**************************************************************************** File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format without the written consent of the author at http://fulton.ilgenweb.net. **************************************************************************** Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890 **************************************************************************** The Biography of Francis M. HARRISON Pages 824-825, transcribed in full by Karen CRANE Goggin [Surnames: CLEARY, HARRISON, KELSO, LEE, TONCRAY, WALKER] FRANCIS M. HARRISON. Among those men who have commenced at the bottom round of the ladder of fortune and by dint of natural ability and perseverance have worked their way to the top, we find Francis M. Harrison. To such men the country is indebted for the excellent example set the youth of the land, as well as the good results they have accomplished in the communities where they have resided. He owns and occupies a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, all of which he has improved highly, placing upon it one of the handsomest dwelling-houses in Liverpool Township, and supplying it with a complete line of barns and other outbuildings. Mr. Harrison's birth occurred in Lewis County, Ky., on the 9th of August, 1828, he being the son of James and Sarah (Lee) Harrison, both natives of the beautiful Blue Grass State. His grandfather, Thomas Harrison, was born near Fairfax Courthouse, Va., and became the owner of four hundred acres of land, on which he carried on extensive agricultural operations. He removed to Fleming County, Ky., when deer and bears were still numerous there, and some years later took up his residence in Lewis County, where he died when about ninety years of age. He was a volunteer in the War of 1812. In Fleming County, in 1799, the father of our subject was born, and having accompanied his parents to Lewis County, he grew to manhood and married there. He carried on a farm in that county until 1855, then came to the Prairie State and purchased forty acres in Lewistown Township, this county, where he spent the remainder of his days. He died at the age of sixty years, looking forward to a blessed immortality, having long been a conscientious member of the Methodist Church. His wife was born in the county in which their wedding took place and lived to see more than seventy years. She was a member of the Southern Methodist Church. The parental family consists of Francis M., William, Barton L., Mrs. Ruth Toncray, Mrs. Louisa Walker and Mrs. Mary Cleary. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Barton Lee, a native of Maryland and a cousin of General Lee, the famous commander of the Southern forces during the late Civil War. He emigrated to Kentucky in a very early day and used to go fifty miles on horseback to buy salt, swimming the Big and Little Kanawha Rivers with a two and one-half bushel sack. He died in the Blue Grass State when seventy years of age. Our subject passed his youth on a farm in his native State and attended the log schoolhouse of that period, studying chiefly in the winter season and assisting in farm labor during the summer months. At the age of twenty years he began doing for himself, coming to this county in October, 1848, by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers steamers. His father came with him for a short visit, and what he saw at that time and afterward heard from his son determined him to take up his ultimate residence in this section. Young Harrison worked out for five or six years, receiving in compensation for his services $13 per month. He bought a tax title to eighty acres of his present estate and later on secured a deed. The place was covered with heavy timber, had no improvements, and deer and wild turkeys abounded upon and around it. The owner built a small frame house in the woods, and began the process of clearing, finally seeing the entire acreage in excellent condition, and succeeding so well in his worldly affairs that in 1875 he bought eighty acres across the road from his home, which gives him a sufficient amount of land for all needs. His modern dwelling was put up in 1885. Mr. Harrison was married March 4, 1852, to Miss Margaret Walker, who was born in Kentucky, but came to this county with her parents at an early age. The union has been blest by the birth of six children, three of whom grew to maturity, namely: John W., Belle D., now Mrs. Kelso, and Sidney W. Mr. Harrison is a member of the Democratic party. He has held the offices of Road Commissioner and Tax Collector, and enjoys all the esteem commanded by men of strict integrity and superior strength of character. Especially is he respected for having so nobly fought the battle of life, gaining for himself prominence without other assistance than his ability and willingness to work, and his excellent judgment.