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Below is a family biography included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. in 1879.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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ABRAHAM W. CARLOCK, farmer, whose portrait appears in this work, was born April 7, 1800, in Hampshire Co., W. Va.; his paternal grandfather emigrated to this country from Germany and settled in Virginia shortly before the war of the Revolution; while Abraham was an infant, his father moved to Overton Co., Tenn., about fifteen miles from Livingston, the county seat; here he began farming on a small scale. On the l0th day of April, 1825, the subject of this sketch, at the age of 24, married Mary Goodpasture, daughter of John and Margery Goodpasture, of Overton Co., Tenn.; she was born Jan. 24, 1804; in the spring of 1827, with his wife and two children, he moved to Dry Grove, McLean Co., and, in 1836, having sold his property, moved to White Oak Township, where he has since resided; he owns 1,200 acres of land, lying partly in Woodford and partly in McLean Co.; although his house stands about one hundred yards outside of the line of McLean Co., he considers himself a McLean Co. man, as nearly all his interests are connected with it. He and his wife have been blessed with a family of twelve children, eight of whom are now living, viz., John G. (living in White Oak Township), Madison P. (in Logan Co.), Sarah (now Mrs. George Cranston, of Normal), Mahala (now Mrs. Benjamin Gaddis, in Martinton, Iroquois Co.), Lavina (now Mrs. Ira Rowell, of Danvers Township), William B., Abraham H. and Margie; and four deceased — Martha, Reuben, Nancy J. (formerly Mrs. T. W. Brown, of White Oak Township) and Mary. Mr. Carlock is jovial, kindhearted and hospitable by nature, and has a great many friends. In politics, he is an uncompromising Democrat; he cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, and his last for Horace Greeley, because Mr. Greeley was nominated at Baltimore; he is such a stanch, uncompromising Democrat that many people who are unacquainted with his name, know him as the “Old Democrat,” and his paper would pass current if signed with that soubriquet; in religion, he is a Universalist and believes in the salvation of all mankind. He is full of eccentricities; he was never known to make a visit, in the strict sense of the word. He is greatly attached to his home and never gets into debt. He has never ridden in a railroad car, a steamboat or even an omnibus.

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This family biography is one of 1257 biographies included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. in 1879.  View the complete description here: The History of McLean County, Illinois

View additional McLean County, Illinois family biographies here: McLean County, Illinois Biographies

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