Illinois:  History of Cass County, Illinois, ed. William Henry
Perrin. O. L. Baskin & Co. Historical Publishers, Chicago, 1882. 
Cass County.

SAMUEL H. PETEFISH, banker.  Very few of the present citizens of
Cass County have been and are more closely identified with the
business interests of their prosperous little city, than has been
and is the subject of this sketch.  Mr. Petefish came to Cass
County at a time when men of pith and energy were most needed to
develop its unseen resources, and establish its growth upon the
foundations of solid business principles; and the success of this
work, done by the pioneers of his and earlier days, stands out in
bold relief as a monument to their industry and perseverance. 
Mr. Petefish's parents were natives of Old Virginia.  They
emigrated from that State and settled in Morgan County in 1835,
upon the three-mile strip, finally attached to Cass County and
about five miles south of the present location of the city of
Virginia.  His father, Jacob, died in 1849, on the homestead, and
his mother was formerly Elizabeth Price.  They raised a family of
ten children, six sons and four daughters:  William, Jacob,
Samuel H., John A., Andrew J., and Thomas B.  Besides our
subject, Jacob and John are residents of Cass County; William and
Thomas reside in Douglas County, Kan.; Andrew fell a soldier in
the late war.  Mrs. Sarah (Robert) Maxfield is the only surviving
daughter.  She and her husband reside in Macoupin County, in
which locality died her sister, Mrs. Ellen (Joseph) Crum.  Mrs.
Dinah (Rev. Daniel) Short died in Sangamon County.  Christian
Petefish, our subject's grandfather, came to this country as a
Hessian soldier.  He deserted the English army soon after the
battle of Princeton, and joining the Patriot forces, fought nobly
for the independence of America.  He settled in Old Virginia
after the close of the conflict, where he raised a family of
children, viz.: John, Christian, George, Jacob, and Mrs.
Catharine Chamberlain, who now lives in Nebraska.  March 18,
1848, Mr. Petefish married Miss Nancy M., daughter of Peter and
Melinda (Huffman) Hudson.  Mrs. Petefish is a native of the State
of Virginia.  Her father removed from that State to Kentucky, and
then to Cass County, in the year 1827, lo[cat]ing in township
seventeen, range eleven, on section fourteen.  He was twice
married, Melinda being his first wife, who left him two sons and
three daughters.  Mrs. Petefish was the elder, and was born May
2, 1827, soon after her parents arrived in Cass County.  With the
exception of five years spent in McDonough County, he lived in
Cass County.  Mrs. Hudson died in June, 1853, and in 1855 Mr.
Hudson married Mrs. Mathias.  Mr. and Mrs. Petefish have been
blessed with eight children, of whom three only are living:  Miss
Mary E., married Joseph Chamberlain, Louis, and Miss Ada L.  Mr.
Chamberlain died in Missouri about 1870, and Mrs. Chamberlain is
living with her parents.  Henry T., a lad about twelve years of
age, was lost during the burning of the steamer Ocean Spray,
which sad catastrophe occurred on the Mississippi river, about
five miles above St. Louis.  Mr. Petefish is known through
Central Illinois as being one of the most enterprising and
successful business men of Cass County, and at the head of three
successful banking houses, sketches of which appear elsewhere in
this work, and also a full page portrait of our subject.

Petefish Price Maxfield Crum Short Chamberlain Huffman Hudson
Mathias
=
Morgan-IL VA Douglas-KS Macoupin-IL Sangamon-IL NE McDonough-IL
KY MO