WILLIAM G. Le SOURD
Page 559

WILLIAM G. Le SOURD. There is no greater pleasure for the hand and the pen of the historian to perform, than to record the life and achievements of a man who has begun life's battles under adverse circumstances and through his own unaided efforts has secured the general acknowledgement of being an honest man, a gentleman, and one who has accumulated a handsome fortune. Such a man is Mr. Le Sourd, who is the proprietor of eight hundred acres of as fine farming land as is to be found in Mason County. Joseph Le Sourd, the father of our subject, was a native of Ohio, and was born September 23, 1811. He was taken to Maryland by his parents when an infant, his father, Peter Le Sourd, who was a native of that state and an early settler of Butler County, Ohio, having been compelled to return to his native place on account of the War of 1812. After the cessation of hostilities he returned to Ohio and continued to reside there until his decease. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Rachael (Gorsuch) Le Sourd, was also a native of Maryland, where her birth occurred in 1809, and was the daughter of Charles and Ruth (Rutledge) Gorsuch. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812, after which he removed to Butler County, Ohio, where he was living at the time of his decease. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph LeSourd were married in Maryland, and made location in Ohio in 1835. They operated a farm in Butler County, that state, until 1866, the date of their advent into Topeka, Ill., where they both died in 1883. Of their family of six children only four are now living, of whom William G. is the eldest. Sarah J. is the widow of James Newlin; Mary Ellen married Leonidas Jones and is living in Nebraska; Charles T. makes his home in Mason County. The parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which they were identified for many years. Mr. Le Sourd was born September 26, 1834, in Maryland and was reared and educated in Butler County, Ohio. He remained upon his father's farm until reaching his thirty-fifth year, when he established himself in the grain and stock business. In 1883 he came to Illinois, and for six years was engaged as a general merchant in Topeka. In 1864 William G. Le Sourd and Miss Sarah Ann Gorsuch, who was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1842, were united in marriage. This lady died August 2, 1882, leaving a family of three children, of whom Russell is the only member living. While residing in the Buckeye State Mr. Le Sourd served on the School Board and was Township Trustee. In politics he has always been a stanch Democrat, and is foremost among the members of that party in the county. He is the promoter of every worthy enterprise which tends to advance the interests of the community and aid in the up building and development of the county. His life has been well and worthily passed, and from a financial standpoint may also be said to be very successful, and he deserves all the more credit for his prosperity, as it has been achieved through his own unaided efforts.

1894 Biography Index

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