Friday Finds – Minnick Biography

Do you have lots of handwritten notes in your genealogy files? I know that I do. And many of those notes are from sources that are now digitized.

Having recently researched the descendants of John Minnick, I started looking at my old Minnick notes. The first document I opened was notes from the book, Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois.

Wanting to post this information, I searched for a digital copy of the book. And, I found the book in a digital format on three sites.

• FamilySearch – Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois
• Archives.org – Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois
• Ancestry – Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois

Even though I had heard that census records can differ from one site to another, I had not considered that digital books could differ from site to site. While the digital copy may be the same, the indexing is not.

On the FamilySearch site, I downloaded the book and searched for Minnick. That search found 1 result – on view 624.

That search result took me to page 630 and a biography of Shadrach T. Miles. The beginning of the Miles biography refers to the firm Miles & Minnick grocers and to the biography of W. A. Minnick. However, that Minnick biography is not included in the search results

A search of the book on Archive.org produces 5 results: one on page 629, 3 on page 632 and then one index entry.

Searching the Ancestry version of the book provides 3 results: one on page 630, one on page 633 and one on page 831 (the index).

Thankfully, the Archive.org version allowed me to copy/paste the text to create a quick ‘transcription’ of these biographies.

633
Wilson A. Minnick, of the firm of Miles & Minnick, dealers in staple and fancy groceries, crockery, glassware, etc., at Kewanee, Ill., is a native of Mercersburg, Pa., and a son of Peter W. and Mary A. (Geyer) Minnick, also natives of Pennsylvania and of German extraction.
Wilson A. was next oldest in a family of three sons and four daughters, and was born Feb. 21, 1842. His elder brother, John W., was a volunteer soldier in the war for the Union, and was killed at the battle of Stone River. His father, a merchant tailor in

his lifetime, died at Kewanee, in 1856, at the age of 40 years, and his mother (July, 1885) is about 67 years of age and resides in Kewanee. In 1856 the family came to Kewanee and Mr. Minnick soon afterward began his career as a grocer’s clerk, a position he continued to fill for 11 consecutive years. In 1867 the firm of which he is now a member was organized (see biography of Shadrach T. Miles), which hundreds of his friends patronized, and his establishment took rank as among the very foremost (if not indeed the lead) in their line in Kewanee.
At Kewanee, Dec. 24, 1868, he was married to Miss Angelia E., the accomplished daughter of Asa Morrill, Esq., of North Danville, Vt. They have five children: Edwin M., Edith M., Guy F., Paul W. and Morrill. Both Mr. and Mrs. Minnick are consistent members of the Congregational Church, of which society at Kewanee Mr. Minnick has been Treasurer for more than a dozen years.
In the battle of life Mr. M. has depended wholly upon his own resources, the recipient of no gratuities, legacies or gifts ; and what he has enjoyed and has of this world’s goods have been acquired by his individual effort and industry.

While Archive.org is the easiest site to copy/paste the biography, Ancestry is the easiest site to obtain a digital image of the page. On the other sites, one could use a snipping tool to create an image of the page.

While my original notes provide a lot of information about Wilson Minnick, they do not contain any reference to the Shadrach T. Miles biography. Since this biography not only provides information about the Minnick and Miles grocery and about the Miles family in Pennsylvania, it might be a good FAN club resource.

Shadrach T. Miles, of the firm of Miles & Minnick, grocers, at Kewanee. (See biography of W. A. Minnick). This firm was organized and began business as dealers in staple and fancy groceries, glass and crockery wares, in March, 1867, and is at this writing ( (July, 1885) the oldest establishment of the kind in the town. The firm is composed of the subject of this sketch and Mr. W. A. Minnick.
Mr. Miles is a native of Philadelphia, Pa., where he was born, Nov. 18, 1827. His parents, William and Sarah (Jones) Miles, descended respectively from Welsh and Scotch ancestry, and were natives of Philadelphia County, now and for many years past incorporated into the city of that name. They reared a family of five sons and four daughters. The elder Mr. Miles was a farmer and the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this article devoted most of his time to that worthy vocation, until probably 46 years of age. At the public schools of his native f place he acquired a fair English education, which has been materially augmented by reading, by study and by such experience as is naturally incident to a busy life. I
He gave up farming in 1867 and removed to Kewanee and engaged in his present business.

631
enjoyed the [highest esteem of his neighbors. As a merchant he sought to build a trade upon purely business principles, relying strictly upon the idea that ” honesty is the best policy, ” and the experience of nearly a fifth part of a century has fully attested the wisdom of his undertakings. Since coming here he has served the people three years as a member of the Town Board and ten years upon the Board of Education. He is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has filled all the official chairs in their course and is[at present Chap- lain of the Kewanee Lodge. In politics he is a Re- publican, while his religious convictions are firmly anchored with the Baptist Church. When about 25 years of age he was married, at Philadelphia, to Miss Anna M. Eisenbrey, a lady of German descent and a native of the” City of Brotherly Love.” Of the 13 children born to them, n are living : Sallie, Rena, Frank, Annie, William, Harry, Duffield, Kate, Edward, Matthew and May. W. P. died when about two years of age and Louis lived to be nearly four. Mr. Miles’ father and mother died in Philadelphia, he at the age of 83 years and she at 76 years

Thus, I’m glad I searched for a digital copy of the book!