John Titchenal, one of the well known citizens and
successful farmers of Bunker Hill township, Macoupin County, who owns a well
cultivated farm of 160 acres, situated in section 31, was born in Culpeper
County, Virginia, July 20, 1835, and is a son of Andrew and Nancy (Ogden)
Titchenal.
David Titchenal, the grandfather of our subject, settled
in western Virginia in early days on a farm so intersected with mountain
spurs, that it was described as having 57 corners. However, on this farm
David Titchenal prospered and was accounted the only wealthy man of his
neighborhood. Both he and a son served in the War of 1812. His children
were: William, John, Andrew, Moses, Daniel, David and Mrs. Margaret Little.
Andrew Titchenal, father of our subject, was born in 1800 in
Virginia on his father's farm in Harrison County, and died in 1855, in
Madison County, Illinois. Although he owned land and did considerable
farming, he was more inclined to live the life of a hunter and trapper,
preferring log cabins in the woods where he could enjoy a life near to
nature. He made a good income from the sale of deer and other game, being a
fine shot. He was reared in Democratic principles and, like his father,
always took an interest in politics. He married Nancy Ogden, who could trace
her ancestry to Lord Ogden, an English peer. She was born in Virginia and
died in Macoupin County, Illinois, in 1876, aged 69 years. William Ogden,
the maternal grandfather of our subject, was 12 years of age when his father
enlisted for service in the Revolutionary War. Andrew Titchenal and wife had
13 children: Juha A., William R., David, Mary L., Martin V., Phoebe, John,
Melissa J., Thomas B., Virginia, George W., Rebecca, and a babe which died
in infancy. Julia A., now 82 years of age, married John Johns and they moved
to Salem, Oregon, in 1850; and there her brother William R. died in 1857,
aged 21 years. David, who is a farmer, lives in the State of Washington.
Mary L. married Elias W. Wilder and died in 1865. Martin V. went overland to
California in 1853 and died in Oregon in 1858. Pheobe (Mrs. Harris) died in
1865, at Litchfield, Illinois. Melissa J. (Mrs. Williams) lives in Madison
County, Illinois, where Thomas B, who is a farmer, also lives. Virginia
(Mrs. Hill) is also a resident of Madison County, Illinois. George W. went
to Kansas City and is a contractor there. Rebecca (Mrs. McGovern) resides in
Madison County, Illinois.
Our subject was four years of age when his
parents settled at Alton, Illinois, later they removed to Alton township,
Madison County. For a number of years the family resided in various
neighborhoods. In 1870 our subject came to Macoupin County and has resided
here ever since. In early manhood he learned the cooper's trade which he
followed from 1854 until 1867, with the exception of 1862, which he spent in
the army. He enlisted in Company G, 150th Reg., Illinois Vol. Inf., under
Captain Swift and served in Tennessee and Georgia, and as a teamster in
Missouri. Mr. Titchenal has carried on general farming and stock raising,
but for some years has given the operation of the farm to his son Frank.
In 1869 Mr. Titchenal married Katherine Loyd, who was born in Madison
County, Illinois, March 15, 1835, and died at the home in Bunker Hill
township, Macoupin County, February 19, 1899. She was a daughter of James
and Elizabeth (Dooling) Loyd, natives of Ireland. Three children were born
to this union: Mary L., who married James Taylor of Alton and has three
children — Ethel, Allen and Chester; Frank M., who married Daisy Spencer and
has four children — Oscar E., Gladys M., Spencer and Samuel E., all residing
with our subject; and Thomas Edwin, who is connected with a business house
at East St. Louis.
Mr. Titchenal is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic. He is well known in Bunker Hill township and is very highly
esteemed. He very distinctly recalls pioneer days in this locality and many
of Iiis reminiscences, if collected, would make interesting pages in a
history of those times.
Extracted 2018 May 06 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 119-120.
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