Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Munroe, Paul Hugh 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 4:39 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

Paul Hugh Munroe is a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Will county, 
owning and operating a tract of land of one hundred acres which is known as 
the Lilly Page farm, situated at the junction of the Lilly Cache creek and the 
Du Page river, this tract of land having been developed and improved by him, 
for it was all covered with timber when it came into his possession. Mr. 
Munroe was born in Bennington, Vermont, in 1839, a son of J. W. and Susan D. 
(Spencer) Munroe. The father was a farmer and miller in the Green Mountain 
state and was a very wealthy man. His death, however, occurred in 1849, at the 
comparatively early age of thirty-seven years. His widow remained in the east 
until 1872, when she came to Will county and here passed away in February, 
1881, when she had reached the age of sixty-seven years. Paul Hugh Munroe is 
the only surviving member of a family of three children, his brother, S. W., 
having died in Vermont about ten years ago, while his sister, Mary Wales, who 
became the wife of John L. Gates, who is connected with the National Express 
Company, died in 1872. Mr. Munroe was reared in his native state, and his 
early education, acquired in the common schools, was later supplemented by a 
course of study in Burr Seminary. He was a youth of only eighteen years, 
however, when he lost his father, after which he took charge of the homestead 
farm until 1863, when he took up his abode in this state. He purchased a farm 
of one hundred acres, this having been his home continuously since that time, 
covering a period of forty-three years. The land was all covered with timber 
when it came into his possession, but he chopped down the trees, grubbed out 
the stumps, and in due time had his land prepared for the plow, after which he 
planted his seeds and cultivated his crops, each year gathering rich harvests 
as a result of the care and labor which he had bestowed upon the fields. He 
has added many improvements to his property by the erection of a nice home and 
substantial outbuildings, and his place presents a neat and attractive 
appearance, indicating the thrift and careful management of the owner. Mr. 
Munroe was married in Vermont to Miss Mary J. Elwell, a daughter of James W. 
Elwell. Their marriage has been blessed with two daughters and one son, all of 
whom are married. Agnes Irene, the eldest, is now the wife of Ernest Billings, 
by whom she has one son, Harold. They are residing with her father. Miriam 
Kate is the wife of Carl Pilcher, a resident of Wheatland. They have two 
daughters, Genevieve and Frances. J. Wales wedded Miss Carolyn Sennett, a 
daughter of the late John Sennett, of Plainfield, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere in this volume. They have one daughter, Myrtle. In his political 
views and affiliations Mr. Munroe is a republican and has served as highway 
commissioner. He likewise takes a deep and helpful interest in the cause of 
education. He served for four years as deputy county treasurer under Andrew 
Fries and in the discharge of his duties in this connection gave entire 
satisfaction to the general public. In addition to his connection with public 
interests in Will county, Mr. Munroe also opened the first set of abstract 
books in Spink county, South Dakota, where he conducted business for a time, 
but later disposed of his interests in that regard. He went to that state in 
1881, and in Spink county entered three quarter sections of land from the 
government, which he improved and operated for four years, but he has since 
disposed of one of these farms, while the remaining two are now rented. Mr. 
Munroe has long been identified with the Masonic fraternity, joining the order 
in Bennington, Vermont, when twenty-one years of age. He was reared in the 
faith of the Episcopal church, but Mrs. Munroe holds membership with the 
Methodist church, while the children are Congregationalists. Mr. Munroe has 
been very successful in his business ventures, so that he is today numbered 
among the well-to-do and prosperous citizens of his home locality and he and 
his family are highly respected wherever known.

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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