Eldred Thatcher

LDRED THATCHER, who is engaged in general merchandising in Downer's Grove, _ has long been numbered among the citizens of DuPage County, having lived here since the days when farmers drove ox-teams to market in Chicago, and lived in log cabins. He has seen the development of the county almost from the days of its early infancy, and has watched with interest its growth and progress, doing all in his power to aid in its development and advancement. A native of the Keystone State, he was born on the, 8th of March, 1818, in Harford, and is a son of John and Sarah (Moore) Thatcher. The father was a native of Massachusetts, but when a small boy went to Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life as a farmer, his death occurring at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife, who was born in New Jersey, and was of Irish extraction, passed away in Pennsylvania, at the age of sixty-five. Their family numbered six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom two are now deceased. Azor, the eldest, is now a retired farmer, residing on the old homestead in Pennsylvania; Eldred is the second in order of birth;

John came to this county at an early day, and here died at the age of sixty; Edwin is a retired farmer, living at Ravenna, Mich.; and Editha is the wife of Luther Taft, who resides in Pennsylvania.

Eldred Thatcher is truly a self-made man, for since a very early age he has been dependent upon his own resources. When a lad of ten years, he began working on a farm for his board and clothes, as his parents were quite poor. He was thus-employed for four years, when he began learning the tanner's trade, which he followed until he was twenty years of age. Thinking that the West furnished better opportunities for ambitious young men than the older States of the East, in 1838 he made his way to Illinois, coming from Toledo, Ohio, by team. He located first in the vicinity of Ottawa, working for a brother-in-law for about three years, after which he came to DuPage County, and with his hard-earned savings, the result of his former toil, purchased forty acres of wild land in Downer's Grove Township. He at once began the improvement and development of the farm, upon which he resided until 1855, when his wife died, and he sold out.

In May, 1838, our subject had married Miss Harriet N. Thatcher, a native of Pennsylvania, and she passed away September 29, 1855, leaving one child, Laura A., now the wife of Charles Curtiss, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. In November, 1856, Mr. Thatcher was again married, his second union being with Miss Charlotta Smith, and unto them have been born three children: John, who follows farming in Illinois; Helen, wife of George Bateman; and Harvey, a railway employe. The mother of the family died at the age of fifty-six years.

Upon the death of his first wife, Mr. Thatcher left the farm and came to Downer's Grove, where he has since engaged in general merchandising. He carries a full and complete line of goods, and as a result of his well-selected stock, his fair and honest dealings, and his earnest desire to please his patrons, he has ever received a liberal patronage. In politics, he is a supporter of Republican principles. He served as Postmaster for a number of years in an early day, and on the organization of Downer's Grove served as a member of its first Town Board. He has always manifested a commendable interest in the growth and upbuilding of his county., which has recognized in him a valued citizen as well as an honored pioneer.

As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Cook and Dupage counties, Illinois, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with biographies and portraits (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.