Samuel Paul Sanner, president of the Shipman Banking
Company, of Shipman, Macoupin County, and for many years one of the leading
agriculturists of Bunker Hill township, was born February 25, 1836, in
Madison County, Illinois. He is a son of Samuel and Barbara (Paul) Sanner.
Samuel Sanner was born September 12, 1803, in Northumberland County,
Pennsylvania, and was a son of Jacob and Sarah (Hanna) Sanner. The family is
of German extraction, and was founded in America prior to the Revolutionary
War by the grandfather of Samuel Sanner, who was a physician. The Hanna
family was of Irish origin and has many representatives through the Western
States. Samuel Sanner was born on the old homestead farm about four miles
from Northumberland, Pennsylvania, attended the local subscription schools
and remained at home until 20 years of age, when he learned the harness
maker's trade. This industry he followed for six years at Northumberland. In
May, 1833, he started with his family for Illinois, crossing the Alleghany
Mountains, and then proceeding down the Ohio River to St. Louis. He located
in Madison County, Illinois, where he bought 400 acres of land as his
initial purchase. At a later date he owned 3,000 acres in Shelby, Macon and
Moultrie counties, having purchased the greater part of this from the
Illinois Central Railroad Company. After giving his children farms and
selling a part of this great body of land, he still owned at death, April
19, 1880, as much as 1,000 acres.
In 1827 Samuel Sanner married
Barbara Paul, who was born February 28, 1810, and died January 6, 1896. They
had 12 children: Sarah, deceased; Mrs. Elizabeth Huestis, deceased; Jacob
H., of Shelby County; William H., who died at the age of 18 years; Samuel
P., of this sketch; Elijah P. L., deceased; Edward B., of Shelby County;
David G., of Shelby County; Mrs. Tillie Johnson of Decatur, Illinois;
Shields H., of Shelby County; Francis, deceased; and John W., of Decatur,
Illinois.
Our subject resided in Madison County, where he was reared
and educated, until 1862, when he removed to his present farm, situated in
section 6, Bunker Hill township. His father gave him no acres of this to
which he continued to add, until it aggregated 800 acres. A large portion of
this has been divided among his children. When Mr. Sanner settled here, he
erected a plank shanty, which remained the family home for some years. All
the fine improvements now so noticeable have been placed on the property by
Mr. Sanner, and to his energy and excellent methods may be attributed the
condition of his farm, which is generally considered one of the most fertile
in the county. He has engaged in general farming and stock raising. His is
one of the few really productive grain farms of this section, and for many
years he gave his attention principally to wheat.
In addition to his
large farming interests, Mr. Sanner has been financially interested in the
Shipman Banking Company, which was organized at Shipman, Illinois, May 15,
1895, with a capital of $15,000. Of this institution, Mr. Sanner is
president; Adam Deahl, vice-president; and James D. Metcalf, cashier. This
concern has met with much prosperity, the trustworthiness and high standing
of its officials attracting business over a wide extent of territory.
Mr. Sanner was married April 8, 1860, to Margaret Calvin, who was born
in Madison County, Illinois, November 13, 1837, and is a daughter of Philip
S. and Jane C. (Clarke) Calvin. The Calvins came to Illinois in 1836 and
settled in Madison County in the spring of 1837, and lived there all their
lives. They had four children: Mrs. Martha E. Hammil, of Shelby County;
Margaret (Mrs. Sanner); Mrs. Susan M. Keown, deceased; and Robert William,
of Missouri.
Mr. and Mrs. Sanner have nine children: Jesse Frank, a
farmer of Brighton township, who has five children — Rufus C, Lona M.,
Flossie M., Joe P. and Laura Pauline; Anna Belle, who married Rev. J. G.
Miller, of Butler County, Ohio, and has four children — Julia B., Nettie B.,
Margaret M. and Lucy H.; Lucy Margaret, who died aged 16 years and six
months; Sophia May, who married E. J. Burton of Bunker Hill township, and
has three children living — Charlotte Amy, Elroy Clarke and Dorothy F. — and
one deceased — Archie N.; Samuel C, who died at the age of eight months;
Nellie and Harry, both living at home; and Jacob Otto and Julia F., who are
students at Blackburn University, Carlinville.
Mr. Sanner is
identified with the Republican party, and cast his first presidential vote
for Abraham Lincoln. He has been one of the township's most active men for
many years in pushing public enterprises and has been a factor in the
educational as well as the commercial advancement of his locality, a man
truly representative of its best class of citizens.
Extracted 2018 May 06 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 125-127.
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