Dear Sharon, Thanks for the help. I have replied to your e-mail below: > Please reread my reply to Connie, below, for the source. The book > was reprinted by the Macoupin Co. Historical Society, and > combined as one book. I bought a copy of the book my first visit to > Macoupin Co. > Sounds like a good book to get. Are they still for sale at the Historical Society and can I order by phone with a credit card? (Anyone who knows please answer) > From the 1875 Atlas > > W. D. Reader, Western Mound, Sec. 24, 230 acres. > This was William D. READER, another son of Paschal L. READER, and brother of G.W. My Grandpa called him "Uncle Billy". > Adjoining this land, to the North, is: > G. W. Reader, Western Mound, Sec. 13, 80 acres. The house > appears to be on the half-section line, toward the East. Good, that should be the house my Grandpa grew up in. I am sure it is just ruins now as a more current Plat (1983) does not show anything there. The 1863 deed had 50 more acres in section 11 but he must have sold that by 1875 if it is not shown. > > Interestingly, adjoining W. D. Reader land directly to the West is a > small piece shown as owned by J. H., 40 acres. This must be the land that John Hagaman was given (or bought?) when he married G.W.'s sister Nancy Jane READER in 1866. This was the year before Paschal died. > > There is no church shown anyplace close. Only Church is in Sec. > 32, about six miles away. The READER family attended Shiloh Baptist in Bird Township, only about 1 mile east of Reader, IL. > > The 1893 - 4 Plat shows: > > John Hagaman, Western Mound, Sec. 24, 267 acres. This plat > includes the 40 acres owned by J. H. in the 1875 book, as well as > the Reader land. > "Uncle Billy" had sold his land by 1891 as the Portrait and Biographical Record has William D. REDER (sic) as lumberyard owner in Chesterfield. > G. W. Reader has the same piece of land, Sec. 13, but it is now > 75 acres. > > There is now a small village on the S.E. corner of Georges land, > named READER (probably accounts for the 5 acres, Grin.). The > other half of the village is on the S. W. corner of S. N. Browns land > which is just East of Georges (also 75 acres). Just to the West of > Georges land is another 109 acres owned by John Hagaman. > BTW, there is a house of each of Johns lands. According to my Grandpa's memoir, Uncle John Hagaman owned 160 acres. I guess he was not counting that 109 (267-109=158). Grandpa (Ernest READER) wrote that John Hagaman rented out his houses (including some in the village) to tenant farmers. G.W. sold a few acres to the railroad for a depot (Jackson and Southeastern, which operated the Litchfield, Carrollton, and Western) According to my Grandpa the L,C,& W was known as the "Lazy, Crooked, and Weary". Another nickname according to THE STORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY (1979) was the "Look, Cuss, and Wait" for its poorly kept schedule. > > There is now a Church in Sec. 3, but no cemetery shown. What > was a Church is now shown as a cemetery in Sec. 33, right on the > TWP line. Very close is a school. > Section 3 now has a cemetary there (Bethel Baptist) and the one in section 33 is known as the Keller Cemetary according to my "Tombstone Revelations" book (Western Mound and Bird Townships only). > There are a couple of cemetery's in Bird TWP that are probably > closer. > Correct! See above regarding Shiloh Baptist. However the READER family had a family cemetary started by Paschal in 1834 for his sister, where Paschal's parents and most of his siblings (and others) are buried. John HAGAMAN and his wife Nancy Jane HAGAMAN nee' READER (Aunt Jane) and some of their children are buried there as well. It became more or less a community cemetary and is still kept up. Ironically, Paschal himself is buried near Lancaster (Dallas Co.) TX where he died while on a visit there in 1867. However there is a large monument to him in the READER cemetary. His wife Margaret (RAFFERTY) READER is buried there as well. G.W. READER and his wife Emily (SMITH) are buried in Staunton where they lived after moving back from Clinton, MO where they had moved in 1908. > Land records I suggested are are records at the Court House > recorders office. This info pretty much gives you a legal description > of the property, making searching quite easy. > > There are no Readers listed in the Historical Directory (they > probably had to pay to be in that). Are you implying that the READER family was cheap? WE ARE! <grin> > ......................................But there are these two: > > Hagaman, John, Farmer and Stock Raiser, Western Mound Twp., > Sec 13, Post Office, Hagaman, Nativity KY, Came to County > 1856. > > Hagaman, J. J., Farmer and Stock Raiser, West. Mound Twp., > Sec. 13, Postoffice Reader, Nativity IL, Came to County 1869. > The second Hagaman is John Justen, John's son, born in 1869. Funny that Uncle John got his mail at the Hagaman post office and J.J. got his at the Reader post office. That may have been so that they would not get each other's mail. Paschal READER's father-in-law was James RAFFERTY. James' son James changed the spelling of his name to RAFFURTY to avoid the same confusion. When you consider what our ancestors had to do to get their mail, we really take daily home delivery for granted! <grin> > Sharon Buethner > Who wishes she lived closer than 1100 miles (each way). > > > I live close (about 50 miles) but my problem is time and an uninterested family who would rather be doing "fun" things on the week-end. I think it would be "fun" to visit, do research, and explore, but my vote doesn't count! <grin> Thanks again! Don Reader St. Louis, MO e-mail: readerd@storz.com