My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM EDMISTON. The result of energy and perseverance is nowhere better illustrated than in the career of Mr. Edmiston, who began life with only the ability with which Nature had endowed him. He is at the present time one of the well known and highly respected citizens of Tilden, Randolph County. He is the son of William Edmiston, who was born in Virginia in 1795. The paternal grandparents of our subject removed from the above state to Lincoln County, Tenn., about 1810, where William, Sr., entered the War of 1812, taking part in the battle of New Orleans. The family is of Scotch origin.

Mrs. Sarah (Askins) Edmiston, the mother of our subject, was a native of Tennessee. She was the daughter of George and Sarah (Muelharan) Askins, the former of whom was born October 23, 1755, and the latter January 27 of the same year. They had a family of four children, and the mother of our subject was born April 5, 1799. In 1815 she married William Edmiston, a son of Susan (Hanah) Edmiston, and they resided in Tennessee until 1832, when they emigrated to Illinois, arriving in Randolph County April 19. They immediately located on section 5, township 4, range 5, and there the father erected a log cabin, which rude structure was his home for many years. The wife and mother departed this life July 19, 1833, the year after coming hither, and her husband continued to reside upon the home farm until reaching advanced years. He afterward made his home with our subject until his death, which occurred in 1885, at the age of ninety-one years.

In the parental family of eight children, the subject of this sketch is the only survivor. His mother was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and although his father never united with any congregation, was always a strict observer of the Sabbath. In early life a Whig, he later joined the Republican party, and during the late war was a strong Union man. He was very prominent and influential in this county, and aided in the organization of the various townships.

Our subject was born March 21, 1823, in Lincoln County, Tenn., and was a lad of nine years when he came to this county, and he grew to manhood on the pioneer farm. He has spent sixty-two years of his life in Randolph County, and has thus been an eye-witness of the wonderful changes through which it has passed, and has aided very materially in bringing it to its present high standing among its sister counties in the state.

Miss Nancy, daughter of Thomas and Jane (Strahan) Lindsay, became the wife of our subject February 28, 1844. The parents of Mrs. Edmiston were natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and were married after coming to this county, in Red Bud, in 1821. They located on Flat Prairie in 1827, where they passed the remaining years of their lives, the father dying in 1855, and the mother in August, 1880. They were the parents of eight children, of whom those living are, Eliza Ann, Mrs. Edmiston, Margaret Jane, Samuel, Thomas B. and Joseph. Her parents were members of the Associate Reformed Church, in which Mr. Lindsay was an Elder. He was a prominent man in his locality, and during the War of 1812 was a patriot in its ranks.

Mrs. Edmiston was born May 2, 1827, in Red Bud, this county, and after her union with our subject located on section 9, township 4, range 5, which was then an undeveloped tract. They began life in a little log cabin, which was provided with a chimney built of clay and sticks, and during the first night spent in this rude structure the snow covered the floor to a depth of six inches. They continued to make their home in that cabin until the year 1864, when Mr. Edmiston erected a fine brick residence, which contained nine rooms and a basement, and which cost him, exclusive of his own labor, $8,000. It bears all the modern improvements, is furnished in a tasteful manner, and is one of the best residences in the precinct. In 1862 he built a fine barn on his estate, which was valued at $1,000.

In 1871 our subject gave each of his five children land and other gifts amounting to about $7,000, and removed with his wife into the village of Tilden, where for some time he was successfully engaged in the grain business. Of their family, James Henry married Maggie Bicket and lives on the old homestead; William Thomas, who married Martha Goren, makes his home on section 16, of this township; John Harmon married Josephine McGuire, and is also a resident of the above township, where Jane Ann and Charles Fremont are living. The former is the wife of Alexander Bicket and resides on section 17, and the latter married Martha E. Stephenson, and makes his home on section 9.

Mr. and Mrs. Edmiston have been active members of the United Presbyterian Church for a quarter of a century. Our subject has been interested in Sunday-school work, and has taught a class for ten years. He is a strong Republican in politics, and has represented his party frequently as delegate to the various conventions.