La Salle County

Charles Devlin of Spring Valley, Illinois

Bureau County, Cook County, La Salle County

In 1850, Charles Devlin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. By age 4, his parents had moved with him to Peru, LaSalle County, Illinois. At age 19, Mr. Devlin worked as a bookkeeper and business manager in Peru for the Union Coal company. Charles Devlin was convinced that the time was right to open what he believed was a very valuable asset, coal mines. So, in 1884, Mr. Devlin helped in the opening of the first Spring Valley, Illinois coal mine. In 1885, he married Jennie Miller, daughter of a Spring Valley founder, Henry J. Miller. Their union brought forth …

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History of Bureau County, Illinois Title Page

Biography of Martin Corley of Westfield Township, Illinois

Bureau County, La Salle County

Martin Corley, deceased, was a native of the Parish Ashgraw, County Conard, Ireland, where his parents, Daniel and Mary Moulton, died. Martin Corley came to America when quite young and became a captain of a boat on the Genesee River. He was married in Rochester, New York to Sarah Biglow, born November 26, 1815, near the Canada line in Berkshire Township, Vermont. She is the daughter of Stephen and Phebe (Wing) Biglow, the former a native of Rhode Island and of Welsh extraction, and the latter of Connecticut and of English and Irish descent. Her father commanded on of the …

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History of Bureau County, Illinois Title Page

Biography of Adam Cleer of Westfield, Illinois

Bureau County, La Salle County

Adam Cleer, Westfield, was born July 31, 1830, in Merkenfritz, Hessen Darmstadt, Germany. His parents, Henry and Anna Mary (Lerch) Cleer, were also natives of Germany, where the father died in 1850. Mrs. Cleer came to America with her family in June 1854, and died in Peru. Ill., the following September; She was the mother of four children, viz; Mrs. Margaret Straw, deceased; Adam, our subject; Mrs. Mary Weber, and Henry, who was killed on the plains, while on his way to California. Adam Cleer came to Bureau County in 1854, and bought 151 ½ acres in Hall Township, of …

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