Biography - Andrew Steidley
ANDREW J. STEIDLEY, a well-known resident of Moweaqua, Shelby County, is
of Southern birth and ancestry, and is also a representative of one of the
pioneer families of Illinois. He was born in Frederick County, Va., December
23, 1829, and is a son of Solomon Steidley, who was born in Frederick
County, Md., August 21, 1789. His father was about fifteen years old when
his parents removed to Frederick County, Va., where he was reared to
agricultural pursuits, and there he was married October 25, 1811, to Rachel
Barr, who was born in New Jersey, November 28, 1793. Her father, James Barr,
was a Revolutionary soldier, and was with Washington at Valley Forge.
The parents of our subject left their Virginia home in October, 1834, to
seek a new one in the wilds of Macoupin County, this State, the journey
being made with teams, a part of the household goods being taken to furnish
their pioneer abode. At length, after traveling five weeks, they came to
what is now Barr Township, which at that time was literally in the
wilderness, where deer, bears, and other wild animals roamed at will, and
the surrounding country had but few white inhabitants. The nearest
post-office for some time was fifteen miles distant from their dwelling.
Postage stamps were not then in use, and it cost twenty-five cents for each
letter. The father of our subject bought forty acres of land a mile south of
the present site of Barr's Store. There was a log cabin on the place, and
the land was fenced and partly improved. Alton was the nearest market, where
the people purchased their sugar, salt and coffee, which were the principal
supplies bought at the stores, as the settlers were mostly home-livers,
subsisting on what they could produce on their farms, and on game. The women
carded, spun and wove flax and wool for all the cloth used for garments or
other purposes. Mr. Steidley was prospered in his new home, as he was a man
of untiring diligence, and he bought other land until he owned four hundred
and eighty acres at the time of his demise, all lying in Barr Township. His
life was cut off by his death November 18, 1848, while yet in the midst of
his usefulness, and his county was deprived of the services of one of its
most industrious and worthy pioneers. His wife survived him until August 11,
1860, when she breathed her last in the old home. She reared these seven
children: James B., Betsy A., Frederick, John S., Margaret H., Mary C. and
Andrew J.
Our subject was in his fifth year when his parents brought him to Illinois,
he attended the pioneer schools of Barr Township, which were taught on the
subscription plan, in primitive log houses, that were rudely furnished with
seats made by splitting small logs, hewing one side smooth, and using wooden
pins for legs, the seats being without desks or backs. Mr. Steidley
commenced to assist in the farm work as soon as large enough, and lived with
his mother until his marriage, affording her great assistance in managing
the farm. He taught one term of school before his marriage, later taught two
terms in Barr Township, and then gave his attention to the mercantile
business at Greenfield two years. He next went to farming near Fayette,
Greene County, and was thus employed there a year and a half. After that
Macon County was his destination, and he sojourned there the summer of 1857.
Returning to Fayette, he remained there two years, and then went back to his
old home, Barr Township, and the succeeding two years farmed there, except
in the winter season, when he resumed his old vocation of teacher. In the
fall of 1862, we find him once more in Fayette, where he had charge of a
school two terms. In the spring of 1864 he came to Moweaqua to accept a
position as clerk for H. F. Day, and was with him for four years. Smith &
Keiser, dealers in lumber and agricultural implements, were his next
employers in that capacity, and he staid with them two years. Since then he
has been engaged in various branches of business.
In 1885 Mr. Steidley took a new departure, and entered upon the printers'
trade in the office of his son in Maroa. He then commenced at the foundation
of the editor's profession by learning to set type. He remained in the
office at Maroa until 1888, when he came back to Moweaqua, and for fourteen
months was a clerk in a drug store. At the expiration of that time he
commenced setting type in the office of the Call-Mail with his son, and has
continued thus engaged ever since, he is a man of versatile genius, of much
culture, possessing an interesting fund of general knowledge, and wherever
known is respected. Politically he is a sound Democrat. His social relations
are with the Masonic fraternity.
Our subject was married in 1852 to Miss Nancy E. Jayne, who was a native of
Greene County, Ill., born July 31, 1836. She was a most estimable lady, and
her death, February 26, 1881, was a sad bereavement to her family and many
friends. She left four children — Edgar C., Thomas J., Emily R. and Wilmer
A. Mrs. Steidley was a daughter of Thomas and Emily (Renshaw) Jayne, natives
respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee, and early settlers of Greene County,
Ill. Her father was a prominent attorney, and at one time was in partnership
with Senator John M. Palmer, at Carlinville, Ill.
Extracted 09 Apr 2018 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 471-473.
