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File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of Peter DAILY 

Transcribed exactly according to the original complete text by Anne Marie Willis. 

[Surnames: DAILY, DALY, FLOOD, MCGINNIS, MCMAHON] 

[Page 846] 

    
DAILY, Peter, a well known building contractor and capitalist of Canton, Fulton County, Ill., who rose from a humble origin to affluence and influential position, and whose name has been conspicuously associated with the development of the material interests of Fulton County, was born in County Meath, Ireland, June 6, 1830, a son of Garrett and Frances (Flood) Daly, natives of that country. Garrett Daily, who was a small farmer in the Emerald Isle, emigrated with his family to the United in 1850, and after arriving in New York City located in Somerset County, N. J., where he died three years later. In 1856 the mother and her children came to Fulton County, Ill., and Peter, who had worked on a farm while living in New Jersey, continued for a short time in the same occupation in his new home. At a later period he learned the trade of a bricklayer and plasterer, and subsequently commenced building houses on his own responsibility. Soon he undertook more important contracts, and in course of time erected several stores and public buildings. Among the more pretentious structures which are the result of his skill and enterprise is the Canton Opea House, the first of its kind in the city. He built an elegant residence for his own occupancy, surrounded by spacious and ornate grounds, and put up a number of dwellings which he rented out. 
    
In 1854 Mr. Daily was married in New Jersey to Ann McGinnis, who died in 1868, leaving two children--Garrett and Joseph. In 1872 he took as his second wife Johanna McMahon, who was born in Fulton County. Five children resulted from this union, as follows: Elizabeth, Agnes, Fred, Annie and Lillian.