Jacob V. D. Annin, farmer, deceased; in the early part of the seventeenth century, there emigrated from their native land of Scotland, one John Annin, with his family, and settled in the beautiful State of New Jersey, where he erected a log house, in which he and his family lived for many years; and if it be asked, How came his lot to be cast in that fertile valley, far from the land of his birth? the answer is to be found in the terrible story of the religious persecutions that, in the latter part of the seventeenth, and the early part of the eighteenth century, desolated and depopulated the land of his birth; in the year 1766, William Annin (son of John Annin) who emigrated with his parents from Scotland, erected near the old log cabin, a stone house, the history of which occupies a dear place in the hearts of the descendants of its builder, who was a stern Whig patriot in the New Jersey Legislature for a period of thirty years, and who furnished all the aid and comfort in his power to the friends of free government, during the dark days of the Revolutionary struggle; in this house, he and his descendants lived for four generations; in this house was horn John Annin, son of William Annin, the builder, and father of Jacob V. D. Annin, who was also born in the old stone house, June 4, 1796; here he passed the days of his youth; a description of the above house, is given in a work entitled ” Centennial Celebration of the Annin Family at the Old Stone House, in Somerset Co., N. J., Aug. 15, 1866; ” the description is given as follows: The scene of this celebration was an old stone house, some 50 feet front, by 40 in depth, with substantial walls, wide hall, and large open stairway; it stands embowered in trees in one of the prettiest little valleys of the State, through which flows a small stream, a branch of the headwaters of the Passaic; on the above date, the descendants of John Annin, met in this venerable mansion to thank God, for these, and all other blessings, which, during that century had attended them and theirs; they came, representatives of every period of life, from infancy to old age; they came in number 120, at the invitation . of the venerable owner and occupant, then in his 77th year; they visited the basement, where, during the Revolution, patriot soldiers bad cooked their frugal rations, where, at other times, schools had been kept, and the Word of God had been preached to attentive audiences, convened from the neighborhood; here the subject of this sketch, Jacob V. D. Annin, passed the days of his youth; here he received his education, and labored upon the farm, and continued to live in Somerset Co., N. J., until 1850, when, seeking new fields of labor, he emigrated with his family West, and located first in Lee Co., Ill., where he lived until 1852, when he located in East Oakland Tp., Coles Co., Ill., where he engaged in farming until his decease. His marriage with Letty Winne, was celebrated Dec. 27, 1821; she was born in Bergen Co., N. J., April 4, 1803; she died. in Coles Co., Ill., April 14, 1873, leaving-four children now living – John, Martin W., Samuel A. and Jacob V. W. (the biographies of the last three will be found in this work); Mr. Annin was one of the most industrious, hard-working and successful farmers in the township in which he lived, and was held in high esteem and great respect in the community in which he lived; he died June 15, 1878, upon the place where he had lived since his first settlement in Coles Co.
