****************************************************************************
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 Josiah KETCHAM 

Pages 562 & 565 (page 563 has the picture of the farm on it), transcribed in full by Danni Hopkins 

[Surnames: ADDIS, BROWN, DAVIS, DICKERMAN, JACKSON, KETCHAM, LOGAN, SCHENCK, SUYDAM, TURNER, VANETTA] 

    
JOSIAH KETCHAM. A foremost place among the agriculturists of Orion Township, must be accorded ot the subject of this sketch, who owns and occupies a fine farm on section 33. His landed estate amounts to three hundred and twenty acres which is now cultivated by his son-in-law, Isaac Jackson, and his son, Richard A. Ketcham. Our subject won a meritorious record in the ranks of his country's defenders, spending several of the best years of his life amid the smoke of battle and the hardships of campaign life. For his loyalty, his painstaking efforts to build up his fortune, and the good principles which have governed his life, he is justly respected by all who know him. 
    
Our subject is of excellent lineage, being a grandson of Josiah Ketcham, of New Jersey, who was well known in his day for his scholarship. His parents, George P. and Jane (Vanetta) Kethcam, had ten children, five of whom are still living, Ellen, the eldest sister, married Samuel Schenck, Lewis married Emma Davis, and Elizabeth married William Turner. These reside in Banner Township, this county. Jennetta married Joseph Brown, and lives in Canton. 
    
The natal day of our subject was December 21, 1837, and his birthplace Warren County, N. J. He is the eldest son of the parental family. His early years were spent in no unusual way, the ordinary studies being prosecuted and such a knowledge of agriculture gained as is generally the lot of a farmer's son. In 1853 he came to Fulton County, Ill., and hired out on a farm by the month some two years. He then went to work for his father in this county and after several years rented a tract of land which he operated until the summer of 1862. 
    
The war still continuing, Mr. Ketcham was not content to pursue his peaceful occupation and on August 11, 1862, became a member of Company K, One Hundred and Third Illinois Infantry, under Col. Dickerman. The regiment was attached to the Fifteenth Army Corps commanded by Gen. John A. Logan, the lamented "Black Jack" of the Prairie State. The regiment took part in all the battles of the Army of the Tennessee and notwithstanding the dangerous positions in which he was to be found, Mr. Ketcham escaped wounds. He served until the close of the war, marched in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., in May, 1865, and shortly afterward received an honorable discharge. 
    
Returning to Fulton County, in July, 1865. Mr. Ketcham worked at mining until the following year when he permanently gave his attention to agriculture. His industrious and intelligent efforts have enabled him to surround his family with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life and to bestow upon his children good advantages. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He holds membership in Joe Hooker Post, No. 69, G. A. R., of Canton. 
    
The pleasant and hospitable home of Mr. Ketcham is presided over by a lady of worth with whom he was united in marriage January 24, 1867. She bore the maiden name of Mary E. Addis*, and is the daughter of Aaron D. and Jane (Suydam) Addis who settled in this county in 1836. Her father departed this life in 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham have five children whose record is as follows: Jennie B., born October 29, 1867, became the wife of Isaac Jackson, November 25, 1887, and lives near her parents; Richard A. was born September 24, 1869, and is operating a part of his father's land; Eva C. was born June 24, 1872, is still with her parents and is being educated for a teacher; William Sherman who was born January 3, 1875, and Herschel, January 29, 1882, are still under the parental roof. In connection with this brief biographical review the reader will notice on another page a view of the commodious residence of Mr. Ketcham and its rural surroundings. 

*Note: Her full maiden name was Mary Ellen Addis--Danni.