Biography - John Crabtree
John A. CRABTREE, deceased, born in Kentucky May 9, 1809; the youngest child of John and Mrs. (HARKINS) CRABTREE. His mother died when he was three years old. When eleven years of age, he came to Illinois with his sister, Mrs. William JORDAY, and her husband. With this sister he lived until his marriage, in 1831, to Ann GRIFFITH, a native of Montgomery County, who bore him twelve children, viz.: William (deceased),Margaret (deceased), James (deceased), Nancy, Francis, Job, Phoebe (deceased), John, Louisa, Mary, and Charles and Isaac (twins). He worked at farm labor for others prior to his marriage, after which he entered a tract of land in South Litchfield, on which was a small cabin. During his life, he put about 360 acres of wild prairie land under cultivation, and had acquired in all over seven hundred acres of land by hard work and unceasing industry. He made most of his estate before the war by raising grain and stock for the St. Louis market; he served in the Black Hawk war; donated the land to what is now known as the Crabtree Graveyard. He died March 15, 1874. Although uneducated, Mr. CRABTREE had one of the brightest intellects of his count. In business, he was shrewd and successful; in social life, generous and hospitable. He was an adherent of the Democratic party.
Extracted 19 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 136.
