James O'Connor, deceased, an early settler of the town of Deerfield, was born in County Meath, Ireland in 1826, and was sixteen years of age, when upon a sailing vessel he crossed the Atlantic to America in 1842. He came directly to Lake County. and located in Deerfield Township, where he made his home until attracted by gold on the Pacific Slope in 1849, when he went California. He crossed the plains with teams, and after spending nine years engaged in gold mining, returned by way of the ocean route to Illinois in 1858, having accumulated some money.

Mr. O'Connor was married in Deerfield in the autumn of 1858, to Miss Mary Kennedy, a daughter of John and Margaret (Sullivan) Kennedy. The lady was born in New Jersey, and came to Illinois with her parents when two years old. Three years later the family removed to Shields Township, where she remained until becoming the wife of James O'Connor. By this union were born seven children, six sons and one daughter, namely: Michael, who died at the age of nine years; Joseph who died when two years of age; James, John, Margaret, Richard and Lawrence.

"In 1859, Mr. O'Connor purchased the fine farm comprising two hundred and twenty five acres of valuable land, formerly owned by Michael Meehan, on sections 18, and 19, Deerfield Township, and continued its cultivation and improvement until his death , which occurred on the 18th of May 1871. They were members of the Catholic Church and in political sentiment, Mr. O'Connor was a Democrat. He was one of the worthy citizens of the community, was faithful to every duty, and at his death left many friends who sincerely mourned the loss of their friend" - From the Portrait and Biographical Album

Mr. and Mrs. James O'Connor had seven children, Michael, Joseph, James, John, Margaret, Richard, and Lawrence.

Joseph and Michael died in infancy. James married Katherine Lynch, who taught in the Mark Sheridan School, Chicago. They had six children: Mary, Frank, Joseph, Lucy, Rose, and Edward. Mary and Edward died in infancy.

Frank married Marie Foxen of Lake Forest. Joseph married Katherine Baldwin of Lake Forest. Lucy entered the Order of the B.V.M. and her name is Sister Mary Leonette. She is teaching music in the Immaculate Convent in Chicago.

Richard O'Connor married Mary Lamb, daughter of Daniel Lamb, and had five children. Marie, Elizabeth, Margaret, Richard, and Gerald.

Marie O'Connor married Fred Ehrens of Highwood.

Margaret, Lawrence, and John O'Connor live on the old homestead.

Some of the O'Connor land has been sold to Elias Mayer, who has erected an imposing home on it. Charles Wallace and Walter McGuire have also bought some of the land.

James, Jr. was seven years of age when his father died. The youngest child was but six months old. Mrs. O'Connor did not remarry. She was a good manager, and not afraid of work, so she made a success of her stewardship.

Money was scarce and hard to get. Their first good money making scheme was in the cheese factory build by a stock company, in which Mrs. O'Connor took stock.

The stock was $.50 per share. The first milk delivered to the factory brought seventy-five cents per hundred. This was the first start in money making.

James Brockway, brother of L. W. Brockway, ran the creamery, which was near the old St. Paul Railway station and is now a flat building.

Before the creamery started, butter making was a hard problem. Returns were not large, fifteen and twenty cents a pound was received after hauling to Chicago. Mrs. O'Connor and her oldest son James, made the trip in and out of the city in one day, so as not to leave the others of the young family alone too long.

The respect that the mother of the family deserved she always received from her children, who revere her memory.

Mrs. James O'Connor, Sr. died October 6, 1917.

Michael Meehan, the first settler in the colony, was an uncle of Mr. James O'Connor, Sr.

As he had no children he made the O'Connor children his heirs.

The following interesting story is told by James O'Connor, Jr.

"In 1890 Mrs. Meehan died, and after the funeral, Mr. Meehan went to live at the O'Connor Homestead (know as Port Clinton Lighthouse property), where he had O'Connor, Jr., dig, and he dug up $4,000 in gold which he had been hiding in crocks buried in the ground for safe keeping, as Mrs. Meehan did not believe in getting interest, and had no faith in banks.

"Mr. James O'Connor, Jr., said his father dug gold in California, but he dug gold in Lake County, Illinois.

"This gold was taken in a tin pail wrapped in a red handkerchief to a Chicago bank, where it was invested in bonds by C. G. Muhlke, whom the family trusted.

"The money was in different denominations, from two and a half, to twenty dollar gold pieces. and because at that time gold was low, but thirty seven hundred and fifty dollars in government bonds could be secured for the four thousand in gold."

Michael Meehan died in 1892 at the age of ninety-two years. All of the members of these families who have passed away are buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery, near Everett.

Mrs. James O'Connor, Jr., died April 12, 1925. She was a model woman, a home maker and a home builder. Her entire aim in life was to do good every way possible. She was an ardent church worker.

One of the agreeable surprises of her life happened in Anderson's Hall, where there was an entertainment for the benefit of the Holy Cross Church in Deerfield.

Mrs. O'Connor requested Frank Anderson, owner of the building to buy a chance from a book she held for the benefit of St. Patrick's Church in Everett.

Mr. Anderson replied, "I won't take a chance, I'll buy the whole book."

Mrs. O'Connor's children are appreciative of the opportunities that she gave them for obtaining an education, as she was very insistent that they should be educated.

All of them graduated from High School and Frank, the oldest son, attended Northwestern University for three years.

It was predicted by some of the "old timers" that James O'Connor, Jr., and his bride would be on the farm for about two years, and that they would them move to Chicago.

Such was not the case, for they lived on the farm for twenty-five years, and if it were not for failing health they would probably be living there now.

At the time of the death of James O'Connor, Sr., he held one hundred and fifty-five acres. At the death of Mrs. O'Connor, Sr., eight hundred acres were held by her and her children.

James O'Connor, Jr., moved into the village in 1920. He bought the William Lange estate on Deerfield Road.

Since then he has also bought the Philemon Cadwell estate on Waukegan Road from R. M. Vant.

He also purchased the old Presbyterian Church, which he moved to Osterman Avenue and had it converted into a home for his son, Joseph.

One of the hardships is dry weather, in early days, was getting water. There were no tubular wells. The ordinary wells and the ponds would dry up. The river was two and a half miles away from the farm. It was a case of haul water in barrels or in a large tank. James O'Connor, Jr., hollowed a threshing tank that had a capacity of forty barrels. He backed onto the ice, which was not frozen thick enough to hold the wagon. As he wore hip boots he was able to fill the tank with a pail in a short time. His body was warm but his legs were freezing, and he had to walk half of the way home to keep up his circulation.

James O'Connor and his brothers sometimes drove the cattle to the river. Later they heard of well drillers at Lake Zurich and named Spunner Bros.