Welcome
Herein are the pioneers who settled the State of Illinois before it became a State. These are the stories of the men and women who braved the perils of wild country as a challenge to the limits of human existence during their time. We cover the industries they brought or developed, the natural disasters they endured, and the native population they encountered. In time, we hope Southern Illinois Pioneers will provide genealogists and curiosity seekers detailed information about Illinois pioneers, and lists of their descendants.
John Stokes
- Details
- Category: Pioneers
John Stokes was born in Virginia and then came through the North Carolina Quaker community where he married Sarah West. They moved to Kentucky where they had six children. Then the whole family moved to Union County, Illinois where their seventh child, Matthew Gillespie was born in Aug 1811, which was just prior to the New Madrid earthquake. The earthquake appears to have dampened their spirits, as they did not have their eighth child, George Evans, until 1818.
James Francis Pillars
- Details
- Category: Pioneers
James Pillars married Martha Hughes, the widow of Thomas Hughs who was killed by Indians in 1783. James moved with Martha and her son, James Hughes, from Kentucky to Kaskasia at Randolph County, Illinois. James was born into an Irish Quaker family 1760 at Virginia to William Pillars. William Pillars was from Ireland, and he and his wife moved to Warrington, Bucks, Pennsylvania in 1767, and for some reason, Wiliam returned to Ireland in 1769 leaving James behind.
Samuel Douglas
- Details
- Category: Pioneers
Samuel Douglas came to Illinois in 1804, with John McClinton, and David and James Anderson. He was then but ten years old. Having reached man's estate, he married, and became an influential, leading man in his settlement. In 1822, Samuel Douglas, with James Bean, Thomas McBride, James Redpath, and some others, relocated to, and made, a settlement in Hitchcock prairie.
John Mansker
- Details
- Category: Pioneers
John Mansker's pioneer life began in Pennsylvania, and while still young, he served in the US Army, and he was engaged in the battle known as St. Clair's Defeat. John miraculously survived seven battle wounds, traveled to Kentucky to other family members, married, and then moved to Missouri, and then to Illinois.
Illinois Indians before the Europeans
- Details
- Category: Native Americans
Adapted from Pioneers of Illinois pages 24-27
Illinois Indians
The Illinois Indians were of the Algonquin family, and consisted of five bands or semi-tribes, named as follows: Kaskaskians, Cahokias, Peorias, Tamaroas, and Michigamies.
New Madrid Earthquake
- Details
- Category: Natural Disasters
Few people in the Twenty-first Century have heard about the effect of the New Madrid earthquake on the early pioneers, and who settled Illinois and the Louisianna Territory. However, there are records from history books written in the late 1800s, which record the experiences of our pioneer ancestors.