Biography - Skelton Birkett
SKELTON BIRKETT, Sr., stands among the influential citizens of Shelby
County, and to him and men of his indomitable will, wide experience,
unsurpassed business acumen and far-reaching public spirit, it is indebted
for its high standing among its sister counties in this great Commonwealth
of Illinois. Our subject is a leading farmer and stockman of this section,
his extensive agricultural interests centering in Todd's Point Township,
where he has an attractive home and eleven hundred acres of land, all lying
in a body, in a high state of cultivation, its soil of marvelous fertility
and its valuable and well-appointed improvements rendering it a model farm.
Mr. Birkett was born August 13, 1820, near Kiswick, Cumberland County, in
The Vale of St. John's Parish of Crosthwait, England, on a farm which was
also the birthplace of his grandfather, Daniel Birkett, who spent his entire
life, as did his father before him, upon that estate, which he owned,
besides owning two other farms. His son John, the father of our subject,
also passed his whole life on that pleasant English farm, while his
brothers, Clement and John, and his sister Rebecca came to America. The
former settled in Missouri where he lived the remainder of his days; John
was a farmer and died in Shelby County; Rebecca died in Moultrie County,
this State. The father of our subject was a farmer and stock-raiser and
lived to the good old age of seventy-seven years, his death occurring in
November, 1873. His wife whose maiden name was Mary Skelton, died June 3,
1847, when she was forty-seven years of age. She was the mother of ten
children, seven sons and three daughters, and five of them are yet living.
He of whom we write was the fourth child born to his parents, and he passed
his early days in the home of his birth, where he received a careful
training in all that goes to make a good man and a useful citizen. He was
given the advantage of an education in the local schools, and when not in
school was acquiring practical experience in agriculture on his father's
farm that was of use to him in after years in the prosecution of his chosen
calling on American soil. Christmas Day, 1839, was a memorable day for him,
as he then left behind him his old home with its many pleasant associations
and went out to the island of St. Croix, where he had two uncles, Clement
and John Skelton, who owned estates there, to see what life held for him in
the West Indies, and there he was entailed as a planter on a sugar
plantation for eight years and three months. Failing health warned him that
he must seek another climate, and he decided upon the United States of
America, he embarked on a vessel bound for New York, arrived safely, and two
weeks later boarded a steamer for Philadelphia, on his way to this State.
From the Quaker City he went by rail to Chambersburg, and then by stage to
Pittsburg, Pa., from there by the same conveyance to Massillon. Ohio, whence
he went by canal to Cleveland, from that city by Lake Erie to Toledo, and
thence by way of Lovington to Terre Haute, Ind., whence he came to this
county, traveling by canal and stage to Shelbyville.
The date of the arrival of our subject in this county was August 31, 1848,
and though not one of its earliest settlers he may be denominated one of its
pioneers as he has done as much as any other man to develop its great
agricultural resources, and has been a potent factor in the advancement of
its interests in various directions, generously using a part of the wealth
that he has acquired within its borders to further all worthy enterprises to
promote its growth and benefit the public. In the busy years that followed
his settlement here, he has not been too much occupied in attending to his
private affairs to be able to do his duty as a citizen, and he has devoted
some of his valuable time to aid in the management of civic interests,
bringing to his official duties in the various responsible positions that he
has filled the same aptitude for business, promptness, and unerring judgment
and untiring zeal that have characterized him throughout his career.
His personal standing is of the highest, and whether in public or in private
life he has always borne himself as an honorable, upright gentleman, all
worthy of the implicit confidence which his conduct has inspired in his
fellow-citizens. Among other important offices to which they have called him
is that of Supervisor, and he has represented Todd's Point Township on the
County Board of supervisors ten years. He was a member of that honorable
body when the present court house was in process of erection at the county
seat, and as one of the building committee he carefully superintended every
detail of work, and used his influence to have it built in a style of
architecture combining strength, utility and beauty, and at a reasonable
cost. Politically. Mr. Birkett has been identified with the three leading
parties that have held sway since he came to this country. At first he
advocated the old-line Whig policy and subsequently became a Republican, but
in 1876 he joined the Democrats, as he considered that the Republican party
had outlived its usefulness and had begun to abuse its great power, so that
a change was necessary in the interests of a pure government.
Mr. Birkett's financial standing is the result entirely of his own efforts,
as he started out in the world empty handed, with the exception of 25 of
English money was which given him by his father, and which he returned to
him the following year. He had a better capital, however, with which to
build his fortunes in his fine physique, clear brain, and the solid traits
of character that have made him successful in life. After his arrival in the
county he worked on a farm in Todd's Point Township, and the following year
entered a section of land in the same township on sections 17, 18 and 20,
and in the ensuing March he entered upon its improvement, breaking the wild
prairie and fencing one hundred and sixty acres of it. He began to stock is
farm by the purchase of one hundred head of cattle and seven hundred sheep,
and thus entered upon his prosperous career of stock and sheep raising and
wool business. He has made his home upon that section of land that he has
developed from the wilderness into one of the choicest farms of the county,
upon which he has placed every needed improvement, including roomy barns for
his stock, a commodious dwelling, etc. He has purchased more land since his
first investment, and now has eleven hundred acres ail in one tract. He at
one time had thirty two hundred acres of land in this state and in Kansas,
two thousand of which he gave to his sons.
Mr. Birkett has been eminently happy in his domestic relations, and shows to
the best advantage in his home, not only as a husband and father, but in the
character of the most courteous and genial of hosts, dispensing a generous
hospitality to friend or stranger who may happen beneath his sheltering
roof, cordially assisted by his estimable wife, who is always thoughtful and
considerate for the comfort of all about her. Our subject was first married
February 13, 1850, to Miss Mary Bland, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of
Henry Bland. She was a resident of this county at the time of her marriage,
and had gathered many friends about her, who were attracted by her fine
womanly character and great worth, and at her death February 9, 1865,
sorrowed with her family in their great bereavement. By that marriage there
were seven children, of whom the following is recorded: Henry, a resident of
Springfield, married Grace Adams, and they have one child; John, who was a
resident of Kansas at the time of his death in his twenty-second year, by
drowning while in bathing in the river; Skelton a farmer, residing in
Greenwood County, Kan., married Grace Gleason; Harriet died at the age of
two years; George is a farmer of Greenwood County, Kan. Mary married George
Becker, a merchant of Wichita, Kan.; Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. A. U.
Williams, of Hot Springs, Ark.
January 17, 1867 our subject was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of John
Lenover, an old resident of Shelby County, and in her he has a devoted wife.
Two children have blessed their union, of whom but one is living, Arthur.
Mr. Birkett was reared in the Church of England, and has remained true to
the faith of his fathers. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and is identified with its every good work, charitable or religious.
The former Mrs. Birkett was also a member of that church.
Extracted 27 Sep 2020 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 712-714.
