Biographies from "History of Alexander, Union & Pulaski Counties", Illinois, edited by Wm. H. Perrin, published by Baskin, Chicago, 1883. Pages 137-138 A. J. PARMLY, farmer and fruit-grower, P. O. Cobden. John Parmly, the father of our subject, was born on the present farm of N. B. Collins, Alto Pass Precinct, November 22, 1816. He was the son of Giles Parmly, who was one of the earliest settlers in the county. John Parmly resided in this county all his life, except one year he lived in Stoddard County, Mo. In the latter part of 1835 he was married, when about 19 years of age, to Bernice Henson. She was also born in this State, and was but 14 years of age at the time of her marriage. She was the daughter of Jesse Henson, who was an early settler in Jackson County, and who made quite a good property by stock-raising near Grand Tower, Jackson County. For some years after marriage, Mr. Parmly would buy and sell farms, so he did considerable moving from place to place. In 1841 he sold out and went to Missouri, where he remained for one year; then returned to this county and settled on the Mississippi River bottom, and lived there till 1858. He bought the present farm owned by his widow as her dowry. At the time of his death, October 6, 1878, he had a landed property of about 900 acres. His first wife died either in the last days of 1859 or first of 1860. By her he had five children who reached maturity - Martha J. (Seely), Elizabeth (Biggs), deceased, A. J., W. L. and N. B. June, 1860, he was married to Mrs. Sarah (Biggs) Freeman, daughter of D. W. Biggs, an old resident of this county. She still survives. She was the widow of James H. Freeman. By this wife there are four children living - Olive M. (Tweedy), W. D., Sarah E. and Thisbe E. Mr. Parmly never had the opportunities of an education, but was a man who did a good deal of reading and studying, and when undertaking anything he made it a study till it was fully understood. He did not make up his mind hastily, but when convinced that anything was right, he could not very easily be changed. In early life he was rather wild and reckless, but in later years professed religion, and for some years before death was a minister in the Baptist Church. His occupation was that of farmer and fruit-raiser, and he was eminently successful because he made it a study. His home farm in Section 6 was one of the best in the north part of the county. He was a man with a great influence in any direction in which he was willing to lead, in politics or in agriculture. Often his advice was asked with regard to kinds of fruits best to cultivate, etc. Till after Lincoln's first election he had been a Democrat, but he then changed and was so outspoken in regard to the war that he made many enemies, and it was threatened to burn him out, but none dared to make the venture. His family seem to have imbibed the same spirit of thrift and attention to business, and we find his sons among the successful farmers and fruit-raisers of the precinct. Our subject, the eldest son of John Parmly, ws born November 4, 1846. His early education was obtained in the district schools of the county. He afterward attended one term at McKendree College, Lebanon, Ill., and his father offered to furnish money for him to complete the course and take a profession, but he preferred the farm, and remained at home till he was 29 years of age. He was married March 5, 1875, to Miss Gertie A. Freeman, daughter of James H. and Sarah (Biggs) Freeman. Here we find a peculiar relationship. Elizabeth Parmly, daughter of John Parmly, first married B. F. Biggs. John Parmly married for his second wife Mrs. Sarah Freeman, who is a sister of B. F. Biggs. Then our subject married his stepmother's daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have two children - Sarah Nellie, born August 5, 1878, and Bernice Alice, born February 14, 1881. Since his marriage, Mr. Parmly has been on his present farm, which consists in all of 490 acres, his wife also having an undivided half of 248 acres. About 112 acres of his land is in cultivation, with about 70 acres of that in fruits; 30 acres in apples, large peach and pear orchards, also strawberries. In politics he is Republican, but never took any part in politics till the fall of 1882, when he was persuaded to take the field as a candidate for Assessor and Treasurer of the county. He was elected by a good majority. Mr. Parmly is not a member of any church or society, but is free to give his support to anything that will advance the moral and intellectual standard in his county. ======== Page 139 W. L. PARMLY, farmer, P. O. Cobden, ws born December 18, 1852, in this county, on Running Lake, son of John Parmly. He was educated in the schools of this county, and has always been engaged in farming and fruit-raising. He was married August 3, 1872, to Frances Winstead. She was born in Missouri December 13, 1857, to William and Barbara Winstead. Mrs. Winstead was born in Missouri; Mr. Winstead either in Missouri or Tennessee. He was killed by accident about 1864 in the mill of Charles LeBarr, Cobden, the saw severing his head from his body. He left a widow and five small children, three sons and two daughters. His widow married Samuel Ferrill in August, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have three children living and two dead - Ernest, Herbert and DeVere; Lena May and Lola, deceased. Mr. Parmly bought his present home place in 1872 and settled on it when married; he afterward bought 60 acres more. His farm now consists of 120 acres, about 70 improved. But little had been improved when he first purchased. Grain and fruit receive his attention. In politics he is a Republican. ======== Page 139 N. B. PARMLY, farmer, P. O. Cobden, son of John Parmly and brother of A.J., was born in Mississippi River bottom October 11, 1856, and was raised and educated in this county. His occupation has been that of his fathers - farmer and fruit-grower. He was married August 20, 1879, to Lucy E. Anderson. She was also born in this county, March 5, 1862, to E. J. and Polly Ann Anderson. They are both still living in this county. She was born in Indiana; he in this county, his parents being early settlers here. Mr. and Mrs. Parmly have two children - John Garfield and Ervin Jackson. Since marriage he has been living on his present farm of 137 acres. He bought it January, 1877, and rented it till marriage, living at home and running his father's farm till that time. In politics Mr. Parmly is Republican. ============= Pages 139-140 COL. F. E. PEEBLES, fruit-grower, hotel, etc., was born May 8, 1833, in Vandalia, Ill., son of Robert H. and Augusta (Ernst) Peebles, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of German heritage, born on an ocean vessel. The father was of Scotch descent, and settled at Vandalia when it was the capital of the State. He was an early physician of that city and served in the Black Hawk war. He made his advent into the State of Illinois in 1818. The parents were Presbyterians. Our subject had good common school advantages and an academic course at Chicago. He first began business for himself in 1855 in Chicago, where he continued for two years, and then transferred to Winona, Wis., where he remained until the war, at the breaking out of which he enlisted in a Wisconsin B.L.R.* as first lieutenant, which position he held for two years, and was then promoted to the command of the 47th U.S.C.T.** and was mustered out as such in two and one-half years. Soon after returning from the war he bought a farm near Mobile, Ala., and in one year came to Cobden, where he yet resides. He engaged for four years in the manufacturing of fruit boxes and later engaged in the growing of fruits. For the last seven years, until lately, he has been actively engaged in traveling for Hager & Spies' fruit house of Chicago, which position he resigned to accept the management, as general consignee, of the Cobden Fruit-Growers Association, a situation he now holds. He was married in 1864 to Mary Stone, one of two children...of Isaac and R. C. Stone. Mr. Peebles' marriage has given him four children, viz.: Gertrude, Augusta, Elizabeth and Robert. He was an active worker in establishing a first-class library at Cobden. His daughter Gertrude is the efficient librarian. In addition to his above mentioned business, he has been running the Phillips Hotel to remunerative advantage and satisfaction of many guests, but the Colonel recently gave up the hotel business and is giving his entire time to his farm in Cobden Precinct. He has held some small offices, and is a staunch Republican. ----- *Meaning of B.L.R. unknown. **U.S.C.T. = United States Colored Troops ======== Page 140 AMOS POOLE, fruit-raiser, P. O. Cobden. Some time in the 17th century one by the name of John Poole was born, either on the Isle of Man or Taunton, England. Early in life he came to America and for some years resided at Beverly, Mass., working with one Richard Woodbury, who died in 1690, leaving a widow whom Poole afterward married. In April, 1700, he bought of John Emerson, Jr., a tract of land at "ye Cape" and moved to it, finding but one family on Sandy Bay, now Rockport, Mass., that of Richard Tarr, who had settled there a short time before. Poole became a large landowner, and died in 1727 quite wealthy. He had been married four times and had seven children. One son, Ebenezer, was born in 1699. He also had quite a large family, and one, Francis, was the grandfather of our subject. His son, Aaron Poole, the father of Amos, was born November 12, 1767, and lived to the age of 76 years. His wife, Sarah (Butman) Poole, was born May 10, 1770, and reached the advanced age of 87 years. They were the parents of nine children, one four of whom reached maturity. There are only two now living, the oldest son, Aaron, born October, 1798, and our subject, who was born September 8, 1814, in Rockport, Mass. Aaron still lives on the old homestead, where his father lived and died. By trade, the father of our subject was a cooper, but most of his life was spent in farming. When a boy, Amos learned his trade of blacksmith, and then began working by the day. This he continued for six years, and in that time saved $2,000; then established a business of his own at Milton, Mass., six miles south of Boston Court House. Here he continued for about 25 years, till coming to Union County, Ill., February, 1868. When coming to this county, he bought but 40 acres of his present farm, and has since been engaged in general fruit and vegetable growing. His farm contains 80 acres and is well improved, but contained few of the present improvements when he bought it. In Milton, Mass., October 6, 1841, he was married to Miss Caroline C. Rand. She was born in Bradford, Vt., but her parents moved to Milton, Mass., when she was small, and resided there until the time of their death. She is the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Babcock) Rand. They were both natives of Massachusetts. She was born at Milton. In early life, he resided in Beverly, Mass., where his father was a baker, and he learned the trade of chaise-maker, and was established in business at one time in Boston, but sold out and entered the ministry, being one of the early Christian ministers. He traveled for a number of years preaching the Gospel, then settled in Milton, where he died at the age of 74. She died at the age of 66. The Rands formerly came from England. Mr. R. was one of the early workers in the temperance cause, and also one of the earliest Abolitionists. They were the parents of 11 children who reached maturity, six of whom are still living. Of Mrs. Poole's brothers it is useless to speak, for their reputation is worldwide, one establishing the publishing house in Boston of Rand, Avery & Co.; another is the senior member of the Chicago house of Rand, McNally & Co.; and still another, Franklin Rand, devoted 30 years of the best part of his life to Zion's Herald, and it was largely due to his energy that the paper made its financial success. Mr. and Mrs. Poole have five sons living, one daughter dead: George A., Caroline S. (deceased), William H., Arthur B., Franklin R. and Frederick C. The daughter died January 5, 1867. She was the wife of John Ritchie of Boston. The Poole Bros., George A. and William H., started into the printing business for themselves January, 1881, and have in their employ over 80 persons. Rooms 117-119 Lake Street, Chicago. Entrance also on Clark Street. They were both with Rand, McNally & Co. for quite a time, and are still interested in the company as stockholders. George A. had clerked for them, but William H. learned the printer's trade. The other three sons are in Montana. In politics, Mr. Poole is a Republican, and has not been without political honors, serving one term in the Massachusetts State Legislature. ============================================================================ ==============