Abingdon Illinois

Abingdon, Illinois, founded in 1836 in Knox County, is a city with a rich history in agriculture, manufacturing, and railroads, playing a pivotal role in the region’s development. Its establishment predates the founding of Knox County itself by a year, positioning it as a critical early settlement in western Illinois. The town served as a significant hub due to its location along the CB&Q Railroad, facilitating transportation and trade. Early records, vital for genealogical research, include census data, land transactions, and church registries, which document the lives of its settlers and their descendants. The Spoon River, a notable geographical feature in the area, was essential for early agricultural development and settlement patterns. Genealogists researching ancestors from Abingdon or the surrounding areas can find valuable information in the Knox County Courthouse archives, which house historical documents dating back to the city’s inception, including marriage, birth, death records, and historical narratives of the city’s development and the diverse roles it played in the broader history of Illinois.

Biography of Robert A. Lovitt

Robert A. Lovitt. As president of the Saline County Bar Association, Robert A. Lovitt’s professional status with his brethren may be judged, but his reputation in business, politics, social life and on the lecture platform extends all over the state. He had been a valued resident of Salina since August 5, 1876. Robert A. Lovitt was born in his father’s primitive log cabin in Muskingum County, Ohio, October 10, 1851. His parents were Evan J. and Leah (Stamats) Lovitt, he of English ancestry and she of German revolutionary stock. The father of Mr. Lovitt was born in New Jersey, was … Read more

Biography of Charles Wesley Foster

Charles Wesley Foster, deceased, who was one of the public-spirited citizens of Page county, honored and respected wherever known but most of all where best known, was born May 19, 1833, in Canton, Fulton county, Illinois, where he acquired his education in the public schools. At the age of fifteen years he went to Peoria to learn the tinner’s trade and there remained for four years. When nineteen years of age he went to Abingdon, Illinois, and conducted the first hardware and tin store in that place. Four years later he removed to Bushnell, Illinois, where he also became the … Read more