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EARLY SETTLERS OF SANGAMON COUNTY - 1876
By John Carroll Power

These biographies were submitted by a researcher and evidently abstracted from the 1876 History of Sangamon County, IL. Errors could occur, so one should always verify the correctness by obtaining copies of vitals and performing all necessary research to document what is contained herein.



SIMS, JAMES, was born in Virginia, taken by his parents to South Carolina, where he was married to Dolly Spillers. They had four children there, and moved to Logan county, Kentucky, where they had one child, and from there to Caldwell county, where three children were born; thence to St. Clair county, Illinois, and from there to Sugar Creek, Sangamon county, arriving in the spring of 1820 in what became Ball township, Sangamon county. He built a horse mill there to run by bands. He quarried stone of the same kind of which the first State House in Springfield was built, and by the aid of his brother-in-law, William Spillers, made the burrs for his mill. He was the first Representative from Sangamon county in the State Legislature. He moved to Rock Creek in what is now Menard county, and from there to Morgan county. He was a Methodist preacher, and formed the first circuit ever organized in Sangamon county. Of his children--

BETSY married James Black in St. Clair county, raised a large family, and died August, 1872, in Mason county, Illinois.

LUCY married Henry Morgan, raised a large family south of Richland creek in Sangamon county. He died there in 1867, and she died in Kansas two or three years later.

POLLY married in Morgan county to George Wolf. They had seven sons. JOHN is a lawyer in Champaign City, Illinois. THOMAS is a lawyer in Paxton, Ill. JAMES was clerk of Macoupin county one term. Mrs. Polly Wolf died December, 1872, and George Wolf died in 1873, both near Girard, Macoupin county.

MATILDA, married John Kirkpatrick, raised a family, and moved to McDonough county, where he died.

AGNES, born June 7, 1807, in Logan county, Kentucky, married in Sangamon county, April, 1827, to Reuben Bryant. They had six children. One son lives in California. THOMAS married a grand-daughter of Rev. John Berry, and lives in Clinton, Illinois. R. Bryant died and his widow married William McMurry, Sen. See his name.

WESLEY married, raised a family and lives near Manchester, Scott county, Illinois.

VIZILLA married Thomas Dunwoody, raised a large family and he died. She lives near Arcadia, Morgan county, Illinois.

CECELIA married James Dougherty, had four children, and died in Morgan county, Illinois.

BLACKMAN, L., married four times, raised a large number of children, and resides in Naples, Illinois.



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