DOYLE, Thomas
Thomas DOYLE, deceased, was for many years
one of the prominent and representative citizens of
Saratoga
township, Marshall
county. He was born near Shirleysburg, Huntingdon county,
Pennsylvania, October 4, 1811, and on emigrating
westward he first located in Macon county, Illinois,
twelve miles east of
Decatur. In the keystone state he had
married Hannah SMALLEY, who was also a native of Huntingdon
county, and they came by team to this state. He was in limited
circumstances, and after spending ten years in
Macon
county he went to
Peoria, where for a year he was engaged
in teaming. In 1848 he purchased a tract of land nine miles
north of that city, where he made his home for four years.
It was on the 15th of September, 1852, that
Mr. DOYLE, with his family, settled upon land in
Saratoga
township, Marshall
county, his farm adjoining the one on which his son Wesley now
lives. For the one hundred and sixty acres he paid two thousand
dollars, but had to go in debt for much of the amount. There he
made his home for eight years, and after renting land for three
years went to Missouri.
He traveled over much of the state with the view of locating,
but, as the war broke out, he returned to
Saratoga township, Marshall county, and became
the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 27,
where his daughter, Mrs. CLARK, and her husband now reside. This
became his permanent home, and he gave his entire time and
attention to its cultivation and improvement until about twelve
or fifteen years before his death, when he laid aside business
cares, living retired while his son attended to the duties of
the farm. He was quite successful and rendered assistance to
each of his children as they started out in life. In politics he
was an adherent of republican principles, and religiously both
he and his wife were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. His death occurred August 20, 1877, and after surviving
him for five years she also died on the old homestead and was
laid to rest by his side in the
Saratoga
cemetery.
In the family were the following children –
Mary Ann, wife of David SAYLOR, of Nuckolls county, Nebraska; Wesley S.; Owen, of Saratoga township; Florence,
who died at an early age; Simeon, of Whitefield township,
Marshall county; Matilda, wife of Joseph CLARK, whose sketch may
be found on another page of this work; Franklin, a minister of
the Methodist Episcopal church, now located in Johnson county,
Nebraska, and Eliza, wife of Alfred BETZ, of Whitefield
township.
Wesley S. DOYLE, the second of the above
family, remained under the parental roof until twenty-six years
of age, but after attaining his majority was dependent upon his
own resources. His first purchase of land consisted of eighty
acres of the farm on which he now resides, and to which he has
since added another eighty acre tract just north of the old
farm. He was married September 29, 1870, the lady of his choice
being Miss Mary Ann SAYLOR, who was born and reared in White
county, Indiana. She is a sister of David SAYLOR, who had been a
resident of Saratoga township for eleven years previous to
their marriage. She engaged in teaching for some time both in Indiana and in
Marshall
county. By her marriage with Mr. DOYLE she has one daughter,
Eva, now the wife of Peter LEWIS, of Whitefield township. She is
a consistent member of the Saratoga Methodist Episcopal church.
In his political views Mr. DOYLE is a stanch republican, and has
acceptably served in several minor township offices.
Extracted May 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois, 1896.
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