From the Portrait and biographical record of Hancock, McDonough and Henderson counties, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county (1894)
May, 1894. Lake City Publishing Co. CHARLES E. PEASLEY owns and operates a fine farm on section 33, Stronghurst Township, Henderson County, having four hundred acres of rich and arable land, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation. It is divided into fields of convenient size, and in return for the care and labor he bestows upon them they yield to him a good income. A comfortable home and good barns are upon the place, together with all accessories and conveniences found upon a model farm. The owner of this desirable place was here born December 22, 1860, and is the youngest in a family of four children whose parents were John S. and Lucretia (Crownover) Peasley. Addie, the eldest, is now the wife of Nathaniel Bruen. George K. is engaged in stock-dealing in Greeley, Colo. James F. is a prosperous agriculturist of this community. On coming to this county the father entered land from the Government, and to this added from time to time until he was the owner of an extensive tract. In connection with his land speculations he also engaged in stock-dealing, and was one of the first shippers in this section of the country, engaging in that enterprise at a very early day. He was numbered among the pioneer settlers of the community and was a valued and highly-respected citizen. His death occurred January 25, 1866, and he was laid to rest in Terre Haute Cemetery. Mrs. Peasley, mother of our subject, came with her parents from Pennsylvania to Illinois during her early girlhood. She still survives her husband and is now living in Burlington, Iowa, at the age of seventy years. In the usual manner of farmer lads, Charles E. Peasley spent the days of his boyhood and youth, aiding in the labors of the fields during the summer months, while in the winter season he attended the public schools. His education was completed by a course of study in Denmark Academy, in Denmark, Iowa. On attaining his majority he began farming for himself and purchased the old homestead from the other heirs, since which time he has devoted his energies to its cultivation, except for a period of three years, which he spent in Colorado engaged in the stock business. He now carries on stock-raising and shipping quite extensively, and finds this a profitable enterprise. On the 3d of October, 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Charles E. Peasley and Miss Lou E. Hunt, of Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, whose parents were early settlers of that locality. Three children grace the union of our subject and his wife, John, Eugene and Joseph. Socially, Mr. Peasley is connected with the Masonic lodge of Carman and the Knights of Pythias lodge of Stronghurst. He has followed in the political footsteps of his father, and is a stanch advocate of Republican principles. A wide-awake and enterprising young man, he is regarded as one of the leading farmers and citizens of this community, and in the county where he has so long made his home he is held in the highest esteem.