John Patrick, who is engaged in farming on section 27, Bunker Hill Township, and is
numbered among the early settlers of the county of 1840, was born on the 14th of
July in, 1822, in Ayershire, Scotland, about nineteen miles from the home of Robert
Burns.
His father and his grandfather were both named John Patrick and both were natives of
Ayershire. The latter was a carpenter and mechanic and died at his home in Scotland,
at the age of ninety-five years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a
prominent man in the community where he made his home. He married a Scotch lady of
the Lowlands and she too reached an advanced age.
John Patrick, the father of our subject, grew to man hood in Ayershire, and learned
the trade of a silk weaver, which be followed in his native land. After be had
attained to mature years he married, in Ayershire, Miss Margaret Stirat, daughter of
James Stirat, who was a dyke-builder and died in Dairi (Dalry), Scotland, where he
spent his entire life. He attained to the ripe old age of ninety-five years. He was
never sick a day in his life, but passed away quietly and peacefully, the flame of
life growing dimmer and dimmer until at last it flickered and went out. Through his
business operations he acquired quite a fortune. Both he and his wife were members
of the Presbyterian Church.
For some years after their marriage, John Patrick and his wife, the parents of our
subject, resided in Ayershire. There all their children were born unto them, and in
1839, their son James came to the United States, locating in New Jersey, where he
embarked in business as a silk manufacturer. Two years later the parents and their
remaining seven children crossed the broad Atlantic on a vessel which sailed from
Liverpool and after a long and tedious voyage reached New York, from whence they
traveled to Pittsburg by way of the railroad and canal, then down the Ohio and up
the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Mo.
Continuing onward to Alton,Illinois, the family there spent the winter, while the
father and sons came into Macoupin County, and bought land on section 27, Bunker
Hill Township, where they rented a log cabin. In this home the family were installed
the following spring and John Patrick and his wife resided upon that farm until they
departed this life. The husband's death occurred at the age of seventy-eight years
and his wife died in her eighty-third year. True to the faith in which they had been
reared they were life-long members of the Presbyterian Church.
Under the parental roof our subject spent his boyhood days and with his parents came
to America. In his native land be had learned the trade of a blacksmith which he has
followed in pursuit of fortune through many years. His residence in this community
covers half a century and few are the intervals when he has been absent from his
home.
In 1849, he crossed the plains to California, attracted by the discovery of gold.
Leaving home in the month of May, he forded the Missouri River at St. Joe, and
thence followed the trail to the Pacific slope, landing at Johnson's Ranch on Bear
River, on the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where for a time he engaged
in mining.
Later he went to Sacramento, Cal., and subsequently went into the Nevada mining
country, where for two and a half years, near Nevada City, he engaged in digging for
the precious metal. With the gold dust - which he had secured he started for his
home in 1853, traveling by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York City, whence he
returned to Illinois. Meanwhile the gold fields of Australia were attracting
attention and before his return in 1852, he visited those mines where he worked for
nearly one year.
Mr. Patrick has been twice married. In this county he wedded Janet Longwill, who was
also a native of Ayershlre, and came to America with her parents during her
girlhood. She and their only child died at their home in 1849, with the cholera,
during her husband's absence in California. The marriage of Mr. Patrick and Miss
Sarah A. David was celebrated in Bunker Hill Township, in 1854.
The lady was born in Parke County, Indiana, and with her family came to Illinois
about 1850. She died at her home in this township in 1887, when sixty years of age
and her death was sincerely mourned by many friends, as well as her immediate
family. She was a faithful member of the Christian Church and was held in universal
esteem. Seven children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Patrick, one of whom died in
infancy.
John married Josie Stehline, who resides in Topeka, Kan., where he is engaged in
blacksmithing; James is a blacksmith of Denver, Colo.; William, who wedded Althea
Carter, follows the same business in Oklahoma City; Lizzie is the wife of William
Chappel, a farmer, residing in Holdon, Mo.; Belle is the wife of O.F. Stehline, a
hardware merchant of Arkansas City, Kan.; and May is the widow of F. Seigel Bumann,
who died, leaving one child, Sarah G. His death occurred July 28, 1889, since which
time Mrs. Buman has made her home with her father.
On his return from California, Mr. Patrick established a smithy in Bunker Hill and
engaged at work at his trade for more than thirty years with excellent success. He
is an efficient workman, received a liberal patronage and became one of the
prosperous business men of the community.
Deciding to retire to more private life, he begun the improvement of his farm which
he had purchased some time previous. He now owns two hundred and eight acres of
valuable land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation and he
is numbered among the substantial and highly respected farmers of the community.