Source: History of Whiteside County, Illinois
Edited by: Charles Bent
Morrison, Illinois  1877

Transcribed by: Denise McLoughlin
Tampico Area Historical Society
www.tampicohistoricalsociety.citymax.com

Page 351

P. Bacchus Besse was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1812. He moved to Erie county in 1819, and from there  came to Portland in July, 1835, and made a claim where he now lives. In 1843 he married Sarah, daughter of Asa Crook. He has always been one of the leading men of the town, having been County Commissioner several years, Supervisor and Township Trustee 12 years each, and Justice of  the Peace three years. Children: Eugene L. now dead; Josephine, who married E. Paddock, and lives in Prophetstown; Louisa, who married Erastus Fuller, and resides in Portland; George, who married Miss Emma Allen, and lives in Kansas; Sarah, who maried Jos. Fones, and also lives in Kansas; Henry Clay, who married Miss Alice Crossley, and is a resident of Hume township; Robert, Kate, Albert, Merriam, James E., and Lucy, who live at their home in Portland.