Biography - Wesley M Metsker
WESLEY M. METSKER. A large and well-improved farm in Tower Hill Township, Shelby County, is owned and occupied by Mr. Metsker, and its possession gives conclusive evidence of the ability with which he has prosecuted his calling. It consists of two hundred acres on section 17, and is embellished with substantial buildings for the shelter of stock and storage of grain. A passer-by will note with pleasure the orderly arrangement and neatness characterizing the place and the evidences of a pleasant home life that are seen about the residence.
The family of which our subject is an honored representative originally came from Germany. The immediate progenitor's of Mr. Metsker were John and Sarah (Mowan) Metsker, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. There were born to them six children, our subject being the second. The father died in Stark County, Ohio, at the age of seventy-two years; he was an honorable man, whose memory is revered in the hearts of his children. The mother died at the residence of our subject in Tower Hill Township in 1885.
The gentleman whose name introduces these paragraphs was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, September 6, 1834 and was reared to manhood in his native place. He lived on a farm although his father followed the occupation of an engineer in a blast furnace. He attended the district schools, where he became practically well informed in ordinary branches of study. Upon attaining to the opening years of a stalwart manhood Mr. Metsker in a few years earned enough to admit of his establishing a home, and accordingly he was married in Canton, Ohio, in November, 1858, to Catherine Heck, a native of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and born about 1836.
The young couple settled in that county where they continued to reside until 1865. In that year they removed to Illinois, choosing as their home section 17, Tower Hill Township, Shelby County, and here Mr. Metsker has since resided. Six children came to bless the home, a record of whom we give below: John W., married Miss Nellie Dean and is a farmer in Colorado; Martha: Mary, is the wife of Charles W. Wolf, a farmer of Tower Hill Township; Alice married James Bottsford; Emma and Lewis are still at home. The wife and mother died at her home November 4, 1871.
Mr. Metsker was again married, choosing as his bride Miss Elizabeth Heck, the sister of his former wife, and they have three children — Fred, Augustus and Perry. Mr. Metsker has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits and has embellished his farm with good buildings. Politically he casts his ballot for the candidates of the United Labor party, the principles of which he believes will best subserve the welfare of the Government. He has held the important office of School Director and has in other ways been closely identified with the progress of the community. Mrs. Metsker is a faithful member of the Lutheran Church and enjoys the esteem of her large circle of acquaintances.
Extracted 07 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 207-208.
