JEFFERSON BIRDSELL,
who is successfully engaged as a gardener and a grower of small fruits,
is pleasantly
located on section 21, in Randolph Township. He came to McLean County
in 1852,
and since that time has been engaged at his present business. Mr.
Birdsell was
born in Harrison, Hamilton Co., Ohio, on Christmas Day, 1825. His
father, John
Birdsell, a cooper by trade, was an old resident of Harrison, and died
there
some years ago. The mother who, before her marriage, was Miss Allen,
departed
this life when our subject was but a week old, and he never afterward
saw his
father.
Our subject, after
the death of his mother, was taken into the family of John Richards, a
German
by birth and parentage, and they came to Dearborn County, Ind., young
Birdsell
remaining with them until he was seventeen years old. He then went to
live with
his brother-in-law, Joseph Lawson, the husband of his eldest sister,
Sarah A.
Mr. Lawson served through the late war, and afterward joined the
standing army.
He was with Custer's Division in Wyoming Territory at the time the hero
of the
frontier was killed. He was Captain of a company and on his way to
reinforce
Custer, but arrived only in time to witness the slaughter of the United
States
troops and the flight of the redskins. Capt. Lawson died in Wyoming
Territory
in 1883.
When twenty-four
years old Mr. Birdsell left the home of his brother-in-law in
Cincinnati, Ohio,
and coming to Illinois, located in Randolph Township, this county. He
was
married to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Lavina (Passwater) Birdsell, who
died on the
22d of September, 1883. By her first husband, William W. Birdsell, she
had
become the mother of five children, the record of whom is as follows:
Jesse J.
was born Aug. 26. 1829; Emily C., May 16, 1834; William F.,
Jan. 20, 1837; John S., May 25, 1839;
Sarah C., April 20, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. B. united with the Christian
Union
Church soon after their marriage. Our subject is a Democrat
politically, and
socially is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and is Past Grand of the
Subordinate
Lodge and a member of the Encampment. He has in all respects been an
honest man
and a good citizen, and is highly esteemed in his community.
Portrait
and biographical album of McLean County,
Ill.: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and
representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and
biographies
of all the governors of Illinois, and of the presidents of the United
States. (Chicago: Chapman
Brothers,
1887), 217-18. Transcribed by Judy
Rosella Edwards
