| John
Peck Terpening was born in Clifton Park, Saratoga
Co., New York on 12 Apr 1811 and was the son of
Ezekiel and Olive (Peake). In May of 1835 he set
out for Illinois and that September he returned
to Saratoga County for the sake of fulfilling a
promise to a young lady named Mindwell Smith. The
couple were married 24 Sep 1835, she the eldest
child of Richard & "Sally" (Peck)
who was born in Clifton Park Township on 02 April
1813. In November of that same
year John and Mindwell accompanied Ezekiel and
the family to Illinois and arrived in Kelly
Township on 09 Mar 1836. At the time the census
was taken in 1850, John, Mindwell and their
children (Smith, John, Sarah Ann, Harrison,
Olive, Nathan & Charles) were living in next
to Nathan Smith, the younger brother of Mindwell
whose family included his wife Eliza Vanderwerken
and their two young sons William and John P., who
was just four months old.
The
family resided in Kelly Township all of their
lives. John held various township offices such as
Collector, Assessor, School Director and
Superintendent of Highways and had been appointed
Postmaster of the office at Utah under the
administration of Zachary Taylor. During the War
of the Rebellion, he was an enrolling officer.
His sons Harrison, John Wesley, William, Nathan
as well as two of his son-in-laws, and one
brother, Samuel Terpening, also served.
John
died on 02 Jan 1892 and Mindwell on 20 Mar 1900.
They were laid to rest in the Terpening Cemetery
in Kelly Township, Warren Co., Illinois.
|
