Sophronia McNitt was born September 17th, 1842. She died on the same farm where she had been born and spent much of her life, except for twenty years when she lived in Irving. Sophronia McNitt was the daughter of Sarah Cress and Thomas B. McNitt. Her parents were pioneers in the Fillmore township. She had 10 siblings, 7 of which died at infancy. She completed her education at the Hillsboro Academy.

The Montgomery News characterized Sophronia as having a deep interest in keeping up with current events in the newspaper. Sophronia was a regular churchgoer and the first member of the Lutheran church in the Bost Hill community. People who knew Sophronia described her as having a cheerful nature. During the Civil War, Sophronia was in correspondence with many soldiers from Southern Illinois- some suitors and some family. One suitor, Eli Cress, married Sophronia on May 24th, 1866. They had one child, Howard Eli Cress, in October 1867. Eli died in January 1871 at the age of 33. Sophronia’s mother, Sarah Cress, lived to be 99 years and Sophronia lived to be 90.

Sophronia was a fixture of life in Montgomery County, known for her knowledge about the Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I. She was well prominent enough that her death widely reported in local newspapers.