Biographical sketch #1, taken from:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Kankakee County, Illinois, 1893
Harrison Morrical, residing on
Section 31, Otto Township, is a well-known and enterprising
agriculturalist. He was born in Darke County, Ohio, on the 26th of
November, 1835, and is a son of Col. Clark Morrical, a native of the Green
Mountain State. The paternal grandfather of our subject, John
Morrical, moved from Virginia to Ohio, becoming one of the pioneers of
Darke County. When he settled in that portion of the State, the
county was a wilderness and heavily timbered. On arriving at
maturity, Clark Morrical wedded Sarah Pense, who was born in Preble
County, Ohio. In that State for many years he was a farmer,
after which, moving to Indiana, he operated farms in Henry and Fulton
Counties. About 1852 he settled in Kankakee County, Ill., and was
one of the earlier pioneers of what is now Otto Township. He opened
up a farm and spent a number of years in this locality. In 1856 he
went to Indiana to settle up some business affairs and there died.
His remains lie buried in Tippecanoe. While in Ohio be became a
member of the militia and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. After
surviving her husband for many years, the wife and mother died in the
residence of her son and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, at Chebanse.
Our subject is second in order of birth in the family
of four sons and three daughters. The oldest of the family, Adam,
was an early settler of this county and here died; Phoebe is the widow of
Alexander Miller, of Otto Township; Elias carries on a farm in Indiana;
Eliza Ann died when twelve years of age; Lewis is a farmer of this county;
Amanda, and Sarah, now deceased, buried in Evergreen Cemetery at Chebanse.
The early days of our subject were passed in Ohio, and
when a young man he came to Kankakee County. He assisted his father
in opening up a farm, and after the death of the latter took charge of the
homestead and business. For some years he remained on the farm and
then rented a place nearby, which he afterwards bought and which was
located on Section 6. This property was raw prairie, with no
improvements upon it. With untiring energy he proceeded to cultivate
it, and built fences and necessary farm buildings. He also planted a
large grove, which is one of the largest in the township. In 1891,
Mr. Morrical sold the farm, which has upon it a fine orchard, grown under
his preserving care, and invested the proceeds in one hundred and eighty
acres, the farm on which he now resides. This tract is arable land
and is well cultivated. He has a good residence, barns and
outbuildings, and is considered one of the most enterprising and
well-to-do farmers of Otto Township.
In Wells County, Ind., on the 25th of April, 1875, was
celebrated the marriage of Mr. Morrical and Miss Eliza Ann Houdyshell.
The lady was born in Ohio, reared to womanhood in Indiana and is a
daughter of David Houdyshell, one of the pioneers and early settlers of
Wells County, Ind. Five children have graced the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Morrical, as follows: Oscar, Elmore, William, Tolfy, and
Leslie. With the exception of the youngest, the children are all
attending school.
Since becoming a voter, Mr. Morrical has been
identified with the Democratic party. His fellow citizens have
honored him a number of times by electing him to fill various positions of
responsibility. He has given of his means and influence to the
support of the public schools and in company with Mr. Kendall got up a
petition for the division of the old school district. Thus was
established the school district in which he now resides and of it he was
elected the first director, and also the first clerk. He has also
served as a member of the school board for several terms. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Morrical are influential members of the Methodist Episcopal
church and it was through the influence of our subject that the church and
Sunday-school were established here. He is well known in this and
adjoining counties as a man of integrity and upright character and by his
fellow citizens he is held in the highest regard.
The members of the family are Adam, Harrison, Phoebe,
Eliza Ann, Elias; Aaron, who died when one year old; Lewis ; Amanda, who
is married to Thompson Adams, and lives in Iroquois County, and Sarah,
deceased.
Biographical sketch #2, taken from:
History of Kankakee County, 1906
MORRICAL, HARRISON--It is
doubtful if any satisfaction which visits the toilers of earth is
comparable to that experienced by the farmer who has earned means and
influence, who at last is able to lay aside his implements, to take no
thought of the responsibilities of the seasons, to fold occasionally his
toil-hardened hands, and out of the fullness of his gratitude and
consciousness of well doing, watch kindly and sympathetically those who
are succeeding him in the race. This class of men, who comprise the
backbone of this great republic, necessarily must have useful lessons to
impart to the inquiring. One of the greatest of these is that hard
work, directed by an intelligent and practical mind alone is responsible
for genuine success. This opinion is emphatically endorsed by
Harrison Morrical, one of the early settlers and and prosperous
farmers of Otto Township, who has indelibly stamped his worth upon its
agricultural, educational, and social conditions.
Born among humble surroundings on a farm in Darke
County, Ohio, November 26, 1835, Mr. Morrical is of a German ancestry, his
family having been established in America by his paternal great
grandfather, who came from Germany and settled in Virginia. Clark
Morrical, son of John Morrical, was born in Virginia, moved in later life
with his father to Darke County, Ohio, still later settling in Indiana,
and in 1855, locating on the farm in Kankakee County. When his death
occurred in November, 1864, he was the father of nine children:
Jacob, Nancy, Andrew, Solomon, Elizabeth, Oroha, Margaret, Washington, and
Clark. Clark, the father of Harrison, was born in Virginia, May 5,
1814, and when a boy moved with his parents to Darke County, Ohio.
In February, 1834, he married Sarah Pence, a native of Preble County,
Ohio, and born March 7, 1812. Mr. Morrical was a man of energy and
resource, but a disposition to wander prevented the accomplishment of much
in any one place. For several years he was a colonel in the Ohio
state militia, and was filling that office at the time of his removal to
Henry County, Ind., in 1842. Later on he lived in Randolph, Fulton,
Marshall, and LaPorte counties, Ind., and in 1855 settled on the farm in
Otto township, Kankakee County, Ill., where he spent the balance of his
life. His death occurred while on a business trip to Marshall
County, Ind., in 1857. His wife, who survived him ten years, was the
mother of nine children: Adam, deceased; Harrison; Phoebe; Eliza A.,
deceased; Elias; Aaron, deceased; Lewis; Alameda; and Sarah, deceased.
Harrison Morrical came to Kankakee County with his
parents in 1855, at that time having twenty years to his credit. His
growing strength had been severely tried on the various farms his father
had occupied, and his schooling had been meager, and irregularly acquired.
In his new environment he was glad of any occupation which promised even
fair returns, and he worked by the day or month for the surrounding
farmers, receiving twelve dollars a month. His first purchase of
land cost him ten dollars an acre, and consisted of a forty-acre tract on
section 6, Otto township, Kankakee county. Later he bought an
adjoining forty acres, paying twenty dollars an acre. Tiring
of the country and longing for the excitement of city life, he worked in
Chicago during the fall and winter preceding the great fire of 1871,
returning then to his farm, well content with the promise of sure, if
slow, results . Assured of a comfortable income at last, he married
Eliza A. Houdyshell, April 25, 1875, his wife having been born in Darke
County, Ohio, March 21, 1850, a daughter of David and Nancy A. Householder
Houdyshell, natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Houdyshell spent the last
years in Wells County, Ind., of which they were early settlers. They
had ten children: Sarah, Elizabeth, Isaac, Anthony, Henry, Mary,
David, William, Jacob, and Andrew.
Mr. Morrical is one of the oldest settlers in Otto
township, and at the time he settled there it was wild prairie, infested
with wolves and rattlesnakes, and wild game of all kinds was abundant.
The improvement of the pioneer farm in Otto township was accomplished at
great sacrifice of strength, and often of the comforts of life. The
early days witnessed many extremes of economy in order to get a start.
The little house in which Mr. Morrical started housekeeping formerly
adorned the premises of his neighbor, Adam Kertner, and became his through
the exchange of a yoke of oxen. The moving of this house several
miles to the neighboring farm was great undertaking, but the
Morricals found it comfortable for many years. In March 1892, Mr.
Morrical moved from his farm to the one he now owns and which had been
purchased the previous fall. He owns three hundred and five acres,
splendidly improved, as comfortable as a home, and productive as a farm,
as any in the township. His enterprise has brought within the reach
of his family the conveniences now associated with the progressive and
prosperous localities, and his many favors in the past, and continuous
courtesy to neighbors and associates, finds him the recipient, in his
later years, of a wealth of friendship and good wishes.
Not the least of Mr. Morrical's causes for gratitude are his
five strong and capable sons, all of whom have been trained to systematic
farming, and give promise of maintaining the dignity and worthiness of his
name. His oldest born, Oscar, whose birth occurred January 13, 1877,
married Nettie Anderson, and lives on one of his father's farms; Elmore,
born April 9, 1879, married Nora Sheehan, and owns a farm in Kankakee
County; William, born October 6, 1881, is unmarried and lives with his
parents; Tolfy, born June 5, 1884, also lives at home; and Leslie, born
July 20, 1890, assists with the management of the home place. Mr.
Morrical has never taken an active part in politics, and though a democrat
by preference, invariably votes for the man best qualified to serve the
public welfare. He has been the stanch friend of education, and as
the first school director, was instrumental in securing the erection of
the first school building in the district. His social and religious
influence has been no less emphatic, and he was foremost in starting the
first Sunday school and church in his township. He has been a
liberal contributor to all worthy causes in the locality, and has
encouraged by precept and example the things which tend to cheerfulness,
temperance, and prosperity.
