Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Munroe, George J 1853 - ************************************************ 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 9, 2007, 12:12 am Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890 GEORGE J. MUNROE, Attorney-at-Law, in Joliet, and President of the Citizens' Loan and Trust Company, of Kansas City, Mo., holds an honored place in the commercial circles of this county. During the twelve years in which he has made a specialty of loans, he has successfully handled $1,818,000 mainly for Eastern parties. He also handles municipal bonds and other negotiable securities. At present Mr. Munroe advances his own money largely in making loans and in purchasing securities, afterwards selling them to investors at home and in the East and realizing handsome returns. The subject of this notice was born February 11, 1853, in Baraboo, Wis., and is the son of John and Adelia (Paddock) Munroe who are still living and residents of Baraboo, Wis. John Munroe was born in 1833 in Munroe County, N. Y., where he lived until reaching man's estate. He then emigrated to Southern Wisconsin, but five years later changed the scene of his operations to Sauk County, of which he was a resident forty-two years, and engaged in farming pursuits. Then wisely retiring from active labor he removed to the city of Baraboo, where he and his wife are highly respected and are prominently connected with the Unitarian Church. The parents of our subject were married at Baraboo, Wis., in 1851. Mrs. Adelia (Paddock) Munroe was born in 1833 in Antioch, Lake County, Ill., where she was reared to womanhood and received a good education. She taught school some time prior to her marriage. Of this union there were born three children, all of whom are living, viz: George J., our subject; Ward, who conducts a cold storage warehouse in Baraboo; and Bessie, the wife of Frank Teal of that city. The elder Munroe was prominent in local affairs during the years of his active life, holding the office of Township Treasurer and School Director, and during the Civil War was entrusted with a large amount of funds to payoff the discharged soldiers at Madison, Wis. He was a strong Union man and uniformly voted with the Republican party. For many years he was one of the Commissioners of Sauk County. The Munroe family is of Scotch origin and was first represented in this country by the great-grandfather of our subject, George Munroe, who crossed the Atlantic at an early day and settled in Munroe County, N. Y., and which in all probability was named after him. The great- great-grandfather was also named George, and was one of the pioneer farmers of Munroe County, N. Y. Their descendants have inherited in a marked degree the worthy and substantial traits of their ancestors, being men who have held important positions and who have almost uniformly been found worthy of the trusts relegated to them. The subject of this notice pursued his early studies in the schools of his native city and when a youth of sixteen years repaired to Oberlin, Ohio, and entered the famous Oberlin College, of which he was a student two years. Later he attended the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and from which he was duly graduated and subsequently followed the profession of a teacher in the Buckeye State. For some time he was Principal of the school at Marlboro, Ohio, which numbered six hundred pupils. Thence, in the year 1874, he removed to Chicago, Ill., for the purpose of reading law. He was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court at Springfield in 1877, and soon thereafter came to Joliet, where he followed his profession successfully to the present time. In the early days of Kansas City his attention was called to its growing prosperity and he accordingly made some investments which have proved very valuable. The Citizens' Loan & Trust Association commenced business February 1, 1889, and at the close of the first year was enabled to make a most satisfactory report of the condition of the company which has already established itself firmly in the confidence of the business men of that place. No small credit is due to President Munroe for the successful manner in which it has been conducted. The subject of this notice was joined in wedlock with Miss Addie Simond, of Joliet, November 21, 1877. The following year Mr. Munroe entered upon the regular practice of his profession in the same office which he now occupies and where he has transacted a very successful business. Mr. and Mrs. Munroe occupy a snug home in the Seventh Ward of the city, and are now the parents of two bright children, a daughter and son, Jennie and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Munroe are both members in good standing of St. John's Universalist Church. Mrs. Munroe was born May 22, 1856, in Joliet, and is the daughter of Salmon O. and C. J. (Treat) Simond, who were natives of New York. Mr. Simond was one of the pioneer farmers of Munroe County, N. Y., but after coming to Joliet became identified with its educational interests and was elected Superintendent of Schools. He won his way into the confidence and esteem of the community by his straightforward and upright life and held various offices, the duties of which he discharged in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to all concerned. He died at his home in Joliet, May 30, 1888. His widow is now living with her son-in-law, Mr. Munroe. She bore the maiden name of Jane Treat, and was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y. To her and her husband there was born a family of two children, Mrs. Munroe being the only one now living. The Simond family were among the earliest settlers of this county, and made for themselves a good record in connection with its growth and development. 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/munroe1495nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb