John Rice Jones

There is something about ‘the first’ that sets one apart. John Rice Jones, a Welshman, was the first lawyer in Illinois to practice at the bar. He held various offices and later moved to Missouri where he became a judge of the supreme court.

Michael Harmon

Because of Indian unrest, only one settler is indicated as coming to Randolph County in 1811. This man was Michael Harmon who established a settlement near Palestine. Though he died within a short time, five sons carried on. This settlement later attracted numerous...

William Gordon

The tanning of leather continued for many years to be a local industry. William Gordon who came to the Sparta region in 1820, worked at the tanner’s trade. Robert Pollack also had a tannery nearby. Two fair-sized tanneries in one locality would seem to indicate a...

William Going

William Going was a blacksmith and bell maker who settled in the community known successively as Washington, Horse Prairie Town, and Lafayette; neither of which succeeded in growing into a village. William was a good blacksmith and bell maker but doubtless would long...

Dr. Fisher

Though Brewerville has never prospered as a village, it provides a point by which some earlier interests may be located. The lowlands between Brewerville and the Mississippi River once contained some of the finest kind of pecan trees. There were great groves of them,...

Edmund Faherty

In 1825, Edmund Faherty, built a “horse band mill” two miles north of the mill established by William Nelson in 1812. From the large number of such mills, one would conclude that their capacity to produce was rather small or that there were more settlers...

John Edgar

John Edgar was an officer in the British Navy during the Revolutionary War. He married an American wife who was an able person and much devoted to the cause of the colonists. This attitude on the part of his wife must have greatly influenced Edgar, for we shortly find...

Benjamin Craine

Large families were not so unusual in pioneer days. One pioneer, upon being asked how he managed to feed so many, answered – “Every mouth brings two hands.” Benjamin Craine brought many hands when he came with seven sons in 1802 to settle on Mary’s...