William R. Seymour -- Warrior for the Union

 

A Sea of Seymours

The 1963 family history of the Illinois Seymour clan by Esther Seymour Atwood contains a transcription of an article that appeared in the Jacksonville Daily Journal on July 30, 1922. The article is titled Seymour Family Held Reunion at Park: Large Company Gathered for Social Event -- Family One of the Largest and Most Influential in this Part of Illinois." (1).  The reporter wrote, "It has often been said that if a man facing a Franklin audience would raise a stone and say 'Look Out, Mr. Seymour," more than half the men in the assembly would dodge." That was true then, and probably true now, not only of Franklin, but of Morgan County as well.

Illinois Native - Union Patriot

There are many interesting and colorful kin of the Seymour line that I would like to write about, but the one who has been of particular interest for several years in William R. Seymour (1840-1892). Ever since I saw his fierce eyes in a portrait in the 1878 book, History of Morgan County, Illinois, Its Past and Present (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd & Co., Publishers), I wondered who this man was in relation to me. His piercing eyes allude to something simmering below the surface, but that book only has his portrait. There is no biographical sketch. 

While researching my great-great-grandfather Alexander Whitlock, I had seen William Seymour's name on the rosters of the 101st Illinois Infantry Regiment. I knew that Civil War Service Records from the National Archives contained valuable information, so I requested William's record. When those copies of the archived documents arrived, I reviewed each piece of paper carefully. The one document that shocked me stated that he had been a prisoner of war! Unfortunately, the documents gave no other information. It was only when I was researching more information about the 101st Illinois Infantry Regiment that I discovered what happened to him.

Elected Regimental Officers

The 101st Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Duncan near Jacksonville, Illinois in late August 1862 and mustered into federal service on September 2, 1862. According to the military traditions of the day, officers were "elected" by the soldiers rather than appointed by a higher military authority. The election results were usually slanted toward who was most popular rather than who was most qualified. However, for these "no-nonsense" Westerners, I would like to think that ability trumped likability. Having a man in charge who could take care of matters such as getting you fed, clothed, and housed would be most important.

William would have been 22-years old when the 101st Illinois was organized. He enlisted as a private when the regiment was formed and within days he was the second lieutenant for Company G. Over almost three years of continual service, he rose in rank, ending his war service as a captain (and commander of Company H). During this time he participated in campaigns, including Vicksburg, eastern Tennessee, the Atlanta campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea, and the Carolina's Campaign. As described above, it is during the final weeks of the Civil War that William had a run of bad luck during the Battle of Bentonville (North Carolina) when he and ten of his Company H soldiers were captured.

Prisoner of War

One of the fantastic primary resources available to researchers of the US Civil War is The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (1895). These are the reports of commanders from the Union and Confederate armies at all levels of commend. In this set are multiple books organized by campaign and region. There are also detailed maps from the war. 

One of these reports in the volumes about the campaign in South and North Carolina was written by Lieutenant Colonel John B. Le Sage, last commander of the 101^st Illinois Infantry. He describes pushing into the Carolinas following General Sherman’s “March to the Sea” and the seizure of Savannah, Georgia. On the 19^th of March, after having pushed through Fayetteville and marching toward Goldsborough, the Confederate Army (led by General Joseph E. Johnston) made a stand against Sherman’s Union Army at Bentonville. The Confederate Army initially prevailed, but the Union Army pushed back and held their ground. Johnston’s army withdrew, although Johnston surrendered to Sherman about a month later. 

In this battle, the 101^st Illinois was part of the Union reserve and not directly engaged. However, soldiers must be fed and since Sherman’s army prided itself on “living off the land,” foraging parties were sent out to locate provisions for men and horses. One the last few paragraphs of Le Sage’s report contains this sentence:

“During the day, however, a foraging party, consisting of Capt. William R. Seymour, of Company H, and eleven men, were captured by the rebel cavalry.” (4)

William's records indicate that he was released from captivity but no exact date is given. No names of the soldiers who accompanied Seymour are provided, and the records that I have available do not provide any additional information. The Battle of Bentonville was March 19th and General Lee surrendered at Appomattox on April 6th. However, this was only the surrender of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee fought on for two more weeks. He surrendered to General William T. Sherman at Bennett Farm near Durham, North Carolina on April 26, 1865. What all this means is that Seymour and his troops would have been prisoners of war for at least five weeks and possibly more. No doubt their experience was grueling because the Confederacy had few means of supporting their own soldiers, much less prisoners of war. Furthermore, the truth about the conditions of Union prisoners in the camp at Andersonville, Georgia had come to light during Sherman's March, which had occurred only a few months previously to the Carolinas Campaign. These soldiers of the 101st Illinois undoubtedly expected rough treatment, but I could not locate any records of where they were imprisoned. He and the men were released some time before May 15, 1865, as that is when his service record indicates that he was honorably discharged.

Genealogy of William R. Seymour

In the family history of the Seymour's and Pulliam's mentioned at the beginning of this post, a bit more information is provided about William. His father is Robert Seymour (1795-1878), born in Person County, North Carolina. Robert was the firstborn of John Granderson Seymour (an immigrant from England in 1792) and Agnes Allen Pulliam (daughter of a long-established Virginia family). Together the couple had a total of thirteen children (eight boys and five girls) (2). All were born in North Carolina and almost all of them emigrated to Illinois in 1829 to settle near Franklin in the newly-opened lands of central Illinois. (3)

Robert was married first to Judah Bull on February 8, 1817. There were five children born to the couple: John Granderson, Jr.; Martha; Jane C.; Elizabeth; and Richard (Dick). When Judah died, Robert married Martha (Patsy) Austin (about 1839). Their first child was William. Four other children were born: Francis (Frank) M.; Judah; Julia Ann; and Susan. Martha died on October 2, 1846. She was 40 years old. Robert married a third and final time to Elizabeth Edwards Row on May 13, 1857. As the genealogist say, "there was no issue."

William was born February 8, 1840 in Morgan County. His half-brothers and sisters had already left home or were teenagers when he was born. By the time he was ten years old he would have been the eldest child in the house and assumed levels of responsibility that would no doubt develop into the leadership skills he would show as a combat commander during the Civil War.

He married Melinda Grimsley (born December 10, 1844) on August 30th, 1862. Given the date of the mustering of the 101st Illinois Infantry, he must have returned to Morgan County and married during leave or furlough. I know from my own deployments with the military how heart-wrenching it is to leave a wife and family, but for these newlyweds it must have truly been a difficult time. 

The couple had ten children: Addie, Neal, Martha, Fannie, Wilmeth, Anna Lee ("Pink"), Susan, Harry, Austin, and Cornelia. No doubt there are many people today who would have to dodge a rock if someone hollered "Look out, descendants of William Seymour."

William died on January 26, 1892 at the young age of 52. No doubt the stresses of the Civil War, as well as the risk of death from diseases we don't consider a threat any longer, contributed to his early demise. His wife, Melinda Grimsley, died March 30, 1917.

Ties of Kinship

I am related to William Seymour in two ways. First, he is the first cousin of my great-great-grandfather Robert Seymour. This makes him first cousin, three-times removed. He is also the second cousin of Robert's wife, Lucy Ann Seymour. Second, he is my third-great uncle because he is the (half) brother of Lucy Ann's father (my great-great-great grandfather), John Granderson Seymour, Jr. This complicated kinship with William Seymour is typical of many family relationships during the nineteenth century and before where families lived in within a specific geographical area for generations. Cousins would often marry without any of the legal restrictions or social scandal that would occur in our modern age. DNA is funny. I've been told that with my beard that I looked a lot like William. Here is a photo of me holding his photo. The beard is bit too short, but the DNA is all there in the eyes, hair, and frown.

 

Sources

1.  Page 14."The Descendants of John Granderson and Agnes Allen (Pulliam) Seymour: Also a Short History of James Pulliam" was written by Esther Seymour Atwood and Published in 1960 by the Genealogical Records Committee, Governor Bradford Chapter, Daughters of American Revolution in Danville, Illinois. An article about John Granderson Seymour and his family was written by Genealogist, Myra N Martin and Published in the Waverly Journal, Waverly, Morgan County, Illinois, April - October, 1968, in celebration of the Illinois Sesqui. "The descendants of John Granderson Seymour constitutes one of the largest families in Morgan County."
2. Ibid, page 18.
3. Ibid, 18.
4. Page 675, CHAP. LIX. Campaign of the Carolinas.

Links:

http://www.scattercreek.com/~normw/LESAGE,JOHN%20B.pdf

Jumping the Pond

 (Source: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/transportation/colonialshipping.html)

For many, many years the origin of the Whitlock line that I belong to ended with a "Thomas Whitlock" who had settled in colonial Virginia sometime in the mid-1600s. The origin of this man in England or elsewhere in Europe eluded not only me, but other more knowledgeable researchers. Now, the mystery has been solved and my family's origins in England are known.

For several years I have belonged to the Whitlock Family Association. This association is a repository of the genealogical information about the many lines of Whitlocks in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. I'm sure there are also lines in South America and Asia, but I haven't looked at that data. This information is superbly managed by Peter Whitlock. If you care to visit the website, browse on over to http://www.whitlockfamilyassociation.com/. You may also wish to subscribe to a digital or print version of his newsletters, which are chock-full of information and is where I finally found the information that links our line of Whitlocks back to jolly old England.

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog post, I had been looking for the connection of a "Thomas" Whitlock back to Europe across the Atlantic. However, a big question mark had always been associated with his name. His "son," James Whitlock (1650s to 1716), is well-documented in colonial Virginia and it is from his line that our particular branch of the Whitlock family have been able to trace our descent. He had married a woman with the last name of Herne, and it is probable that her first name was Dorothy. No definitive proof of her name has yet been found. During many hours of research I was always looking for a "Thomas" Whitlock, father of James, when I should have been looking for other names and connections. It turns out that "Richard" Whitlock is James' father, and he never emigrated to Virginia. It was his son James that made the trans-Atlantic voyage and settled in Virginia. However, this knowledge opens up the connection of the Whitlock family back to Wokingham, England and a John Whitloke in the fifteenth century.

Wokingham is located in Berkshire County. This was the ancestral home of James, Richard, and their Whitlock ancestors. Berkshire County is located west of London, and Wokingham is about 33 miles west of London. Here are links to the Wikipedia pages about Wokingham and Berkshire. Below is a map of the area from Wikipedia:

The line from James the Immigrant (1650s-1716) back to John Whitloke (1400s-?) is as follows:

7. James WHITLOCK (1650s-1716)     married                     Dorothy? HERNE (??-??)

6. Richard WHITLOCK (1616-1666)    married                     Joane?? (??-??)

5. Richard WHITLOCK (1593?-1642)  married 1615 at        Katherine BURCHETT (1595-1649)
                                              St. Andrews, Holborn, London

4. John WHITLOCK (1515?-1589)      married 1560s            Agnes PLANNER (1543?-1630)

3. Richard WHITLOCK (??-1556)       married                      Jane GROVE (??-??)

2. William WHITLOCK (??-1510?)     married                      ?? Cowdrey (??-??)

1. John WHITLOKE (??-??)                 married in 1454?       Agnes de la BECHE (??-1492)


My line going back to James (#7above) is as follows:

18. Harry WHITLOCK II (1961-)           married                 Tammy SMITH (1957-)

17. Burton WHITLOCK (1928-1992)     married                 Shirley JAMES (1929-2011)

16. Harry WHITLOCK (1906-1980)       married                 Glenna SEYMOUR (1906-1991)

15. George WHITLOCK (1868-1917)     married                 Francis JOLLY (1871-1948)
                                            
14. Alexander WHITLOCK (1840-1919)  married               Mary BOWYER (1850-1934)

13. Jonathan Johnson WHITLOCK (1820-1888)   married   Rebecca WHEELER (1822-1899)

12. John WHITLOCK (1792-1849)           married                Rebecca McCRARY (bef. 1792-??)

11. Alexander WHITLOCK (1760-1826)  married                Jennet ?? (1771-1825)
 
10. Charles WHITLOCK (1739?-1814)     married               Esther ??  (1742-1811)

9. James WHITLOCK (1710s-bef. 1749)  married               Agness CHRISTMAS (1720?-bef. 1768)

8. James WHITLOCK (1680s-1736)         married               Frances JONES?

It is a great feeling to finally make a connection back to England. I had felt for years that a connection would eventually be made, but I never expected it so soon. I want to extend my thanks to those unknown researchers who uncovered this information, and more importantly, were kind enough to share this information. It is troubling to me that there are so many people out there researching their family history who do not share the information they discover. Whether that failure to share is an act of omission or commission, it is selfish of them to think that such information belongs solely to whomever discovers it. Certainly the claim and the glory of discovery is theirs, but the information belongs to all of us.

I hope to post more information about this discovery soon. Other information I have recently found about a new interpretation of what the name "Whitlock" means, as well as the information about the de la Beche family that old John WHITLOKE married into in 1454 bears sharing.

Bird Seymour: 1808 - 1878

Yesterday I posted a blog about my great-grandfather Dale Seymour. Today's post is going to be about his grandfather, Bird (or Byrd) Seymour.

As mentioned in the previous post, a young Englishman by the name of John Granderson Seymour had sailed across the Atlantic and eventually settled in North Carolina. This couple had thirteen children (seven boys, six girls). All were born in North Carolina (Person County). One of these boys was Bird, born August 28, 1808. When the family moved to Illinois in 1831, Bird would have been in his early twenties (Note: the Seymour family history listed below states the family moved to Morgan County in 1829 but the Old Settler's of Morgan County documents state 1831).

If the family did arrive in Illinois in 1831, then Bird was a young married man. He took as his bride Sarah Austin (born 13 February 1809) of Person County, NC. Her parents were John and Elizabeth (Barrett) Austin. They were married 28 July 1830. I imagine the trip to Illinois was very arduous. We complain of sitting too long and our butts hurting after riding for hours in a car that speeds along on a modern highway on rubber tires and a strong suspension. Can you imagine walking for hours a day along a rough road, or if you rode in the wagon, how much your butt would hurt after sitting for hours on wooden planks?! Twenty miles in a day would have been exceptional; today we usually drive that distance in less than twenty minutes! And instead of checking into a hotel room where you flick a light switch or turn a faucet handle, you would have to light lanterns and gather water from a stream in a bucket! I can hardly imagine.

When Bird and Sarah arrives in Illinois they established a farm and started to raise a family. The family records we have list William Seymour as the first born (1838), although that could be incorrect. The couple had a total of nine children. Below are scans of photos shared by another descendant of Bird and Sarah.

It was normal for families to have their own burial plots and there are numerous family cemeteries all over Morgan County. The final resting places of Bird and Sarah Seymour is the Seymour Cemetery out towards Nortonville (NE 1/4 SW 1/4, Section 11, Twp. 13N, Range 9W, Morgan County, Ill.). There are also many Austin's buried in this cemetery, again demonstrating how it was family groups that moved rather than individuals or small families. This cemetery is fairly well preserved, mainly through the efforts of dedicated genealogists and family historians. Here is a link to a website with some photos (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilmaga/morgan/cemetery/seymour.html ). Some of my own photos are posted below I took in 2006 during a visit to Morgan County. Cousin Jay Toler was the guide to this cemetery and so many others. That was a fun visit and I hope to do it again soon.

Sources:

The Descendants of John Granderson and Agnes Allen (Pulliam) Seymour, also A Short History of James Pulliam by Esther (Seymour) Atwood, 1960.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilmaga/photoalbm/pa_seymour_byrd.html

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilmaga/photoalbm/pa_seymour_sarah.html

Dale Taylor Seymour 1881 - 1963

In 1792, a young man by the name of John Granderson Seymour set foot in the young nation of the United States of America. It is unclear exactly where he landed, but it is likely the port of Norfolk because he settled in nearby Person County, North Carolina. He also married into an established Virginia family, the Pulliams. John and Agnes Seymour lives in North Carolina until the early 1830s, then emigrated with their adult children to the newly opened territory of Illinois. They settled in Morgan County and many people across the United States claim kinship to the large Seymour clan. But this post is not about John or Agnes, or even any of their children or grandchildren. This post is about their great-grandson, Dale Taylor Seymour.

Dale was born on 27 August 1881 in Morgan County, Ill. He was the youngest of six sons of William “Gid” (born  26 March 1838) and Lucy Ann Seymour (born 18 Feb 1843 in Morgan County) (Note: these two were the other pair of cousins I was referring to in the previous post, although they were first cousins, once removed). He married Ollie Anne Miner (born 22 Jan 1882) on 30 August 1905 in Morgan County, probably at the home of the bride. (Note: a previous post discussed Ollie and her famous baking).

Sometime shortly after they were married they moved to Colorado. They settled in Englewood and Dale worked as a conductor on a Denver streetcar line.

Their daughter (and my paternal grandmother) Glenna was born in Englewood on 20 November 1906. They moved back to Illinois sometime before 1913 when their next child, Taylor, was born on 12 November 1913. Almost three years later, George Nelson, was born on 19 May 1916.

 Between farming, construction work, and railroad work Dale and Ollie raised their sons. Sadly, Ollie died fairly young at the age of 55. He had a second female "friend" later in life, but he never did remarry.

            

                                               

Dale was a strong influence on my father, Burt Whitlock. Although I was too young to remember when he died (I had not turned two), my sister said that the only time she ever saw Dad cry was when he learned the "Papa" Dale had died. I truly wish I had learned more about him before all the storytellers of the family had passed away (Grandma Glenna and her cousin Evelyn Seymour). Hopefully some family members can recall some stories and post them in the comments. At least I know that I was able to be held by him for a while as the photo below shows.

Mary Polly (Richardson Wilson) Scott: 1825 - 1906

It has been a long time since I posted to this genealogy blog I built a few years ago. After the serendipitous contact from another genealogist yesterday (who turns out to be a cousin!!), I felt the muse calling to me to write about family. I thought that the information uncovered yesterday would be a good place to start. After looking at the family tree, I noticed that Mary Polly Richardson Scott's birthday is today -- 16 August. So I will provide some family history about here and plan to continue to post about family in the months to come on the birthday of ancestors.

 Mary Polly was born 16 August 1825 in Kentucky. Where exactly in Kentucky is not known, but I hope to find out. The family emigrated to Missouri, though exactly when is not known. Kentucky was a mature state and plenty of land was available still in Missouri. I hope to find out more about her background and a timeline of the family's movement to Missouri. Since families and kinship groups often traveled together, it is possible that she already knew the Scott's who had also emigrated from Kentucky.

 On 25 January 1853, she married Milton Scott at Saverton Township (near Hannibal), Missouri. This was MP's second marriage; her first husband whose last name was Wilson had died and she remarried. I don't have any information on this first husband of Mary Polly's. More interesting in terms of family and kinship is that there is a strong possibility that Mary Polly was the sister of Milton's first wife, Elizabeth. But more on that later.

 Back to what I was writing about the contact yesterday from my cousin and fellow genealogist, Jan. I subscribe to ancestry.com and one of the benefits of the subscription is that you can get in contact with other researchers. People upload their family tree information onto the website and the ancestry.com software searches for connections. Any hints or possible connections are emailed to the user. In addition, all the names are indexed so other researchers can find missing links and I benefit from the same service. I've found several direct ancestors that way. Jan emailed me regarding a great, great grandmother who I had listed as A. Margaret Thompson. She wrote,

"I believe this is my ancestor too, but her real name is Margaret Scott and she was born in Kentucky est 1813. Her 1st husband was named W. Collins. She was the mother of my GG Grandmother MaryJane Collins. Margaret married John T. James [my note, this should state Thomas W. James]after her husband Mr. Collins passed away and they moved to Illinois and are in the 1850 census in Jo Daviess County. If you are interested in more information I have a copy of Margarets obituary from a 1903 newspaper that is handwritten by an ancestor. Margaret lived with her oldest daughter (Pliny) & Maryjane Taylor late in life in Savanna, Illinois and died while visiting her son John T. James in Hannibal, Missouri. I'm trying to find information on where she is buried and I've also tried to locate her death certificate. I've been having to trace the Scotts and James to try and find out more on Margaret (who was referred to as Gramma James in her old age) Please contact me if you're interested in exchanging information."

 With her giving me the correct name and date of death of a great-great-grandmother I was able to match that information to some other information I had (see images). It turns out that Margaret Thompson was actually Margret (or Margaret) Scott as written in the pages of an old family bible that had belonged to the Scotts! So I was able to fill in some gaps in the family tree. GG-Grandma Margret Scott had first been married to a William Collins. According to a family tree I found on ancestry.com they had two children: MaryJane born in 16 July 1837(as mentioned) and a George (no date of birth). However, listed in the old Scott family bible are the following names and birthdates:

• Mary Jane Collins: 16 July 1838 
• Julie Ann Collins: 9 Nove 1839 
• Geo. W. Collins: 24 May 1841 

 So these three children were born to the first marriage of Margret Scott to William Collins. I don't have any information at this time about the death of Mr. Collins. Margret married a second time to Thomas W. James (born in Ohio 15 April 1816 and died 13 August 1989). They had the following children:

• John Thomson James: 15 February 1844 
• Joseph A. James: 17 November 1845 
• William Alfred James: 19 February 1847 
• Infant: 18 January 18?? 
• Elijah "Kelly" James: 11 January 1854 
• Infant: 31 January 1856 
• Manda Emma James: 2 May 1860 

 The oldest son (my great-great-grandfather) serves with the 134th Illinois Infantry (a post for another day). He was a blacksmith according to family lore and census records, and worked for the railroad. So now we can finally get to the SO WHAT about this post. It turns out that one of Mary Polly and Milton Scott's daughters married John T. James. After this second marriage for both of them, Milton and MP had seven children: five girls and two boys. The third child, Evaline (born 17 Dec 1858) and John T. James apparently met up and kind of liked each other. What is so interesting is that Margret Scott Collins James was the sister of Milton Scott, so John T. and Evaline were first cousins!!

 Apparently John T. James and Evaline Scott were a happy match. They had seven children:

• Emma Ida James: 15 August 1881 
• Mary Uva James: 30 October 1883 
• Kelly Alfred James: 2 March 1885 
• Thomas Milton James: 25 December 1890
• Paul Ulysses James: 30 May 1893 
• Orville Douglas James: 26 March 1894 (my maternal grandfather)
• Erie Scott James: 1 December 1898 

(Note: I have previously written about Orville and Paul on this blog)

Here is a photograph of John and Evaline. One of the two women in the back is identified as Emma. The other is not named but I would suppose it is Mary (who was always called Uva).

Now before you all queue up the "Deliverance" music and start gagging, keep in mind that in the mid- to late-1800s, marriage between cousins was not uncommon. People did not move around as much as we do in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I think it is very fascinating because it continues to show just how interrelated we all are to each other. So now in my genealogy collection I have a pair of kissing cousins on my mom's side to go with the kissing cousins on my dad's side. Wouldn't you say my collection's complete!! As cousin Tim Austiff's son Alex once said, "We will never speak of this again." Sorry, but we will!!!

Look for more posts about family in the months to come. Below are the images from the Scott family bible.

Amos Miner 1776 - 1842

Only known drawing of Amos Miner's Spinning Wheel Head invention
(Source: http://www.spwhsl.com/ISS_29/DETAIL29.HTM)

Amos Miner (also spelled as Minor in certain records) is my 4th-great grandfather. According to genealogical records he was born on November 10, 1776, in Bethlehem, Litchfield Co., Conn. His father was John Miner IV, a Norfolk, Conn. physician, and his mother was Sarah Dutton. Amos was the 3rd-great grandson of Thomas Minor, an early settler of Massachusetts and Connecticut (I'll do a separate post on him later).

According to the family history, Thomas Minor--Descendants 1608-1981, Amos married Phebe (or Phoebe) Hamlin on December 21, 1796. Amos and Phebe moved to Skaneateles, N.Y. about 1800 , where Amos built a shop where he manufactured "accelerating wheel heads." This was a device he invented that attached to spinning wheels to make them more efficient. Here are links to information about the invention:

Amos' invention at Spinning Wheel Sleuth.

Text from A History of American Manufactures from 1608 - 1860 at Google Books

In 1805 Amos moved to Stafford, N.Y., where he founded a firm called Miner, Denning, and Sessions, and he built a factory to make the wheel heads and other items he invented. These items included "pails, half bushels, bowls, grooved window sash, and wooden pumps." The family history states that a few years later he sold his interest in the business and moved to another location where he built a grist mill and another factory. Amos was certainly a rolling stone because he apparently moved several more times before ending up in central Illinois in about 1830. He settled at Little York, a town that was about five miles north of Waverly, Ill.

Amos and Phebe had fifteen children, eight who survived to adulthood. One of these children was Amos Jr., who was born in 1817 in New York and died at age twenty-one in 1839 in Illinois. Amos Jr. had married Delilah Corey in 1837 and had one son, George Amos in 1839 (look for a future posting on him). I imagine it had to be very tough on both of them to have so many children die in infancy, but even harder to have a child die who had just recently been married and had a child.

Phebe died on October 28, 1838, but is not buried in the Waverly Cemetery along with Amos. According to the Illinois State Marriage Index, Amos apparently remarried an Abigail Corey on January 17, 1839. Amos lived until June 2, 1842, and Abigail lived until October 23, 1860. They are both buried in Waverly East Cemetery, Waverly, Ill. Here are photos of their gravestones.

Amos certainly led an eventful life. Born in the same year our great country was also born, he experienced the westward expansion from New England. He also participated in the Industrial Revolution as an inventor and entrepreneur. He died at the beginnings of the next great westward surge.

Evaline Whitlock Gotschall

Here is a scan of a very old newspaper clipping featuring Eva Whitlock Gotschall at a spinning wheel. The clipping is from the 9/3/1931 issue of the Illinois State Journal (Spingfield, Ill.). Eva was the sister of Alexander Whitlock. She was born in Morgan County after the Whitlock's moved from Tennessee. The clipping says her family came from Virginia, which is partially true. The Whitlock ancestors moved to Tennessee in the late 1700's from Virginia.