Grove, John bio

History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 950-951, Woodland Township
John Grove, farmer; P. O., Astoria; the subject of this sketch was born in Virginia in 1832; his father, Christopher Grove, was also a native Virginian, a saddler and harness-maker by trade, and married Mary Beard, by whom he had 8 children; John, the fourth of these, grew to the age of 19 years in Va., when he made his way West to Astoria tp.; in this county he has since resided with the exception of 6 years passed in McDonough Co.; in 1862 he enlisted in Co. F, 103d Ill. Inf., and was a participant in many of the famous battles, honorably discharged, and returned to his old home in Fulton Co., where, in 1858, Jan. 1, he was united in marriage with Sarah M. Haffner, daughter of Jacob Haffner, who settled in Fulton county 24 years ago. There were born of this marriage 9 children, 8 of whom are living, 5 girls and 3 boys, in this tp. Mr. G. is a farmer, owning 80 acres of well-improved land.