Source: Thje Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois
Originally published 1896
S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., Chicago, IL
Reproduced on CD purchased from OLD GLORY ACCENTS

Transcribed by: Denise McLoughlin
Tampico Area Historical Society
www.tampicohistoricalsociety.citymax.com

Page 130

William I. Moore is successfully operating a farm of forty-six acres on section 8, Princeton township, with most excellent results. With its fine location it forms a most attractive spot in the landscape of the township. A portion of the land is devoted to fruit culture, and some of the choicest fruits are raised upon it.

Mr. Moore was born in Pennsylvania, December 6, 1824, and was the youngest child of Alexander and Sarah (James) Moore, the latter also a native of that state, where she was married near Harrisburg. The father's birth occurred in Ireland, was a student at Dublin, and came to the United States at the time of the trouble in his country, in the early part of the nineteenth century.

At the age of ten years William I. Moore was taken by one of his brother-in-laws to Ohio, and was early thrown upon his own resources. He began learning the tailor's trade, but in 1849 started for California, but stopped at Ottawa, Illinois, where he began the study of medicine, but never qualified for practice. In 1852 he located in Princeton. On the 11th of November of the same year he wedded Maria L. Hughes, who was born in Ohio, May 14, 1826, and was a daughter of Isaac and Jane Hughes, natives of Tennessee, and early settlers of Bureau county, their home being in Dover township. Three children were born of this union - Jewel H., deceased; Frank A., an attorney of Chicago, and Edward G., a practicing physician of Spring Valley, Bureau county.

After his marriage, Mr. Moore assisted in the construction of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad from Mendota west, and was with the mechanical department of that company for about fifteen years. He has since given his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of his farm. In 1859 he was out on theplains, being at Denver when it contained but four shanites - the winter quarters of some miners. He remembers seeiong Horace Greeley while on his wester trip and hearing him speak of seeing a herd of buffaloes numbering about a million.

Mr. Moore has been called upon to mourn the loss of his faithful wife, who died on the 7th of October, 1893. She was a consistent member of the Christian church, to which our subject also belongs. In 1851 he became a member of the Masonic order at Ottawa, and is now a charter member of the blue lodge and chapter at Princeton. He took the Knight Templar degrees at Ottawa in 1866, established the commandery at Princeton, and has served as treasurer of all three divisions. He also helped to establish the council at the same place. Seeing the advantages of a good education he provided his children with excellent privileges in that direction. Politically, he is an ardent republican, and he stands high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. In the various enterprises inaugurated for the advancement of the community he has been a cheerful and ready assistant, and takes a lively interest in the progress of the people around him. He is entirely a self-ade man, having worked his way upward from childhood unaided, and well deserves the success which has cme to him.