GIDEON B. DELZELL, of West Liberty, (Illinois) proprietor of a blacksmith shop and wagonmaking establishment, is a native of Tennessee. Born in Blount County, on the 17th of January, 1827, he is a son of Robert and Dorcas (Davis) Delzell. His father, a native of the same State, was of Irish lineage, and his mother was of English extraction. They were both members of the Presbyterian Church and were highly respected people. The former died in April, 1858, and the latter was called to her final rest in 1874. Their ten children were: Mary, John N., William, Andrew, David, Gideon B., Robert A., Harvey, Teresa and Serena J. John Davis, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Delzell, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and Robert Delzell, father of Gideon, served in the War of 1812.
In the usual manner of farmer lads the subject of this sketch spent the days of his boyhood and youth. His father proposed to build a blacksmith shop, not fitting it up with tools, however, if Gideon would learn that trade, which he did when seventeen years of age. In his native State he followed this business until 1850, which year witnessed his emigration to Crawford County, Ill. He located in New Hebron, where the succeeding three years of his life were passed, and then removed to a farm, which he owned and operated until 1859. In that year he sold his first purchase and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Richland County, where he carried on agricultural pursuits successfully until 1883. In that year he again sold his farm, and removing to West Liberty, opened a blacksmith and wagon-making shop, which he still carries on. Me thoroughly understands his business, -and as his workmanship is equal to that of any., he has built up a good trade.
In 1851, Mr. Delzell was joined in wedlock with Miss Sibby Wilson, a native of Blount County, Tenn., born April 24, 1833. She is a daughter of John and Mary (McKamy) Wilson; both were natives of Tennessee, and of English descent. Her maternal grandfather, James McKamy, served as a soldier during the entire eight years of the war for independence, and her father served during the War of 1812, as did also the three brothers of her mother. The mother of Mrs. Delzell was born in a fort in Blount County, E. Tenn., which the family was occupying as a place of safety, to escape death from hostile Cherokee Indians. These savages were waging war upon a colony of whites who had recently emigrated from Virginia and settled upon their land. This land the whites were forced by the Government to vacate a few years later.
John and Mary Wilson had a family of seven children, of whom six grew to manhood and womanhood, and the four following are living at this writing (spring of 1893), namely: Margaret Ann, now Mrs. George Hamil, who resides in Tennessee: Malissa, who married Andrew Delzell, and resides in Richland County, Ill.; Sibby, wife of our subject; and James, a farmer of Jasper County, Ill.
Our subject and his wife became parents of four children. Melissa A., born in 1853, is the wife of Dr. K. M. Bussard, who is employed as a traveling salesman for a drug firm of Peoria, and resides in Canton, Ill.; Serena E., born in 1865, is the wife of Andrew Gaddis, a farmer of Richland County; Leonides, born in 1861, died in infancy; and John Harvey, born in 1863, died in 1870.
Mr. Delzell exercises his right of franchise in support of the Democratic party, with which he has been identified throughout life. He now holds the office of Township Supervisor for the fourth year, and was Postmaster of West Liberty during Cleveland's first administration. Himself and wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church and take an active interest in its upbuilding. He takes a commendable interest in all worthy enterprises, and always gives his support to those matters calculated to benefit the community.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and Richland Counties Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Governors of the State, and the Presidents of the United States. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887), p.598 - Submitted by Judy Edwards