Friends, A descendant of Benjamin Matthews came into our library today and we found his Obituary. He was born in Tennessee in 1792 and died in McDonough co. Illinois in 1878. The obituary says he came to Morgan county in 1817, and I was wondering if that sounds reasonable or possible. I wouldn't think there were many white people in the county at that point. Robert ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

Robert, I just checked the 1820 IL Census and there is a Benjamin Matthews listed in Edwards County, but that is quite a distance from Morgan...it is on the East side of the state bordering IN on the Wabash River. Earlier Edwards covered many Counties in Eastern IL but not in 1820. In 1817 Morgan was in Madison County and still there in 1820. It is possible the family was in IL as there were many, many early settlers before the state was formed in 1818. Somewhere I remember as census of sorts for 1810 IL, but don't find it on Ancestry. Mary Ann At 09:46 PM 9/29/2003 -0500, you wrote: >Friends, > A descendant of Benjamin Matthews came into our library today and we >found his Obituary. He was born in Tennessee in 1792 and died in >McDonough co. Illinois in 1878. The obituary says he came to Morgan >county in 1817, and I was wondering if that sounds reasonable or >possible. I wouldn't think there were many white people in the county at >that point. > Robert > > >________________________________________________________________ >The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! >Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! >Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > > >==== ILMORGAN Mailing List ==== >Lost your ancestors burial place? We have all known cemetery >inscriptions online, except three large Jacksonville ones. Click on >Township Links on Cemetery Page at: >http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmorgan/twp-cem.htm Mary Ann Stewart Kaylor MY FAMILY GENEALOGY http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~makaylor/index.html CONVERSE CONNECTIONS http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~converse/index.html

According to the history of the county, "The first settlers began arriving in Morgan County around 1818 but it was not until 1823 that the county was formally organized." Barb Madsen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert L Webb" <bwebb9@juno.com> To: <ILMORGAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 9:46 PM Subject: [ILMORGAN] Benjamin Matthews > Friends, > A descendant of Benjamin Matthews came into our library today and we > found his Obituary. He was born in Tennessee in 1792 and died in > McDonough co. Illinois in 1878. The obituary says he came to Morgan > county in 1817, and I was wondering if that sounds reasonable or > possible. I wouldn't think there were many white people in the county at > that point. > Robert > > > ________________________________________________________________ > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > > > ==== ILMORGAN Mailing List ==== > Lost your ancestors burial place? We have all known cemetery > inscriptions online, except three large Jacksonville ones. Click on > Township Links on Cemetery Page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmorgan/twp-cem.htm > > >

That sounds entirely possible. In researching my ancestors, I have run into at least a dozen or more "Old Settlers" such as him. In fact, search for "Old Settlers +Morgan County" and you will possibly find a biography for him. Carolyn B ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert L Webb" <bwebb9@juno.com> To: <ILMORGAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: 29 September, 2003 10:46 PM Subject: [ILMORGAN] Benjamin Matthews > Friends, > A descendant of Benjamin Matthews came into our library today and we > found his Obituary. He was born in Tennessee in 1792 and died in > McDonough co. Illinois in 1878. The obituary says he came to Morgan > county in 1817, and I was wondering if that sounds reasonable or > possible. I wouldn't think there were many white people in the county at > that point. > Robert > > > ________________________________________________________________ > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > > > ==== ILMORGAN Mailing List ==== > Lost your ancestors burial place? We have all known cemetery > inscriptions online, except three large Jacksonville ones. Click on > Township Links on Cemetery Page at: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmorgan/twp-cem.htm > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.521 / Virus Database: 319 - Release Date: 9/23/2003