HIGGINS, Thomas J.
Thomas J. HIGGINS, now living a retired
life in Henry, Illinois, is an Illinois pioneer of 1840, and
dating his residence in Marshall county since 1855. He was born
May 12, 1832, in Butler county, Ohio, that
state which has sent out many of the grandest men in the nation,
and which now ranks with
Virginia
as the “mother of presidents.” His father, James HIGGINS, was
also a native of Butler county, Ohio, while
his mother who bore the maiden name of Sally SKILLMAN, was a
native of Virginia, but whom in early life removed with her
parents to Ohio, where her marriage with Mr. HIGGINS
occurred. While yet residing in that state to them were born
four sons and one daughter, as follows: Skillman V., who was a
farmer of Whitefield township, and dying in 1856, left two
children, one of whom is yet living; Nellie Ann married John
HIXON, a blacksmith of Peoria county, and removed to Dickinson
county, Kansas, where she died in 1882; Hiram died at the age of
twenty-two years; Thomas is the next in order of birth; and John
was married and engaged in farming in Saratoga township, where
he died March 17, 1895. The wife of the last named died the pear
previous, leaving a family who yet reside in Saratoga township.
In the fall of 1840 James HIGGINS
determined to leave Ohio for Illinois, with a view of not only bettering
himself, but giving his children better advantages for their
future lives. At this time his eldest son was a lad of but
fourteen years, but a sturdy young fellow. Our subject was the
next youngest in the family. With teaming and hauling the family
and household effects they laboriously pursued their way from
their Ohio home, arriving in Farmington,
Illinois, January 6, 1841. The means of
the husband and father were very limited, and consequently he
could not purchase even a small farm, but was compelled to rent
for a period of two years, taking a farm near Kickapoo, Peoria county, from which they removed to La
Salle Prairie in the same county. In 1844 his wife died and he
subsequently married Miss Lydia MOATS, by whom he had one son,
James, now living in Buffalo county,
Nebraska, where he is engaged in
farming. In 1853 he moved with his family to Whitefield
township, Marshall
county, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1865,
at the age of sixty-six years. His second wife survived him many
years, dying at the home of her son, in
Buffalo county, Nebraska, in 1892.
At the age of twenty-one years, Thomas J.
HIGGINS came to
Marshall
county, and located in Whitefield township, there following
farming. On the 25th of September, 1856, he was united in
marriage with Miss Catherine OTTO, born in Perry county,
Pennsylvania, but who came to Illinois when a child of eight
years with her parents, Christopher and Jane OTTO, who settled
in Peoria county, eight miles west of Peoria, where she grew to
lovely womanhood. Her father there died some four years after
coming to the state. Her mother, with true maternal love and
affection, kept the three youngest children at home and lived on
the farm until each grew up and married. She died in Woodford
county, Illinois, some twenty
years ago.
In 1855, when our subject began life for
himself he had but one horse. He purchased another horse and an
outfit for farming on a small scale, on credit, and rented a
farm in Whitefield township on which he lived until 1861. He
then purchased an eighty acre tract on section 12,
Saratoga
township, for which he was to pay fifteen hundred dollars. Of
the purchase price he paid two hundred and fifty dollars, and
had cash enough in hand to purchase all the stock he needed for
the farm. Fortune favored him and it was but a short time before
he cleared the farm from debt and added eighty more acres,
giving him a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres. On that
farm he resided for thirty-one years and there his family of
eight children were reared and grew to be useful citizens. Of
that family, Frances is now the wife of George ETTRIDGE, of
Russell county, Kansas; Alonzo married Lillian LUMBARD, a
daughter of George LUMBARD, of Saratoga township, and resides on
the old homestead; Anna is the wife of Leonard GRAY, a farmer of
Lake County, Illinois; Alice is the wife of Edward BROWN, of
Saratoga township; Jennie resides at Mount Auburn, Iowa; Ida is
a trained nurse residing in Chicago; Minnie also makes her home
at Mount Auburn; and Elmer lives with his brother Alonzo on the
home farm.
Feeling that he and his good wife had
earned a rest, in 1892 Mr. HIGGINS removed to Henry, where they
are living retired. While on the farm they labored hard and
faithfully; and to each of their children as they left the
parental roof they rendered such assistance as possible. To each
of them were given good educational advantages, which were well
improved, four of the daughters engaging for a time as teachers
in the public schools.
Politically, Mr. HIGGINS is a democrat, but
simply votes the ticket, leaving to others so inclined, the
honors of public office, for which he has no inclinations.
Religiously he and his wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church of Henry, with which they have recently united,
although they have always attended and supported the church. In
educational matters he has always taken an active interest, and
has served as school director and trustee for thirty years. As a
citizen he endeavors to do his duty faithfully and well.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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