JOSHUA TYLER, who carries on general farming on section 3, Sand Ridge Township, Jackson County, is a native of the Green Mountain State. He was born in Windham County, December 4, 1811, and is the eldest of a family of eight children, whose parents were Joshua and Lois (Bacon) Tyler. Both were natives of New Hampshire, but many years ago moved to Pennsylvania, where their last days were spent. The family was founded in Virginia at a very early day in the history of this country.
In the county of his nativity, our subject was reared to manhood, his boyhood and youth being passed in attendance at the district schools of the neighborhood and in work in the fields. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Pennsylvania, and remained with them for two years, after which he started out in life for himself. He came to the west, for he believed that better privileges were here afforded than in the older and more thickly settled states of the east. For a time he worked on steamboats on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and his lot was not always an easy one. He made some extensive trips through the west and thus became well acquainted with the country.
In 1840, in Illinois, Mr. Tyler was united in marriage with Miss Martha Jane Morgan, a native of this state. They located on Cox Prairie, where the wife died, leaving five children, two of whom are now living, Mrs. Hannah Bain, who is married and had seven children; and George, who is married and has three children. They both reside in Sand Ridge Township. For his second wife Mr. Tyler chose Mrs. Nancy (Worthen) Criley, who died in 1860. They were the parents of six children, four of whom are yet living: James, Daniel, Rollin and Mrs. Laura Hawkins. They are all married and have become heads of families. Mr. Tyler was again married, in 1863, when Mrs. Esther Marshall became his wife. She is a daughter of Jesse and Anna (Priest) Wilson, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. Her father died at the age of ninety-two, and her mother when sixty-five years of age. They had six children, of whom two are living: Mrs. Eliza Whitson, and Mrs. Tyler, who was born December 18, 1830, in Johnson County, N. C. She was reared in East Tennessee, and removed to Warren County, that state, where she became the wife of Thomas Marshall, a native of Tennessee. In 1860, they came to Illinois, and located in Murphysboro Township, Jackson County. Mr. Marshall died in 1863, leaving four children: Mrs. Elizabeth Way man, who has one child; Mrs. Ellen Haliday, who has four children; Mrs. Belzora Wayman, who has four children; and Wylie, who has two children. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Tyler: Eva, now the wife of Albert Imhoff, of Murphysboro, by whom she has three children; and Martha Lavisa. Mr. Tyler had two sons in the late war, George and Joshua. The latter was shot at the battle of Mission Ridge, and death resulted from his wound.
In his political views, our subject has always been a Democrat, and has served as School Director and Township Trustee. He holds membership with the Baptist Church, and his wife is an active worker and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His farm comprises one hundred and three acres of land, and the neat and thrifty appearance of the place indicates the careful supervision of the owner.
Extracted from Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois, published in 1894, page 406.