"Ossian M. Ross was reared to agricultural pursuits in his native State of New York, and resided there until 1819, when he came to Illinois to secure the land given the soldiers by the Government for services rendered in the War of 1812. He was accompanied by his wife and three children, and they made the first part of their journey by team to Olean Point, where they embarked on the long voyage on the Alleghany, Oho and Mississippi Rivers to their destination. After his arrival at Alton, Mr. Ross rented a place near Milton, in Madison County. He held patents for several quarter-sections of land, located on the military tract in what is now Fulton County. During the summer of 1820 he made a trip on horseback to this part of the country, in company with three others, and decided to locate on a quarter-section of his land that lay on Otter Creek, that he might improve the water power.
As a man of more than ordinary intelligence, ability and force of character, Ossian M. Ross soon assumed his rightful place as a leader of the pioneers who came in to settle up this section of the country after he took up his abode here, and they ever looked to him for counsel and assistance. He bore the principal part in securing the organization of the county, going before the Legislature in 1821 and using his influence to obtain the passage of an act whereby the greater portion of Northern Illinois was organized into a county called Fulton. He was also instrumental in securing the location of the county-seat at Lewistown, and he gave the county thirteen town lots to be used for public purposes. He filled various important civic offices, serving as the first Justice of the Peace of the county, its second Sheriff, and as the third Treasurer of the county.
When Mr. Ross settled here he was so pleased with his land, the beauties of the location, and its advantages as a town site, that he determined to lay off a town, and immediately put his project into execution, and the village thus platted he named in honor of his little son Lewis, and from this auspicious beginning has arisen a busy and flourishing little city, that is to-day an important agricultural and commercial center.
The founder of Lewistown did not tarry many years within its limits, but in 1829 he sought greener fields and pastures new, going to the present site of Havana, Mason County. To him also belongs the honor of laying out that town and being its first merchant, and he likewise platted the town of Bath. He was a man of large enterprise, and his energies were devoted to several business operations at the same time. He continued in the mercantile trade, and at the same time managed a ferry across the Illinois River, called Ross' Ferry, and was also engaged in farming and stock-raising. His death in Havana, January 20, 1837, while in the prime of life, was a severe blow not only to the community, but to the county at large, and even beyond its bounds."
From: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890; page 770 & 773-776; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst.
As a man of more than ordinary intelligence, ability and force of character, Ossian M. Ross soon assumed his rightful place as a leader of the pioneers who came in to settle up this section of the country after he took up his abode here, and they ever looked to him for counsel and assistance. He bore the principal part in securing the organization of the county, going before the Legislature in 1821 and using his influence to obtain the passage of an act whereby the greater portion of Northern Illinois was organized into a county called Fulton. He was also instrumental in securing the location of the county-seat at Lewistown, and he gave the county thirteen town lots to be used for public purposes. He filled various important civic offices, serving as the first Justice of the Peace of the county, its second Sheriff, and as the third Treasurer of the county.
When Mr. Ross settled here he was so pleased with his land, the beauties of the location, and its advantages as a town site, that he determined to lay off a town, and immediately put his project into execution, and the village thus platted he named in honor of his little son Lewis, and from this auspicious beginning has arisen a busy and flourishing little city, that is to-day an important agricultural and commercial center.
The founder of Lewistown did not tarry many years within its limits, but in 1829 he sought greener fields and pastures new, going to the present site of Havana, Mason County. To him also belongs the honor of laying out that town and being its first merchant, and he likewise platted the town of Bath. He was a man of large enterprise, and his energies were devoted to several business operations at the same time. He continued in the mercantile trade, and at the same time managed a ferry across the Illinois River, called Ross' Ferry, and was also engaged in farming and stock-raising. His death in Havana, January 20, 1837, while in the prime of life, was a severe blow not only to the community, but to the county at large, and even beyond its bounds."
From: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890; page 770 & 773-776; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst.
"Ossian M. Ross was reared to agricultural pursuits in his native State of New York, and resided there until 1819, when he came to Illinois to secure the land given the soldiers by the Government for services rendered in the War of 1812. He was accompanied by his wife and three children, and they made the first part of their journey by team to Olean Point, where they embarked on the long voyage on the Alleghany, Oho and Mississippi Rivers to their destination. After his arrival at Alton, Mr. Ross rented a place near Milton, in Madison County. He held patents for several quarter-sections of land, located on the military tract in what is now Fulton County. During the summer of 1820 he made a trip on horseback to this part of the country, in company with three others, and decided to locate on a quarter-section of his land that lay on Otter Creek, that he might improve the water power.
As a man of more than ordinary intelligence, ability and force of character, Ossian M. Ross soon assumed his rightful place as a leader of the pioneers who came in to settle up this section of the country after he took up his abode here, and they ever looked to him for counsel and assistance. He bore the principal part in securing the organization of the county, going before the Legislature in 1821 and using his influence to obtain the passage of an act whereby the greater portion of Northern Illinois was organized into a county called Fulton. He was also instrumental in securing the location of the county-seat at Lewistown, and he gave the county thirteen town lots to be used for public purposes. He filled various important civic offices, serving as the first Justice of the Peace of the county, its second Sheriff, and as the third Treasurer of the county.
When Mr. Ross settled here he was so pleased with his land, the beauties of the location, and its advantages as a town site, that he determined to lay off a town, and immediately put his project into execution, and the village thus platted he named in honor of his little son Lewis, and from this auspicious beginning has arisen a busy and flourishing little city, that is to-day an important agricultural and commercial center.
The founder of Lewistown did not tarry many years within its limits, but in 1829 he sought greener fields and pastures new, going to the present site of Havana, Mason County. To him also belongs the honor of laying out that town and being its first merchant, and he likewise platted the town of Bath. He was a man of large enterprise, and his energies were devoted to several business operations at the same time. He continued in the mercantile trade, and at the same time managed a ferry across the Illinois River, called Ross' Ferry, and was also engaged in farming and stock-raising. His death in Havana, January 20, 1837, while in the prime of life, was a severe blow not only to the community, but to the county at large, and even beyond its bounds."
From: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890; page 770 & 773-776; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst.
As a man of more than ordinary intelligence, ability and force of character, Ossian M. Ross soon assumed his rightful place as a leader of the pioneers who came in to settle up this section of the country after he took up his abode here, and they ever looked to him for counsel and assistance. He bore the principal part in securing the organization of the county, going before the Legislature in 1821 and using his influence to obtain the passage of an act whereby the greater portion of Northern Illinois was organized into a county called Fulton. He was also instrumental in securing the location of the county-seat at Lewistown, and he gave the county thirteen town lots to be used for public purposes. He filled various important civic offices, serving as the first Justice of the Peace of the county, its second Sheriff, and as the third Treasurer of the county.
When Mr. Ross settled here he was so pleased with his land, the beauties of the location, and its advantages as a town site, that he determined to lay off a town, and immediately put his project into execution, and the village thus platted he named in honor of his little son Lewis, and from this auspicious beginning has arisen a busy and flourishing little city, that is to-day an important agricultural and commercial center.
The founder of Lewistown did not tarry many years within its limits, but in 1829 he sought greener fields and pastures new, going to the present site of Havana, Mason County. To him also belongs the honor of laying out that town and being its first merchant, and he likewise platted the town of Bath. He was a man of large enterprise, and his energies were devoted to several business operations at the same time. He continued in the mercantile trade, and at the same time managed a ferry across the Illinois River, called Ross' Ferry, and was also engaged in farming and stock-raising. His death in Havana, January 20, 1837, while in the prime of life, was a severe blow not only to the community, but to the county at large, and even beyond its bounds."
From: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890; page 770 & 773-776; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst.
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