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 OHN W. B. GROVE, a valued member of
the farming community of Charleston, came
to this State in the spring of 1864, and commenced operations on a tract of rented land
in Douglas County. A year later he removed to a
point about four miles from the town of Charleston,
where he rented a farm one year, and then purchased 181 acres, which lie occupied six years.
This he afterward sold and took up his residence
at Charleston, where he engaged in the hotel business two years, and afterward spent a year in Kansas. Then returning to Illinois, he leased the place
which he now occupies, and upon which he has
since remained. Mr. Crove is a native of Fayette County, Pa., his birth taking place Aug. 15, 1817. His parents, Parry and Mary (Sprinkle) Grove, were also natives of the Keystone State, where the father engaged both in farming and trading in grain until his removal to Ohio, in 1844. There he located in Fairfield County, where he pursued farming until removing to Champaign County, in that State, when he changed his occupation somewhat, and conducted a hotel until resting finally from his labors. He was a man of great energy and industry, which qualities he preserved until the close of a long and eventful life, his death taking place July 2, 1881, after he had arrived at the age of eighty-five years. His wife, Mary, had preceded him to the silent land, her death taking place May 21, 1872, her age sixty-nine years and eight months. Their children were named respectively, John W. B., Mary M., Henry, Matilda., Elizabeth, Shepard, William, Maria and Sarah I. With the exception of Henry and Maria, who died when young, these are all living. The father descended from English ancestry, and the mother from the German. Parry Grove was a genuine Jacksonian Democrat, a great admirer of “Old Hickory,” a man of decided views, and fearless in the expression of them. Both parents were connected with the Presbyterian Church, and reared their children to strictly observe the rules and regulations laid down for the government of its members. The subject of this history, in common with his brothers and sisters, was trained in early life to habits of industry, and when but fifteen years old could drive a four-horse team and take a large Pennsylvania wagon-load of grain safely to its destination many miles away. He continued a member of the parental household until twenty-three years of age, in the meantime having been married. After this event he fanned twelve years in his native State, and in 1854 emigrated with his family to Champaign County, Ohio. He first located on a farm near Urbana. which he rented five years, and afterward leased a hotel which he conducted three years. In 1804 he desired to proceed further westward, and came to Douglas County, this State. His subsequent career we have already indicated. The wife of our subject, to whom he was married in the spring of 1840, was formerly Miss Jane Gettys, a native of his own county, and who became the mother of nine children. These were named respectively. Ashbel M., William H., Samuel K., Shepard B., James H., Isaac N., Anna .M., Parry W. and John E. Mr. Grove is, as was his father before him. Democratic in politics, and possesses in a marked degree the same substantial traits of character which distinguished Parry Grove during his early manhood, and which did not leave him as his years multiplied. Mr. Grove has served as Assessor of Hickory Township, and has been School Director besides occupying other important offices among his townsmen. He has been for many years identified with the Masonic fraternity and the I. O. O. F., and is in all respects a reliable citizen who is held in high regard by his friends and neighbors. The parents of Mrs. Grove were Samuel and Annie (Gettys) Gettys, natives of Ireland, the former coming to this country when a lad twelve years of age, and the latter being brought by her parents when a babe of three months. Their ancestry had been crossed by the excellent Scotch element, which had made of them honest and upright citizens, and both became residents of Fayette County, Pa., where they were reared and married, and where their twelve children were born. Of these eleven lived to be men and women; Mrs. Grove was the fifth in order of birth. Samuel Gettys departed this life in Fayette County, Pa., in the spring of 1850. The mother afterward removed to Meigs Co., Ohio, where she resided one year, then went to Champaign County, and thence returned to her old home in Pennsylvania, where her death took place in 1873. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Grove officiated as Elder for many years. But four of the children are now living, viz., John, Sarah, Mary and Jane, the wife of our subject. |
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