Sangamon County, Illinois - The whole text, 1876 (part 23 of 31)

George Power and his wife now - 1876 - reside near Cantrall, Sangamon county, Illinois, where he settled in 1821. He has held civil and military offices, among which are the following: Commission from Governor Ninian Edwards, dated Sept. 15, 1827, as Major of the 25th Reg. Illinois Inf., under the old military laws. He was commissioned, June 4, 1831, by Gov. Reynolds, as 2nd Lieut, of a company of mounted volunteers, in the Black Hawk war. He has an old commission as justice of the peace, from Gov. Edwards, dated July 25, 1828. For the same office from Gov. Reynolds, Sept. 3, 1831. From Gov. Joseph Duncan, Aug. 27, 1835. From Gov. Thomas Carlin, Aug. 27, 1839. From Gov. Thos. Ford, Aug. 14, 1843; the whole covering a period of nineteen years, as justice of the peace. He built the first frame house in Sangamon county north of the Sangamon river. He commenced business in Sangamon county with a total cash capital of five dollars. He has now a stock farm in one body of two thousand acres. His family vault cost five thousand dollars, is situated on the farm where he resides. It was built soon after the death of his son, Judge William D. Power. His remains were the first placed in it.

POWELL, ABEL, was born June 28, 1785, in Virginia. He was married in Bath county, Ky., Sept. 13, 1806, to Dorothy Mitts. They emigrated to Pickaway county, Ohio, where two children were born, and moved to Sangamon county, 111., arriving June 27, 1828, in what is now Fancy Creek township. Of his two children -

PRENTICE. - The Prentice family in Illinois descended from Thomas Prentice and Grace, his wife, who came from England in 1648. There is a tradition in the family that he served in the army of the Commonwealth, and was one of Oliver Cromwell's Life Guard. However that may be, soon after he came to this country, "in 1656, he was chosen Lieutenant of a troop of horse, and chosen Captain in 1662." The brilliant exploits of the "old trooper" are fully recorded in Hubbard's history of the early Indian wars. He settled in Newton, Massachusetts, and died there in 1709. The stone is still there which marks his grave, and bears the following inscription : " Here lies ye body of Capt. Thomas Prentice, dec'd July ye 7th, 1709, in ye 89th year of his age." His death was caused by a fall from his horse, while returning from church on Sunday. Capt. Thomas Prentice and his wife, Grace, had eight children, one of whom was Thomas Prentice, Jun., who was born in Newton, Mass., Nov. n, 1649, and who married Sarah Stanton, Jan. i, 1675. They had four children, one of whom was Samuel, who was born in 1680. He married Esther Hammond, and in 1709 moved to Stonington, Conn. They had nine children, one of whom was Saumel Prentice, jun., who was born Nov. 25, 1702. He married Abigail . They had thirteen children, one of whom was Amos, who was born April 24, 1748, and who married Anna Owen. He was a physician, and was for some time Surgeon in the Revolutionary army. He resided in New London, Conn., at the time that town was burned by the traitor, Arnold, and lost his residence, drug store, and very near all he had, by that act of vandalism. After the close of the war he removed to Milltown, on the Susquehanna river, near the spot where the little city of Waverly, N. Y., now stands, and died there, July 19, 1805. Dr. Amos Prentice and his wife, Anna, had five children, one of whom was John Owen Prentice, who was born in Groton, Conn. Dec. 25, 1776. He married Rachel Swain in 1799, emigrated to St. Clair county, 111., in 1816, and died at his residence, at Cold Spring, Shelby county, Jan. I, 1838, leaving seven children. The following are their names, with the dates of birth: Charles, born in iSoo; Owen, in 1802; Amos, in 1804; Harriet, in 1809; Julia, in 1814; William Swain, in 1819; and James B., in 1821. We will continue the history of but one member of this family : -

Prentice, William

PRENTICE, WILLIAM SVv^AIN, was born May 21, 1819, in St. Clair county, Illinois, moved with his father to Hillsboro, in 1827, and in 1829 to Shelby county, both in the same State. In 1836 he was employed by his brother, Col. Charles Prentice, who was Register of the Land Office at Vandalia. After the death of his brother Charles, in 1837, he was employed as chief clerk in the office of the Auditor of Public Accounts, and removed with the seat of government of the State of 111., from Vandalia to Springfield, in 1839. Wm. S. Prentice was married in 1842, in Springfield, to Martha A. Wash, sister to Milton H. Wash. See his name. She was born Jan. 8, 1823, near Rnsselville, Logan county, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Prentice had six children, namely -

ELLEN, born March 25, 1848, in Shelbyville, 111., was married May 6, 1868, in Springfield, to Albert E. Peppers. They have two children, LULA and ALBERT PRENTICE, and reside in Detroit, Michigan.

In 1849 Wm. S. Prentice entered the ministry, in connection with the Methodist Episcopal church. He spent two years preaching at Paris, two years at Danville, two years at Carlinville, one year at Quincy, and one year at Jacksonville, all in Illinois. In the autumn of 1857 he was appointed Presiding Elder of Springfield District, where he served one term of four years. He was then four years Presiding Elder of Jacksonville District, three years pastor of the Second M. E. church of Springfield, and again four years as Presiding Elder of Springfield District. He is now - 1876 - near the close of a four years term as Presiding Elder of the Decatur District. Rev. Mr. Prentice was a delegate from Central Illinois Conference to the General Conference of the M. E. church, which convened. in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1860. He was again a delegate to the General Conference that assembled in Brooklyn, N. Y., in May, 1872; also to the General Conference at Baltimore, Md., in May, 1876. He received the honorary degree of D. D. from the Illinois Wesleyan University, in Bloomington, June, 1876.

From the time Rev. Wm. S. Prentice became Presiding Elder in 1857, his home has been, and is now, in the city of Springfield, Illinois. - August, 1876.

Preston, Ebenezer

PRESTON, EBENEZER, was born in 1786, in Cape May county, N. J. Mahala Tomlin was born April 7, 1789, in the same county. They were there married, about 1809, and had nine living children in New Jersey. The family moved to Sangamon county, 111., arriving Oct. 1 6, 1839, on Richland creek. Of their nine children -

EBENEZER, Jun., born May 14, 1821, in New Jersey, married February 15, 1849, in Sangamon county, to Catharine Greene, who was born September 22, 1827, in Greene county, 111. They have two living children - ALMEDA married Robert Corson, have two children, MINNIE B. and CYNTHIA c., and live in Cartwright township. JULIA A. lives with her parents, three miles northwest of Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois. - 1874.

PRICKETT, DAVID, was born Sept. 21, 1800, in Franklin county, Georgia, and came to Edwardsville, Madison county, 111., in 1816. He graduated in the law department of Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky., in his twenty-first year, and was admitted to practice at Edwardsville, Nov. 15, 1821. He was Judge of the probate court of Madison county, and in 1826 was elected to the General Assembly of Illinois, at Vandalia. In 1831 he was aid-de-camp to Gen. John D. Whitesides, iu the Black Hawk war. David Prickett was married Jan. 24, 1834, at Tremont, Tazewell county, 111., to Charlotte G. Griffith, who was born May 9, 1806, in Chester county, Penn. She was a sister to Mrs. Hannah G. Opkycke, and daughter of Dr. Thomas Griffith, of Tremont, who was formerly of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Prickett moved to Springfield, 111., in 1835. They had five children, all born in Springfield. Susan, the youngest, died in infancy. Of the other four -

THOMAS G.y born in Springfield, was elected city attorney three times, was elected alderman from the third ward, is now - 1876 - a member of the city council, is a practicing lawyer, and resides with his mother in Springfield, Illinois.

Hon. David Prickett was the first reporter to the Supreme Court of Illinois, having been appointed to that office as soon as it was created. He was elected, by the General Assembly, State's Attorney for the judicial circuit of Illinois in 1837. In 1840 he was Treasurer of the Board of Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In 1842 he was appointed a director of the State Bank of Illinois, on behalf of the State. He was assistant clerk of the House of Representatives of Illinois at the time of his death. He was a man whose integrity was above suspicion, very genial, rich in anecdote, addicted to witticisms, frequently pointing them against himself. Every public man of Illinois knew him to speak kindly of him.

PRIEST, JOHN W., was born Oct. 1 8, 1809, in Pomfret, Windsor county, Vermont. He was taken, in 1816, by his parents, to Parishville, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he was married, Aug. 27, 1835, to Alice Wakefield. They moved at once to Montgomery, Alabama, and in the fall of 1836 to Columbus, Miss., where he engaged in the manufacture and sale of tin ware. Mrs. Priest died there, May 14, 1840, leaving one child :

Mr. Priest came to Springfield, Illinois, in June, 1840, and was married, March 30, 1845, to Lucinda M., daughter of Caleb Stafford, of Rochester, 111. They had four children, two of whom died young -

Mrs. Lucinda M. Priest died Sept. 10, 1851, and John W. Priest was married, Sept., 1853,10 Catharine Wright, a native of St. Lawrence county, N. Y. She died July 9, 1875.

Hon. John W. Priest was elected eight successive years, alderman of the city, was several years President of the city School Board, and is now President of the Board of Water Works Commissioners. He was elected Mayor of Springfield for three successive years, 1856, '57 and '58, and again in 1870. He is now keeping a stove and tin ware store, in Springfield, Illinois.

a young man he went to what became St. Clair county, 111., and was there married, Oct. 10, 1809, to Ruth Cox, who was born March 9, 1783, in Delaware, and came to Monroe county, 111., with her parents in 1808. They had five children in Monroe county, and moved to Sangamon county, arriving May I, 1820, in what is now Fancy Creek township, where two children were born. Of their seven children -

ELIZABETH, born Oct. 14, 1810, married in 1828, in Sangamon county, to Christopher Hussey. See his name. He died, and she married Wm. B. Preston. They had six children. Mr. Preston died, and the widow married Lyman Olds. She died in Middletown, Logan county, in 1869 or '70.

MART, born Sept., 1812, married in Sangamon county, Nov. 30, 1829, to Isaac Preston. They had six children, and Mr. Preston died, and she married Felix Green. He died, and she married David Lee, had one child, and Mr. Lee died. She lives in Logan county, Illinois.

ELISHA, been Oct. 24, 1814, in Monroe county, 111., married in Sangamon county, Sept. 19, 1837, to Lucinda C. Glascock. She was born August 12, 1819, in Fauquier county, Va. They have one child, SUSAN, who married Wm. L. Rankin, being his second wife. They have five children, ANNIE M.,

LUCINDA, and live in Menard county, near Athens, 111. Elisha Primm and his wife reside in Menard county, three miles southwest of Cantrall, Sangamon county, Illinois.

ENOCH, born August 2, 1816, in that part of Monroe which is now part of St. Clair county, came to Sangamon county with his parents. He was married May 23, 1839, to Lucinda - - . They had fourteen children ; two died under five years. MARY H. lives with her parents. BENJAMIN F. married Martha Crowder. They have two children, and live near Longton, Elk county, Kansas. EMILY J. married William T. Hutchinson. They have three children, and live in Petersburg, 111. MARGARET E. married D. A. Rankin, has three children, and lives at Tallula, Illinois. FRANCES E. married H. H. Irwin, had one child, and Mrs. Frances E. Irwin died Nov. 12,

Q., Elvira E., Theophilus B.

1873. Mr. Irwin lives in Menard county, 111. AMANDA lives with her parents ROBERT L. died Dec. 4, 1873. JOHN Q., ELVIRA E., THEOPHILUS B. and WILLIE rtside with their father. Mrs. Lucinda R. Primm died March 4,

JOHN H., born June 15, 1820, married Jan., 1848, to Mary A. King, have three children, and reside in Menard county, four miles southwest of Cantrall, Illinois.

ELIJAH S., born Oct. 27, 1822, in Sangamon county, married August 20, 1844, in McLean county, to Mary E. Glascock. They had two children, JOSEPH H. died Jan. 30, 1863, in his eighteenth year. ELIJAH S., Jun., born June 20, 1847, married April 5, 1866, to Alice M. Myers, who was born Oct. 8, 1846, in Licking county, Ohio. They have three children, JOSEPH T., JAMES B., and FREDERICK, and live in Menard county, within two hundred yards of the Sangamon line, and two and a half miles southwest of Cantrall, 111. Elijah S. Primm died Feb. 25, 1847, tnree months before the birth of his son, of the same name. His widow married Oct. 3, 1850, to James Driskell. They had three children. MARGARET A. married William F. Lake. See his name. They have one child, OLIVE MAY, and reside in Logan county. JAMES E. lives with his uncle, Thomas Glascock, and MARY L., with her aunt, Lucinda C. Primm. Mrs. Mary E. Driskell died April 20, 1858, and James Driskell died Nov., 1862.

When Elisha Primm was married, his wife remembers that they bought a feather bed for seventy-five cents per pound, and paid for it by selling corn at ten cents per bushel. They sold bacon for three cents per pound, and at the same lime bought calico for forty cents per yard. More recently they sold bacon for forty cents per pound. Mr. Primm has sold pork, neatly dressed, in Springfield, for one dollar and fifty cents per one hundred pounds, and has sold the some quality at fourteen dollars per hundred. For his account of cotton raising in Sangamon county. See page ?j.

PRIMM, THOMAS, was born May n, 1782, in Stafford county, Va., moved with his father's family, in 1801, to St. Clair county. Elizabeth Stallions -was born Aug. 19, 1792, in Wheeling, Va. Her parents moved to St. Clair county, 111., arriving May 13, 1796, at 'Whiteside station. Thos. Primm and Elizabeth Stallions were there married, Mar. 12, 1807. She was less than fifteen years old. They had six living children in that county. The family moved to Sangamon county, arriving Oct. 8, 1820, where three children were born. Of their nine children -

WILLIAM, born Jan. 11, 1808, in St. Clair county, married in Sangamon county to Maria Canterbury. They had seven children - ASA C. married Fidelia Hall, who died, in 1859, leaving two children, and he married Mrs. Mary A. Ryker, whose maiden name was Moore. They have four children, and live in Bourbon countv, Kansas. MARGARET J. married, in 1866, to Wm. Warfield. They have two children, and live in McLean county, Illinois. WILLIAM H. enlisted in Aug., 1862, in Co. C, ii4th 111. Inf., served full term, and was honorably discharged. He was married to Catharine Perrine, have two children, and live in Lucas county, Iowa. THOMAS N. enlisted Aug. 3, 1861, in Co. F, 28th 111. Inf., for three years, served more than full term, and was honorably discharged. He was married to Adelia Perrine, had two .children, one died, aged six years. They live in Lucas county, Iowa. ISAAC H. married Ann M. Roberts. They have two children, MAGGIE M. and ELVIRA M., and live one mile east of Athens, and three miles north of Cantrall, Illinois. Mrs. Maria Primm died April 30, 1872, and William Primm lives three-quarters of a miles southeast of Athens, Illinois.

JAMES, born Sept. 4, 1809, in St. Clair county, married Maria Russell, who was born at Harper's Ferry, Va. They had nine children, five of whom only arc living. THOMAS F. and JOHN J. were Union soldiers in an Illinois regiment, and live with their mother. EDWARD T., WILLIAM R.and RUTH E. live with their mother. James Primm died, Jan. 4, 1872, and his widow and children live two and one-half miles south of Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois.

ABRAHAM S., born Dec. 25, 1812, in St. Clair county, raised in Sangamon county, married, June 18, 1839, to Lucinda Hall, who was born April 28, 1820, in Ohio, opposite Guyandotte, Va. They had eleven children, six of whom died under five years. Of the other five - MARY married Henry Cline. See his name. MELISSA married Michael T. Hargrave, who was born March 17, 1842, in Guilford county, N. C. They have one child, L ILL IE M., and live near Athens, Illinois. MINNIE E. married Andrew P. West, and live in Atlanta, Illinois. ROSE A. and LILLIE M. live with their parents, adjoining Athens, Illinois, on the northeast. - 1874.

JOHN L., born Oct. 31, 1814, in St. Clair county, married Hannah M. Rankin. She died, August, 1846, leaving three children. He was married, Aug., 1847, to Mrs. Sinai Davis, whose maiden name was Allen. They have four children, and live two and one-half miles southeast of Lincoln, Illinois.

DANIEL C., born Jan. 3, 1817, in St. Clair county, married Elizabeth Tice. He died, Oct., 1864, leaving a widow and six children in Menard county, Illinois.

THOMAS J., born Jan. 25, 1822. He has practiced medicine more than a quarter of a century, is unmarried, and lives in Athens, Illinois. - 1874.

ELIZABETH, born Jan, 12, 1824, married George W. Cline. See his name. He died, and she married Jacob Barnsback, who died, in 1861, leaving a widow and four living children in Madison county, Illinois.

Thomas Primm died May 14, 1856, and his widow, familiarly known as Aunt Betty Primm, lived with her son, Abraham S. Primm, near Athens. Illinois, until her death in 1874. She was eighty-three years old. Her recollection of early events was remarkably vivid. She remembered passing over the ground where Springfield stands when the grass was higher than her head as she sat on horseback. She carried a child on one arm and used the other to keep the grass out of her face, and lived to see that spot of land occupied by a city of more than twenty thousand inhabitants.

PROCTOR, SIMON L,, born Jan. 12, 1793, in Shelby county, Ky. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the battle of Tippecanoe; was married in Nelson county, Ky., May 16, 1813, to Jane Scifers, who was born April 5, 1795, in that county. They had one child, and moved to Green county, Ind., where two children were born, and moved to Hardin county, where they had eight children, and from there to Sangamon county, 111., arriving May 18, 1837, at Springfield. Three years later they moved to Lick creek, and in 1845 *° what is now Cotton Hill township. Of their eleven children -

SARAH, born February 5, 1815, in Nelson county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, in 1846, to William Hays, who died, and she married Wm. George, who died, July, 1872, aged ni ety-three years. She lives in Rochester, Illinois.

RICHARDSON H., born Oct. 28, 1816, in Indiana, married in Sangamon county to Elizabeth Young, had two children, and she died March, 1851, and he married Sibbie A. Young, had two children, and R. H. Proctor died, in 1858, at Springfield, Illinois.

MARGARET, born Oct. 7, 1818, in Green county, Ind., married in Sangamon county to John Williams, have a family, and live near Milton station, Mills county, Iowa.

to Dorcas A. Crowder, a daughter of Chandler Crowder. They had eight children, two only are living, MARY E. and JOHN. Mrs. Proctor died Jan. 9, 1869, and he died June 28, 1871. Samuel C. Proctor was ordained, May 16, 1868, as a minister of the gospel, at the Horse Creek Baptist church.

LOUISA, born July 4, 1828, in Kentucky, married in Sangamon county, Nov. 17, 1851, to Marion F. Greenawalt. They have seven children, and live near Rochester, Illinois.

BENJAMIN K., born May 28, 1836, in Kentucky, raised in Sangamon county, enlisted July, 1862, in Co. K, i I4th 111. Inf., for three years, and died, Jan., 1864, at Pawnee, 111., while at home on sick furlough.

PULLIAM, ROBERT, was born April 12, 1776, in Henry county, Va. His father, John Pulliam, emigrated to Kentucky when Robert was a boy, and the family moved from there to Illinois, arriving in 1796, in what was then called the New Design settlement, now a part of Monroe county. The next year they moved into a settlement in the district of St. Louis, in what was then locally known as ''New Spain." They moved to Cape Girai'deau, Missouri, and a few years later to Randolph county, 111., near where the town of Red Bud now stands. In 1802 Robert Pulliam improved a farm a few miles east of Belleville, St. Clair county, and about 1803 he settled in the American Bottom, near the Bluff, six or seven miles below the present city of Alton. Mary Stout was born April 9, 1776, but the locality is not known. Robert Pulliam and Mary Stout were married Sept. 13, 1804. In 1815 they moved to St. Clair county, and in the fall of 1817, leaving his family in St. Clair county, he, with two or three hired men, and a woman by the name of Strickland - sister of one of the hired men - to cook for them, he came to Sugar creek and built a cabin in the timber, on the east side of the creek. The land is now owned by James Scott, and is situated nearly three-quarters of a mile west ot a point ten and a half miles due south of Springfield, on a line with Sixth street. When the government survey was made it was found to be on the southwest quarter of section twenty-one, township fourteen north, range five west, and is now in Ball township. That is believed to have been, without doubt, the first habitation ot any kind built by white men in what is now Sangamon county. Mr. Pulliam brought with him a herd of cattle and some horses. The growth of grass, which had been luxuriant for ages, afforded ample grazing when there was not any snow. When that covered the ground Mr. P. had the men cut down elm trees, and the stock would live on the buds until the snow passed away. The cabin was built in a forest, composed principally of sugar trees. As the spring approached, Mr. Pulliam put his men to work and made sugar. As the season advanced, and caused the grass to grow, he collected his horses and cattle and returned to his family in St. Clair county in the spring of 1818. He remained there until the spring of 1819, when he came, with all his family, back to Sugar creek, to find his cabin occupied by Zaehariah Peter. See his name. Robert Pulliam had six children in Madison and St. Clair counties, namely-

MARTIN G., born Sept. 17, 1807, in Madison county, married in Sangamon county, Nov. 25, 1827, to Lucy Knotts. They had twelve children in isangamon county, two of whom died young. THOMAS J. married Elizabeth Mc- Laughlin, and resides in Girard, Macoupin county, 111. ROBERT L. married Rebecca Wilson, and lives in Iowa. SARAH married Basil Brawner. See his name. They live in Iowa. GEORGE S. married Ellen Knotts, has a family of children, and lives in Ball township, within three-quarters of a mile of where his grandfather built the first house in the county. His postoffice is Chatham, 111. MARGIN H. died unmarried, in Iowa, aged 1 enty-four years. JOSEPH O.

married Sarah A. Stewart, and lives in Iowa. DOROTHY is unmarried, and lives near Chatham, 111. MARY E. married Harvey Hegler, and lives near Virden, 111. CHARLES M. is unmarried, and lives near Chatham, 111. Martin G. Pulliam died in June, 1872, and his widow, Mrs. Lucy Pulliam, resides with her son, George S., in Ball township, near Chatham, Sangamon county, Illilois. - 1874.

IR WIN S., born Sept. 12, 1811, in Madison county, Illinois, married in Sangamon county, Dec. 18, 1834, toJMatilda Nuckolls, who was born in Gray son county, Va., Nov. 16, 1813. They had nine children in Sangamon county, namely: JOHN R., born Jan. 2, 1836. He enlisted, May, 1864, for one hundred days, served full time and one month over, and was honorably discharged. He is unmarried, and lives in Ball township, four miles southeast of Chatham, Sangamon county, 111. MARY A., born August 19, 1837, married Benjamin H. Taylor, who was born Oct. 2, 1835, m Morgan county, 111. They have two children, EDWARD c. and WILLIAM SHERMAN, and live in Pawnee township, six miles east of Auburn, 111. Benjamin H. Taylor enlisted August 2, 1 86 1, in Co. B, 3oth 111. Inf., served two years, was wounded, suffered amputation of a leg twice, and was honorably discharged August 7, 1863. JAMES H., born Nov. 6, 1839, enlisted Aug., 1862, in Co. B, ii4th 111. Inf., for three years, and was captured at the battle of Guntown, June, 1864. On the iSth o'* that month he was imprisoned at Anderson ville, and was released April 28, 1865, by the collapse of the rebellion. After returning home he was honorably discharged. His weight, in health, was from one hundred and sixtv-five to otic hundred and seventy-five pounds. When he reached home, one month after his discharge, he weighed one hundred and twenty pounds. He was not sick a day, but the loss of flesh and muscle was wholly caused by starvation. James H. Pulliam unites with B. F. Fletcher in confirming the statement made by Stephen Bell about the breaking out of a spring in Anderson ville prison. See name of Bell. Mr. Pulliam was married Nov. 26, 1868, to Addie Fairbanks. They had one child, on A v., and Mrs. Addie Pulliam died

March 25, 1870. James H. Pulliam was married March 4, 1873, to Lydia Shellhouse, and lives now - 1876 - in Ball township, at his grandfather's ^ old homestead, not where he built the first cabin, but the second. MARGARET J. died young. CHARLES IRWIN,born August 22, 1844, was married Nov. 19, 1872, to Emily J. Drennan, and lives in Pawnee township, five miles east of Auburn. GEORGE W., born March 31, 1847, was killed by a kick from a horse, aged five years. THOMAS J., born Oct. 27, 1849, lives at the family homestead. WILLIAM S., born April 3, 1852, lost his right hand by being crushed in a corn mill when a boy. He lives at the homestead with his brother, Charles I. FRANCIS M., born Sept. 16, 1858, lives at the homestead. Irwin S. Pulliam died May 8, 1869, and his widow resides with her son, Charles I., at the family homestead in Pawnee township, five miles east of Auburn, Sangamon county, Illinois.

MARY, born Oct. 7, 1814, in Madison county, married in Sangamon county, April 19, 1835, to Ludwell P. Fariss. They had four children, and both died at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. One of the daughters is now the wife of Dr. McBride, of Decatur, Illinois.

John

MARGARET, born Oct. 13, 1816, in St. Clair county, marrried in Sangamon county to Samuel Peter, a son of Zachariah. She died at Winterset, Iowa, leaving four children, namely : ELIZABETH, NANCY J., WILLIAM and JOHN.

GEORGE PF., born Sept. 12, 1822, in Sangamon county, died June 18, 1872, after having been thirty years an invalid, though the immediate cause of his death was being thrown from a wagon by a runaway team. He lived with his brother, Irwin S., until the death of the latter, and remained with the family until his own death.

Robert Pulliam died July 31, 1838, seven miles south of Carlinville, in Macoupin county. His widow died Julv i, 1847, in Sangamon county, Illinois.

A paper was prepared by Gov. John Reynolds, to be read at the first old settlers' meeting in Sangamon county, in 1859. In that paper Gov. Reynolds related some incidents in the life of Robert

Pulliam. It was not read, as intended, but came into my hands. It is known to all the old settlers that Mr. Pulliam wore an artificial leg. Gov. Reynolds says that one of Mr. Pulliam's legs became diseased, and in the summer of 1808 it was found to be absolutely necessary to amputate it in order to save his life. Dr. Tuthill, of Cahokia, performed the operation. The Governor says: "I resided with my father in the neighborhood of Mr. Pulliam, and knew the circumstances of the amputation. The patient possessed such courage that he held his body as firm as a rock, without assistance, during the operation. I presume this was the first amputation of a limb that occurred in Illinois, and at that time was considered a surgical operation almost superhuman." Gov. Reynolds describes Mr. Pulliam as a man of fine proportions and perfect physical development. He says the circumstances of his .ife prevented his obtaining an education from books, to any considerable extent, but his natural good sense and opportunities for studying men, enabled him to hold a place in the front rank of business men of that time. He was fond of the rude sports of the times; such as horse racing, hunting, and games of various kinds, but later in life he felt that the example was injurious, and changed his course. He first united with the Baptist church, and then, for greater convenience, connected himself with the Methodist church, and his wife did the same. They continued in its communion to the end of their lives. Mr. Pulliam understood the advantages of improved machinery, and endeavored to introduce it into the settlement whenever it was practicable. He was one of the 'earliest to build a mill in the county. It was run by tread wheel, and the motive power was either horses or oxen. All the early settlers raised cotton quite extensively, and he was one of the first, if not the first, to introduce a cotton gin into the settlement. PURVIANCE, JOHN, was born June 19, 1760. The place of his birth is not known, but he went from Pennsylvania to the vicinity of Concord, Cabarras county, North Carolina. He was a soldier in the colonial army that achieved American Independence, but whether he went from Pennsylv pi a or North Carolina is not known. Jo^i Pur-

Da Vi D Simpson, Alexander C., John G., Elizabeth James, Samuel, Nanct

All except one of his children - who married and died in North Carolina - came to Sangamon county, and their histories are given each as the head of a family of early settlers. He came to Sangamon county after nearly all his children were settled here, and died Sept. 27, 1833. His remains were buried at Richland Baptist church, in Cartwright township. From the earliest records in some branches of the family in this county, I found the name spelled as it is at the head of this sketch, but they have very generally permitted it to be changed to Purvines, probably because without precision in speaking the original name, the sound would be that produced by the modern spelling which is now adopted by all the descendants in Illinois, as follows: *&" / ^

Purvines, David

PURVINES, DAVID SIMPSON, was born May 18, 1787, in Cabarras county, N. C. Elizabeth Weddington was born Dec. 25, 1790. They were married, and had three children in North Carolina, and the family moved to Richland creek, in what became Sangamon county, and Cartwright township, arriving in the fall of 1820, where they had five children. Of their seven children -

JOHN L., born Feb. 6, 1814, in North Carolina, married in Sangamon county to Elizabeth Earnest. They had two children - HENRY married Jane Thompson, and lives near Clinton, Dewitt county, Illinois. JOHN died, at twenty years of age. John L. Purvines died, Jan. 6, 1842, in Sangamon county. His widow has been twice married since, is now a widow - 1873 - and lives near Clinton, Illinois.

WILLIAM H., born Dec. 13, 1819, in North Carolina; married Feb. 25, 1847^ in Sangamon county, to Frances A. Harrison. They had four children - ALFRED B., born May 11,1848, married, Sept. 13, 1870, to Nannie C. Martin, who was born- Nov. 27, 1850, in Robertson county, Term. They have one child, LEVI PERRY, and live two and one-half miles northeast of Pleasant Plains - 1873. PEYTON A. lives with his mother. SARAH E. married Henry Welland, has one child, HARRY A., and lives one mile west of Pleasant Plains, Illinois. WILLIAM H., Jun., lives with his mother. William H. Purvines died, Sept. 25, 1855, and his widow married Wm. H. Harrison. They had one child, FIELDING T., who lives with his mother, one and one-half miles west of Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

SAMUEL F., born March 24, 1822, in Sangamon county, married April 16, 1845, to Elizabeth Bryant, and had two sons. CHARLES married Miss Mc- Atee, and lives at Greenview, Menard county, Illinois. JOHN lives with his mother. Samuel F. Purvines died July 22, 1849. His widow has been twice married, and lives in Iowa or Kansas. -

M., Elizabeth P., Peyton L.

NATHAN S., born March 3, 1829, in Sangamon county, married, Dec. 6, 1849, to Wealthy M.J.Harrison. They, had seven children, one died in infancy. EMILY F.. born Oct. 13, 1850, married Feb. 25, 1868, to Wm. Fletcher Correll. See his name. JOHN Q./NORMAN M., ELIZABETH P., PEYTON L. and NATHAN L., reside with thenparents, near Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois.

PURVINES, ALEXANDER C., born March 16, 1794, in Cabarras county, N. C., married Margaret Weddington, and had one child there. They moved to what became Sangamon county, 111., arriving in 1819, and settled on Rich-

Earl T Se 7 Tlers Of

ELIZABETH J., born June 23, 1824, in Sangamon county, married John C. Bone. She had one child, ALMEDA J., who married Robert P. Harrison. See his name. Mrs. E. J. Bone died in 1852.

ORAMEL G. Z., born Nov. 10, 1826, in Sangamon county, married, February 4, 1862, to Louisa Potter. They have two children, MARY E. and ELIJAH A., and live in Menard county, three miles northeast of Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

Mrs. Margaret Purvines died January, 1831, and Alex. C. Purvines married, Oct., 1831, to Mrs. Jane Hamilton, whose maiden name was Coleman. They had eight children -

WILLIAM G., born Sept. 3, 1834, married Emily F. Eaton. They have four children, VIOLA, LOREN, ALICE and CARROLL, and reside one and three-quarter miles northeast of Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

EDGAR C, live with their mother. Alexander C. Purvines died July 16, 1861, from injuries received by being thrown from a wagon, by a runaway team. His widow, Mrs. Jane Purvines, resides one ind one-half miles northeast of Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois. - 1873. ,. -PURVINES, JOHN G. born JtolyiS, 1796, in Cabarras county, N. C., came to Sangamon county, when a young man, with his brother Simpson, or Alex. C., and was married, Jan. i, 1823, to Elizabeth Coleman. They had ten children in Sangamon county, namely -

NANCT M., born Oct. 20, 1824, married Hiram Stevens, has two living children, LOUISA F. and WILLIAM H. and live at Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

JOHN /?., born Jan. 10, 1827, married Mary Coleman, had four children, and Mrs. Purvines died. His children, JOHN G., DAVID S., NOAH G. and MARSIA J. live in Sangamon county. J. R. Purvines lives in Crawford county, Missouri.

"FRANCIS J/., born June 28, 1831, married Lucretia J. Trask, had three children, and she died, and he married Mrs. Lucinda Coleman, whose maiden name was Walton. They had seven children, and live in Missouri.

CORNELIUS C, born Oct. 26, 1833, married, Nov. 22, 1855, to Martha E. Irwin, born Feb. 27, 1837. They had seven children, AZRO A., CHARLES R., CHURCHILL G., LOLA J., LEWIS C., MARY E. and WILLIAM H., and live near Loami, Illinois. Elder C. C. Purvines is pastor of Liberty Baptist church. - 1874.

JAMES A., born July 23, 1835, married Margaret S. Purvines. He died, leaving two children. His widow married David Crezy, and lives in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

ALEXANDER F., born June n, 1839, in Sangamon county, married, May 7, 1868, to Margaret S. Duncan, and have one child, GILBERT C. Dr. A. F. Purvines is a practicing physician, at Salisbury, Sangamon count}', Illinois.

John G. Purvines died Jan. i, 1863, in Sangamon county, on the fortieth anniversary of his marriage, and his widow lives with her son-in-law Foley, at Pleasant Plains, Illinois. - 1874.

Purvines, Margaret

PURVINES, JAMES, born about 1798, in Cabarras county, N. C., came to Sangamon county when a young man, married in Morgan county to Mary Cox, had eight children, moved to Bonaparte, Iowa, and died there.

PURVINES. SAMUEL, was born Aug. i, 1801, in Cabarras county, N. C., came to Sangamon county, when a young man, and was married to Mary Irwin, daughter of Samuel L. Irwin. See his name. They had eight children in Sangamon county -

LTDIA A., born Jan. 16, 1831, married, March, 1854, to John C. Bone. They had one child, MARY E., who married in Springfield, July, 1875, to Thomas Long, a native of Morgan county. They live in Chicago. Mrs. Lydia A. Bone died Aug., 1862.

A CHILLES NE WTON, born Dec. I, 1832, in Sangamon county, enlisted Aug. 8, 1862, for three years, in Co. F, H4th 111. Inf., was appointed Orderly Sergt., Oct. I, 1863, was wounded in the left ankle, at the battle of Guntown, Miss., June 10, 1864, but escaped capture, served to the end of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged, Aug. 3, 1865. He is unmarried - 1873 - and lives near Pleasant Plains, Illinois.

ELIZABETH M., born July 23, 1834, married, Feb. 18, 1861, to Thomas E. White, who was born June 13, 1832,111 Bond county, Illinois. They have two children, LOLA A. and ROBERT E., and reside near Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois.

NANCT F., born Dec. 6, 1836, in Sangamon county, married, Feb. 4, 1864, to John C. Bone. They had four children - J O H N C., J tin , died young. CHARLES R., CARRIE A. and OR-

LENA S. live with their parents. John C. Bone was born Sept. 7, 1817, in Rutherford county, T.enn., brought by his father to Sangamon county, who after a short stay moved to Rock creek, Menard county. J. C. Bone has been married four times: first to Catherine S. Foster, who died March 25, 1841. See Constantine Foster. Second, Elizabeth J. Purvines, who died August, 1852. See Alexander C. Purvines. Third, Lydia Ann Purvines, who died August, 1862. See Samziel Purvines. Fourth, Nancy F. Purvines, his present wife. John C. Bone has been a stock raiser and dealer all his life, in Sangamon and Menard counties. He moved to Chicago, in October, 1872, and is now - 1876 - in the live stock commission business, at the Union Stock Yards.

JOHNF.,\K>r\\ April 6, 1839, in Sangamon county, married Francis J. Pirkins. Thev have two children, HATTIE B. and JESSIE E., and live in Cartwright township, near Richland station, Sangamon county, Illinois. - 1873.

Samuel Purvines died Sept. 26, 1852, and in less than one month - Oct. 20, 1852 - his widow died; both near Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois.

PURVINES, JAM ESS., was born Dec. 18, 1805, in Cabarras county, North Carolina. He was a cousin to David S., Alexander C., John G., etc., and came with some of his relatives to Sangamon county in 1820 or '21. After remaining six years he returned to North Carolina, visited some of his brothers and sisters in Georgia, and at the end of one year came back to Sangamon county. James S. Purvines was married in the fall of 1829 to Mary Ann Hughes, of Morgan county, 111. They had eight children, namely -

WILLIAM B. married Mrs. Mary Benner, whose maiden name was Foreman. They have one child, and live in Menard county, three miles northwes-t of Salisbury, Illinois.

FRANCIS M. married Permelia Wetherby, have one child, CARRIE, and live in Menard county, three and a half miles northwest of Salisbury, Sangamon county, Illinois.

MARGARET S. married James A. Purvines. See his name. He died, and she married David Crezy, has two children, and lives in Nebraska City, Neb.

MARTHA J. married Isaac N. Ball, has three children, BENJAMIN, MAMIE and JAMES, and live in Menard county, three and a half miles northwest of Salisbury, Illinois.

Mrs. Mary A. Purvines died in 1849, and James S. Purvines married Martha Donovan, who died, in 1872, and he was married to Mrs. Harriet M. Harris, whose maiden name was Barzel, a native of Upper Canada. Tney reside in Menard county, three and a half miles northwest of Salisbury, Satfgamon county, Illinois. -1873.

PURSELL, WILLIAM, was born Jan. 23, 1820, at White Park, near Belfast, Ireland. His parents emigrated to Bytown, now Ottawa City, Canada, in 1824. His mother died there, and he was taken to raise by Heraldus Eastabrook, of Vermont. He was brought by Mr. Eastabrook to Sangamon county, 111., arriving at Old Sangamo, Oct. 25, 1833. William Pursell was married, Jan. i, 1846, to Elizabeth Van Patten. They had thirteen children -

Carrie L., La Ura E., Alice B., Charles W., Hattie L.

CARRIE L., LA URA E., ALICE B., CHARLES W., HATTIE L., ROBERT /?., FANNIE E. and JESSIE T. live with their parents, three and three-quarters miles southwest of Farmingdale, Santramon county, Illinois.

Mr. Pursell was present at the organization of the Sunday school in connection with Farmington Presbyterian church, in Dec., 1833. For forty years - until 1873 - his connection with the school, as pupil, librarian, teacher and superintendent, continued unbroken. He is one of the substantial farmers of Sangamon county.

PYLE, NICHOLAS. The family came from England, and he was married in South Carolina, during the American Revolution, to Ann Black, a sister of Thomas Black. See his name. Some of their children were born in South Carolina, and the family moved on pack horses to Christian county, Ky., where more children were born, making a total of fourteen sons and five daughters, some of whom married in Kentucky. The parents and part of the children moved to St. Clair county, 111., where some of the children married. The aged couple, with their two youngest sons, came to Sangamon county in 1825, and settled about three miles east of Auburn. Of the two sons -

THOMPSON, born about 1804, in Christian county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, in 1828, to Margaret Moffitt. They had nine living children. MATILDA, born Jan. 26, 1829, died Jan. 4, 1845. WM. ALFRED, born Nov. 13, 1830, is unmarried, and lives with his mother. SARAH ANN, born April 10, 1832, married Solomon Taylor, has five children, and resides in Macoupin county, near Zanesville, Montgomery county, 111. ELIZABETH J., born Jan. 26, 1834, married Samuel H. Meteer, have three children, and live near May Post- * office, Martin county, Minn. GEORGE M. born April 22, 1837, married Susan Bridges, have three children, and live near Elgin, Howard countv, Kansas. LAWSON, born July 7, 1842, married August 17, 1869, to Mary E. Shepherd, have one child, MILDRED, and live six miles south of Springfield, 111. REBECCA, born July 6, 1844, married George Bridges. See his name. ELLEN S., born Sept. 7, 1846, married Sept. 4, 1867, to George D. Crane, and live near Woodside, Illinois. EVELINE, born April 20, 1849, lives with her mother. Thompson Pyle died Dec. 19, 1870, and his widow resides near where they settled in 1828, six miles south of Springfield, Sangamon county, Illinois.

ALFRED, born Oct. 12, 1806, in Christian county, Ky., and was the youngest of nineteen children. He was brought bv his parents to Sangamon county in 1825, married in St. Clair county to Melinda Padfield. They had eight children, three died young. DAVID, born March 8, 1838, married Harriet A. Scott, have three children, IDA c., ROBERT E. and DAVID H., and live eight miles south of Springfield, 111. ARMINDA, born Oct. 13, 1839, married Thomas B. Shepherd. See hit name. WILLIAM married Jennie Jackson, and both died. ANN married John H. Shepherd. See his name. LOUISA R. married John W. Nuckolls. See his name. Mrs. Melinda Pyle died Sept. 19 1849, and Alfred Pyle died March 3, 1852, both in St. Clair county, although they had spent the greater part of their lives in Sangamon county.

RALSTON, WILLIAM, born in 1759, in Virginia, was a Revolutionary soldier, enlisting near the close of the war. He was then quite young for a "soldier, but was at the siege and capture of Yorktown, and was present when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Gen. Washington. He was married in Virginia to Nancy McClure, and soon after moved to the vicinity of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, and later to the vicinity of Mt. Sterling, Montgomery county, in the same State. They had twelve children in Kentucky, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 1828, on Spring creek, accompanied by five of his children, and the sixth came a year or two later. The others remained in Kentucky. Of the six who came to Sangamon county -

WILLIAM, Jun., born May 20, 1796, in Montgomery county, Ky., was married there to Frances J. Massie, Sept. 13, 1825. They had one child that died in Kentucky, and the family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1828, settling on Spring creek in 1829, where seven children were born. MARY E. married Thomas Hessey, and died, leaving six children, who live with their father in Gardner township, Sangamon couuty, Illinois. EMILY M., born Dec. 30, 1831, was married, Nov. 24, 1850, to Jacob J. Brown. See his name. WILLIAM T. died May 26, 1858, in his twenty-fifth year. JOHN H. died June 9, 1861, in his twenty-sixth year. NANCY A., born Dec. 23, 1837, was married, Oct. 12, 1858, to Daniel Taylor. See his name. JAMES H., born Aug. 27, 1840, lives with his mother one and three-quarter miles south of Farmingdale, Sangamon county, Illinois. CHARLES F., born April 10, 1844, was man~ied Dec. 3, 1867, in Sangamon county, to Clara A. Conklin, and live at Colorado Springs, Colorado. William Ralston, Jun., died Oct. 17, 1851, in Sangamon county, 111., and his widow resides now - 1873 - on the farm where they settled in 1829, one and three-quarter miles south of Farmingdale, Sangamon county, Illinois. She has been a member of the Baptist church nearly half a century.

NATHANIEL, born in Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county to Clemantine Kelly. They moved to Missouri, but returned during the rebellion to Sangamon county, where he died. His widow and eight children live near Carthage, Jasper county, Missouri.

SAMUEL, born in Kentucky, was married there to Nancy Ellis. They had two children in Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county in 1835. One child was born in Sangamon county, and one

JOSEPH, born Sept. 10, 1813, in Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county, 111., Nov. 13, 1833, to Mrs. Susan Earnest, whose maiden name was Kendall. They had two living children - MARGARET J. married David Vulgamott, and have six children. They live in Fairfield, Jefferson county, Iowa. JOSEPH H., born Dec. 21, 1838, in Sangamon county, studied medicine in Springfield, Illinois, was married, Sept., 1865, at Placerville, Idaho Territory, to Lida Keck. They have two children, HENRY H. and EMIL. Dr. Ralston and family reside at Bentonsport, Van Buren county, Iowa. Joseph Ra!ston died July 31, 1839, in Sangamon county, and his widow married James E. Reed. See his name.

Rames, Nathaniel

RAMES, NATHANIEL, was born April 19, 1806, in Tennessee. Sarah Ogden was born Oct. 18, 1806, in Logan county, Kentucky. They were married March 8, 1829, in St. Louis, Mo., had one child there, and moved to Springfield, 111., arriving April 16, 1830, where they had two children. Of their three children -

JOHN O., born August 20, 1831, in Springfield, married Oct. 7, 1852, to Mary J. Connelly, who died in 1854. Mr. Rames was married April 14, 1859, in St. Louis county, Mo., to Mary E. Redman, who was born there, June 14, 1839. They had six children in Springfield; two died young. MATTIE M., CORA B., MARY J. and JOHN O., Jun., live with their parents. J. O. Rames was a member of the city council three years, and has been a member of the School Board since 1870, with the exception of two years. He has been engaged in harness making i for seventeen years, and resides in Springfield, Illinois.

Randall, Thomas

RANDALL, THOMAS E., was born in 1785, in Virginia, was taken to Crab Orchard, Ky., when a child. He was married and had three children in Fleming county, Ky., and moved from there to Sangamon county, 111., in 1827. His son -

MARSHAL S., born Jan. 26, 1813, in Fleming county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, in 1837, to Deborah Cantrail. They had twelve children. Their daughter, MARY J., married William G. Cantrall. See his name. Marshal S. Randall and family reside near Blue Mound Station, Christian county, Illinois.

RANSOM, JOHN G., was born April 27, 1808, at Chazy, Clinton county, N. Y.. and was there married, Sept 30, 1830, to Lucy M. Gregory. They moved to Springfield, 111., arriving June 6, 1835. Mr. Ransom commenced work as a journeyman wagon and carriage maker, and in a short time established the business on his own account. He made, as he believes, the first buggy ever put up in Springfield. In .1838 Mr. Ransom moved to Chatham, which had just been laid out, and he was among the first to erect permanent buildings in the town. He engaged in carriage and wagon making there. In 1840 he moved to Whitehall, 111., and back to Chatham in 1842. In 1845 ne moved to Galena, 111., where Mrs. Lucy M. Ransom died, Mar. 18, 1846, leaving three living children, with whom Mr. Ransom returned to Chatham. Of those children -

EDWARD H., born in Sangamon county, married Gazena A. Brurink. He was a soldier in Co. B, H4th 111. Inf., and spent several months in prison at Andersonville, Georgia. The privation and disease contracted there caused his death in Feb., 1869. He left a widow and four children in Virclen, Illinois.

John G. Ransom was married July I, 1847, m Chatham, to Mrs. Elizabeth Bradley, whose maiden name was Hand. They had seven children, two of whom died young. Of the other five -

Emma, Charles, John E.

RANSOM, LORING, was born April 13, 1806, in Chazy, Clinton county, N. Y., and came with a colony of fiftythree persons to Sangamon county, arriving at what is now Farmingdale, in Sept., 1833. He was married Oct. 29, 1839, at a place called Millville, north of Lick creek, and three miles west of Loami, to Mary Wariner, who was born April 20, 1817, in Barren county, Ky., and came to Sangamon county in the spring of 1834, with her father. Mr. and Mrs. Ransom had three living children -

ISABELLA IV., born Sept. 13, 1840, in Chatham, married in Springfield, Feb. 24, 1 86 1, to George W. Johnson, who was born Aug. 7, 1835, in Henniker, Merrimack county, N. H. He is an engineer on the G. C. & S. railroad, and resides in Springfield.

WILLIAM A., born Jan. 7, 1843, in Chatham, was married Nov. 23, 1872, in Hannibal, Mo., to Kittie Shelton Kiger, who was born July 29, 1843, in Nelson county, Va. They live in Springfield, Illinois.

Loring Ransom was farming a few years and then went to Chatham, from there to Berlin, and from there to Springfield, where he died, Sept. 13, 1867. Mrs. Mary Ransom resides with her children, in Springfield, Illinois.

RANSOM, LUTHER N.,was born about 1800, at Chazy, Clinton county, N. Y. He was there married to Zerviah Ransom. They had two children in New York, and moved to Sangamon county, 111., with a colony, arriving in Sept., 1833, at Farmington, in what is now Gardner township. In 1835 Mr,

R. sold out at that place, and entered two thousand one hundred acres of land eight or ten miles south of Springfield, and laid out the town of Chatham. In 1840 he moved to Springfield, where Mrs. R. died. Previous to this time Mr. R. had been a member of and an officer in the Presbyterian church, and was the principal means of establishing the church in Chatham. After the death of his wife he adopted communist principles as expounded by Fourier, went to Economy, Ohio, and united with the Fourierite community there, believing it would be a good place to bring up his children. He was married while there to a widow lady, by whom he had one child. At a time of excessive high water in the Ohio river, late in 1847, a veiT large brick building, owned and occupied by the Fourierites, was surrounded by water, weakening the foundations, and it fell, burying in its ruins a lai'ge number of persons. The two eldest children and the wife of Mr. Ransom were among the lost. She had just handed her babe out of a window, by which it was saved. Mr. Ransom was not at the place when the calamity came, but he soon after took his babe, left the Fourierites, and joined the Shakers at Lebanon, Ohio. This was in 1848. He remained with the Shakers until August, 1859, when he took his son, ALBERT, and went to Lawrence, Kansas, where he resided until July, 1873, when he died, a spiritualist, and an open disbeliever of the Bible. He was an original abolitionist, an uncompromising temperance man, scrupulously honest in his dealings, and it was believed by those who knew him well, that he was honest and conscientious in all he did. His erratic course was regarded more as the manifestations of an unsettled mind than of a depraved disposition.

RAPE, JOHN, was born about 1794, in South Carolina, and taken to Tennessee by his parents, at eight years old. He was a soldier from Tennessee, in the war of 1812, and arrived at New Orleans the day after the battle of Jan. 8, 1815. His father, Gustavus Rape, was a soldier from North Carolina during the war of the American Revolution. John Rape was married Aug. 18, 1818, in Tennessee, had two children there, and moved to Sangamon county, 111,, arriving

AMELIA, born May 29, 1823, in Tennessee, married in Sangamon county, Dec. 25, 1840, to Wesley Beam. See his name. He died, leaving five children, and she married, July 17, 1855, to James Hewlett. They have six children, WILLIAM M., DANIEL N., AMELIA L. and MARTHA E., twins, JAMES F. and GEORGE B. McL. Mr. Hewlett had three children by a former marriage. They reside in Cotton Hill township.

DANIEL, born March 30, 1826, in Sangamon county, married, July 7, 1853, to Myrah Snodgrass. They had three children, CHARLES F., MOSES F. and FLETCHER E. Mrs. Rape died March 10, 1869, and he married, Sept. 2, 1869, to Mrs. Rebecca J. Hafdin, whose maiden name was Snodgrass. They have one child, EDWIN, and live near New City, Sangamon county, Illinois.

JACOB, born Nov. 5, 1827, in Sangamon county, married, Dec. 26, 1850, to Rachel Beam. They have five children, THOMAS J., MELINDA J., CHARLES W., JOHN W. and LEWIS M., and live in Cotton Hill township, two and one-half miles south of New City, Sangamon county, Illinois. Jacob Rape says that it was so difficult to obtain farming implements, that himself and a brother covered corn many days with wooden hoes, made for the purpose by their father.

ALFRED N., was born May 5, 1830, in Sangamon county. He enlisted, Aug. 12, 1862, in Co. K, 1 24th 111. Inf., for three years, served full term, was in fifteen battles, and was honorably discharged, Aug. 15, 1865. He was married, Oct. 17, 1871, to Mary A. Constant. They had one child, WM. EDWARD, who died in infancy. They live three miles southwest of New City, in Cotton Hill township, Sangamon county, Illinois.

and he married, Oct. 8, 1869, to Mary J Hayden, a grand-daughter of Penrod Vancil. They have two children, ROSA E. and FLORA E., and live in Cotton Hill township, near New City, Sangamon county, Illinois.

AMANDA, born Oct. 25, 1835, in Sangamon county, married, Aug. 5, 1852, to Preston Haines. They had three children - NANCY J., born April 9, 1855, married., June 9, 1873, to Benj. K. Haii:es. See his name. AMELIA C. aqd JOHN W. live with their mother. Preston Haines enlisted in 1861, for three years, in Co. B, nth Mo. Inf. He died Feb. 14, 1863, in Military Hospital, at Keokuk, Iowa. His widow married, June 14, 1871, to W. T. Williams, have one child, MARTIN L., and live in Cotton Hill township, Sangamon county, Illinois.

Mrs. Polly Rape died, July 19, 1838, and John Rape was married, Feb. 3, 1839, to Elizabeth Snodgrass. They had seven children in Sangamon county -

JOSEPH, born Jan. 25, 1840, married, March 7, 1872, to Frances M. Reavis, who was born Feb. 23, 1856, in Fayette county, 111. They have one child, NOAH F., and live near New City, Sangamon county, Illinois.

MART E., born Oct. 18, 1848, married, Sept. 13, 1863, to Thomas McLoon, a native of Ireland. They have three children, MARY B., LAURA A. and JOHN E., and live near New City, Illinois.

John Rape died Jan. 29, 1872, and his widow lives on the farm where he settled i. 1826. It is in Cotton Hill township, near New City, Sangamon county, Illinois.

Peter to Sangamon county, 111., about 1825, preceding their brother John one year. Henry Rape was married June, 1836, in Sangamon county, to Polly Snodgrass. They had six children in Sangamon county -

JAMES //., born July 23, 1837, in Sangamon county, enlisted in 1861, for three years, in Co. I, yth 111. Inf., served full time, and was honorably discharged, July 24, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tenn. J. H. Rape was married Dec. 7, 1875,31 the Revere House, Springfield, 111., to Mrs. Maria L. Campbell, whose maiden name was Brownell. See Brownell family. Mr. and Mrs. Rape live in Christian county, near Taylorville, Illinois.

GUSTAVUS F., born April 28, 1840, was married July 28, 1870, to Sarah Raney. They had two children, ORA VERNON *ul RALEIGH, and moved to the vicinity of Virginia, Bates county, Missouri. Their children both died there.

THOMAS J., born Dec. 20, 1842, was married July 29, 1869, to Clara A. Pettibone. They have one child, EARNEST R., and live in Cotton Hill township, Sangamon county, Illinois.

WILLIAM L., born Nov. 23, 1845, was married April 29, 1874, to Jennie Beaty. They have one child, ROLLA E., and live near Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois.

R OBERT RAPE, born May 5, 1855, lives with his mother, three-fourths of a mile west of New City, in Cotton Hill township, Sangamon county, Illinois.

Mrs. Polly Rape had never formed a letter with a pen until her sixtieth year. Her son, James H., was in the army, and she found it difficult to induce others to write to him as often as she desired, so she resolved to learn, and commenced by copying letters and other documents, and was soon able to communicate with him. She continued this correspondence, to the great satisfaction of both, until his three years of service terminated.

family, and died April 28, 1865, in Sangamon county. His widow lives in Christian county. Their grandaughter married George Morgan, and lives in Taylorville, Illinois.

RAPE, POLLY, born in 1786, in South Carolina or Tennessee. She was a sister to John, Peter, Henry and Jacob. She was married in Sangamon county to Henry Funderburk. See his name.

RAPE, PETER, was born Mar. 15, 179°) married and raised a family. His wife, Sarah Rape, died July 23, 1841, in her forty-sixth year. He died March 29, 1847.

born July 25, 1796, in Stutgardt, Wirtemburg, Germany. He came to America in 1818, and was eleven weeks on the passage from Amsterdam, arriving at Philadelphia in September. He entered into an agreement, before starting, with a man who came on the same vessel, by which that gentleman was to pay his passage across the ocean in exchange for labor Mr. Ranch was to perform. He had fulfilled part of the agreement before starting, and acted as servant to the gentleman and his wife on board the vessel. On arriving in Philadelphia he found that the money had not been paid. The only excuse the man made was that his wife objected to it. In the early history of the American colonies some of them enacted laws under which emigrants might be sold at auction to pay for their passage across the ocean. The custom still prevailed at the time Mr. Rauch arrived in the country, but I have thus far failed to learn that there was any law for it at that time. Seventy dollars was the amount demanded by the owners of the vessel, and he was put up at auction to raise the money. The lowest, and perhaps the only bid was to pay the money on consideration of his serving three years in return, at hard labor, as the following paper will show :

This Indenttire Witnesseth : That Johan Jacob Rauch, of his own free will, to go to Alabama Territory, hath bound himself servant to Francis C. Clapper, of Philadelphia, merchant, for the consideration of seventy dollars, paid to Lewis, Haven & Co., for his passage from Amsterdam; as also, for other good causes, he, the said Johan Jacob Rauch, hath bound and put himself, and by these presents doth bind and put himself, servant to the said Francis C. Clapper, to serve him, his executors, administrators and assigns, from the day of the date hereof, for and during the full term of three .years, from thence next ensuing. During all which term the said servant, his said master, his executors, administrators and assigns, faithfully shall serve, and that honestly and obediently in all things, as a good and faithful servant ought to do. And the said Francis C. Clapper, his executors, administrators and assigns, during the said term, shall find and provide for the said servant sufficient meat, drink, apparel, washing and lodging, and to give him, at the end of the term, two complete . suits of clothes, one thereof to be new. And for the true performance hereof both the said parties bind themselves firmly unto each other by these presents. In witness whereof they have interchangably set their hands and seals. Dated the second day of October, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and eighteen.

F. C. Clapper

Mr. Rauch was at once sent to Alabama, and labored faithfully for two and a half years, the principal part of the time at boat building, and must have earned many times the value of the money paid out for him. His food and clothing during the whole of that time was of the very worst description, in addition to which he was treated to all manner of indignities on account of his lack of knowledge of our language, and for any other cause which the caprice or malignity of those with whom he was associated might suggest. Six months before the expiration of his time his hardships became intolerable. He left Alabama and made his way into Muhlenburg county, Kentucky, arriving in 1821. There he found German people, who gave him employment by which he was soon able to clothe himself decently, and began to save money. He worked both in wood and stone as the opportunity for either presented itself. Oct. 24, 1824, he was married to Pauline Poley, sister to Joseph Poley. See his name. Soon after his marriage he built a sawmill on a small stream, and occasionally worked at his trades, doing a good business. As Mr. Rauch learned more of the influence of slavery, he resolved to seek a free country in which to bring up his family. He accordingly removed with his wife and two children, to Illinois, arrriving Oct., 1829, in Sangamon county. In December he bought three-fourths of section thirty-three, which is the southern tier of sections in this county. It is in Auburn township, between the towns of Auburn and Virden. The stream called Sugar creek ran through his land, and among the first things he did was to build a saw and grist mill, and for many years Rauch's mill was known far and near, and hundreds of weary emigrants found rest under his roof, his house being on the road from Springfield to St. Louis. After arriving in Illinois, seven ohildren were added to the family. Of their nine children -

ANDRE W, born Aug. 14, 1825, in Kentucky, was married June 13, 1854, in Sangamon county, to Margaret E. Cassity, a native of Kentucky. They have five living children, FRANK, CLARA, EMMA, ELMER and A. LEE. Andrew Rauch and family reside in the vicinity of the old homestead, in Sangamon county, near Virden, Macoupin county, Illinois.

CHARLES, born Dec. 28, 1827, in Kentucky, was married Dec. 18, 1859, in Sangamon county, to Mary Brooks, a native of Delaware. They have four children, LOUISA, JENNIE, JAMES and JOHN, and reside at the homestead, in Sangamon county, near Virden, Macoupin county, Illinois.

JAMES, born Oct. 5, 1833, in San' gamon county, was married, April 3, 1863, to Jennie B. Goss, who was born August 25, 1837, at Littleton, Grafton county, New Hampshire. They moved to California, and James Ranch died there, Nov. 12, 1864, leaving a widow, who returned to Illinois, Oct. 26, 1865, and is now - August, 1876 - residing in Virden, Illinois.

JACOB, born Aug. 16, 1835, in Sangamon county, was married, Oct. 27, 1859, to Emma C. Cassity. They have three living children, ADA, EFFIE and BYRON, and reside in Virden, Illinois.

REBECCA, born Nov. 6, 1839, in h'angamon county, was married, Oct. 26, 1869, to John McGlothlin. They have three children, LOUELLA, HORACE and CHARLIE A., and reside five miles southwest of Auburn, Sangamon county, Illinois.

BARBARA A., born June 2, 1842, in Sangamon county, married Matthew Pattern, Jun. See his name. They do not live in Chicago, as stated in connection with his name, but now - Sept., 1876 - reside three miles southeast of Auburn, Sangamon county, Illinois.

John Jacob Ranch died Nov. 23, 1843, .where he settled in 1829. His widow, Mrs. Pauline Rauch, resides there with her son Charles. It is in Sangamon county, near Virden, Macoupin county, Illinois.

Mr. Rauch left his family with the title to a sufficient quantity of land to make a good farm for each one; with a large amount of personal property, and his children are among the most respected citizens of the county. When we consider that he was twenty-two years of age at the time he came to America, without a knowledge of our language, compelled to lose so much of the best time of his life to pay for the privilege of coming, and that he died before he was fifty years of age, his success was wonderful, and it is highly probable that his early death was caused by over exertion. Although he had been so treacherously dealt with on coming to the country, and for the first three years after his arrival; yet his abhorrence of anything like repudiating a contract was such, that he charged his sons if the duplicate to the contract by which he was robbed of his three years time, should ever be presented, they should pay the whole seventy dollars, for the reason that he had not rendered the last six months service, and that because it was physically impossible for him to endure it. In the later years of his life, when pondering on the hardships and indignities he had endured, he wrote in German on the margin of the contract quoted, "Jacob Rauch says this indenture was not good." He doubtless alluded to the fact that it was not binding because it was never signed by himself. The back of the indenture bears an inscription, also in German, in his own handwriting. It appears to have been more intended as an expression of a sentiment than an address to any particular one of his children. It is in these words:

"DEAR CHILD, you had better remain in a low station of life; the higher you stand the more you may be humbled; and the Lord will love you better, for He is the Most High, and does great things by means of the lowly.

RAY, THOMAS, was born Jan. 28, 1794, m Gallatin county, Ky. He was married, Feb. 22, 1816, to Polly Furnish, a native of the same county. Mrs. Ray died, Sept. 21, 1820, leaving one child. He then married Susan Ray, who was born April 20, 1798. They had one child in Kentucky, and the family moved to Sangamon county, 111., arriving October, 1824, in Island Grove, south of Spring creek, and the next spring moved north of Spring creek, in what is now Gardner township, where they had three living children. Of their five children -

SAMUEL E.. born Dec. 25, 1817, in Gallatin county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, Sept. 20, 1838, to Elcy Jane Robison. They had four children - SUSAN J., born July 21, 1839, in Washington county, Iowa, where her parents lived one and one-half years. She was married, march 12, 1856,10 Isaac Gregory. See his name. She died, Nov. 19, 1864, leaving twins. POLLY A., born May 6, 1842, in Sangamon county, married, Jan. 17, 1861, to John Swarens. They have five children, ELLA, FRANK, CLARENCE, LURA and HATTIE, and live one and one-half miles north of Bradfordton. ELCY C. died in her third year. EMMA M., born March 23, 1852, lives with her parents, half a mile east of Bradfordton, Sangamon county, Illinois - 1874.

Early Se1Tlers Of

MARGARET A., born Nov. 16, 1832, in Kentucky, married in Sangamon county, June 24, 1852, to Seth W. Wickham. He was one of three children born of the same mother, Oct. 30, 1824, in Muskingham county, Ohio. Of the other two: Elmus died in his tenth year, and Louisa married S. P. Weaver, and died in Ohio, in her twenty-first year, two weeks after she was married. Seth W. Wickham and wife had one child, THOMAS W., and she died April 7, 1867. He was married, Dec. 31, 1868, to Mrs. Cornelia A. Large, whose maiden namfe was Frazee. See Frazee. They have one child, MINNIE L., and reside one mile southeast of Farmingdale, Sangamon county, Illinois - 1874.

SUSAN P., born March 26, 1836, married Thomas Johnson, had one child, and she died in 1856. Her son, Charles Johnson, lives with his uncle, Thomas B. Ray.

l^HOMAS B., born March 10, 1841, married, Feb. 23, 1865, to Charlotte Brown. They had one child, CHARLOTTE, who lives with her grandfather, Rezin D. Brown. Mrs. Ray died, Jan. 5, 1866, and T. B. Ray lives at the homestead settled by his father in 1825, in Gardner township, Sangamon county, Illinois.

RAY, REASON or REZIN, was born in Maryland, went to Kentucky, where he married Sarah Walters. They had four children, and came to Sangamon county in 1823, settling in Gardner township. His daughter -

Mrs. Drennan remembers the "deep snow." She was eight years old, and was helping her father gather corn, and slipped into a whirlpool that formed around a hill of corn. She went under the snow, and her father happening to see her go down, drew her out in time to save her from suffocating.

ELIZABE7W, born Aug. 5, 1833, married, Dec. 2, 1852, to Robert Haggard, in Sangamon county, and died July 22, 1867, in Labette county, Kansas, leaving six children.

REDMAN, JAMES B., was born in St. Louis county, Mo., and commenced learning the trade of a blacksmith in St. Louis with Rames & Owens, moved with them to Springfield, Illinois, in April, 1830, and later was four years engaged in the same business with Nathaniel Rames, as Rames & Redman. He then returned to St. Louis county, and was there married, in 1834, to Martha A. Graham, and had two children -

Redman, William

REDMAN, WILLIAM E., was born May 15, 1815, in Maryland, eight miles north of Washington City. He was married, Jan. 6, 1840, in Hagerstown, to Catharine Wolgamot, and moved with her father to Sangamon county, 111., arriving May 31, 1840, in what is now Woodside township. They ha:l eight children in Sangamon county, five of whom died under seven years. Of the other three children -

CATHARINE F., born March 18, 1842, married Nov. n, 1872,10 Daniel Keller, also. Thev have three children, HETTIE, HARRY and CHARLEY, and live in Chatham, Illinois.

Katie E., Adam Poe, John M.

CKL OE ANN E., born March 20, 1847, married Oct. 15, 1867, to D. F. Brewer. They have four children, KATIE E., ADAM POE, JOHN M. and CHLOE B., and reside in Springfield, Illinois. Daniel F. Brewer was born April 26, 1842, in West Chester, Butler county, Ohio, enlisted Sept. 4, 1861, at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the nth Independent Battery, served until Nov. 5, 1864, when he was honorably discharged, and came to Chatham in 1865.

William E. Redman enlisted June 28, 1861, in Co. F, 2ist 111. Inf., for three years, at Springfield. Although he was past the age to be subject to military laws, he went to the field under Col. Ulysses S. Grant, served until April 28, 1864, when he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability. He was employed for a few months after that in the quartermaster's department. Mrs. Catharine Redman died Dec. 31, 1874, and Wm. E. Redman resides in Chatham, Sangamon county, Illinois.

REED, JAMES E., was born July 14, 1810, in Wayne county, Ky. His father died when he was four, and his mother when he was seven years old. He came to Springfield, 111., in the fall of 1828, was in the Black Hawk war from Sangainon county in 1831, and again in 1832. He was married July 6, 1837, to Eliza A. Kendall. They had two children -

MART A., born Feb. 27, 1838, married March 4, 1858, to Josiah B. Morgan. They have four children, and live near Neodesha, Wilson county, Kansas.

SUSAN P., born March 12, 1839, married Feb., 1858, to Edward S. Mc- Murry. They have three children, and live at Leghorn, Pottawatomie county, Kansas. He is Postmaster there. - 1874.

Mrs. Eliza A. Reed died Sept. 22, 1847, and James E. Reed was married Nov. 6, 1847, to Mrs. Susan Ralston, who had previously been Mrs. Earnest, and whose maiden name was Kendall. They had two children -

REID, SAMUEL H., was born in 1781, near Richmond, Virginia. His parents moved, when he was a young man, to Davidson county, Ttnn., near President Jackson's country seat, the Hermitage; and from there to Warren county, Ky. While visiting his brother, Judge Alexander Reid, at Shelbyville, Samuel H. became acquainted with Elizabeth Roberts. They were there married, and lived near Bowling Green, Warren county, until six children were born. Mrs. Reid and three of the children died there. Mr. Reid was married in Warren county to Jane Gott, and moved at once to Sangamon county, 111., arriving in Sept., 1827, and settled on a farm he had previously purchased, three miles west of Springfield, where they had four children. Of his seven children -

SAMUEL H. married Oct. 20, 1840, in Sangamon county, to Elizabeth Davis. They had three children - SARAH J., born Oct. 27, 1841, married, April 19, 1858, to Thomas L. Conner, who was born Sept. r, 1832, in Allegheny county, Penn. They had four children, SAMUEL R. died young. WILLIAM L., MARGARET E. and SARAH j. live with their parents in Springfield, Illinois. DAVID A. died in infancy. ROBERT S., born Oct. 12, 1848, married, Oct. 20, 1869, to Olive M. Cross, who was born Nov. 22, 1850, in Christian county, Illinois. They have one child, SARAH E., and live one and one-half mile west of Springfield. Samuel H. Reid, Jun., and wife now - 1876 - reside three miles west of Springfield, Illinois, on the farm settled by his father in 1827.

Samuel H. Reid, Sen., was a ruling Elder in the church organized by Rev. John G. Bergen, the first ever organized in Springfield, now the First Presbyterian church. He afterwards became a ruling Elder in the Second Presbyterian church, and continued to the end of his life. He died Sept., 1836, and his widow died sixteen days later, both in Sangamon county.

Reed, James Frazier

REED, JAMES FRAZIER. was born Nov. 14, 1800, in county Armagh, Ireland. His ancestors were of noble P'olish birth, who chose exile rather than submission to the Russian power, and settled in the north of Ireland. The family name was originally Reednoski, but in process of time the Polish termination of the name was dropped, and the family was called Reed. James F. Reed's mother's name was Frazier, whose ancestors belonged to Clan Frazier, of Scottish history. Mrs. Reed, and her son, James F., came to America when he was a youth, and settled in Virginia. He remained there until he was twenty, when he left for the lead mines of Illinois, and was engaged in mining until 1831, when he came to Springfield, Sangamon county, 111. He served in the Black Hawk war, and at its termination returned to Springfield, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, made money, and bought a farm near the latter city. Mr. Reed was for several years engaged in manufacturing cabinet furniture at a point on the Sangamon river, seven miles east of Springfield. He employed a large number of men, and a village grew up there, which, in honor of his first name, was called Jamestown. It has since been twice changed, first to Hewlett and then to Riverton, the present name. He was married, in 1834,10 Mrs Margaret W. Backenstoe, whose maiden name was Keyes, a daughter of Humphrey Keyes. See his name. Mrs. Reed had one child by her first marriage. In Apr., 1846, Mr. and Mrs. Reed, with many others, started overland for California. See Reed and Donner party. Mr. Reed settled at San Jose Mission, California, and invested in land from time to time. He was among the first who tried their fortunes at gold hunting, in which he was very successful. Of Mrs. Reed's child by a former marriage - VIRGINIA E. Backenstoe, born in Sangamon county, 111., was married in San Jose, California, in 1850, to John M. Murphy, who was born Jan. 8, 1824, in Canada, and went to California in 1844. They had nine children, three died young.

Of the other six : M AR Y M., born Oct. 1850, in San Jose, was married there, in June, 1869, to P. McAram. They have two children, THOMAS p. and MARY v. Mr. McAram is a Banker in San Francisco, California, and resides there. JOHN M. was born March, 1858; VIRGINIA, born April, 1860; JULIA A., born Feb., 1866; DANIEL J., born Dec., 1867, and THADEUS S., born July, 1874; they are natives of San Jose, California, and the five latter live there with their parents. Mrs. Virginia E. Murphy writes me, in Dec., 1875, that she never was taught or made to feel, during Mr. Reed's lifetime, that she was a step-child or half-sister, and that he was the most loving and indulgent step-father that ever lived. So thoughtful was he of her feelings that he took occasion, after the death of her mother, to assure her of his continued affection, and that he knew no difference between herself and nis own children, as she came to him with her mother, a little babe. He made no distinction between Mrs. Murphy and his own children in his will.

MARTHA J., born Feb. 26, 1838, in Springfield, Illinois, accompanied hjr parents to California, and was married there, at Santa Cruz, Dec. 25, 1856, to Frank Lewis, who was born in Lancaster, Worcester county, Mass., Sept. 15, 1828. They had eight children; one died in infancy. KATE, born Oct. 6, 1857. MARGARET B.. born June 6. 1860. FRANK, Jun., born March 22, 1862. MARTHA J., born April 6, 1864. JAMES F., born August 35, 1866. CARRIE E., born September 15, 1870. and SUSAN A., born Dec. 31, 1873, live with their mother, in San Jose, California. Mr. Lewis enlisted, in 1846, in the ist Massachusetts Vol. Inf., for the Mexican war, and served to its close. He spent the next two years in New Orleans, and three years in Central and South America, went to San Jose, California, in June, 1852, and was for many years a member of the city council of that place. He was a wholesale and retail grocer, and died June 18, 1876, mourned by a large circle of acquaintences. The Mayor

JAMES F., Jun., born March 26, 1841, at Springfield, 111., accompanied his parents to California, and has been engaged in mining in Idaho, Nevada and California, until the last two years. He lives now - 1876 - in San Jose, California.

J^HOMAS K., born April 2, 1843, in Springfield, Illinois, accompanied his parents to California, has been engaged in mining, is unmarried, and lives in San Jose, California.

CHARLES C.,fborn Feb. 6, 1848, under the Mexican flag, in San Jose, California, was married there, Aug. 12, 1872, to Imogene Bergler. They have two children, CHARLES C., Jun., and WILLIE F. Charles C. Reid is a farmer and stock raiser, and resides in San Jose, California.

Mrs. Margaret W. Reed died Nov. 25, 1 86 1, and James F. Reed died July 24, 1874, both in San Jose, Cal. He was a man of great energy, warm and genial in his friendships, social and entertaining in his family. He made money fast, and used it liberally. He was one of the most active men in trying to make San Jose the capital of theState, circulating documents and trying to impress the members elect to the State Convention, of the importance and value of that place as a seat of government, and spent not less than twenty thousand dollars in behalf of that place. Mr. Reed left his family in good circumstances, with a possibility of immense wealth for them in the future, as he owned mines in Idaho, on Reese river, and at White Pine. For a more full account of his sufferings and almost superhuman efforts to relieve others, see the following sketch of the Reed and Donner emigrant party.

Reed And Donner. A.

REED AND DONNER. A party was organized in the vicinity of Springfield, Sangamon county, 111., and started from that city, April 14, 1846, for California and the Pacific coast. It has always been spoken of by the people of Sangamon county as the "Reed and Donner emigrant party." They were not lured there on account of gold, for it had not then been discovered. When they left Springfield the company numbered -76 thirty-four persons. Of the two newspapers published in Springfield at the time - the Journal and Register - each have the identical number missing that should have contained information about them. The following are the names as near as I have been able to determine, of the persons composing the company: -

James F. Reed and Mrs- Margaret W. Reed, his wife, with their four children, Virginia E. B., Martha J., James F., Jun., and Thomas K.; also Mrs. Sarah Keyes, the mother of Mrs. Reed.

Jacob Donner and Mrs. Elizabeth Donner, his wife, with their five children, Isaac, Lewis, Samuel, George and Mary; also William and Solomon Hook, children of Mrs. Donner by a former marriage.

There were also Milford Elliott - often mentioned as Milton Elliott - James Smith, John Denton, Eliza and Bayless Williams, Walter Herron and Hiram O. Miller. There were some others, but I have been unable to learn their names.

Leaving Springfield, their first point of destination was Independence, Missouri, where they were to make the final preparation for crossing the Plains. They were joined at various points by parties from other places, as follows : -

From Lacon, Illinois: Jay Fausdick and Mrs. Sarah Fausdick, his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Graves, with their eight children, Frank, Mary, William, Ellen, Lavina, Nancy, Jonathan and Elizabeth. Mrs. Fausdick was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Graves.

From Iowa: Patrick Brien - spelled, in some places, Brein and Breen - Margaret Brien, Margaret J., John, Edward, Patrick, Jun., Simon, James and Peter Brien, and Patrick Dolen.

From St. Louis, Missouri: William Foster, Mrs. Foster and George Foster; and from Ray county, Missouri: William McCutchen, Mrs. McCutchen and Harriet McCutchen.

Others are mentioned on the road, incidentally, but this sketch is only intended for those who left Sangamon county. At Independence, Mr. Reed loaded eight wagons with provisions and supplies of various kinds. The Donners made similar preparations, as also the other members of the party. They, of course, had a sufficient number of oxen to haul all their wagons. It was absolutely necessary that emigrants, at that time, should travel in large bodies as a safeguard against the Indians on the Plains. It was never safe to start until the grass had made sufficient growth to afford sustenance for the cattle. This company of eighty-one persons, thirty-four of whom were from Sangamon county, left Independence early in May, for their long, tedious and perilous journey across the Western Plains. All went well until they approached the Big Blue river, four miles above its mouth, where Manhattan, Kan., now stands. They found the stream quite full, and the whole party camped and commenced building boats and rafts for crossing. Just before reaching there, Mrs. Keyes, the mother of Mrs. Reed, showed signs of failing health under the fatigue and discomfort of travel in unpleasant weather. While in camp she grew worse, and on the morning of May 29, 1846, breathed her last. Work was suspended, and each vied with every other in rendering the last tribute of respect to her remains. A neat coffin was made of timber, split, hewn and planed, from a cottonwood tree near by. The remains were placed in it and buried on a beautiful elevation, near an upland burr oak. Religious services were conducted by a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. The grave was sodded, and the tree made to serve the purposes of a head board. On it was cut the following inscription : "SARAH KEYES, AGED 70 YEARS. DIED 29th MAY, 1846. FROM SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS."

Mrs. S. Keyes, Aged 70 Years

Between Independence and Blue river the Reed and Donner party fell in with Col. W. H. Russell and company, who had left Independence a few days before them. Passing Blue river, they all traveled together until they reached Little Sandy river, where a separation took place, the majority of them going to Oregon, Col. Russell heading the latter. The day after the separation the Reed and Donner party elected George Donner Captain, and from that time it was known as the "Donner Company." They continued their journey up the valley of the Platte river, passing Fort Laramie and crossing the Rocky Mountains to Fort Bridger without any serious mishap. This had occupied the entire summer. They tarried at the Fort four days. Parties who had gone before, learned the dangers, and knowing the Donner party were coining, left letters, directed to Mr. Reed, with Mr. Vasques, the partner of Bridger, for whom the fort was named, advising him by no means to take what was known as the Hastings cut off, but to go by the Fort Hall route. The latter was an established route, and well known, but it required a detour to the northwest, whereas the Hastings cut off, passing through Webber canyon to the south end of the great Salt Lake, about where Salt Lake City now stands, made the route more direct, and doubtless was three hundred miles shorter, which was the inducement to take that route. Vasques being interested in having all travelers go that way, withheld the letters from Mr. Reed, and he never knew, until his arrival in California, that any such letters had been left for him, and they unfortunately took what they supposed would be the more direct road. Approaching the mouth of the Webber canyon, they found a letter sticking in the top of a sage bush. It was from Hastings, the discoverer of the new route. He was then piloting a company through, and proposed to the Donner Company that, it they would send mes- sengers for him, he would return and pilot them through a better way than the one given them. Messrs. Reed, Stanton and McCutchen, of the Donner Company, went to Mr. Hastings, and, after going back part of the way with Mr. Reed - he having procured a fresh horse - Mr. Hastings gave him directions, and leaving him about where Salt Lake city now stands, returned to the first party he was piloting. Mr. Reed returned east to the Donner Company, all hands went to work, and by digging and cutting timber, made a road passing to the south end of Salt Lake, crossing the outlet to the lake - now called the river Jordan. Passing to the northwest, around the lake, they were detained a few days by the death, from consumption, of one of the company, a Mr. Halloran. A few more days' travel brought them to the Springs where they were to provide water and grass for crossing what was called Hastings' desert, an alkaline region destitute of water or vegetation. They were led to believe that it was less than fifty miles across, but it proved to be nearer eighty. It was understood they must travel day and night, stopping only to feed and water the cattle. When about two-thirds of the way across, the stock manifested signs of being exhausted, and the company requested Mr. Reed to go forward until he found water and report. He did so, reaching it in about twenty miles, and returning, met his teamsters about 1 1 o'clock at night driving the cattle, having left their wagons. After directing them how to proceed, he went on to meet his family and the remainder of the company. Soon after leaving his teamsters, one of their horses sunk down in the road, and while they were endeavoring to raise it, the cattle scented the water, scattered, and nine yoke were never found, leaving one ox and a cow only ; his wagons and family, with all their supplies, out on a desert, hundreds o*' miles from any human habitation, and winter close upon them. The mistake of his teamsters - and one he would not have permitted had he been present - was in leaving the wagons so soon.

We will return to Mr. Reed, who was seeking his family twenty miles in the desert. He reached them about daylight the next morning. Not knowing that his cattle were lost, he waited with his family all day, expecting some of his men to return and haul them to water. Not receiving any information, and their supply of water being nearly gone, he started with his family on foot, carrying the youngest child in his arms, and in the course of the night the children became exhausted. They spread a blanket on the ground; all lay down on it, and covered themselves with shawls; but a cold hurricane commenced blowing soon after, and he could only keep the children warm by having their four dogs lie down against them, outside the shawls. About daylight they moved on, and soon came to a wagon, which belonged to Jacob Donner, and contained his family. Mr. Reed left his family with Mrs. Donner. Mr. Donner returned from the water with his cattle, and took his own and Mr. Reed's families to the water, where they remained in camp about a week, hunting for their cattle. Mr. Reed never found any of his; the Indians had made sure work, and secured all except the two previously mentioned. He then divided his provisions, except what he could haul in one wagon, borrrowed another yoke of oxen, and, leaving his seven wagons in the desert, moved on with the company, - all the others having found a sufficient number of their oxen to haul their wagons. After a few days' travel, the party who had loaned him the yoke of oxen needed them, when another neighbor loaned him a yoke.

Some days further on it was found that provisions were running shoi't. An estimate was made of the quantity it would take for each family. Mr. Reed then proposed that if two men would go forward to Captain Slitter's in California, he, Reed, would write him a letter, asking for the whole amount, and would become personally responsible for the pay. Mr. William McCutchen, of Missouri, and Mr. Stanton, of Chicago, volunteered to go. The progress was - slow, and weeks passed without any tidings from McCutchen and Stanfon.