Jacob [Van Pelt], father of our subject, was reared a farmer, and marrying in Highland County, Ohio, subsequently removed to Illinois and settled near Bloomington, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1865, when he removed to Normal, where his death occurred at the age of fifty-nine years. He was a strong anti-slavery man, and always expressed his views on that subject very freely. He was a warm supporter of Henry Clay, and in the latter years of his life voted the Republican ticket. His wife survived him. They reared a family of five children, namely : Charles J.; Isaac N., a resident of Lamar, Mo.; Thomas and Garratt died in childhood; Rosetta B., wife of Jason D. Shipley, of Normal, 111.
