Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Bristol, George S 1843 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 10:36 am Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890 GEORGE S. BRISTOL represents the flourishing agricultural interests of Plainfield Township, and his farm on sections 33 and 34 is one of the most desirable in this locality as it is under the best of cultivation and is amply provided with good machinery for every purpose. Our subject is a native of Ohio, born in Perry Township, Franklin County, January 26, 1843, a worthy descendant of an old pioneer family of that State. Corel Bristol, his father, was a native of the same county, born in Sharon Township, May 14, 1810. His father, Eri Bristol was born in Bristol, Conn., a son of Jacob Bristol, who was of English birth. The father of the latter, great-great-grandfather of our subject, emigrated from Bristol, England, about 1776, and settling in Connecticut bought land in the town of Bristol. He was a clockmaker, and it is said manufactured the finest clocks ever made in America in his day. During the Revolution he proved to be a patriotic citizen to his adopted country and building two ships he placed them at the disposal of the colonists and aided them in fighting the British. Jacob Bristol was ten years old when he came to America with his parents. He became a clockmaker and spent the rest of his life in Connecticut. Eri Bristol, grandfather of our subject, became a member of the Scioto Company that bought sixteen thousand acres of land in what is now Franklin County, Ohio, and he was thus an early pioneer of the State. In the spring of 1804 each member of the colony sent a son into the wilderness of Ohio; to build log cabins and prepare the way of the others who soon joined them, the removal of these families being made with teams, some of them having horses and others oxen. They were among the first to locate in that part of Ohio, and the grandfather of our subject, settled in what is now Sharon Township, nine miles north of the present site of Columbus, on Whetstone Creek. In that time the State was in a wild and unsettled condition, the dense primeval forests being inhabited by various tribes of Indians, and deer, bears, wolves, panthers, and wild cats were numerous. There were no railways nor canals, and in fact no public roads, all communication with the outside world was by persons passing through the narrow paths or Indian trails on foot or horseback. The people lived in the most primitive manner, obtaining their food from products of the land, wild game and fish, and the women spun and made all the clothing used. The grandfather of our subject resided on the homestead that he hewed from the wilderness, until death closed his mortal career. The father of our subject was reared, married and resided in the place of his birth until 1870, when he came to Plainfield, and with his sons, bought the farm where our subject now resides. He is still living, is in his eighty- first year, and makes his home with his children. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Annah Ross and she was a native of Westmoreland County, Pa., a daughter of David and Mary (Satcher) Ross. Her death occurred in Franklin County, Ohio. George S. Bristol received the rudiments of his education in the public schools and then had the advantages of a fine course at Eastman's Business College at Chicago. In May, 1864, at the age of twenty- one years, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-third Ohio National Guards, for one hundred days, and was dispatched with his regiment to Parkersburg, W. Va., and after remaining there six weeks was sent to Washington, and thence to the James River of Virginia, where he did garrison duty until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when he was discharged having done honorahle service in the cause of his country. After his military experience, Mr. Bristol returned to his native State and remained a resident thereof until the spring of 1868, when he made a new departure and in the vigor of a stalwart manhood came to Illinois to try farming in the Prairie State. He was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Plainfield in the summer and in the winter utilized his education by teaching. He taught six winter terms and the remainder of the year was engaged as before mentioned. In 1871, he located on the farm he now owns and occupies and has been thoroughly successful in its cultivation. In 1889, he had the misfortune to have his dwelling burned, and he has since replaced it by his present neat and comfortable residence. The marriage of our subject in 1872 with Miss Rosabelle Clark was an important step in his life and he thereby secured an able assistant in his work. She is a native of Plainfield, born in March, 1847, and a daughter of Erastus Clark. Her father was born in Greenfield, Franklin County, Mass., his father bearing the same name, being also a native of that county, born in the town of Colerain. His father, John Clark, is supposed to have been a native of the same town and a descendant of English ancestry, who were early settlers in that place, and he was there engaged as a manufacturer. Mrs. Bristol's grandfather learned the trade of a woolen manufacturer and established the first spinning jenny, and carried on the business there some years. He subsequently removed to Niagara Falls, established a factory, and resided there until 1836, when he came to Plainfield. He was an early settler here, buying a tract of land about one mile south of the village. He and his son operated a flour and sawmill for a few years and he then went to Kalamazoo, Mich., and there died at the home of a daughter at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Mrs. Bristol's father was young when he came to Plainfield with his parents and assisted his father in operating the mills, finally buying the sawmill, which he operated for a time. He then disposed of it and turned his attention to farming, and resided here until 1878. In that year he removed to Kansas, bought a farm in Reno County and still makes his home there. The maiden name of Mr. Clark's wife was Caroline Cotton. She was born on the Isle of Wight, a daughter of William and Jane (Brett) Cotton, also natives of that island, who were pioneers of Plainfield. Mr. and Mrs. Bristol's pleasant wedded life has brought to them two children, Mabel J. and Elsie C. Mr. Bristol is a man of honorable character and high standing in this community, with whose best interests he has earnestly identified himself more than twenty years, and by his manly, straightforward course in all his business dealings and in his social relations he has gained a warm place in the regard of his fellow-citizens. He has a well-balanced, well-cultivated mind and sincere religious views which find expression in the Universalist faith, he and his wife being valued members of the society of that denomination in Plainfield. Politically he is a stanch Republican. Additional Comments: Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/bristol452gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 7.6 Kb