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TILLMAN DAVIS FRY. The publishers of this record would fail in their object of presenting to their readers an outline of the lives of the old residents of Jefferson County were they to omit that of the gentleman above named. He is at present residing on section 14,Weber Township, where he has a valuable farm and is extensively engaged in general farming and in raising fine grades of stock. Mr. Fry was born in Monroe County, Tenn., in 1833, and was quite young when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Hamilton County, this state. In 1851 they came to Jefferson County and located in what is now Farmington Township, at a time when the unbroken tracts of prairie and timber land bore little resemblance to the well cultivated fields which at present dot the expanse. The parental family included nine children, of whom our subject was the eldest. His brothers and-sisters were, Polly A., William, Sarah, Susan J., Louisa, Letha (deceased), B. Jefferson and Francis M. One died in infancy. The parents of these children, D. M. and Sarah E. (Blanton) Fry, were natives respectively of North and South Carolina. William Fry, the paternal grandfather of our subject, departed this life in Williamson County, this state, at the advanced ago of one hundred and ten years. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary army and the son of parents who were born in Ireland. Tillman D., of this sketch, received a very limited education, and although his opportunities were very few he availed himself of them to the utmost, and by thorough self-culture and systematic reading has become well informed. Mr. Fry came to this county when a young man of nineteen years, and was married in 1855 to Miss Elizabeth Wiggins, who died not long thereafter. The lady whom he chose for his second companion, and to whom he was united in 1858, was Miss Salina Dobbs. Mr. Fry then located with his bride on his farm, which was then little more than a wilderness, and immediately began the arduous task of grubbing and clearing. His estate includes two hundred acres, and while making no pretensions to elegance, his dwelling is comfortable, well fitted and abounding in good cheer for body and mind, while the various other buildings upon the estate are neat and substantial. Seven of the ten children born to our subject and his wife are still living, namely: Sarah J., Mrs. Jesse H. Dulaney, residing in Weber Township; William T.; Mary, Mrs. William King, of Weber Township; John; George; Isaac, of Pendleton Township; and Rosa, at home. Those deceased are, Josiah, James M. and an infant unnamed. In politics Mr. Fry is a stanch Democrat. With his wife and children he is a devoted member of the Missionary Baptist Church and takes an active part in church work.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Clinton, Washington, Marion and Jefferson Counties, IL |
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