PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
ANTOINE CHEFFRE is a retired farmer residing in St. Anne. He is a nativeof Montreal, Canada, in which city his birth occurred on the 15th ofJune, 1828. His parents, who were also natives of Canada, were Joseph andArgette (La Vine) Cheffre. The father of the former, also named Joseph,was born in France, and afterwards emigrated to Canada, where he engagedin agricultural pursuits. The maternal grandfather of our subject wasborn in Canada, and was also a farmer by occupation. He livedo beseventy-two years of age. The father was a stone-cutter, as were also allof his sons. He came to Illinois in 1851, and settle upon a farm one mileeast of St. Anne, which he cultivated for twenty years. He then sold thisproperty and located in Kankakee, where for four years he engaged inbuying and selling wood and stone. Returning to St. Anne. he made hishome with his son Joseph until his death, which occurred a number ofyears ago, when he had reached the age of seventy-four years. He was asoldier in thenar of 1812. The death of his wife occurred about fiveyears subsequent to that of her husband. Their family consisted of twelvechildren, ten sons and two daughters, of whom seven sons are stillliving. Antoine Cheffre passed his boyhood and youth in Canada, where helearned the trade of a stonemason. With his family he went to Syracuse,N.. Y.,in 1841. where he lived for seven years. With them he returned toCanada, and after remaining there two years came west to Illinois withhis brother Joseph. They landed in Chicago in 1850 where they stayeduntil the following year. Coming to St. Anne, they together purchased thefarm for their father, upon which he afterwards lived for a score ofyears. They then sent for him to come with his family from Montreal,which he did, arriving the same year. In October, 1853, Mr. Cheffre wasmarried to miss Margaret, daughter of Francis and Margaret(Bouchey)Morsett, both natives of Canada. Their union has been blessed with fivesons and two daughters, three of whom are now deceased. Those living areJoseph, who married Miss Isadore, daughter of Max St. Peter. They havesix children: Eddie, Emma, Walter, Ruby and an infant, and reside a mileand a-half northwest of St. Anne. Edward married Miss Nena St. Peter, andthey have one son, Meddy. Their home is in St. Anne. Frederick weddedMiss Leona Dumantil. and two sons, Harry and Elmer, have blessed theirunion. Francis wedded Miss Rosalie Varboncaque. and to them have beenborn Max and Dora. The three younger children. Dennis, Marv and Olive,are deceased. When Mr. Cheffre settled in this vicinity, the country waswild and hut little inhabited. Wildgame of all kind abounded, and even inthe city limits of Chicago wild fowl were often shot. Our subject ownsone hundred and fifty acres of land in Iroqnois County, three miles southof St. Anne, and also owns his pleasant and comfortable residence in thatvillage. He and his wife are members of the French Presbyterian Church,and in regard to politics, he is a stalwart Republican.