BIOGRAPHY - A. MUNRO
A. C. Munro possesses the enterprising spirit of the middle west. He owns eighty acres of land on sections 28 and 33, Pella township, and operates a farm of two hundred acres. He is thus leading a life of industry and is meeting with fair success in his undertakings. He was born in La Salle county, Illinois, January 14, 1865, his parents being W. C. and Emma (Pearson) Munro. The father was born in Massachusetts, while the mother's birth occurred near Dayton, Ohio. In 1854 W. C. Munro arrived in Illinois and located in La Salle county, where he began farming, carrying on agricultural pursuits throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife are now deceased. They were the parents of eight children, seven of whom survive: Rosetta, the wife of Henry Milborn, of Kankakee, Illinois; A. C., of this review; Amanda, deceased; Lemuel B., who resides in Marshalltown, Iowa; Elvira, the wife of James Grey, of Saunemin, Livingston county, Illinois; G. W., who makes his home in Iowa; Ira P., of this county; and Esther, who resides in Fairbury.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for A. C. Munro in his boyhood and youth. He attended the public schools and thoroughly mastered the branches of learning therein taught. He continued with his father until eighteen years of age, when he started out in business life as a school teacher, following the profession for three years. On the expiration of that period he made a trip westward to Nebraska, where he worked for four years at Alliance, after which he engaged in farming on his own account for two years. In 1891 he returned to Illinois, where he was employed at various kinds of labor for four years and then went to Iowa, where he followed farming for a year. Again returning to his native state, he filled such positions as he could secure for two years and later began farming on his own account.
Mr. Munro was married in 1898 to Miss Edith Dillon, who was born in Livingston county, Illinois, in 1870, a daughter of Edwin and Elizabeth Dillon. The mother is still living in Fairbury, this state, but the father died May 4, 1908. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dillon were born three children: Oscar, now living on the old homestead; Alida, the wife of George Kilbury, and Mrs. Munro. The last named by her marriage has become the mother of four children; Esther L., Edwin C., and Ruth E., who are yet under the parental roof; and Willard R., deceased.
The family home is a farm of eighty acres lying on sections 28 and 33, Pella township, and Mr. Munro operates altogether two hundred acres of land, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, the fields returning to him rich crops. In his farm work he is practical and has lived a life of industry and untiring diligence, his success being based entirely upon his own labors and capable management. Both Mr. and Mrs. Munro are consistent members of the Christian church of Fairbury and his influence is ever given on the side of those movements and measures which tend to uplift mankind and make the world better. He is a stanch advocate of the temperance cause and votes with the prohibition party. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his trustworthiness and his ability, have called him to public office. He served as justice of the peace for four years and is now acting as a school director.
Extracted 19 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 1, pages 390-392.
