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

THOMAS J. CHALFANT, wagon maker, Beardstown; was born in Wheeling, 
W. Va., March 5, 1823, and came with the family of Lawrence Clark, 
who had adopted him, to this county, then Morgan County, and 
settled three miles south of Virginia, in December, 1835.  Mr. 
Chalfant received such an education as the schools of that day 
afforded, and remained with Mr. Clark until he was eighteen years 
old; then worked in the plow shops of William and John Clark, 
completing his trade with John Whiteside.  He then run a shop for 
himself a year; afterward made wood work for portable saw mills, 
for about a year, for John Webb, with whom he came to Beardstown, 
in 1848, remaining with him about twelve years, and after that, in 
1849 or 1850, became pattern-maker, and took charge of the wood-
work department, till 1859.  He then carried on a jobbing shop 
till 1862, when he became foreman ship carpenter for Capt. Ebaugh, 
assisting in the building of the "Farragut," the first steamboat 
built here; worked on river boats two seasons, and was then 
employed as foreman in John Webb's wagon and plow shop for two 
years.  In 1867, he opened his present shop, and has since made 
wood work for plows and wagons, James Hood making the iron work.  
In November, 1848, Mr. Chalfant married Anne E., daughter of 
Thomas P. Norton, of Beardstown, a native of W. Virginia; they 
have had six children, five of whom are living.

Chalfant Clark Webb Ebaugh Hood Norton Whiteside
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WV Morgan-IL