by David McKelvey | Jan 18, 2014 | Biographies
Andrew Barbeau was the son of an early French settler, and grew up in Prairie du Rocher. He became a prosperous citizen and as one of his ventures, built a mill on the creek south of the village in 1824. Barbeau’s mill was widely known, and the hollow leading...
by David McKelvey | Jan 18, 2014 | Biographies
Cornhill Ballard – Cornhill sounds odd for a man’s given name. By the work in which he engaged, partly lived up to his given name.(What Cornhill and blacksmith have in common, is unknown) He became one of the early blacksmiths in the Sparta region where he...
by David McKelvey | Jan 18, 2014 | Biographies
Christian Beare did not do anything in particular to attract attention to himself. He might easily have passed on and received no mention had he not been the first native of Switzerland to take up residence in Randolph County, arriving here in 1832.
by David McKelvey | Jan 18, 2014 | Biographies
In the late 1860’s, an iron foundry was established at Chester by a stock company. In 1869, it was leased to Joseph Aronowski, who bought it in 1873. this foundry made many furnaces, railings, and various parts of machinery. Many old castings carry its...
by David McKelvey | Jan 18, 2014 | Biographies
Seth Allen was an early resident on the site of the present city of Chester. We find him there in 1829, when he began operating a cooperage shop. Flour mills and slaughterhouses required the services of coopers, since most of their products were shipped in barrels....
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