Whiteside County Biographies 1908
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Whiteside Biographies 1908 > John B. Loomis - Prophetstown


14 Jul 2005

Source: Biographical Index to History of Whiteside County, IL 1908
By William W. Davis, M. A.
Vol I & II
The Pioneer Publishing Co., 1908
Reprinted by Higginson Book Co., Salem, MA

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

Pages 1386-1387

John B. Loomis, engaged in the livery business in Prophetstown, was born in New York, March 18, 1841, his parents being Joel and Parmelia (Bowman) Loomis, natives of Connecticut and Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, respectively. The father died in the Empire state in 1843 and the mother afterward married John Bollen in 1846. By her first marriage she had three children, Alfred E., John B. and Joel E. all residents of Prophetstown. By her second marriage there were born five children: George, who is living in Nebraska; H. S., a resident of Prophetstown; Lucretia, the wife of David Parker, of Iowa; Lewis, deceased; and T. J., a resident of Nebraska. The father, Mr. Bollen, died in 1889.

John B. Loomis remained with his mother until nineteen years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. For a long period he was identified with agricultural pursuits, cultivating rented land for sixteen years. He fed and shipped hogs for four years but not finding that profitable he withdrew from that business and established a livery barn in Prophetstown in 1881. The new venture was more successful and he has continued in that line to the present, having a well equipped livery stable, keeping a good line of carriages and other vehicles and a number of fine residences in Prophetstown.

On the 16th of December, 1868, occurred the marriage of John B. Loomis and Miss Alvira Barber, a daughter of David and Eliza (Williams) Barber. Her father was born in Vermont and her mother in the state of New York, and at an early day they removed westward to Illinois. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. Loomis, Effa and George. Mr. Barber died in 1892 and his wife, surviving for about eleven years, passed away in 1903. The grandmother of Mrs. Loomis was the first person buried in Prophetstown cemetery, interment being made in 1844. The family was one of the first to locate in this part of the county and was closely associated with the early pioneer development.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Loomis has been blessed with three children: Carrie, who is yet under the parental roof; Mina, the wife of S. E. Wheelock, of Manlius; and J. B., who is with Armour & Company in Chicago.

Mr. Loomis and his family are members of the Congregational church and are prominent socially in the community, while the hospitality of their own home seems most attractive to their many friends. Mr. Loomis belongs to the  Masonic Lodge, No. 293, and is a charter member of the Modern Woodmen Group No. 16. His political views are in accord with the principles of democracy and his fellow townsmen have elected him to the offices of assessor and road commissioner. His purposes have always been in harmony with public spirited citizenship and his cooperation can always be counted upon  when there is a movement afoot to further the welfare of the community. In his business life he has made that steady progress which follows close application and unfaltering energy, and whatever success he has achieved has come to him only through his own efforts, so that he may well be called a self-made man.

 

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