| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Page 351-353
In taking up the history of men who are connected with prominent business interests of Chillicothe and who have been for many years past prominent in the general development of the city mention should be made of F. M. Connor, president of the F. M. Connor Land Company, one of the largest real-estate and investment concerns in this section of the state. He was born in Rantoul, Illinois, July 14, 1872, and is a son of John and Mary (Murphy) Connor, the farmer one of the prominent farmers in that section of Illinois and one of the greatest individual forces in the industrial development of Rantoul, where he founded the second brick factory in Champaign county. He died in 1896 and is buried in Rantoul. His wife survives him and makes her home in Champaign. To their union were born four children besides the subject of this review: Charles H., a railroad contractor; Carrie, who became the wife of Morgan O'Brien, of Champaign; Hattie, who married L. L. Dawson, of Childress, Texas; and Earl, a horse dealer in Calgary, Alberta.
In the acquirement of an education F. M. Connor attended public school in Rantoul and was graduated from the Rantoul high school in 1889. In the same year he began his independent career, securing a position as fireman and engineer in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad. This he held for five years, after which he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, buying a farm in McLean county, Illinois, and operating it successfully for four years. He sold his property at a profit at the end of that time and went to Calhoun county, where he became interested in the real-estate business, his success in this line proving the foundation of his present prosperity. From Calhoun county he moved to Laclede, Linn county, Missouri, and there followed the real-estate business for four years, after which he came to Chillicothe and organized the F. M. Connor Land Company, of which he is president. The concern is identified with important real-estate operations all over Livingston county and in addition controls much valuable property in the city. Under the able management of Mr. Connor, who is a man of fine business and executive ability, the affairs of the company have prospered exceedingly and its business has grown, its patronage constantly increasing in volume and importance until it is now one of the largest enterprises of this kind in this section of Missouri.
Mr. Connor married, in McLean county, near Le Roy, Illinois, March 22, 1898, Miss Hattie Clark, a daughter of George and Caroline Clark, the former at one time a prominent farmer in that section. He and his wife now reside in Carrollton, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Connor have one child, Cleo C., who is attending school.
Mr. Connor gives his allegiance to the progressive party and is a firm believer in the principles and policies for which it stands. He has attained a position of distinction in the Masonic order, having been through the lodge, chapter and commandery, and he is identified also with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has made a splendid record as a citizen and as a business man, basing his substantial success upon his faculty for seizing favoring opportunity and upon his excellent business judgment and discrimination. His friends in Chillicothe recognize and appreciate his genuine worth and admire him for what he has accomplished in the business world.