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Below is a family biography included in The History of Greene County, Illinois published by Donnelley, Gassette & Loyd in 1879. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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WILLIAMS, JOHN T., farmer, Sec. 30. Mr. Williams was born in Virginia in 1811. In his twenty-fourth year he went to Ohio; in those days railroads were comparatively unknown, steamboats were a novelty on our western waters, and this journey to Ohio was an extremely difficult task, over the Alleghany and other mountain ranges; trudging along on foot over the rough uneven paths, he at length halted at Urbana, Ohio, from this point he proceeded to Indianapolis, Ind. Mr. W. had learned the trade of a blacksmith, but not liking this for a life occupation, he hired out as a rough carpenter; this seems to have been his true vocation, for he made a very good workman, and finished some of the finer work on the residence of Governor Nobles; from here he went to Madison, Ohio, and thence Madison, Tenn., thence to Nashville, and thence to St. Louis; here he worked as a carpenter and sold lumber. Making his way to Carrollton, this county, where he married Miss Margaret Williams, by whom he had nine children, four of whom are living. From Carrollton he settled near Kane, and is now one of our most successful farmers, owning 1100 acres in some of the best precincts of Greene County.
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This family biography is one of 744 biographies included in The History of Greene County, Illinois published in 1879. View the complete description here: The History of Greene County, Illinois
View additional Greene County, Illinois family biographies here: Greene County, Illinois Biographies
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