Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Neese, Thomas J ************************************************ 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 November 10, 2007, 1:13 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County THOMAS J. NEESE, supervisor of Wesley Township, and a dealer in agricultural implements at Ritchey, has been connected with the farming interests of the township since 1876, when he settled on a farm here. Besides his general farming he has been engaged in raising and feeding cattle, and since 1890 has also acted as local representative of the Deering Harvester Company. Although he was reared in the Democratic faith he is a stanch Republican and exercises his right of franchise in favor of the party to whose principles he adheres. He is very active in local politics. Frequently he has been chosen by his fellow-citizens to occupy some local office of trust and honor. For two years he was collector of the township, for three years served as assessor and for six years was township treasurer. In 1892 he was elected supervisor, and this office he has since filled to the satisfaction of the people, discharging its duties with promptness and fidelity. He has acted as a member of the county central committee and as delegate to county and state conventions. It was largely through his efforts that a school was secured and a fine building erected in the village of Ritchey. In his work as school director he has been instrumental in advancing the educational interests of his district and in raising the grade of scholarship. Before the Revolutionary war Peter Neese came from Germany and settled in Center County, Pa. That was then in the midst of a trackless wilderness. People were few and privations many. In order to get feed for his cattle he cut down forest trees for their leaves. He became a large farmer and was successful for those days. When a very old man he died in 1852. His son, William, was a native of Center County, where he spent his life on a farm. He held a number of minor offices and supported the Democratic party. For some time he was an elder in the Lutheran Church. He died in 1867, when sixty years of age. By his marriage to Margaret Hubler, a native of Center County, he had three children, namely: Thomas J.; Mary, wife of Silas Smith, of Manhattan, Ill.; and Alexander, who died in Kansas when thirty-three years of age. On his father's farm in Center County, Pa., our subject was born September 6, 1847. He received a common-school education, after which he assisted in cultivating the home farm for two years. In 1869 he came to Illinois with his brother and settled in Florence Township, where he began farming and stock-raising. In 1876 he moved to Wesley Township, and has since been one of its best-known men. He is a member of the Knights of Globe at Ritchey. Ever since the Methodist Episcopal Church was built he has been one of its trustees and has assisted liberally in all its enterprises. In 1867 he married Miss Jane C. Groosman, a native of Pennsylvania. They are the parents of four children, the eldest being Delia, wife of Frederick Hiles, of this township. The others are George William, Sonata S. and Walter B. 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/neese1058gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb