USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Union County > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
People no longer lived independently of each other but de- pended on what they sold to pay for what necessities of life they bought. It is not strange that this change took place since over two hundred new households were set up to increase the population and business of the community as well as the increase made by immi- gration.
The following marriages were recorded between 1820 and 1830: Joseph Hess to Mary Hartline, James S. Smith to Harriet Weaver, James Sutzer to Elizabeth Hileman, Alfred N. Dilliard to Nerma Greer, George Davold to Rebecca Goodwin, John Thompson to Anna Landrith, John Landrith to Mary Thompson, Milo Farring to Martha Barker, Mitty Davidson to Margaret Mumy, Martin Vancil to Cath- erine Lyerle, Philip Hargrave to Nancy Hacky, Benjamin Robertson to Elizabeth Snider, Nicholas Keith to Elizabeth Thornton, James
-10-
Crowe to Kiziah Cornelius, Abner Field to Mena James, Thomas Landrith to Elizabeth Sumner, Samuel McKey to Elizabeth Lingle, William Vancil to Zilphy Dodd, Lemand Lipe to Catharine Davis, Janothan Lyerly to Maryan Byrns, Christian Hileman to Nancy Davis, Frederick Barringer to Anny Dillo, John Miller to Susannah Davis, Jacob Yount to Talbitha McDaniel, Milliam Welch to Mar- garet Cochran, William Tripp to Cerithy Willis, Sampson Porth to Lucinda Palmerly, Nathan Walder to Nancy Collins, Daniel Barringer to Elizabeth Treece, Abraham Miller to Nancy Maury, Zachariaht Lyerle to Sally Snider, Jacob Cruse to Elizabeth Sitzer, David Hile- man to Sally Miller, Jacob Lipe to Rosena Davis, Charles Daugherty to Elizabeth Stone, Allen Boyd to Louisa McIntosh, William Morgan to Charity Smith, Cornelius Smith to Fanny Beggs, Christian Craig- ton to Christian Miller, James N. Reynolds to Sarah Hannahs, John Langley to Patrina Delaney, James Martin to Rachel Grammer, Renson Lamer to Esther Penrod, Joseph Ferguson to Nancy Brown, Isaac Brown to Cynthy Davis, Solomon Dillow to Susan Barringer, Mecajah Littleton to Katherine Wolf, Peter Clutts to Anna Shor- man, Robert Duncan to Elizabeth Suttles, Elijah Shepherd to Eliza- beth Irwin, Winsted Davie to Anna Willard, Richard Sumner to Nancy McDaniel, Joel McHerring to Nancy Lycester, Aaron Henry to Katherine Hysenogle, John Stokes to Mary Anderson, Boston Lentz to Sophie Lentz, Joshia Hazelwood to Harriet Standard, John Hun- saker to Fanny Linbaugh, Thomas McIntosh to Rebecca McRaye, Jo hn Wholshouser to Sophia Ettleman, Isaac Sheppard to Mary Lambert, David Gore to Polly Garner, Drury Conally to Amelia Persons, Peter Lentz, Jr., to Mary Lingle, Jacob Dillow to Barbara Miller, Charles Hunsaker to Rebecca McClure, Alexander Trees to Catharine Hartline, David Brown to Mary McClure, Bazzel B. Craig to Huldah Bradshaw, Jacoz Lentz to Barbara Clutts, James Leffler to Elizabeth Martin, William Lamer to Mary Waller, Lewis Durham to Elizabeth Miller, William Cook to Lydia Busely, Peter Hysenogle to Catherine Cotner, Thomas Hughes to Unice Erise, Alexander Douglas to Mary Hinkle, William Echols to Sophia Weaver, Jacob Rentleman to Rachel Hartline, Peter Miller, Jr., to Katharine Whols- houser, James D. Anderson to Polly Miller, Ephriam Noel to Elijah Staten, Mark Rutherford to Risky McDaniel, Finnis McGinnis to Rachel Evans, Levi Townsend to Edna Bizzel, William Crise to Nancy Barringer, Benjamin Worthington to Nancy Lawrence, Jacob Meisenheimer to Mary Newman, John Anyan to Phoebe Worthington, John Lawrence to Sally Durham, Abraham Keller to Polly Beggs, John Humphreys to Mary Kelso, Jacob Verble to Katherine Brown, Jacob Pitcocks to Rhoda Young, Jacob Karraker to Phoebe Verble, Jeremiah Collins to Margaret Edwards, Samuel King to Susannah Montgomery, Peter Hagler to Francis Keith, Thomas Thornton to Sarah Carter, Robert Willis to Mary Cochran, Collens Murphy to Aggy Whitson.
Young D. Dunner to Elizabeth Standard, James Willis to Mary
-11-
Tripp, George W. McDaniel to June McRavens, Benjamin Vancil to Katharine Landrith, Joseph Ettleman to Susannah Hess, Peter Port- mess to Dorcas Keith, Hugh V. Patterson to Mary Penrod, Peter Samuel Jackard to Rhody Duncan, John Cochran to Deanna Lissen- berry, Willibie Gales to Nancy Pittsford, George McGehee to Char- lotte Vancil, Jonas G. Lock to Mary Bradshaw, John Tripp to Susannah Peterson, Jacob Davis to Elizabeth Brown, Lenard Strin- ger to Polly Cole, Jackson Echols to Sally Fowler, John Cauble to Eliza Lyerle, John Butcher to Huldah Morgan, Christopher Lyerle to Barbara House, Isham Tinner to Elizabeth Riburn, Willis Stan- dard to Nicy Hale, Frederick Mowery to Sally Davis, Nicholas Tripp to Mary Delaney, John Vancil to Elizabeth Grammer, Wilson Lyerle to Susannah Zimmerman, William Murphy to William Loid, Joel Barker to Belinda Lewis, Caleb Bryant to Peggy Dillow, William Corgan to Mary Palmerly, Edward Vancil to Sarah Penrod, Martin Green to Harriet Bennett, A. R. Benson to Prissy Miles, S. Moorke- viol to E. Grammer, Robert Graham to Jane Hazelwood, Peter Cauble to Polly Link, John Dillow to Elizabeth Verble, Jacob Davis to Nancy Sittsmir, Hiram Hunsaker to Permelia Roberson, Benjamin Walker to Elizabeth Wilson, Thomas McElwyn to Leah Tomlinson, James Beggs to Lorsee Barber, David Night to Maryann Durall, Presley Taylor to Martha Durall, Adam Hileman to Leah Rhinehart, John Grammer to Elizabeth Barker, James King Cochran to Dorcas Goodman, Owen Hughes to Barbara Snider, and Jacob Clutts to Delila Keith.
By 1824 a tanyard, a "hatter's shop," a "medical shop" and a jewelry shop had been established in Jonesboro. Taxes were col- lected on the stock in trade of the above and also on horses, cows, sheep, hops, grist and saw mills, watches, clocks, ferries, wagons, town lots, distilleries and pleasure conveyances.
Following Francis Parker, David Coleman and Robert Har- grave in the commissioners court were Robert Hargrave and Jessie Echols, in 1822, Sam Hunsaker and Jessie Echols, in 1825, Sam Hunsaker, Jessie Echols and George Brown, in 1824, Sam Hun- saker, George Brown and B. W. Brooks, in 1825, George Brown, Jessie Echols and John Price.
Abner Field served as clerk of both the county and circuit courts at a salary of $30.00 per year for each office in 1821 and 1822. Winsted Davie became clerk March 5, 1823 and held that office for several years. He had first served the county as compiler of the poll books. George Hunsaker served as sheriff in 1820 for the salary of $50.50 which also paid him for the stationery he used. In 1821 and 1822 he was paid seven and one-half percent of $1174.57, the revenue collected by the county for both years. Charles Dunn, who served as probate judge at that time, was paid fifty dollars per year.
The county commissioners regulated the rates a ferry could charge for its services as follows: a wagon and team, $3.00; a
-12-
wheeled carriage with one or two horses, $1.50; a man and horse, 75c; each footman, 25c; each head of live cattle, 20c; a lead horse, 25c; a head of hogs or sheep, 10c; a pack horse, 50c.
September 4, 1820, the commissioner's court authorized Charles Dunn, the probate judge, to select a seal for the county to use. He chose one which looks very much like our present fifty-cent piece with the American eagle with wings spread in flight and around the edge of the seal was written "County Commissioner's Court of Union County." This seal is found on all legal documents until the seal which is now used was adopted several years later.
The town of Jonesboro was incorporated by the state legisla- ture along with Covington, America, Kaskaskia and Vienna in 1820.
V
state
1818
4
820
tucoche
-13-
CHAPTER V
PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE APPEAR IN THE COUNTY
As population increased in Union County a few people who were educated in professions came along with the settlers.
If these people were measured by the standards of education with which professional people are today measured they could not be classed as such for in those days there was no training for the ministry, teaching, medicine and the law in special schools. A minister became a minister because he "got religion" and while he conducted meetings he earned his livelihood by farming or other work. Our first settler, George Wolf, was a Dunkard preacher, and later there were many other religious groups developed in the county. It is interesting to note all the way thru the records of Union County that there has always ben a well rounded group of people made up of all types of people of native white origin.
Preparation for teaching consisted of a two or three term course in a "subscription school" where the rudiment of arithmetic, reading, writing and spelling were taught. This two or three term course did not follow eight or twelve years of previous schooling but was the complete extent of the teacher's training. A man named Griffin was the first teacher in Union County. He was fol- lowed by Winsted Davie who had gone to school before he came to Union County. Willis Willard who had had a little schooling in Vermont before coming here followed him.
Doctors become doctors by reading medicine and practicing under an established physician and lawyers became lawyers by read- ing law books and "putting out their shingles." There were no bar examinations or state medical board examinations.
In fact, most of the people of the times were unlearned and superstitious and clung to the idea that a sick child had been "witch- ed" and his treatment consisted of various methods used to break the "spell" the witch had cast over the child by refusing to lend anything to persons believed to be a witch or by hanging a bottle of urine in the chimney. The early doctors borrowed some of their medical practice from the practice of witchcraft, such as the brewing of teas from certain herbs but the doctors did not use the rituals practiced by the early "medicine men."
The earliest doctor in the county was Benjamin W. Brooks who had been educated in the east and traveled extensively before settling here. His name appears on the county records as a doctor being paid by the county for caring for paupers, as a surveyor, laying out roads, as a county commissioner and later as a member of the legislature. He must have been a man of rare ability for he was active in these many pursuits until his death in 1845. He is one of the few individuals who kept a record of the events of the period other than the records kept by the county court.
There were more men "practicing law" in this early period
-14-
of Union County than those in other professions. Most of the early commissioners, clerks of the court, constables and justices of the peace practiced law in a small way.
Among our earliest lawyers were John Reynolds, who later became Governor of the State, Daniel P. Cook, presiding judge of the first probate court and James Evans, Esq. These early lawyers were licensed by the Supreme Court of Illinois. Other names ap- pearing as lawyers during this period were Richard M. Young, David T. Maddox, Charles Dunn, Thomas Reynolds, Thomas C. Browne, David J. Baker and Walter B. Scott.
At that time there were no women in professions. The women who married became the housekeepers and heads of their own little home industries which consisted of planting, growing, harvesting, spinning, and weaving flax and cotton and of grinding corn for meal. The work of the woman was endless because she was not able to buy many of the necessities of life, all were wrought by the sweat of her brow. The spinsters who did not marry and become heads of households became members of a brother's or sister's house- hold. Only a very poor person "hired out" to earn a home for herself and in most of these instances, she was treated as a member of the family by whom she was employed. The earliest business in which women were found were millinery and needlecraft. Several years later a few were educated enough to become teachers but in the earliest part of our history, women were not sent to the subscription schools because it was not necessary for them to know how to read and write. Still, with all this lack of opportunity and education for women, many of them became outstanding in the community for the wise way in which they conducted their house- holds and guided their families.
-15-
CHAPTER VI LAND ENTERED BY 1835
Although Union County was not divided into precincts as they now stand, the present political divisions will be used in this chapter in order to locate our early settlers more clearly in the minds of the reader.
The present Jonesboro precinct was the most populous settle- ment in our early history. Here land was entered by Israel Thomp- son, 130.68 acres; Adam Cauble, 124.52 acres; Jacob Rendleman, 400 acres; Edward Vancil, 160 acres; John Crowell, 31.62 acres; John Vancil, 63.50 acres; Wm. Hughes, 80 acres; Jacob Weigh, 80 acres; George Wolf, 720 acres; Jacob Hunsaker, 240 acres; Jacob Wolf, 320 acres; Michael Linbaugh, 160 acres; Jonathan Husky, 80 acres; William Grammer. 160 acres; John Grammer, 240 acres; Henry Culph, 80 acres; Jacob Trees, 80.63 acres; Henry Cruse, 80 acres; Joseph Palmer, 80 acres; Emmanuel Penrod, 160 acres; Geo. Hunsaker, 160 acres; George Smiley, 40 acres; Russell E. Heacock, 160 acres; Thomas Green, 160 acres; David Kimmel, 480 acres; Alexander P. Field, 80 acres; Robert Hargrave, 160 acres; Isaac Tinsley, 80 acres; David Anindel, 280 acres; John Whitaker, 160 acres; Jacob Butcher, 160 acres; John Weigle, 80 acres; Wilkerson Goodwin, 120.63 acres; and John Waggoner, 40 acres; Anthony Mor- gan, 80 acres; John Hargrave, 160 acres; William Hunsaker, 40 acres; James Ellis, 160 acres; David Cotner, 160 acres; David Brown, 304.66 acres; Joseph Taylor, 80 acres; J. Taylor and the legal heirs of J. Hughes, 160 acres. This means that these people obtained this land from the government by right of settlement upon it and the payment of a small fee of fifty cents to less than two dollars per acre. By 1835 John Grammer had donated part of his land to the city of Jonesboro and other land had also changed hands by right of purchase but the above describes the original set- tlement of the precinct.
The settlement of what are now Anna Precincts was next in size to Jonesboro. Here the following men had entered land as follows: Peter Casper, 344.58 acres; John Wooten, 160 acres; Con- rad Sitter, 160 acres; Anthony Lingle, 200 acres; Henry Barringer, 80 acres; David Crise, 160 acres; Jacob Hunsaker, 160 acres; Wil- liam Morrison, 340 acres; Robert Crafton, 91.22 acres; Joseph McIlhaney, 182.46 acres; John Winces, 160 acres; Winsted Davie, 80 acres; Abner Field, Jr., 160 acres; John Thornton, 80 acres; Thomas Sams, 80 acres; Rice Sams, 80 acres; John Grammer, 160 acres; Jacob Hunsaker, Jr., 184.53 acres; John McIntosh, 80 acres; Daniel Spence, 80 acres; David Brown, 160 acres; John Weigle, 160 acres; William Craigle, 320 acres; David Miller, 160 acres; Leonard Knupp, 80 acres; George Cripe, 80 acres; Isaac Cornell, 160 acres; Peter Miller, 160 acres; John Brown, 160 acres; Nicholas Wilson,
-16-
162.46 acres; Henry Bechtle, 200 acres; George Plott, 80 acres; Lennard Lipe, 40 acres.
Cobden Precincts were settled by Cornelius Anderson, 180.34 acres; C. B. R. Smith, 40 acres; Aaron Trees, 40 acres; Samuel Hartland, 40 acres; Johnson Summers, 93.57 acres; John Vancil, 40 acres; Duvall Lence, 240 acres; John Lingle, 160 acres; John Lence, 160 acres; John Lence, Jr., 160 acres; Pete Lence, 80 acres; John Harris, 158.55 acres; John Lingle, 184.11 acres; Benedict Mull, 66.01 acres; George Hartline, 93 acres; John R. McFarland, 162.88 acres; Matthias Zimmerman, 41.84 acres; Samuel Penrod, 80 acres; Thomas Farrill, 80 acres; John Vancil, Sr., 80 acres; Joseph Miller, 80 acres; Edmund Vancil, 240 acres and Isaac Vancil, 320 acres.
Dongola Precincts which comprise a large portion of the southeastern corner of Union County, were settled by Thomas Sams, 66.98 acres; John Davis, 95 acres; Daniel Hileman, 80 acres; Moses Shelby, 49.24 acres; Moses Meisenheimer, 80 acres; Peter Cruse, 287 acres; David Penrod, 80 acres; Levi Patterson, 160 acres; Alex Beggs, Jr., 80 acres; John Borin, 160 acres; Daniel Carriker, 40 acres; Philip Hinkle, 80 acres; Henry Bechtle, 80 acres; John Vine- yard, 160 acres; Thomas S. Hughes, 80 acres; Joseph Barber, 80 acres; Lost Cope, 160 acres, John Cope, 80 acres; Joseph Barbee, 100 acres; Isaac Beggs, 160 acres; Lewis Penrod, 160 acres; Jacob Peeler, 40 acres; George Hileman, 40 acres; Alex Beggs, Jr., 240 acres; Tobias Meisenheimer, 120 acres; A. Meisenheimer, 40 acres; Alex Brim, 160 acres; John Edelman, 340.18 acres; Adam Edelman, 100.29 acres; Hosea Borin, 320 acres; William Crise, 80 acres; Thomas McIntosh, 160 acres; Henry Strickler, 40 acres; Alexander Beggs, 125.98 acres; Thomas Lanes, 80 acres; George W. Brown, 80 acres; Daniel F. Coleman, 160 acres; John Hunsaker, 160 acres; Isaac Braggs, 364.87 acres; George Davis, 160 acres; John Uri, 160 acres; John Yost, 206.89 acres; Wilkinson Goodwin, 160 acres; John Hunsaker, 160 acres; Samuel Hunsaker, 40 acres; Adam Clapp, 320 acres; John Miller, Sr., 160 acres; Augustus Post, 40 acres; George Devolt, 80 acres; Andrew Shaffer, 40 acres; Michael Dillow, 80 acres; Wiley I. Davidson, 40 acres; J. Grammer and J. Bradshaw, McLean, 80 acres; Joseph Crite, 40 acres; George Krite, 40 acres; 80 acres; Benjamin Menees, 40 acres; John Dillow, 200 acres; James John Bradshaw, 80 acres; John Saunders, 80 acres and Michael Osman, 40 acres.
Stokes Precinct north of Dongola and east of Anna was settled by George Evans, 160 acres; John Mowery, 80 acres; Ben- jamin Menees, 80 acres; William Gwinn, 40 acres; Ambrose B. Rains; George Hileman, 40 acres; William Smith, 80 acres; W. Davidson and T. Throgmorton, 160 acres; John Stokes, 80 acres; George Godwin, 80 acres; Jonathan Boswell, 40 acres; Abner Cox, 160 acres; Richard McGinnis, 160 acres; Caleb Musgrave, 120 acres; Silas Toler, 40 acres; Isaac Bizzel, 160 acres; Isaiah Patterson, 95.36 acres; William Cove, 94.62 acres; John Davis, 95 acres; Daniel Hileman, 80 acres and Moses Shelby, 49.24 acres.
-- 17-
The early settlers of Saratoga Precinct were William Owen, 120 acres and Thomas Green, 60 acres.
Lick Creek early settlers were John Smith, 80 acres; Thomas D. Patterson, 160 acres; Wyatt Anderson, 40 acres; Zebedee An- derson, 80 acres; Hugh Craig, 160 acres; Heirs of John Cox, 320.25 acres; Nathan Musgrave, 80 acres; John Bradshaw, 160 acres; Ben- jamin Menees, 160 acres; George Evans, 160 acres; 1818 Owen Evans, 160 acres, and Nathan Musgrave, 80 acres.
There were no settlers in Rich Precinct before 1835.
Many people settled near the river, the only means of long distance transportation at that time.
Reynolds Precinct, the southwest corner of the county, was settled by McDaniel Dorris, 160 acres; Joseph Smith, 724.38 acres; Daniel Ellis, 80 acres; Stephen Donohoe, 160 acres; David Brown, 80 acres; Jacob Littleton, 319.91 acres; J. McIntosh, 80 acres; James Brown, Sr., 160 acres; L. W. and J. Smith, 480 acres; Ben- jamin Harris, 308.90 acres; Caleb Casper, 160 acres; Nicholas Long- worth, 160 acres; Benjamin Brooks, 240 acres; Willis James, 40 acres; David Miller, 127.94 acres; Jacob Hileman, 124 acres; Jacob Trees, 206.48 acres and Hithaper A. Same, 80 acres.
Meisenheimer Precinct was settled by Quinton Ellis, 80 acres; Cliff Hazelwood, 160 acres; Daniel Knupp, 80 acres; David Meisen- heimer, 80 acres; J. J. Meisenheimer, 80 acres; Andrew Smith, 80 acres; Samuel Hunsaker, 160 acres; John Knupp, 80 acres; Adam Eddleman, 160 acres; Abraham Brown, 120 acres; Legal Represen- tatives of A. Cruse, 160 acres and John Smith, 40 acres.
Mill Creek Precinct was settled by George Hunsaker, 160 acres; Peter Lence, 206.89 acres; Peter Cruse, 204.87 acres; George Lawrence, 160 acres; Jacob Hunsaker, 160 acres; Henry Clutts, 202 acres; Christian Miller, 202 acres; James Weaver, 160 acres; Peter Albright, 80 acres; John Harriston, 80 acres; John Kimmel, 80 acres; John Fink, 80 acres; Edmund Holleman, 80' acres; Joel M. D. Herring, 80 acres; Peter Albright, 80 acres; Christopher Barn- hart, 40 acres; John Miller, 160 acres; Michael Holshouser, 160 acres; John Hartline, 80 acres; Anthony Lingle, 160 acres; Henry Clutts, 103.36 acres; John Whitaker, 160 acres; John Barger, 160 acres; Philip Shaver, 160 acres; Peter Panless, 80 acres; Philip Panless, 80 acres; William Worthington, 160 acres; Moses Cruse, 160 acres; John Hoffner, 240 acres; George Medlin, 40 acres and Adam Goodman, 80 acres.
Union Precinct, west of Jonesboro along the Mississippi River was the most thickly settled district along the river but the majority of the entries were made between 1825 and 1835 after Willard's Landing had become established. Those who entered land here were George Smith, 166.04 acres; George James, 39.70 acres; William James, 40 acres; Franklin M. Bennett, 42.50 acres; John Dougherty, 42.52 acres; Mirian E. Whitaker, 165 acres; James M. Abernathy, 152.81 acres; Thomas H. Harris, 40 acres; Elijah Willard, 1049.90
-18-
acres; Lineas B. Sublett, 240 acres; S. M. and J. Smith, 160 acres; William Green, 40 acres; Sarah Robinson, 40 acres; Richard Mc- Bride, 160 acres; John Eaton, 40 acres; L. Lewis and J. Hunsaker, 160 acres; Harrison Ellis, 40 acres; George Kimmel, 40 acres; Vin- cent Robertson, 80 acres; Jonathan Ellis, 80 acres; Thomas S. Cox, 40 acres; Thomas Green, 160 acres; John McBride, 80 acres; Mat- son Green, 120 acres; James Smith, 80 acres; Charles Conaway, 80 acres; William M. Mounts, 40 acres; David Green, 160 acres; Benjamin J. Harris, 969.21 acres; William Willard, 80 acres; Ben- jamin Hall, 240 acres; Micajah Littleton, 80 acres; William Little- ton, 80 acres; Joseph Joy, Sr., 120 acres; John Price, 40 acres; John Barker, 40 acres; Caleb and D. Trees, 80 acres; John Summers, 80 acres; Abraham Summers, 80 acres; William Grammer, 80 acres; Abraham Hunsaker, 40 acres; John Grammer, Sr., 40 acres; John H. Grammer, 40 acres; Jacob Rentleman, 320 acres; Calvin Price, 180 acres and Augustus Rixleben, 180 acres.
Farther up the river Preston Precinct was settled by Thomas H. Harris, 1111.95 acres; Jacob Crafts, 307.90 acres; Garland Laughlin, 20 acres; John Rorax, 120 acres; John Baltzell, 71.71 acres; Ninian E. Whitaker, 127.86 acres; J. Carp and T. Craft, 88.86 acres; Joseph Smith, 143.07 acres; George W. G. Henson, 160 acres; Benjamin Walker, 206.77 acres; Cyrus S. Freeman, 16.28 acres; John Freeman, 80 acres; William Bittle, 40 acres; Thomas Wright, 40 acres; Henry Lyerle, 80 acres; Wm. Shepard, 40 acres, and George Smith, 40 acres.
Alto Pass Precinct was settled by Henry Rendleman, 40 acres; Solomon Penrod, 80 acres; Robert W. Croft, 280 acres; Edward Vancil, 160 acres; Caleb Hartline, 40 acres; John Gregory, 160 acres; Charles Dougherty, 36.89 acres; John Price, 80 acres; Jacob Lingle, 160 acres, John Vancil, Sr., 120 acres and Peter Dillow, 160 acres.
207 of these entries were made before 1820. Many of these settlers entered more land after 1835 and by 1835 some of the above mentioned farms had changed ownership.
-19-
CHAPTER VII
CENSUS OF 1835 AND HAPPENINGS BETWEEN 1830 AND 1845
The census of 1835 showed that there were 4,147 persons in Union County, 2,100 males and 2,047 females. Forty-seven of these were negroes and the remainder white. There was only one person over eighty years old. There were five shoemakers and saddlers; one tailor, William Kaley; two wagon-makers, George Knite and David Masters; two carpenters, one named John Rinehart; one cabinet-maker, a Mr. Bond; two hatters, one of whom was James Hodge; eleven blacksmiths; three tan yards, one south of Jonesboro owned by Jaceard and one north of Jonesboro owned by Rendlemans; twelve distilleries; two threshing machines, one cotton gin, one wool-carding machine owned by Jake Frick; one horse and ox mill; 18 horse and ox grist mill; two water saw mills and five water grist mills.
In 1836 Willis Willard built the first steam saw and grist mill in the county and in 1838 a steam flour mill was added. The Willard family also built some of the first frame houses in the county and a store building in Jonesboro. By 1835 several stores were doing a flourishing business in Jonesboro. Nimrod Ferguson, Elijah Willard, Winsted Davie and Charles Rixleben were the own- ers of stores during this period.
It is evident from the appearance of new business that the community was growing and that agriculture was increasing. All the industries and businesses which sprang up were related to agri- culture and were a source of supply for a growing population.
In the courts appear many new names during the decade following 1835. Alexander F. Grant and Justin Halin were presid- ing judges in the Circuit Court and John Dougherty was prosecut- ing attorney. In 1836 Jeptha Hardin presided and in 1837 Walter B. Scates. Wiley Davidson was sheriff and Jacob Grammer was coroner and W. Davies was still clerk. In 1840 Jacob Davis was sheriff and Judge C. Campbell was coroner. In 1841 Willis Allen was prosecuting attorney and another attorney was named Billings. At this term of court, Sidney S. Condon was appointed clerk. In 1842, John A. McClernand appeared among the attorneys, Thomas Hodge was sheriff, S. S. Condon, clerk and H. F. Walker, coroner. W. A. Denning was prosecuting attorney in 1845. In 1844, David Hileman was probate judge.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.