Augustus Pepoon

 

To the farm which this gentleman now occupies he came in the latter part of 1865, and for a period of twenty-four years has given to it his best efforts. It must not be supposed by this statement that he has in any wise neglected the culture of his mind and intellectual faculties, for he is considered one of the most intelligent members of the farming community of Warren Township. His land is pleasantly located on section 29, and comprises 160 acres, which, by a course of thorough cultivation, yields abundantly the rich products of Northern Illinois.

It is hardly necessary to state that when our subject secured possession of his present farm there had been little attempt at improvement. A goodly proportion of it was covered with useless timber, which he cut down and destroyed, then grubbed out the stumps, and it was no small task to prepare the soil for the raising of corn and grain. A few seasons worked a marvelous change in the quality and amount of his farm products, and after the land had been thoroughly worked, he sowed a goodly proportion to grass, and of late years has turned his attention largely to dairying and the raising of live-stock. During the earlier years of his residence in this county he followed his trade of carpenter and joiner considerably, in order to augment his cash income; which was necessary for carrying on the improvement of his land, thc erection of buildings, and the gathering together of the necessary machinery.

A native of Ohio, Mr. Pepoon was born in Lake County, June 17, 1835, and lived there the first twenty-five years of his life, employing, himself largely as a sailor on the lakes in connection with the through trade from Buffalo to Chicago. He came to Illinois a single man. He was married to Miss Mary Robinson, of Warren, Jan. 13, 1865. This lady was born in Elizabeth Township, this county, May 12, 1845, and was the daughter of James and Cassandra (Morris) Robinson, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky.

To our subject and his estimable wife there were born six children, the eldest of whom, Frederick, was born Aug. 17, 1868; Florence, Jan. 28, 1871; Susie, Jan. 15, 1873; Lewis P., Dec. 12, 1874; George, May 12. 1878; Cora, March 14, 1880; they are all at home with their parents, receiving the training and education which will fit them for their rightful position as the offspring of a representative citizen.

Augustus Pepoon, Sr., the father of our subject, was born in Connecticut, Dec. 31, 1800, and emigrated with his parents, when a child of two years, to Lake County, Ohio, of which they were almost the first pioneers, there being only three families in the region where they settled, and the head of one of these becoming the first Governor of Ohio. Upon reaching manhood he cleared a farm from the dense timber, and married Miss Ruby Talcott. They became the parents of seven children, six of whom lived to mature years. The first one taken from the home circle fell as a soldier in the service of his country. The father, in 1879, abandoned the active labors of farm life, and retired to a pleasant home in Paynesville, where he still lives. Religiously, he inclines to the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church, although he attends the Congregational. The wife and mother departed this life at the homestead in Ohio, about 1879.

 




Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Jo Daviess Co., IL (1889)