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| Home | 1st Generation | 2nd & 3rd Generations WM Perry's Family | 2nd & 3rd Generation MANNON Descendants | More 2nd & 3rd Generations | MORE interesting info about William Perry & Levi Willits MYERS | Grandpa Nels | Family Obits | FUN FAMILY FACTS | Reunion Photo's | Mercer County Links | Contact Me |
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Myers - Nelson Family Tree |
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1st Generation Col Andrew & Mary MYERS |
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Genealogy Research has become a favorite past time of mine! I started out putting family info
together so that none of our rich family history would be lost. Now I seriously plan to gather as much
info as possible and put it into a book &/or New Boston - Mercer County History Website for future generations. If you have any corrections or ANYTHING at all you can add PLEASE
contact me. In the mean time here's what I've managed to put together so far {with the help of MANY others}....
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OUR FAMILY HISTORY Black Type ~ As researched by: Jamie Dawn (Nelson-Russell) Paul &/or told to me by our Aunt Irene
People who know "Our Family" nowadays think we are just ordinary citizens of a small river town in Illinois (& Iowa). The truth is many of our anncestors played a big part in settling this part of Mercer County and others have left their mark all over history as well. Most of our family migrated here to New Boston, ILLINOIS in the early 1800's. Several left this small farming river town in the 1900's and headed in many different dirrections for bigger and better things like during the Gold Rush, some were in the News Paper business and some even went into politics. Others just didn't like the simple county life and traded it in for the action of big city life. Most of those who left were seperated and contacts with those family members and their branches eventually were totally lost. It would be so exciting to track all those family branches down again and see where they ended up in history! (UPDATE: On Oct 20-23, 2011, We were fortunate enough to be reunited with descendants of the James Thomas Myers family from New York! It truely was an honor and a dream come true for me!) I've always found our family background very exciting due to the stories told to me by our beloved, late Great Aunt, Mary (Irene) Nelson. She planted seeds of mystery and suspence in my mind from the time I was a tiny girl, sitting on her lap listening to spell binding stories of trains, famous friends, Hobo's, horses, farms, floods and so much more. When she passed away on March 15, 1995 all of this could have easily been lost with her. BUT I was blessed not only with special memories but also to receive a chest full of her keepsakes including two family photo albums from the 1800's and many other photo's, letters and so much more. I will try to share as much of her precious memories here with you on this website as possible. After all, those memories are the very fabric which our family today was carved from..... With that, I dedicate this website to her. In honor of Irene's loving memory and pride of her family, I started researching our history around March of 2000. Since that time I have turned up many interesting facts which will eventually be put in my book. The amazing facts I turn up never cease to amaze me. I'm totally spell bound by not only our Famous Family members, but by the courage and strenghth of all the early generations. It's because of them that we are here and growing so strong today. Starting with the generation of *MY Children, with the help of fellow family researchers, I so far have traced our family back seven generations. {Now EIGHT!} Even though many family branches have moved out of this area, I am proud to say that there are many of us who are still here..... eight & even nine generations later! (*NOTE: Some family branches have evolved past MY Children's generation, expanding our family roots into the NINTH Generation and growing strong!) I pray all present generations as well as generations to come will take PRIDE in & Enjoy our family history as much as Irene did and I continue to do..... I find our family history an exciting, never ending treasure hunt! Now I invite you to open wide the doors of your imagination and join me in my never ending journey into the past, present and future........ ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
INTRODUCING COL ANDREW & MARY [LLOYD]
MYERS
IN THE BEGINNING
Andrew and Mary (Lloyd) Myers {My Great Great Great Grand Parents} are the beginning roots of most of the Myers/Nelson families in the New Boston and Eliza Townships in Mercer County. They came to New Boston and settled with thier family in about 1836. ABOUT ANDREW & MARY {PLEASE NOTE: On April 21, 2013 - I was contacted Via email by yet another
Myers Cousin, (HURRAAAAAAY!!!!!) He passed a letter onto me written by our Uncle Levi [his grt, grt grandfather]. It
had new information that I will now be adding & using to make corrections to this site as well as on ancestry.com
~ All the new info will be typed in blue. A BIG THANK YOU For your help!} Andrew was born June 11, 1796 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania and died January 22, 1881 at the age of 84 years, 7 months and 11 days in Harvey County Kansas at the home of his daughter Margret (Myers) Commons. Andrew's family is from German descent but I’ve yet to find records as to when the family came to America or who his parents were. Son Levi once wrote in a letter that his father stood six feet tall without shoes, was spare, erect and athletic in person and as full of martial spirit as General Jackson himself.
Information as to our German descent can be found in another letter written by Levi in 1908, giving details to an Hon. E.D. Garrett, of our family history stating; "I must answer your inquiries almost wholly from memory, as I have scarcely any written documents on which to depend. The ancestor of our Myers family, John Myer, came to America from Germany more than 200 years ago so that we are thoroughly American. I learned from J. De------ of Philadelphia and he got his information through the settlement of land estates in Pennsylvania, where they lived. You will notice that the name is spelled Myer. The letter "s" was added by my father and his four brothers when they were young men in Ohio about 1820. Before I received the new information on April 21, 2013 I had mistakenly listed Mary as the daughter of Shadrach and Elizabeth (Schrock) Lloyd through information I had gotten from a fellow "Myers Family" researcher who had contacted me via ancestry.com. At the time the info sounded credible and I had no reason to doubt the two Mary Lloyd's were not one in the same. Now I have proof they are not and I apologize for this wrong information.
I also stated that after the death of Shadrach, Mary's mother, Elizabeth had remarried to Mathew Moppin, and that her siblings included Lewis, William, Sarah, and Fielden Etcheson Lloyd, and half siblings; Matthew and William Henry Moppin. NONE of this family history is correct.
Instead Uncle Levi's letter says "I know scarcely anything about my grand parents on my mother's side. His name was Thomas Lloyd, and her maiden name was Tomin. They raised six children, two boys and four girls. John the oldest son, was a farmer near Ottowa, Illinois and died there. Thomas was a contractor and was born in Ohio and died there. John left a large family of children but Thomas died childless. I remember two of the daughters names. Betsy Clark and Sarah Miller. So far as I know they all remained in Ohio.
The letter also states; "My father, Colonel Andrew Myers, was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, June 11, 1796. My mother, Mary Lloyd, was born in the same county and state the same year on October 11. Their parents moved to Pickaway county, Ohio, and settled near the town of Tarlton in 1807. There they grew to manhood and womanhood and were married by Jacob List, a minister of the Luthern church, July 12, 1817".
Mary died February 21, 1876 at the age of 81 years 4 months and 10 days in Eddy, Wappelo County, Iowa and is buried in New Boston, Mercer County, Illinois. Her family is of Welsh descent, I’ve found no records yet as to how far back that goes, but Levi's letter confirms her origin: "Mother as you will notice by the name, Lloyd, was of Welsh origins- almost pure blood. Her mother's name was Tomlin." The 1909 obituary of (son) William Perry Myers tells the family lived near Tarlton, Pickaway County Ohio. A few years later they moved to Wayne County, Indiana and in 1836 they moved again, overland (trip occupying one month), to Mercer County, Illinois. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
Jane Myers, born 12/15/1818, Tarlton, Pickaway County, Ohio
William Perry Myers, born 12/13/1820, Pickaway County, Ohio Sarah Ann Myers, born 9/13/1822, Pickaway County, Ohio Mary Ann Myers, born 9/13/1822, Pickaway County, Ohio Margaret Myers, born 1824-26, Pickaway County, Ohio Orpha B. Myers, born 9/1/1827 Pickaway County, Ohio Levi Willits Myers, born 7/15/1830, Wayne County, Indiana Matilda Myers, born Feb 1833, Wayne County, Indiana Louisa Myers, born about 1835, Wayne County, Indiana ><> ><> ><> ><>
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><> ><> SOLVING
A FAMILY MYSTERY.....
Although Andrew was listed as Colonel, at first I found no records of him ever being in the service. As I searched one idea came from My uncle Donnie, who told me that way back when; AUCTIONEERS also used the title of Colonel, just like: Colonel SANDERS from KFC fame. Since I THOUGHT that Grandpa Andrew had never been in the service, I believed that maybe he could have been an Auctioneer too. Another thought I briefly pondered..... after reading through some of these old records/papers and seeing how "Colonel" was sometimes used, I thought it might be possible that "COLONEL" was NOT a "title" BUT instead his fist name? But long last I found my answer here: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~mygermanfamilies/Part2.html FORMING THE FIRST MILITIA COPIED this INFO FROM: Life Along the Mississippi River
in the 1800's New Boston and Eliza Townships, Mercer County, Illinois ~ Mercer County History Website
put together By cousins Jill Martin & Nadine Holder. Part
2: Mercer County - 1834 to 1845 *SEE Above Photo of Andrew and wife Mary The Above photo shows the Col in partial Uniform. I also have SEVERAL other photo's of men in uniform with NO NAMES? I'll post those on another page a little later. I'm hoping that someone can help me ID them someday. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> TRACKING DOWN OUR "LLOYD" ROOTS I'm trying to trace the Eliza and Millersburg Lloyds to see if Andrew's wife Mary was related to them in any way. They came to Mercer County from Pennsylvania which is where Both Andrew and Mary were born. But Andrew and Mary had moved to Ohio prior to coming to Mercer Coutny. I'm thinking that Grandpa Andrew must have been well aquainted with Benijah Lloyd in order to recruit him as Major in the first malitia. (If you can help me trace this family line please contact me THANKS) {We now know from Uncle Levi's letter that Thomas Lloyd was the of Mary's father. Still not sure what her mother's first name was but her maiden name was either Tomlin or Tomin. They had five children besides Mary; John, Thomas, Betsy, Sarah and one other daughter.} ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ANDREW MAKES A PUBLIC LAND CLAIM Andrew and Mary as well as some other family members came to settle in New Boston, Mercer County in about 1836. In the Public Land Claims section of Jill and Nadine's website they list the names of several families making Public Land Claims, it says: "According to public domain land records (see Illinois Archives), .....one of those settlers making early land claims in New Boston and Eliza Townships between 1835 and 1840 included the name of Andrew Myers". MILITARY LAND TRACTS In May 1812, Congress passed a law which set aside land as payment to volunteer soldiers for the War of 1812. The land that was set aside was in the states of Arkansas, Michigan and Illinois. The tract was surveyed in 1815 - 1816 and opened for settlement for the soldiers and their families. Mercer County, Illinois was part of that land set aside for the soldiers. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
MAP OF NEW BOSTON TOWNSHIP
The Map of New Boston Township (left) from the 1875 Plat Book shows ANDREW
MYERS land was located on the Edwards River NE of New Boston and directly East of (in) Mannon. The 1860 Census shows Andrew & Mary's Daughter
Jane & Son-In-Law Cyrus Mannon were living in New Boston Township next to them. The
close up of the 1875 Plat Map below shows that C T Mannon still had
land right next to Andrew Myers, 15 years later.
A CLOSER LOOK
After taking a closer look at the 1875 Plat Map I discovered A MYERS also
owned a small strip of land on the South side of the Edwards River just under C.T. Mannon's land.
These two branches of the family must have been very close, they not only
lived next to each other during life, they are also buried side by side in the New Boston Cemetery. Even though
both Andrew and his daughter Jane Myers Mannon moved to Harvey County Kansas after the deaths of thier spouses to live with
realitives who had migrated there, they were both brought back to New Boston for burial.
AERIAL VIEW
Below is an aerial view from 2007 of the same area where Grandpa Andrew & Aunt Jane's family
farms were locted on the Edwards River in the 1800's. You can see a corner of the "old town" of Mannon to the far left.
Surprising to me, there is still a tree line close to the River Banks in 2007, much like the one shown in the 1875
drawing. It's on opposites sides of the bank now, but I'm happy to see there are still trees growing in that area, unlike
so many other places where tree's are found few and far between!
ANDREW & MARY MYERS FAMILY CENSUS INFO:
1840 CENSUS: Andrew and some of his family are found in the 1840
census: T14N R5W Andrew Myers, males, 1 40-50, 1 15-20, 1 5-10; females 1 40-50, 1 20-30, 3 15-20, 1 20-15, 1 5-10, 1 under
5.
1850 CENSUS: In 1850 they are found in Township 14
North, Range 4 West: #484 Andrew Myres, 54, farmer, farm valued $1500, born Pa; Mary, 53, Pa; William, 29, Oh; Margaret Clark,
24, Oh; Orpha, 23, Oh; Levi, 20, In: Matilda, 17, In; Louisa 14, In; Ida Clark, 4, Il.
The large family had dispersed by 1860 CENSUS: New Boston Township #1821, next to son-in-law Cyrus Mannon: Andrew Myers, 64, farmer, born Pa; Mary Myers, 63, born Pa; Caroline Felman, 14, born Prussia. 1865 CENSUS: Andrew Myers is found in the 1865 Manufacturing
and Agricultural Census in New Boston Township: 1 male and 1 female, age 60-70, value of livestock $350, value of grain $350,
pounds of wool, 75.
1870 CENSUS: In 1870 Andrew and Mary were living
with son-in-law David Kirlin in New Boston Town: Andrew Myers, 73, retired farmer, born Pa; Mary Myers, 73, born Pa. (More Proof that early records are not always correct: Andrew was suppose to be born
in 1797 and Mary in 1795, two years apart, yet the 1870 census lists them as being the same age?)
ANDREW & MARY LIVE OUT THIER LIVES IN NEW BOSTON Andrew & Mary remained in New Boston for most of the rest of their lives. Mary died in Eddyville, Wappelo County, Iowa. Eddyville is where their daughter Matilda and son-in-law James Cowley & children lived from abt 1870 to 1880's, so they must have been visiting during the time of her death. For a short time after her death Andrew must have went to Kansas to stay with his daughter Margaret. Census records show Andrew was in Harvey County, Kansas, in the 1880 census, at the home of his daughter Margaret (Myers) Commons, where he died the following year. Both Andrew & Mary are buried in the New Boston Cemetary.
This Tombstone is located along side the road on the South side of the New Boston Cemetary on the main
(original) road leading into the cemetary.
><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> SETTLER'S MEMORIES FROM: History of Mercer & Henderson Counties http://www.illinoisancestors.org/mercer/settlersmemories.htm The following incident shows
the power of a bad habit: William Drury and Dudley Willitts were intelligent, strong-minded men and exemplary citizens.
Both were addicted to the tobacco habit and both tried to break away from it. Mr. Drury had resisted the desire for "a chew"
for several months, but his nerves became unstrung. At last one day he found himself standing astride the stile leading to
the barn with a bucket of water in each hand. How long he
had stood there he did not know, but coming to himself, he said: Well, if doing without tobacco makes a man such a confounded
fool as that, I will take to it again"— and he did to the day of his death. Mr. Willitts was equally unsuccessful. Colonel Myers chewed from the age of fourteen to sixty, when, becoming disgusted with the
habit, he quit square off, and never resumed. |
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I'M LOOKING FOR ALL HISTORY AVAILABLE
If You Have family info, photo's, ideas to share PLEASE be sure to contact me.....our
family history will not be complete until you contact me!
EMail Me: jamiedawn_65@yahoo.com
OR find me on FACEBOOK ~ Jamie Dawn (Nelson-Russell) Paul
* CHECK BACK OFTEN
~ SITE WILL
REMAIN UNDER CONSTRUCTION ~
CHANGES WILL BE
MADE OVER THE YEARS AS RESEARCH CONTINUES & OUR FAMILY GROWS*
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