Born in 1823 in Frederick County, Maryland, John Gibbs entered the world inone of the state’s wealthiest and most productive agricultural regions. Hisearly years were shaped by a young nation…

In the northwest corner of McDonough County, along LaHarpe Creek, sitsLiberty Cemetery in Blandinsville Township. More than 200 people are buriedthere, including twenty-five pioneers who were born before 1800 in…

Nursery, was John Davis’ contribution to the farm. The 1860 and 1870 censuses show John and Sarah Horrabin Davis and children living on the Horrabin place. Humphrey Horrabin’s age kept…

Farmers were among the first pioneers to settle in McDonough County, andmerchants soon followed. One of the earliest and most successful wasNathaniel Park Tinsley, better known throughout the county as…

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….

Rigdon Huston came from one of the early pioneer families of Illinois. TheHustons first lived in Virginia before moving to White County, Tennessee, andthen on to McDonough County during the…

Revolutionary War
Patriot buried in McDonough County

Imagine stepping back in time and meeting the John Mustain family as theyarrived in McDonough County in the fall of 1832. It would have been quite asight. John and his…

PIONEERS OF THE PAST_#18 It would be easy for Margaret Reno Vance to fade into the early history of McDonough County, but she was truly one of the county’s founding…

Captain O. M. Lisk is buried in Blandinsville Cemetery, far removed from therivers that once defined his early life. His journey from canal boats to thefarms of McDonough County reflects…