George Hovenden married Susan Kitchener on November 16, 1841 at St. George's Church, Camberwell, Greater London, County Surrey, England.
Spelling, Capitalization and Punctuation copied exactly from original document."The Life of George Hovenden"
"I was Born in East Kent, England, June 17, 1815 and Raised on a Small Farm. I was one of fourteen Children, Seven Boys and Seven Girls. Either of us had a good Education, But all learned to work. and when I was 17 years old, My Father gave me Three Shillings and Sixpence, and I Baught a Sickle with the money, and went Cutting Wheat, and working at anything that I could get to do. and [sic] after a while, I got to doing Rough Carpenter Work. and in a short while, Left my Native Home, and went 25 miles off where no one knew me, and hired out to a "Boss Carpenter" to work for small wages, Until I had the Trade Well Learned, in the Country, which was 3 years. and Then I went to the City of London and there I made Acquaintance, with my Wife, Miss, Susan Ketchener, and after a short Courtship, was Married, on November 14, 1841. and in the Spring of 1842, we left England, for America. Landing in New York. and from there we went to Saratogy Springs, and in 1843, we Left there for Illinois. and got here to Peoria, August 10, 1843. and bought this Place where we have lived ever since. and worked on our Farm for some years, and raised a Family of Four Boys and Three Girls, which are all in Comfortable Circumstances when this was written. We have both worked Hard through Life, and made a Home, that lately we Can Live, without doing much hard Work. It is quite a Consolation, to look back and see that I will leave the world, a little better than I found it. An now I have to Leave all Below, and my Best Wishes to all, and if there is another Life After This, Hope to Meet you all, Where we Will Part no More. Good By All, GEORGE HOVENDEN."