QUINN, James
James QUINN, deceased, was a well-known
citizen of Marshall county, Illinois, and his life
well illustrates the possibilities of even the poorest in this
free country. Born in poverty in Fermoy, county Cork, Ireland,
at the age of seventeen years he came with a sister to
Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he was soon after placed in a
cotton mill, and where his young life was mainly spent, toiling
early and late, with no chance of obtaining an education only in
the night school. However, he gladly availed himself of the
opportunity of doing this, and in that way obtained a little
knowledge, which was beneficial to him in after life, backed as
it was by a strong will and a steadfast determination to
succeed.
As the years went by the young Irish ad
saved his earnings, which wee sent across the water to his old
home, and with the aid thus given, his mother, two brothers and
one sister were enabled also to reach this country. On their
arrival here he still continued to assist them as long as it was
necessary, and a younger brother he materially assisted in
obtaining an education. While still residing in the east he took
out naturalization papers, later came west and for a time worked
on the levees along the Mississippi river, principally at Rock Island. The life of a common day laborer,
with such meager wages as were paid before the war, did not
satisfy his ambition, and he determined to seek other and better
employment. Therefore he engaged in farming in Menard county,
Illinois, on rented land.
In order more fully to succeed in life, Mr.
QUINN determined to secure a helpmeet, and we find that on the
19th of February, 1863, at Pekin, Illinois, he was united in
marriage with Miss Barbara WOOD, who was born on the Orkney
Islands, and came to the United States at the age of seventeen,
and was employed as a domestic in various families in Menard,
Mason and Tazewell counties, Illinois. That this was a happy
one, and fortunate for each, their after life and the success
crowing their united efforts will attest. At the time of their
marriage, Mr. QUINN was
the possessor of one team of common horses, an old wagon
and barely enough cash with which to buy the furniture for a
house, but scantily and economically furnished.
With faith in the future the young couple
went to work, and with the proceeds of the first year’s crop
purchased eighty acres of land in
Peru
township, Stark county, and thus laid the foundation for the
success in life which followed them until parted by death. An
additional one hundred and sixty acres were added to the
original eighty, in Saratoga
township, Marshall
county, making a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. On
this farm they spent eleven years of ceaseless activity, year by
year adding to their possessions, both in real estate and
personal property. During all this time produce of all kinds
brought a good and remunerative price, and therefore, Mr. QUINN
confined himself principally to the raising of grain.
On leaving the old farm the family removed
to a farm of three hundred and sixty acres in Putnam county, and
more attention was then given to stock raising, principally
cattle. For years he fed and shipped from two to four cars of
his own raising, and in that time his was a familiar figure in
the Chicago
stock yards.
On removing to Putnam county, Mr. QUINN did
not dispose of his
Saratoga
township farm, nor did it ever pass out of his possession.
Instead of disposing of any of his landed possessions, he
continually added to them, and at his death was the owner of
about twelve hundred acres, which included the Saratoga farm of
two hundred and forty acres, the Putnam county farm of three
hundred and sixty acres, eighty acres in Stark county, Illinois,
and additional eighty acres in Saratoga township, two hundred
and twenty-five acres in Whitefield township, and the home farm
of two hundred and forty acres in Henry township, all of which
was valued at about seventy-five thousand dollars.
In 1884, Mr. QUINN removed from Putnam
county to Henry township,
Marshall
county, where he spent the remainder of his life. His death
occurred January 13, 1895, and his remains were laid to rest in
the cemetery in Henry township. While reared in the Catholic
faith, for years before his death he ceased to believe that all
goodness and righteousness were confined to those of any one
belief, and was therefore liberal in his views. He was one of
the charter members of Crow Meadow Grange, and was a firm
believer in the principles of that organization. Farmers should
combine together for their rights and without such combination
he believed them at the mercy of designing men of other trades
and professions. His funeral services were conducted under the
auspices of the Grange, and members of the order attended in
large numbers and escorted the funeral cortege from his late
home to the final resting place. The active pall-bearers were
James HARRISON, S. L. CASE, S. S. MERRITT, Clarence E. BURT, of
Meadow Grange, and Royal OLMSTEAD and J. S. TOWNSEND, of
Telegraph Grange.
While at all times willing to concede the
rights of others, Mr. QUINN was ever tenacious of his own rights
and would never yield when he thought he was being imposed on by
others. Believing the attempt made to close a public road,
running along the side of one of his farms, the result of spite
work, and with the object in view of depreciating the value of
his land that they might buy it cheaper, he resisted the effort
to the utmost. Twice was the case tried before a justice of the
peace, twice in the circuit court at Lacon, where it was decided
in his favor, and was then appealed by his opponents to the
supreme court at Ottawa. The case was there
argued at length, and the very morning on which Mr. QUINN died,
his attorneys, Barnes & Barnes, received word that it was
decided by that august tribunal in his favor. In his death he
was thus vindicated.
To Mr. and Mrs. QUINN, seven children were
born – Mary, Edmund, Elmer, Lillie, Albert, Francis and Edith,
all of whom yet reside at home, and all work together in harmony
and enjoy the respect of the community in which they reside.
Mrs. QUINN, the mother, yet presides over the household and
enjoys in full measure the love of all who know her.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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