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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.



THOMPSON, JOHN, born March 28, 1783, in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, left Harrisburg in 1802 for Grant county, Kentucky, and was married there January 9, 1810, to Sarah Points, who was born Feb. 12, 1791. They had two children, and Mrs. Sarah Thompson died Feb. 21, 1815. John Thompson was married Nov. 13, 1817, in Montgomery county to Elizabeth Ferguson, who was born June 18, 1791, in that county. They settled in Bourbon county, Kentucky, and had five children there. They returned to Montgomery county, where four children were born, and moved from there to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving Oct. 8, 1836, near Springfield, and a few weeks later moved to a farm adjoining Mechanicsburg on the west. Of their eleven children--

JAMES, born Nov. 7, 1810, in Kentucky, married a Miss Black and moved to the vicinity of Greencastle, Indiana, in 1835, and died there soon after.

JOHN, born August 1, 1813, in Kentucky, died in Sangamon county, Nov. 16, 1837. The children by the second marriage are--

MARY G., born Oct. 1, 1818, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county May 30, 1837, to Benjamin B. Branson. See his name.

HARVEY, born Feb. 2, 1820, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married March 4, 1844, in Sangamon county to Mary B. Hughes, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, also. She died in November, 1864. He was married May 6, 1851, to Mary A. Patton, who was born April 9, 1832, in Pike county, Missouri. They had one child, EDWARD P., born Feb. 24, 1852, and Mrs. Mary A. Thompson died. Harvey Thompson was married Sept. 9, 1869, at Pittsfield, Pike county, Illinois, to Mrs. Ruth A. Hubbard, whose maiden name was Davis, a native of Scott county, Illinois. She had two children by a former marriage, MARY L. and THOMAS J. HUBBARD, who live with their mother. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Thompson reside in Mechanicsburg, Sangamon county, Ill.

WILLIAM F., born April 21, 1821, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county, Illinois, to Margaret Vanderen. They had two children, one of whom died young. ELIZA F. lives with her mother. W. F. Thompson died Sept. 23, 1851, and his widow married Louis Johnson. See his name.

JOSIAH M., born Oct. 11, 1822, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county, April 13, 1860, to Maggie Munce, who was born Jan. 17, 1837, at Rising Sun, Indiana. They have three children, ELIZA, JOHN A. and THOMAS M., who live with their parents in Mechanicsburg, Illinois.

PRISCILLA M., born April 22, 1824, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county to John R. Grove. See his name. John R. Grove died Sept. 20, 1849, and his widow married Rev. Joseph M. Grout, who was born near Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Grout was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shelbyville, Illinois, and died of cholera, August 7, 1855, giving his life as a sacrifice in his efforts to relieve the sick. His widow died at Mechanicsburg, Dec. 2, 1855. They left two sons, WILLIAM T.. born March 12, 1853, in Mechanicsburg, Illinois, was married Oct. 20, 1875, in his native place, to Georgie E. Hall, daughter of David S. Hall. See his name. William T. Grout is cashier in Thompson & Bro's bank, and resides in Mechanicsburg, Illinois. JOSEPH M. Grout, born Sept. 21, 1855, in Mechanicsburg, Illinois, was brought up by his aunt, Mrs. Branson, graduated at Illinois College, in Jacksonville, June, 1876, and is now--November, 1876--a law student in Springfield, Illinois.

ANDREW TODD, born Jan. 30, 1827, in Bourbon county, Kentucky, was married Dec. 19, 1850, to Elizabeth C. Grove. They have three living children, WILLIAM W., LAURA B. and MAGGIE E., who live with their parents in Mechanicsburg, Illinois.

SALLY A., born July 10, 1828, died in Kentucky.

ELIZABETH A., born April 11, 1830, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, was married in Sangamon county to Peter L. Earnest. See his name.

HENRY CLAY, born August 10, 1833, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, was married at Brighton, Illinois, to Maggie E. Johnson. They have three children, ADDIE L., HENRY R. and ZOIE, and reside at Boulder City, Colorado.

John Thompson died Oct. 14, 1855, and his widow died Nov. 22, 1868, both at Mechanicsburg, Sangamon county, Ill.



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