Biography - J M Truitt
HON. J. M. TRUITT. The Bar of Montgomery County has furnished to the State and nation some of their ablest legislators, congressmen, senators and executive officers, and consists of men who will take rank with the best in the land in all that constitutes talent, forensic and advisory. Among its prominent members stands Hon. J. M. Truitt, who is a gentleman of rare attainments, and a citizen of whom any State might well be proud. He is a logical reasoner, and in debate is forcible, decisive in statement, and is possessed of magnetic eloquence, which renders his declamation of the most convincing order. In the zenith of his manhood, his days will doubtless be long multiplied, and his fame grow brighter in the minds of his neighbors, who are ever ready to do him honor.
Born in Trimble County, Ky., February 28, 1842, our subject was the son of Samuel and Cynthia A. (Carr) Truitt, the father a native of Henry County, Ky., born December 28, 1818, and the mother born in Indiana in 1818 also. The elder Mr. Truitt followed the occupation of a farmer, and became very successful in his chosen calling. He was of English descent, and the mother is supposed to be of Scotch origin. She is still living. Of the seven children born to this worthy couple, one daughter and six sons, two died in infancy. Our subject, who is second in order of birth of the above-mentioned children, was but three years of age when he was brought by his parents to Greene County, Ill. His first educational advantages were received in the subscription school at Fayette, that county, and he remained at home assisting his father on the farm until 1862, when he enlisted to fight for the Old Flag.
Our subject joined Company B, One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Infantry as a private, and shortly afterward was promoted to Orderly Sergeant, which position he held for two years. He was then promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, and served in that capacity until the close of the war. He was in many severe battles, including Ft. Blakely, and fought bravely for the Union. He was honorably discharged and mustered out at Springfield, Ill., August 5, 1865, and subsequently spent some time at McKendree College, of Lebanon, Ill. In 1866 he came to Hillsboro, and commenced studying law with Judge J. J. Phillips, with whom he remained until 1872. He was then elected to the Twenty-eighth General Assembly, and represented his county in that body for two years.
Following this Mr. Truitt returned to Hillsboro, and has practiced his profession here ever since. He is the owner of one of the finest libraries in the State. In 1876 he was one of the electors of the Republican party, and in 1880 was Republican Elector-at-Large of the State, and in 1880 and 1884 was a delegate to the National Republican Convention. Mr. Truitt is one of the oldest members of the Grand Army of the Republic in the State, and belongs to the F. D. Hubbel Post No. 403, of which he has been Commander. He is also a member of Lodge No. 51, A. F. & A. M. at Hillsboro, and takes an interest in this organization. He is one of the most prominent men of the county, and in every walk of life has conducted himself with honor and renown. His practice is highly remunerative, and he enjoys the enviable reputation with court, counsel and client, of a practitioner scrupulously accurate in statement and in every action or position governed by the nicest sense of professional honor. On October 1, 1867, he married Miss Jennie Blackman, a native of Hillsboro, born May 6, 1847, and the daughter of George and Hannah J. Blackmail. Mr. and Mrs. Truitt are the parents of two children, viz.: Ida and Earl B.
Extracted 10 Jan 2017 by Norma Hass from 1892 Portrait and Biographical Record of Montgomery and Bond Counties, Illinois, pages 333-334.
