Another early settler of McDonough County was Stephen Yocum, who brought his family to the eastern part of the county—an area that later became New Salem Township. Born February 17, 1800, in Kentucky, he was one of eleven children of George and Rebecca (Powell) Yocum.

On September 29, 1829, he married Mary Dorris in Marion County, Illinois. In the early 1830s, Yocum served as a Major in the Black Hawk War, a title by which he was thereafter known. He served in the same regiment in which Abraham Lincoln served.
In 1833, the Yocum family settled on Section 19 of New Salem Township, on the north side of Camp Creek, where they built a cabin. Their family eventually grew to eleven children—nine daughters and two sons. [Rebecca, Amanda, Eliza, Telitha, Mary, Hester, Elzira, Julia, Clara, Millen, and George]
One son, Millen, died in infancy; the other, George F. Yocum, was killed at Stones River, Tennessee, while serving with Company C, 84th Illinois Volunteers during the Civil War.

Major Yocum’s farm prospered over the years in the rich, fertile ground of New Salem township. Drawing on the experience he had gained working alongside his father in his youth, he continued farming the ground. He and his wife remained on the homestead until his death in October 1874. Both Major Stephen Powell Yocum and his wife, Mary “Polly” Dorris Yocum are buried at Pennington Point Cemetery in McDonough County under a very tall white obelisk.

Pioneers of the Past is furnished by Julie L. Terstriep, of the McDonough County Genealogical Society, facebook.com/mcdcgs. For this story, go to https://www.mcdcgs.com/pioneers-of-the-past/

Lithographic print of the Stephen Yocum farm from the
1871 Atlas of McDonough County, Illinois