John D. Adkinson

Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (edited by Newton Bateman, L.L.D., and Paul Selby, A.M.) and History of Peoria County (edited by David McCulloch), Illustrated; Volume II; Chicago and Peoria: Munsell Publishing Company, Publishers 1902; pp. 797-798.

ADKINSON, JOHN D.: Farmer; was born in Radnor Township October 30, 1843. He is the grandson of William Adkinson. His father was Joseph Adkinson, born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, September 6, 1813, died in February 1896; Susan Dickerson, wife of Joseph Adkinson, was a daughter of John and Mary (White) Dickerson. Mr. Dickerson was born in Switzerland County, Indiana in 1818 and died in February 1893. His wife died February 16, 1888. Joseph Adkinson came west in 1837 by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, and settled on the site of Mossville and there raised his first crop. Afterward he bought eighty acres on Kickapoo Creek, which he sold, and then bought a farm a mile north of the Kickapoo, where he passed his days as a farmer. He served as Justice of the Peace, Road Commissioner and School Director for years. John D. Adkinson lived with his parents till he was twenty-two years old. He bought and lived on a farm in Marshall County for a while, then returned to Radnor Township and bought a farm of eighty acres on Section 16, a mile and a half northwest of Dunlap. During the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Adkinson served in the Sixty-sixth Illinois Infantry, in which he enlisted June 1, 1862. January 1, 1866, he was married to Marie J. Strain in Radnor Township. They have three children, Minnie A., born December 1, 1869, married George M. Brassfield; Luella M., born October 5, 1871, married William A. Hervey; and Joseph Wesley, born February 4, 1878, married Cora May Radley. Mr. Strain was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1817. He came to Indiana, where he married Sarah A. Reeder, who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, February 19, 1820. They came to Radnor Township in 1863 where Mr. Strain purchased a farm, which he carried on for some years. He then went into the lumber business at Brimfield, and later engaged in the grocery business, and while on a visit in Radnor, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Adkinson. Mrs. Adkinson is a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Adkinson is a Republican and a progressive farmer.