From "The History of Jersey County" Pg. 506, Biography for William Henry Banfield BANFIELD, William Henry, a veteran of the Civil War and a capable farmer whose operations are conducted in the vicinity of Grafton, was born in Chester County, Pa., January 10, 1842, a son of George and Harriett Banfield, natives of Pennsylvania, who came of Scotch and Irish ancestry. The family came to Illinois, and when he was nine years old William Henry Banfield began attending school in Dayton. When only twelve years old, he was employed as an assistant to the cook of a rafting crew, and remained with this organization for four years. Going into the pine woods of Wisconsin, he worked there and while rafting logs down the Mississippi River he was taken sick and stopped at Grafton until he recovered. Liking the locality, he decided to remain, and for a time worked at whatever he could find to do. In the meanwhile the Civil War had broken out, and when he was twenty years old, on February 10. 1862, Mr. Banfield enlisted in defense of his country, in Company D, Sixty first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged with the rank of sergeant. After his discharge he returned to Grafton and engaged in farming as a hired hand and he has been successful in this line of endeavor. When he was twenty five years old, Mr. Banfield was married to Sarah N. Guess, and they have had the following children; William H. and Angie, both of whom are deceased, Laura Crandall, who lives in Missouri; August A., who is deceased; Maud Hayes, who lives at Grafton; and Walter D., who is also living at Grafton. Mr. Banfield is a member of the local G. A. R. In national matters, Mr. Banfield votes the straight Republican ticket, but locally generally prefers to support the man he believes will best discharge the duties of the office in question. --------------------------------------------------------------------- UGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, 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: Carol Ryan-Spenader