FRANK M. LOVING. Among the prominent citizens of Dora Township who has lived in this section for more than a quarter of a century, we are pleased to mention the name which appears at the head of this paragraph. Mr. Loving is a farmer who settled in Moultrie County in the fall of 1867, and whose pleasant home is to be found on section 22, Dora Township. He is a native Illinoisan, having been born in McLean County, April 14, 1855, a son of Jasper D. and Maria J. (Messer) Loving, natives of Indiana and Illinois respectively.

Taylor Loving, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of North Carolina who came to this State and located in McLean County about the year 1835, locating near Normal, but later removing to Gridley Township, where he became the owner of some five hundred acres of land upon which he passed his remaining years, dying at the age of about fifty. He left a family of four sons and one daughter, John, Philip, James, Jasper and Nancy, which latter became the wife of George Cox. Jasper Loving was only about eighteen months old when the family settled in McLean County and he was educated in Bloomington and chose husbandry as his pursuit in life. He was married in McLean County to Maria, a daughter of John Messer, an early pioneer of the county.

After marriage the newly wedded pair settled in Gridley Township on land which Taylor Loving had entered from the Government. He remained with his parents and assisted them while his brothers went to California during the gold excitement, and after the death of the father Jasper fell heir to a portion of the land and purchased the interest of some of the heirs, and thus became the owner of a fine farm.

Jasper Loving, in 1867, sold his farm in McLean County and coming to Moultrie County, purchased from the Illinois Central Railroad Company two hundred and forty acres of unbroken prairie to which he somewhat later added by purchase one hundred and twenty acres more, all of which he improved. In 1882, on account of his wife's feeble health, he sold a portion of his land and went to Montgomery County, Kan., where he purchased two small farms, but the change of residence did not bring as much improvement to Mrs. Loving's health as had been hoped, and she left him for the spirit world in 1884. One year later he returned to Illinois and died June 7, 1888, in Dora Township. He was an earnest Republican in his political views and at different time held various local offices. The Christian Church was the religious body in the communion of which he found comfort and strength. He and his good wife had seven children, four of whom lived to years of maturity, namely: Frank M., Mary C., wife of John O. McMullen, John T. and Lewis V. The latter was born June 18, 1867, and resides with our subject.

Frank M. Loving came with his father's family to Moultrie County in 1867, and six years later chose for himself a bride in the person of Eliza, daughter of John and Nancy McMullen. She was born in Ohio, June 22, 1855, and became the mother of two children, John J. and Sylva E. The old homestead forms the residence of our subject, and he is the owner of eighty acres of finely improved land. His political views incline him to endorse the action of the Republican party, yet he is independent to a considerable extent and never allows himself to be trammeled by party ties. In the membership of the Christian Church he and his excellent wife find themselves in a religious home which is in accordance with their faith and sympathies.

Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, 1891 - p. 290/291

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