John Hirschy is the owner of a farming property of one hundred and forty acres on section 36, Granville township, and his entire life has been devoted to general agricultural pursuits, while in his work he has displayed those sterling traits which are essential to a successful business career and which win the confidence and respect of one's fellowmen. A native son of Granville township, he was born November 11, 1853.
His father, Michael Hirschy, was born in Lorraine, France, November 27, 1815, and came to America with his parents in early life, settling in the state of New York. After reaching manhood he made his way westward to Chicago, where he engaged in carpentering and contracting. He was married in 1850 to Miss Jacobine Holly, who was born in Germany, December 23, 1829. In the year of their marriage they removed to Putnam county, and Mr. Hirschy's first purchase of land was a tract of forty acres, on which a log house had been built. Soon afterward he erected a frame dwelling there, and as the years passed became a successful farmer, adding to his original holdings until at his death he left an estate of three hundred acres. He was a member of the Mennonite church of Granville, which he assisted in organizing, and was deeply interested in the moral development of the community as well as in intellectual and material progress. He died upon his farm in Granville township in 1888. His wife survived until 1893, when she, too, passed away. In their family were five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom John is the' eldest. The others are as follows: Emma E., who is now living in Indiana; Helen, the wife of Oscar Wonder, living in Indiana; William M., who for a number of years was a grain merchant at Spring Valley, Illinois, and is now a commercial traveler for the Chicago Board of Trade; and Ernest, who is conducting a prosperous business as a druggist at Kewanee, Illinois.
John Hirschy, whose name introduces this record, lived at home until twenty-one years of age and was educated in the common schools, while under his father's direction he received ample training in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. On attaining his majority he began operating his father's land on the shares and later he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, where he now lives, on section 36, Granville township. He has since further extended the boundaries of his farm, which today comprises me hundred and forty acres. The buildings upon the place stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprising spirit, having been erected by him. He has here a fine dwelling and good barns and sheds, thus affording ample shelter to grain and stock.
In 1887 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hirschy and Miss Bertha Nafzinger, a native of Germany. They have one son, Walter, who is now living at home. The family are members of the Congregational church in Granville and Mr. Hirschy's political affiliation is with the republican party. He has served as school director and for the past eight years has been school treasurer. He is an enterprising agriculturist, active and diligent in his work and conservative in his business management. He possesses the strong will and resolute purpose that enables him to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that one always meets on the highroad to success, and as the years have gone by he has gained for himself a place among the substantial agriculturists of his native township.
Source: Past and Present of Marshall and Putnam Counties Illinois authored by John Spencer Burt and W. E. Hawthorne in 1907, page 489.
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