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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.



VAN DOREN, JOSEPH, was born February, 1790, in Somerset county, New Jersey. Maria Conover was born March, 1792, in the same county, and they were married there about 1809. They had three children in that county, and moved, in 1824, to Warren county, Ohio, and from there to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving May 22, 1839, in what is now Curran township. Of their three children--

WILLIAM L., born February, 1810, in New Jersey, married in 1832 in Warren county, Ohio, to Sarah Hagaman, had one child, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1834, in what is now Curran township, being the first of the family to settle in the county. They had six children born in Sangamon county, and in 1845 moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Mrs. Van Doren died, in October, 1848. In the spring of 1850 he went to California, and there married, in 1853, to Cornelia Fulkerson. He came to Springfield and kept the Chenery House from 1866 to 1868, and in August of the latter year returned to California, and resides in Petaluma. His son, JOHN S., lives in Petaluma, and his daughter, ANNA married John Rogers, and resides near Petaluma Sonoma, county, California.

ABRAHAM, born March, 1814, in New Jersey, married in 1837, in Warren county, Ohio, to Delilah Jack. They had one child in Ohio, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving July, 1838, in Curran township, where five children were born. The family moved to DeWitt county in 1855, and he died there in the fall of 1858, leaving a widow and two children, who reside near Clinton, Illinois.

PETER C., born April 11, 1818, in Somerset county, New Jersey, married Oct. 11, 1837, in Warren county, Ohio, to Margaret Hathaway, who was born in that county, April 13, 1820. Her great-grand-parents, on the mother's side, bore the name of Rogers. They emigrated from Ireland, and soon after the vessel sailed Mr. Rogers died at sea. A violent storm caused the destruction of the ship's stores, and in order to sustain life, three of the passengers were in turn killed and eaten. Mrs. Rogers had been selected by lot, as the next one to be slain. She asked for one hour to pray, which was granted, and all the preparations made for taking her life, the ship, meanwhile, carrying signals of distress. When but a few minutes of the time remained, the sound of a cannon came booming over the waters, conveying the glad tidings that they were discovered, and her life was spared. On arriving in America she settled in Warren county, Ohio, with her only daughter, Elizabeth, who married Patrick Meloy. Their daughter, Amy Meloy, married Ebenezer Hathaway, and their daughter, Margaret Hathaway, married Peter C. Van Doren. Mr. and Mrs. Van Doren had one child in Ohio, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving May 22, 1839, in what is now Curran township, where eight children were born. Of their nine children, SARAH A., born Dec. 4, 1838, in Ohio, married in Sangamon county, Feb. 20, 1861, to Samuel Gibson, have three children, EMMA M., PETER V. and WILLIAM L., and reside at Monticello, Piatt county, Illinois. JOHN M., born Jan. 15, 1841, in Sangamon county, married Jan. 1, 1865, to Mary E. Sappington, have one child, CHARLES L., and reside at Waynesville, Illinois. EBENEZER H.. born Sept. 5, 1843, in Sangamon county, enlisted Aug. 20, 1862, for three years, in Co. B, 130th Ill. Inf., served until August 15, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at New Orleans. He was married Nov. 13, 1867, to Frances I. McComas, and resides two and a half miles south of Curran, Sangamon county, Illinois. CORNELIUS P., born May 22, 1846, married Sept. 30, 1868, to Eliza Stubbs, who was born April 11, 1845, in Warren county, Ohio. They have one child, NETTIE, (WILLIE died in infancy) and resides three miles northwest of Curran, Illinois. HANNAH M., born Nov. 20, 1848, in Sangamon county, married Sept. 28, 1868, to William C. Nixon, have two children, FRANK V. and JOHN, and live on the farm adjoining that on which her father was raised, in Warren county, Ohio. MARGARET H., born March 27, 1851, lives with her parents. WILLIAM L., born Feb. 20, 1853, married Dec. 16, 1873, to Emma S. Darneille. MARY E., born Dec. 3, 1856, married March 9, 1873, to Hiram Alexander. See his name. AMY J., born March 10, 1860, lives with her parents. Peter C. Van Doren and wife reside on the farm where his father settled in 1839. It is three miles northwest of Curran, Sangamon county, Illinois.

Joseph Van Doren died August 30, 1845, and Mrs. Maria Van Doren died May 1, 1864, both on the farm where they settled in 1839. He was a soldier in a Light Horse company from New Jersey, in the war of 1812, and although he was about fifty-five years of age, he went as a teamster in the Mormon war of 1844 and '45, in Illinois, was present and saw the Mormon Prophet, Jo. Smith, and his brother, Hyrum, shot dead.



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