My Genealogy Hound

STEVENS, JAMES M., farmer and stock raiser; Sec. 8; P. O. La Prairie; was born in Madison county, Ky., Jan. 8, 1820; came to this county in 1831. He owns 248 acres of land, valued at $10,000; also, 190 acres in Hancock county, valued at $7,200; married Miss Eliza Grain. She was born in Kentucky, in December, 1818. They have ten children, four living: Mary E., Emily J., Eliza Ann, and Benj. Dudley. He held the office of School Director and Road Commissioner. He emigrated, June 8, 1829, to Sangamon county, Ill.; lived there two years; thence to this county, and landed in an old cabin, near where Benj. Gould now lives; stopped there a short time, then came down where Mr. Combs first settled, and put up a shanty. There was no sawed lumber at that time, and he had to use puncheons for floors, clapboards for doors, and sod chimneys. He hauled grain to Quincy, and got twenty-five cents per bushel for wheat. Mr. Stevens was among the earliest settlers, and is the oldest settler living in the township.