Biography - John Leadbetter
JOHN LEADBETTER is one of the intelligent, thrifty farmers who are tilling the soil of Johnson County, and thus adding to its wealth, and the farm that he operates in Vienna Township is well cared for. He was born in Tennessee July 22, 1851, a son of Lewis and Nancy (Shelton) Leadbetter, who were born, reared and married in North Carolina, his father being a farmer by occupation. They moved from their native State to Tennessee, where they lived until they came to Illinois to settle, journeying hither with a team. The father had been here previously and had selected a tract of one hundred and thirty-three acres of land in Simpson Township. He completed the payment upon his place, which was a little improved, and he and his family took possession of the log house that had been built by the former owner. Mr. Leadbetter transformed his land into a good farm by diligent and well-directed toil, and finally exchanged it for property in Metropolis, where he resided until he again made an exchange, whereby he acquired the farm on which he made his home until his demise. He was laid to rest in the graveyard on the farm in Simpson Township that he first owned after coming to Johnson County. The mother died about a year before the father, and the farm on which they passed their last years was sold. Those worthy people had a family of six children, as follows: Elizabeth, Mrs. A. Shelton, deceased; one who died in infancy; Samuel, deceased; Penina, a resident of Bloomfield Township; Mary, wife of Thomas Hogg, of Tennessee; and John, our subject.
John Leadbetter, of whom this sketch is written. was reared to the life of a farmer, his boyhood being passed on a farm and in attendance at the common schools. He was young when his parents brought him to Johnson County, and he remained an inmate of the old home until he was twenty-four years old, utilizing his education by teaching two terms of school in Johnson County prior to that age. He selected farming for a permanent occupation, however, and at the age mentioned rented a farm, which he managed with a good degree of success, and has since been living on different places in Johnson County. He has been a resident of this county for thirty-four years, and for the last three years has made his home at his present place of residence. He is a sagacious, thorough-going farmer, who understands the "ins and outs" of his calling, and has gained an assured place among the substantial, industrious and farsighted men of his class, who control the agricultural interests of Johnson County. He also stands well in the community as a gentleman whose honest, upright nature and exemplary habits make him respected and trusted by all who associate with him.
At the age of twenty-four our subject was united in marriage to Miss Emma Jobe, from Iowa. Their home is a pleasant, cheerful abiding-place, and is graced by the three children that have blessed their married life, whom they have named Allie, Daisy and Nellie.
Extracted 03 May 2016 by Norma Hass from 1893 Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope, and Hardin Counties, Illinois, pages 247-248
