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EARLY SETTLERS OF SANGAMON COUNTY - 1876
By John Carroll Power

These biographies were submitted by a researcher and evidently abstracted from the 1876 History of Sangamon County, IL. Errors could occur, so one should always verify the correctness by obtaining copies of vitals and performing all necessary research to document what is contained herein.



PLUNKETT, JOHN H., was born Oct. 3, 1782, in Cabarras county, N. C. Elizabeth Purviance was born March 17, 1785, in the same county. They were married Feb. 19, 1804, and had seven children there. The family then moved to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving in May, 1823, at the north side of Richland creek, in what is now Cartwright township, where, two children were born. Of their nine children--

NANCY, born June 15, 1806, in North Carolina, married Maxwell Campbell. See his name.

ROBERT S., born June 15, 1808, in North Carolina, married in Sangamon county, Nov. 5, 1829, to Ruth Combs, who was born in Green county, Ky. They had six living children. MARTHA A., born July 4, 1832, married Wm. Bumgardner, and both died in Effingham county, leaving five children. ASA W., born April 3, 1834, married Jan. 12, 1853, to Nancy J. Willis, who was born July 21, 1831, in Kentucky. They had seven children; two died in infancy, and MARY ETHEL died in her ninth year. ROBERT S., EMMA J., JOHN W. and LILLIE MAY live with their parents, near Pleasant Plains, Ill. JASON D., born Jan. 1, 1836, was married Mar. 5, 1857, to Catharine Dunkel. They have four living children, HARLEM O., WILLIAM H., HATTIE C. and RUTH C., and live four miles east of Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Ill. RICHARD M., born Dec. 13, 1838, died April 28, 1852. JOHN N., born Sept. 30, 1840, enlisted on the first call for seventy-five thousand men, April, 1861, for three months, in Co. E, 7th Ill. Inf., and served full term. He enlisted August 11, 1862, in Co. F, 114th Ill. Inf., for three years, served until Oct. 18, 1864, when he was discharged on account of physical disability, by the special order of Abraham Lincoln, on the personal application of his father, who was a soldier in Capt. Lincoln's company, in the Black Hawk war. John N. Plunkett was married August 24, 1865, to Mary C. Sutton, who was born Oct. 22, 1843, They have four children, ITHA E., MINNIE E., MELINDA J. and JOHN C., and live one mile west of Salisbury, Sangamon county, Ill. REBECCA J., born Oct. 15, 1841, married March 13, 1862, to Amos D. Irwin. See his name. Mrs. Ruth Plunkett died Feb. 23, 1844, and Robert S. Plunkett married Anna Alexander, who died without children, and Mr. Plunkett was married Nov. 11, 1850, to Mrs. Marilda Gateley, whose maiden name was Hind. They have two children, LAURA N. and RUTH D., and reside three and a half miles east of Pleasant Plains, Sangamon county, Illinois.

ELLEN married Zachariah Wilbourn. They had six children, and moved to the vicinity of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where Mrs. Wilbourn died. Her children are all married, and live in Iowa. Mr. Wilbourn resides near Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa.

ELIZABETH MATILDA, born in Cabarras county, North Carolina, married in Sangamon county to William C. Irwin. See his name.

JOHN B., born in 1818, in North Carolina, married in Sangamon county, Ill., to Mary Conner. They have six children. Their son, WILLIAM, is married and lives two and a half miles south of Pleasant Plains, Ill. John B. Plunkett and family moved to the vicinity of Edina, Sullivan county, Missouri, where they now reside.

JOSEPH M., born Sept. 6, 1820, in North Carolina, married in Sangamon county to Lucy Cone. He died May, 1873, in Petersburg, Ill., leaving a widow and three children.

JAMES L., born Sept. 16, 1822, in North Carolina, married June 15, 1848, in Sangamon county, to Martha A. King. They had five children. MARTHA A., the third child, died in infancy. LUCETTA married William R. Strode. See his name. They live near Bluff City, Nodaway county, Mo. JULIA A., born March 5, 1852, married James R, Lightfoot. See his name. They moved to the vicinity of Marysville, Nodaway county, Mo., and returned to Sangamon county in 1876. LUCY E. and CHARLES live with their parents, near Chinkapin Hill, four miles northwest of Springfield, Ill. James L. Plunkett accompanied his father to North Carolina in 1839 or 40, when they brought with them his grandfather, James Plunkett.

BENJAMIN H., born June 15, 1825, in Sangamon county, married Eliza Cone, had eight children, and he died, in Petersburg, in 1868. His widow married Thomas Hobbs. He died, and she lives near Petersburg, Illinois.

SILAS PINKNEY, born June 15, 1828, in Sangamon county, married, Feb. 26, 1851, in Menard county, to Salina Keltner, who was born May 14, 1833, in Cass county, Ill. They have four living children, CORNELIUS A., JAMES H., EMMA E. and NANCY E., and live three miles east of Pleasant Plains, Ill. It is on the farm where he was born.

John H. Plunkett died Feb. 13, 1849, and his widow died May 8, 1858, and both are buried in Cartwright township. He was the eldest son of James Plunkett, who was born Feb. 4, 1767, and his wife, Agnes Huston, born Sept. 19, 1765. She died in North Carolina, Feb. 26, 1838, and her husband came to Sangamon county, in company with their son, John H., whose name heads this sketch, on his return from a visit to North Carolina. James Plunkett died in Sangamon county, in 1841, aged seventy-three years.



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