range 11, was born near Arenzville, this county, in 1853, December 26.He is the younger of the children, Fred and Catherine Meyer, the latternow deceased and the former yet living (see biography). Henry is the onlyone of the family who was born in the county. He was reared and educatedin his native county. He has a farm of 133 acres, all well stocked. Hehas farmed it on his own account for thirteen years. He has spent his entirelife in this county, as a farmer on … Read more

Joseph Gifford – Biography

  JosephGifford JOSEPHGIFFORD, a well-to-do and highly esteemed farmer of Versailles township,Brown county, Illinois, where he has lived for twenty years, was born inCambria county, Pennsylvania, in December, 1833. Hisparents, Joseph and Sarah (Davis) Gifford, were both natives of the KeystoneState, where his father was born in 1802. His paternal grandfather, alsonamed Joseph, was of English parentage, and is thought to have been bornin England. He was a prosperous farmer in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania,and left, at his death, a good estate to his family, consisting of fivesons and four daughters, all of whom became heads of families, some attaininga great … Read more