John McGinnis

Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, 1902
Transcribed by John Melton!

McGINNIS, JOHN; Packer and Live-Stock Commission Merchant; born near Rockville, Parke County Indian, September 24, 1833, is a grandson of James McGinnis, who was born May 17, 1776. He married Temperance (Irwin [sic]) McGinnis, and their son, George I., was born in Granger [sic] County, Tennessee, and married Sarah Johnson Montgomery, a native of Russell County, Virginia. She was a daughter of John Montgomery, a native of North Carolina, born in1864. He married Elizabeth Harris. Montgomery was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, entering the service when only twelve years of age, and serving seven years. He was a contemporary of Daniel Boone in Kentucky, and died near Peoria January 25, 1834. John McGinnis has erected recently to his memory a fittingly inscribed monument in a cemetery in Princeville Township. John McGinnis was brought by his parents to Princeville, Illinois, in October 1835, where they settled on a farm. This he continued to make his home until his marriage, when he purchased a farm for himself, which he still owns. August 7, 1862, he enlisted in Company K, Eighty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until mustered out June 6, 1865, at Washington, D. C. He entered the service as a private, and rose by successive steps to be Second Lieutenant at the time he left the service. Among the battles in which he participated were: Perryville, Chickamauga, Buzzard’s Roost, Resaca, Rome, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Nashville. He was present at the surrender of General Johnston. At the close of the war he returned to his farm. In 1871 he engaged in business at Princeville, and ten years later was made United States Storekeeper. Four years after he became Government Gauger, serving four years. Since 1881 he has been engaged in business in Peoria with very successful results. He belongs to the Methodist Church, in politics he is a republican, and frequently writes well and entertainingly to the local press on current topics. He was married December 9, 1858, to Sarah Jane Russell, of Akron Township, Peoria County who died April 1, 1893.

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