John E Ross 1808 - 1889

Contributed by Jerry Kattke

John E. Ross, according to his obituary, was born in North Carolina on May 5, 1808. He was "raised partly in Tennesee and Kentucky. He lost his parents in childhood; reached Illinois at about the age of twenty-one."

He came to Jacksonville and started work as a cabinetmaker. At first he and James S. Anderson both worked for John Ament. Anderson's obituary says "He (Anderson) worked there with a man named Ross. Both were quite expert at the trade as their employer was a lazy man who left most of the work for the two to do. Finally they got tired of making a reputation for Ament, and after talking it over decided to start in business for themselves." Anderson and Ross were in partnership on the square in Jacksonville.

On April 19, 1834, John Ross married Sarah Hedenberg. Their first child, Susan, was born on September 29, 1835.

An 1837 notice in a Jacksonville newspaper said "The partnership heretofore existing under the firm of Ross & Anderson is dissolved by mutual consent. All persons indebted to the firm are requested to call at the old stand, a few doors east of the north east corner of the Public Square, and make immediate payment, as longer indulgence cannot be given; and those having claims against the firm will present the same for payment." This was above the names J. E. Ross and Jas. S. Anderson.

James S. Anderson became a well-known Jacksonville undertaker. John Ross, his wife Sarah, and their daughter Susan moved to Tazewell county.

A second daughter, Adella, was born on April 11, 1838. A son, Arents, was born in 1840. Margaret was born in 1842.

Sarah Hedenberg died in September of 1844.

On November 12, 1847 John Ross married Charlotte Maria Hinsdale in McLean county. Their children were: Herbert, 1850; Edwin Elizur, 1853; Olive, 1855; and John C., 1857.

An 1889 Jacksonville newspaper says "Mr. John E. Ross, for many years a citizen of Jacksonville, and an elder of the Christian church, died Sunday morning, May 12, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. L. C. Darst, at Eureka, Ill." An obituary in the Christian Standard says "He served several churches where he lived as an elder, viz.: Jacksonville, Little Mackinaw, Bloomington, and Twin Grove." John Ross is buried at Park Lawn cemetery in Danvers.

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