Biography - John Pogue
JOHN POGUE has been identified with the agricultural interests of this
county for more than a quarter of a century and these busy years have been
fraught with much prosperity for him and he now has a large and
well-equipped farm, pleasantly located in Pickaway Township. He is a son of
one of the early pioneer families of Indiana and was born in that State, in
the Township of Fairbanks, Sullivan County, March 17, 1820. His father,
James Pogue, was born in 1796 amid the pioneer scenes of Mercer County, Ky.
He was a son of William Pogue, who was a native of Ireland. He came to this
country in Colonial times and served faithfully in the Continental Army
throughout the Revolutionary War. He subsequently went to the Northwest
Territory and later became a pioneer of Kentucky, where his life was brought
to a close at a good old age. The maiden name of his wife was Jane Marshall.
James Pogue was but nine years old when the family went to Ohio and when he
was eighteen years old he made his way across the border to the Territory of
Indiana. For two years he resided in Knox County and then sought the forests
of Sullivan County to build up a home. He was the first to settle in what is
now Fairbanks Township, where he bought a tract of heavily timbered land
from the Government. He built a log cabin which he afterward replaced by a
more commodious hewed log house, which was then the birthplace of his son,
of whom we write. For many years there were no railways and Terre Haute was
the nearest town to which the settlers could go to market their produce and
obtain household supplies. The people had to live mostly on what they could
raise on their farms, the abundance of wild game, such as deer, turkeys,
etc., adding greatly to their fare. The wives and daughters of the pioneers
spun and wove all the cloth used by their families, homespun garments being
the rule.
The father of our subject, by dint of hard and persistent labor, cleared a
fine farm from the wilderness, and there his days were passed in peace and
plenty until the end came and he was removed from the scenes of his toil by
the hand of death in 1854. His wife survived him until 1862, when she too
passed away. Her maiden name was Emmet Thomas and she was born in Kentucky.
William and Jane Thomas being her parents.
Our subject was one of eight children and he grew to a vigorous and
self-reliant manhood in his native county. The school that he attended when
he was a boy was taught in a log house. Small logs were splil to make seats
for the scholars, one side of the logs being hewn smooth, and wooden pins
being inserted for legs, the seats being without backs or desks. The school
was conducted on the subscription plan and the teacher sometimes boarded
around among the families in the district. As soon as he was large enough
our subject was required to assist in the farm work and he was thus engaged
until he was twenty-two years old. His father then gave him eighty acres of
timber land and he at once entered upon the hard pioneer task of redeeming
it from a state of nature. At that time standing trees were of little value
and he used to roll large logs together and burn the pile. He cleared five
or six acres, built on the place and at the time of marriage settled there.
In 1865 our subject sold his property in Indiana and coming to Shelby
County, bought two hundred and forty acres of wild prairie in Pickaway
Township. For one hundred and sixty acres he paid at the rate of $12 an acre
and for eighty acres he paid $8 an acre. He then purchased an additional one
hundred and sixty acres at $12-1/2 an acre and another eighty acre tract at
$30 an acre. He now owns five hundred and forty acres, sixty of which is
timber land. He has erected a good set of frame buildings and has added to
the beauty of the place by planting fruit, shade and ornamental trees in
abundance.
December 31, 1841, Mr. Pogue and Miss Nancy Perry united their fortunes for
better or worse and their hearty co-operation in the upbuilding of their
home has secured them the handsome competency that they enjoy. Mrs. Pogue
was born in Vigo County, Ind., and is a daughter of William N. and Catherine
(McClure) Perry, who were early pioneers of her native State. Among the
blessings that a wedded life of half a century has vouchsafed our subject
and his estimable wife are the ten children born to them, named as follows:
James M., Angeline, Emeline, Cornelia, Charles M., Louisa, William Marvin,
Leona, Julia A. and Hiram M.
Mr. and Mrs. Pogue are valued members of the Christian Church, who carry
their religion into their every-day lives, and are kind and considerate
toward all, these pleasant traits of character winning them respect and
regard on every hand. Mr. Pogue has clear and sensible views concerning
politics and is independent of any party, voting for whom he thinks best
suited to assist in the management of public affairs.
Extracted 12 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 420-421.
