On section 1, Kent Township, lies the farm, consisting of 120 acres, of the subject of this sketch. He is of English birth. His parents were John and Elizabeth Piper, who were born in England and died there. George was the seventh child of a family of twelve. His birthplace was in Sussex County, England, and the event occurred on the 9th of February, 1821. At the age of twenty-seven he came to America, in the year 1848. He landed at New York, and without unnecessary delay proceeded to Stephenson County, Ill., in which county he has since resided. Most of the members of the family were carpenters by trade, as was he also. Of late years he has engaged almost exclusively in farming. He has secured 120 acres of land, nearly all of which is under cultivation. He occupies a comfortable home, and his out-buildings for the shelter of stock and machinery are good.
Mr. Piper was married in Kent Township, Nov. 17, 1854, to Lois Buss, who was born in Sussex County, England, in 1838, and came to America with her parents when about twelve years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Piper have a family of four children, all of whom are living. Their names are Rhoda, Arthur G., Ernest D. and Perley M. Rhoda is the wife of Edson Morley, and resides in Nebraska; Arthur married Belle Royer, and resides in Kent Township. Two of their children, Nathaniel and Charlie, died when quite young. Mr. Piper has held some of the minor offices of the township and is a solid Republican.
Contributed by Carol Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888)
JOHN PIPER, now living a retired life in Freeport, was born Feb. 7, 1832, in
Washington county, Maryland, at the place where, thirty years later, the great
battle of Antietam was fought. His parents were Jacob and Anna (Kitzmiller)
Piper, both of Washington county, and his grandfather, Daniel Piper, was born
February 4, 1780, and died March 3, 1857. He was a farmer and spent all of his
life in the above county. His wife, whose maiden name was Brown, was born
September 2, 1774, and died July 8, 1851. Grandmother Kitzmiller was born
January 23, 1777, and died July 30, 1860.
May 15, 1845, Jacob Piper
started for the west by wagon train, in a pasty composed of twenty-one persons,
eleven of whom are now living, as follows : Mrs. Henry Dovenberger, Forreston,
Illinois; John Dovenberger, Forreston; D. J. Piper, Brookville township, Ogle
county, Illinois; Elizabeth Shearer (now married), Maryland township, Ogle
county; Mrs. August Bergman, Freeport; Mrs. D. D. Iler, Ridott Village; Sarah
Kitzmiller, Ridott; John Piper, subject of sketch; Elizabeth A. Trime, Le
Grande, Iowa; Jacob W. Piper, Le Grande, Iowa; J. M. Piper, county
superintendent of schools of Ogle county, Illinois. Those deceased are: Jacob
Piper and wife; Anna Piper; Henry Shearer and wife; Mrs. Shearer; Jacob Dovenber
and wife ; Henry Dovenberger; Mrs. Geo. Dowel; Samuel Fiper (soldier in Union
Army); John Kitzmiller (drafted in the war of 1812). Only two of the above died
under seventy-five years of age and the oldest was ninety-one. None now living
are under fifty-five.
Jacob Piper located on a farm in Ogle county,
Illinois, where he died, August 1897, at the age ninety-one years, twenty-four
days, his wife having preceded him November 20, 1894, at the age of eighty-three
years, nine months. They had six children, five of whom are now living, as
follows : Daniel, proprietor of a farm and nursery in Forreston, Illinois; John,
subject of sketch; Elizabeth A., widow of T. II. Trine, lives in Le Grande,
Iowa; Joseph M., county superintendent of schools of Ogle county, Illinois.
Samuel, died in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1862, while in the
army; and Jacob, a minister in the Christian church at Le Grande, Iowa. All were
given good educations, some at Mt. Morris, Illinois, some at Ann Arbor, Mich.,
and others at Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
John Piper began life as a farmer in
Ridott township, Stephenson county, also working at the carpenter's trade in
Ogle county. While there, on April 6, 1854, he married Mary Myers, daughter of
Jacob Myers who came west in 1837 and settled on a farm in Ogle county,
Illinois, where he died in 1876, aged 75 years. Mrs. Piper was born in
Washington county, Maryland, May 2, 1833, and died June 16, 1867, leaving six
children, as follows : William H., married Margaret Allen, and is in the .
well-drilling and windmill and machine business in Ogle county; Elizabeth Ann,
died at the age of ten years; Emma E., wife of S. P. Allen, a hardware merchant,
lives in Ogle county; Samuel F., now in Byron, Illinois, "Jack of all trades "
and a good carpenter, married Ida Jones ; Lydia J., wife of John D. Williams,
farmer, lives in Ogle county; and Mary, wife of S. E. Stine, a carpenter, lives
in Lena, Illinois.
September 28, 1868, Mr. Piper married Eleanor
Humphreys of Marion, Lynn county, Iowa. She was born May 14, 1843, and is the
daughter of David and Jane (Jones) Humphreys, both of Montgomeryshire, England.
They came to America in 1850, locating for a time in Utica, New York, and from
there removed to Racine, Wisconsin, where he worked in a tannery, later moved to
Winnebago county, Illinois, and from there went to a farm in Lynn county, Iowa.
He now resides in Buchanan county, Iowa, at the advanced age of eightytwo years.
His wife died in February, 1897, aged eighty-two years. By his second wife Mr.
Piper has four children: Anna M., residing with her parents; David J., married
Lizzie Grove and lives on his father's farm in Ridott township; Mertie A., died
at the age of three years; and Bessie E., lives with her parents.
Mr. and
Mrs. Piper are members of the Christian church. After his first marriage Mr.
Piper remained in Ogle county two years, then purchased a farm in Ridott
township, Stephenson county, which he improved, built his house and other
buildings, and remained there until 1893 when he moved to Freeport.
Mr.
Piper, who is one of the prominent and wealthy citizens of Freeport, made his
start in life with an old corn sheller, and has shelled over one million bushels
of corn. He now owns over six hundred acres of land in the counties of Lynn,
Iowa, and Ogle and Stephenson, Illinois; also his beautiful residence which he
built at 35 Jefferson street, in the edge of Freeport, where he lives
retired. Mr. Piper was school director for twenty years and road
commissioner eight years. He is a democrat in politics.
History of Stephenson County
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