Biographies

    MarkBoyd    MARK BOYD, a pioneer farmer of Rushvilletownship, now retired from active labor, was born in county Armagh, Ireland,February 6, 1823, a son of William Boyd, a native of the same county. Thepaternal ancestors were natives of Scotland. William Boyd was reared tothe life of a farmer and when he had arrived at man’s estate he emigratedto America; this was previous to the war of 1812, and he remained threeyears; at the end of that period he returned to Ireland, was married, andresided there until 1838. In that year he sailed with his wife and threechildren for … Read more

    MartinBrooks    MARTIN BROOKS, editor of the Mount SterlingExaminer, was born in Jacksonville, in 1836. His father, Samuel S.,came from Connecticut, of Scotch ancestry. Martin commenced very young to learn thetrade of printer, and was employed in different places, until 1863, whenhe came to Mount Sterling, and with his brother Samuel bought the officeand good will of the Mount Sterling Union, a weekly paper, and changedthe name to the Mount Sterling Record. He was elected Circuit Clerkin 1864, and served eight years, and then bought an interest in the MountSterling Message, and two years later sold out, and … Read more

    Rev. Michael Clifford     Rev. MICHAEL CLIFFORD has been Pastor of St. Mary’s Church, Mount Sterling, Illinois, for more than twenty years, and during this time has been a faithful servant to his Master, and has won the esteem and admiration of the people with whom he has labored. He was born in county Limerick, Ireland, and his ancestors for many generations were natives of the same county. He received his early education in the Latin school at Charleyville, county Cork, and later became a student at All Hallow’s College, Dublin, from which institution he was graduated … Read more

     MrsNancy Green    MRS. NANCY GREEN wasborn in Ohio, November 30, 1824, and lived there until two or three yearsof age, and then came to Kentucky with her parent.. They were James andLovey (Tolle) Tolle, both born in Virginia, who had gone to Ohio in anearly day. In 1836 they concluded to move West and sold every thing exceptsome household goods, and with a two-horse wagon came overland and firstsettled in Schuyler county for two months. They then came to Brown countyand entered eighty acres of land and bought 160 more of that partly improved,and hewed out a … Read more

    Mrs.William Price    MRS. WILLIAM PRICE, a resident of Rushville,Illinois, has the honor of being one of the earliest settlers of Schuylercounty, Illinois, her parents removing there in 1826. She was born in Crawfordcounty, Indiana, October 8, 1816, a daughter of Wiliam and Cassie (Frakes)McKee, whose history appears on another page of this volume. She recallsmany incidents of life on the frontier, and has not forgotten the privationsand hardships endured by those who were courageous enough to undertaketo subdue the wild land and convert it into fertile farms. She was marriedat the age of sixteen years, to William … Read more

    NewtonLucas    NEWTON LUCAS, a resident of Pea Ridge township,was born in what is now Cooperstown township, December 11, 1838. His father,D. R. Lucas, was one of the pioneers of Brown county, born in Butler county,Ohio, March 21, 1810. His father, John Lucas, was born September 7, 1760,in Virginia, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was taken prisonerby the Indians and by them taken to Kentucky and Ohio. He was pleased withthe country, and after the close of the war located in Kentucky, but failedto secure a good title to his land and lost it, … Read more

  NormanParsons  NORMAN PARSONS, now retired and living quietlyat his home at the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, is one of theold settlers, having come here in 1854. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut,November 6, 1811, and was a child only a few years old when his parents,Moses and Elsiby (Pease) Parsons, with a colony of twenty families, duringthe war of 1812, came overland with teams to Geauga county, Ohio. Theyarrived in June, 1814, and made a settlement in the heavy timber of thatnew, unbroken country, surrounded by Indians and plenty of game. He therelived until the country was … Read more

    O. A. Berry   O. A. BERRY, foreman of the blacksmith shops of the Rock Island and St. Louis division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, located at Beardstown, was born in Medina, Ohio, February 12, 1852. He came when five years of age to Aurora, Illinois, with his parents. He grew up there and received a common school education and learned his trade. His father, Thomas E. Berry, had come from England to Medina, Ohio, there learned the carpenter’s trade and was married to Anna Pierce, who was also of English birth. In 1857, Thomas Berry, … Read more

    PhilanderAvery    PHILANDER AVERY, one of the large land ownersof Schuyler county, resides on  section 26,  Camden  township.He first came to the county in 1832, being a native of Franklin county,Ohio, born June 13, 1823.  His parents, David and Margaret (Adams)Avery, were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio.  The grandfather ofthe subject was born in Ireland, but came to the United States when a boyand for some time was a sailor.  He then farmed and followed the carpentertrade.  Some time after his children were settled he emigrated toIllinois, settled in Schuyler county, where he died at the age of … Read more

     PeterW. Rickard    PETER W. RICKARD, an intelligent and progressivefarmer of Cass county, Illinois, residing in township 19, range 9, wasborn in Windham county, Connecticut, August 26, 1823. His parents were Peter and Mary (Healy) Rickard,both natives of Massachusetts, the mother’s birth having taken place inDudley, of that State. The father died one month previous to the birthof the subject of this sketch. Grandfather Rickard was a brave and efficientsoldier in the Revolutionary war, and died in the service. The Rickardfamily is of French ancestry and took a prominent part in early Colonialtimes. Our subject’s mother was a … Read more