BIOGRAPHY - RICHARD TRIGGER
Richard
Trigger, whose age exceeds the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten,
has long been accounted one of the leading and prominent farmers of Ford
county. He was born in Devonshire, England, March 10, 1833, his parents
being John and Mary (Quick) Trigger, who were likewise natives of
Devonshire. After their son emigrated to the new world they also crossed the
Atlantic to America and made their way into the interior of the country.
From that time on they were residents of Peoria county until called to their
final rest, Mr. Trigger passing away when about sixty-four years of age,
while his wife died at the age of seventy-one years. They were the parents
of nine children, of whom three died in infancy. The others were: John;
Mary, now deceased; Elizabeth and William, who have also passed away; James,
who is located in Peoria county; and Richard.
The last named was reared at his English home, remaining upon his father's farm there until eighteen, years of age. In the meantime favorable reports reached him concerning America and the business opportunities here afforded. Accordingly he made his way to the United States and in 1851 reached Peoria, Illinois, in company with two brothers and a sister, Richard Trigger being the youngest. He lived in Peoria county for about five years and then went to Stark county, where he continued for eleven years. In 1869 he arrived in Ford county, where he has since made his home, and with its interests he has been closely and helpfully associated. He belongs to that class of representative American men who while promoting individual success also contribute to the public welfare. He had only about seven dollars on his arrival from England and this was largely exhausted when he reached Peoria. His financial condition rendered immediate employment a necessity and he worked by the month as a farm hand for about three years upon the farm of Bishop Case. Desiring that his labors should more directly benefit himself he then rented a farm in Peoria county and afterward in Stark county, where he remained until he came to Ford county. Mr. Trigger then bought one hundred and sixteen acres of his home place and to this farm has added from time to time until he now has six hundred and forty acres of land lying on sections 11 and 1, Wall township, and also eighty acres on section 10 and eighty acres on section 1. All of the improvements here have been made by Mr. Trigger. There are three sets of buildings and the farm is devoted to the raising of grain and stock. This is the second largest farm in Wall township, the other being an estate. Mr. Trigger sold six thousand bushels of corn in the fall of 1907 and one year sold eight thousand bushels. He has used about two thousand bushels in feeding his stock and has sold as high as sixty head of hogs one year. He has also fed five carloads of cattle and his stock-raising interests have proved very profitable. His entire life has been devoted to farming. He paid twenty-five dollars per acre for his first prairie land, which is today worth from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars per acre.
In 1855 Mr. Trigger was married to Miss Elizabeth Ann Stoves, who was born in Durham county, England, in 1837 and died here in August, 1906. She came with her parents, Jacob and Mary Stoves, to America just prior to the emigration of Mr. Trigger. Mr. and Mrs. Trigger have the following named sons and daughters: Thomas, who is with his father; John, living in Wall township; Jacob, a resident of Oklahoma; Mary, the wife of William Ramshaw, of Wall township; Phoebe, the wife of Jacob Giep of Rantoul, Illinois; Helen, the wife of Clarence Patten, of Wall township; Alice, the wife of Orvil Andrews of Wall township; Mabel, the wife of Henry Irving, of the same township; and Louis, also of Wall township. They also lost three children, two dying in infancy, while Elizabeth passed away at the age of eight years.
Politically Mr. Trigger is independent. He has supported candidates of both the democratic and republican parties. He cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln and has always supported the measures which he deemed would prove of greatest benefit to locality, state or nation. For twenty-four years he served as highway commissioner and for six years was assessor of the township. He has been school director for thirty-six years, and his official duties are always discharged in prompt and able manner. Always mindful of responsibilities that devolve upon him as a citizen, he has given unfaltering allegiance to those interests which tend to promote public progress and in his business life has conducted his affairs so actively and honorably that he has gained success and also the respect of his fellowmen.
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 718-724.
