WILLIAM MICHAEL EDDLEMAN, physician, Anna. One of the old and prominent families of Union County is that of Eddleman. The grandfather of our subject, Joseph Eddleman, was born in North Carolina in 1802, and was a son of John Eddleman, a native of Pennsylvania, who emigrated to North Carolina at an early day. The wife of Joseph Eddleman was Sarah Hess, a native of Illinois, and who was born in Union County in 1806. She is still living, and is the mother of thirteen children — ten boys and three girls — all of whom lived to the years of maturity. Joseph Eddleman was a prosperous farmer and died in 1856. Eli Eddleman, father of our subject, was born February 21, 1831, in Union County, and is now the owner of over 500 acres of excellent land. He was for a time engaged in milling and merchandising, but gave up the former for a number of years, and afterward engaged in the mercantile business. He was married in 1852, in this county, to Miss Mary L. Halterman, a native of North Carolina, born September 24, 1829, and came to Union County with her parents in 1850. She has nine children, viz.: Henry E., born September 1, 1853; Sarah J., born June 8, 1855, and the wife of William N. Jenkins; John Wesley, born December 14, 1856; William Michael (subject), born March 22, 1858; Walter Allen, born January 10, 1860, deceased; George, born September 18, 1861, deceased; Daniel T., born February 3, 1863, deceased; Mary Ellen, born August 26, 1 865, and the wife of D. Penninger; James Cyrus, born November 14, 1867. Mrs. Eddleman's father was Abraham Halterman, a native of North Carolina, and born in 1800. He was a farmer and carpenter, and in 1823 built the County Court House at Concord, N. C, and in 1850 came to Union County, Ill. He was a large land holder, owning some 2,500 acres of land; he died in 1853. His father was Christian Halterman, a native of Pennsylvania, but an early emigrant to North Carolina. Our subject was raised on the farm until he was nineteen years of age, and receiving during the time, the benefits of the common schools. Small events sometimes change the whole current of our lives, as the following incident in the life of Dr. Eddleman will show. In his boyhood, he took great interest in domestic matters, and particularly in the raising of poultry, so much so that he soon relieved his mother of all care of her chickens and other fowls. So great was his devotion to his feathered charges, that if one met with the slightest accident, he nursed it, and cared for it to such an extent that the family in derision applied to him the title of "Doctor." This was at first somewhat embarrassing, but as he grew older the idea of making a physician of himself was conceived. At the age of nineteen, he entered Ewing College, at Ewing, Ill., where he remained for about five months and then returned home. In the fall of 1878 he went to Valparaiso, Ind., and there attended the Indiana Normal School, graduating from that institution in June, 1880. He had, however, taken lectures at the Kentucky School of Medicine, and the Hospital College at Louisville, and in the fall of 1881 entered the Medical Department of the University of Tennessee, at Nashville, and after seven months, graduated, receiving his diploma February 23, 1882. In June following, he located at Anna, Ill., and entered upon the practice of medicine. His natural ability, education, and a strong sympathy for the woes of suffering humanity, qualify him in an eminent degree for the profession he has chosen. Although he has not yet been in practice a year, he has professional charge of the County Almshouse. Dr. Eddleman is a Democrat in politics, is connected with the Lutheran Church, and is a member of the Southern Illinois Medical Association.
Extracted 02 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from 1883 History of Alexander, Union, and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part V, pages 62-63.
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