Leonard Serrot Biographical Review

LEONARD SERROT, who is well-known throughout Schuyler county as a progressive and intelligent agriculturist was born in Scioto county, Ohio, September 12, 1832, son of Peter F. and Nancy (Patton) Serrot. The paternal grandparents were born in the city of Paris, France, and emigrated to America to take up part of a tract of land that was granted to La Fayette, near Portsmouth, Ohio; there they settled and passed the remainder of their lives. Peter F. Serrot lived in Ohio until 1835, and in the fall of that year removed to Illinois; he made the trip with four horses and a wagon, and was accompanied by his wife and eight children. He first settled in the village of Rushville, and the following spring bought the land on which Leonard Serrot now lives; the tract consisted of 160 acres, and the consideration was $300; there were no improvements, and the land was heavily timbered. He, Peter F., erected a log house which was then regarded as a very superior structure, and which furnished a shelter several years, when it was replaced by a more modern edifice. Mr. Serrot was an old-time Whig, but joined the Republican ranks upon the formation of that party. He died at the home of his son, John, aged seventy-six years; his wife, Nancy Patton Serrot, was born in Ohio, and died at the old homestead, at the age of fifty-six years. Leonard Serrot spent his boyhood and youth at home with his parents. He was married January 4, 1855, to Miss Evelina Thompson, who was born in Cecil county, Maryland, April 6, 1834, a daughter of Ezekiel and Mary (Thompson) Thompson; her father was a native of Pennsylvania, and emigrated to the West at an early day, and was one of the honored pioneers of Schuyler county; he died at the age of eighty-two years, and his wife survived to the age of eighty-four years; they reared a family of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Serrot each received a fair education in the common schools, and are the parents of two children: Millard F. was born December 24, 1855; he is one of the prominent teachers of the county, and has followed the profession ten years; Mary E. was born May 4, 1860. After his marriage, Mr. Serrot lived on the home place for thirteen years, and then embarked in the grocery trade in Ripley, Brown county, conducting the business from 1868 to 1871. He is now engaged in general farming. For more than forty years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has lived a life consistent with its teachings. In politics, he adheres to the principles of the Republican party. He is a member of the Grange, and in all movements for the benefit of the public he takes a deep interest. He has always employed strictly honorable methods in his business relations, and enjoys the highest regard of his fellowmen. Six years ago he erected one of the handsomest houses in the county. The paternal great-grandfather of Mr. Serrot was Captain of a French man-of-war, and was very prominent among the seamen of his day.