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Portrait and Biographical Record of Macoupin Co,
ILL 1891
John Patrick, who is engaged in farming on
section 27, Bunker Hill Township, and is numbered among the early settlers
of the county of 1840, was born on the 14th of July in, 1822, in Ayershire,
Scotland, about nineteen miles from the home of Robert Burns.
His father and his grandfather were both named John Patrick and both were
natives of Ayershire. The latter was a carpenter and mechanic and died at
his home in Scotland, at the age of ninety-five years. He was a member of
the Presbyterian Church and a prominent man in the community where he made
his home. He married a Scotch lady of the Lowlands and she too reached an
advanced age.
John Patrick, the father of our subject, grew to man hood in Ayershire, and
learned the trade of a silk weaver, which be followed in his native land.
After he had attained to mature years he married, in Ayershire, Miss
Margaret Stirat, daughter of James Stirat, who was a dyke-builder and died
in Dairi (Dalry), Scotland, where he spent his entire life. He attained to
the ripe old age of ninety-five years. He was never sick a day in his life,
but passed away quietly and peacefully, the flame of life growing dimmer and
dimmer until at last it flickered and went out. Through his business
operations he acquired quite a fortune. Both he and his wife were members of
the Presbyterian Church.
For some years after their marriage, John Patrick and his wife, the parents
of our subject, resided in Ayershire. There all their children were born
unto them, and in 1839, their son James came to the United States, locating
in New Jersey, where he embarked in business as a silk manufacturer. Two
years later the parents and their remaining seven children crossed the broad
Atlantic on a vessel which sailed from Liverpool and after a long and
tedious voyage reached New York, from whence they traveled to Pittsburg by
way of the railroad and canal, then down the Ohio and up the Mississippi
River to St. Louis, Mo.
Continuing onward to Alton, Illinois, the family there spent the winter,
while the father and sons came into Macoupin County, and bought land on
section 27, Bunker Hill Township, where they rented a log cabin. In this
home the family were installed the following spring and John Patrick and his
wife resided upon that farm until they departed this life. The husband’s
death occurred at the age of seventy-eight years and his wife died in her
eighty-third year. True to the faith in which they had been reared they were
life-long members of the Presbyterian Church.
Under the parental roof our subject spent his boyhood days and with his
parents came to America. In his native land be had learned the trade of a
blacksmith which he has followed in pursuit of fortune through many years.
His residence in this community covers half a century and few are the
intervals when he has been absent from his home.
In 1849, he crossed the plains to California, attracted by the discovery of
gold. Leaving home in the month of May, he forded the Missouri River at St.
Joe, and thence followed the trail to the Pacific slope, landing at
Johnson’s Ranch on Bear River, on the west side of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, where for a time he engaged in mining.
Later he went to Sacramento, Cal., and subsequently went into the Nevada
mining country, where for two and a half years, near Nevada City, he engaged
in digging for the precious metal. With the gold dust - which he had secured
he started for his home in 1853, traveling by way of the Isthmus of Panama
and New York City, whence he returned to Illinois. Meanwhile the gold fields
of Australia were attracting attention and before his return in 1852, he
visited those mines where he worked for nearly one year.
Mr. Patrick has been twice married. In this county he wedded Janet Longwill,
who was also a native of Ayershlre, and came to America with her parents
during her girlhood. She and their only child died at their home in 1849,
with the cholera, during her husband’s absence in California. The marriage
of Mr. Patrick and Miss Sarah A. David was celebrated in Bunker Hill
Township, in 1854.
The lady was born in Parke County, Indiana, and with her family came to
Illinois about 1850. She died at her home in this township in 1887, when
sixty years of age and her death was sincerely mourned by many friends, as
well as her immediate family. She was a faithful member of the Christian
Church and was held in universal esteem. Seven children were born unto Mr.
and Mrs. Patrick, one of whom died in infancy.
John married Josie Stehline, who resides in Topeka, Kan., where he is
engaged in blacksmithing; James is a blacksmith of Denver, Colo.; William,
who wedded Althea Carter, follows the same business in Oklahoma City; Lizzie
is the wife of William Chappel, a farmer, residing in Holdon, Mo.; Belle is
the wife of O.F. Stehline, a hardware merchant of Arkansas City, Kan.; and
May is the widow of F. Seigel Bumann, who died, leaving one child, Sarah G.
His death occurred July 28, 1889, since which time Mrs. Buman has made her
home with her father.
On his return from California, Mr. Patrick established a smithy in Bunker
Hill and engaged at work at his trade for more than thirty years with
excellent success. He is an efficient workman, received a liberal patronage
and became one of the prosperous business men of the community.
Deciding to retire to more private life, he begun the improvement of his
farm which he had purchased some time previous. He now owns two hundred and
eight acres of valuable land, the greater part of which is under a high
state of cultivation and he is numbered among the substantial and highly
respected farmers of the community.
Thanks to
Jensen Crystal for sending in this account. |
