from a strain
of sturdy pioneer stock, it having been his grandfather, James Alsup, who
settled in Massac county in 1841, his death occurring shortly after that date.
He had lived in the Choctaw nation for a time before coming to Illinois.
James T. Alsup
was born July 13,
1864, in Unionville, Massac county, Illinois, a son of William Alsup, who was a
native of Tennessee. His wife was Hannah C. Neal, also a native of Tennessee,
who came to Massac county from near Nashville. They had a family of four
children, all of whom are living as follows: Mrs. Dora Pierce, Mrs. Annie Hight,
Robert and James T. The elder Alsup was a blacksmith by trade, and he died when
James T. was but a small boy and the son was accordingly obliged to make his own
way from a very early age. After the father’s death the mother moved with her
family to Johnson county, Illinois, and when ten years old James in order to
lift a portion of the burden of the support of the family from her shoulders
hired out to a farmer. He continued to thus work until his eighteenth year, when
he decided to supplement his meager schooling with further study and entered the
public school. Later he became a pupil at a select school, where he studied
under the tutorage of Professor W. Y. Smith for two years.
The summer of 1888 marked the
beginning of Rev. Alsup‘s career as a minister of the Christian church, his
ordination taking place soon after he had started to preach. In January, 1889,
he accepted a call to the Metropolis, Illinois, Christian church, and retained
that charge for two years. He then resigned in order to pursue higher studies
and entered Eureka College, remaining there five years, receiving his degree of
Bachelor of Arts in 1896. While attending college Rev. Alsup devoted a portion
of his time to preaching, filling at various times the pulpits of Pontiac,
Flanagan, Saunemin and Cerro Gordo, all of which were located near Eureka
College.
He responded to a
call from the Washington, Illinois, church in 1896, and remained with that
charge for two years,
at the expiration of which period
he accepted the appointment of state evangelist at the hands of the State Board
of Christian Missions. This evangelical work he continued for a year and then,
having received an urgent call from the Pekin, Illinois, Church of Christ, he
took up work there and served for three years, severing his connection with the
charge in April of 1902. It was while a resident of Pekin that Rev. Alsup suffered bereavement in the loss of his first wife, her demise occurring in
October, 1901. She was Mollie Davison, daughter of Amazinah and Jane Davison,
and her marriage to Mr. Alsup took place in 1892. They became the parents of
four children, Janet, Winifred, Errett and Vivian.
In 1902 Rev. Alsup decided to seek
a change of location and selected as his choice Harrison county, Missouri.
Purchasing a farm at that point, he continued to live thereon with his family,
cultivating the land, teaching and preaching and doing a great amount of good.
For seven years he continued to pursue this mode of life and character of
activity in Missouri, when a desire to return to his old home state seized him
and he went back to Metropolis, Illinois, remaining there until the spring of
1911, when he returned to his first charge in Vienna.
While in Missouri, in January,
1904, Rev. Alsup married his second wife, who was
Miss Josie L. North, of
Washington, Illinois, daughter of Luther S. and Ellen North. To this union three
children were born, two of whom are living, James and
William.
Rev. Alsup
is a man of good
business ability and he has accumulated some valuable property, among his
holdings being a two hundred acre farm near Vienna, which he purchased in 1908.
He is active in social life and is a member of the Modern Woodmen and Court of
Honor lodges
P. 1511
and is also a Mason. As a minister
he is a man of power, a forceful speaker and endowed with marked oratorical
ability. He possesses great energy and has many pleasing personal qualities and
a sterling character that have won for him the highest respect and esteem of all
with whom he comes in contact.
History Table of Contents
Biography Table of
Contents
Name Index
Memorial Library Illinois
Selections
USGenNet.org
- First & Only 501(c)3 Host for Genealogical & Historical Sites
Livingston County Michigan Historical & Genealogical Project
American
History & Genealogy Project
Home
© 2011~
www.MemorialLibrary.com
