My Genealogy Hound

Jacob Teeple was born in Pulaski County, Mo., in November, 1839, and is a son of Jacob and Nancy (Bilyeu) Teeple, who were born in Tennessee, the former in 1802, and died in 1862 and 1865, respectively. They were married in Illinois, and in 1832 moved to Missouri, where the father engaged in farming and stock raising. He held the office of justice of the peace for a great many years, and was also judge of the Pulaski County Court. He served in the Black Hawk War, and was a participant in the engagement at Rock Island, Ill. The maternal grandparents, Peter and Diana (Blackwell) Bilyeu, were Tennesseeans, and at an early day moved to Illinois, where they engaged in farming. Jacob Teeple, whose name heads this sketch, is the only surviving member of a family of nine children, eight besides himself, whose names are Peter, G. W., John R., Isaac, Margaret, Diannah, Nancy (Strain) and Hannah (Denton); he was reared in his native county, receiving his education in the common schools. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Frazier’s regiment, Price’s army, and at the battle of Springfield was captured and taken, in company with twenty-eight others, his father being of the number, first to Rolla, and then to St. Louis. Here he was retained two months, and was then taken to Alton, Ill., thence to Johnson’s Island, where he was exchanged. He then rejoined his regiment at Little Rock, Ark, and served in the Trans-Mississippi Department until the close of the war. He was in a number of hotly contested battles, and in June, 1865, was paroled with Gen. Kirby Smith and returned to Missouri. He soon after went to Illinois, where he resided until 1869, having married in the meantime (1867) Miss Mary A. Plain, who was born on the 8th of December, 1848, and then returned to Missouri, where he has by hard work and judicious management become the owner of a fine farm of 324 acres, 175 of which are under cultivation. A family of nine children was born to himself and wife, only four of whom are living: Charles Elbert, John Elmer, James A. and Hannah Lavonia. Those deceased are Robert Lee, Minnie F., Lillie May, Emma Ellen and an infant unnamed. The family attend the Christian Church, and Mr. Teeple is a Democrat, his first presidential vote being cast in 1860 for John C. Breckenridge. He is a charter member of the Grange. Mrs. Teeple’s parents, John and Mary A. (Workman) Plain, were born in Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively, the former’s birth occurring in 1821. They moved from Kentucky to Illinois, thence to Missouri in 1865, and after several changes located permanently in Illinois in 1871, where they are yet residing. Seven of their eleven children are living: Mary A. (Teeple), Malinda (Wilson), Isabel (Lemon), Nancy (Koss), Ella (Wilson), Alice (Malhoit) and Laura May (Malhoit).