Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Ross, Lanson E 1832 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 6:35 pm

Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890

LANSON E. ROSS. A pleasantly located and fertile tract of land on section 4, 
Joliet, Township, is owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch, who is 
now giving his attention to the purchase and sale of real estate. His farm 
being just northwest of Joliet, combines the pleasant features of town and 
farm life in such a proportion as to be pleasurable to any except the most 
fault-finding. The career of Mr. Ross has been marked by a careful attention 
to the matters he had in hand and the exercise of tact and good judgment, 
producing a favorable effect upon his finances and in the minds of those with 
whom he has to do. In the first quarter of the present century Elijah Ross, a 
native of Kentucky, and Mary L. Houston, a native of Delaware, became husband 
and wife. Their first home after marriage was in the Buckeye State, near 
Springfield, whence they removed to the vicinity of Piqua, where the husband 
closed his eyes in death. The widow subsequently became inmate of the home of 
a daughter near Elkhart, Ill., and there departed this life. Their family 
comprised ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the seventh, he 
having been born in Clark County, Ohio, June 15, 1832. He was an infant of 
about twelve months when his parents removed to Piqua, and he grew to manhood 
in the contiguous village of Rossville, which was named in honor of his father 
and uncle. He remained in that place until 1856, when he came to the Prairie 
State, making his first location near Morris, Grundy County. After a residence 
there of about one year, Mr. Ross bought land in Livingston County, and 
settled down to the life of a farmer in Nevada Township. Some nine years later 
he sold the farm and engaged in the grocery and hardware business in Dwight, 
continuing it for about two years, when he sold out the business and made 
another change of base. Coming to Joliet, he bought the land upon which he now 
resides, and which has since been his home with the exception of a short time 
spent in Dakota. The first marriage of Mr. Ross was celebrated at the home of 
the bride, in Dwight, the lady whom he had chosen for his companion being Miss 
Esther Thompson. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, possessed many 
good qualities, and was devoted to the interests of her husband and children. 
The union was blessed by the birth of seven sons and daughters, their record 
being as follows: Mary L. is the wife of William Eaton; Alma E. married John 
Belsly; Marion died when six months old; Frank H. is in the nursery business 
in Joliet; L. Edgar is a clerk in a store there; Robert W. is a student at 
Jackson, Mich., where Jessie E. is also studying. The mother of this family 
departed this life in November, 1887. Mr. Ross contracted a second matrimonial 
alliance, September 5, 1889, the marriage ceremony being performed at 
Marseilles, La Salle County, and the bride Miss Vanch Gardner. This educated, 
cultured, and Christian woman was born in Amboy, Lee County, July 11, 1843. 
She has not been content to sit with folded hands since the studies of her 
girlhood were completed, but has ever been on the alert to find use for the 
talents which have been given her, and in her own womanly way to make the 
world better for her presence in it. She finds an outlet for her religious 
nature in the work and worship of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mr. 
Ross also belongs. As a member of society she is highly regarded, while in her 
own home "her price is far above rubies." Mr. Ross formerly acted with the 
Republican party, but is now a Prohibitionist. While living in Livingston 
County, he satisfactorily discharged the duties of Township Treasurer and 
School Commissioner. 

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 
 


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