JOHN LOBDELL was born in the county of Will, in the State of Illinois, Feb. 10, 1837. His father, Joseph Lordell, was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., where the latter’s father, who was a native of Connecticut, had settled many years before. During the Revolution, when the elder Lobdell was but thirteen years of age, he was made a prisoner by the British and Indians, and conveyed to the enemy’s camp in Canada, and there kept a prisoner for a considerable time. After his release, he came to the United States, and settled in New York, where he married Elizabeth Andrews, also a native of Connecticut, and whose parents were pioneers in Herkimer County. The grandfather of our subject was a farmer by occupation. After his captivity and marriage he spent the remaining portion of his life in the eastern part of New York State. His son Joseph, who was the father of our subject, had arrived at the age of seventeen years, when his parents moved to Cayuga County and settled near Auburn. The lad acquired a good education for those days, when the facilities were so unfavorable, and for ten years afterward he taught school as a means of support for himself and family. He married, Jan. 6, 1828, Miss Olive Gallt. They resided in Cayuga County, until the fall of 1834, when loading all their worldly goods into a wagon to which they attached a pair of horses, they started for Illinois, a State which at that time was famous the world over as the place for the settler of moderate means. They made the entire trip overland in twenty-seven days, landing in Will County, where he found a vacant log cabin which afforded shelter to his family. He located a claim in July, 1835, and entered eighty acres of land whereon he erected a rude log hut, in which the family resided until 1837. In the month of July of that year Mr. Lobdell concluded to go still further West, in order to obtain more land. His destination at this time was what is now known as Waddams Township, Stephenson County, where, having located a claim he immediately began the erection of a cabin. He also harvested sufficient wild prairie grass to sustain his horses during the winter, and then returned to Will County and brought his family to their new home on the raw and uncultivated prairie; he afterward purchased from the Government 120 acres more. This new home was at that time far away from any settlement, in fact, at the time, there was but one house upon the site which now contains the prosperous city of Freeport, and that a log cabin. The nearest trading point was at the Galena Mines, and a trip to market required from three to four days; flour was then sold at Galena at $7 per hundred. Deer and wild turkey were plentiful. It was in this new home that the father of the subject of this sketch labored and improved, until the time of his death.

John Lobdell was one of five children, who are as follows: Frances, widow of David Patterson, resides in Linn County, Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of Edwin Playford, resides in Kansas; John, the subject of this sketch; Ellen, the wife of Walter Ross, who lives in Iowa; Daniel, who served in the late rebellion, first enlisting in the 46th Illinois Infantry in 1861, and again in 1863. He died at Cairo in 1864, in August, while in the service of his country. Mrs. Lobdell, the mother of the children above enumerated, makes her home with her son John. She was born in Middlefield, Otsego Co., N. Y., Oct. 1, 1804, being the daughter of Matthew and Sally (Griggs) Gallt, natives of New York and Connecticut respectively. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Lobdell was Samuel Griggs, who married Penelope Goodell. The grandfather was born in Connecticut, and was a soldier of the Revolution, participating in the battle of Bunker Hill. The grandmother was born in Massachusetts. After their marriage they became among the first settlers in New York State. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Lobdell, and great-grandparents of the subject of this sketch, were William and Margaret (Harper) Gallt. The father taught the first school in this district.

John Lobdell, of whom in particular we write, was but an infant when his parents came to this county. He has here grown from infancy to manhood, being reared on the farm, where he was taught that industry which has enabled him to become the successful farmer and citizen he is at present. At the age of fifteen his father died, which misfortune made it necessary for him, though a boy in years, to perform the duties of a man. He has done his work well, having added to the old homestead 180 acres of magnificent farming land, all purchased and paid for by his untiring energy and perseverance, which may well be emulated by any poor boy in the land. In politics, Mr. Lobdell is a Republican.

On August 17, 1865, John Lobdell was married to Miss Annie Foreman. She was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., on the 4th of July, 1845. Her father, James Foreman, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, descended from a long line of ancestors. His father, John Foreman, came from England to Stephenson County in 1857, where he spent the latter part of his life. The father of Mrs. Lobdell arrived in America at the age of eighteen, where he married Mary A. Laferty, who came from Antrim, Ireland. He moved to Stephenson County in 1845, settling in Waddams Township. He removed in 1867 to Buchanan County, in the State of Iowa. They have but one child.

Contributed by Carol Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 305