Biography - Ishmael McGown
Ishmael McGOWN, farmer, P. O. Raymond, was born in Johnson County, Ill., June 14, 1821. He was removed by his parents to Greene County in 1830, where he received his education, and where he remained with his parents, assisting in tilling the soil of his father's farm. At the age of twenty years, he left the homestead and entered upon his career in life as a farmer; in 1850, he entered eighty acres of wild prairie land in Montgomery County, and, in the year following, removed with his family to their new home, and where he still resides; he made all the improvements himself, such as building fences, orchards and all other improvements necessary for comfort, and which are found upon all well-regulated farms; by his energy and economy, he continued to add to his original purchase, and at one time had in his possession 200 acres, and at the present owns 160 acres of fine farm land, which, as a practical farmer, he keeps in a high state of cultivation, which denotes him to be one of the successful farmers of the county. He was married, in Greene County, August 4, 1840, to Clarinda JACKSON, who was born in Greene County March 10, 1823; she is the mother of eight children, three of whom are living, viz.: Shadrach, William A. and Anderson Monroe. Mrs. McGOWN was a daughter of Shadrach, Jackson a native of North Carolina, and one of the early settlers of Greene County; his death occurred in Texas, in May, 1879; his wife, Prudence FINLEY, was born in Madison County; she died December 31, 1855; the result of their union was eight children, of whom only three are now living. Samuel McGOWN, the father of our subject, was born in Tennessee, and was one of the early settlers of Greene County, where he followed the occupation of a farmer for a number of years; his death occurred in 1861. The mother of our subject, Nancy WESTBROOKS, was born in North Carolina, but raised in West Virginia; she died in the spring of 1852; they were the parents of eight children, four of whom are still living, and of whom Ishmael is the third child. Politically, he is identified with the Democratic party. Religiously, himself and wife have been connected with the Christian Church for a number of years. Although Mr. McGOWN grows all of the usual farm crops, he makes grain his principal crop. He is a public-spirited man, and has always taken an interest in the growth and prosperity of the county, and, when Raymond was first laid out, furnished a large portion of the land now covered by the village, and perhaps no man has taken more interest and done more for the prosperity of the town than Mr. McGOWN.
Extracted 20 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 228.
