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WILLIAM HENRY FAIT , is a man of good financial standing in this county and is conducting a profitable general grocery business in Illiopolis. He is a native of Albany, N.Y., where his birth took place in 1847, and he is a son of George and Frances (Clark) Fait, natives of New York. The father of our subject was a farmer and William remained an inmate of the parental home and helped his father in the labor of carrying on his farm until he was fifteen years old. At that age the manly self-reliant lad boldly set forth to try life for himself in the great Prairie State. He made his way thither alone, and soon obtained employment on a farm. As he had had to begin to work so early in life he felt that his education was deficient and he had studied hard to supplement the learning gained in a common school and after coming here and engaging as a farm laborer for awhile as before state, he became a teacher. He taught in both Sangamon and Macon Counties for some years and won a good reputation as an intelligent educator.

Mr. Fait finally gave up teaching and resumed farming and afterward abandoned that calling to engage in business in Illiopolis. He established a general grocery store in this village, has it well fitted up and carries a complete line of stock. He has a steady trade and is making money, he being one of the well-to-d men of the town. He is straightforward and just in business matters and conducts his trade systematically. He is a thoughtful man who is well informed and is pleasant and affable in his intercourse with others. He is highly regarded by the entire community where he is well known and is classed among the citizens who have a good influence on the welfare of the town, has been a member of the School Board and is active in all that pertains to education. He has always been a stanch Republican. Mr. Fait and Miss Mary Leonard were married in 1872. Mrs. Fait is a native of this county and a daughter of one of its successful farmers. She makes home pleasant for her husband and for their children, of whom they have four - John Calvin, Charles Edward, Maud and Frances, all of whom are still members of the family circle.