Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McAllister, Capt Edward 1828 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 9, 2007, 12:15 am Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890 CAPT. EDWARD McALLISTER is classed among the leading farmers of Plainfield, where he has a farm that in point of cultivation and general improvement is considered one of the most desirable in the township. Our subject is a fine representative of the citizen-soldiers of the United States who fought in the late war and saved the Union from dissolution, and he won an honorable record as an intelligent, brave soldier and efficient leader. The Captain was born in the town of Salem, Washington County, N. Y., December 24, 1828. His father, William McAllister, was a native of the same town, and a son of the Hon. Hamilton McAllister, a native of Scotland. He was born and reared in that country, and came from there to America accompanied by two brothers, one of whom settled in Philadelphia and the other in New York. The grandfather of our subject was agent for a company of large land-owners, and held power of attorney to do business for them. He was one of the three first white men who ever settled at Salem, where he took up a tract of timber land and cleared a fine farm. He soon began to take a leading part in public life, and was one of the foremost citizens of Washington County. He was its first Sheriff, and represented the county in the State Legislature. That was the time when each member had to pay his own expenses, and as money was scarce, many of the legislators had to resort to various expedients to foot their bills, and it is told of him that his faithful wife made butter and sent it to Albany to pay his board. In the early days of settlement of the county there were no mills, and on one occasion his wife took a sack of wheat on horseback by an Indian trail to Albany, forty miles distant. The maiden name of the grandmother of our subject, was Sarah Dick, and she was born in Ireland, and was of Scotch ancestry. The father of our subject grew to stalwart manhood in his native county, and followed agriculture all his days, placing himself among the most substantial and well-to-do farmers of the county. He inherited a part of the old homestead and bought out the interest of the other heirs in it, and there his entire life was passed in tranquillity and prosperity. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Shoudler, and she was also born in Washington County. Her father, Andrew Shoudler, is thought to have been a native of the same county, his ancestry originating in Holland. He was a farmer and also kept a tavern on the Troy and Whitehall Road. He spent his last years on a farm. The mother of our subject died on the old homestead eight years after his father departed this life. To that worthy couple were born six children, five of whom were reared to maturity. Archibald was a pioneer farmer of Plainfield, coming here in 1848, and he died in Chicago. William K. was for many years one of the most eminent members of the legal profession in Illinois. He was at one time Judge of the old Recorder's Court, of Chicago; from 1870 to 1873 he sat on the Supreme Bench of the State. After his resignation from that position he was again elected a member of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and served in that capacity until he was called to be Judge of the Appellate Court, and he held that office, at the time of his death at his home in Ravenswood, Chicago, in 1888 or 1889. Our subject's sister, Catherine, married John C. Walker, and lives in New York State. His brother, Jesse, who was a farmer and stock man, is now deceased. He of whom we write passed the early years of his life in his native State, but in the prime and vigor of the opening years of his manhood he left the scenes of his youth and his many friends, having resolved to see what life held for him on the boundless prairies of the "Great West," and coming to Illinois, he cast in his lot with the settlers of Will County, locating on the farm that he still occupies, and which under his careful and skillful management is made to yield large harvests and a comfortable income. He was busily engaged in agricultural pursuits when the first alarm of the war was sounded, and he was prompt to offer his services to his country. He previously been Captain of a company of State militia, and April 21, 1861, it was called out by the Governor and sent to Cairo, and was there organized as Company K, Tenth Illinois Infantry, but September 1 was mustered in as Company K, First Illinois Artillery, generally known and spoken of in histories as McAllister's Battery, in honor of its brave Captain. Our subject was soon solicited by Gen. Prentiss, the commander, to remain and take charge of the fort. The Captain hired men, whom he paid out of his own pocket, to recruit a company, of which he was commissioned Captain, and was in command at the battle of Shiloh, where his men, inspired by his presence and spirited example, did noble service. The hardships and privations of military life proved too great for even the hardy constitution of our subject, and soon after that battle he was obliged to succumb to sickness and to resign his position. He returned home, and as soon as sufficiently recuperated from ill- health, he resumed farming, and has ever since been prosperously engaged at that, having his farm of one hundred and sixty acres of choice farming land under high cultivation, and has it amply supplied with substantial, roomy, buildings, and all the needed appliances for carrying on agriculture after the best methods. Capt. McAllister had the good fortune to secure in the wife, to whom he was wedded in 1860, a true helpmate and companion, one who knows well how to make home pleasant and attractive. Mrs. McAllister's maiden name was Fanny M. Bebee, and she is, like himself, a native of Salem, N. Y., a daughter of Norman and Sophie Bebee. Five children have been born to our subject and his wife, namely: Carrie, Ada, Jessie, Clyde and William King, the latter being deceased. Honorable and upright, a loyal citizen, true husband, tender father and faithful friend, in our subject township and county find an example of their best citizenship. The Captain votes with the Republican party, and is one of its strongest supporters in this vicinity. He is public-spirited and takes a deep interest in civic affairs, and has represented Plainfleld on the County Board of Supervisors. Socially, he is a member of Plainfleld Lodge, No. 536, A. F. & A. M. A man of clear and progressive views on all questions of general interest religiously, he is a Universalist, he and his family being members of the Universalist Society, of Plainfleld. Additional Comments: Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/mcallist1501nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb