James Peene
James Peene, grain-dealer, Jefferson, was born April 25, 1834, in Kent County, adjoining Sussex, England, forty miles south of London. His parents, William and Mary Ann (Nell) Peene, emigrated to Canada in 1834, and, after remaining there three years, moved to Newark, Ohio, where they remained one year, after which they moved to Columbus. The father died near Mechanicsburg, and the mother at the house of our subject. Mr. Peene came to Jefferson Township in 1857, and located on the farm where he now resides. He was occupied by farming until 1878, when he embarked in grain-dealing. He purchased a grist-mill, which he has converted into an elevator, and now devotes his time almost exclusively to grain-dealing. In 1857, he married Mary Ann Zinn, daughter of Adam Zinn, of North Columbus, and by her has had three children – Charlie W.; Ida, died aged nineteen months; and James, died at the age of three months. Mr. Peene owns eighty-five acres of good and well-improved land.
From HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY - W. H. Beers [Chicago, 1883]