BIOGRAPHY - DAVID REEP
David
Reep, deceased, was for a long period connected with the farming interests
of Patton township, Ford county, and his well directed energy and diligence
brought him a gratifying measure of success. He was born in Pennsylvania,
December 3, 1845, his parents being Isaac and Hannah (Barnhart) Reep. The
father was of German descent and spent his entire life in the Keystone
state. The son pursued his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania
and was there reared and married. It was in the year 1867 that he wedded
Miss Nannie J. Kinkaid. a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of James and
Elizabeth (Moore) Kinkaid, who were likewise representatives of old families
of Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Reep began their domestic life in the east and remained residents of their native state until 1879, when they sought a home in Illinois. They spent one year in Kankakee county and in 1880 came to Ford county, settling upon a farm near the place upon which Mrs. Reep now makes her home. A little later Mr. Reep purchased the present farm and became the owner of two hundred and ninety-seven acres of rich and productive land. With characteristic energy he began the development of his fields, which he brought under a high state of cultivation and to his place he added many modern improvements and equipments, making it one of the fine farms of the county. His life was one of untiring industry and in all of his business affairs he was honorable and straightforward.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reep were born eight children who are still living and they lost two who died in infancy. Those who still survive are: John F., a resident of Oregon; Minnie, the wife of Orval Phebus, who is living near Sheridan, Indiana; Elizabeth, the wife of William Martin, also a resident of Indiana; Alexander, at home; James C., also at home; Albert, who is superintendent of schools at Fortville, Indiana; Iva M., the wife of Charles Coulter, who makes his home near Paxton; and Charles E., who completes the family.
In his political views Mr. Reep was a prohibitionist — a fact which indicates his position on the temperance question. He served as school director and commissioner of highways and he held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, his life being in harmony with its principles. His family are also identified with the Methodist church at Paxton. In manner Mr. Reep was quiet and unostentatious but his many good qualities of heart and mind made him well loved in the community as well as in his own household. As the years passed the careful conduct of his business affairs brought him a comfortable competence and he was thus enabled to leave his family in good financial circumstances when on the 16th of December, 1906, he was called from this life. Mrs. Reep still resides upon the farm and, like her husband, has many friends in the community, where she has now lived for twenty-eight years.
Extracted 17 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 836-837.
