Family Records of Schuyler County, Illinois (2024)

William Roswell Brines
[From the research of, and contributed by, Jonathan Brines]
William Roswell Brines, known as Roswell, was considered one of the earliest pioneers of Schuyler County, Illinois, and became a 19th century tanner, farmer, and stockraiser. Described as a "remarkable man" by a newspaper report Roswell served in an Indian War with Abraham Lincoln and sought gold in the California Gold rush. Roswell was born 13 May 1806 in Greene County, New York one of 12 children to Edward Brine(s) Jr (1767-1820) and Patience Cook (1771-1855) who were tenant farmers on land in whatis today Prattsville, NY. As a toddler he traveled with his family to Allegany County, New York where he spent his childhood. His family lived in Caneadea, an Indian word meaning, "where the sun rests on the hills." The area had hills, valleys and woodlands with the Genesee River running through it. When he was a young lad in Allegany County he learned a trade as an apprentice for five years learning how to tan animal hides, a process for transforming game animal skin into durable leather for use in thehousehold.
When he was eleven his family moved yet again taking flatboats down the Ohio River, on a dangerous 600 miles adventure to the frontier of Illinois Territory. His parents settled in what is today Wabash County, Illinois. When he turned 21, he left home to seek his fortune further west in the newly formed Schuyler County, Illinois. Schuyler County was created in 1825 from Pike and Fulton counties. He allegedly arrived with his brothers Asahel and Russel Brines on 26 Dec 1826 at a time when there was allegedly only"one log hut" and wild animals and occasional Indians roaming the countryside. The Illinois River was frozen over at the time the men arrived to enter the territory. History records the three Brines brothers worked all day cutting the ice so they might float and cross the 2,000 foot span in a flat boat. It worked and the three stayed as land owners in Schuyler County for several more years before going their own ways.
Roswell was said to be in the Chadsey Settlement until he could get a foothold locating in T. 2 north, R. 1 east, according to a history book. Roswell put his tanning skills to use and made a business of it on the frontier near Pleasant View.
Roswell married Delilah Norton on 14 Aug 1828 in Schuyler Co., Illinois. They were pioneers as their union was recorded as only the 14th such ceremony in the history of Schuyler County, IL. Delilah was the daughter of John and Jemina Norton. In 1832 Roswell served in the Black Hawk War in Captain William C. Rall's Company. He did not see battle against the Black Hawk Indians, as far as history records, but rather buried the dead with Capt. Abraham Lincoln's Illinois unit. A local publication alleges Roswell andthe future president "knew each other intimately in those pioneering days," it read in part: For service to his country in that emergency he received 120 acres of bounty land. The first 40 acres - was in Marshall County, Iowa. The rest was in Harrison County, Iowa - Boyer Township. It appears Roswell immediately signed his land warrants over to other individuals and chose to stay in Schuyler County for the rest of his life.
Roswell and his family were one of few who were brought into close contact with a cholera epidemic of 1834 and escaped its contagion. It had caused so much death in Schuyler County that year there was not enough living to bury the dead.
Later Roswell became caught up in the Gold rush fever sweeping the nation after the 1849 discovery in California. Roswell joined his brother Jefferson, son Henry and nephew James Madison Brines on a trip across the continent to California to seek their fortune. He panned for gold on the Folsom River near Sacramento, California with scores of other fortune seekers from around the country. Family lore has it that he found gold, returned home, and purchased land with it. That land remains in the family possession.There is no evidence the others found anything. It is unclear what relationship he had with them before or after the gold rush. Roswell may have also owned land in Cass County, Illinois. Roswell spent the rest of his days as a farmer in Schuyler County. In just 25 years in 1850 his 320 acres farm was worth $2,000. According to records, he had 4 horses, a mule 5 milking cows, 2 oxen, 6 cattle, 30 sheep, 22 swine for a livestock value of $430. He managed to grow 350 bushels of wheat, 1,000 bushels of Indian Cornand 250 bushels of oats and make 150 lbs of butter that year. He had help on the farm. According to their family bible records Roswell and Delilah were the parents of 12 children; Martha Brines-Curry, Elizabeth Brines-Strong, Henry E., James R., Andrew J., George Washington, Louisa "Lou", Jeminah, Harriett, Civilla Ann, John Thomas and Ermine Prentice Brines-Reeves.
By 1880 the farm was worth $15,600 and $800 worth of livestock including 15 horses, 6 mules, 5 milking cows, 20 swine, 25 head of cattle and 56 chickens in the barnyard. He produced $1,180 of farm product including 500 lbs of butter, 600 dozen eggs and 20 bushels of buckwheat, 500 bushels of Rye and 500 bushels of beans, 196 lbs of broom corn. He also produced 50 lbs of maple sugar and 10 gallons of molasses. A newspaper report from 1896 indicates Roswell had about 1,000 acres of land throughout Schuyler andCass Counties.
He was a member of the Christian Church in Pleasant View for three decades and at one time took in orphan children from the Jordan family.
He had retired from active farming about 15 years before his death. Just a week before he died Roswell helped dedicate a new edifice of the church, which he was a trustee and charged with keeping the house. His obituary mentioned "paralysis laid him low" which might indicate Roswell suffered a stroke.
At the age of 90, Roswell died 9 Jul 1896 at his home in Pleasant View, Schuyler Co., Illinois two and 1/2 miles from Frederick Township. His wife died just ten days later. Roswell tried to obtain his military pension, but he did not received it before his death. (His name was spelled Bryant on the War records, possibly a typo). It was granted to his wife Deliliah July 17, 1896, however, she died 3 days after it was granted.
They are buried together at Messerer Cemetery in Schuyler Co., Illinois. Reportedly Roswell left his estate to his son John and three area spinsters. The rest of his surviving children and grandchildren received one dollar each.
[The sources used to compile this bio include: US Census Records, 1850 & 1880 Federal Non-Population farm schedules, Alton Daily Telegraph August 1, 1889, Early Day Settlers 1918 by Howard F. Dyson, Obit in the Rushville Times newspaper July 16, 1896, The Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, 1882 By W.R. Brink & Co p64, p281-282 p379, Illinois Marriages 1790-1860/Schuyler County Marriage Record 1828, Ancestry.com, US General Land Office Records 1796-1907 and additional research providedby Linda Conrad Brines. "Golden Anniversary" Rushville Times Feb 6, 1911, "William Roswell Brines" Beardstown Star 1896 article on, Federal Land Grant information 09-20-1854 & 05-10-1859, Ancestry.com]

Angeline Willis Carder
This history of great great-grandmother Angeline Willis Carder was written from oral history of my grandmother Julia Carolina Carder Whited, Great Aunt Elvina Sarah Carder Crisp (Aunt Vine), and their cousin, Lydia Carder Sullens. They told me what their Grandmother Angeline told them when they were just young girls. Angeline was born 1829 in Illinois. We traced her life through census, marriage, and a few other records. The rest is from oral history. Aunt Vine had heard several stories from Angeline that goback to when Angeline lived in Illinois. Aunt Vine did not know how old Angeline would have been at that time. One of the stories was of Angeline, her family and neighbors preparing to leave their settlement and relocate, somewhere across a river. An ole Indian found out somehow of their plans and he alerted his tribe which surrounded and captured them. They hacked a neighbor man and woman up badly, cutting the woman's breasts. After the torment was over, the old Indian rose up and started making awful noises.Another story is about the Willis family's neighbors who were captured by hostile Indians. A friendly tribe they knew and lived by, crept quietly in during the night and rescued them. Aunt Vine said that while Angeline lived in Illinois, she lived by some sort of water, lake, etc. All of Angeline's grandchildren said she never talked about her family. Lydia Sullens says once Angeline was crossing a river in a boat, she had her little dog with her. Angeline was very concerned for the little dog's safety.

Angeline was a fleshy woman weighing approximately 200 pounds. She wore her dresses long, buttoned all the way up front, gathered all around with bask waist. These dresses had pockets that she carried candy in. Her dresses usually contained of ten yards of material. She smoked a little clay pipe which had a cane stem. It was called a stone pipe. The tobacco she grew herself was very harsh. My grandmother would light her pipe with a hot coal from their fireplace many times. Angeline dropped ahot coal on grandmother's neck when she was a baby. Grandmother still has the scar to this day.

Lydia said that grandmother was Angeline's pick of grandchildren and that she depended on her. Grandmother would stroke Angeline's hair for hours at a time. Angeline also taught grandmother how to make cornbread. According to their marriage record, Angeline and Benjamin Carder were married in Manchester, St. Louis County, Missouri in 1846. Benjamin served in the Gasconade County Regt. in the Civil War in 1862. While Benjamin was fighting for the union, Angeline and children were aloneat home. Benjamin told her if bushwhackers gave her trouble not to fight them or they would kill her. She would hide food, meat, and cloth on top of their house from the bushwhackers. Angeline lived with grandmother's family. John, grandmother's father, was the youngest child. Later, she moved in with her other son, Simeon. And, finally, moved in with her other son, Abraham, where she was living at the time of her death in 1912. She was buried in Green Mountain Cemetery in Mountain Grove, Missouri. [Compiledby Willam C Raney, sub. by Carol Longwell Miller]

Henry Jacob Derry
[Written and submitted by Dick Derry]
Henry was born on the Derry farm by Ray, IL. After 5th grade of school he had to quit to work on the farm so his brother and sister could go to school. One Halloween he and several boyes took a wagon apart and reassembled it on top of the Macomb water tower. He worked for a tile company in Macomb, IL. for $.75 a day he and a helper had load delever 3 load of tile to Colchester, IL. In the late 1930 he drove a truck and picked up milk for the Bowen milk plant. Later he became plant manger. In about 1943 we movedto Rushville, IL where he was forman of Cuttahase milk factory in the cheese reprocessing area. they had a goverment contract which keep him out of the service durring WWII. Other jobs he had in Rushville where in the meat locker, delevered milk from Peoria for Sealtest, worked in timber, cutting logs, Bartlows meatpacking plant and for Ralph Knowles in Strip mines. First of 1950 our house burnt. We moved to Roseville, IL, where dad worked as a farm hand until summer of 1953. We then moved to Brooklyn, IL. onthe Tolley farm, on center ridge, where he share croped. In 1955 we moved south of Brooklyn on Dr. Camps farm where he got flooded out 3 years in a row, from 1957-1960. In the fall of 1960 he bid on a Star mail route. This job he had until he died in 1966.

George Washington andBryant Garrett
Submitted by Carol Britton

James William Hawkins
Researched by William (Bill) Lamb and Dennis W. Lamb
Data as of Feb 5, 2007
Born 1844 -Died 1903

James William Hawkins was born on March 13, 1844 near Meeksville bridge in Camden Township, Schuyler (pronounced Skylar) County, Illinois. He was the second son and fourth child of Alexander Hawkins and Elizabeth (Betsy) Justus Hawkins. He attended the old Linn school and then worked at farming.
On August 12, 1862 at the age of 18 he enlisted in the Union Army as a private. He served three years in Capt. Josiah Stack's Company F of Col. Thomas J. Kinney's 119th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteers. The Regiment moved into the field that fall to Columbus, Kentucky where they first saw combat before moving on to Jackson, Mississippi. Over that first winter much time was spent near Union, Mississippi but by May of 1863 the regiment had moved into Memphis and joined the 4th Brigade of the 5th Division, 16thCorps Commanded by Major General S.A. Hurlburt. The Brigade was composed of the 58th Illinois, 21st Missouri, 89th Indiana, 119th Illinois Volunteers, and 9th Ohio Battery. This organization stayed together until the end of the war. The history of the 119th is documented in the Illinois Adjutant General's Report for the years 1861 through 1866 on Regimental and Unit Histories. The Regiment remained in and around Memphis until 1864.
In January of 1864 the 4th Brigade, including the 119th Illinois, moved down the Mississippi to Vicksburg, Mississippi and then marched with Sherman's army to Meridian, Mississippi. They engaged in skirmishes along the way but finally "met the enemy" between February 14th to the 20th and took Meridian, occupying the town. They returned to Vicksburg before embarking to Simsport on the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana to enter General Nathaniel Banks Red River Campaign. On March 14th they captured Fort De Russeyalong with 283 prisoners and 10 guns. Union forces lost 48 men. They then marched to Alexandria, Louisiana. The Brigade advanced on Shreveport and joined the second day of battle at Pleasant Hill on April 9th. They then provided the rear guard for the retreat back to Alexandria and then back to Simsport. At Mansura (Smith's Place) near Marksville south of Alexandria they had routed the enemy in a skirmish on May 16th but then were attacked at Yellow Bayou by a large force on May 18th. The Brigade lost 360 menduring a desperate fight but a strategic victory resulted. After 40 days "in the sound of enemy guns" they crossed back over the Atchafalaya and General Banks was replaced.
The Brigade next moved back up the Mississippi to Arkansas in the Expedition to Lake Village. They landed at Lake Chicot and successfully engaged a Rebel force under the command of Confederate General John S. Marmaduke on June 6th in the "Old River Lake" battle while suffering 180 casualties. The Brigade again moved up river, disembarked back at Memphis on June 24, transported to Lagrange, and were joined by the 122nd Illinois to avenge the Guntown disaster. On July 5th they started their march through Mississippi,meeting Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest at Tupelo on July 14th. The combat was face to face and several advances, charges, and retreats resulted in 1,948 Union deaths before victory was attained on July 15th. On the return to Memphis they marched through Holly Springs to the Tallahatchie without interference but Forest out flanked them and made a raid on Memphis.
Although under orders to report to Sherman in Georgia the Brigade was diverted to St. Louis to reinforce that area as it was coming under enemy pressure. While assigned at St. Louis they made a march of 700 miles attempting in vain to intercept the Confederate General Sterling Price. They reached the Lamine River, moved on to Dunksburg fording rivers in October since all bridges had been burned. The Brigade reached Big Blue river to late to assist in the fight at Byram's Ford, although they could hear the battleas the enemy was routed and Price retreated. They then returned to St. Louis.
From St. Louis they again moved down the Mississippi and then up the Cumberland to Nashville, arriving on December 1. On December 15 they attacked and after two days of battle chased a retreating enemy over Granny White Pike. They marched through Franklin, witnessing the carnage of that recent battle before camping south of town. The Brigade moved on through Columbia and crossed the Duck River without meeting Confederate General Hood's forces that had been "effectually dissipated". They were then able toenjoy Christmas and New Years.
In early 1865 they transported from Clifton, on the Tennessee River, to Eastport, Mississippi. They were at that time ordered down the Tennessee, back down the Mississippi and arrived at Algiers across from New Orleans in late February. They came under the Command of General Canby with orders to move on Mobile, Alabama. They camped in an old sugar house in the shadow of the monument to the Battle of New Orleans. From there they embarked the boat Fairchild, met up and transferred to the ocean going steamer GuidingStar and landed at Dauphine Island off Mobile Bay about March 12, 1865. They moved to the mouth of the Fish River on March 21. The Brigade moved on Spanish Fort on March 27 enveloping by April 1st and capturing it on April 8th. On April 9th the Brigade was at the front of the assault on Fort Blakely. Union casualties were 629 and Confederate casualties were 2,900. Three members of the 119th earned the Congressional Medal of Honor that day including a member of James' Company F, John Whitmore. This battle wasbasically the last combined force battle of the war.
On the very day of the battle at Fort Blakely General Robert E. Lee was surrendering At Appomattox. However, the "rumor" did not catch up with the Brigade until about April 19th. In route to Montgomery, Alabama they received the "official word" to much celebration. The Brigade spent several weeks at Montgomery. They marched north again reaching a point about 100 miles above Mobile before being transported back to Mobile on the Ship Osborn. They were mustered out in August 1865.
The Regiment made its way back up the Mississippi and on to Springfield, Illinois where they were paid off and returned to their homes.
James was now 21 years old, had spent a full three years in the Union Army, participated in 13 of the 384 major battles of the Civil War, and had seen numerous hardships. Although James was never wounded in service he had contracted the measles in March of 1863 and spent time in an Army hospital at Humboldt, Tennessee, again at Buntyn Station near Memphis, and then yet again at a general hospital at Jackson, Tennessee. The after effects of the measles, particularly near total blindness to his right eye, wouldplague him the rest of his life and provide a small pension.
On return to civilian live James took up farming near Doddsville, Schuyler County, Illinois.
On September 12, 1867 James W. Hawkins and Martha McKinney were married by a Justice of the Peace in Schuyler County, Illinois. Martha was born in Pennsylvania about 1846 and was the first of four children of Irish parents, John and Jane McKinney. Sometime in 1869 and certainly by the time of the enumeration of the Census in July of 1870, James and Martha had moved to Kansas near the Missouri border. They are found in Olathe, Shawnee Township, Johnson County along with one year old Oliver, their first child.Oliver was born in Illinois. James had become a broom maker and Martha was keeping house. Although James was listed as the Head of Household no ownership of real estate is indicated.
James and Martha had two more children, Emmaletta Lettie born in December of 1870 in Kansas and John Alexander Hawkins born in 1875 also in Kansas. According to a biography published in 1898 James spent five years in Kansas. The family was back in Illinois when Martha died but the date of her death is not certain. The 1898 biography states she died on April 22, 1876. However, an affidavit by her brother quoting the family bible states that she died in April 1877. The cause of death is not known but she was onlyabout 30-31 years old. She was buried at the Pennington Cemetery west of the town of Industry in McDonough County, Illinois where her parents continued to live. That is an area just north of Camden, Schuyler Co., Illinois. James filed for a disability (invalid) pension in December 1876 at age 32 as a resident of McDonough County listing his occupation as farmer. The claim was based on the effects of the measles he had contracted as a soldier. James was also in the Town of Industry in October 1878 when he filedone of many additional Pension affidavits.
After the death of Martha, the children apparently were looked after by relatives at various times. James did not remarry until 1899. In the 1880 Census the only James Hawkins matching our subject is found in Morgan County, Illinois living as a boarder and working as a farm laborer. Two of his children are found with relatives. Oliver who was 12 in 1880 has not been located in the Census. Nine year old Emma is found on June 17th living with her Grandfather Alexander and his fourth wife Elizabeth Crampton Hawkinsin Browning Co., Illinois. Emma is also found in the same census that same month with James' sister, Mary Ann Hawkins Sorrells in Morgan County, Illinois near her father. This is the first instance in which a member of this Hawkins family appeared twice in the same Census, moving between enumeration dates. Six year old John is found with another Aunt, Lettie Jane Hawkins Aulgar and her family in Industry, McDonough County, Illinois. James had served in the same Regiment and Company with Lettie Jane's husbandJohn Milton Aulgar. In December of 1888 James was a resident of the Town of Ashland, Cass County, Illinois.
Unfortunately the Census of 1890 was almost entirely destroyed by fire. On the other hand there was a special Census of Veterans that year and James shows up in Clarence, Shelby County, Missouri. It is not clear what attraction Shelby County held for some members of the Hawkins clan but James' younger brother George was enumerated there in 1880. The attraction was clear for James' son Oliver who married a Shelby County resident in 1889. According to an affidavit related to his pension filed in 1892 James wasback near his birth place in Schuyler County. By 1896 James had moved to Brooklyn, Schuyler County, Illinois where he carried mail between Brooklyn and Rushville, the Schuyler County seat. As of the date of that information in 1898 he had logged 12,800 miles carrying the mail. Also at that time in 1898 daughter, "Miss" Emmaletta, was reported at her father's home charged with the household duties. Son Oliver was living in Ashville, Ill with his wife and four children. Son John had departed for WashingtonState in 1896 and was apparently the first of this Hawkins line to make eastern Washington his home.
James remarried in 1899 on August 19 in Schuyler County. This second marriage was to Sarah L. Harris who was born in Indiana and was 50 years old. Sarah was married first to David Dorrell in 1870 and had two sons and three daughters. Sarah was also married a third time after James' death to another Civil War Veteran, William Swiger. Sarah became Mrs. Swiger in 1909.
In 1900 James is found in the Pennsylvania, Mason County, Illinois Census living with his new wife Sarah and four of his new stepchildren on a farm he apparently owned. This Census was enumerated on June 22. Just a couple of weeks later on July 6 and 7 the Census was enumerated in Stevens County, Washington State. James is found in that enumeration with all three of his natural Children on a 160 acre farm owned by his youngest son, John. According to an affidavit filed by Sarah, James was induced to deed hisproperty to his children, regretted the decision, and went west to convince them to make him an allowance. He was then going to send for her. She claimed this trip west took place in 1903 and they had lived together up until then. Many inaccuracies and contradictions are found among her many sworn statements in attempts to collect James' pension after the death of her last husband. They include at least three different dates for their marriage and the claim they were living together when the Census proves hewas in Washington State. She was eventually successful in getting James' "widow's pension" after Mr. Swiger's death in 1913. Sarah died in 1929 still in Illinois. Among the confusions was her claim that James William went by the name William. The war department could not find a William Hawkins. There is some other testimony that James did use his middle name, although only an occasional official document used his middle name or initial and none exclude his first name. The official correspondence took yearsto resolve various questions and is a classic example of a frustrating bureaucratic process fed by a widow who could not get her facts in order.
James was at his son's farm near Gray, Stevens County, Washington when he died on July 9, 1903 at the age of 59. The cause of death was "heart disease with dropsy". His son Oliver prepared his obituary. It states that James was buried under the auspices of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union Army Civil War Veterans). It also states that he was buried in the Springdale (Stevens County, Washington State) Cemetery. In 2006 inquiries were made to verify the location of the grave.Cemetery records were lost in a fire and no tombstone exists at the Cemetery although no other cemetery meets the description of a "Springdale Cemetery". The actual bill of sale for a doctor's services, new burial clothing, and casket have been located. No receipt was found from the cemetery, however.
No picture has been found of James. The only picture of a sibling is of Lettie Jane Hawkins Aulgar in a Schuyler County Genealogy publication called the Schuylerite. There are descriptions of James from his Army physical examination and various pension related examinations. James was described as anywhere from 5 foot nine inches to 5 foot 5 inches tall and 160 to 139 pounds with fair hair, fair complexion and blue eyes. He seems to have grown shorter and lighter over the years and as his ailments progressed.
James eldest son Oliver, spent the remainder of his life in small eastern Washington towns starting newspapers, finally settling in Hillyard, a railroad town later annexed by Spokane. He and his wife Lieuvenia Hopper had nine children, only five of which survived to adulthood. Our grandfather, Harold P., was the second of these offspring. Oliver died in 1928 in Spokane.
Some of "Miss" Emmaletta's life have recently been found. She seems to be living alone at the time of the 1910 Census in Horse Heaven, Benton Co., Washington. She was a farmer and the head of household without any other household members but claimed to be a bit younger than her actual 40 years. In 1914 she was married in Cheney, Spokane Co., Washington at age 44 to a widower named Sylvester Russell Mock, a descendent of German immigrants. Mr. Mock had at least 5 children by the previous marriage and Emmais found living with Mr. Mock and some of the children in Cheney, Washington in the 1920 Census and in Portland, Oregon in the 1930 Census. It does not appear she had any children of her own. Death records in Oregon state that Emma Lettie Mock died in Portland, Clackamas Co., Oregon on February 5, 1945. She was 75 years old.
Youngest son, John Alexander Hawkins apparently never married. After farming 160 acres about one mile south of Gray near Springdale, Stevens Co., Washington he become a real estate agent in Washington and then California. John died in Kern, California at age 66.
Work continues to identify missing aspects of James' life and to confirm his final burial site. It is hoped that a military tombstone can be provided.

Lovey Perkins Henson
Lovey Perkins Henson was a very self-sufficient and independent Ozark mountain woman. She was very adept in all the skills attributed by pioneer women of that time. Lovey was a very good cook. She made cornbread, homemade butter and buttermilk. She was also a good hand with quilting and fine stitching. She made most of her family's clothes from homespun sheep's wool. They kept their own sheep. When spring came they would shear the sheep, clean and card the wool. She would then dye the wool in various colors fromsuch things as roots, berries and tree bark. The wool would then be spun on the spinning wheel into thread. Finally, from the loom they kept on the front porch of their cabin, she would weave the thread into clothing and rugs. Lovey was a very religious woman. She and her husband attended the Freewill Baptist Church, until it was destroyed by fire. Then, they attended the Holiness Church. She often cared after the sick and doctored her family with various wild plants. Lovey died in 1917, and was buried besideher husband in Green Mountain Cemetery, Green Mountain, Missouri. [Compiled by William C Raney oral history from Grandmother Julia C Whilted; sub. by Carol Longwell Miller, 15 March 1999]

Julia Ann Ward Hindman
Julia Ann Ward born 28 December 1834, in Eldersville, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and died in Rushville Township, Schuyler County, Illinois, on 15 April 1915. She was the eleventh and youngest child of James and Nancy Hamilton Ward. As a young girl, she converted under the ministry of Reverend John Stockton, and later was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Rushville. On August 2, 1853, she married Thomas Harrison Mathews in Florence, Pennsylvania. They had one child, Lemonia 'Mona' Mathews. In 1857,the Mathews family settled in Rushville, Illinois. There, in 1873, Thomas Mathews passed away. Julia married her second husband, Samuel Blair Hindman, on 8 November 1876, at the home of James A. Teel. Julia and Samuel Hindman had two children; Rumsey Winona, who died in 1881, and June, who became the wife of Lee Roudebush. Both Julia and Samuel Hindman are buried in the Rushville City Cemetery. In 1909, on her 75th birthday, Julia, or Aunt Julia as she was known by her friends and neighbors, was given a birthdaycard shower. In her own words... "The post card shower given me by some friends on my 75th birthday was the most refreshing shower I ever was in, and was a surprise to me. One hundred & fifty eight cards being received. I did as Moody said he did one time - just went down on my knees and asked our Father in heaven to write all their names in his book of life." [Submitted by Robin L.W. Petersen]

Maj. Benjamin Hinman
[Source: A Catalogue of the Names of the Early Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut, by Royal Ralph Hinman, Published 1852, page 858-860]

HINMAN, MAJOR BENJAMIN, son of Dea. David, who was son of Benjamin, Jr., grandson of Benjamin, sen'r, and great-grandson of Edward Hinman, sen'r, of Stratford, m. Anna Keyser, July 8, 17S7, dau'r of Capt. John Keyser, near Little Falls, N.Y., who was a prisoner about 3 years during the war of the Revolution. Major Benjamin Hinman d. April 7, 1821, at Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, on a journey from Utica to New Jersey. Anna, his widow, is yet living, and resides at Rushville, Illinois, in the 85th year of her age. Their children :

1. John Edward, of Utica, b. June 9, 1789.
2. Benjamin, Jr., Esq., b. Jan. 37, 1794 ; never m. He d. at Hinmanvule, Oswego county, New York, August 9, 1844.
3. Col. John Jay, b. May 7, 1798.
4. Gen. William A., b. July 11, 1802. lives in Rushville, Illinois.
5. Maranda. b. August 4, 1806; d. July 11, 1807.
6. Annis, b. Dec. 10, 1815; m. at Rushville, Illinois, Dr. Thomas Monroe, Oct. 5, 1841; (he was b. in Maryland) he resides at Rushville, a physician of rare eminence. They have children, viz., 1. John Hinman Monroe, b. August 14, 1842 ; 2. Thomas, Jr., b. Oct. 26, 1844; 3. James Edward, b. Jan. 34, 1847; 4. Mary Anna, b. Dec., 1848; 5. Hinman, b. July 21, 1852. Dr. Monroe and his family yet reside at Rushville, Illinois.

Major Benjamin, the father of the above family, was b. at Southbury, Conn., and remained there until his manhood. He was engaged in most of the war of the Revolution, in various capacities, as captain, assistant commissary, waggon-master, aid to Gen. Green, &c., and in other responsible stations in the service of his country. He was one of the 13 commissioned officers from Woodbury, with two of his brothers, Asa and Ephraim, who were in the service by the name of Hinman, including Capt. Elisha, of New London, who was captain of ships of war. Major Benjamin removed from Woodbury to Little Falls, N. Y., during or soon after the war, and settled near the Mohawk river. His wife was b. on the farm where Fort Keyser was built. He afterward purchased and removed to Utica, where he lived several years previous to his decease in 1821.

HINMAN, COL. JOHN E., of Utica, son of Major Benjamin and Anna, is now living at Utica. He is a man of strong mind, quick perception, firm, determined, and resolute in all his projects, whether it be in religion, business, or politics. And if, like Gen. Jackson, he declared "by the Eternal" his project should be effected, he generally succeeded in his object. Though he has devoted much of his life to the accumulation of wealth, he has his traits and streaks of charity, and among his family and friends he uses it often with no sparing hand. Though his father in middle life had a competency, yet toward the close of his life much of it had passed beyond his control; and when he died, he left his wife and five children, and not,a large estate for their support at Utica. Col. John E., then about 16 years of age, and the eldest of the children, like a man of maturer years, being blessed with good sense, and a share of energy that few of his age possessed, took charge of the family, sustained his mother, educated his brothers and sister; two of them as lawyers. He was sheriff's deputy under James S. Kipp, Esq., as high sheriff in Oneida county, from 1813 to 1820. He was quarter-master of the 134th regiment of militia in 1813, and high sheriff from 1821 until 1831, except one term. He was elected Lieut. Col. of a regiment in 1821, which he resigned, after he received the appointment of sheriff the same year, of Oneida county. Since which he has been honored by two or more elections to the responsible office of Mayor of the city of Utica, and held various other places of trust, all of which have been performed to the satisfaction of his friends and constituents. Col. Hinman m. Mary, dau'r of G. C. Schroppel, Esq., deceased, of New York, Nov. 27, 1827. Mr. Schroppel was early one of the wholesale tea merchants in the city of New York, by which he accumulated a large fortune. He d. in the city of New York, and was interred in St. Mark's church-yard. Col. Hinman and his lady reside in the city of Utica, without children. He is one of those men ardent for his friends, open and frank with his enemies, and never yields an opinion until satisfied he is in error.

HINMAN, COL. JOHN JAY, Esq., son of Major Benjamin and Anna, b. May 7, 1798, m. at Rushville, Illinois, Huldah M. Sturtevant, April 11, 1842 ; she is a sister of Professor Sturtevant, of Jacksonville, Illinois, and of the Fairfield county Sturtevants, in Conn. He read law at Utica, and was admitted to the Bar in the State of New York, and a few years after removed to Rushville, Illinois, and followed his profession for a few years, and then went into the milling and flour business; and afterward, about three years before his death, removed with his family to Ottoway, Illinois, and commenced merchandizing. Col. John Jay d. at Ottoway, Illinois, Oct. 5, 1849, and was there buried. He d. of cholera four days after the death of the last of his five children. His grief at the loss of all his five children, produced on himself the cholera; and thus died a man of as pure a heart as ever lived; and the only survivor of that once happy family was his widow. Children:

1. Anna Keyser, d. August 21, 1846 ; buried at LaGrange Farm, Brown county, Illinois.
2. John Jay, Jr., d. at Ottoway, of scarlet fever, May 11, 1849.
3. William A. Hinman, d. at Ottoway, May 19,1849, of scarlet fever.
4. Grace A., d. at Ottoway, of cholera, Sept. 30, 1849.
5. Jay S. Hinman, d. at Ottoway, of cholera, Oct. 1, 1849.
His widow Huldah resides at Beardstown, Cass county, Illinois, single.

CAPT. BENJAMIN, JR., son of Major Benjamin, an older brother of John Jay, Esq., b. 1794; resided most of his life at Utica, New York. He was a magistrate, captain of a company, &c., and never m. He d. at Hinmanville, Oswego county, New York, August 9th, 1844, when a young man, and had only reached middle life.

GEN. WILLIAM A. HINMAN, b. July 11, 1802, son of Major Benjamin, of Utica, was educated a lawyer at Utica, where he was admitted to the Bar, and where he followed his profession a few years. But his ambition either for wealth or fame induced him to visit Illinois in 1832, and he never returned, but located himself at Rushville, Schuyler county, Illinois, where he now resides. He has dealt largely in new farms in that neighborhood, and has become wealthy. He m. at Jacksonville, Illinois, Grace A. Kingsbury, Feb. 4, 1843, and resides in Rushville; has children, John Edward, b. Nov. 14, 1843 ; Edward M. C., b. April 10, 1847.

MARANDA, dau'r of Major Benjamin, b. August 4, 1806 ; d. 1817.

ANNIS, dau'r of Major Benjamin and Anna, of Utica, b. Dec. 10, 1815, was m. at Rushvillc;, Illinois, to Dr. Thomas Monroe, (b. in Maryland,) Oct. 5, 1841, and have children, viz. :
1. John H., b. August 14, 1842.
2. Thomas, Jr., b. Oct. 26, 1844.
3. James Edward, b. Jan. 23, 1847.
4. Mary Anna, b. Dec. 18, 1848.
5. Hinman. b. July 21, 1852.
Dr. Monroe resides at Rushville, in the practice of his profession, with his wife and family.

Ruth Irene Agans Kearby
The Thomas Kearby family lived in Huntsville Township for many years. When I first knew them they lived on the Jim Davis place which is just west of my place now. They had five children; Vernice married Winnie Agans; Margaret married Otto Skiles; Gladys married Willard Sailor and lives in Elkhart, Indiana; and Lawrence in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the year of 1926, Fred and I were married and we had one son Gene. He and Virginia Bilderback had four children; Terrill, Trudy, Sherri, and Konnie. Terrill marriedSue Rodgers and they have two sons, John and Brent. Trudy married Greg Veach and they have a daughter, Heather and a son, Justin. Fred and I started housekeeping in Camden Township and later in 1928, we moved to the place which was called the Wysong Place. It was the home at one time of Cornelia Wysong but that was several years before we moved there. When we moved to this place it belonged to the Illinois Bankers Life Association. We lived there until the house burned in 1945. After that we bought the farm knownas the William 'Billy' Dutton place. But we bought it from Joe Utter. During the time we lived on the Illinois Bankers farm and this present one, Fred was supervisor of Huntsville Township for twenty four years. I know it is different now, but how well I remember the calls he made and the orders he wrote out for the needy people in the township. But that was part of his job and he did it well. During most of these years I taught school. I taught at Erwin, Davis, Washington, Piney Grove, South Prairie, Cane Hill,and the Primary room at Huntsville, until the school closed and all the children were sent to Augusta and I went with them. The other teachers who taught at Huntsville when I did were Ansel Hare, Grace Ambrosius, and Karen Eaton. The cooks were Mrs. Myrtle VanOrmer for several years then Fern Moore. The janitors were Bill Tweedell and later Maurice Hare janitor and bus driver too. Since Fred's death, which was caused by an overturned tractor, I still live here in the big house and try to carry on and do the thingsthat I believe he would want me to do. After I retired from teaching in 1973, I started a Nursery School for three, four, and five year olds. I had had it in Augusta until this year 1982, and I converted my big front room into a nursery school and it's working out real well. I suppose I will continue to do this as long as my health permits and parents want to bring their children to me. [Submitted by Ruth Kearby]

Elizabeth C. Garrett Kruse
Elizabeth C. Garrett, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Garrett and Susanna Weigart Garrett was born in Jamestown, Russell County, Kentucky, 16 April 1825. In the year 1837, her father's family, in the company of Jonathan Patteson family, moved to Schuyler County. They traveled down the Columbia and Ohio Rivers on a flat boat and up the Illinois River by steam-boat, landing at the old town of Erie, between Beardstown and Frederick. She was united in marriage on 3 Dec 1843, to Franz Henri Dierk Kruse, the son of DierkSontkin Gordes Kruse and Hiske J. Miller Kruse. The day following their marriage the couple went to housekeeping in a cabin in the woods, two miles east of Rushville, at which place she has lived continuously ever since. To this union was born seven children; Martin Luther Kruse, dying in infancy; Mary Ellen Kruse, dying after reaching young womanhood; James K. Polk Kruse, George Washington Kruse, Susanna Hiske Fruse (Greer), Franz Henry Kruse, Dora K Kruse (Matthews), Mary Elizabeth Kruse (Bradley).
Elizabeth C. Garrett Kruse made a profession of faith and religion in early life and was baptized in the Illinois River by Barton W. Stone, one of the early pioneer preachers of the Christian Church of Rushville. Later in life, in company with her husband, she transferred her membership to the Church of Christ. Mother Kruse comes from a long lived family, her mother and oldest brother living to the age of 92 years. She is a woman of remarkable constitution and endurance and has retained her faculties to a remarkabledegree and is the last of her father's family of eight children, all of whom lived to be heads of families. She is probably one of the last of the pioneers who settled near Rushville in the thirties. (1830) [Rushville Times [no date or page noted] Submitted by: Carol L. Wolf Britton]

MASON Family
[From the Research of, and Contributed by, Pat Mason Harris]

Thomas Mason
Thomas Mason, son of Isaac Mason and Partheanea Hall was born February 25, 1792 in Davidson, Tennessee, died December 31, 1837 in Schuyler County, Illinois. He married Eleanor Thurston Guthrie who was born January 5, 1801 in Davidson, Tennessee, and died February 22, 1878 in New Lancaster, Miami County, Kansas. Their son William Edward Mason was born June 12, 1840 in Illinois and died January 31, 1922 at the Old Soldiers' Home in Quincy, Illinois.

Edwin "Clem" Clement Mercer
[Lyons News, December 13, 1984]
Grandfather served at Larned Outpost - A Kansas dream while soldiering by Carolyn Sayler

Photo Captions:
1. Mrs. John Buller is among descendants of soldiers who have contributed to the history of Fort Larned National Historic Site.
2. Edwin Clem Mercer found his dream in Kansas while soldiering at Fort Larned. At 19 he was a veteran of the Civil War and Sherman's march to the sea.
The captain's quarters will be festively decorated. At Fort Larned National Historic Site, staff members will dress in uniforms and gowns of the 1860's to greet visitors at an open house Saturday.
The event is considered "living history," based on research and information from 220 descendants of soldiers located during the past eight years. In re-creating a Christmas party of 1868, the staff has decorated the parlor in Victorian style, and will use its square grand piano for caroling Saturday evening.
Among descendants who have furnished bit of family history to park archivists is Mrs. John (Viola) Buller, granddaughter of one of several thousand soldiers who served at the fort from 1859 to 1878. Because of her ancestor's brief but significant assignment following the Civil War, she long has been interested in the outpost and its resurrection from oblivion into a national historic center.

Edwin Clem Mercer was 19 when he arrived at the fort in 1865 with members of his Illinois Cavalry company who had marched with Serman to the sea. The youth had joined the Union Army at the age of 17.
With other soldiers accompanying wagon trains to and from the fort Mercer camped at a spring and became so fond of the spot that he began to think of it as a homestead, Mrs. Buller said.
The young infantry man, discharged six months later, returned to Illinois and six years passed before he was able to pursue the dream. He and his wife and three children traveled to Kansas in a covered wagon
Mrs. Buller said that her grandfather acquired his homestead near Pretty Prairie by timber claim, planting cottonwood saplings from the Ninnescah River. The lad was granted in a document signed by President Rutherford B. Hayes.
The family had been in Kansas only three years when the grasshopper plague of 1874 descended upon settlers. Mercer determined to stay, but sent his wife and children back to Illinois by train. Mrs. Buller remembers her grandparents telling of the decision, and believe that her grandmother and children departed from Hutchinson. A fourth child, a daughter born in Illinois in September, returned with them the following spring.
Mrs. Buller's father, Martin Sherman, named for his father's general was the first child born in Kansas. The spot her grandfather selected as a soldier was the site of two dugouts and then a home with additions made during the years for the family of nine. The farmstead now graced by 110-year-old cottonwoods has remained in the family for five generations, Mrs. Buller said.
Significant to a nation, deeply personal to one Kansas family, Fort Larned on Saturday will offer a sampling of that heritage in holiday package for area residents.

Family carries on Rich Farm Tradition
[Hutchinson News - Wed., Nov. 12, 1986 - Page 2A]
Photo Caption: Above, Edwin C. Mercer, an Indian scout and Civil War Veteran, and his wife, Hatty, began a family tradition back in the 1870s when they homesteaded 160 acres near Pretty Prairie. Today the Mercers' descendants remain on the same homestead. At right, the current residents of the homestead represent six generations of the family line. They are, from left to right, C. Darrell Treaster, Mr. and Mrs. John Buller, Dolly Mercer, Mrs. Mark Treaster, sons Andrew and Matthew Treaster. The farm has been in the same family for 114 years.

Pretty Prairie - Forget Mother Goose.
Matthew Treaster, 5 son of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Treaster, prefers just one bedtime story.
"Tell me the story of Edwin Mercer, " he is apt to tell his father, a teacher at Prairie Hills Middle School, near Hutchinson.
Edwin C. Mercer was Matthew's great-great-great grandfather, a Civil War veteran and an Indian Scout who homesteaded the land where Matthew, his 3-year-old brother, Andrew, and their parents now live.
The farm, 6 1/2 miles northwest of Pretty Prairie, has been in the same family since 1872 - 114 years, and Matthew and Andrew represent the sixth generation on the farm.
Edwin C. Mercer, who was born in Illinois in 1845, joined the Army at 17 and, as a corporal in Company D, 17th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, was involved in Geo. Sherman's march to the sea during the Civil War.
After the war, he was sent to Fort Larned. Troops stationed there rode out to provide safe passage for wagon trains coming west out of Fort Scott.
Mercer scouted for Indians along the way and often camped beside a spring between what are now Pretty Prairie and Partridge.
According to Mercer's granddaughter, Mrs. Viola Mercer Buller of Lyons, Mercer was impressed by that campsite.
"He thought, 'When I get out of the Army, I'm going to see if I can homestead this piece of land.' He was discharged Dec. 12, 1865, at Leavenworth and returned to his parents' homes at Bader, Ill.
"It wasn't until 1871 that Mr. Mercer started to make his dream come true." Mrs. Buller said. "With his wife, Hetty Mae Schisler, whom he married April 8, 1866, and three children, they started for Kansas in a covered wagon."
When they forded the Mississippi River, the load was too heavy, Mrs. Buller said, "so grandfather threw grandmother's chest with all of linens, silver and many things she treasured overboard.
"Grandma said she cried when she saw it floating down the river. I don't think she ever quite forgave him for it."
The Mercers arrived at the southwest quarter of Section 26 in Township 25, south of Range 7 West in February of 1872, the same year the city of Hutchinson was founded.
They constructed a dugout that measured 12 by 16 feet and had a buffalo hide for a door. During the first years, they ate plants and wild game. For example, Mrs. Buller said, they used sour clover to make mock lemon pie, they picked dandelions for greens and ate wild onions.
Buffalo hunters took skins and horns and left carcasses in the area. During the second year, Mercer gathered up buffalo bones and hauled them 21 miles to Hutchinson, where he traded them for supplies. The bones were used to make bone meal.
"Grandma Mercer told the story about three Indians who came to their house and begged for food," Mrs. Buller recalled. "While she was fixing some food for them, Grandpa sat with a rifle in his hands, watching them."
In 1874, she said, grasshoppers "ate the clothes off the line, stripped the grass, ate everything in sight. They couldn't see the sun at times, because of the clouds of grasshoppers."
Mercer refused to give up and go back east, but his wife and children went back to Illinois until the following spring. A fourth child was born while she was still in Illinois.
A second dugout, consisting of two rooms, was built and it was in that dugout that Mrs. Buller's father, Martin, was born Dec. 13, 1877.
Eventually, a two-room house was constructed on top of the dugout and more rooms were added later. Mercer died in that home Christmas Day, 1928. His wife, Hetty, died May 3, 1933, and both are buried in Lone Star Cemetery near Pretty Prairie.
Mrs. Buller's father, Martin was the second generation to live on the farm in the house close to parent's home.
Edwin had been on the first school board for Riverton District 61, and Martin took his place. Martin's son, Loys "Slim" Mercer, was on the school board until the district was taken into the Pretty Prairie School District.
Martin was killed by an electric shock while fixing telephone lines after a July 31, 1919 storm.
The farm is still in a trust, held by Loys' widow, Dolly, who is Mark Treaster's grandmother and who now lives at Pretty Prairie.
Loys was Mrs. Buller's brother. Loys and Dollie had one daughter, Carol, who married Darrell Treaster. Carol was reared on the home place, but did not live there after she was married.
She died in 1972 and her husband has since remarried. He lives in Hutchinson, where he works for R.E.I.B., but he farms the home place, raising wheat and milo.
The younger Treasters have sheep and chickens and hope to get into the cattle business later on.
Mark Treaster is in his fourth year at Prairie Hills, where he teaches seventh and eight grade in learning disabilities.
"My family lived in Kansas City until I was 10 or so and then we lived in Hutchinson. I grew up right by Union Valley School.
The home farm had been rented out for about 16 years, until Treaster and his family moved onto it about four years ago.
"My mother (Carol Mercer Treaster) was an only child. What's going to happen is that it (the farm will be passed along to future generations.)
"I think it was my grandfather's dream that we would continue owning the land. I mentioned to him once about the possibility of living there and he said, "you could live there tomorrow if you wanted to."'
His son, Andrew, is too young to understand the history of the Mercer farm, but Matthew is enthralled by it.
"Matthew loves the farm and he already says he wants to be a farmer," Treaster said.
"We have a neighbor who remembers Edwin. He's in his 70s now and he was 5 years old when he knew Edwin."
The neighbor is a living link for Matthew with his great-great-great grandfather, and he is awed by the fact that there is someone alive today who knew the old Indian Scout.

George F. Owen
[from "Memories of Great Big Grandmother, Agnes Bertha Clarke Babco*ck, handwritten notes" From: Carol Bentley]
George F. Owen was lieutenant in the Civil War. He also played the fife in the band. Well do I remember the day he came home in 1865. He rode out from town with neighbors and as he came across the meadow from the road we children were playing in the yard and how excited we were when he came in the yard. His blue uniform, his knapsack across his shoulders and carrying his flute. He belonged to the band and was a lieutenant. The excitement was great. I was three but remember it well. We all loved to hear him play on his fife.

- Joel married Sophia Huck. They have two boys: Thomas and John. Carlyle married Beatice Ross. They have two daughters. Beryln married Lois Treadway. They have one daughter, Jill. Norma married True Bates. They had one daughter, Sally. Elizabeth never married. Geneive and Norma are deceased. [Written by Margaret Kolp]

William Robertson
William Robertson, the son of Daniel and Mary (Skiles) Robertson, was born in 1780 in North Carolina. His father was born in Scotland and sailed from Scotland to America; he journeyed Philadelphia, North Carolina and Kentucky. He died in his journey and his wife, Mary Skiles Robertson completed their trip to Kentucky and there she raised their children.

In 1826, William Robertson came to this county and became the first white settler in Browning Township, his brothers and sisters later followed him here. He built a cabin in Section 16 beside a spring of fresh clear water. He was skilled in woodcraft and found an abundance of wild game, bee trees, and hard maples from which to make sugar. He made frequent trips down the Illinois River to St. Louis, in his canoe where he marketed his produce. He established friendly relations with the Indians who were his nearest neighbors. He often slept in their wigwams. His nearest white neighbor was six miles away between Pleasantview and Rushville.

Soon after coming to Illinois, William met and married Elizabeth Kirtlin {Kirland}; they were married in 1820 {1830}. He was 40 years old, she was 18. They were the parents of nine children, who grew up in the community. Four sons were in the Civil War. One son had moved to Texas and fought in the Rebel army; two others were in the Union army.

The year of William's marriage to Elizabeth, 1830, occurred an event that early settlers always remembered - the big snow. Snow began falling in late December and it snowed off and on for about a month. It was 3 ½ feet in the timber where there was little drifting, and 10 to 12 feet deep on the drifted prairies and hollows. The snow stayed on about three months while the mercury ranged from 10 to 20 {degrees} below zero.

William and Elizabeth were the parents of 9 children - George, John, Alexander (Alec), Katie, Daniel, Alan, Joel, Sarah, and Malcolm. William died in 1876 at the age of 96 years; He may be {IS}buried in Ridgeville Cemetery.

From History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois 1682-1882, page 63-4:
About six or seven miles west in what is Browning township we find another settlement, which was made the same spring {1826}, by William Robertson. He came from Kentucky, though he was a native of North Carolina, and was attracted here by the quantities of game which then abounded. Then selecting a site for his cabin, he discovered an excellent spring of water on section sixteen of T. 1N, R. 1E. , Where he located and continued to reside until his death, in 1866. Robertson was very fond of hunting and trapping, which he followed for several years. There were quite a number of Indians, of the various tribes, then in the county, and he frequently joined in the chase and slept in their wigwams. Bee trees were very plentiful, and he once took a barrel of strained honey and peddled it out among the settlers in Morgan county. He dried the hams of the deer, and frequently floated down the river to St. Louis in an Indian canoe with a load of them where he found a ready market for their sale. He came here a single men, but was early married to Elizabeth Kirklin {Kirkland}, Esquire Isaac Lane, officiating. Of his sons living, George resides in Texas, Alexander and Joel on the old homestead, and Malcolm in Macon county of this state. end.

page 94:
Ninth Board of Supervisors 1862-1863: Hickory Township, William Robertson.
Tenth Board of Supervisors 1863-1864: Hickory Township, William Robertson.

Page 110: Early Marriages
Lic. #73; Lic. Date: Mar. 18, 1831; William Robertson to Betsey Kirkland; By Whom Married: Isaac Lane, Esq. ; Date of Marriage: Mar. 21, 1831. {Esquire = as a designation for "Justice of the Peace"}.

Page 308-309: Browning Township, Schuyler County
The first settlement in the township was made in the year 1826, by William Robertson; he was a native of North Carolina; he came to Schuyler county from Kentucky, attracted by the quantity of game that then abounded here, and settled in the southeast quarter of section 16. His nearest neighbor was six miles distant in the Chadsey settlement. After he had built a cabin in the wilderness, by an excellent spring of water, which is still there, he engaged principally in the pursuit of hunting, of which he was very fond. Honey was very plentiful, and Mr. Robertson could stand in the doorway of his cabin and point out a dozen bee-trees. This article of traffic, together with the venison hams, he used to carry to St. Louis in an Indian bark canoe. The Indians were quite numerous in those days, and he used to hunt with them, frequently stopping in their wigwams. By his intercourse with them he bacame quite familiar with their language; he was a short, stout man and his great strength and endurance enabled him to bear the hardships of the hunter;s life which he loved so well; he was married to Elizabeth Kirklin, Esquire Isaac Lane officiating. Nine children were reared as the fruit of this marriage, five of whom are now living --- George in Texas; Alexander in Browning, on a portion of the old place;Joel on the old homestead; Sarah, wife of William E. Walton, in Missouri, and Malcolm in Macon county, Illinois. end. [History of Schuyler County, Illinois; Pub. 1983; pages 502-504]

MALCOLM ROBERTSON
by Sara Hemp <cryssara@merr.com>, who is descended from Malcolm's brother, William's son, Joel, administer of probate.
{clarifications by Sara Hemp}

Died July 27, 1892 - born 1798
Schuyler County, Illinois

Malcolm Robertson died in Schuyler County, Illinois July 27th, 1892 Intestate and unmarried and childless, leaving surviving him the descendants of his seven brothers and sisters {only ones have descendants?} (so far as is now known). The figures {number} opposite each name indicates the degree of relationship {no number beside brothers and sisters}.

PROBATE RECORDS - with genealogical information added

John {1} Robertson, deceased brother of Malcolm

1 Samuel Robertson, deceased son of John {1}
2 George S. Robertson, Beutley, Kansas, son of Samuel
2 William H. Robertson, Aurora, Missouri, son of Samuel
2 Alice Wetzel, Chicago, Illinois, daughter of Samuel
1 John {2} Robertson, deceased son of John {1}
2 T. P. Robertson, Aurora, Missouri, son of John {2} Robertson
2 W. W. Robertson, Aurora, Missouri, son of John {2} Robertson
2 John G. Robertson, Aurora, Missouri, son of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Mary Rickman, of Indian Creek, Carroll County, Arkansas, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Amanda L. Shoekley, Crop Timber, Hickory County, Missouri, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 James M. Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas, son of John {2} Robertson
2 Joel Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas, son of John {2} Robertson
2 Daniel Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas, son of John {2} Robertson, minor
2 Mrs. S. J. Cantrell, Spencer County, Missouri, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Nancy E. Looper, Reedy, Crawford County, Arkansas, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Martha Garenette?, Marinville, Missouri, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Susan Carroll, Frisco, Arkansas, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 L. P. Harrold, Frisco, Arkansas, daughter of John {2} Robertson
2 Mrs. Sarah M. Brown {?surname}, residence not found, daughter of John {2} Robertson
1 Mrs. Wilmoth Poindexter, Grand Prairie, Texas, daughter of John {1}
1 Young A. Robertson, Grand Prairie, Texas, daughter of John {1}
1 Daniel Robertson, deceased son of John {1}
2 Charles M Robertson, Grand Prairie, Texas, son of Daniel
2 Nancy W. Gray, Grand Prairie, Texas, daughter of Daniel

William Robertson, deceased brother of Malcolm
1 George Robertson, Grand Prairie, Texas, son of William
1 John {3}Robertson, deceased son of William
2 George S. Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of John {3} Robertson
2 Ruth Walton, Browning, Illinois, daughter of John {3} Robertson
2 Rachel Kelso, Table Grove, Illinois, daughter of John {3} Robertson
2 William M. Robertson, Astoria, Illinois, son of John {3} Robertson
1 Alexander Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of William
1 Nancy C. Reno, deceased daughter of William
2 Robert Lee Reno, Elizabeth, Colorado, son of Nancy Reno
2 Lizzie Falwell nee Reno, deceased daughter of Nancy Reno
3 Ralph Falwell, 14 years, minor, Olden, Howell County, Missouri, son of Lizzie Falwell
3 George Falwell, 12 years, minor, Olden, Howell County, Missouri, son of Lizzie Falwell
3 Lila Falwell, 10 years, minor, Olden, Howell County, Missouri, daughter of Lizzie Falwell
3 Charles Falwell, 8 years, Olden, Howell County, Missouri, son of Lizzie Falwell

H. C. Falwell, appointed guardian of children of Lizzie Falwell
1 Allen Robertson, deceased son of William
2 Curtis Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of Allen
2 James Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of Allen
2 William Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of Allen
2 Carrie Skiles, Browning, Illinois, daughter of Allen
1 Joel Robertson, Administrator, Browning, Illinois, son of William
1 Sarah Walton, Roanoak, Missouri, daughter of William
1 Malcolm Robertson, Browning, Illinois, son of William

PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given to the following named persons as the surviving heirs at law of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased, viz.:
-- The descendants and heirs of JOHN ROBERTSON, deceased, brother of said MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased - GEORGE S. ROBERTSON, WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON, ALICE WENTZEL, T. P. ROBERTSON, W. W. ROBERTSON, JOHN G. ROBERTSON, MARY RICKMAN, AMANDA L. SCHOCKLEY, JAMES M. ROBERTSON, JOEL ROBERTSON, DANIEL ROBERTSON, S. J. CANTRELL, NANCY E. LOOPER, MARTHA GAROUETTE, SUSAN C. CARROLL, L. L. HARROLD, SARAH M. BROWN, MRS. WILMOTH POINDEXTER, YOUNG A. ROBERTSON, CHARLES M. ROBERTSON, NANCY W. GRAY, W. W. BRANNON, ALEXANDER H. BRANNON, JOEL Y. BRANNON, JAMES D. BRANNON, HENRIETTA LEDBETTER, MARY WILSON. -27 heirs.
-- The descendants and heirs of SARAH JONES, deceased, a sister of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased-LEWIS JONES, THOMAS J. JONES, NANCY E. PUGH, LYDIA GREER, WILLIAM LANGSTON, MAHLON LANGSTON, CHARLES A. KIMBALL, LARKIN LANGSTON, LIZZIE LANSTON, LAWRENCE LANGSTON, ELI LANGSTON, GRACE LANSTON, MARVIN HOLLOWAY, GRACE W. HILL, THOMAS J. JONES, JOHN H. JONES, JAMES A. JONES, LEWIS W. JONES, ISAAC N. JONES, EMMA J. SMITH, SAMUEL H. JONES, COLUMBUS L. JONES, ALEXANDER JONES, LYDIA A. ENGLISH, RACHEL TRUETT, SARAH E. MYRICK, WILLIAM BATTY, SARAH BATTY, ROBERT BATTY, DANIEL R. BATTY, WILLIAM W. JONES, DANIEL R. JONES, WILLIAM JONES, FRED JONES, JOHN JONES, CLARA JONES and BERTHA JONES-37 heirs.
-- The descendants and heirs of WILLIAM ROBERTSON, deceased, a brother of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased---GEORGE ROBERTSON, GEORGE S. ROBERTSON, RUTH WALTON, RACHEL KELSO, WILLIAM M. ROBERTSON, ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, ROBERT LEE RENO, RALPH FOLWELL, GEORGE FOLWELL, LEILA FOLWELL, CHARLES FOLWELL, CURTUS ROBERTSON, JAMES ROBERTSON, WILLIAM ROBERTSON, CARRIE SKILES, SARAH WALTON, MALCOLM ROBERTSON and JOEL ROBERTSON, administrator-18 heirs.
The descendants and heirs of ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, deceased, a brother of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased - ELIZABETH CRABTREE, JESSIE M. SHARP, MARTHA J. PAWKINSON, GEORGE A. ROBERTSON, HATTIE A. DRAKE, CAROLINE A. DRAKE, HATTIE A. DRAKE, PEARL A. DRAKE, GEORGE D. DRAKE, FLORENCE DRAKE, HOWARD ROBERTSON -11 heirs.
-- The descendants and heirs of HUGH ROBERTSON, deceased, a brother of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased - NANCY PEERS, EDWARD PHILLIPS, MAMIE E. HAYNE, HORTON L. ROBERTSON, HUGH ROBERTSON, WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON - 6 heirs.
-- The descendants and heirs of RACHEL TURNER, deceased, a sister of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased -ALLEN R. TURNER, MARY A. MOORE - 2 heirs.
-- The descendants and heirs of MARY JOHNSON, deceased, a sister of MALCOLM ROBERTSON, deceased - JOSEPH J. NICHOLS, MARY A. FARNER, E. J. NICHOLS, ALICE MOUYER -4 heirs.

October Notice of Final Report.
John C. Bagby, Atty.
Bring first duly sworn states, that the heirs at law of Malcolm Robertson, deceased, so far as the Administrator and officant have been able, after full inquiry to find is as follows:

The heirs of John Robertson, deceased (a brother)
George S. Robertson, Beattey or Beuttey, Kansas
William H. Robertson, Aurora, Lawrence Co., Missouri
Alice Wentzel, Chicago, Illinois
T. P. Robertson, Aurora, Lawrence Co., Missouri
W. W. Robertson, Aurora, Lawrence Co., Missouri
John G. Robertson, Aurora, Lawrence Co., Missouri
Mary Rickman, Indian Creek, Carroll Co., Arkansas
Amanda L. Schockley, Crop Timbers, Hickory Co., Missouri
James M. Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas
Joel Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas
Daniel Robertson, Frisco, Arkansas, a minor
Mrs. S. J. Cantrell (Lawrence Co) Spencer P. O., Missouri
Nancy E. Looper, Reedy P. O., Crawford Co., Arkansas
Martha Garouette, Marionville, Missouri
Susan C. Carroll, Frisco, Arkansas
L. P. Harrold, Frisco, Arkansas
Sarah M. Brown (not found after careful search)
Mrs. Wilmoth Poindexter, Grand Prairie, Texas
Young A. Robertson, Grand Prairie, Texas
Charles M. Robertson, Grand Prairie, Texas
Nancy W. Gray, Grand Prairie, Texas
W. W. Brannan, Grand Prairie, Texas
Alexander H. Brannan, Grand Prairie, Texas
Joel Y. Brannan, Grand Prairie, Texas
James D. Brannan, Grand Prairie, Texas
Henrietta Ledbetter, Grand Prairie, Texas
Mary Wilson, Grand Prairie, Texas
27 heirs

That there (so far as known) constitute The heirs now living on Malcolm Robertson, late of Schuyler Co., Illinois, deceased. That now reside in it's state except those who's P. O. address is ?????? in this state. And that the names and address of each heir is correctly given above, that said Administrator and this officant have had personal knowledge or acquisition through the Post office with all of the except David R. Jones, a grandson of Sarah Jones, deceased and with Sarah M. Brown, a granddaughter of John Robertson, deceased, neither of whom (after diligent inquiry) cannot be found and further says not.
John Bagby, Attorney for Administrator

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 24th day of August 1894., A. P. Rodewald, Clerk
Taken from Probate records of Malcolm Robertson with {info added by Sara Hemp} His heirs were the children and grandchildren of his siblings.

George Skiles
George Skiles was in War of 1812: File WC 5504 TN

B. A. Johson along with brother William and sister Susan Migrated together with George. George was in the the war of 1812. He entered in Tennessee under Col. James Raulston, Capt Mathew Cowan, inf. He was 2nd LT. in Capt. Cowans CO. at the Battle of New Orleans. 1800 moved from Green Co. TN. to Jackson Co. TN. in 1816 moved to IN; KY; Wayne Co. MO. and Schuyler Co. IL in 1825. Erected first mill on Sugar Creek.

Minutes of Feb. session, 1797, Green Co. TN. Minestry of the court of common please, 1797-1807; Georg Skiles enters into bond with John Skiles his security in the sum of three hundred dollars for the maintenance of a bastard child of Jane Grahm. 1 dollar paid.

According to Elva Combs: "George Skiles was a native of Maryland and arrived in the county Dec 2, 1826, settling on the 16 section on Rushville twp.. (about 2 miles NE of the town Rushville.) He had lived in Tennessee, and from that state he was with General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. In the fall of 1816 he went to Indiana; subsequently he removed to Kentucky, where he remained until 1819, when he went to Missouri. From this state he came to Schuyler county bringing with him a family of 11 children, seven of whom are still living (1882) four daughters and three sons; John lives in the town of Browning, James R. in McDonough county, and William C. in Nebraska. All three are ministers of the gospel. George Skiles held the first corner's inquest ever held in the county- - - over the body of George Everett, shot and killed by James Morgan. - -"

"The pioneer perhaps suffers less from almost every other cause than from insufficient mills to grind the meager harvest won from the primitive soil. The subject of mills, therefore, engaged the early attention of the first settlers, George Skiles, David Wallace, and Alfred Wallace set to work vigorously and erected the first mill in Sugar Creek in section 2 (between the Skiles farm and Rushville). It was a rud log structure and was at first merely a sawmill. Two burrs, one for wheat, and one for corn, were added in 1831. The dam was constructed of logs and dirt and portion of it yet remains. - - In 1831 they up and down saw and did quit a lumber business. In the spring of 1829 Thomas Justus, brother- in- law of George Skiles, built a combined saw and grist mill above the Skiles mill."

"The first religious society in the county was a Methodist Episcopal Church organized in Aug. 1826. Members included William Skiles, Catherine Justus, Rebecca Skiles, George Skiles, Polly Skiles, James Justus, John P. Skiles, Elizabeth Skiles, Moses Skiles, Matilda Skiles. Other Skiles mentioned are 2 other Johns, 2 James, Betsy, Harvey T,. and another William.

[From "The Schuylerite", vol 10 #2, p 57 Schuyler Co. Hist. Soc.: Bruce A. Johnson's records show that George Skiles died Harlen Co. NE. , while burial is in Old Ridgeville, near Bader, Browning Township, Schuyler Co. IL.
FROM: Bruce A. Johnson; Stephen L. Bulter; Gloria June Danner Ator]

Edward Young
[The following was written by Edward Young and typed from hand written notes left in his desk by daughter, Betty Adair]
Born: January 10, 1889 -- Died: March 10, 1987

I was born January 10, 1889 at the Northwest Quarter of Section 30, in Eldorado Township in a two-room log house with a lean-to kitchen. Father and Mother's bed stood in the front room. Under their bed was a trundle bed which could be rolled out at night-time and be pushed back under in the day-time. A little ladder led to a scuttle hole in the ceiling which my two older brothers, Willis and Orrie, would climb to sleep in the loft. I have heard them say that in the snowy weather they would haveto shake the snow off their covers before they could get up.
My mother passed away there February 12, 1893 when I was four years old and sister Grace was coming six years; Orrie, 11 years; and Willis, 13 years. Father's sister, Olive Young, came to stay with us. Father also kept a hired girl to help with the work. After Mother passed away, Father would often rock me singing "I have anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I will sail the wide seas no more, the tempest may wave o'er the wild stormy deep …." (Haven of Rest). Father never went to church but was alwaysready to take anyone who wanted to go. Grandfather Young was a Quaker and belonged to the Friends Church.
In the spring of 1894, Father moved from the farm in Eldorado Township to the Dick Pennington farm north of Industry, later owed by Bert Pennington. On September 4, 1894, father married Marilla Belle Wilson and to this union one child was born, Sister Nellie Young. At the age of six, I started spring term at the McGaughey School, north of Industry. While on the Pennington farm, Father lost one of his best horses and all of his hogs with Cholera. He stayed there two years then moved to the Henry Garrison farmsouth of Industry where Archie Pennington owned and lived. Father got started raising hogs again and had a nice bunch (I think in 1897). He was offered $.025 for them so he bought corn from the neighbors for $.15 a bushel and kept them over until the next spring; then, sold them for $.03 lb. That was in Grover Cleveland's time.
I remember the first steam engine I ever saw while we were living on the Garrison farm. Uncle Ed Wilson and Zenith Moore came with a small clover huller and a little upright steam engine. One team of horses was pulling the engine and another team was pulling the huller. It took several days to pull the clover as the engine and huller were both small and hulling the clover did not go very fast.
Father always raised his own wheat for flour; cane for molasses; and buckwheat for pancakes. I remember going to Vermont with him on a sled and we had it piled full on the back with wheat and buckwheat to have ground into flour for our bread and pancakes. He hauled the cane to Industry to the molasses mill that Uncle Lu Kerr had ran on the corner where John Heaton lived. Uncle Lu made us a barrel of sorghum molasses. About half of it went to sugar and Father had to take the head out of the barrel so we couldget the molasses out. The molasses was used on the table and also to make taffy and popcorn balls.
Geneva Clugston (born sixteen days after me) and I started to Runkle School where I finished. We hadn't met since that time until in our late 90's at the Elms Nursing Home in Macomb. Her name was Geneva Gorsuch. My sister, Grace, and I would walk to Runkle School and every now and then we would see Darius Runkle riding a horse. We thought he was a fine old man. I remember him well. One evening, I think it was in 1896, Father was summoned to the Runkle home. Mr. Runkle was very sick and passed away that night.I remember going to the funeral with my folks. The corpse was in a spring wagon or hack and everyone else was in surreys, wagons or whatever they had. Darius was George Runkle's father.
In the spring of 1899, we moved to the Gardner farm southeast of Industry. It consisted of 240 acres. That was the spring Uncle Ely Young was killed. Nellie's mother, Marilla, passed away in May of that year. Again, Aunt Olive came to stay with us and a hired girl helped with the work. I remember that spring we had a big snow in April and we kids built a snowman south of the house. I have a picture of it and we four kids, Willis, Orrie, Grace and me taken on April 14.
We had quite a few fruit trees on the farm and a lot of apple and peach butter and preserves were made as well as canning the fruit. I have known Father, when we had no cellar, to dig good-sized holes out in the garden, line them with straw, fill one with apples, one with potatoes, and one with cabbages. He would cover them with straw and mound them with dirt. In the winter we would chop a hole in the side and reach in for apples, potatoes or whatever we wanted at the time. Then we would stuff the hole with strawand it would be ready for the next time. The apples were the best flavored that you ever tasted.
I think about that time threshing was done with steam engines and a straw stacker was pulled behind the separator. It was called a traveling stacker and two or three men would be on the straw pile to build and shape it up. One man stood on the front of the separator and fed grain by hand into the separator. Usually two boys, one on each side of the man feeding, cut the bands. I have seen a lot of this done but I was too short when I was a kid to reach the table.
Next a blower was installed on the back of the separator and that was the end of the traveling stacker. After so many years came the self-feeder and that was the end of the hand-feeding and hand-cutting. For several years they threshed with steam engine and separator, then came the combines which are still in use yet today.
While living in Flat Woods, Uncle Ely Young was killed; Uncle Morgan Young passed away; Nellie's mother passed away and Grandmother Young passed away. She was John Young's third wife. On February 7, 1900, Father married Carrie Victoria Kimble and to this union one child was born, brother James Ira Young.
Also, while living in Flat Woods, Father raised a large number of Chester White hogs; black Angus cattle; and, black chickens.
Uncle George Young with his son, Forrest, and Father and I would take a wagon to Beardstown to get melons. We would park in a grove of pecan trees and sleep under the wagon on the ground that night. The next morning we would load up melons and start home.
When I was about 15 years old, a neighbor boy died and I was asked to be a pallbearer. On a very cold morning, several of us started for lpava on horseback. There were no funeral homes then.
I helped Father farm until the spring of 1910 when I was 21 years of age. I was going to work out that summer. Orrie was working by the month for Ed Burnham getting $25 per month. My brother, Willis, was farming the Dood's farm down by Doddsville and he asked me what I would take to work for him. I told him that Orrie was getting $25 per month and that was what I would like to have. He said OK, he would give me that and I hired out to him. All other hands I knew of were getting only $20 per month.
Along that summer Bert Messmore came down from Macomb. He was in charge of renting the farm. He had been to see Willis who had been sick most of the summer but wanted to rent the place for another year. Mr. Messmore came out to the field where I was working and asked me if he did rent to Willis and if Willis was not able to farm, would I take over the farm and see that it was farmed. I told him I would and I worked the year through for him and shucked about 80 acres of corn by hand by myself. I was going withAnna Standard all of that summer. She was born in Section 19 of Eldorado township joining the farm on the north of where I was born. On December 24, 1910, we were married and took over the farm for the next year of 1911. About a week after we were married, on December 31, 1910, Willis passed away with tuberculosis.
(Ed and Anna had six children and were married 57 years when she passed away February 2, 1968 at the age of 73. Ed lived to be 98 on January 10, 1987 and passed away on March 10, 1987.)
Betty Adair (5th of 6 children) March 24, 1987