Many of the prominent and valuable citizens of Louisville of the younger
generation are men who were born and bred in Clay county and of such men
Alsie N. Tolliver is a bright example. The familiar aphorism "far off hills
look greenest" has carried no weight with Mr. Tolliver, and he has been well
content to devote his energies to the opportunities which presented
themselves in his home town and county. The very agreeable degree of success
which he has thus far experienced is ample evidence that his judgment of the
future of Louisville was well founded.
Born in Clay county, October
12, 1870, Alsie N. Tolliver is the son of John H. and Margaret (Lauchner)
Tolliver. The father was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, in 1844, while
the mother was born in Tennessee in the same year. John H. Tolliver came to
Illinois in the fifties, where he was occupied with farming interests for a
number of years. He also became interested in the drug business, and was
thus connected for a period of twenty years. He is still a resident of Clay
county and is an honored and useful citizen. He is a veteran of the Civil
war, serving three years in the Forty-fourth Illinois, and seeing much
active service in the various campaigns he participated in. He is a
Republican of strong and sturdy character and has ever been a faithful
adherent of the party and an advocate of party interests. In his own town he
has filled practically all the offices of a public character. The father of
John H. Tolliver was Isom Tolliver. born in Indiana and there reared. He
came to Illinois in the early fifties and entered upon government land,
which he improved and worked as a farm of considerable value. He passed his
life on the farm thus obtained and there died. He was a particularly
successful man in his business, and was regarded as being exceptionally
well-to-do for his day and age. Certain it is that he possessed a wide
acquaintance in Southern Illinois and was prominent among the more important
men of his time. The maternal grandfather of Alsie Tolliver was Daniel
Lauchner, born in Tennessee, who came to Illinois in about 1850. He settled
on an Illinois farm in Clay county and devoted the remainder of his life to
farming pursuits, being known as one of the more solid' and conservative men
of his district.
Alsie Tolliver received his education in the common
schools of Clay county. Finishing his studies, he began life as a teacher,
and for ten years was thus occupied, in the meantime continuing his own
studies until in 1898 he gave up teaching and took up the study of the law.
In 1903 Mr. Tolliver was admitted to the bar, and he began the practice of
his profession in Louisville in the same year. Since that time he has made
his headquarters in Louisville and has built up a fine and lucrative
practice. He has been an important factor in the political and civic life of
the town, and has done much for the uplift of civic conditions within the
sphere of his activity. In 1906, only three years after his admission to the
bar, he was elected to the office of county judge on the Republican ticket,
of which party he is an enthusiastic supporter, and again in 1910 he was
re-elected to that important office. Mr. Tolliver has filled that office in
a manner wholly creditable to his ability as member of the legal fraternity
and as a citizen of unblemished integrity. Always deeply interested in the
fortunes of the Republican party, he has been "up and doing" for the cause
since his earliest manhood, and since his residence in Louisville has been
prominently identified with the party and its activities. He has been chosen
to represent the party in its state conventions on numerous occasions and
his name is always to be found on any committee of importance relative to
the labors of that political body in his county.
Mr. Tolliver and
his family are members of the Baptist church of Louisville, in which
denomination he was reared by his parents, themselves members of that
church; and he is prominent in local Masonic circles. He is a member of the
Chapter and has been through all the chairs of the blue lodge.
On
June 15, 1892, Mr. Tolliver was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth
Bryan, daughter of Josiah Bryan, an early settler of Clay county, of which
he is still an honored resident. He was actively engaged in farming for
years, but is now retired, and is passing his declining years in the
enjoyment of the fruits of his labors of earlier years. Six children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Tolliver, and all are attendants of the Louisville
schools. The wife and mother passed away, and Mr. Tolliver was subsequently
united in marriage with Miss Rachel Kincaid, daughter of Jonathan Kincaid,
of Clay county, prominent in his district for many years as a stock-raiser
and agriculturist of considerable importance. Of this latter union, one
child has been born.
Extracted 09 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Southern Illinois, by George W. Smith, published in 1912, volume 3, pages 1276-1277.
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