Pgs 412-686 - Illinois Ancestors

OF ELYIRA TOWNSHIP. 483
and here completecl a liberal education. On growing to manhood he
purchasecl eighty acres and at once engaged in agriculture and stockraising.
In IS67 he adcled eighty acres, solcl the 160 acres in 1874,
and the same year purchased 240 acres on see. 87 ; SO acres on scc. 26:
anel eighty acres on see. 24, to rvllich he has since addecl 160 acres.
With this' well-improveel farm of 560 acres he has one of the finest Earn1
resicleilces in the ~vliole county, which was completecl 1:tst year, lawn
sncl grouncls well laic1 out ancl plantetl wit11 ornanlental trees and
shrubbery, one of the best equippecl far111 yards in the county-all tlle
result of a quarter century's attention to liis business ancl an intelligent
appreciation of the true position which a farmer sho~ild OCCUPV. IIe
mas maried in 1866 to Miss Lusetta, daughter of Smith anel Sarah
(Jordan) Woocl~varcl, natives of Pennsylvania. OF eight children born
to them, seven are living, namely :-Orville, Margaret J., Nina J., Smith
A., Lusetta, John T., and Evalina, all resicling at home or attending
school. In politics he is a Republican, but farther than inquiring
closely into a candidate's principles he does not ineclclle much in thern.
School interests all\-ays claim his attention and he is now scliool trustee.
In ~eligious matters lle is not a church member but sapports the United
Presbyterian Society. He commenced his battle with the worlc2 " barehanclecl
" ancl conquereel it.
lFTiZIinn~ ,irvrv&y, son of Tliolnas and Jaiiet (Scott) Jlnrray, natives
of Scotlancl, nTas born in Roxburgl~shire, Map 28. 1835. Mr. Murr:~y's
father ~vas born September 10, 1807 and liis nlotl~er 1806. Both were
clescenclecl from a long line of farniers, ant1 when conling to America,
in 1853, with their six ohilclren, their intention was to aclhere to this
indepenclent life. The hther dieti lle~e August S, 1S54, llis wife survivecl
to see her highest hopes for the family realized, ancl ilietl here
&lay 27, 187.3. William Murray is the tl~ird son of this family. David
ancl Gicleon, his elcler brothers, reside in Elmirt~ ancl Toulon, respectively
: Agnes ancl George also reside here, while Thomas, the youngest,
lives at Tles Moines, Iowa. In Fel)r~iarp, 1563, FVilliam married
I\/Iiss Isabelle, daughter of Robert A. ancl IIannah Faerbairn. Scottish
fanners, ~11o came to the United States in July, 1859. Mr. Murray
purchase(1 eighty acres in Elinira, 11711icll 11e soltl in a few years t~ncl
settled on a farin of 160 a,cres in Toulon to\~~nsliip. After a residence
of nine years there, he solcl tliat fa~in itatl purchasetl 240 acres in
Elinira, where he has niacle his lloilie since ancl erected one of those
comfortable farm resitlences 'common in this tornsl~ip. To Nr. and
Mrs. Murray seven chilclren were l~orn, the oldest (lying in infancy. sis
now living, namely: Ifannnh, T11oin;~s S., Janles, Janet E., Agnes J.
ancl Eliza, all residing with parents. Tlie fnniilv belong to the United
T'resbvterian Church, anti like their father 1-we ~e~)ul~lican in sentiment
arid -p;actice. To follow Murray's connection with the social, official
incl inelustrial life of tlle township ant1 county 11;~ther belongs to
history than to biogmphy, ant1 therefore, in the pages clevotetl to history,
Inany references to lliill are macle.
Th,o7/~a.s NicI~oZcbs clied at the house of James Clnnainon July, lSS3,
agecl seventy-two years. EIe came from Pennsyl\-aniu in 1843, settling
at Lacon, Ills.