Biography of , DeWitt County, Illinois Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Copyright 1999 Earliene Kaelin Source: People from the Histories 1882 History R. M. EWING The editor of the Reaper was born in Clark county, Kentucky, July 23d, 1822. The EWING family were originally from Virginia. He is the youngest son of three children of William and Sarah(COOMBS)EWING. Mrs. EWING's parents were natives of Loudon County, Virginia. R. M. EWING had fair advantages in youth for receiving an education. He attended the common schools until his sixteenth year, when he entered college at Georgetown, Kentucky, and remained there two years. In 1841 he came to Illinois and stopped at Quincy and taught school. In the winter of 1841-42 he went to Missouri and the same year returned to Quincy, and engaged in the profession of teaching. In 1844 he went to Pike County, then to Morgan, and at Waverley engaged in manufacturing wagons, in which business be continued for three or four years, then removed to Menard County and taught school. He remained in Menard County until 1862, when he removed to Clinton in DeWitt County. In 1872 he came to Farmer City and engaged in the grocery trade, in which he continued until the fall of 1879, when be established the Reaper, a newspaper which he still continues to edit. On the 27th of April, 1848, while a resident of Waverley he married Miss Martha M. CHAMBERS, a native of Greene County, Ills. She died July 31, 1878. He is a member of the order of A. F. and A. M. Politically he was originally an old line Whig, and supported Henry CLAY for the presidency in 1844. In 1860 he voted for Abraham LINCOLN and remained a Republican until 1880, when he supported General HANCOCK for the presidency. ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organiza- tions or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contri- butor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Earliene Kaelin