JOSEPH H. ELLIOTT. A business man of Anderson, where he has had his residence since 1904, Mr. Elliott has had a career of varied activity, has gained a satisfying degree of material prosperity, and stands high in the public esteem of local citizenship in his adopted city.
Joseph H. Elliott was born in ‘Adams County, Ohio. His father was James Elliott, who was born in the same County, and the grandfather was William Elliott, a native of North Carolina, Great-grandfather Elliott, so far as known, was also born in North Carolina, and from that state took his family to Ohio, becoming a pioneer in Adams County. He bought and improved a tract of land there, and on it passed his last days. Grandfather Elliott early in life learned the trade of carriage builder, From Adams County he moved to Ross County, where he established himself in business at Bainbridge, and manufactured and repaired wagons and carriages, That was his home until his death, He married Mary West, who was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, and both she and her husband lived to a good old age and reared eleven children.
James Elliott, the father of the Anderson business man, spent his early life in Adams and Ross counties of Ohio, Under his father’s direction he learned the same mechanical trade, and was in business at Bainbridge, until 1873. In that year he moved to Gibson City, Illinois, where he continued in the same line for several years, In 1908 he took up his residence at Anderson, which continued to be his home until his death on November 9, 1911, at the age of eighty years. He married Sarah Palmer. She was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, June 4, 1829, Her father Cornelius Palmer was a life long resident of Virginia, Benjamin Palmer, father of Cornelius Palmer, married Mary Berry, who survived her husband, and went to Ohio t0 live with her son, dying in the home of Cornelius Palmer, Cornelius Palmer was reared and married in Virginia, and in 1833 went to Ohio, accompanied by his family, With a wagon and six horses this long journey was accomplished over the mountains and across the Ohio Valley, and in the wagon were the household goods and other possessions, and each night the family camped out by the roadside, For one year the Palmers lived on the banks of the Scioto River, and then Cornelius Palmer bought land in Adams County, On the land was a log house, and a few acres were cleared, and he set himself to the task of making a homestead. All his labor went for nothing on account of a defective title, and after that misfortune, he moved to Highland County, Ohio, which was his home until 1864. From Ohio, he moved out to Ford County, Illinois, where he had four hundred acres, When he first settled there that section of Illinois was sparsely populated, and only a little portion of his land had been improved. His labors he gave to the development of that place and after some years moved to East Lynn, in Vermillion County, which was his home until his death at the age of eighty-six years, Cornelius Palmer married Harriet Beavers, She was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Beavers, Samuel Beavers was a native of Maryland, moving from that state to Virginia, and he and his wife both died in Loudoun County, The wife of Cornelius Palmer died in her ninetieth year, and her death was the result of an accident, Mrs. Sarah Elliott, the mother of Joseph H. Elliott, is now eighty-four years of age, a hale and hearty woman, and presides over the household of her son.
Joseph H. Elliott was an only child, was educated in the schools of Greenfield, Ohio, and after the family went to Gibson, Illinois, assisted his father in the shop and also clerked in local stores, It was in that way that he got his first lessons in business life, From Gibson City he moved to Rockford, Illinois, and became superintendent of a fence factory, and a sewing machine company agent and remained there for four and a half years, In 1893 Mr. Elliott came to Indiana, and was a commercial salesman in this state for a number of years, In 1904 he took up his permanent residence at Anderson, and since that time has conducted a provision and grocery business.
In 1878 Mr. Elliott married Mary A. McCracken, She was born near Lexington, in McLean County, Illinois, a daughter of Milton McCracken, Mrs. Elliott died in 1908, and she and her husband reared two sons, Harry and James C. Harry, who is associated with his father in business married Flossie Reed, and has one daughter, Maxine, James C. married Florence Brockmeyer, and has one son, Gerald, Mr. Elliott and also his wife during her lifetime had membership in the Methodist church, and his parents were likewise active in that denomination. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America.
