by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
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...
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
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...
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
The French name of Grand Cote was given to the prairie in the northeastern part of the county. It was on this prairie that John Coulter settled in 1822. Around his place a small village grew up and for a time was known as Grand Cote. When the town was platted in 1850,...
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
In 1839, the Cole Brothers began construction of a flour mill. This business prospered, and milling began to be a principal industry. The Cole’s have left their imprint upon the town.
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
John Clendenin, a Revolutionary War Veteran, was also an early settler on the site of present day Chester. His son, James Clendenin, settled near Rockwood, where his descendants yet live.
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
The brothers Ichabod and George Camp might be termed frontiersmen. In 1782 they came to Randolph County where they settled near the mouth of a creek that now bears their name and opened a small farm. Within a few years they felt that the country about them was...
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
The people about Sparta early assumed a leadership in the making of tools and implements used by the settlers. A. A. Burlingame set up to make wagons in nearby Eden. He soon began to make plows and in 1866 moved to Sparta. At that time he regularly employed nine men...
by Carolyn Whitaker | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
John B. Burk, leaving his family in Tennessee, came to Shiloh Hill community in 1827, and built a log house. After completing the house, he fastened his two dogs in it with a plentiful supply of cornmeal and water. He then set out for Tennessee to bring his wife and...
by Carolyn Whitaker | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
The pioneer period produced individuals with unusual skills. Abel Broughton, came from Tennessee to settle near Shiloh Hill in 1838, developed the trade of making horse collars from corn husks. these found a ready sale, along with the splint baskets that he also made....
by Carolyn Whitaker | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Sidney Breese, a distinguished jurist of early Illinois, settled at Kaskaskia prior to 1818. He, as clerk of the Supreme Court of the State, published the first reports of the court’s proceedings. A volume of these reports, issued in 1831 at Kaskaskia, is looked...
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