Biography - Marcus Belden
MARCUS BELDEN. A farmer and grain merchant, he was born in Greenfield, Saratoga County, NY, on Apr. 1, 1815, the son of Aaron and Sarah (Wood) Belden of the same county. His early life was spent on a farm and his education obtained in the common schools and by individual effort. When he was 10 years old, his parents moved to Genesee County, NY; and he came to Galesburg in the Spring of 1840. Since he settled in Illinois he has been engaged in farming and dealing heavily in grain. He has held the office of Mayor of Galesburg and has been Alderman for six years. On April 21, 1846, he married Ann Norton [the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index lists a Marcus Belden marrying a Ann Norton in Bureau County on April 21, 1846] who was the mother of four girls. He married Louvica Rigby for his second wife, by whom he has two sons and two daughters. He has been a member of the Congregational Church for years, and an Elder in the "First Church of Christ" for twenty years. He was a strong Abolitionist and an active member of the Underground Railroad Company. He has hauled many loads of wheat to Chicago and has camped opposite the Tremont House. P. O. Galesburg.
Contributed by Joan Achille, extracted from the 1878 History of Knox County, Illinois, published by Charles C. Chapman
