Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 424-425; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Jesse T. Switzer is a bright and wide-awake young farmer
and stock-raiser of Canton, and has a promising future before him. He
and his brother C. W. operate two farms in partnership, one in Canton
Township, and the other in Farmington Township. Our subject is the
youngest son of Jesse Switzer, one of Fulton County's oldest living
pioneers, and is a fine type of the young men who within recent years
have come forward to aid their fathers in the great work so well begun
in the early days by the sturdy, hardy, self-sacrificing early settlers
of this region in their efforts to develop its rich agricultural
resources.
The parents of our subject settled at Black Jack, Canton
Township, about 1833, and were among its first pioneer settlers. For
further parental history see sketch of J. Switzer. He of whom we write
was the youngest child of the family and was born in Canton Township,
December 28, 1858. He was well trained by his father and mother, and
was given the advantages of a sound education, begun in the schools of
Farmington, to which his parents removed when he was five years old,
and completed by a fine course of study in the Canton High School He
was thus well equipped for the battle of life, and when it became time
for him to decide what vocation to pursue, he selected that calling
which Horace Greeley called "the noblest of professions," and has
become a practical, skillful farmer. The farm on which he has his home
comprises one hundred and thirty acres of highly productive soil, whose
well-tilled fields yield abundant harvests and a neat and substantial
appearance, and everything about the place indicates careful attention
and well-directed labor. The stock that our subject and his brother
raise is of a good grade, and they can always find a good market for it.
Mr. Switzer is not without the active co-operation afforded by a
helpful, capable wife, whom he obtained in the person of Miss Lena
Miller, to whom he was wedded December 22, 1885. She is a daughter of
the late D. C. Miller, formerly of Farmington.
Mr. Switzer is a young man of fine physique and presence and of
good mental endowments. He is one of the progressive young men of the
county, and is a factor in its material advancement. In politics he is
with the Republican party and gives it stanch support. He is a member
of the School Board of his district, and is zealous in promoting
educational matters.
