J. F. Cecil was born in Maury County, Tennessee, in 1849. He was taken to Clark County, Ohio, when he was one year old, and he lived there till 1878, when he removed to Shawnee County, Kansas. He had been at his present location since 1882, following the business of raising fruit and nursery stock, and also engaged in a general line of farming. He was married to Miss Hattie Parkhurst, of Madison, Wisconsin in 1885. They have two sons: Kirk, 29 years of age, and Ralph, 27 years old, both of whom are in business in the Northwest.
