The Jess M. Thompson Pike County History as Printed in Installments in the Pike County Republican, Pittsfield, Illinois, 1935-1939 
Portrait and Biographical Album of Pike and Calhoun Counties, Illinois
Living and Farming in Pike County: Through Drought and Depression...and Better Times

Our Pike County: The Soul of Western Illinois

History of Pike County
Available for pre-order at Amazon.com
Living and Farming in Pike County
"Eight-year-old Ralph Kern had
been a farm boy only two years before Depression and droughts threatened the
family's economic survival-but didn't dampen boyhood joys. By the time of World
War II, the family had survived, and Ralph chose farming as his career. From
then until he left farming in mid-1960s, he proved his ability on four farms
with widely recognized crop and hog programs. Still working with farmers in Pike
County, IL he gave fuller rein to his passions for fishing, hunting, and
collecting farm memorabilia. Now over 80, Ralph has written essays on his life
and experiences in farming under adversity and in better times, highlighting his
love for machinery. Hunting, with well-loved bird dogs, and fishing in many
Midwestern, Northwest, and Canadian rivers and lakes get equal billing. And
throughout are memorable people with whom he lived, worked, hunted, fished, and
collected for three-quarters of a century."