The history of Mr. Beck has for many years been entwined with that of
German township, Richland county, in which he lives, where he has always
been regarded as a valuable and influential citizen and one who possesses
all the higher qualities of the successful farmer.
John Beck was
born in Stark county, Ohio, on the 30th of July, 1841, and was the son of
Jacob and Elizabeth (Phillips) Beck. Both were natives of Pennsylvania, the
former having been born on the 28th of January, 1797, and Elizabeth Phillips
in April, 1806. Jacob remained at home with his parents on the farm in the
Keystone state until his twenty-eight year, when his marriage took place in
1825. For about four years he and his wife remained in Pennsylvania and then
removed to Stark county, Ohio, where Jacob bought about forty acres of land,
on which they lived for some time, until the discovery was made that the
title was worthless and they were forced to give up the place. This,
needless to say, was a great loss to them. They then lived in different
parts of Stark county for some time afterwards, but did not purchase any
land and, finally, in the early fall of 1842 they set out overland in wagons
for Illinois. The trip covered four weeks and in October they landed in
Richland county, Illinois. Jacob Beck found himself there with a wife and
one boy, John, aged one and a half years, one dollar and twenty-five cents
in money, an old blind mare and a one-horse wagon, in which they had
journeyed from Ohio. (For further information on John Beck's parents, see
biography of Daniel Beck, of Claremont township, in another part of this
volume.)
John Beck made his home with his parents until his mother's
death in April, 1872. Our subject for some time afterwards lived with his
father. During this time he had acquired a half interest with his brother
Henry in forty acres of timber land in German township. Some time later he
sold this half interest to William Miller for three hundred and fifty
dollars, with which he acquired a sawmill. He later sold the mill to J. J.
Goss. On the 8th of October, 1874, he married Elizabeth Sager, who was born
on the 17th of March, 1855, in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. She was the
daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Snider) Sager, also natives of
Pennsylvania. Mrs. Beck's mother died when she was but four years old and
she went to live with an elder sister. When about nine years old she came
with her father from Pennsylvania to Richland county, Illinois, in the fall
of 1864. She and her father remained with a brother. Peter Sager, senior,
until his marriage to Leah Crumb, the widow of Isaac Crumb. Our subject's
wife then remained with a cousin, Daniel Sager, for about three years and
then worked for neighbors. She continued in occupations of this kind until
her marriage. Her father afterwards died and is buried in Goss cemetery in
German township; his age at the time of his decease was fifty-six. Mrs. Beck
was a member of a family of eleven children, nine of whom grew up and six
are now living. Upon his marriage, John Beck and his wife rented a farm in
Crawford county in the year 1875, and on account of unfavorable
circumstances removed that same fall to Richland county. It was at this time
that he traded for the saw-mill referred to before. He then moved into
Decker township and later bought twenty acres in Preston township which he
afterwards sold and returned once more to German township. In January of
1882 he moved to his present farm which then consisted of forty acres. Since
that time he has built the house and barn now standing and otherwise changed
the face of the land and brought it to its present admirable state of
cultivation.
John Beck was the sixth of ten children born to his
parents, seven of whom grew to maturity. His father died in April of 1881,
aged eighty-four years, and was buried in Goss cemetery. John was not able
to obtain an extended education in his young days. However, he attended the
subscription school and went for several terms to the free school in
Richland county, learning to read, write and spell, also obtaining a
knowledge of arithmetic. To John Beck and wife six children were born; three
girls and two boys grew up; one child died in infancy. In regular order they
were: Dorothy Viola is the wife of George W. Gerber, a carpenter of
Claremont township; Sidney Paul married Maggie Byrd and resides on a farm in
Shelby county; Bertha May is the wife of E. W. Craig, a farmer of German
township; Clara Agatha and Frederick Stephen are both single and live with
their parents on the farm. All are fairly prosperous.
In politics
the subject of this sketch is a Democrat and has for the greater part of his
life taken an interest in local politics. He has been for six years
Commissioner of Highways in German township, and School Director for the
long period of twenty-one years. Active as he has been in the public life of
his community, he has never aspired for a political office of any kind. He
and his wife and family are all members of the St. James Lutheran church in
Claremont township. He is himself one of the original founders and builders
of that church. He has served as church treasurer for about twenty years, as
a deacon for several terms, and as a teacher of the Sunday school class for
the past thirty-five years, and is now an elder. It is needless to say he
has ever been active in all things pertaining to his church. In the township
in which he has lived the best part of his life .he is favorably looked upon
as an upright and honest man and as an industrious farmer whose success is
well deserved.
Extracted 21 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 401-402.
| Jasper | Crawford | |
| Clay |
 |
Lawrence |
| Wayne | Edwards | Wabash |
