SIMON A. REEVE, who has long been closely connected with the agricultural interests of Schuyler county, is a native of the State of Illinois, born at Springfield, December 28, 1828. His father, John Reeve, was a native of New York, and the paternal grandfather was born in the same State; the latter is supposed to have visited Illinois at an early day, as he purchased land in Fulton county. John Reeve was still a youth when he accompanied his parents to Kentucky, and there he was married to Betsey Ross, a Kentuckian by birth; from the Blue Grass State he removed to Indiana, and thence to Illinois, being one of the pioneers of Springfield; he resided there some years before it became the capital city of the commonwealth. In 1829 he came to Schuyler county, and settled in Bainbridge township on land his father had given him; the tract was heavily timbered, and there was no improvements. Mr. Reeve erected a log house, and began the task of placing the land under cultivation. He resided there until after the death of his wife, which occurred in 1843, when he returned to Indiana; in a few years he came back to Illinois and located in Peoria county, where he spent the last days of his life. His death occurred in his seventy-fifth year. Simon A. Reeve was but an infant when his parents removed to Schuyler county; here he was reared amid the privations and hardships incident to life on the frontier; the country was thinly settled, Indians still roamed the prairie, and wild gave was abundant. The mother spun and the sister wove all the cloth with which the children were dressed. Our subject attended the pioneer schools taught in the primitive log house, and in early youth began to earn his own living; for some time he received as compensation only his board and clothing; later he had $8 and $9 per month, which he considered excellent wages. He afterward learned the cooper's trade, which he followed a number of years, and at this vocation earned the money with which he bought the first land he owned. An incident worthy of note as illustrating the value of neighbors as compared with that of land, is furnished in the act of the father of the subject of this sketch: When he settled on 160 acres of land in Schuyler county, his neighbors were few and far between, and in order to secure a near neighbor, Mr. Reeve sold fifty of his 160 acres to a gentleman for $25, upon the condition that he would reside upon it. Mr. Reeve has been very successful as a farmer, and has accumulated considerable amount of property; to his oldest son he has given 107 acres, to another 91 acres, and now occupies a farm of 120 acres, which is well improved.

Mr. Reeve was married, in 1854, to Miss Jane Orr, a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Burnside) Orr. Two sons have been born of this union, William H. and Pulaski; the former married Harriet E. Ackley, who was born in Adams county, Illinois, a daughter of Latham and Pauline (Spangler) Ackley; their three children died in infancy; Pulaski married Mary I. Ward, and they have one child living, named Bertha. Mr. and Mrs. Reeve are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his political opinions Mr. Reeve adheres to the principles of the Democratic party.