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Below is a family biography included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. 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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JOHN GRAY, farmer; P. O. Chenoa; was born in Meade Co., Ky., Feb. 9, 1826; in 1829, he went to Harrison Co., Ind., remaining there until the age of 25, when he removed to Illinois, and settled in Peoria Co., ten miles northwest of Peoria, where he engaged in farming until the year 1865, when he enlisted in the Federal army, serving one year; in 1867, he removed to McLean Co., Ill., settling upon eighty acres on Sec. 29, Yates Township, which he had purchased and broken from raw prairie before removing there; in 1875, he purchased eighty acres of land in Martin Township, Sec. 23, McLean Co., all of which, together with eighty acres on Sec. 29, Yates Township, is under cultivation, and valued at about $40 an acre. He was married Oct. 24, 1850, to Miss Nancy Hunter, who was born in Durbin, Ohio, in 1830; they have had a family of twelve children, three of whom, Francis, William Walker and Florence Cornelius, are dead; nine are living — Pinckney Calhoun, Sarah Catharine, Thomas Alamson, John Asbury, Laura Virginia, Anna Mary, Ruth, Abner L. and Franklin H.
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This family biography is one of 1257 biographies included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. in 1879. View the complete description here: The History of McLean County, Illinois
View additional McLean County, Illinois family biographies here: McLean County, Illinois Biographies
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