John L. McQuaid, dealer in drygoods and notions, groceries, etc., is the pioneer merchant of Manning, having established his present where he is now located September 6, 1881. He is a native of Knox County, Indiana, born September 11, 1842, a son of Joel H. and Mary A. (Cassiday) McQuaid, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The father died in Livingston County, Illinois, in December, 1881, aged seventy-seven years. The mother is still living in that county at the advanced age of eighty-two years. The subject of this sketch passed his youth principally in Marshall County, Illinois, to which county his parents had removed. He enlisted in defense of the Union July 20, 1862, and was assigned to Company K, One Hundred and Seventh Illinois Infantry, serving faithfully three years to a day. He was in the siege at Knoxville, which culminated in the retreat of General Longstreet and the rebel army upon the approach of General Sherman with his relief army in December, 1863, and was in the Twenty-third Corps under General Schofield. He joined the army under General Sherman, and participated in most of the battles leading up to the capture of Atlanta, and was almost daily under fire for three months. With the Twenty-third Corps, he participated in the racing and fighting campaign against General Hood, and in the terrific battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, and later at the battle of Nashville, where Hood’s army was destroyed. He was transferred to Wilmington, North Carolina. He served till the close of the war, and was honorably discharged at Salisbury, North Carolina, July 20, 1865. After the war he returned to Marshall County, Illinois, where he remained until 1871. He then came to Carroll County, buying property in Arcadia, where he engaged in general merchandising. He was married at that place July 2, 1873, to Miss Margaret J. Goundrey, a native of the State of New York. They are the parents of three children; Elsie V., Charles A. and Edith M. Mr. McQuaid followed mercantile pursuits at Arcadia until he came to Manning and established his present business, in which he has met with good success. Beside his business block Mr. McQuaid owns his fine substantial residence and several lots in Manning, and business property, which he rents, in Manilla, Crawford County. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is quartermaster of McPherson Post, No. 33, at Manning. Mr. McQuaid is an officer and stockholder in the Manning Cemetery Association, and one of the founders of the Union Fair and Driving Park Association, of which he is still a stockholder.

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