PIONEERS OF THE PAST _#31 Women of the 1840s records Part 2

Last week’s Pioneers of the Past introduced nine notable women found in the early records of McDonough County. Each was listed either as the head of household in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census or as a taxpayer in the county’s 1840 tax records. This week, we introduce you to several more women whose stories appear in those records.

Jane Corbin was born sometime between 1790 and 1800, according to the 1840 census. Her household included three boys and three girls. Like many women of the era, Jane seems to disappear from the records after the census, leaving us with only a brief glimpse of her life.

Elizabeth Grimes DeGarmo/DeGarmore (1787–1874) was born in Virginia to Mark Grimes/Graham, who was from Ireland, and Nancy Cunningham of Virginia. She married Samuel DeGarmo/DeGarmore in late January 1803. The couple had 15 children. By 1840, five young men—most likely her sons—were living with Elizabeth. That year, she paid 40 cents in taxes on horses and cattle, a relatively small amount. Elizabeth is buried in Scotts Cemetery.

Elizabeth McBride Duncan (1800–1874) was the wife of Russell Duncan. When Russell died in March 1840, Elizabeth was left with three small children and was about three months pregnant. She had already lost a son in 1838. A daughter was born in September 1840, but tragedy continued to follow the family. Three years later, Elizabeth lost another son, James H. Duncan, who was only six years old. By 1850, Elizabeth had moved to Henderson County, Illinois, where she lived with a daughter and son-in-law.

Flora McCormick Wilcox Gates (1803–1880) is buried in Pennington Point Cemetery. She married Benjamin Wilcox in Kentucky in 1820. He died in 1836, leaving Flora with seven children. After his death, Flora and her children moved to McDonough County, settling about two miles northeast of present-day Fandon. In 1845, she married Capt. Nathan Gates Sr., but she was widowed again the following year when he died.

Sarah “Sally” Clark Head (1775–1846) was the daughter of James Clark. She married John Head in Kentucky in the spring of 1807. By 1821, Sarah was a widow and the mother of at least six children. In 1832, she accompanied her brother-in-law, James Head, and his family to McDonough County. The 1840 census found Sarah living with two males between the ages of 20 and 30 and a female of the same age—most likely three of her children.

Rebecca Hills does not appear in the 1840 census, but she does appear in the county’s 1840 tax records. She owned 160 acres in the northeast quarter of Section 12 in Lamoine Township, along with horses and cattle. She also apparently owned a fairly nice clock, for which she paid 10 cents in taxes. Rebecca is listed next to Charles Hills and John Hills, although the records do not indicate whether or how the three were related.

Elizabeth Hoover (1800–1857) appeared in the 1840 census with seven other members of her household. Her husband, Sebastian Hoover, had served in the Virginia Regiment during the War of 1812 and died in 1839. Elizabeth had at least three children. Her daughters, Mary and Margaret Hoover, married brothers William and George Calvin. A son, James Hoover, is also mentioned in contemporary newspaper articles. In the 1840 tax records, Elizabeth owned $80 worth of horses and $30 worth of cattle, for which she paid 77 cents in taxes. She owned no land.

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

Elizabeth Grimes/Graham DeGarmo/DeGarmore from an original tin type.

Flora H. McCormick Wilcox Gates

Usually in Pioneers of the Past, I focus on an individual or family who settled in McDonough County during the 1830s and 1840s. Most often, that individual is a man.

But this article—and the next three—will be different.

This time, the focus is on the women.

These were women who came to McDonough County as widows, or who lost their husbands soon after arriving. They were left to raise their children, manage a household and somehow survive the hardships of life on the prairie. They did it without the conveniences we take for granted today and, in many cases, without another adult to help them.

It took a good deal of intestinal fortitude to carry on.

Finding these women and piecing together their stories has not been easy. Women were often identified simply as “Mrs. John Doe” while their husbands were alive. Even after a husband’s death, the spelling of a woman’s name could change from one record to another.

To find out who these women were, I searched census records, tax records, cemetery records and Find a Grave memorials, along with family histories, county histories, marriage records and newspaper obituaries for their children. I searched for family photos. In some cases, I was able to uncover quite a bit about their lives. In others, only a few clues remain.

There were other challenges. Some women died soon after appearing in the records and were buried in unmarked graves. Others went to live with relatives after the 1840 census and simply disappeared from the records. Some moved away, while others remarried.

Still, the 1840 McDonough County census lists 37 women as heads of households. Considering the hardships of frontier life, that is a remarkable number.

Here are some of the women whose stories I was able to uncover:

Sarah Bacon

Sarah Bacon appears in the 1840 McDonough County tax records. She owed 88 cents in taxes, including a 10-cent tax on clocks. That small tax bill is one of the few clues we have about Sarah’s life.

Nelly Barber

Nelly Barber is listed as living next to Robert Barber in the 1840 census. She had three young children living in her household. Whether Robert was a relative or someone else entirely is something that still needs to be determined.

Priscilla Bates

Priscilla Bates, whose name was also recorded as Bats, appears in the 1840 census with two girls—one under the age of five and another between 10 and 15.

There isn’t much more information about Priscilla, but even these few lines in the census give us a glimpse of a woman raising children on the early McDonough County prairie.

Sarah A. Blazer

Sarah A. Blazer was born in Pennsylvania in 1787 and was the wife of David Blazer. She is buried in Camp Creek Cemetery in Industry Township.

Sarah was the matriarch of the Blazer family, a family well known in McDonough County for its involvement in the Underground Railroad.

Nancy Lewis Boen (Bowen)

Nancy Lewis Boen, also recorded as Bowen, was born in Virginia in 1793. She married Truman Bowen in Ohio in 1820. Truman died in 1831, and the two share a headstone in the Old Macomb Cemetery.

By 1840, Nancy was supporting herself and her family. The tax records show that she owned 75 acres of land in Chalmers Township, along with horses, cattle and clocks. She paid $3.79 in taxes that year.

Nancy is buried in the Old Macomb Cemetery.

Caroline Carrell

Caroline Carrell, also recorded as Carrill, appears in both the 1840 census and the McDonough County tax records.

Her tax bill was only 33 cents, covering her horses, cattle and clocks.

The 1840 census shows Caroline’s household included a boy between 10 and 15 years old and two girls—one between 5 and 10 and another between 15 and 20.

Elizabeth Carter

Elizabeth Carter presents a real mystery.

The 1840 census shows seven people living in her household. There was one boy between 10 and 15, two young men between 15 and 20, one girl between 10 and 15, and three girls between 15 and 20.

A genealogist can’t help but wonder: Who were all these young people, and where were their parents?

The 1830 census lists three Carter families in the county—Lacy Carter, Thomas Carter and William Carter. Perhaps Elizabeth was the oldest daughter in one of those families and had become responsible for her younger brothers and sisters after the death of their parents.

At this point, however, her story remains a puzzle.

Dorcas Ward Charter

Dorcas Ward Charter was the wife of Thomas Charter, who died on April 13, 1840, just months before the 1840 Census was taken. Records indicate Dorcas was born sometime between 1800 and 1810.

Thomas is buried in South Cemetery near Blandinsville, along with at least one of their children, Henry, who also died in 1840.

Dorcas Ward Charter became Mrs. William Hungate when she married him on July 29, 1841 in McDonough County. Dorcas and William went on to have three more children.

Dorcas’ case spotlights the challenge of tracking women through multiple names during her lifetime.

Hannah Coonrad

Hannah Coonrad—also spelled Coonrod and Conrad—appears in the 1840 McDonough County tax list. She owned horses and cattle and paid 45 cents in taxes, but she did not own land or a clock.

The 1840 census tells us a little more. Hannah was between 20 and 30 years old and had a boy between 10 and 15, a girl under five and another girl between 5 and 10 living with her. We cannot be certain these were her children, but it seems likely.

I haven’t been able to identify Hannah’s first husband, but I did find one more clue. The Illinois Statewide Marriage Index shows that Mrs. Hannah Coonrad married Isaac Wells on January 1, 1845, in McDonough County, license No. 526.

And just like that, Hannah disappears from the records as a widow and reappears as a wife.

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

John Logan was born in Virginia in 1793, only 17 years after the Declaration of Independence. George Washington was president, and the United States was still a young nation. During his lifetime, he would witness enormous changes in America.

Shortly after John’s birth, Samuel and Ann Wylie Logan left Virginia with their newborn son, two pack horses, and all their worldly goods for Garrett County, KY. The family was poor, and John received what was called a “common school” education in Kentucky. He was, however, an avid reader and lifelong learner.

By the time he married Nancy Newell in 1816, America had changed
considerably. The War of 1812 had just ended, and Americans were moving
westward. John and Nancy moved to Tennessee, where John found religion
and was mentored by Elder Lee Allen of the Baptist Church. The next few years the family moved again, settling in Dubois County, Indiana.

By late 1828, John, his very pregnant wife, and their children had moved to
McDonough County near Industry. At first they shared a house with another
family before moving into the abandoned Stephen Osborne home.

On October 23, 1828, Sarah Elizabeth Black Logan was born to John and
Nancy. She was the second child born in McDonough County. Just one week
later, John ordained the first marriage in McDonough County, that of John
Wilson and Martha Vance. He also became the first minister to preach in the
newly formed county.

The following year, the Logans were living in Schuyler County, where John was named a Justice of the Peace. He soon resigned because he felt the position conflicted with his religious beliefs. The family soon moved to the
Blandinsville area of McDonough County where John founded the New Hope
Church. He remained the pastor there until his death in 1851.

During the early 1830s, Rev. John Logan traveled throughout the Military Tract in Illinois, preaching wherever people would gather to listen. In 1834, he andElder Gardner Bartlett of Illinois were invited to preach at a Baptist church in Danville, Iowa. Logan preached in a log cabin in that fall and was most likely the first Baptist man to preach in the Iowa Territory.

John and Nancy Logan had 13 children. McDonough County records identify
the following children:

• Susan Ann Logan, wife of James A. Seybold]. She died in 1842.
• Mary Jane Logan, wife of Charles Hardesty
• Samuel C. Logan married Paula Girton
• John A. Logan, Jr., who married Jane Botts of Kentucky
• Nancy M. Logan, wife of Robert Martin Shuey
• Sarah Elizabeth Black Logan, wife of William C. Hainline, the 2nd baby
• born in McDonough County. They had 10 children, including three sons who were doctors and another son who served as McDonough County
• coroner.
• Catherine Logan, wife of William Gordon Smith. They had at least 6 children.
• James A. Logan
• Malinda Durham Logan, wife of Samuel A. Filbert
• America N. Logan, wife of Mrs. Albert Sigars, who was killed in the Civil War
• Lavina Logan wife of Leonard C. Bond

Rev. John Logan’s story is part of the larger growth of America’s westward expansion. As a Baptist minister, he helped establish churches and communities on the frontier, leaving his mark on early McDonough County history.

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

The story of William and Mary Keaton Pringle might have been lost to time if it weren’t for two very di erent discoveries. The first was the 1878 History of
McDonough County, Illinois, by S. J. Clarke, which included the recollections
of their daughter, Martha Pringle Russell. The second came more than 125
years later, when archaeologists uncovered evidence of the Pringle settlement during construction of a new interstate interchange west of Macomb.

William Pringle was born in Je erson County, Kentucky, in 1784. In 1812, he
married Mary Keaton in Henry County, Kentucky. According to their daughter Martha, the couple came to McDonough County in 1830. In her
reminiscences, she recalled, “My father settled west of Macomb, near the old cemetery…”

William soon established himself on land west of Macomb. According to the
federal government’s Quincy Tract Books, in June 1835 he became the first
purchaser of the southeast quarter of Section 4 in Chalmers Township. The
land cost $1.25 an acre, or $200 for the 160 acres, and William paid for it in
cash. He had previously filed a pre-emption claim on the land, which gave himthe right to purchase it before others.

The Pringles were not listed in the 1830 federal census for McDonough
County, but by 1840 William and Mary were living here with their four children and their grandson, Francis, the young son of their oldest daughter, Sarah.

William and Mary’s children were:
Sarah Ann Pringle (1815–1854) married James Welch in 1835. They had one
son, Francis. James died in 1839, and by 1840 Sarah and Francis were living
with her parents. Sarah later married John Emons in Hancock County and
then Enoch Welsh in 1854 in McDonough County, IL. She died in Gentry
County, Missouri later that year. She had no other children.William K. Pringle (1819–1871) never married. He eventually moved to Gentry
County, Missouri, where he is buried.

Morton Brinker Pringle (1822–1896) married Olive Arnold in McDonough
County in 1852. By 1864, the family had moved to Gentry County, Missouri.
Morton and Olive had 12 children.

Martha B. Pringle (1824–1885) married Merritt Arthur Russell on April 11,
1844, in McDonough County. Martha was the daughter who left us the
valuable recollections of her father. She and Merritt had six children and are
buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Macomb.

For more than a century, the Pringle family’s story rested primarily in old records and Martha’s memories. Then, in 2005, another piece of the story was uncovered—quite literally. As the Illinois State Archaeological Survey prepared for construction of a new interstate interchange west of Macomb, archaeologists conducted a dig to determine what had once occupied the area. Their work uncovered evidence of three distinct periods of settlement.

Among the artifacts from the earliest historic period, dating from about 1820 to 1840, were pieces of ceramics, redware and yellowware pottery, olive-colored glass, three European-made gunflints, an early elongated blue glass bead, pewter buttons, pieces of a brass kettle, and several Spanish and
American coins dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The archaeological evidence led researchers to identify the site as the Pringle Settlement, giving us a rare glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there nearly two centuries ago.

We may never know the complete story of William and Mary Pringle. We don’t know exactly where William got the $200 in cash to purchase his land, whattheir home looked like, or what daily life was like for the Pringle family in those early years.

But thanks to a daughter who wrote down her memories and archaeologists
who uncovered what had been buried beneath the ground, the Pringles have
not been forgotten.

Their story is a reminder that sometimes the history of McDonough County is waiting for us in the most unexpected places—including beneath the ground we drive over every day.

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

When Caswell Russell and his brother-in-law, William Pennington, came to
McDonough County, there were probably fewer than 20 families living here.
Only two settlements, Job and Carter, had been established. There were no
public roads, and Macomb would not be laid out for another three years.

Caswell Russell was born in Hardin County, Tennessee, in 1801. He was
orphaned by the age of 12. By the time he was 25, he was living in the newly
established McDonough County.

In June 1829, Caswell married Lydia Osborne. Lydia’s sister, Rebecca, had
married William Pennington in Indiana in 1820. Rebecca and William came to McDonough County before Caswell and Lydia.

Caswell and Lydia had 10 children, only nine lived to adulthood:

• Absalom “Abner” Russell (1831–1869)
• Mary Jane Russell, Mrs. H. O. Atkinson (1833–1883)
• William Russell (1836–1839), possibly named for his uncle William
• Pennington
• George Russell (1839–1909)
• John Milton Russell (1841–1916)
• Elizabeth Russell (1848–1851)
• Lewis Caswell “Lou” Russell (1849–1918)
• Robert F. “Rob” Russell (1851–1906)
• Louisa Russell, Mrs. Eli Bozard (1854–1914)
• Frank Russell (died 1870)

Caswell Russell’s name appears in the Quincy Tract Books, which recorded
the sale of federal lands in the Military Tract area. On page 33, for Township 6 North, Range 3 West of the Fourth Principal Meridian, Russell is listed as thepurchaser of the northeast quarter of Section 5. He paid $1.25 an acre on June 8, 1835.

Except for about seven years in Missouri during the early 1860s, Caswell
Russell spent his entire adult life in McDonough County. He returned to
Emmet Township and lived there until his death.

Lydia died in March 1872, followed by Caswell in November of the same year. After spending most of his life in McDonough County, Caswell was laid to rest beside Lydia at Spring Creek Cemetery near Sciota.

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

Born in 1823 in Frederick County, Maryland, John Gibbs entered the world in
one of the state’s wealthiest and most productive agricultural regions. His
early years were shaped by a young nation filled with optimism following the
War of 1812. While Maryland remained a slave state, much of Frederick
County was made up of prosperous farms, mills, and small trades, where
farmers and craftsmen formed the backbone of the community.

In 1836, the Gibbs family moved west to Ohio, joining the steady stream of
Americans seeking new opportunities on the frontier. Six years later, at the age
of nineteen, John made a raft trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New
Orleans. According to family tradition, he returned to Cincinnati before the
family continued westward, settling in McDonough County, Illinois, in 1845.

Only scattered records survive to document John’s early years in Illinois. A
personal biography states that he first settled on the farm of Samuel
Cowperthwaite after arriving in the county. McDonough County records show
that on August 24, 1848, he married Margaret Reed Snapp.

The following year,
John purchased his own farm in Mound Township for $1.50 per acre, laying the
foundation for what would become the family homestead.

Happiness, however, was short-lived. Their only child died shortly after birth,
and in January 1850, Margaret died just eighteen months after their wedding,
leaving John a widower.

A decade later, John married Margaret’s younger sister, Mary Snapp. Together
they raised a large family of eight children:

-Marion Gibbs
-Laura Belle Gibbs, who married Francis Joseph “Frank” Byrne
-Lawrence Alonzo Gibbs
-William Sherman Gibbs
-Elmer Elsworth Gibbs
-Zulu Gibbs, who married Mr. Anderson
-Grace Gibbs, who married Mr. Helms
-Cora Ellen Gibbs, who married John D. Boozel and later George Earl
DeWitt

John lived long enough to witness dramatic changes in McDonough County. In
The History of Bardolph, Illinois, he recalled standing at his kitchen door and
counting as many as 75 deer crossing what was then Joe Melvin’s farm, a
quarter mile away. He also remembered working for 25 cents a day to pay a
$50 doctor’s bill, a reminder of the hardships faced by early settlers.

John’s farm was located on the west half of the southwest quarter of Section
16, Mound Township, near Kepple Creek. Today, the area remains a
picturesque and sparsely populated corner of McDonough County. While the
prairie has long since given way to cultivated fields, it is easy to imagine the
deer still following the creek bottoms, much as they did when John Gibbs
watched them from his kitchen door more than a century and a half ago.

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

In the northwest corner of McDonough County, along LaHarpe Creek, sits
Liberty Cemetery in Blandinsville Township. More than 200 people are buried
there, including twenty-five pioneers who were born before 1800 in states and
territories outside Illinois. Among them is one of only four known
Revolutionary War soldiers buried in McDonough County—Lamech Blandin,
Jr.

Lamech was born in Massachusetts in 1759, the fifth of eight children born to
Lamech Blandin, Sr. and Rachel Allen Blandin. He survived many of his
brothers and sisters, most of whom remained buried in their home state.
When Lamech applied for a Revolutionary War pension in 1830, he recalled
entering the service on April 1, 1776, and serving until 1780. Although he no
longer had records to prove his service, he remembered being stationed at
Dorchester Heights and serving under Colonel Eleazer Francis, Major Daggett,
Captain Isaac Hodges, Lieutenant Abdul Bliss, and Ensign Cobble.

Other military records show that Blandin also answered the Rhode Island
alarm in December 1777, serving as a private in Captain Alexander Foster’s
company under Colonel John Daggett. A War Department letter issued in 1919
documented additional service from August 1776 through September 1780,
during which he rose from private to sergeant.

During or shortly after the war, Lamech married Lydia Lambert. Together they
raised at least eleven children before moving to Vermont and later spending
time in New York. In 1830, while living in Westminster, Vermont, he applied for
his Revolutionary War pension.

The Blandin family’s connection to military service continued into the next
generation. Their son, Daniel Blandin, served during the War of 1812 but was
killed at Fort Erie on August 31, 1814. As one of Daniel’s heirs, Lamech later
received a 160-acre military bounty land patent in what would become
Blandinsville Township, Section 33.

In 1837, Lamech traveled west with his youngest son, Joseph Lambert
Blandin, and settled in McDonough County. The following year he requested
that his pension payments be transferred from Vermont to Illinois. As part of
the process, he once again had to prove his Revolutionary War service.

One of the most memorable stories found in his pension file came from fellow
soldier Jonathan Thortly. During the war, Thortly watched a soldier named
Blandin fall into a river. Unable to swim, Blandin disappeared beneath the
water, and everyone assumed he had drowned. Nearly forty years later, Thortly
was astonished to meet Lamech Blandin walking down a street in
Westminster, Vermont.

When he asked about the incident, Blandin confirmed
he had indeed gone under the water—but had somehow survived. Thortly later
testified that the man he met in Vermont was the same soldier he had served
beside during the Revolution, helping confirm Blandin’s claim for his pension.
Lamech Blandin, Jr. died on May 4, 1839, and was buried in Liberty Cemetery,
where his grave continues to remind visitors of McDonough County’s
Revolutionary War heritage.

The Blandin family’s story did not end there. Lamech and Lydia’s
granddaughter, Harriet L. Blandin, married Charles Rose Hume, another
McDonough County pioneer whose story has also been featured in Pioneers
of the Past.

This version is about 20–25% shorter, reads more like a story than a pension
file, and matches the narrative style you’ve used in previous Pioneers of the
Past columns while preserving the important historical facts.

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

Humphrey Horrabin’s age kept him from fighting in the Civil War, but he firmly sided with the Union. In 1868, he received the Republican nomination for Representative to the 26th General Assembly, and he won the election, beating Democrat Henry W. Kreider.

Humphrey Horrabin represented the district in the Illinois General Assembly between January 4,1869 and adjournment, April 20,1869.He was an active member of the Liberty Methodist Episcopal Church and the temperance league.

Humphrey Horrabin’s wife, Elizabeth, died in 1870. In 1872, the widowed Horrabin sailed back to England to visit his aged mother, and while there met a woman by the name of Mary Ockleshaw. They married in Lancashire on August 14, 1872, and Humphrey brought his new bride to his home in Blandinsville Township. In 1876, the final Horrabin child was
born, a son named Humphrey James Horrabin.

According to the Macomb Daily Journal, The Honorable Humphrey Horrabin died at home in his chair on July 18, 1887 from heart problems. He was five months short, 70 years old. His son, Humphrey James Horrabin, took over the farm with his wife, Clara (Keys) and their four children. Humphrey Horrabin’s grandson, H. Waldo Horrabin, was well-known as a
great educator, exceptional science teacher, and genius mentor. The lab school on Western Illinois University’s campus bears his name and he helped design the building.

The brick house that Humphrey Horrabin built is still standing and occupied today. Additions were added to it over the years. From an apprentice shoemaker to a family that left a lasting mark on McDonough County, the Horrabins built more than a home, they built a legacy on the prairie.

This Pioneers of the Past is furnished by Lori Boyer of the McDonough County Genealogical Society, facebook.com/mcdcgs. For more Pioneers of the Past, go to https://www.mcdcgs.com/pioneers-of-the-past/

Farmers were among the first pioneers to settle in McDonough County, and
merchants soon followed. One of the earliest and most successful was
Nathaniel Park Tinsley, better known throughout the county as N. P. Tinsley.
N. P. was born in Virginia in 1810, the fifth child of David and Mahalia Cox
Tinsley. Sometime after the birth of their sixth child in 1812, the family packed
up and moved west to Adair County, Kentucky, seeking new opportunities on
the frontier.

In the early 1830s, N. P. and his older brother, Seth, left Kentucky for Illinois.

Historians disagree on the exact year N. P. arrived in McDonough County, but most place his arrival in either 1835 or 1836. Shortly after arriving, he
purchased an interest in a general merchandise store in Macomb. By 1837, he had built a two-story frame store on the north side of the courthouse square.

As Macomb grew, so did Tinsley’s business interests. In 1838, he sold several town lots he owned in Petersburg, Illinois, including many to his brother Seth.

That same year, he married Telitha C. Walker, daughter of Joseph and Mariah Collins Walker, members of another well-known pioneer family of McDonough County.

While Tinsley’s business prospered, the 1840s brought personal heartbreak.
Three young children—sons Seth and Edwin and an infant daughter—died in
infancy. His mother died in Kentucky in 1842, followed by his father in 1848.
The greatest loss came in 1847 when Telitha died, leaving N. P. to raise their
young daughter, Mary. Of all their children, Mary would be the only one to
reach adulthood.

Despite these tragedies, Tinsley’s dry goods business flourished during the
1850s. A glance through Macomb newspapers from that era reveals nearly
weekly advertisements for his store. Customers could find everything from
clothing, boots, and bonnets to hardware, saddlery, china, paints, and
medicines. His store became one of the best-known businesses in the county.
Tinsley’s commitment to the community became especially evident during
the eƯort to build a new courthouse. By the mid-1860s, the old courthouse
had fallen into disrepair, placing valuable county records at risk. At the same
time, citizens of Bushnell were campaigning to move the county seat from
Macomb.

County oƯicials estimated that Macomb should contribute $20,000 toward
construction of a new courthouse, but progress stalled when local support
failed to materialize. Seeing the importance of keeping the county seat in
Macomb, N. P. Tinsley stepped forward and pledged $5,000 of his own money
toward the project. His leadership helped move the eƯort forward.
Construction finally began, and by the summer of 1872 McDonough County
had the courthouse that still stands as one of the county’s most recognizable
landmarks. Newspaper accounts later reported that Tinsley was reimbursed
after the project was completed.

The Tinsley family’s influence continued through N. P.’s daughter, Mary. In
1868 she married Civil War veteran Albert Eads, who later became a
bookkeeper and eventually president of Union National Bank of Macomb. N. P.
himself had been a co-founder of the bank, purchasing its second stock
certificate.

Albert and Mary Eads had two daughters, Eleanor and Maggie. In 1892,
Eleanor married James W. Bailey, linking the family to another prominent
Macomb banking family. Their daughter, Mary Bailey Ewing, would later
become well known throughout the community for her many philanthropic
eƯorts.

Nathaniel Park Tinsley died in Macomb in 1882 at the age of 70. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery near the town he helped build. Telitha Walker Tinsley rests in Camp Creek Cemetery alongside her young children and among members of the Walker family. Large stone columns mark the graves of both N. P. and Telitha, serving as lasting reminders of two pioneers whose
contributions helped shape McDonough County’s history.

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

Vandiver Banks was among the earliest of settlers of what would be called Rock Creek Township – later changed to Hire Township. His first name is sometimes written as Vandever. Banks located there in 1836 what later would be the south-west quarter of section 30 and immediately erected a house thereon, and soon afterward purchased other land. He was successful in all his undertakings and at the time of his death had acquired considerable property. An 1871 map shows the additional land purchase in section 31.

Vandiver Banks was born in Adair County, Kentucky, April 16, 1804; a son of Vandever and Elizabeth (Walford) Banks, the former a native of Maryland, the latter was a Virginian by birth. During his early life, Vandiver worked at the carpentry trade. He was a successful farmer in Hire Township.

He was married to Loraner A. Sharpe August 31, 1826 in Kentucky. Together they had eleven children: five of whom were living in 1885 – Elizabeth W., the wife of Thomas Massie of Hancock County; Sarah M., the wife of John M. Lyon; James C., Millard T. and Job V., all residents of Hire Township

Vandiver was described as well-known throughout the county, being highly respected by all with whom he formed an acquaintance with. In the 1878 History of McDonough County, it was written that he was an influential citizen of McDonough County for over forty years and always bore a prominent part in the affairs of the county. When the Morman troubles came to a fevered head in nearby Hancock County, Banks was one of the McDonough County volunteers to push the Mormans from Nauvoo. Mr. Banks was elected captain of one of the companies and as such served through the continuance of the armed disturbance.

In 1856, he was the Whig candidate for member of the legislature and although the county was democratic, so popular was Banks that he received a majority of the votes cast, but through some error regarding a judge’s signature in Prairie City’s roll books, his opponent, George Hire, was called the winner. In 1861, Banks ran for Highway Commissioner of Hire Township. He served as a director of the one-room school of District No. 9.

Although too old to enlist in the Civil War, Vandever Banks showed his devotion to the Union by donating time and money to the cause. After the war, he volunteered to raise funds in his township to erect the soldier’s monument in Macomb to commemorate the services and sacrifices of those who had fallen in defense of our country.

The death of Vandiver Banks occurred June 26, 1876, after an illness of some six months duration, and was caused by a cancerous affliction of the stomach. Vandiver Banks was 72 years 2 months 10 days at the time of his death. He is buried in the Banks Cemetery, Hire

Township, on the land he first settled. There are many of his descendants still living in McDonough County.

This Pioneers of the Past is furnished by Lori Boyer of the McDonough County Genealogical Society, facebook.com/mcdcgs. For more Pioneers of the Past, go to https://www.mcdcgs.com/pioneers-of-the-past/