John B. Park, a farmer and stock-raiser of Earl township, LaSalle county,
was born in Greencamp, Marion county, Ohio, October 26, 1834, and is a son
of Ira and Matilda (McNeal) Park. His father was a son of John Park and was
born in the state of Massachusetts, but at the age of four or five years
death robbed him of both parents and he was sent to Ohio, where he grew to
man's estate and was married to Matilda McNeal. She was born in Ireland and
was brought over to this country with her parents when she was a child of
four and one-half years and was also reared in Ohio. Their marriage resulted
in the birth of six children, namely, Elizabeth, John B., Sarah, Caroline,
Levi W. and George F., — all of whom are now dead but John B. and George F.
They left Ohio during the year 1837 and stopped one year in Holderman's
Grove, Illinois, thence went to Paw Paw, this state, and two years later to
Shabbona, DeKalb county. Here they took up their residence on the wild
prairie lands of Illinois and made their home for many years, moving to
Leland, Adams township, this county, in 1862. Here he kept a hotel for four
years, and then bought a farm and began farming, residing in Leland two more
years. He then removed to Shabbona and remained there about two years.
Securing land in Earl township, LaSalle county, he was next engaged for six
years in farming in this township. A few years later he retired from the
farm, and removed to Earlville, where he now resides. His wife died in 1893.
John B. Park spent his early life in DeKalb county, where he received his
education in the public schools and assisted his father on the farm. He
continued to be his father's right-hand man for many years and remained in
that county until 1870, when he came to LaSalle county and settled in Earl
township on the 14th of February of that year, on a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres, in section 14. He was an industrious, hard-working man, and his
success in agriculture has been the result of energy and a well disciplined
mind. Thinking to find a better price for the product of his farm he began
raising stock, to which he fed his grain and hay, putting them on the market
when in prime condition and realizing from their sale a much larger profit
than would have been received from the raw material. Since then he has dealt
largely in stock, finding that instead of impoverished land and ordinary
crops he has a farm that yields a bountiful harvest and a neat income from
the sleek herds always ready for the butcher. He is among the best
agriculturists in this county and his ideas have been largely adopted by
many of his neighbors.
In 1858 he was joined in marriage to Miss Rosetta Marks, by whom he had the
following children, viz.: Linton W., who married Gertrude Labee, a daughter
of Richard Labee, of this township; he is a farmer here; Ira died at the age
of two years; George died when two and one-half summers had passed over his
head; the fourth child died in infancy, as did Jennie E.; and the youngest
was Eva M. Mrs. Park was born in Nauvoo and was a daughter of LaFayette and
Martha E. (Frost) Marks, who were among the early settlers of DeKalb county,
where they lived for many years. The father was born in the state of New
York and the mother in Maine.
Mr. Park is a Democrat and for a time served as the deputy sheriff and tax
collector of DeKalb county. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Masonic fraternity, and is a man who has won the respect and
esteem of all by his upright, honorable bearing. His children were educated
in Earlville and occupy a prominent place in the social circles of their
home.
Extracted 17 Jul 2017 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 503-504.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
