BIOGRAPHY - James Warren
JAMES WARREN, who is now living a retired life in Piper City,
successfully engaged in farming for a number of years in this county. He is
one of the worthy citizens that England has furnished to this community. He
was born in the village of Munden, Norfolk, on the 7th of March, 1829, and
was one of a family of seven children. His parents were also natives of that
community and were members of the English Church. His father, Richard
Warren, who followed farming for a livelihood, died April 1, 1889, at the
age of eighty-four years. Of the family, Samuel and Annie are now deceased;
James is the next younger; Harriet and George are also deceased; and Eliza
is living in England.
No event of special importance occurred during the boyhood of our subject.
He had no special privileges; indeed, his educational advantages were very
limited. He worked upon the farm until about eighteen years of age, and then
enlisted in the Royal Artillery service of his native land as a private. The
troops were first stationed at Woolwich, England, where they remained
eighteen months, and the next three years were passed in Birmingham. Another
year was then spent in Woolwich, after which they, were at Gibraltar for
five years. Returning then to Woolwich, Mr. Warren joined the Royal Horse
Artillery, and went to the Crimea in the spring of 1854. The first battle in
which he participated was at Alma, and he witnessed the famous charge of the
Light Brigade at Balaklava, made immortal by Tennison's poem. He next
participated in the battle of Inkerman and the siege of Sebastopol, where he
served as a gunner. His battery lost fifty men, and our subject had his
coat-sleeve shot away by a rifle ball. At the close of the Crimean War, he
returned to England, and then went to Gibraltar, where he remained for three
years. He was for thirteen years in the service, and received his discharge
in July, 1858. By the Governor of Gibraltar he was presented with a silver
medal in commemoration of his services, and this memento is by him highly
cherished.
The year 1858 also witnessed the emigration of Mr. Warren to the United
States. He sailed from Gibraltar, and a month later reached New York. He
then went to Philadelphia, where he remained two years, employed in marble
works of that city. He went to Ohio in 1860, and, after two years spent in
farming in the Buckeye State, came by team to Ford County, and purchased
eighty acres of wild land in Brenton Township, upon which not a furrow had
been turned or an improvement made.
On the 8th of January, 1849, in his native land, Mr. Warren was united in
marriage with Miss Elizabeth Snook, who was born in Sheffield, England, and
is a daughter of William and Elizabeth Snook. She was with him all through
his army life after their marriage. They have no children of their own, but
have reared an adopted son. His name was Albert Finley, but he now bears the
name of John Albert Warren. He was a soldier's orphan, and, at the age of
four, came to live with our subject and his wife. Upon the farm he was
reared to manhood, and acquired his education in the public schools. He is
now engaged in blacksmithing in Chicago. He married Delia Munson, whose
father is a farmer of Brenton Township, and they have two little daughters.
For a. number of years, Mr. Warren gave his entire time and attention to the
development of his land and transformed it into a rich and fertile farm,
which yielded him a golden tribute for the care and labor he bestowed upon
it. He came here with only $50 and his team and wagon, but now has a
handsome competence, and owes no man a cent. Since 1881, he has resided in
Piper City, where he has a comfortable home, the hospitable doors of which
are ever open for the reception of the many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Warren.
In politics, he has been a Republican since he cast his first Presidential
vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has frequently served as delegate to the
conventions of his party. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic
fraternity, and himself and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. He
has taken an active interest in all that pertains to the welfare and
upbuilding of the community and in all possible ways has aided in the
advancement of the county's interests.
Extracted 22 Aug 2019 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, pages 250-255.
