Williamson County Early Settlers

The following was extracted from Goodspeed’s “History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois” and describes the first settlement of the county. It breaks down each township by who filed the first claims and in what year. The book was published in 1887 and data was likely accumulated in 1885 and 1886. Notes for clarification have been added in parenthesis. Continue reading

Adams, James L. 1836-1917, Multi-term Marion Alderman and Civil War Veteran

James L. Adams was born in Dickson County, Tennessee on February 8, 1836 and came with his parents to Randolph County, Illinois, when but three years old. His parents were John Adams (1811 – 1855) and Martha Kennedy (1812 – 1900), who were natives of Caswell County, North Carolina but came to Tennessee while young and married there. Continue reading