I am looking for date and death and burial sites for Charles and Nancy McKernan. They were last listed on the 1850 census.

> Is there anyone on this list who is researching the SWEEDEN or SWEETEN > surname. I am particularly interested in THOMAS LEVI SWEEDEN. He married > EMALINE SPRAY / > > Thank you. > Phyllis

> ONLY THE MEN HAD BABIES > > My ancestor William had children > All named, & with birth dates & places. > But his wife is not even mentioned; > Of her there are not even traces. > Surely she must have existed, > Was born, was a child, & had dreams. > Grew up & learned how to keep house, > Was a person---but nameless, it seems. > She had parents, & someplace, a home. > Her brothers are listed no doubt. > But she was only a girl > So not really worth telling about. > She was half my ancestor's heritage; > Without her he wouldn't have life. > His genes are half hers, > but I find She was only his father's wife. > Once a girl was first "dau", then was "wife." > She belonged to her father, till married, > And then she belonged to her husband, > And beside him, unnamed, she was buried. > How awful to think MY descendants > Might search for a name for me, > Be unable to find my identity, > And wonder just who I might be. > > Dr. Dorothy Branson ( Thanks to Orange County California Genealogical Society > Quarterly)

Is there anyone on this list who is researching the SWEEDEN or SWEETEN surname. I am particularly interested in THOMAS LEVI SWEEDEN. He married EMALINE SPRAY / Thank you. Phyllis

I would like to know if anyone has an index of death that could tell me when James David Counsil and his wife Sarah passed over. I last found them in the 1900 census. Thanks Wanda

Ok. ENUFF ALREADY ! TAKE IT PRIVATE AND BE DONE WITH IT. Bambi, you hush now girl, or I'll tell everyone yer related ta muh Baker line ! snicker. Whoops. lol Cody, just let it be guy. You could be related too ya know. All this stuff going on, I can't find any family. I figure if I'm quiet, someone will accidentally admit to having a BAKER in their line, then, BANG, I GOT'M ! BESIDES, how do you think it feels, knowing my Great grandfather was a Republican down there ! I guess what I'm trying to say is let it go. We all have feelings good/bad right/wrong. My father helped Liberate Dachau towards the end of WW2. That doesn't mean I am wrong for reading Mein Kampf and saying that Hitler was a genius. Notice I DIDN'T say he was RIGHT. Makes a difference. Take the time to slow down. Temper your Emotion with reason. Temper your Logic with Emotion. Besides, I'm hoping Jon will start researching my Baker line down there !! lol. BEST TO ALL !!! (bad joke) Stevie sspunk@aol.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Jean Rice" <mjrice@intrnet.net> To: <ILGALLAT-D @rootsweb> Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 6:21 PM Subject: BELL family - Gallatin Co., IL and KY > I am seeking ANY information on the BELL family listed in the 1880 > Federal Census of Gallatin CO.,Il on Page #10, New Market Precinct on > 15 June, 1880 by R. W. Purdue, Census Taker. > > 90 BELL, Jas 36 M Ffarmer KY KY KY > Louisa 40 F KH KY KY KY > ROBERTS, John L. 19 M Step-son farmer TN TN TN > Lucy 17 F Step-Daughter TN TN TN > Julia A. 14 F Step-daughter TN TN TN > BELL Willie 10 M Son TN KY KY > DEVOUS, Joseph 34 M Farmer IN Fra Fra > Julia A. 25 F KH TN KY KY > > There is a possibility that Willie BELL is my husband's grandfather. > I have not found the above BELL family listed in any other census > record. The Willie BELL I am seseking was married to Laura Virginia > "Jennie" DAVIS on Sept. 9, 1894 in Wickliffe, Ballard CO., KY. His > name was shown as J. W. BELL. I believe the J.W. stands for James or > John Willie (or William) BELL. Willie and Jennie lived in Wickliffe > when their daughter, Caramon Lee BELL (my mother-in-law) was born in > Jan. of 1895. Willie was a jockey in the Paducah, KY aarea in the > 1890's. I would be very, very grateful for any knowledge regarding > this family. > Mary Jean Neal Rice > Eldorado, Saline Co., IL > >

I would appreciate any help you can give me. I would like to know the date of Death for James and Sarah Counsil/Council and where they are buried. I would also love a obit for them also. Any help would be greatly appreciate. Wanda 1900 North Fork Township Gallatin County, Illinois Page: 285 ED 42 June 6, 1900 Counsil, James D., head of house, b. Oct. 1839, 60 years old, married 41 years, b. IL, parents both b. IL, farmer, can read and write Sarah A., wife, b. Oct 1842, 57 yrs old, married 41 yrs, 11 children, 7 still living, b. IL, parents b. IL, can read and write Charles, son, b. June 1883, age unclear, b, IL, parents b. IL, farm laborer, can read and write Campbell, Allie, daughter, b. Oct 1873, 27 yrs old, married 8 yrs, ? children, 3 still living, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Lola (? not sure), b. April 1893, 7 yrs old, granddaughter, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Morgan (?not sure), grandson b. Jan 1898, 2 yrs old, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Herbert, grandson, b. April 1899, 3 months old, b. IL, parents b. IL ???fair (iliegible) Wilfred, grandson, b. May 1893, 7 yrs old, b. IL, parents b. IL

Is there anyone on this list who is researching the SWEEDEN or SWEETEN surname. I am particularly interested in Thomas Levi Sweeden. Thank you. Phyllis

Surnames: COUNSIL PROCTOR CAMPBELL Submitter: Wanda Counsil (rosewillis6649@aol.com) Date: 28 Mar 2002 I would appreciate any additonal information you may have on this Counsil family. James David and Sarah [Proctor] Counsil. 1900 North Fork Township Gallatin County, Illinois Page: 285 ED 42 June 6, 1900 Counsil, James D., head of house, b. Oct. 1839, 60 years old, married 41 years, b. IL, parents both b. IL, farmer, can read and write Sarah A., wife, b. Oct 1842, 57 yrs old, married 41 yrs, 11 children, 7 still living, b. IL, parents b. IL, can read and write Charles, son, b. June 1883, age unclear, b, IL, parents b. IL, farm laborer, can read and write Campbell, Allie, daughter, b. Oct 1873, 27 yrs old, married 8 yrs, ? children, 3 still living, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Lola (? not sure), b. April 1893, 7 yrs old, granddaughter, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Morgan (?not sure), grandson b. Jan 1898, 2 yrs old, b. IL, parents b. IL Campbell, Herbert, grandson, b. April 1899, 3 months old, b. IL, parents b. IL ???fair (iliegible) Wilfred, grandson, b. May 1893, 7 yrs old, b. IL, parents b. IL

After reading this email I am wonder what census records are avaiable for these counties. I notice that listed here are 1818, 1820, and 1830 does anyone know if these are IL census or just for Gallatin co? Thanks, Liesa HFTHusma@aol.com wrote: >All, > >Between 1812 when Gallatin Co. IL was formed from Randolph Co., IL and 1816 >when Pope Co., IL was formed from a part of Gallatin Co., IL, my SMOCK family >was resident in Gallatin Co. in a community known as Cave in Rock (now in >Hardin Co). > >In 1816 a will was presented to the Gallatin County court by a Sally SMOCK >(matter of record). Sally was the widow of C. SMOCK who was in the USC 1810 >of Randolph Co., IL Terr. No probate record has been found. Since Pope Co. >was formed in 1816 it maybe that the probate was transferred to the Pope Co., >court system for processing. Sally, a widow, is found in the 1818, 1820, and >1830 Census of Pope Co., IL. In 1830 she is identifies as Sarah SMOCK. >Sarah is also found in the 1850 Mortuary Schedule of Hardin Co. as died age >78, Elizabethtown. In no case is the first name of her husband, C. SMOCK, >revealed. > >Does any one have access to Pope Co., IL probate records for 1816 or later >which might cite the name Sally or C. SMOCK? I seek to further identify C. >SMOCK. > >Best regards, >Hugh > > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Margaret L. Bambie Goodall There were three messages sent to me with this e-mail address and name of the sender. You sent me a message also. Unless you have two e-mail addresses and sent me five messages the one I am referring to remains unidentified. Note the address is Luxorcruz@aol.com. Your message had a different e-mail address. If you are taking credit for all five messages then I have something else to add to this one. Cody From: Luxorcruz@aol.com > To: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com >Subject: Re: LIST ALL > Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:58:11 EST > >Cody, I did not say I counted the messages. I merely pointed out that the >author of that message was speaking of another time. You must really be a >sorry person, full of hate for all. You know you started all this with >something that is your personal gripe with the State of Illinois. Do you >live in Illinois? Is there skin off your nose? Is the chip on your >shoulder >so big that you can have no compassion for anyone or anything? >You seem to do a lot of yelling at others on the list, but we aren't as >perfect as you think you are. Now shut up, already. >> --------------------------------------------------------- >From: GEN1942@aol.com >To: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com, ILGALLAT-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: from MLB Goodall >Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 13:29:24 EST _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

In reference to the article below, I would like to give the dictionary definition of acquittal Acquitt'al n. act of declaring innocent in a court. If the prosecution didn't have the evidence then to prove John Crenshaw's guilt then it seems unlikely there is anymore proof today. Unless of course "what the community knows to be true" is solid proof. I have never been one to favor the judicial system, but if I were on trial I'm glad no one on this list is in the judicial system. Rose Park -----Original Message----- From: Wanda Avila [mailto:wavila@synpub.com] Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2002 2:15 PM To: ILGALLAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Slavery and Old Slave House Below are two paragraphs from my article on nineteenth-century Gallatin County, which was published in the winter 2001-2002 issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (vol. 94, no. 4, pp. 383-402). The article, "Pursuing the Dream in Nineteenth-Century Gallatin County," is based on the biographies of Gallatin County citizens found in two county histories: Goodspeed's History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois (1887) and Memoirs of the Lower Ohio Valley: Personal and Genealogical with Portraits (1905). Wanda Avila *** From "Pursuing the Dream in Nineteenth-Century Gallatin County": Also contributing to Gallatin County's early prosperity were the hundreds of slaves and indentured servants who labored in the county, especially in the salt mines, before the Civil War. Although the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery throughout the Illinois Territory, it protected existing slavery and allowed indentured servitude, a form of slavery. Slaves and indentured servants were essential in the salt-making process because white men would not take the job, deeming the wages too low and the work too hard. Besides, it was believed that only blacks could survive the constant exposure to the sun and the intense heat of the furnaces. The need for slave labor at the salt works prompted 82 percent of Gallatin County to vote in 1824 to amend the constitution to make Illinois a slave state. Although the 1848 Illinois Constitution finally declared all slavery and indentured servitude in the state to be at an end, slavery continued into the 1850s in Gallatin County. Furtherm! ore, the state's savage Black Code remained on the statute books until after the end of the Civil War. Some Gallatin County citizens may also have profited from the kidnapping of free blacks and indentured servants, who were then carried to the South to be sold back into slavery. Although kidnapping happened throughout southern Illinois, Gallatin County was apparently the center of the "reverse underground railroad." One of the men frequently indicted for kidnapping was John Hart Crenshaw, whose biography appears in Memoirs, though this part of his life is not mentioned. In his historical introduction, Goodspeed mentions a specific incident in the early 1840s when Crenshaw was indicted by the grand jury for kidnapping. Goodspeed says that Crenshaw was acquitted "because the State's attorney could not prove that the negroes had been taken out of the state, although it was well known to the community to be the case." Recent research has revealed additional evidence of Crenshaw's involvement. Largely as a result of the new evidence, the State of Illinois has agreed to buy Crensh! aw's three-story mansion, on a site known as Hickory Hill near Equality, and to operate it as a museum. It is believed that Crenshaw imprisoned his victims on the third floor of the house until they could be ferreted out of the county. ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

All, Between 1812 when Gallatin Co. IL was formed from Randolph Co., IL and 1816 when Pope Co., IL was formed from a part of Gallatin Co., IL, my SMOCK family was resident in Gallatin Co. in a community known as Cave in Rock (now in Hardin Co). In 1816 a will was presented to the Gallatin County court by a Sally SMOCK (matter of record). Sally was the widow of C. SMOCK who was in the USC 1810 of Randolph Co., IL Terr. No probate record has been found. Since Pope Co. was formed in 1816 it maybe that the probate was transferred to the Pope Co., court system for processing. Sally, a widow, is found in the 1818, 1820, and 1830 Census of Pope Co., IL. In 1830 she is identifies as Sarah SMOCK. Sarah is also found in the 1850 Mortuary Schedule of Hardin Co. as died age 78, Elizabethtown. In no case is the first name of her husband, C. SMOCK, revealed. Does any one have access to Pope Co., IL probate records for 1816 or later which might cite the name Sally or C. SMOCK? I seek to further identify C. SMOCK. Best regards, Hugh

Below are two paragraphs from my article on nineteenth-century Gallatin County, which was published in the winter 2001-2002 issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (vol. 94, no. 4, pp. 383-402). The article, "Pursuing the Dream in Nineteenth-Century Gallatin County," is based on the biographies of Gallatin County citizens found in two county histories: Goodspeed's History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois (1887) and Memoirs of the Lower Ohio Valley: Personal and Genealogical with Portraits (1905). Wanda Avila *** From "Pursuing the Dream in Nineteenth-Century Gallatin County": Also contributing to Gallatin County's early prosperity were the hundreds of slaves and indentured servants who labored in the county, especially in the salt mines, before the Civil War. Although the Northwest Ordinance prohibited slavery throughout the Illinois Territory, it protected existing slavery and allowed indentured servitude, a form of slavery. Slaves and indentured servants were essential in the salt-making process because white men would not take the job, deeming the wages too low and the work too hard. Besides, it was believed that only blacks could survive the constant exposure to the sun and the intense heat of the furnaces. The need for slave labor at the salt works prompted 82 percent of Gallatin County to vote in 1824 to amend the constitution to make Illinois a slave state. Although the 1848 Illinois Constitution finally declared all slavery and indentured servitude in the state to be at an end, slavery continued into the 1850s in Gallatin County. Furtherm! ore, the state's savage Black Code remained on the statute books until after the end of the Civil War. Some Gallatin County citizens may also have profited from the kidnapping of free blacks and indentured servants, who were then carried to the South to be sold back into slavery. Although kidnapping happened throughout southern Illinois, Gallatin County was apparently the center of the "reverse underground railroad." One of the men frequently indicted for kidnapping was John Hart Crenshaw, whose biography appears in Memoirs, though this part of his life is not mentioned. In his historical introduction, Goodspeed mentions a specific incident in the early 1840s when Crenshaw was indicted by the grand jury for kidnapping. Goodspeed says that Crenshaw was acquitted "because the State's attorney could not prove that the negroes had been taken out of the state, although it was well known to the community to be the case." Recent research has revealed additional evidence of Crenshaw's involvement. Largely as a result of the new evidence, the State of Illinois has agreed to buy Crensh! aw's three-story mansion, on a site known as Hickory Hill near Equality, and to operate it as a museum. It is believed that Crenshaw imprisoned his victims on the third floor of the house until they could be ferreted out of the county.

FIRST OF ALL Cody: the name of the person was on the email [see below] and it was not me [mlb goodall] and yes i did send you the email about the 150 that included all the side mail from those who wished not to go through the list but it had my email address on it .and I do have a profile. family History and genealogy has been a very big part of my life for over 45 years and if your the Cody who works in the State archives we have met. For some reason the computer brings out the worst in some people. and yes I have been to the Old House and felt the sadness. But its history, and all of us connected with that part of Southern Illinois, it's our past history. Margaret L. Bambie Goodall >From: Luxorcruz@aol.com >[ and checking profiles there is non on AOL] To: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com >Subject: Re: LIST ALL >Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:58:11 EST In a message dated 3/28/02 11:23:12 AM EST, codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com writes: << Subj: Fwd: Re: LIST ALL Date: 3/28/02 11:23:12 AM EST From: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com (Cody Sanders) To: ILGALLAT-L@rootsweb.com I received this message from someone who wouldn't sign their name. Don't know if it's a male or female. This is just one message I have received since I posted my first message on this list. Do you regard this as proper behavior? I will admit I've come on rather strong a few times but who wouldn't? We want to discuss our families and their histories in Gallatin County. We're not trying to hide anything!!! Doesn't matter how much we try to explain our intentions you who are listening to the hype turn deaf ears. Cody >From: Luxorcruz@aol.com >To: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com >Subject: Re: LIST ALL >Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:58:11 EST > >Cody, I did not say I counted the messages. I merely pointed out that the >author of that message was speaking of another time. You must really be a >sorry person, full of hate for all. You know you started all this with >something that is your personal gripe with the State of Illinois. Do you >live in Illinois? Is there skin off your nose? Is the chip on your >shoulder >so big that you can have no compassion for anyone or anything? >You seem to do a lot of yelling at others on the list, but we aren't as >perfect as you think you are. Now shut up, already. >>

This person has also received hate mail because she believes genealogy and history go together and we should not be kept from discussing our family's history. Do you think this lady deserved the message she got? What did she do wrong? You who have something to say - why not sign your names? Cody My g-g-g-grandfather was indicted with John Crenshaw in the 1820's for black kidnappings. He was a county commissioner in the 20's as well. My g-g-grandfather Charles McKiernan was active in Gallatin County, as well. He use to host political balls. The McKiernans were slave owners, as well, and came from Virginia with theForresters in the 1800-1810's. History and geneology are interchangeable. I don't get these people trying to censor our conversations. Someone sent me an e-mail yesterday asking who is changing my diapers and not to bother to respond because he was putting a block on my e-mail address. Too much. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com

I received this message from someone who wouldn't sign their name. Don't know if it's a male or female. This is just one message I have received since I posted my first message on this list. Do you regard this as proper behavior? I will admit I've come on rather strong a few times but who wouldn't? We want to discuss our families and their histories in Gallatin County. We're not trying to hide anything!!! Doesn't matter how much we try to explain our intentions you who are listening to the hype turn deaf ears. Cody >From: Luxorcruz@aol.com >To: codyboy_sanders@hotmail.com >Subject: Re: LIST ALL >Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 17:58:11 EST > >Cody, I did not say I counted the messages. I merely pointed out that the >author of that message was speaking of another time. You must really be a >sorry person, full of hate for all. You know you started all this with >something that is your personal gripe with the State of Illinois. Do you >live in Illinois? Is there skin off your nose? Is the chip on your >shoulder >so big that you can have no compassion for anyone or anything? >You seem to do a lot of yelling at others on the list, but we aren't as >perfect as you think you are. Now shut up, already. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com

John, Thanks for replying on this. I didn't know when I joined the list that there was a FEUD about slavery going on or I would have waited until it cooled down. You are the first that replied in the Haleys in IL. The only reason that I am interested in that case is I am trying to find out more on my Ludy Haley and his son John Wesley, which are my ancestors. I am thinking that my John Wesley took this slave, Sarah as his common-law wife and had children by her. He later married a white woman and had a child with her, which is my line. I am trying to find my kin by John Wesley Haley and this Black woman. I do know that John W. sired some Mulatto children. Well, my understanding, is that John Wesley traveled to IL with his father to visit his brother Meeks Haley in Gallatin Co. where this court case took place. See below: "How Illinois Received the First Slave from the South" To the Editor of The Atlanta Constitution: "I noticed an article in a recent copy of your paper from an Athens lady telling of the interest a Negro man created in North Georgia a few years ago. I was reminded of an incident that happened to my grandfather in 1848 when he moved to Illinois and carried a servant girl named Sarah. She was the first slave to be carried to that state and quite an excitement prevailed. The Southern family had not thought of this and were wholly unprepared for the reception they met. Many commenced calling after the arrival, bringing children with them, not so much to welcome them (as they learned later), but to see the great curiosity - a Negro slave. They soon began to talk to Sarah (unaware to the family) and to tell her that she was free and to come and live with them and she would be treated exactly as they were. Some even called her 'Miss Sarah'. Of course, all this was very flattering to the Negro girl. But to make a long story short, one morning Sarah was missing - had left the only friends she had ever known and gone with her so-called new friends to try the uncertain future with them. Grandfather (this was Meeks Haley, son of Ludy Haley) was a rather quick-tempered man and didn't mean to have his property taken from him in any such manner. So he engaged a lawyer - so did Sarah's friends - and a day was appointed for the trial. On the day set, quite a crowd had collected at the Courthouse and much excitement prevailed. Sarah's lawyer came riding into town with her behind him on the same horse. After all evidence and the lawyers' speeches, the case was decided in favor of Grandfather, but he was told to get his property out of the state. He paid his lawyer $50.00 and took Sarah on his horse in the same fashion that she rode into town and started for the Mason-Dixon Line. Can anyone find anything on this case? I am trying to find just who the case was against. David Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 20:39:35 -0600 From: "Jon Musgrave" jonm@midamer.net To: ILGALLAT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Haleys in Gallatin Co. IL David, Recently, David Payne posted a 1924 letter to the editor that had been published by the Atlanta Constitution. It contained the story of "the first slave in Illinois." Based on the family members involved, he thinks the story takes place in Gallatin County. The story is interesting. It's typical of the racist drivel even northern newspapers were sprouting in the 1920s, but that was during the highpoint of a newly energized Ku Klux Klan. A few years earlier President Wilson re-segregated the federal workforce six decades after Lincoln had desegregated it. In the early 1920s, the KKK even inducted President Harding into the organization at a White House ceremony. Obviously, the Klan didn't have as bad a reputation as it does now. I bring this up only to note that the newspaper article is offensive and is demeaning in its portrayal of Sarah, the slave. That said, it does contain a germ of an interesting story. Obviously Sarah was not the first slave brought into Illinois. There were many before and quite a few after her arrival into the state in 1848. I don't live in Gallatin County and haven't had a chance to check the courthouse, but something like the story could have very easily happened. At that point, Illinois law allowed the immigration of slaves or free blacks into the state only if the master or former master paid a $1,000 bond to the county. In March of 1848, voters approved Illinois' second constitution which called for the legislature to completely ban the emigration by blacks, free or slave, into Illinois. A few years later John A. Logan wrote such a law that passed the General Assembly. Although Haley's action of bringing Sarah with him didn't violate the law as it stood, he probably didn't pay the bond as required. There was an anti-slavery movement existing in Gallatin County at this point, and someone from that movement could have told Sarah she should be free. So at this point, everybody is at least partially wrong or liable in the eyes of the law: Haley for not pledging the bond, Sarah for not having her freedom papers filed with the county, and Sarah's helpers for stealing away the personal property of Mr. Haley. At this time the courts were ruling that a slave owner had the right to travel with a slave safely through Illinois and that the slave would have no right of freedom just because he or she entered Illinois. Only if the person resided in Illinois for six months or more did a slave could be determined free as in an 1846 case argued unsuccessfully by Lincoln (he was actually representing the slave holder in this one - the other side already had legal representation by the time he arrived in town). The year 1848 was a turbulent year for Gallatin County in part because of the legislature's decision to split the county and create Saline County. Either Equality or Shawneetown backers tried some election shenanigans to keep or steal the county seat. Equality is still the county seat for the first half of the year. The court last met there in June. Later, the court moved to the train depot in Shawneetown that the county board rented off of the Catholic priest who was using it as a church. Thus if a crowd gathered round the courthouse, it probably took place in the spring or summer session of the court in Equality. Also, that town had more of the anti-slavery activists in it than did Shawneetown. The problem is that 1848 is part of an era where most of the county court records are missing. If the case was held before a Justice of the Peace, the records would have never made it to the courthouse. Also, this could have been a civil case in where Haley sued the people helping Sarah, in which case it could have been heard by the county, or a criminal case of some type heard by the circuit court. If anyone ever finds more about this case I would be interested. Part of the research I'm doing is trying to find all we can about the lives of black residents in antebellum Gallatin County regardless of whether they were free or enslaved. David, thanks again for sending the letter to the editor to the list. Sincerely, Jon Musgrave www.IllinoisHistory.com David S. Payne, 1614 Chapman Rd., Anderson, SC, 864-225-3253 otime1@yahoo.com My line: http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=otime Searching for surnames mostly in Upstate SC/GA: ADDISON, ALLISON,ARENDALL, CANADY, CORBIN, COX, CRAIG, DEAN, FOWLER, HALEY, GORDON, HENSON, JAMES, McMILLIAN, McPHERSON, MOODY, PARKER, PAYNE, POINDEXTER, REDWINE, REID, SWANN, WEST, TODD, WHITMIRE --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards�

David, Recently, David Payne posted a 1924 letter to the editor that had been published by the Atlanta Constitution. It contained the story of "the first slave in Illinois." Based on the family members involved, he thinks the story takes place in Gallatin County. The story is interesting. It's typical of the racist drivel even northern newspapers were sprouting in the 1920s, but that was during the highpoint of a newly energized Ku Klux Klan. A few years earlier President Wilson re-segregated the federal workforce six decades after Lincoln had desegregated it. In the early 1920s, the KKK even inducted President Harding into the organization at a White House ceremony. Obviously, the Klan didn't have as bad a reputation as it does now. I bring this up only to note that the newspaper article is offensive and is demeaning in its portrayal of Sarah, the slave. That said, it does contain a germ of an interesting story. Obviously Sarah was not the first slave brought into Illinois. There were many before and quite a few after her arrival into the state in 1848. I don't live in Gallatin County and haven't had a chance to check the courthouse, but something like the story could have very easily happened. At that point, Illinois law allowed the immigration of slaves or free blacks into the state only if the master or former master paid a $1,000 bond to the county. In March of 1848, voters approved Illinois' second constitution which called for the legislature to completely ban the emigration by blacks, free or slave, into Illinois. A few years later John A. Logan wrote such a law that passed the General Assembly. Although Haley's action of bringing Sarah with him didn't violate the law as it stood, he probably didn't pay the bond as required. There was an anti-slavery movement existing in Gallatin County at this point, and someone from that movement could have told Sarah she should be free. So at this point, everybody is at least partially wrong or liable in the eyes of the law: Haley for not pledging the bond, Sarah for not having her freedom papers filed with the county, and Sarah's helpers for stealing away the personal property of Mr. Haley. At this time the courts were ruling that a slave owner had the right to travel with a slave safely through Illinois and that the slave would have no right of freedom just because he or she entered Illinois. Only if the person resided in Illinois for six months or more did a slave could be determined free as in an 1846 case argued unsuccessfully by Lincoln (he was actually representing the slave holder in this one - the other side already had legal representation by the time he arrived in town). The year 1848 was a turbulent year for Gallatin County in part because of the legislature's decision to split the county and create Saline County. Either Equality or Shawneetown backers tried some election shenanigans to keep or steal the county seat. Equality is still the county seat for the first half of the year. The court last met there in June. Later, the court moved to the train depot in Shawneetown that the county board rented off of the Catholic priest who was using it as a church. Thus if a crowd gathered round the courthouse, it probably took place in the spring or summer session of the court in Equality. Also, that town had more of the anti-slavery activists in it than did Shawneetown. The problem is that 1848 is part of an era where most of the county court records are missing. If the case was held before a Justice of the Peace, the records would have never made it to the courthouse. Also, this could have been a civil case in where Haley sued the people helping Sarah, in which case it could have been heard by the county, or a criminal case of some type heard by the circuit court. If anyone ever finds more about this case I would be interested. Part of the research I'm doing is trying to find all we can about the lives of black residents in antebellum Gallatin County regardless of whether they were free or enslaved. David, thanks again for sending the letter to the editor to the list. Sincerely, Jon Musgrave www.IllinoisHistory.com