John Holdren, a wealthy farmer residing in Compton, Illinois, was born on February 4, 1825, in Mt. Pleasant Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. His father, Edward Holdren, originally from New Jersey, moved to Pennsylvania and became a successful farmer. In 1851, John relocated to Lee County, Illinois, settling on land his father had acquired. He initially improved his farm south of Compton before moving to another property in Brooklyn Township in 1863. In 1876, John moved to Compton village. He married Phebe A. Derr in 1849, and they had five children: William C., Eleanora, Edward, Janet, and Sherman J.
John Holdren, a wealthy farmer residing in the village of Compton, is honored as one of the pioneers of Lee County, whose work has helped in making it one of the richest and best-developed agricultural counties of Northern Illinois. He was born February 4, 1825, in that part of Mt. Pleasant Township, Columbia County, Pa., now included in Montour County. His father was Edward Holdren, and he was a native of New Jersey, of which his father was a lifelong resident.
The father of our subject passed his youth in his native state, but when he attained manhood he went to Pennsylvania and identified himself with the farmers of that state, buying a tract of partly improved land in Mt. Pleasant Township. That part of the country was then comparatively wild, there were no railways for several years after Mr. Holdren’s settlement there, and Philadelphia, over one hundred miles away, was the nearest market to which the people could take their produce and stock to sell and obtain household necessities in return. Mr. Holdren made many improvements on his farm during his residence in Mt. Pleasant Township, and then he sold it some years after locating on it, and bought a place near White Hall, which was his home thereafter until death removed him from the scene of his usefulness. He had married after going to Pennsylvania, taking as his wife Abigail De Mott, a native of Columbia County, that state, and a daughter of Richard De Mott, and she spent her last years with him on the home farm near White Hall.
John Holdren was educated in his native county and there grew to man’s estate. He was early taught to be of use on his father’s farm, and he continued to assist him in its management until after his marriage, remaining an inmate of the parental home until then. In 1851 he determined to emigrate to the fertile prairies of Northern Illinois, his father having landed interests here, and on the 15th of June he arrived in this county to make a permanent settlement here, and to ally his fortunes with those of the pioneers that had preceded him into this then sparsely settled wilderness. He located on a tract of land that his father had entered from the Government, situated one mile south of the present site of Compton. The prairies were then but little used for agricultural purposes, as the early settlers had not realized their value as land of surpassing fertility. There were no railways, and Aurora and Peru were the nearest market towns, though the farmers often took their grain and other products to Chicago.
Mr. Holdren erected suitable buildings on his land, and busily engaged in its improvement for some years. In 1863, he sold it and bought another on section 16, Brooklyn Township, upon which he lived until 1876, when he took up his residence in the village of Compton, and has remained here since. He has acquired a handsome property by the exercise of those traits of character that mark him as a thrifty, sagacious man, with a full understanding of the best way to handle his affairs so as to make money. He is the owner of four hundred acres of fine farming land, conveniently divided into three farms, that are amply supplied with all the necessary buildings, and are under excellent tillage.
In what he has accomplished our subject has been greatly aided by his wife, who has been to him all that the term helpmate implies, as it was his good fortune to marry, in August 1849, Miss Phebe A. Derr, a native of the same state as himself, her birthplace being in Northumberland County. They have five children — William C., Eleanora, Edward, Janet, and Sherman J. William married Miss Ellen Adrian, and they have two children— Fannie and John. Eleanora married Shepard Mannon, and they have three children — Emma C., Willard, and Laura. Janet is the widow of Alonzo Davison and has two children — Gracie P. and R. Palmer. Edward married Miss Emma G. Swope, and they have two children — Emma C. and Calvin. Sherman married Miss Ellen N. Kline, and they have one child — Rosanna.