This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Hamilton Classification: Biography Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/wg.2ADE/1429 Message Board Post: Hamilton, John Francis, who for years has been catering to a high-class trade as a grocer and mean man, understands how to meet adequately the demands of his patrons, and is able to give excellent goods at the lowest possible market prices. He is recognized as one of the leading business men of Morris, and his reputation for square dealing and straightforward methods is fully sustained. He was born at Ormstown, Quebec, Canada, June 9, 1854, a son of William and Jane (Sadler) Hamilton, natives of Canada, of Irish ancestry. They married in Canada and became farming people. Their eight children were: John Francis; Robert, who is of Denver, Colo.; Anna, Mrs. Remington of Morris; Eliza, Mrs. James Davidson of Denver, Colo.; Margaret, Mrs. William Richel of Gaylord, N. D.; Frances, Mrs. Allen Richel of Los Angeles, Cal.; and William T. and Bismark are of Kansas City, Mo. John Francis Hamilton worked on farms for others until he was seventeen years old, after which, until 1876, he engaged in that line of business for himself. In that year he began handling meats, with his cousin, Henry F. Hamilton, at Morris, continuing there until 1884, when he sold his interest to his partner, and went to Breckenridge, Colo., and opened a meat market. This he sold a year later to his brother, and started a grocery and meat business at Omaha, Neb., which he conducted for some years, in conjunction with partners, but in 1901 sold and returned to Morris, where, in partnership with his brother-in-law, he has conducted his present business. On January 8, 1876, Mr. Hamilton married Isabell Todd, born at Orangetown, Quebec, Canada, a daughter of James and Mary Todd, also natives of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have had children: William H., who is of Denver, Colo.; Earl R.; and Mabel B., and Melvin J., both of whom are at home. Mr. and Mrs. Todd had these children: Mary J., who married a Mr. Chase, is now deceased; Sarah J., who is Mrs. Charles Hopper of Cortez, Colo.; Annie G., who is Mrs. James Arthur of Canada, and Mrs. Hamilton. The family belongs to the Presbyterian Church. Source: History of Grundy County, Illinois, 1914, page 822