In 1859, after decades of circuit riding, Shadrach Cheney hung up his saddlebags and headed west. The destination: Christian County, Illinois. With seven of their twelve children still at home, Shadrach and Mary Cheney joined a growing network of their family already rooted in the prairie.
Christian County, Illinois
In the 1860 U.S. Census taken in July, we find the Cheney family in Taylorville, the county seat. Seven of their twelve children were living in the Cheney household with Shadrach and Mary, from 31-year-old Asa to twelve-year-old Charles. Our grandparent William was there, age 21.
Shadrach was age 63, Mary was 53.
The five Cheney children not living in the parents’ household were:
- James Fletcher Cheney – age 35 – married Elizabeth Scott and living around Louisville, Kentucky
- Matilda Crawford Cheney – age 32 – married Peter Brown and living in Marshall County, Illinois
- Caleb D Cheney – age 29 – whereabouts unknown
- Martha Elizabeth Cheney – age 26 – whereabouts unknown
- Sarah Jane Cheney – age 26 – married Wesley Simpson and living in Christian County, Illinois
Why Illinois? Why Christian County?
Several other Cheney families were already living in and around Christian County by 1860.
Daughter Sarah had married Wesley Simpson in Ohio in 1856. They had moved to Christian County in 1857. Wesley, or perhaps his father Alexander, had purchased a 160 acre tract of land from the Illinois Central Railroad, which had just been given huge land grants along its routes through Illinois. Shadrach and Mary Cheney no doubt had entreaties from Sarah to join her in Christian County.
Matilda Cheney had married Peter Brown, and they had moved to Marshall County, Illinois, about 100 miles north of Christian County. They later moved to Christian County.
Other Cheneys were already in the area. Abraham Cheney—perhaps Shadrach’s brother – had settled nearby, and his son Thomas was a prominent merchant in Taylorville.
Bought a farm
In 1864, Shadrach and Mary purchased 160 acres from the Illinois Central Railroad for $1,600, just $10 per acre.
The Cheney farm was in Greenwood township, next to the farm of daughter Sarah and her husband Wesley Simpson. The farms are in Section 12, Greenwood Township 11 North, Range 2 West, 3rd Principal Meridian.
Here’s a wonderful drawing of Wesley and Sarah Simpson’s farm. It’s a contemporary drawing from a Christian County history published in 1880.
The move to Illinois marked a turning point. No longer riding circuits, Shadrach Cheney became a teacher and farmer. He and Mary settled beside their daughter Sarah, surrounded by kin and prairie. The land they purchased would become part of the Cheney legacy—passed down, remembered, and rooted in the soil of Greenwood Township.
There were lots of family affairs happening in the 1860s. Before we talk about those affairs, we must talk about the Cheney boys in the Civil War.
Timeline
Sources:
- Image – American Express Train – Frances Flora Bond Palmer – Philadelphia Museum of Art – https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/308330
- Map segment – Goldthwaite’s map of the United States & Canada : exhibiting the railroads with their distances, single and double track & width of gauge – Illinois Library Digital Collections – https://digital.library.illinois.edu/items/a82f8160-994e-0134-2096-0050569601ca-5#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=-905%2C-273%2C6397%2C6521
- Census – Shadrach and Mary Cheney – Christian County, Illinois – 1860 – Ancestry.com – https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4213427_00146?pId=36554539
- Deed – Shadrach Cheney – 1864 – Christian County Illinois Deed Records – Family Search – https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QC-DQCN-T?view=fullText&keywords=Cheney&lang=en&groupId=
- Map – Christian County, Illinois and Greenwood Township – 1872 – Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4103c.la000101/?st=image&r=0.332,0.795,0.269,0.151,0
- Image – drawing of Wesley Simpson farm – from Book – History of Christian County, Illinois: with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneer – 1880 – https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_Christian_County_Illinois/6X1PAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=content
- Audio – Rolling Hills – Fesliyan Studios – Cristiano Corradetti – https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-music/download/rolling-hills/984
Family Nibbles 