Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Stoneback, John M 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 13, 2006, 8:09 pm

Author: History of Grundy County, 1914

Stoneback, John M. - A citizen who has borne an important part in the 
activities which have contributed to the growth and development of Morris, 
Ill., and the surrounding country in Grundy County during the past several 
decades, by reason of his connection with the contracting and building 
business, John M. Stoneback is still prosecuting his operations with industry 
and efficiency although he has reached an age when most men feel it their 
privilege to retire from active labor. Mr. Stoneback is a veteran of the Civil 
War, in which he fought as a member of the famous Irish Brigade, under the 
gallant Mulligan, and whether in war or peace has ever shown himself ready and 
willing in the performance of the duties entrusted to him. He was born October 
4, 1843, at South Salem, Ross County, O., and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Snyder) Stoneback. The parents of Mr. Stoneback were natives of Pennsylvania, 
where they were married, subsequently moving to Ohio. Prior to this, Jacob 
Stoneback, who was a mason by trade, had worked in the construction of Girard 
College, Philadelphia, Pa. In 1852, with a company of fifteen other families, 
all with their earthly goods loaded into wagons, Mr. Stoneback came to Morris, 
Ill., shortly thereafter buying a farm in Wauponsee Township, on which he 
lived for three years. He subsequently bought another farm from the Government 
two miles to the south, and there resided until his death in 1892, the mother 
following him to the grave eight years later.

John M. Stoneback attended the district schools in his youth and was reared to 
agricultural pursuits. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was a lad of but 
seventeen years, but on May 20 1861, enlisted in Company E, Twenty-third 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to service in Missouri, where, 
in September of the same year, he was taken prisoner. Three days later he was 
paroled, and then rejoined his regiment and came to Quincy, Ill., later going 
to St. Louis, Mo. For about three months the regiment was at home, and then 
became the first soldiers at Camp Douglas, which this regiment erected, and 
the command was then sent to Virginia under the famous Col. James A. Mulligan. 
Mr. Stoneback participated in all the engagements which marked the service of 
the Irish Brigade, and on June 19, 1864, at New Creek, Va., received his 
honorable discharge with an excellent record for gallantry and devotion to 
duty. On his return to Morris, he devoted himself to carpenter work, and 
gradually developed into one of the leading contractors of Grundy County, 
where he has erected some of the leading buildings. His reputation in business 
circles is that of a man of integrity, whose word is as good as a bond, and 
who has never been known to take an unfair advantage. In politics he is a 
Republican, although he has not been prominent in public affairs. With his 
family, he attends the Presbyterian Church. A valued member of Darveau Post 
No. 329, Grand Army of the Republic, in December, 1911, he was elected 
commander and held that post for two years.

On December 23, 1874, Mr. Stoneback was married to Miss Mary McKinley, who was 
related to President McKinley. She was born in La Salle County, Ill., a 
daughter of Chillian and Martha (Gibson) McKinley, natives of Pennsylvania, 
who moved from that state to Kentucky, later to Ohio, and then to Illinois. 
Mrs. Stoneback died August 26, 1911, having been the mother of two sons: John 
W.; and Charles Milo, who died at the age of nineteen years.

pages 900-901

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

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