One of the best known residents of Brighton is Henry G. Stall, who
has reached the venerable age of four score years and is recognized as
one of the most successful business men this section has known. He is a
native of York, Pennsylvania, born January 7, 1831, a son of John and
Mary (Albright) Stall, both of whom were born in York county,
Pennsylvania. The mother died in 1848 and the father later went to
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and at the outbreak of the Civil war
enlisted in the Union service, becoming a member of the famous
Mississippi River Marine Brigade. On account of the exertion and
exposure incident to military life he was taken ill while at the post of
duty and died at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he was buried.
Henry G. Stall was reared at home until his seventeenth year, but
possessed very limited advantages of attendance at school, being obliged
to withdraw from school in his ninth year. His education, therefore, has
been almost wholly self-acquired. Upon the death of the mother the
family was broken up and the son secured employment as clerk in a hotel
at Baltimore, Maryland, continuing in that position in 1849 and 1850. In
the spring of 1851 he came west to St. Louis and in the following fall
went to New Orleans where he sought in vain for work for which he was
adapted. Subsequently, however, he secured a position as clerk in a
mercantile establishment at Warrington, Florida, and continued there
until 1854. He narrowly escaped death from an attack of yellow fever in
1853. After recovering from his illness he came to Alton, Illinois, and
in 1854 secured a clerkship in the freight office of the Chicago & Alton
Railway. In the summer of 1856 he filled the position of clerk on the
steamer Baltimore, plying between St. Louis and Alton and carrying
passengers for the Chicago & Alton Railway.
Mr. Stall arrived in
Brighton, Macoupin county, in the spring of 1857 and served as station
agent for the Chicago & Alton road, also filling the position of
telegraph operator. In 1881 he engaged in the mercantile business at
Virden, but after seven months transferred his headquarters to Brighton,
where he successfully continued his business for two years. He sold out
in 1883 and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, but an epidemic of yellow
fever visited the place and, his wife becoming frightened, they went to
Little Rock, Arkansas, and thence to De Soto, Missouri, where Mr. Stall
again engaged in the mercantile business with which he was successfully
identified for five years. He was one of the leading citizens of the
town and served very acceptably as its mayor. In 1889 he returned to
Brighton and for several years was engaged in farming, but in 1893 or
1894 removed from his farm to this place, where he has since resided. He
has actively engaged in building houses for sale and proved one of the
most successful men in that line that this part of the county has known.
In 1854 Mr. Stall was married to Miss Martha Walker at New
Orleans, Louisiana, where they first met and became acquainted. She died
in November, 1910, having arrived at the age of eighty-four years. One
child, Harry E., was born to this union. He is now living with his
father. Mr. Stall has adhered to the democratic party ever since he cast
his first ballot and served several terms as police magistrate and also
as justice of the peace, showing a discrimination and clear judgment
that met the hearty approval of the people. He is identified with
Hibbard Lodge No. 249, A. F. & A. M., and is the oldest member of this
organization, having been made a Mason in 1858. He looks back on a long
and useful life crowned with many happy recollections and cheered with
warm friendships. He ranks today among the most honored citizens of
Macoupin county.
Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 385-386.
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