Biographies: J

Biographies

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WILLIAM JACK. William Jack was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., January 10, 1844; he came to Peoria September 13, 1860; was admitted to the bar of Peoria County in 1865, and has since practiced law in the city of Peoria. (Portrait & Biographical Album of Peoria, Illinois (1890), page 700, submitted by Gaile Thomas)

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JAY, FRED D. retired merchant, res. Elmwood, son of Robert and Elizabeth (Coats) Jay, natives of Pennsylvania. They removed in 1832 to Richland county, Ohio, and five years later to Lawrence, now Richland county, Ills., and was there at the organization of the county. The subject of this sketch was born in Tioga county, Pa., March 22, 1818, and attended the district school, sometimes going as far as two miles. He came to Elmwood , bought property and built in 1855. He married Elizabeth Fitch, in Crawford county, Pa., who was a native of Kentucky. She died in 1853, leaving two children, Robert B. and Wallace S. Robt. B. died in 1854. He married Ann I. Maxwell, born in Cecil county, Md., in February, 1832. They had five children – Frederick D., Walter M., Chas. P., Dora M., Annie E. Mr. Jay was Methodist for forty years. He is now a minister of the Presbyterian. Mr. Jay held several local offices in Richland county, was justice of the peace for eight years; in 1876 was elected to the Legislature from this district, receiving a very large vote. He has done much to build up the town. Although coming to the State with only thirty-seven and one-half cents in his pocket, has accumulated a fine property. (The History of Peoria County, Illinois, 1880, pages 744, submitted by Robin O'Neill)

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GEORGE J. JOCHEM. For ten years George J. Jochem has been a practitioner at the bar of Peoria, entering upon the work of the profession here immediately after being admitted to practice by the supreme court. He is one of the city's younger lawyers, yet the measure of success he has attained and the kind of work he handles identify him rather with the old and tried practitioners. He was born in Peoria, October 14, 1876, and is a son of George J. and Rosina (Off) Jochem. His father was connected with the brewing interests of Pekin, Illinois, in the latter '60s and early '70s, and died in 1877. His mother, however, still survives.
Mr. Jochem acquired his education from the public-school system, completing a four years' select course in the Peoria high school. He then entered the University of Michigan for the study of law, and was graduated therefrom in June, 1902, having pursued the regular course. In the fall of the same year he was admitted to practice, opened an office in Peoria, and entered upon what has proved a most successful professional career. He now occupies a suite of rooms in the Woolner building and his clientage, already large, is steadily growing. The class of work he handles is eminently satisfactory, not only because it has brought him good returns, but because it is of the substantial kind of which the handling is a guarantee of good citizenship and progress. His fidelity to a high standard of professional ethics and his adherence to straightforward business methods and manly ideals has gained for him the warm regard and good will of the legal fraternity and business men in general, in this city. Although he attends to the general practice of law, he has devoted a great amount of time to the study of corporation law, and handles a considerable amount of that sort of work.
George Jochem is well known in Masonic circles, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Peoria consistory while with the Nobles of Mohammed Temple of the Mystic Shrine, he has also crossed the sands of the desert. He is a member of the Creve Coeur Club, and actively interested in various legal organizations. He is widely known in Peoria, and his admirable, enduring traits of character have won him the regard and friendship of those with whom he has been associated. (Peoria, City and County, Illinois (1912) by James M. Rice, pages 269-270, submitted by Janine Crandell)

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HENRY W. JONES. In traveling through Peoria County, a stranger would note with satisfaction the signs of prosperity and good taste which mark many of its rural abodes. One of the most attractive to be seen in Kickapoo Township is that of the above-named gentleman, an old settler, whose estate has taken on the character of those who have so long occupied it. The entire two hundred acres are carefully and intelligently managed, neatness and order being every where apparent and indicating that the owner makes of farming both an art and a science. The buildings which have been erected are well designed, commodious and conveniently disposed, and are kept in first-class order.
     In Culpeper County, Va., in 1782, Henry Jones was born. Some two years later, near the Juniata River in Pennsylvania, Sarah Zinn opened her eyes to the light of day. This couple, upon growing to maturity, married and settled in Gallia County, Ohio, whence they removed to Jackson County about 1824. In 1831 they came to Peoria County, Ill., settling in Limestone Township, on what was known as Jones' Prairie or Jones' Spring. There Mr. Jones breathed his last about 1852, his wife surviving several years. Their family comprised two sons and six daughters.
     The sixth child in this family was born in Gallia County, Ohio, February 7, 1819, and christened Henry W. This lad came to Peoria County with his parents when in this thirteenth year and grew to manhood on his father's farm in Limestone Township. He remained under the parental roof until his marriage, which occurred in the fall of 1842, when he set up his own home in the same township. About a year and a half later he removed to section 34, Kickapoo Township, where he has continued to reside, making farming his chief business and securing a merited reward for his industry and good judgment.
     The wife of Henry W. Jones was known in her maidenhood as Miss Rebecca Miller, and was born in Shelby County, Ky., December 28, 1821. She is the seventh in a family comprising six sons and two daughters born to Reuben and Nancy (Sturgeon) Miller. They were natives of the Blue Grass State, in which they were married and spent their wedded life. Mr. Miller died in Shelby County about 1826 and in 1834 his widow with her family came to Peoria County, Ill. She settled in Kickapoo Township, dying there in 1872. There the marriage rites of her daughter Rebecca and our subject were celebrated October 30, 1842.
     To Mr. and Mrs. Jones twelve children have been born, of whom we note the following: Clarissa C. is the wife of Francis Peppard; Lovina is the wife of Charles Daly; Amanda E. married Thomas Necomb; Charles P., who married Miss Caroline Daly, died in Limestone Township, March 17, 1888; Lucinda is the wife of Robert Awl; James H. married Miss Alice Brown and lives in Kickapoo Township; Malinda J. is the wife of Alfred Kershaw, of Elmwood Township; John F. died when about eleven years old; George N. died when two years old; Anna died in infancy; Adeline C. is the wife of William Edwards, of Rosefield Township; Euphemia is the wife of Richard Lonsdale, Jr., of Kickapoo Township.
     Probably no citizen of Kickapoo Township has borne a more active part in local affairs than the subject of this sketch. He is deeply interested in the welfare of this section of the country and ever ready to bear a part in movements which will promote it. His fellow-citizens recognize this fact, and also his intelligence and good judgment, and have therefore called for his services as School Director, School Trustee, Highway Commissioner, Justice of the Peace and Assessor. He is liberal in his religious views, honorable and upright in his dealings, kindly in social and domestic relations, and deserving of that which he receives --- the thorough respect and good will of his associates. His wife is a fitting companion for a man of his calibre, bearing well her part in the duties of life and winning many friends thereby.
     The paternal grandfather of our subject was James Jones, a Welshman, who married Sarah Howdeshell, who was of German and English extraction. They were among the early settlers of the Buckeye State, in which they were gathered to their fathers. (Portrait & Biographical Album of Peoria, Illinois (1890), pages 198-199, submitted by Gaile Thomas)

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