TREADWAY, STEPHEN A., is a prosperous farmer and stockman whose 360 acre farm known as the Willow Beach Farm, is one of the finest properties in the county, located as it is in close proximity to the city limits of Beardstown on the Illinois River. He was born in Cass County, Ill., March 7, 1858, a son of George A. and Elizabeth (Miller) Treadway, the former born May 11, 1812, and the latter in West Virginia, January 20, 1814. George A. Treadway moved from Maryland, his native state, to Ohio, with his parents, but in 1828 the family came to Cass County, Ill. The Miller family originated in West Virginia, from whence members of it moved to Kentucky, and then to Cass County, Ill., arriving here in the fall of 1820. The father was a farmer and stockraiser and a prominent man in his day.

Stephen A. Treadway attended the schools of his district, and was reared on the farm where he made himself useful very early. In 1879 he left Cass County for Nebraska, and spent three years in that state, then returned to his native county, but after his marriage went back to Nebraska and spent five years more there on the farm he had acquired. He then sold it and once more returned to Cass County, buying a farm near bluff Springs where he lived fourteen years, then bought his present valuable farm where he has since resided. A Democrat, he served as a school director in Nebraska. Mr. Treadway is also one of the commissioners of the South Beardstown Drainage and Levee District, which is 12 miles long and drains 7,300 acres of land.

On February 16, 1887, Mr. Treadway was married in Cass County, to Maria Leonhard, born in Cass County, October 27, 1860, a daughter of Michael and Maria (Nickle) Leonhard, natives of Germany, who came to the United States, the father working for a few years in the packing house at Beardstown before they settled down to farming. Mr. and Mrs. Treadway became the parents of the following children: Carl M., Lula M., Leonard A., Edwin B., Nela A., Myrtle E., Stella, and Anna E., of whom the five youngest were born in Cass County. Mr. Treadway is a man of genial personality, one who makes and retains friends and he stands well in the community. He has been a member of the M.W.A. for many years.