French, John H., for forty-three years a resident of Mount Morris, Ill, and well and favorably known as a thriving and well-to-do raiser of garden produce for the local market, also as a public-spirited and useful citizen, was born in Washington County., Md, August 12, 1837, a son of John and Elizabeth (Davis) French, natives of that state and county, as were also the paternal grandfather, George French, and the grandparents on the maternal side, Thomas and Sarah Davis. John French, the father, was a veterinary surgeon by occupation, and a government inspector of horses during the Civil War. At the Battle of Gettysburg he was captured by the Confederates, after which all traces of him where lost. His wife died in Washington Co., Md., in June 1865. John H. French remained with his parents until he was twenty-two years old, attending the district schools of the neighborhood in early youth. Then he hired out on a farm, continuing thus until March 1865, when he moved to Ogle County, Ill, locating in Mount Morris, where he bought a house and two lots. For many years he worked at fence making, adding to his property, in the course of time, two blocks of ground in the western portion of Mount Morris, each containing fourteen lots. On this he devoted his attention to market gardening, in which he is still engaged to some extent.

The marriage of Mr. French took place on May 31, 1863, on which date Malinda Hause became his wife. Mrs. French was born in the vicinity of Hagerstown, Md., August 6, 1844, and is a daughter of Samuel and Eliza (Sheets) Hause, whose entire lives were passed in that locality. Her father died in 1889 at the age of eighty-seven years, her mother passing away in 1890, when eighty-three years old. To Mr. and Mrs. French were born two children-Ida Ellen (Mrs. Thomas Holmes), of Freeport, Ill., and Samuel H. of Chicago.
In politics, Mr. French has always been a Republican, and has served three terms as a member of the Village Board of Mount Morris. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which his worthy wife belongs. Both are highly esteemed members of the community.

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