Biography - Henry Terry
HENRY TERRY. A prosperous and progressive business man of Goreville.
Henry Terry is an extensive dealer in lumber, and is widely known in his
official capacity of mayor of the village. He was born on a farm in Union
county, Illinois, April '8, 1868, of English ancestry.
His father, the late William Terry, was born in Keighley, Yorkshire,
England, where he learned the stone cutter's trade. Immigrating to the
United States in 1854, he settled in Farmington, Missouri, and for a time
was employed on the mill erected by William Pickles, who was destined to
become his father-in-law. Poor in pocket when he landed in America, he
labored industriously at various employments, and having saved some money
located, in war times, on a farm in the vicinity of Carbondale, Illinois. He
afterwards began farming in Union county, Illinois, on forty acres of land,
and succeeded so well in his labors that he afterwards bought one hundred
and twenty-two acres of land in Union county, near the Johnson county line,
and still later purchased two hundred and sixty acres lying near Goreville.
He was successful as an agriculturist, and resided on his farm until 1905,
when he retired from active business, and lived in ease and comfort until
his death, January 20, 1911. He was in truth the architect of his own
fortune, having worked his way upward from a state of comparative poverty to
one of affluence, being enabled ere his death to establish, or to help
establish; his three sons in business, and have ample means left for his own
use. He was reared as a member of the Church of England.
William Terry married, in 1858, in Farmington, Missouri, Fanny Pickles,
daughter of William Pickles, to whom reference was made above, and they
became the parents of six children, as follows: William G. P., who has
charge of the Telephone Company's affairs in Goreville; Henry, with whom
this sketch is chiefly concerned; John U. S., an insurance man of Goreville;
Mrs. Mary A. Calhoun; Mrs. Martha 0. Smith; and Mrs. Frances J. Henley. Each
of the sons also owns a farm.
Brought up in Union county, Henry Terry was educated in the district
schools, and well trained in agricultural pursuits on the parental
homestead. When twenty-one years of age he bought a small farm, and shortly
after took unto himself a wife and began farming on his own account in
Johnson county, near Goreville, Illinois. He continued the management of his
own farm of eighty acres until 1902, and after his father retired from
active pursuits managed the parental estate, which has recently been
apportioned among the heirs. In 1902 Mr. Terry embarked in business in
Goreville, and has since built up a large and lucrative trade as a dealer in
lumber- and building materials.
Since coming to Goreville he has taken great interest in promoting the
public welfare, and on April 12, 1909, was elected president of the
Goreville Town Board, and served so acceptably that in 1911 he was
re-elected to the same positon. Fraternally he is a member of Saline Lodge,
No. 339, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of Bethany Chapter, No. 623,
Order of the Eastern Star; of Goreville Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of
Odd Fellows; and of Goreville Lodge, No. 612, Daughters of Rebekah.
Mr. Terry married, March 12, 1891, Luella Parrish, a daughter of John and
Lydia (Holly) Parrish, who were early pioneers of Johnson county, Illinois,
coming here from their native state, Tennessee.
Extracted 14 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 684-685.
