Hi, Linda-- I looked at the 1870 Marshall County entry and also found Robert Gilcrest in Eureka (Woodford County) in 1900 (born in Ohio, like William). I don't see any Gilcrests in LaSalle County. What I would suggest would be to contact Nancy Piper, who maintains a Marshall-Putnam County website at http://www.piperspages.com/Marshall/IndexPage.html#Genealogical. Nancy is very friendly and knows a lot about the whole area. I think she's transcribing and making available online a History of Marshall County. I searched for Gilcrest in the Henry Republican obits prior to 1870--nothing there--but it's possible that Eden Prairie was a town or a township in Marshall County at one time and its name was changed later. (That's just a guess.) Following up on an obituary in the Streator Times-Press for one of my great-great-uncles, which stated he was born in "Long Ridge, Illinois," I sent a query to the Peoria Rootsweb list and found that there was a town called "Long Ridge" in Peoria County at the time of his birth, but it was accidentally changed to "Lawn Ridge" when the town applied for a post office from the federal govt and it came back with a permit for that name. If you haven't already tried it, you might post a query to the Marshall County list. Good luck! Tim P.S. My g-grandpa Henry Hoffner lived in Monona County around the turn of the century. Two sons were born there, one survived, then their farm was flooded and the farmhouse still lies at the bottom of the Missouri River. -----Original Message----- From: Linda Ziemann [mailto:lin.ziemann@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:11 PM To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILLASALLE] Prairie Eden, Illinois ?? I have been doing Illinois research for some time. Today I opened a small 3 inch by 2 inch (very old) shadow box picture frame. I hesitated to open this because it contains a lock of hair from a child that I believe was born after 1866 and died before 1870. There is also a poem.."My Boy", with a few small pieces of his clothing. I decided to open this on the hope that perhaps something was written on the back of the small paper that had the poem on it. To my amazement..there was something written in pencil on the inside of the frame itself. Some of it is not yet readable...I hope to magnify it enough to decipher it later. Part of it says.. Aged 18 ... (I am guessing the word "months" is what is next.) On the 8th of August Prairie Eden, Illinois Now my question. Where might I find this Prairie Eden, Illinois? The couple who had this child were: William S. Gilcrest and Mary Ann Ewin...married in Marshall County, IL..1866. This child is said to be their son, Walter, who died in an accident before the census of 1870. This couple and their infant son, Laurence, is enumerated on the 1870, Marshall County, Bennington twp. Other members of their family lived in LaSalle County at that time. A granddaughter of this Mother tells me that the Mother of this child kept this little frame with the lock of hair under her pillow and slept with it there the rest of her life after this infant's death. The poem is precious..it reads: My Boy.---- A lock of golden hair, Tied with silken thread; A tiny shoelet lying there; A snow-white curtained bed. A little broken toy; A book all soiled and torn; A jaunty velvet cap my boy Has often, often worn - Alas, are all that's left! (Such is the Father's will.) His joyous laughter sounds no more. His little heart is still. THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS OR HELP ANYONE CAN GIVE ME ABOUT PRAIRIE EDEN, IL. Linda Ziemann

This is to Tim and the rest of you from the LaSalle list. I appreciate the direction and believe I will contact this lady that Tim suggests. On another Illinois list I got the response to check out this url. I was told, "According to this site, Wenona Station, Illinois was referred to by some as, Prairie Eden." http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/spec-coll/MSC/ToMsc450/MsC419/MsC419.htm Below is the paragraph that references Prairie Eden. Does this sound right? I think it does. The family I am searching was in Marshall and LaSalle Counties. Here is that paragraph from the above url: "Originally from Pennsylvania, both the families of Tillie Wise and Sam Clark moved west. Most of the Wise family settled around Wenona Station, Illinois, which they fondly referred to as Prairie Eden." I will move forward and perhaps I can find the grave of this little boy, Walter Gilcrest. Family story has it that an older child was pushing the child Walter in a baby buggy of some sort....pushing too fast, hit a bump and baby Walter went flying out of the buggy to his death. Very sad! THANKS AGAIN TO ALL. Linda Z. Linda Ziemann Iowa GenWeb County Coordinator, Plymouth, Sioux & Monona Counties http://www.iagenweb.org/ Iowa Old Press IAGenWeb Special Project Coordinator http://iowaoldpress.com/ "A Look Back at the Lives and Times of Our Ancestors" -----Original Message----- From: Tim Bryant [mailto:tpbryant9@yahoo.com] Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 6:50 PM To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RE: [ILLASALLE] Prairie Eden, Illinois ?? Hi, Linda-- I looked at the 1870 Marshall County entry and also found Robert Gilcrest in Eureka (Woodford County) in 1900 (born in Ohio, like William). I don't see any Gilcrests in LaSalle County. What I would suggest would be to contact Nancy Piper, who maintains a Marshall-Putnam County website at http://www.piperspages.com/Marshall/IndexPage.html#Genealogical. Nancy is very friendly and knows a lot about the whole area. I think she's transcribing and making available online a History of Marshall County. I searched for Gilcrest in the Henry Republican obits prior to 1870--nothing there--but it's possible that Eden Prairie was a town or a township in Marshall County at one time and its name was changed later. (That's just a guess.) Following up on an obituary in the Streator Times-Press for one of my great-great-uncles, which stated he was born in "Long Ridge, Illinois," I sent a query to the Peoria Rootsweb list and found that there was a town called "Long Ridge" in Peoria County at the time of his birth, but it was accidentally changed to "Lawn Ridge" when the town applied for a post office from the federal govt and it came back with a permit for that name. If you haven't already tried it, you might post a query to the Marshall County list. Good luck! Tim P.S. My g-grandpa Henry Hoffner lived in Monona County around the turn of the century. Two sons were born there, one survived, then their farm was flooded and the farmhouse still lies at the bottom of the Missouri River. -----Original Message----- From: Linda Ziemann [mailto:lin.ziemann@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2005 4:11 PM To: ILLASALL-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILLASALLE] Prairie Eden, Illinois ?? I have been doing Illinois research for some time. Today I opened a small 3 inch by 2 inch (very old) shadow box picture frame. I hesitated to open this because it contains a lock of hair from a child that I believe was born after 1866 and died before 1870. There is also a poem.."My Boy", with a few small pieces of his clothing. I decided to open this on the hope that perhaps something was written on the back of the small paper that had the poem on it. To my amazement..there was something written in pencil on the inside of the frame itself. Some of it is not yet readable...I hope to magnify it enough to decipher it later. Part of it says.. Aged 18 ... (I am guessing the word "months" is what is next.) On the 8th of August Prairie Eden, Illinois Now my question. Where might I find this Prairie Eden, Illinois? The couple who had this child were: William S. Gilcrest and Mary Ann Ewin...married in Marshall County, IL..1866. This child is said to be their son, Walter, who died in an accident before the census of 1870. This couple and their infant son, Laurence, is enumerated on the 1870, Marshall County, Bennington twp. Other members of their family lived in LaSalle County at that time. A granddaughter of this Mother tells me that the Mother of this child kept this little frame with the lock of hair under her pillow and slept with it there the rest of her life after this infant's death. The poem is precious..it reads: My Boy.---- A lock of golden hair, Tied with silken thread; A tiny shoelet lying there; A snow-white curtained bed. A little broken toy; A book all soiled and torn; A jaunty velvet cap my boy Has often, often worn - Alas, are all that's left! (Such is the Father's will.) His joyous laughter sounds no more. His little heart is still. THANKS FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS OR HELP ANYONE CAN GIVE ME ABOUT PRAIRIE EDEN, IL. Linda Ziemann ============================== Jumpstart your genealogy with OneWorldTree. Search not only for ancestors, but entire generations. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13972/rd.ashx