Job, Zephaniah B.

Born: 1817-03-13 Virginia

Died: 1907-11-20 Alton, Illinois

Zephaniah B. Job, Sr., a businessman, land speculator, and Democratic politician, was born near White Hall, Virginia and moved to Madison County, Illinois in 1836. He married Mariah Atkins in January 1846, but she died shortly after in 1847. In 1849, Job moved to California, where he established a trading post, operated a ranch and livery stable, and worked as a miner. He returned to Madison County in 1851, and in August 1851, he remarried to Amanda Fitz Allen Montgomery and the couple had four children. Job purchased several thousand acres in the county, and he also involved himself in the lumber business and coal mining. In 1856, he was elected sheriff of the county, serving in that capacity for two years. In 1859, Job represented Madison County in the Illinois House of Representatives. In 1860, Job owned real property valued at $99,800 and had a personal estate of $2,000.

U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Madison County, IL, 480; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 3, Alton, Madison County, IL, 53; U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2007); The Chicago Daily Tribune (IL), 21 November 1907, 2:6; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac, 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 222; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 13 November 1858, 2:3;Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Madison County, 29 January 1846; 8 August 1851, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Alton, Madison, IL, 199; William T. Norton, ed. Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People, 1812 to 1912 (Chicago: Lewis, 1912), 1:679-80.