Biography - John Beck
John P. BECK, farmer, P. O. Hillsboro, was born in Montgomery County, Ill., March 6, 1837, to John and Nancy (BLAIR) BECK, he a native of North Carolina, and was one of the first to enter upon pioneer life in Montgomery County, where he engaged in milling, blacksmithing, coopering, distilling and farming at different times. He entered land in Town 7, Fillmore, Range 2, but at the time of his death had land also in Range 3. His death occurred in 1845. His wife, Nancy, was also a native of North Carolina, and died in 1851. She was the mother of ten children, of whom John, our subject, was the youngest child. His early childhood was spent upon the farm and in attending school at the neighboring log schoolhouse, to which his educational privileges were limited. At the death of his mother, which occurred when he was fourteen years of age, he left the homestead and engaged as a farm hand. At the age of twenty-three, he had succeeded in accumulating enough funds to enable him to purchase twenty acres of timber land, and soon after purchased forty acres of prairie, upon which he made all the improvements himself, and to which he has continued to add, and now has in his possession 160 acres of choice farm land, all under a high state of cultivation. He grows all the usual crops, but makes a specialty of grain. He was married in Montgomery County, February 26, 1861, to Miss Nancy J. BROWN, who was born in the same county November 15, 1839. She is the mother of five children, viz., Emma J., Mary C., George M., Nina and Laura L., the two oldest of whom died in infancy. Mrs. BECK was a daughter of Harrison BROWN. Mr. and Mrs. Beck are connected with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Politically, he was formerly a Democrat, but now is considered independent in politics.
Extracted 22 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 291.
