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...
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Eccles & Bratney Two tanners, Edward Eccles and Joseph Bratney, came to the Evan’s Mill community, now Evansville, in 1839 and built a tanning yard. This tanning yard was in operation for several years and helped to supply the community’s need for...
by Carolyn Whitaker | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Andrew Borders, bearing the title of Major, came from Georgia in 1816 and settled west of Sparta. With him he brought a few slaves that he used on his farm. The descendants of these slaves still live about Sparta. A few years after coming to Randolph County, he...
by Carolyn Whitaker | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
A gristmill was a desirable addition to any growing community. As more settlers came, mills to grind their corn became necessary. Samuel Boyd came to the county in 1825. About 1830, he erected the first gristmill operated by horse-power in his community.
by Randolph County Genealogical Society | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
When Illinois became a state, large sections of Randolph County were still unsettled. Thus David Cathcart, or Carthcart, was not in anyway crowded when he came from South Carolina in 1818 to settle near the lower end of Flat Prairie. His nearest neighbors were even...
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Mr. Capman – Many an early settler aspired to lay out a town. A man named Capman did that in 1842 and called the place Randolph. His town did not prosper and in 1859, had only a store and blacksmith shop. Shortly after this village had been platted, German...
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Jacob Bowerman came to ply his several skills. Jacob was emphatically not a “jack at all trades and good at none.” If tradition and the meager written records are to be believed, he was a competent gunsmith, blacksmith, cabinet maker, farmer, builder,...
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Shadrach Bond. There were two Shadrach Bond’s prominent in local history. The elder one was among the earlier Americans to settle in and to give the name American Bottoms to a territory lying along the river north of Chester. A second Shadrach Bond, nephew of...
by David McKelvey | Feb 7, 2014 | Biographies
Mr. Boisbriant – Prairie du Rocher was founded shortly after the building of Fort Chartres, on a tract of land granted to Mr. Boisbriant. In 1743, the Prairie du Rocher commons were granted to the village. This village and that of Kaskaskia had many similarities...
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