Biography of John Chisnall - Henry County, Illinois


                            John CHISNALL

Since November, 1867, this gentleman has been an honored resident of
Kewanee, and is to-day serving as special tax collector for the city. He
was born in Lancastershire, England, January 27, 1833, and is a son of
William and Alice Chisnall, who were lifelong rcsidents of that country.
The father died when a young man, but the mother long survived him, 
passing away in 1876, at the age of sixty-four years.

John Chisnall, the only child of this worthy couple, was educated in the
common schools of England, and when a lad of eleven years was
apprenticed to the wheelright's trade, which he learned thoroughly. He
came to this country as a Mormon emigrant in 1831, prior to the
insurrection of Brigham Young against the government and first located
in Utah, where he
remained until 1858, during the uprising. The following two years were
spent in Omaha, Nebraska, which city at that time had no telegraph or
railroad lines and gave little promise of its present thriving
condition. During all this time Mr. Chisnall worked at his trade. In
1860 he
went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he made his home until coming
to Kewanee in I867. During the winter of 1866-67 he spent four months in
visiting his native land. Upon his return he located in Kewanee, where
he worked at wagonmaking principally until 1888. Being economical and
industrious he managed to save something from his wages, and this
capital he invested in a lot in the heart of the city, upon which he
erected a pressed brick double store building, which on account of its
location is very valuable property. This he now rents to a good
advantage.

In I857 Mr. Chisnall was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Sandiford,
who was also a native of Lancastershire, England, and came to the United
States on the same vessel with our subject in June. 1831. Both are
active members of the Latter Day Saints' Church, and during his
residence
in Kewanee Mr. Chisnall has served as pastor of the church of that
denominaton at this place.  Thc congregation now numbers about one
hundred families, and they have erected a good modern church edifice.
Fraternally Mr. Chisnall is a member oI the Knights of Honor, No. 1173,
of Kewanee, and the blue lodge of the Masonic order at this place and
the chapter and commandery at Princeton. He afliliates with the
Republican party but has never taken an aetive part in politics. From
1892 with 1898 he was with the Kewanee Coal Company, and the following
year was appointed by the mayor as collector of special taxes, water
rents, etc.,
which position he is now most creditably filling. He has also served as
health officer and justice of the peace since 1893. He has led an
upright, honorable and useful life, and is highly respected and esteemed
by all who know him.

SOURCE: The Biographical Record of Henry County Illinois
S. J. Clarke, Chicago Illinois, 1901,  pg 30

Note:  In Kewanee Mr. Chisnall was affiliated with the Reorganized
Church of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) with which he aligned after the
"uprising".  He was a Priest in the church, not a pastor.  His name
appears on many marriage records from the Kewanee area as the Clergyman
who performed the ceremony.

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