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ANDREW J. PICKRELL. The lawyer-postmaster of Anna, Illinois, Andrew J. Pickrell, needs no introduction to the people of that city. That he is well and favorably known is evidenced by the office to which he has been appointed each term without opposition since March 1, 1903, and which he now holds and fills so acceptably. Mr. Pickrell was born October 19, 1854, on a farm near Mount Pleasant, Union county, Illinois, and is a son of John and Hannah Pickrell, and a grandson of a Virginia planter who removed from that state to Tennessee. John Pickrell was born in Tennessee, and migrated to Illinois at an early age with his parents and early in life engaged in agricultural pursuits in Union county, from whence he enlisted for service during the Civil war, in Company I, One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was for many years a well-known and prosperous farmer of Union county. He died in Anna after a residence there of thirty years, at the age of eighty-one years, his burial taking place under the auspices of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he had been for a long period a popular comrade. His wife, who before marriage was Hannah Dickson Wiggs was a native of North Carolina. She also died in Anna, aged seventy-two years.
Andrew J. Pickrell was given the benefit of a good education, attending the common schools of Union county, the Sam Harwood school, of Carbondale, and Ewing College. During the next three years he studied law in the offices of M. J. Inscore, and in 1889 was admitted to the bar, practicing from that year until 1903. From 1898 until 1900 he served the people of Anna as city attorney, and during his incumbency of that office revised the city ordinances. In 1894 when the Republican party was casting about for a suitable candidate for the office of State representative, Mr. Pickrell's name was brought forth, and in the election which followed he received the largest vote ever polled for a candidate for that position. Although he only served one term, Mr. Pickrell made his presence felt in the Legislature, being fearless in
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chainpioning the issues which he felt would benefit his constituents, and serving as a member of the Judiciary and four or five other committees. One of the most important bills advocated by him was one to regulate the express companies, placing them under control of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission. When he was first appointed postmaster of Anna, the postoffice here belonged to the third class, but the business has nearly doubled during his incumbency and it is now a second-class office. He has ably kept pace with all improvements in the department, and has demonstrated his capability and efficiency in every way. He is courteous, considerate and obliging, has been one of the best and most popular postmasters Anna has known, and it is certain that when he leaves the office he will have added hosts of friends to those he already has. The highest compliment that can be paid to Mr. Pickrell is the general opinion of all who know him that he is a man who does his duty as he sees it, and that he is upright, fearless and absolutely sincere. He has been popular in fraternal circles, and is connected with Lodge No. 520, A. F. & A. M. and R. A. M., Chapter No, 45, at Anna; with Cairo Commandery No. 13, and with the Modern Woodmen of America.