Henry J. Truitt ¹⁸¹⁶

  General Notes:

OBITUARY

Henry Truitt, an early business man and, in his later years, banker of Chillicothe, Peoria County, Illinois, was born at Vevay. Switzerland County, Indiana, January 1,1819, the son of William and Elizabeth(Remley) Truitt, his family being of mixed Irish and German descent. His early life was spent upon a farm with such opportunities for securing an education as were afforded by the district schools of that period and locality. He was the oldest of a family of four children and his father having died when he was in his ninth year, he was early called upon to face the problem of providing for his own support, and thus acquired those habits of industry, economy and business sagacity and enterprise,which rendered him a leading factor in the business development of the region which became his home in later life. At thirteen years of age, he entered into the employment of Tobias S. Bradley, afterwards of Peoria,at a salary of ten dollars per month, and was engaged for five years chiefly in the flat-boat trade, collecting produce along the Ohio River and its tributaries, which was sold to planters and dealers along the lower Mississippi River and in Southern markets. During the last two years of this period, he was allowed a compensation of fifteen dollars per month for his services. While thus employed, he developed such business capacity, and rendered such complete satisfaction to his employer, that, at the age of eighteen years, he was offered a partnership in the business, which he accepted. This arrangement continued for ten years, Mr. Truitt going South each fall with flat-boat cargoes of produce which were sold during the winter months, and returning early in the following spring.

Mr. Truitt was married in March, 1843, to Miss Frances Goddard, and in 1850, made his first visit to Peoria County, Illinois, when he purchased two hundred of acres of land adjoining the village of Chillicothe, to which place he removed his family the following year. The next two years were spent in building upon, and otherwise improving, his property; but in 1853, he engaged in purchasing and shipping grain to the Chicago and St. Louis markets, a business which developed rapidly within the next four years, laying a foundation for a substantial fortune. In 1854 he built a canal-boat at Peoria for the prosecution of his grain-trade, which more than paid for its cost during the first year. In 1855 Mr. Truitt entered into partnership in the grain business with Samuel C. Jack, which was continued for ten years, when Mr. Jack withdrew, being succeeded by J. W. Fuller. In 1868, in partnership with S. C. Jack, Mr. Truitt established a bank in Chillicothe, under the firm name of Truitt, Matthews & Company. This bank is still in successful operation, the present owners being Mrs. Eliza A. Truitt, P. T. Matthews, Rollin H. Truitt, and William Mead. About 1872, Mr. Truitt transferred his interest in the grain business to J. W. Fuller, and still later, the lumber business in which he had become interested, to N. S. Cutright, thereafter giving his attention to his banking business and his large landed estate.

Mr. Truitt's first wife -- to whom, as already stated, he was married in his native State, in 1843 -- died in 1863, leaving two daughters, Sarah P., now Mrs. J. W. Fuller, and Frances E., now Mrs. N. S. Cutright, both of Peoria. In 1865 he was married to Mrs. Eliza A. Moffitt, who still survives, and has one son, Rollin H. Truitt, born March 13, 1866, who was married January 27, 1886, to Miss Effie L. Johnston, daughter of Robert and America A. (Chambers) Johnston. Mr. Rollin H. Truitt and his wife have one son, Henry, born August 11, 1887.

Politically, Mr. Truitt was an earnest but conservative democrat, and, in 1872, was a candidate of his party for a seat in the State Legislature. Of strong religious convictions, he was an earnest worker in the cause of temperance, of which he was a consistent representative through life, and took an active part in local organizations for the promotion of total abstinance. At the age of forty years, he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; but after his second marriage, transferred his membership to the Baptist Church, of which his wife had been a life-long member -- a change of association dictated by his regard for domestic happiness, but which did not imply any change in essential principles of religious faith.

Tall and rather spare in person, high-minded and affable in manner, he commanded universal respect and had friends among all classes. He was liberal and large-hearted in his attitude towards all deserving charities. His death occurred at his home in Chillicothe, September 17,1884, and was profoundly deplored by all who knew him best.

Unknown Newspaper ¹⁸¹⁵

  Life Events:

1. Occupation: Businessman & Banker: Chillicothe, Peoria, Illinois, USA. ¹⁸¹⁵

2. Church Affiliation: Methodist & Baptist. ¹⁸¹⁵

Henry married Frances Goddard in Mar 1843 in Vevay, Switzerland, Indiana, USA.¹⁸¹⁵ (Frances Goddard was born in 1824 in Kentucky, USA ¹⁸¹⁵ and died in 1863 in Chillicothe, Peoria, Illinois, USA ¹⁸¹⁵.)

Henry next married Eliza A. Moffitt in 1865 in Chillicothe, Peoria, Illinois, USA.¹⁸¹⁵ (Eliza A. Moffitt was born about 1822 ¹⁸¹⁵.)