Kentucky, Illinois

For years after township organization, Stratton bore the honor of contain¬ ing the first settlement of white men made in Edgar County. More than sixty years ago were settlements made in this town, as originally bounded ; and what changes have been wrought in that period, go ask the Mayos, Blackburns, Simses, Scotts, Darnalls, and the few others still remaining, whose memories run back to the early times. This township took its name from John Stratton, one of the five first white settlers in this section of the country, and who is said by some to have been the first white man " who ate his dinner in his own house on this side of the Wabash.'' This assertion will probably admit of some modification, and his settlement confined to Edgar County, instead of this side of the Wabash. He located in the territory now embraced in Hunter Township. Some time after township organization, a new town was made between Stratton and Brouillett (most of the territory comprising it being taken from Stratton) and named Hunter, for one of its estimable citizens, John Hun¬ ter, Esq. This division gave to Hunter Township the honor that had originally belonged to Stratton, that of the first settlement in the county. Stratton was from Kentucky, and for many years was an honored citizen of the " North Arm " settlement ; but as his history is given in Hunter Township we will not repeat it here.

Passage source: The History of Edgar County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County--its Cities, Towns, &c. : Directory of Its Tax-payers; War Records of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Edgar County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c. Illustrated, published 1879.

Col. J. M. Blackburn was born in Bourbon County, Ivy. His parents were from Pennsylvania ; were opposed to slavery, and when Kentucky adopted a Constitution admitting slavery, they removed to Ohio, where they remained until 1816, when they emigrated to Knox County, Ind., settling in that portion that afterward became a part of Sullivan County. The elder Blackburn died in 1817, but his wife lived to be ninety years of age. Col. Blackburn, after the death of his father, came here, to look at the land and to enter land for the benefit of his father's children, During that trip, he entered the land upon which he now lives. In August, 1820, he came again to Edgar County, built a cabin and a stable, and dug a well on the land; returned to Indiana, and the next year moved to the county, and settled on the place where he still lives. He is upward of eighty years of age, in apparent good health, and an active memory for his years. He says that Col. Mayo, of Paris, is the only man now alive who was living here when he came to the county in 1820. There are a few who were children then, but "he and Mayo are the only two old stagers left." Col. Blackburn's first wife was Miss Cassandra Widener, who is sup¬ posed to have been the first citizen white child born in the State of Indiana. Her father's (John Widener's) family was one of five, viz., John Widener, Col. Small, Dr. Curtandall, Col. Snapp and William Hogue, wTho came from the James River country, Virginia, in the latter part of the last century, and set¬ tled at Post St. Vincent, as Vincennes was then called, and were the first American citizens who settled in Indiana, Post St. Vincent being, at the time, the only settlement, camp or post in what is now the " Hoosier " State. And there his wife was born, in February, 1798. Blackburn took an active part in the Black Hawk war, as noted further on in this chapter. He has always been an active man in the community, full of energy and enterprise, and succeeded in accumulating a fine property. The Colonel sometimes entertains his friends with the following

Passage source: The History of Edgar County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County--its Cities, Towns, &c. : Directory of Its Tax-payers; War Records of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Edgar County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c. Illustrated, published 1879.

Hiram Newlon came from Virginia and settled in Stratton Township in 1824. He and his wife are both still living and in good health for their time of life. He is in good circumstances, and one of the prosperous farmers of the country. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace. A. G. Fitzgerald came from Meade County, Ky., in 1825, and settled about a mile east of Col. Blackburn's, and very near to the center of the township. He is still living. Though he came from Kentucky here, he is a native of North Caro¬ lina. He is a brother-in-law of Col. Morrison, his wife being a sister to Mor¬ rison. Col. D. A. Morrison was also from Meade County, Ky., and came to this township in November, 1826. He rented land the first year, and the next November settled where he now lives. His farm is just in the center of the township, and here he has lived for over half a century. He has been quite a stock-raiser, and also quite a dealer in that line. George King came from New York in 1825. After remaining here a number of years he removed to Wisconsin, where he became quite a noted man, serving with some distinction in the Legislature of the Badger State. Solomon Douthard was from some of the Eastern States and settled here in 1827. He sold out and moved West, and there died.

Passage source: The History of Edgar County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County--its Cities, Towns, &c. : Directory of Its Tax-payers; War Records of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Edgar County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c., &c. Illustrated, published 1879.

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 Stratton Township - it names this place 33 more 33 times.