Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Moran, James 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 13, 2006, 7:21 pm

Author: History of Grundy County, 1914

Moran, James (deceased) - In his humble cabin which he had built a half 
century ago, on the banks of the Waupecan creek, in Grundy County, James 
Moran, perhaps the oldest man in the United States, passed away in November, 
1914.  He was born in Ireland in 1803, and what an epoch of history his life 
covered.  For many years, however, the doings of the great outside world have 
concerned him little, although, until recent years he kept informed as to 
local matters and enjoyed social companionship.  He came to Morris over sixty 
years ago and long was a familiar figure in this vicinity.  He helped to build 
the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Rock Island Railroad, but afterward 
his brother, Michael, who was accidentally drowned in 1869, gave him a life 
lease of four acres of land, located three miles from Morris, and there, in 
comparative seclusion and according to his own method of living, Mr. Moran 
passed the rest of his life, for a number of years preferring to live alone.  
When age fell too heavily upon him his daughter Ann, who became motherless at 
the age of three years, insisted on coming to care for her aged father and his 
last years were made comfortable through her care.  His other two daughters, 
Mrs. Marshall, of Blue Island, and Mrs. Dora Webber, of Wauponsee, Ill.  His 
burial was from the Catholic church, Rev. Father Darcy officiating.

As one of the old landmarks, as it were, James Moran will be missed.  The 
older residents remember well hiss sturdy virtues and his independent ideas, 
and many of them cherished the kindest feelings toward their venerable 
neighbor.

page 929

Additional Comments:
Source:  History of Grundy County, Illinois, Chicago: Munsell Publishing Co. 
Publishers; 1914

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