Lorenzo Mickle, now deceased, was numbered among the representative and successful agriculturists of Whiteside county, where he lived for about a third of a century. His life exemplified sterling traits of citizenship, of business activity and honor, and of devotion to the ties of friendship and family. He was born in Schoharie county, New York, December 18, 1837, his parents being George and Elizabeth (Cole) Mickle, who were likewise natives of the same county. The father was of German descent and the mother of Holland lineage, and Mr. Mickle spent his last days in Iowa, while his wife passed away in Carroll county, this state. They were the parents of three sons and three daughters: Jeremiah, now deceased; one who died in the state of New York; Mrs. Mary E. Ferguson, deceased; Lorenzo; Mrs. Minerva Slater, of Battle Creek, Iowa; and Albert, who has also passed away.
Lorenzo Mickle was about seventeen years of age when he came with his parents to Whiteside county. Up to that time he had been a resident of Schoharie county, New York, and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges. Following the removal westward, the family home was established in Sterling, where he resided up to the time of his marriage. He then removed to York township, Carroll county, Illinois, and settled upon a rented farm. After cultivating this for a brief period his wife received from her father a tract of land and Mr. Mickle purchased forty acres, making their farm about one hundred acres. This was situated in Ustick township, Whiteside county, and with characteristic energy Mr. Mickle began the cultivation and improvement of the farm. As the years passed he brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and annually gathered rich crops. He carried on the farm work there until 1872, when he sold that property and came to Fenton township, purchasing a farm, which in 1875 he traded for what is now the Mickle homestead, comprising two hundred and ten acres of valuable and productive land on sections 28 and 29, Fenton township. There are two sets of buildings upon this place and everything about the farm is kept in a state of good repair and indicates the careful supervision of Mrs. Mickle.
It was on the 7th of December, 1857, that Mr. Mickle was married to Miss Charity St. Ores, who was born in Jefferson county, New York, April 10, 1840. Later in that year, her parents, James and Anna (Osmer) St. Ores, came to Illinois, settling in Carroll county. Her father was born and reared in New York, near Lake Champlain, while her mother's birth occurred near Rutland, Vermont, and there her girlhood days were passed. They left the east when their daughter Charity was but four months old, traveling westward across the country until they reached Carroll county, Illinois. They settled in York township, near the Whiteside county line, and there the parents resided until their death. The father owned and operated a sawmill on Johnson creek for some time after he arrived in this state, but later concentrated his energies upon his agricultural pursuits and was the owner of three adjoining farms, one of which was situated in York township, Carroll county, while the other two crossed the boundary line into Ustick township, Whiteside county. He made considerable money through speculation and manifested keen discrimination in placing a valuation upon property, so that his investments were judiciously made and brought him a good profit upon their sale. In his later years he lived retired, putting aside business cares in 1872 and establishing his home in Thompson, where he lived until his death. He was born in 1802 and died at the age of seventy years. His wife passed away in the eighty-fourth year of her age. As the family name indicates, the St. Ores are of french descent, and the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Mickle was Jacob St. Ores, a native of Canada, who on removing to the United States settled on Lake Champlain, in New York. He served for several years in the Revolutionary war and again as a valiant defender of American interests in the war of 1812. He was ordered out by the government to move supplies with his teams at the time of the naval fight on Lake Champlain in the second war with England. His son James, although then a boy of but twelve years, aided him, and Mrs. Mickle tells how her father often related to her the story of that incident and how frightened he was upon the occasion, for the battle was waging on the water near where he and his father were hauling supplies.
Mrs. Mickle was one of a family of eight children, of whom four daughters and two sons reached adult age, married and had families. Unto our subject and his wife were born three children: Anna E., the wife of Clark Hamilton, of Fenton township; Charles, who resides upon a part of his mother's farm; and Pluma, now the wife of
T. H. Crocker, of Fenton township.
The death of the husband and father occurred April 7, 1887, when he was in his fiftieth year. His political allegiance was given to the democracy and he was a member of the River Brethren church. His life was at all times actuated on high and honorable principles and was in harmony with his religious professions. He worked persistently and diligently to make a comfortable home for his family and was most devoted to the welfare and happiness of his wife and children. Though more than two decades have come and gone since he passed away, he is yet remembered by many who knew him as a worthy citizen and faithful friend and a devoted husband and father.

SOURCE: History of Whiteside County, Illinois : from its earliest settlement to 1908
Chicago: Pioneer Pub. Co., 1908, 1493 pgs.