Transcribed by Mary Ann Kaylor
Page 1618:
SIDENER, GEORGE P., Jr. (deceased). The men who were able to look ahead and foresee the values which would be attached to farming land in Sangamon County, reaped large harvests, for the property they secured at nominal prices now are held for amounts that in those days would have appeared impossible. However, these values are but the legitimate results of concentrated effort on the part of the farmers to develop and improve not only their farms, but the more congested sections, and now they and theirs are profiting manifold. One of the most advanced and prosperous farmers of his time was the late George P. Sidener, Jr., who for years operated a farm in the vicinity of Rochester. He was born in Bourbon County, Ky., December 10 1833, being a son of George P. Sidener, who was also a farmer, and a native of Kentucky, who spent his life in his home state.
George P. Sidener, Jr., grew up in his native city, receiving an excellent education. His inclinations led him to adopt farming, but he felt he could not make the progress he desired in Kentucky, so he moved to Sangamon County, Ill., about half a century ago, locating on a farm near the South Fork, where he rented forty acres of land. Later he passed the remainder of his life. His death occurred on the home farm, December 30, 1900, and his remains rest in Rochester Cemetery.
On February 9, 1858, Mr. Sidener was united in marriage in Rochester, Ill., with Hannah E. Elder, born in Rochester, July 1, 1841, daughter of Samuel and Phoebe (Clinkenbierd) Elder, natives of Kentucky and Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Sidener became the parents of the following children: Phoebe Ann, born December 19, 1858, deceased; Charles L., born July 24, 1860; Ada Amelia, born January 29, 1862; James G., born May 14, 1864; Flora A. born June 14, 1867; Edward Benjamin, born November 14, 1868; William A., born February 20, 1873, and Fred E., born December 26, 1877.
Mr. Sidener, while not a politician in any sense of the word, took an active interest in local affairs, casting his influence with the Republican party. The Christian Church held his membership, and he was liberal in his contributions to it, attending service in Rochester. After his death his widow, renting the farm, moved to Springfield where she now resides at No. 101 East North Grand Avenue. She is a lady well known in the city, and universally respected. Mrs. Sidener owns the home farm near Rochester. Mr. Sidener lived out a quiet, uneventful life, honorably and well. Whatever came to him to do he did honestly, and always tried to give the other man a fair deal. Although a decade has elapsed since his demise, his memory is tenderly cherished, and honored in the county where he spent the greater part of his life.