Francis J. Liggett

Francis J. Liggett, son of William and Ann (Maderia) Liggett, was born in Warren county, Ohio, May 30, 1854. This William, a native of Virginia, came with his parents to Ohio when he was but little over one year of age. His (William's) parents were engaged in farming in Ohio, where his father died very suddenly, leaving the mother to raise the family. William was the youngest child of a family of six children; was born in Harrison county, Va., June 25, 1806. After his marriage to Miss Ann Maderia, November 15, 1842, they remained on the old homestead in Ohio until the fall of 1854, when they sold their interests there, and proceeding to Stark county, Ill., purchased a farm of 200 acres in Osceola township, upon which they settled. The country at this time was a wilderness, but with the wolves and deer as their most numerous neighbors, they braved the dangers of a pioneer life and built themselves up a home. Mr. Liggett died April 23, 1875. Mrs. Liggett still resides on the homestead. She was born February 3, 1822, and although she is now in her sixty-fifth year, is strong and active. Of the nine children living at Mr. Liggett's death, one has since died. Francis, whose name heads this sketch, is the oldest child. In his eighteenth year he joined Company B, of the One-hundred-and-twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and proceeded with the company to Peoria, September 18, 1862. He participated in thirteen engagements, among them being Franklin, Nashville, Atlanta, Cleveland, Ft. Anderson, and Goldsborough. At Cleveland, Tenn., September 18, 1863, he was taken prisoner and suffered all the horrors of Belle Isle and Andersonville. In the summer of 1864 he made his escape from Andersonville, and after many weary weeks of travel by night, and hiding in the forests and swamps by day, he entered the Union lines in Georgia, during the Atlanta campaign, and joined his old comrades. Nearly starved, he was in no condition to perform military duty, and was sent home on a furlough. During this visit home he married Miss Katie Long, daughter of Alexander and Nancy Long, born at Zanesville, Ohio, January 27, 1843. Her father, a Pennsylvanian, came to Ohio at an early day, later to Indiana, and thence to Illinois. Remaining here some time, they moved to Nebraska, where they still reside. At the close of the war, Mr. Liggett purchased a farm near Bradford and erected a fine residence where he still resides. On December 28, 1875, Mrs. Liggett passed away in the thirty-third year of her age, being an invalid for several years. She was a member of the Eastern Star Chapter, of Bradford. March 11, 1880, Mr. Liggett married Miss Millie, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Biddle) Hamilton; was born near Philadelphia, June 24, 1845. Her parents, natives of Pennsylvania, came to Illinois in 1847 and settled at Osceola, in Elmira township, where Mr. Hamilton died August 17, 1870, in his sixty-fourth year. Mrs. Hamilton now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Liggett, and is now in her eightieth year. Mr. Liggett still resides on his farm near Bradford, where he owns 120 acres of choice lands, and formerly owned real estate in Iowa. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Bradford; politically, he has always been a Republican, and has held several township offices, among them being that of collector and assessor, the latter he held for ten years. He is a man who is interested in all works of a progressive nature, and his home is a model one.