Will County ILGenWeb Biographies..... 
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File contributed for use by:
Dori Leekly & Margie Glenn

Author: History of Will County, Illinois; Chicago: Wm LeBaron Jr & Co, 186 Dearborn Street, 1878.

Jonathan ROYCE, farmer; P. O. Naperville; was born in Essex Co., N. Y., May 9, 1822; when 13 
years of age, he came with the family to Illinois, his father settling on the East Branch of 
the Du Page in the summer of 1835; he remained at home until he had reached the age of 25 years; 
in 1847, he came upon his farm, and engaged in cultivating it some six years before his marriage. 
His union with Sarah A. MATHER, a native of Essex Co., N. Y., was celebrated Oct. 18, 1853. 
His life has been largely and successfully devoted to agricultural pursuits; in the fall of 
1873, he moved to Naperville, and entered the banking business in partnership with Willard 
SCOTT; in the fall of 1876, he returned to his farm, and entered again upon a farmer's life. 
Has five children - Jonathan F., George E., Asa M., Maria P. and Emma M. Owns about five 
hundred acres, valued at $40,000; has held the office of Supervisor a number of terms; he 
deals rarely in stock, buying and fattening a large number of cattle annually; his farm 
is the best improved and his buildings the most substantial of any of his entire neighborhood.