Biography - Alonzo Hendricks
ALONZO HENDRICKS. Shelby County abounds in a fine class of farmers who have given to this section of the Prairie State an excellent reputation and have been of help in building its commercial and agricultural interests. To such the county owes a debt which is not easily paid and they will leave to their posterity a heritage which will be their best possession. Our subject, who is such a citizen and who resides on section 29, Okaw Township, where his farm is there tributary to the city of Shelbyville, is the son of Samuel and Mary E. (Sconce) Hendricks, natives of North Carolina and Kentucky respectively.
Samuel Hendricks came to Illinois when a young man and was married in Shelby County, and gave his entire attention to farming, until a few years previous to his death, when, feeling that he had done his share in the work of subduing the soil and adding to the world’s riches through its cultivation, he retired from active life and made his home in Shelbyville, where he died in May, 1888, at the age of sixty-two years. His good wife passed from earth in 1881. He was born March 25, 1826, and early became a pioneer of Illinois, coming with his parents to Shelby County in 1831, and thus spent the greater part of his life in this State. His character was such as to give him the warm regard as well as esteem of his neighbors. He was an honored member of the Christian Church from October 5, 1841, and was a constant and true friend of the Union through all the trying scenes of the Civil War.
The political convictions of this pioneer made him an ardent Republican yet he could not be called a politician in the usual sense of the word, as his intelligence and extensive reading had made him a man of breadth and he was cordially willing that every man should hold to his own opinions, never cherishing any hostility toward those who differed from him. His honorable attention to the affairs which concerned himself and his willingness to allow his neighbors the same privilege added greatly to his popularity. His funeral, which was one of the largest ever known in the county, attested to the high respect in which this honest and hard-working man was held.
Mr. Samuel Hendricks had in his wife a worthy and efficient helpmate, one who made it her aim in life to do good to all with whom she came in contact, and to make her home the happiest place on earth. She was born in Nicholas County, Ky., September 6, 1826, and came with her parents to Shelby County when quite young. Her father died at the age of seventy-five and her mother survived until the venerable age of seventy-eight. Their daughter was an earnest member of the Christian Church and a steadfast worker therein, her death, which occurred in 1881, was felt as a great blow not only to her home friends but also in the community.
The subject of this sketch was born February 24, 1859, and received in the common schools of Illinois the education which fitted him for life's work. Upon his father's farm he was thoroughly drilled in the practice and theory of farming and undertook that work as his business for life. He was married in 1880 to Luella Hardy, daughter of Thomas and Eliza Hardy. Like himself she is a native of Shelby County, and is now the mother of one bright and promising child, to whom they have given the name of Earl. Mr. Hendricks has resided where he now lives since his marriage and now has soil upon which he has placed substantial and permanent improvements. His political views have led him to affiliate with the Republican party and in its prosperity he feels a keen interest.
Extracted 08 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 254-257.
