LEMUEL LONG. The farmers and stock-raisers who are contributing so largely to Calhoun County's material prosperity are well represented by this gentleman, who has extensive landed interests in Belleview Precinct, and whose portrait is shown on the opposite page [not found]. He is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, where he was born January 28, 1838. His parents, John W. and Leah (Shultz) Long, were natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively. His paternal great-grandfather was an Irishman and he married a Scotchwoman. The maternal ancestors were German.
John W. Long emigrated from Ohio to Illinois and located in Calhoun County about 1856, his family accompanying him hither. He made a settlement where his widow now lives on section 7, in Belleview Precinct. Gradually he developed a good farm and earned an honorable place among the pioneers of Calhoun County, which lost a good citizen when he died April 22, 1868. Having begun life as a poor man, he accumulated a large estate and became one of the substantial citizens of this part of the county. When he was a young man he supported the Whigs, but later in life joined the Republican party after its formation. His widow, who is now in her seventy-sixth year, retains to a wonderful degree her early vigorous health and lives on the old homestead with her son Henry C. Long. She is the mother of nine children of whom the following are living: Samuel; George W.; Winfield S.; Flora (wife of L. Mclntyre); Henry C. and Lemuel.
The latter, who forms the subject of this sketch, was reared to manhood in this county amid the scenes of pioneer life. He is mainly self-educated, having received but a limited education in the pioneer schools of Ohio. His success in life is attributable to practical skill in his calling, his energy, sound common sense and devotion to his work. He owns a large and valuable farm of several hundred acres and has one of the coziest homes in Belleview Precinct, finely located on section 12.
December 22, 1859, was the date of the marriage of our subject to Miss Christina Fisher, a native of Ohio and a daughter of George Fisher now deceased, who was an early settler of Calhoun County. By their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Long have been blessed with four children, of whom three are living: Charles F., Earl F. and Wilson V. Charles F. is named for his father's brother, Charles F. Long, who bravely sacrificed his life for his country and fell while fighting at the siege of Vicksburg. Mr. Long stands well in this community where so many years of his life have been passed and his career as a farmer, a citizen and in all the relations that he bears to others marks him as an upright, honorable man who is always true to himself and those about him. He is a man of more than ordinary capability and his progressive public spirit has greatly aided in the upbuilding of Belleview Precinct and Calhoun County.
Extracted 23 Mar 2017 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Album of Pike and Calhoun Counties, Illinois, published in 1891, page 773
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