Eastburn, Illinois

The " Sheldon Enterprise " is a five-column quarto, weekly independent newspaper, first published December 31, 1874, by H. R. Fields and H. L. Henry. The first copy was sold for $2.50 at auction, to Joe Bell. Since February 1, 1877, it has been under the management of D. J. Eastburn, the present editor and proprietor.

Passage source: History of Iroquois County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1880.

The Eastburns. Prominent among the names of the early settlers of Iroquois county is that of Eastburn. The name appears as early as 1830, since which time five generations have appeared in this county. The early history of the Eastburns traces through a long line of ancestry back to England. Those who came to this county were descendants of Jesse Eastburn, who was born in Maryland in the year 1770. He was twice married, first to Miss Abigail Phillips, of Pennsylvania, and next to Mrs. Barbara Pitinger, of Ohio. By the second marriage there was one child, which died in Ohio, where Mrs. Eastburn had returned after the death of her husband. By the first marriage there were nine children, four of whom have lived in this county : Hezekiah, Joseph B., Jesse Jr., and William, all of whom were born in Adams county, Ohio. Jesse Eastburn, Sr., came to this county about the year 1833, and settled on section 5 of the present township of Sheldon, where he lived until his death. He had been preceded by his son Hezekiah, who settled about three miles southwest of the present village of Iroquois in the spring of the year 1830, and died October 29, 1832. June 6, 1822, he was married to Miss Ann Black, by whom he became the father of five children, three of whom are living : Margaret, Jesse R., and Mary J. May 4, 1836, Mrs. Eastburn married James Crozzar, who settled in this county in the fall of 1830, and died in 1869. Mrs. Crozzar is now living with her daughter, near the place of her early settlement. Joseph B. Eastburn settled in Iroquois county about the year 1833. He married Miss Sarah A. Truitt, a native of Adams county, Ohio. They settled in what is now Concord township, and in 1835 moved to his father's farm in the present township of Sheldon, where he lived until his death, April 14, 1850; she died August 28, 1870. Of their nine children four are living : William L., Parker T., A. M., and David C. Jesse Eastburn, Jr., married Miss Jane Smedley in Ohio, April 7, 1831. She was born in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1809. They settled near Iroquois, in this county, in 1835. In 1870 they moved to Sheldon, where, September 3, 1873, he died. They had nine children, four of whom are living : Isaac H., James JL, Annie A. and David J. Mrs. Eastburn married Mr. Harrison Hedge Novem. ber 21, 1875. He was born in Massachusetts, February 2, 1813, and moved to New York when quite young, thence to Indiana, where, September 8, 1836, he married Miss Elizabeth Ewan, of New York. She died in Iroquois county, Illinois, in 1868. They had six children : Mercy H*, Arthur S., Mary, Samuel, Amanda E. and Cordelia. In 1871 Mr. Hedge moved to Sheldon, and has lived there since. While in Indiana he learned the carpenter's trade, and followed it and farming, but of late years he has lived retired. William Eastburn married Miss Julia A. Moore, a native of Kentucky. They were married in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. He first came to this county in 1833, then returned to Indiana and came with his family in 1835, and lived here until their deaths, March 11, 1870, and February 22, 1871, respectively. Of their ten children four are living : Henry H., George W., Montgomery and Sidney T.

Passage source: History of Iroquois County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1880.

Jesse R. Eastburn, farmer and stock-raiser, Sheldon, was born in Adams county, Ohio, November 4, 1824, and came to this county with his parents in the spring of 1830, and in the latter part of the same year they settled on his present place. In 1832 his father died, and in 1833 he went among his relatives in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and lived there until 1845, when he returned here and bought out the heirs, and lived on the old homestead since. November 6, 1848, he was married to Miss Tabitha Critchfield, of Ohio. She died November 9, 1854. They had two children : Ann and Ellen. May 1, 1856, he was married to Miss Margaret Howry. She was born in Warren county, Indiana. They had four children, three living : Sarah J., Mattie and Jesse. He owns 290 acres in this county, located three and and a half miles northwest of Sheldon. He has held the offices of school director, road commissioner and supervisor.

Passage source: History of Iroquois County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, Private and Official Correspondence, and Other Authentic, Though, for the Most Part, Out-of-the-way Sources, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Sheldon Township - it names this place 14 more 14 times.