Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Longshore, John G ************************************************ 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 October 3, 2007, 4:03 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County JOHN G. LONGSHORE, a pioneer of '49 in Wilton Township, was born in Bucks County, Pa., June 9, 1820, a son of Thomas and Jane (Gaina) Longshore, of whose four children he alone survives. His paternal grandfather was twice married, and had eleven children by each wife. The youngest of these twenty-two children, Thomas, was born in Pennsylvania, June 21, 1794. In youth he learned the wagonmaker's trade. After his marriage he followed his trade and also cultivated a small farm. In 1837 he removed to Reynoldsburg, Franklin County, Ohio, where he followed his trade and tilled some twenty-five acres of land. With the exception of eight years spent with our subject in Illinois he continued to reside in Ohio until his death, which occurred February 10, 1874, when he was in his eighty-first year. His wife was born February 18, 1793, probably in Ireland, but her parents emigrated to this country when she was so small that she knew no other home than Bucks County, Pa., and her childhood years were passed on her father's farm there. When seventeen years of age our subject was apprenticed to the trades of cabinet-maker and carpenter in Newhope, Bucks County, Pa. After his four years' apprenticeship he followed his parents to Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and there opened a carpenter and undertaking shop. In 1849 he came to Illinois and entered a quarter-section of land in Wilton Township, where he now resides. Returning to Ohio, he spent the winter in Reynoldsburg. In 1850 he removed his family to their new home, making the trip via wagon. In Chicago he saw the first railroad train he had ever seen. Shortly after reaching Will County they decided to visit some relatives of Mrs. Longshore in Piatt County. On journeying thither they found their relatives desired a residence built, and also wished some one to superintend their farm; so they remained for three years, returning to Will County in June, 1852. Here he has since resided, with the exception of three years spent in Clinton, De Witt County, in order to give his children the benefit of the schools there. While in Clinton he worked at cabinet-making. As a farmer he has been very successful, and now owns a farm of two hundred and forty acres, bearing all the modern improvements. At the same time he has also done considerable building, and many of the houses in his vicinity were erected by him. In politics Mr. Longshore is a Republican. Several times he has been elected commissioner of highways. During his service in that position he superintended the building of the great archbridge at Wilton Center. For many years he was a member of the school board. He is connected with Wilton Lodge No. 640, I. O. O. F., and has filled all the offices of the lodge, which for two terms he represented in the grand lodge. His connection with the Odd Fellows dates from July 12, 1847, when he was initiated into Columbus Lodge No. 9, at Columbus, Ohio. March 31, 1842, Mr. Longshore married Miss Ann Van Camp, who died five months afterward. In 1844 he married Miss Sidney Pugh, a native of Lancaster County, Ohio, and a daughter of Michael Pugh, a shoemaker. Nine children were born of this marriage, but only three are living, viz.: Jane, wife of Henry Houghton, a gardener in Will Township; Charles, a farmer at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Edwin, who went to the Pacific coast some years ago and makes his home in Washington. Mrs. Sidney Longshore died on Christmas day of 1860, and our subject was again married, January 20, 1862, his wife being Mathilda Hurting, a native of Stark County, Ohio, and a daughter of Samuel Hurting. Her father was born in Pennsylvania, but went to Ohio in early manhood and settled in Stark County, where he followed the tailor's trade. By his present wife Mr. Longshore had six children, four of whom are living, namely: Samuel, a blacksmith in Joliet; George, who married Flora Smith; Ida, wife of Luke McFarland, a farmer of Jackson Township, this county; and Julius. The two sons, George and Julius, cultivate the home place, their father being almost wholly retired from farm cares. Samuel, George and Julius belong to Wilton Lodge No. 640, I. O. O. F., into which Julius was initiated on the twenty- first anniversary of his birth, being at the time the youngest member of the order in the state. George and Julius are also connected with Rebeka Lodge No. 106, I. O. O. F., in Wilton Center, in which George has held the various chairs. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/longshor1791nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.3 Kb