ANDREW J. STEELMAN, a resident farmer of Roodhouse, whose well improved farm of eighty acres indicates his careful supervision and practical methods, was born in September, 1852, upon the old homestead farm which is yet the place of residence of his father, Ashley L. Steelman. The Steelman family is of Dutch lineage and at an early day representatives of the name settled in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Ashley Steelman married Martha J. Ford and they had twelve children, all yet living, and the first death in the family was that of the mother, which occurred on the 16th of August, 1904, when she was seventy-nine years of age. The father, now eighty-one years of age removed with his parents to Tennessee, where he lived until twenty years of age. In 1843 he came to Illinois, reaching Bridgeport, Scott county, with thirty-five cents in his pocket. He went to work upon a farm at ten dollars per month. Later he came to Greene county and after a year he enlisted in the Mexican war, in which he served for thirteen months, being discharged at Alton, Illinois. He was in the battle of San Juan and he now receives a pension of twelve dollars per month. On the 8th of July, 1849 he was married to Martha J. Ford and they came to Greene county, living for a time in Patterson, but they soon removed to his present farm, comprising eighty acres. He also followed the blacksmith's trade, which he had previously learned, and thus he worked year after year, taking his pay in trade, in such products as the farmers of the locality raised. Some patrons paid him in fresh pork, which sold for a dollar and a quarter per hundred weight. As he prospered he added to his land until he had seven hundred and sixty acres of land, much of which he bought at a low price but is now very valuable. He has given much of this to his children, retaining possession of only eighty acres, on which stand the house, barns and other farm buildings. He engaged in buying and selling stock and found that a very profitable source of income, for he is an excellent judge of stock and was therefore enabled to make judicious purchases and to sell to good advantage. At the age of eighty-one years he is still a jovial, whole-souled man, with open, frank expression and genial manner. He has never used tobacco, has never taken intoxicants to excess, in fact has not been inside a saloon in thirty years, and because he has not abused nature's laws he has been granted a long lease of life. He lives with an unmarried son and the other children all live within a radius of five miles, in what is known as Steelman community.

Andrew J. steelman was reared upon the old homestead farm and in his youth attended the public schools of the neighborhood. During the summer months and other vacation periods he assisted in the labor of the fields and learned the best methods of tilling the soil and raising stock. He continued upon the old homestead up to the time of his marriage and then began farming on his own account. In 1880 he removed to the farm upon which he now resides, and has since devoted his time and energies to its further improvement. In 1902 his father divided his land among his children and our subject received as his share this eighty-acre farm which he is now successfully cultivating. He has built a neat and attractive residence, also a good barn and has added other modern equipments, including the latest improved machinery for the cultivation of the fields and the care of the crops. He is a very energetic, industrious man, realizing that labor is the basis of all success. He is now carrying on general farming and stock-raising, and both branches of his business are proving profitable. He has also, during the past twelve years, made a specialty of raising fine poultry.

On the 10th of March, 1874, Mr. Steelman was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Allen, who was born in Patterson township, Greene county, Illinois. Unto them have been born eight children, of whom five are yet living: Mittie A., the wife of George A. Taylor, a resident of Jacksonville, Illinois, and the mother of two children; Thomas O.; Ida; and Iona and Nona, twins, nine years of age. With the exception of the eldest daughter all are at home and constitute an interesting family of children.

Mr. Steelman gives his political support to the Democratic party and socially is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, while religiously he is a Baptist. He is a man of strong purpose, reliable and enterprising in business, public-spirited in citizenship and trustworthy in all life's relations.