Alexander B. Loveless, a prosperous general farmer
and stock raiser of South Otter township, Macoupin County, who owns one of
the finest farms in his section of the county, consisting of 80 acres in
section 29 and 80 acres in section 28, was born in 1860 in Bird township,
Macoupin County. He is a son of William J. and Mary E. (Sells) Loveless, and
is a worthy representative of one of the honored old pioneers of Bird
township.
William Loveless, the grandfather of Alexander B. died at
the village of Reader on Thursday morning, July 28, 1900, his death removing
one of the two remaining pioneers of the western section of Macoupin County.
"Uncle Billy Loveless," as he was familiarly and affectionately called, was
born in 1804 in Blount County, Tennessee, and removed to Illinois in 1832.
The hard conditions and great deprivations met with in the wilderness into
which they had cOme, produced a sort of homesickness, and after trying for a
time to overcome it the family returned to Tennessee, living in the old
neighborhood until 1843, when Mr. Loveless returned to Illinois, came to
Macoupin County and settled in Bird township, which was his continuous home
thenceforward until his death. Prior to coming to Illinois on the first
occasion, he had married Jennie Bell and 11 children were born to them,
eight sons, and three daughters: John H., Samuel L., Hugh F. and Marion F.,
who are residents of this county; William J., of Morgan County; Charles M.,
of Fayette County; George W., of Missouri; Mrs. Mary E. Bumgarner of
Nebraska; Zadock; and Matilda and Elizabeth, who have been dead many years.
After the death of his wife in 1880, the grandfather made his home with his
children, his descendants numbering more than those of any other pioneer of
the county. A grandson, Prof. Milo J. Loveless, has compiled an interesting
record which shows 182 direct descendants, 132 of whom still survive. Mr.
Loveless believed in slavery all his life, according to his early teaching,
although during the Civil War his sons William J., Samuel L. and Zadock as
well as his elder brother, were not only Union men but were also
abolitionists.
William J. Loveless, our subject's father, was born
March 10, 1836, in Tennessee, and remained with his father until he attained
his majority when he married Mary E. Sells, who was born August 16, 1842,
and died October 8, 1891, aged 49 years. They had these children: Gabriella,
born September 23, 1859, deceased September 9, 1866; Alexander B.; Horace
Monroe, born September 2, 1862; S. Everett, born July 30, 1864, deceased;
Emerson and Emeroi (twins), born March 8, 1866, both deceased; Maurice, born
November 11, 1868; Alvin Ira, born December 22, 1870; Viola, born September
27, 1876; and Truman Landon, born October 12, 1881. Mr. Loveless still
resides in North Otter township, Macoupin County.
Alexander B.
Loveless was reared and educated in Bird and South Otter townships, and at
Blackburn University at Carlinville. Until he came of age, he assisted on
the home farm and then began to teach school, a profession he followed for
12 years in South Otter township, farming during the school vacations. In
1895 he purchased a tract of 30 acres and soon after another of 50 acres, in
section 29, South Otter, to which he added in July, 1902, 80 acres in
section 28, all of which he devotes to farming and the raising of stock, in
which he has been eminently successful.
In 1889 Mr. Loveless was
married to Laura D. Adcock, who is a daughter of Henry and Martha (Swift)
Adcock. Henry Adcock, who was born in Tennessee, accompanied his parents to
Illinois, and is now engaged in farming in section 8, South Otter township.
His family consists of il children, Mrs. Loveless being the sixth in order
of birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Loveless have had these children: Otis, born
in 1890, deceased in 1892; Mary, born May 28, 1893; Ireda, born July 3,
1896; Herbert Alexander, born May 20, 1898; and Ernest, born May 10, 1902.
In politics Mr. Loveless is identified with the Republican party.
For a long time he has been a leading member of the Hickory Point Baptist
Church. He is a man who stands well with all who know him, is honest and
fair in all his dealings and can always be depended upon in any emergency
that arises in his township, which requires the exercise of good judgment.
Extracted 2018 May 05 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 72-74.
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