of Menard and Mason Counties
By T.G. Onstott
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CHAPTER XXXIX Page 357 Every man is marked by something that distinguishes him from everybody else, even the human voice. You may not have seen a person for a quarter of a century, his features may have changed, you may not recognize the person, yet his voice does not change. He may come in the darkness of the night, but you know him by his voice. A man raised on the broad plains of Illinois has good lungs, his vision is broad, his ideas are large. A friend whose name heads our article has been a central figure in this community since 1854. He was born nearly three score years ago, across the Alleghanies in Maryland, in the dark ages, before any of the modern improvements of the present age. He wore home spun clothes, and hog and hominy were the chief diet. He acquired a common school education that laid the foundation for his future greatness. But as Maryland was a good state to be born in provided a man emigrated soon afterwards, his father loaded up his family and his goods and took Greely's advice and went west. The center of the west to them was Seneca County, Ohio. Here he grew to manhood, nothing very startling occurring. It was never John's privilege to go through college. In 1854 his father and family started west again, a train of eight wagons made the procession and John stopped near Forest City, or where Forest City was located a few years later, and began to grow up with the country. The country was new and deer roamed the prairie like sheep, and the howl of the wolf made the nights hideous.
In 1861, when treason's dark cloud began to arrive, John's patriotic soul began to hum within him and when a call was made for the country's defenders John responded. We are coming Father Abraham, In 1861 he enlisted in Capt. Fullerton's Company, and for three years was a soldier good and true. He was in several engagements and came home without a wound and in good health, with an honorable discharge, and a good record as a soldier. The war being over, John returned to the peaceful pursuits of farm life, built a house and was soon in possession of a wife. Miss Phoebe Reed was the fortunate one, and to her John gives credit for his success in life. Improvements have been made till he now has a comfortable and happy home. Three sons and two daughters, with Aunt Phoebe, as she is familiarly called, make up the family. Their children are intelligent and excel in their studies. Orin and Oscar, the eldest, are fine specimens, both physically and morally, of Christian young men, who have a bright future before them. They have finished their education at Champaign University. We do not know how much credit John is entitled to for the success of his boys, but are certain he offers no objection to their ambition. Mr. Neikirk has held several offices and while not an office seeker has been constable, tax collector, road commissioner and school director. The latter office he held for several years, and true credit is due him. He is a rabid Republican in politics, in religion, he leans on the Methodists as all his family belongs to that church, and John will no doubt try and fall through the pearly gates into the New Jerusalem on a family ticket. On temperance, John might be classed as a mug wamp. While temperate himself, he would be inclined to take Paul's advice to Timothy: "A little wine when your stomach is out of order." He has considerable talent as a public speaker and has, at times, when occasion required, soared to the loftiest heights. One of these occasions comes to our mind. At the Neikirk reunion in Ohio a few years ago a cousin of John's, who had a rather weak voice, had made a speech, which could not be heard by all the crowd. John followed, and apologized for his cousin in the following language: "My cousin has spent his life here among the hills, where they have their three to five acres to farm and a big hill, so his vision has been contracted, he doesn't have to speak loud to make anyone hear him, and when the mild maid goes out to pail the Jersey, she simply has to call in a low voice, and the Jersey, not more than fifty yards away, in the back of the pasture comes and is milked." After a pause, John raised his voice to a high pitch and continued: "It is not so in the broad prairies of Illinois, where your humble speaker hails from, where he have a thousand acres in a pasture, and so level that a rabbit could not hide for it. Behold the milk maid as she cometh forth to divest the Jersey. After the day's work is done, her eyes scan the horizon, and away in the far distance, perchance in the back of the 1,000 acre pasture, she spies some yellow object, not larger than a shepherd dog, and she has to use all her lung power; co-ba-sa-co-ba-sa-. The gentle bovine raises her head from the sweet clover and after locating the direction of the sound, comes home and fills the milk maid's bucket. My cousin is not to blame for having a weak voice, growing up with these surroundings." His manner of speaking is free and easy if he has no opposition. He is not a debator. His encounter with Jim Rowley last campaign showed that. We don't think John was satisfied with the results of that debate himself. One of his strong points is his singing of a poetic nature. When he gets in company with Henry Knupple, their voices blend in harmony in "Marching Through Georgia," or similar strains. He can make "America" roll, and at a Fourth of July celebration here four years ago, he tried his voice on "Hail Columbia." He got dashed by the large crowd before him, and after singing the first verse, forgot the balance of the song. His personal appearance is striking; tall and well formed. He stands like Saul among the prophets. By some he is supposed to resemble Lincoln. We think not, but would say Cullom. He has many friends. The world is better for such men as Col. John E. Neikirk.
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