Breeden, John H., M.D., grandson of Elijah Breeden
submitted by Phyllis Hill  <phill@redrock.net>

FULTON COUNTY, ILLINOIS, HISTORY 1890 

JOHN H. BREEDEN, M.D. is prominent not only as one of the leading physicians
of the county, but as one of its most successful financiers and business men,
who has become wealthy by judicious investments, and is one of the largest
landholders in this part of Illinois.  He has not only been very active in
developing in the agricultural and other interests of the county, but as a
valued minister in the Christian Church and as a man of pure character and
earnest purpose, he has been very influential in elevating its legal, moral
and religious status.

Dr. Breeden was born in Sullivan County, Ind., November 18, 1831.  His 
father, Lewis Breeden, was a native of Fayette County, Ky., born October 15,
1811.  His father, Elijah Breeden, was a native of Shelby County, Ky.  The
great grandfather of our subject was born in England and came to America
and settled in Virginia previous to the Revolution.  He was engaged as a 
farmer and when the Colonists fought for independence he entered the Con-
tinental army and did good service.  His wife, a patriotic woman, sat up
nights and moulded bullets for the soldiers in the fort nearby. He finally
moved to Shelby County, and was one of the very first settlers of Kentucky.
He took up land, cleared a farm from the woods, and in his pioneer home he 
and his wife reared a family of six boys and one girl, and there died at a
ripe old age.

The grandfather of our subject was reared in Shelby County, and after 
attaining his majority he moved to Monroe County, Ind., of which he thus 
became an early pioneer.  He remained there several years and then returned 
to Kentucky.  A few years later he started out again with a team and wagon,
and made his way through the wilderness to Clark County, Ill., and then
took up his residence in Galena.  From there he went to Pike County, and 
spent the remnant of his life with the father of our subject, dying when
more than sixty years old.  In early manhood he had married Elizabeth
Simpson, who was likewise of Kentucky birth. She lived to be over fifty
years old and died in Pike County, this State.  She wa the mother of eleven
children, nine of whom grew to maturity, namely:  Elizabeth F., Louis, John,
Lucy, Preston, Fanny, Simpson, Bland B. and William.

The father of our subject was eight years old when he accompanied his parents
from their old Kentucky home to the wilds of Indiana.  He attended the 
pioneer schools of both States at different times and can well remember the
rude log schoolhouses made of logs with slab benches and wooden pins inserted 
into the slabs for legs, and with a large open fireplace across one whole
end of the building, and greased paper instead of glass in the windows.
Our subject (Lewis Breeden) was married in Indiana and came thence to Clark
County, this State, with his parents.  He afterwards became a resident of 
Pike County in 1839, and purchased land there.  He was among the early
settlers of that place and owned and improved several fine farms in Pike
County.  In 1856 he sold out and moved to Mason County, where he farmed 
eight years.  He took up his abode in Bath, Ill., and thence went to Hancock
County, where he lived four years.  We next hear of him in McPherson County,
Kan., where he bought eighty acres of land which he tilled nearly two years.
Coming back to this county he located in Summum, Woodland Township, and
now lives with our subject.  He has been a staunch member of the Christian
Church for forty years and politically has been a Democrat all his life.
Mr. Breeden married Anna Hendy who was born in Tioga County, N.Y., May 18,
1809. They became the parents of seven children, named as follows:  John H.,
Lucinda, James, Amanda, (Mrs. Sawyer), Orrin H., Phoebe A. (Mrs. Renshaw),
and Louisa.  The mother of our subject is a welcome inmate of his home.
She has been a tried and true member of the Christian Church for over forty
years.

Samuel Hendy, the maternal grandfather of our subject was born in New York.
He was a farmer and boatman and followed the latter calling on the
Susquehanna and Wabash Rivers a good deal of the time. He removed to
Indiana, and later to Clark County, Ill., but finally went back to the
Hoosier State, where he died at the age of sixty five years.  He was
Captain of a company in the War of 1812.  His father, John Hendy, was born
farmer near Elmira N.Y., whre he owned over four hundred acres of land.
He died at the venerable age of eighty-five years. 


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