Biography - John Ralston
John A. RALSTON, boarding-house keeper, Hillsboro, born in Mifflin County, Penn., August 30, 1818; came to this state in 1843 and stopped in Hillsboro; the son of William and Anna (BLACK) RALSTON; he, a tanner, born in the North of Ireland in 1783, came to the United States when quite young; settled in Philadelphia, Penn.; was a soldier of the war of 1812, but the war was brought to a close before he was called into active service and died December 25, 1862; she, born in Carlisle, Penn., in 1782, and died in June, 1873. Our subject is the second son of a family of four sons and two daughters; educated in the common schools of Perryville, Penn., and was married, in 1852, near Taylorville, Ill., to Ann Elizabeth LADD, born in Stonington, Conn., in 1826, who came to Illinois in the spring of 1849 with her mother and family, and settled six miles north of Taylorville; she is the daughter of Noyes, born in Franklin County,Conn., in 1798, died 1838, and Harriet L. (WILLIAMS) LADD, born in Stonington, Conn., died June, 1870. Our subject has four children - William Curtis, Hattie E., Eleanora and Florence A. He went to Missouri in 1844; remained there about ten months, then went to Vandalia, Ill., for two years; then back to Pennsylvania for six months; returned to Taylorville, Ill., (Page 118) for three years, then to Hillsboro in 1853, where he now resides. Our subject is a tailor, and has followed that business for thirty years; was in the Federal army from 1862 to 1865; enlisted as a private; promoted to Second Sergeant, and was at the fall of Vicksburg, but was not called into action. He is a Republican, and his son, William Curtis, is a graduate of the public school at Hillsboro; read law with Hon. George W. PAISLEY, of this place; went to Iowa, located in Pocahontas Center; admitted to the bar there in the fall of 1881, and now has a fair practice in connection with the real estate business.
Extracted 19 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 117.
