HOLLADY & DUNCAN, millers, Cobden.
V. R. Hollady was born January 20, 1850, in Tennessee; is a son of J. J. and
Nancy C. (Hines) Hollady, natives of Tennessee and settlers of Union County
in 1860. They were the parents of eight children. Our subject attended
school in the log cabin. In 1875, he left home and engaged in a saw mill in
Jackson County, Ill. In 1882, he engaged in the present business. Was
married in 1874 to Mary I. Odum, a native of Williamson County, this State.
The result has been Charles and Clint. He is a member of the A., F. & A. M.
and K. of H.; votes the Democratic ticket.
R. B. Duncan is a native of Williamson County. Ill., where he was born May
4, 1850. His parents, Dudley and Rebecca (Spiller) Duncan, were natives of
Tennessee, and settled in Williamson County very early. The grandfather
Duncan owned the land where Bainbridge now lies, in said county. The parents
were members of the Christian Church. Our subject had but little chance of
school, his parents having died when he was very small. When fourteen years
old, he went to Marshall County, Kan., to live with his oldest brother, W.
B., who now lives in California. The home of his brother was then located on
the old and well-known stage route, "St. Jo and San Francisco." This route
was considered very dangerous, as many robbers and murderers occupied these
wild regions. Young Duncan at the age of seventeen began learning the
milling and millwright business, which he mastered very quickly, and soon
became an expert as a mechanic, making his services desirable over a wide
scope of country. After closing his labors with a man by the name of Davis,
of Toronto, Kan., he attended a commercial school at St. Jo, Mo., where he
graduated in the Bryant & Stratton system. In 1870, he rented a mill at
Spillerstown, Ill., for one year, and, in partnership with Dorris, buying
the mill; they moved it to Frankfort, Franklin Co., Ill, and operated the
same successfully for one year, when Mr. Duncan withdrew and traveled for
awhile in the Western country in the interests of some manufacturing
establishments. In 1875, he married Alice, a daughter of Judge Prickett, of
Carbondale, and at said village worked for some time in a grist mill, in
connection with his trade, that of millwright. In 1882, he and Mr. Hollady
put up the present mill at Cobden. They have new machinery, both stones and
iron rollers for grinding. They make a specialty of custom work, and of
course court the people by making good flour, the best in this part of the
country. His wife died in March, 1880, leaving one child— Ralph. He
subsequently married Mollie Prindle, of Indianapolis. He is a member of the
I. O. O. F. of Nashville. His wife is a Baptist. He is a stanch Republican.
Extracted 26 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from 1883 History of Alexander, Union, and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part V, pages 129-130.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
 |
Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
