DARNEILLE, JOHN
, was born June 8, 1791, in Bourbon county, Ky. He served fourteen months in the war of 1812-13, half the time as first Lieut., and was then promoted to Captain. Margaret Norton was born Oct. 25, 1793, in Bourbon county, also. They were married there, Feb. 20, 1814, and had three living children in Kentucky. The family moved to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving Nov., 1819, in what is now Chatham township, first at a place called Turkey Point, and in the spring of 1820, moved further up Lick creek, and made a permanent settlement five miles west of the present town of Chatham, where they had nine living children. Of their children--MARTHA, born April 7, 1815, in Kentucky, married in Sangamon county to Thomas S. Hunter. See his name.
CATHARINE, born Aug. 2, 1817, in Bourbon county, Ky., married in Sangamon county to David Alexander. See his name.
BENJAMIN F., born Jan. 1, 1819, in Bourbon county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, Dec. 17, 1840, to Mary Jacobs, who was born Oct. 1, 1821, in Clarke county, Ky. They had eight living children in Sangamon county ELIZABETH married Samuel C. Sumpter, who was born in Sangamon county. He enlisted July 20, 1861, at Springfield, for three years, in what became Co. C, 11th Mo. Inf.; reenlisted as a veteran, Jan., 1864, at LaGrange, Tenn., served until Jan. 15, 1866, when he was honorably discharged at St. Louis, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Sumpter have three children, CORA, DORA and HOMER A., and reside five miles west of Chatham. MARGARET C. married James M. Greening. See his name. MARTHA J. married Lee R. Graham. See his name. MARIA F. married John Garvey. See his name. LORINDA J. married Feb., 1875, to Col. John Watson, and live in Auburn. EMMA S. married Dec., 1873, to William Vandoren. See his name. JULIA A. and BENJ. F., Jun., reside with their mother. Benjamin F. Darneille died Dec. 5, 1872, and his widow resides six miles west of Chatham.
Mrs. Darneille relates some incidents both instructive and amusing, of her early married life. She says that when herself and husband went to set up housekeeping, he had but ten dollars. Cooking stoves were not in fashion, but they bought pots, skillets, pans, spoons, knives and forks, etc., thus securing their outfit, and had some money left. Lamps and burning fluids were unknown, and for nearly ten years their only candlesticks were made by taking gourds and cutting off about half the bowl end, so that they would sit upright, and then cutting off the necks and inserting the candles. The first crop of oats Mr. Darnielle raised he hauled thirty bushels to Springfield, and gave the load even for eight yards of calico to make a dress for his wife.
THOMAS J., born Oct. 4, 1820, in Sangamon county, married Martha McGinnis. They had two living children in Sangamon county. JOHN D., born Nov. 29, 1848, married in Warsaw. Ky., to Jennie Brown, a native of that city, and resides there. They have two children, MELINDA and JAMES W. JAMES W., born in Sangamon county, Sept. 16, 1850, married Oct. 31, 1871, in Belvidere, Ill., to Belle Moulton, a native of Minneapolis, Minn. They have one child, MABEL, and reside in Chicago. Mrs. Martha Darnielle died, and Mr. D. married Mrs. America Gibson, whose maiden name was Forrest. Thos. J. Darnielle died Nov. 21, 1854, in Sangamon county. His widow married ?? 13, 1859, to John R. Neal. See him name.
JAMES M.
EMILY, born July 28, 1823, in Sangamon county, married Willis Webb. They had two children, and the whole family died.
LORINDA, born Jan. 31, 1825, in Sangamon county, married William McGinnis. See his name.
ELIZABETH, born Dec. 10, 1826, in Sangamon county, married Abraham Gish, had two children. Mrs. G. and one of the children died. The other child, BENJAMIN F., resides with his father, in Auburn tomnship.
HENRY, died, aged fifteen years.
MARGARET, born Jan. 25, 1830, in Sangamon county, married James Hall. See his name.
HIRAM H., born May 16, 1833, died, aged twenty-one years.
JOHN W., born Feb. 3, 1836, in Sangamon county, married Melinda Drennan, had one child, and all died.
John Darneille died March 10, 1854, and his widow, Mrs. Margaret Darneille, died April 30, 1875, both on the farm where they settled in 1820.
John Darneille learned to write by firelight, and in the absence of paper, peeled buckeye bark from the trees, and when it become dry, did his writing on that, until he learned to keep accounts of all his business transactions. He acquired such fame as an accurate and legible penman, that he became the neghborhood letter writer. He was on the first grand jury that was ever empanneled in Sangamon county, May 7, 1821. They held their deliberations, some sitting on a pile of rails, and some on gopher hills out on the prairie, within the present limits of Springfield. He was elected as one of the Representatives of Sangamon county in the State Legislature of 1840, the first that ever assembled in Springfield.