WILLIAM A. BOST. The labors of this honest, upright and well-to-do citizen have resulted in the possession of about three hundred acres lying on section 1, Somerset Township, Jackson County. The greater part of this farm the proprietor cleared from the forest, and labored early and late for many years in order to bring it to its present condition. By the exercise of great industry, frugality and good management he has accumulated sufficient means to protect him against want in his declining years, while his career as a citizen has been such as to establish him in the esteem and confidence of his neighbors.
The parents of our subject, John and Rachel (Lipe) Bost, were natives of North Carolina and descendants of German ancestry. Grandfather Bost was a soldier in the Colonial army during the War of the Revolution. William A. was born in Rowan County, N. C, December 15, 1826, and in childhood received a rudimentary education in the schools of the home neighborhood. At that time both the "temple of learning" and the method of instruction were of a character most crude. The house was built of logs, with a plank floor, slab seats resting on wooden legs, and an open fireplace with a chimney made of rocks laid in mortar. The writing desk was made of a plank extending the entire length of the wall and supported by pegs driven in the logs.
In the spring of 1846 Mr. Bost came to Illinois, and until the fall of the same year sojourned in Montgomery County, going thence to Perry County. In the spring of 1852 he came to Jackson County and located on Elk Prairie, but soon removed to De Soto Township, where he remained for a short time. From there he came to Somerset Township, and purchasing his present farm, commenced the work of clearing and improving the land. For a time he lived in a log cabin, but later constructed a frame house, in which he lived until 1893, when he completed his elegant and modern residence, one of the finest in the township.
The first marriage of Mr. Bost, which occurred in 1849, united him with Miss Lucretia Robinson, and resulted in the birth of a son, John. He afterward married Amanda Crews, and they became the parents of ten children, viz.: William A., Edward, George, Ibson; Rachel, wife of George Bradley; Ann, who married Ellis Moon; Ruth, Hardy, Manning and Daniel. The mother of these children was a lady of kindly disposition and a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and her death, April 5, 1893, was mourned by the members of that denomination and by all who knew her.
Politically, Mr. Bost is a stanch supporter of the principles of the People's party. He has served with efficiency as Collector of Somerset Township, and has also represented the township as a member of the County Board of Supervisors. For some years he has been identified with the Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association, belonging to Lodge No. 95, in De Soto Township. Mr. Bost has become well known as a law-abiding citizen, and has a comfortable home, where are frequently welcomed the many friends whom he has made during his long sojourn in the county.
Extracted 22 Sep 2016 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois, published in 1894, pages 490-491.