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A Short Biography |
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was the president of the Pasadena Land and Water Company, is a descendant
in the third generation of a Scotch-Highlander who emigrated to America.
The son of this emigrant, John McQuilling, a resident of Somerset
county, Pa., disliked the excitement of business and betook himself to
the quietude of agriculture; he died, when almost a centenarian, a short
time prior to the Civil war [I can find nothing! No record after 1810.
Not sure what happened to him. On the 1820 Census Mary McQUILLING
is listed as a widow with six children at home.]. His son, Samuel,
was born in Somerset county, Pa., in 1801 [Somerset Co. birth record:
17 Aug 1799] and was married, November 28, 1836, to Miss Anna Flory.
By occupation he was a millwright and a farmer. He died of cholera
in Delta, Ohio, September 6, 1850. His wife, Anna Flory, was
born in Harrison county, Ohio, October 18, 1821, and is still living.
The paternal grandmother of our subject [Mary McQUILLING] was born
in America, of German parentage, about 1765, and died in Delta, Ohio, in
1839. His maternal grandfather, Jonah Flory, was born in Pennsylvania
May 20, 1793, and died in Dubuque, Iowa, September 6, 1845. He was
of German parentage. His wife, Catherine Knaga, was born at the Glades,
Pa., in 1791, and died in Mercer county, Ill., September 18, 1843.
Her parents were natives of Germany and came to America crossing the Alleghenies
on horseback and settling at the Glades [York Co.], where she was married,
at twenty years of age, to Mr. Flory. The subject of this article
was born in Mercer county, Ill., November 29, 1840. When eight years
of age he accompanied his parents to Delta, Ohio. Two years later
two of his sisters and his father died of cholera and another sister was
fatally poisoned by a rattlesnake bite. After this trying ordeal,
the mother and son returned to the Illinois farm. There Adam cultivated
crops in the summer and attended school in the winter. In 1857 his
mother and step-father removed to Chariton county, Mo., and he accompanied
them, remaining there until the threatened outbreak of the Civil war made
the surroundings unpleasant for one of northern sympathies. In 1861
he returned to Illinois with the intention of taking a commercial course
in Lombard University at Galesburg [Knox Co.]. However, patriotism
soon supplanted other things in his mind. He enlisted at Cairo, [Alexander
Co.,] Ill., September 16, 1861, in Company A, Thirtieth Illinois Infantry,
which was assigned to the army of the west. He was in Grant's command
at Belmont, Mo., November 7, 1861, and took part in the capture of Forts
Henry and Donelson. In the battle of Fort Donelson Company A entered
with forty-one men and came out with five killed, seventeen wounded (one
mortally) and three captured by the enemy. Scarcely a man escaped
uninjured. Captain McQuilling was saved in a providential manner.
As the day was cold and stormy he had dressed himself warmly. While
he was in the act of shooting, a bullet flashed over his left arm at the
elbow and struck him near the heart, penetrating his overcoat, thick jacket,
vest, suspenders and shirt, forcing a piece of the shirt into the flesh,
but fortunately he escaped with only a flesh wound. He took part
in the siege of Corinth and the occupation of Jackson Tenn. At the
latter place he was ill with typhoid fever, from the effects of which he
has never fully recovered. After having to a certain extent regained
his strength, he was, by order of General Grant, detailed for special duty
in the Jackson, Tenn., hospital, and when it was closed he was given a
furlough of twenty days, with instructions to report to the chief of hospitals
in Memphis, Tenn., at the expiration of his leave of absence. On
reporting he was assigned to duty as hospital commissary at Washington
Hospital, Memphis, where he performed his labors until ordered to Springfield,
Ill., for discharge. During his hospital service he was twice examined
for field duty, but both times was rejected. Though fully entitled
to a pension by reason of his long service and subsequent ill health, he
has never made application for one. He was honorably discharged September
21, 1864. On his return to Illinois Mr. McQuilling engaged in farming.
Later he was a clerk in a store at Suez, Ill., in which he became a partner
in due time. During his mercantile life he became acquainted with
Margaret Isabel Sedwick, whom he married November 24, 1870. Her father,
who was of English descent, bore the name of Washington Sedwick, and was
born in Mercer county, Pa., November 25, 1805. During his active
life he was a Methodist minister. November 25, 1824, he married Elizabeth
Koener, who was born in Mercer county, of German descent. He died
in Edinburg, Pa., February 3, 1847, and she in Mercer county, July 17,
1784.. Mr. and Mrs. McQuilling are the parents of two children, Inez
may and William S. In 1875 our subject came to Pasadena, and purchasing
fifteen acres of land, engaged in raising citrus and deciduous fruits.
During the ?boom? days he sold off his tract in lots. For a number
of years he was manager of the water department of the Orange Grove Association.
This was subsequently merged into the Pasadena Land and Water Company,
of which he has been a director for years and is now the president.
He is a director in the First National Bank of Pasadena. During his
service of four years as a member of the Pasadena city council he was active
in advancing measures for the benefit of the city. The value of his
citizenship was also shown during his service as a school trustee and a
trustee of the public library. In politics he is a Republican.
Fraternally he is connected with the John Godfrey Post No. 93, G.A.R.,
at Pasadena. He contributes to the support of the First Congregational
Church of Pasadena, with which his wife is connected. In a life extending
over a long period of years and crowded with military and civic activities,
he has found many occasions to be helpful to his fellow-men and to promote
the prosperity of the several localities where he has made his home, but
particularly of Pasadena, where he has resided for twenty-five years.?
--Historical & Biographical Record of Los Angeles & Vicinity, Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1901 p. 755-757 |
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Linda Driscoll, for More Information Send E-mail
to lcdris@burgoyne.com
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