GEORGE G. TERRY was born on the 6th of March, 1822, in Hopkinsville, Christian county, Kentucky. His father, William T. Terry, was a native of Pennsylvania, and emigrated south to Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, in an early day, where he lived for some time, when he emigrated west to Kentucky, and settled in Christian county. Here he was married to Miss Mary Edmonson, a native of Kentucky, at the house of Mrs. Richardson, who was her aunt, and the mother of Hon. William A. Richardson, of Quincy, Ill. Mr. Terry with his small family, emigrated to Illinois in the fall of 1829, stopping with some relatives where Winchester now is, and spending a short time with his old friend, A. T. Hite, the gentleman who laid out the town of Winchester the following year; he was an own uncle of the subject of this sketch. His father volunteered in the war of 1812, and was orderly sergeant of Captain Simpson's company of mounted volunteers. Col. Mather, of Kentucky, commanded the regiment. During this time he saw the great prairies of the northwest, and was at the burning of Malden's Mills, then situated in the territory of which Michigan is now a state. After the war he returned home and was honorably discharged, and, in 1815, was married as above stated.

He settled in the town of Jacksonville, in 1829, where he purchased a house and lot of Matthew Stacy, an old and respected citizen of Jacksonville. The property which he purchased is now occupied with the county jail of Morgan county. He spent five years there. Jacksonville was then only a small town. He sold out his property and located in Winchester, in 1834. The village was then composed of a few log cabins. Mr. Terry had the misfortune to lose his wife while in Winchester. She died in 1832, and in 1839 he died in Winchester.

George G. Terry received his education in the log school houses of Morgan county, and at the age of seventeen engaged to teach a school in Pike county, Illinois, which was situated in Flint township, and known as "Elledge School House." He was examined by O. M. Hatch, who was then the county school superintendent of Pike. His next employment was that of clerking, which hee followed for some time. On the 12th of November, 1841, he was married to Miss Sarah Wells, daughter of Alexander Wells. She was born in 1824, and raised in Morgan county, Illinois. Her father, Mr. Wells, is a native of Kentucky, and emigrated to St. Louis, Mo., in 1811, and from thence to Morgan county, this state, in 1822, and settled near the present site of Winchester. When he came to Illinois, the red men were frequent visitors to his cabin, and partook of his hospitality. His nearest point for getting his mill stuff was down in Madison county, which would require several days to make the trip. Mr. Wells was one of the old citizens of Morgan county. Coming into the county at an early day, he, in common with the old settlers, had to endure the privations of a pioneer life. He has lived to see great changes come over Morgan and Scott counties since he first settled within their limits. The wild, unbroken prairie, decked with its rich exuberance of natural herbage and flowers, and the belts of timber, in which the wild deer roamed unmolested, have gradually given place to cultivated fields, commercial centers of business and refinement, and beautiful homes made happy by the merry hearts of thousands who have since come to possess the goodly land. Mr. Wells is now living with his son-in-law Thos. Denby, in Morgan county, at the ripe old age of ninety, and he occasionally soots the same old gun which he carried in the ranging service. He never used tobacco in any shape, manner, or form. He is very active for a man of his age, walks without a cane, and retains his teeth in all their soundness and purity.

Mr. Terry was elected circuit clerk in 1856, re-elected in 1860, and again in 1864, and again to the same position in 1868. The people still insisted that he should serve another term, and he was according elected to the same office, serving in all sixteen years as clerk. His family consists of eight children, five of whom are living - three daughters and two sons. Mr. Terry had the misfortune to lose his wife, the companion of his early life, on the 19th of January, 1870. No man stands higher in the county than Mr. Terry. He was appointed master in chancery by Judge Woodson, in 1866, which position he now holds, under an appointment from Hon. Judge Charles Hodges.