Thomas MONIER, who resides on section 9,
Whitefield township, is of a family well known to almost every
citizen of
After receiving the eighty acres, Mr.
MONIER commenced its cultivation and general improvement, and
during the ten following years was so prospered that he was
enabled to purchase an additional eighty acres, for which he
paid thirty-four hundred dollars, or forty-five dollars per
acre. He had also accumulated some money and was the owner of
considerable stock. The time had now arrived for him to forsake
the rank of bachelors and take for himself a wife. Accordingly
on the 4th of February, 1874, he married Miss Charlotta SMITH, a
daughter of John T SMITH, a pioneer of the county, but a native
of
Mr. MONIER now began life in earnest and with a loving and faithful companion to aid and counsel, he has been successful even beyond his most sanguine expectations. For three years they resided upon the original farm of Mr. MONIER, when feeling that he could better himself materially, he sold out and purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Whitefield township, for which he paid about eighty dollars per acre. With the additions and improvements since made the farm has cost more than one hundred dollars per acre. Soon after moving to his new place in 1877, he purchased sixty acres adjoining, and later one hundred and sixty acres one half mile west, for which he paid nine thousand six hundred dollars.
On each of the farms, Mr. MONIER has made great improvements, tiling many acres, and setting out good hedge fences around them. Some four years ago he erected a fine dwelling, which is furnished with all the modern conveniences of a country home. While devoting much of his land to grain, he has in time past given much attention to stock raising, feeding one or two car loads of cattle each year, together with over one hundred head of hogs and many head of horses. For some years he has practically lived a retired life renting the place, which comprises four hundred and sixty acres of excellent land.
Two children have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. MONIER. The eldest, Charles Clyde, born January 15, 1875, died June 19, 1893. He was a young man of exemplary habits, the pride of fond parents, and seemingly had a bright future before him when death called him away. The void thus left in the home of his parents can never be filled and the bruised hearts never healed. Thomas Floyd, the second born, came into their home June 25, 1881. He is now a sturdy youth, loved by parents and friends, and respected by all who know him.
E. R. HANNUM, who was for some years a teacher in the school attended by Charles, gave the following tribute to his character at the time of his death: “As Charles grew to be a boy he early gave evidence of those manly, chivalrous traits that only left room in his loving parents’ hearts for thankfulness to God for granting unto them the guardianship of such a noble spirit. Always precocious, in an unassuming practical way, for one of his years, he became companion at once and son to his father, entwining himself about his heart and growing into his very life with a holy love that can only be surpassed in that haven of love where Charley is now peacefully resting. To his mother, () what weak words of mine can portray the gentle acts, the sunny smiles, the pure and hold serenity of character, that daily and hourly filled that mother’s heart and life with a heavenly peace and joy, that transformed the mother love for the babe into a glorious all-pervading adoration for the manly boy. Ah, blessed mother, for seventeen years you rejoiced in the sunshine of that glorious spirit, drank at that fountain of purity, learning ever a new lesson of love and loyalty from that bounteous inspiration. In speaking of his school life we touch a chord that vibrates in our own heart. Noble, manly, energetic, generous hearted boy! We knew you as teachers and schoolmates, only to bless you. Unquestioning obedience, unswerving purpose in application, constant acts of boyish respect and loyalty to our administration was our portion as teachers, at your hands, while your daily school life, so free from guile, from faultfinding, from resentment, from vindictiveness, was a constant inspiration toward all that is pure and noble and generous in youth, to all your playmates.
“For seventeen years the good Father above granted to those worshiping parents, these loving, admiring friends the presence of this noble spirit; but kindred spirits in that land of constant love, of golden streets, of jasper walls, of fadeless flowers, would no longer be denied their own, and on the evening of June 19, 1892, he bade farewell to earthly friends and joined that ransomed throng. To the grief-stricken father his dying admonition was, “Pa, don’t worry for me; this world is but an empty dream.” Mother, Will you mourn as one without comfort? Hearken to his triumphant death song. ‘Up among the shining angels there is room for me and plenty more.’ Could those words fall from lips that were not fully attuned to strains that are only sung around the great, white throne? To the brother what a priceless heritage was in the words, ‘Good-bye Floyd, be a good boy; be honest and truthful.’
“There was a strong attachment between the brothers, and while the loss to the parents is so great, what can be said to cheer and comfort the lonely brother? We can only repeat the dying admonition: ‘Be good, be honest and truthful.’ And the reunion will come by and by.”
With the exception of the first three years
after marriage, and the time the family lived in Henry, the life
of Mrs. MONIER has been spent upon the farm where they now
reside. She is a lady well known throughout
The history of
Extracted May 2011 by Norma Hass from The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois, 1896.
| Bureau | Putnam | |
| Stark |
 |
La Salle |
| Peoria | Woodford |
