| Notes |
- His father was 65 years old when he was born.
Residence: Carlisle, Nicholas Co, Kentucky, 1827, 1830, 1840
Sangamon County, Illinois, 1834-1847 - farm settled by him, in the northeast corner of Cotton Hill Township, 3 1/2 miles west of Breckenridge.
Springfield, Sangamon Co, Illlinois 1850-1860
1850 Sangamon Co., IL P. 504/282 Dwelling 2169 Family 2169
Enumerated 27 Nov 1850 by Inv. E. Aderson
Breckenridge, Preston M 42 b KY Farmer $5000
, Lucy F 35 b IN
, Alex M 22 b IL
, Hugh M 20 b IL
, Cornelius M 19 b IL Attended School
, Joseph M 18 b IL Attended School
, Elmore M 16 b IL A. S.
, Theophilus M 14 b IL A. S. (Cleophas)
, Catherine F 13 b IL A. S.
, Elizabeth F 10 b IL A. S.
, Mary F 10 b il A. S.
, Preston M 8 b IL A. S.
, Jane F 6 b IL A. S.
1860 Census of Springfield, Sangamon, shows Preston, Preston, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, David, Lucy, Elma (25 m) and Elma's wife Susanna and their daughter Leonor. Also with them are: William Tourrence, 12/m; Margaret Tourrence 16/f, and Eliza Tourrence 13/f.
Preston was living with son Cleophas and family in Sangamon Co, Illinois 1870-1880
1870: Village of Breckenridge, named in honor of Hon. Preston Breckenridge, its village plat being recorded in May 1870, being described as the "north half of the northeast quarter of Section Five, township fourteen, range three." A post office was established shortly after the village was laid out, Alexander Breckenridge being the first postmaster.
Source: (Jerry Donly Papers; family group sheets on Preston Breckenridge and his children; "A History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois." received from yoko@pclink.com - Roger Carroll Breckenridge.)
BRECKENRIDGE, PRESTON,
son of
Alexander and 2nd Mary Chadd Breckenridge
was born Aug. 5, 1807, near Paris, Bourbon county, Ky. The name of Breckenridge originated in a singular manner. In one of the wars in Scotland between the Protestants and Roman Catholics, a family by the name of McIlvain participated on the side of the Protestants, who were defeated. Some of the McIlvain brothers saved their lives by taking refuge under a low shrub, called brack, which grows on the ridges in the Highlands of Scotland. This circumstance so impressed them, that they determined to give themselves a new name, hence Brack-on-ridge. As Protestants, the Breckenridges took part in some of the wars in Ireland at a later period, in which the great, great grandfather of Preston was a leader. The Protestants being again defeated, two of the Breckenridge brothers fled to America. One of them settled in Pennsylvania, and the other in Virginia. Their first names are not preserved, but the descendants of the one who settled in Pennsylvania have retained the original spelling: Brackenridge. The brother who settled in Virginia raised a family, among whom was one son Alexander, who had a son Robert, who had a son John, who had two sons, Robert Jefferson, known as the late Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, D. D., of Kentucky, and Joseph Cabell, the latter whom was the father of John C. Breckinridge, ex-Vice-President of the United States. The first Alexander also had a son George, who had a son Alexander. He was twice married, and the eldest child by the second wife was Preston, whose name heads this sketch.
Preston Breckenridge married Catherine Moler in her home in Nicholas Co. Ky., Nov. 17, 1827. She was born in that county Aug. 30, 1804. They had four children born in Kentucky, and the family moved to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving Oct. 1834, in what is now Cotton Hill township, east of Sangamon river, where eight children were born, one of whom died in infancy.
The Breckenridges purchased approximately 300 acres of land in section 1, Cotton Hill Township, which had been owned originally by Joseph and Lydia Moore, for $2,000.00 in cash. The deed was recorded on December 19, 1834.
They erected a log cabin between the present Russell Simpson home and Leslie Simpson home. From a model made by Cleophas Breckenridge in 1888, which is in the Russell Simpson home, it appears to have started as one log cabin to which anothers attached, doubling its size; later a bevel siding addition was made across the front with a recessed porch on one side. This bevel siding is also from the first floor level up with a window indicating this area was used, and a wood shingle roof. There are three chimneys, four doors, two front and two back, and eight windows. It is a little over half again as wide as it is deep, according to the model, but the actual dimensions are unknown.
Preston Breckenridge remembers that the fall of 1834, when he came to the county, was dry, and continued dry through the winter; that May 12, 1835, a great rain storm set in, and rain continued to fall for about forty days and nights, which seriously interfered with plowing and planting that but very light crops were put in. When the rain ceased, and hot weather set in, the stagnant water and decaying vegetation poisoned the atmosphere, and chills and bilious diseases prevailed to such an extent that in many case there were not enough well persons to take care of the sick and bury the dead. that year has ever since been spoken of as the wet and sickly summer and fall.
The wheat crop looked well in the fall of '34, but it nearly all froze out, and in 1835, '6 and '7, the wheat crop was a total failure, and wheat bread was so scarce that a biscuit became an object of interest, so much that women would senm to the children when visiting took place between the families.
The difficulty of obtaining food during the winter of 1835 and '6 was very great, there being nothing for bread in Central Illinois except for frost-bitten corn. Good crops were raised in the southern part of the State, and those who couy for it went there for corn. That is believed to have been the origin of calling the southern part of the State Egypt, and not because of any unusual darkness prevailing there."
Source: [History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois, "Centennial Record," by John Carroll Power, Springfield, Illinois: Edwin A. Wilson and Co., 1876
pages 136 - 138.]
While primarily a farmer, Preston Breckenridge also erected a carding machine and the first water mill on the South Fork of the Sangamon River at Cascade; it was known as Breckenridge Mill, later as Torrence's Mill. He could look at a tree and correctly estimate the board feet of lumber in it. It was from this mill that the oak timbers came for construction of the South Fork Church of Christ in 1852, timbers which are in the original building still in use today. Preston is also recorded as being at a revival meeting in Robert Bell's barn in 1851.
The weather was an important matter to the early settlers as most were farmers. 'The Sudden Change' occuring in 1836 was recalled by many in the 'History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois' in 1876.
"Mr. Preston Breckenridge expressed the opinion that the velocity of the cold wave, given in another part of this sketch, is too slow. He thinks it must have moved at least seventy miles an hour, judging from his present knowledge of the subject. He had just taken his dinner, and was sitting near a window, between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, in view of a pool of water, ten or twelve inches deep. He heard a terrific roaring sound. Suddenly the rain ceased and it became quite dark. The first touch of the blast scooped all the water out of the pool. Some pf it returned, but in a moment it was blown out again, and scattered as frost and ice, leaving the pool empty and the bottom frozen dry. He says it had been raining slowly all the fore part of the day, and so warm that he thinks a thermometer would have stood as high as forty degrees above zero, possibly higher, and that the first touch of the tempest would have brought it down to zero in a second of time." (from Powers' History, cited above)
.....In all, the couple had twelve children, one daughter who died in infancy and is buried with her mother on February 4, 1847, in the family cemetery on the original homeplace. One would suspect that both died at the time of childbirth. They rest in an above ground vault which is unusual for this part of the country. It was Catharine's death which is believed to have caused the start of the plot.
In the early 1900's, her son, Cleophas Breckenridge, recalled the time that followed. "When I was a boy," said Breckenridge, "about ten years of age, in the summer of 1846 or 1847, I lived with my father upon the same farm which I now own in Cotton Hill Township in this county. We were very poor. My father was above the average in intelligence, but he had a large family, and was in debt, so that while we had enough to eat, we lived very plainly. My mother had died a short time before I was ten years old, and my father in those days was doing the best he could to be father and mother both to us children." (In the same book, neighbor Moses Martin recalls a temperance meeting at the newly built South Fork School House in 1847): "Mr. Lincoln asked if anyone had anything to say for or against the movement, and Mr. Preston Breckenridge rose up and spoke of the importance of parents taking an interest in the matter. The wife of the said Breckenridge had recently died, and he pointed to his motherless children and spoke of his anxiety for them, and as he spoke, the tears ran down his face. Afterward at various times and places the said Preston Breckenridge held Washingtonian meetings and I went with him and acted as secretary and helped enroll the signers of the pledge." (above quotes from 'The Lincoln Legion', by Louis Albert Banks. New York, New York: The Mershon Company, 1903).
Preston Breckenridge was one of the representatives of Sangamon county in the State Legislature of 1851 and '2. Abraham Lincoln was a candidate before the convention, but Mr. B. beat him. Mr. B. was a member of the Sangamon county Board of Supervisors for 1873.
In 1851 and 1852 Preston Breckenridge served as a Representative of Sangamon County in the Illinois State Legislature. He claimed to have beaten Abraham Lincoln for the nomination of the Whig Party for that post. His son, Cleophas, recalled that Lincoln attended to his father's legal business on numerous occasions. Preston added to the farm: forty acres in 1858 and 161 more acres in 1866. He also served on the Sangamon County Board of Supervisors in 1873. The village of Breckenridge was named in his honor, its plat being recorded in 1870, and in the 1970's, a street in Springfield bore his name too. He continued to farm and saw four sons enter the Civil War on the side of the North. Hugh, Joseph, and Preston Jr. enlisted in Company B, 10th Illinois Cavalry, and Joseph and Preston Jr. lost their lives. Cleophas enlisted in Company D, 33rd Illinois Infantry, and though wounded, recovered.
Preston died July 26, 1880, and his remains are in Breckenridge Cemetery on the land he settled in 1834 and on which his great-grandson, Preston Russell Simpson, resides. Unwilling to divide his debt-ridden acres into many small parcels for each of his living children, as he feared all would fail, he willed his land, and debts, to his sixth son, Cleophas. Some feathers must have been ruffled according to this letter addressed to Mrs. W. Camlage (Cleophas' sister), in Pawnee County, Larned, Kansas dated Oct. 5, 1881.
"Mrs. Camlage,
If yo want to brake your Pa will, you will haft to do it be-fore July no-ets. He was wirth $27550.00. He owed $14000.00. And you sea how much Cleopas is worth. If you want to consult about it you must not get a Springfield Lawyer.
Yours Truly, Cod"
We do not know who "Cod" was, but apparently nothing came of it as the Notice of Final Settlement was published in the "Morning Monitor" in early 1883.
_______________
After Catherine died he remarried LUCY ROBB on 29 March 1849 in Sangamon Co, Illinois. Lucy was born 19 July 1816 in Acworth, New Hampshire, daughter of David Robb and Diane Farr. They lived in Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois. In, the Robbs and their six children had settled two miles south of the village of Breckenridge. Lucy died 18 Nov 1854 at the age of 38, also to be buried in the family cemetery. Preston was now left with thirteen living children to raise.
Their children were:
1. David "Daniel" Breckenridge, born December 28, 1850 Sangamon Co, Illinois and died after 1900 in Indiana. In 1860 and 1870 he was living with father. At some point before marriage resided near Cedar Hill, Dallas Co, Texas.
He married Margaret (maiden name unknown). She was born in July 1859 in Utah. Where they were married is not known, but they were living in Indiana when they died.
2. Lucy D. Breckenridge, born August 13, 1854 in Sangamon Co, Illinois. She married William H. Hunter on 13 October 1874. William Hunter was born December 10, 1848 in Muskingum Co, Ohio. William's grandfather, Charles Hunter, was born and married in Scotland; came to America, and settled in Muskingum Co, Ohio. His eldest son, William, was the father of William H. Hunter, the latter of whom, with his wife, reside in Cotton Hill Township.
Their children were:
i. Allen Hunter, who was born 7 Oct 1872 and died 9 Oct 1873, age of 1 year, 2 months.
ii. William Hunter who was born 3 Dec 1875 died 24 July 1876, age 8 mos, 15 days
The children were buried at Breckenridge Cemetery in Cotton Hill.
COURT RECORDS:
Thursday July 29, 1880
Estate of Preston Breckenridge, Deceased:
Cleophas Breckenridge this day filed in Court an affidavit of decease of Preston Breckenridge which is examined by the Court and ordered to be filed and recorded and is as follows to wit:
State of Illinois
Sangamon County
Cleophas Breckenridge being duly sworn deposes and says that Preston Breckenridge late of the County of Sangamon and State of Illinois is dead and that he died on or about the 25th day of July A.D. 1880 after having made and published his ill and testament and that his personal estate will probably amount to the sum of $2000, that said Preston Breckenridge left at the time of his decease no widow and Alexander Breckenridge, Hugh Breckenridge, Cornelius Breckenridge, Elmore Breckenridge, Cleophas Breckenridge, Catherine Randolph, Mary Richton, Elizabeth Abell, Jane Gamage and David Breckenridge, Lucy H
Friday August 24, 1880:
Estate of Preston Breckenridge, deceased.
And now at this day comes Cleophas Breckenridge, Executor of the Estate of Preston Breckenridge, deceased, and presents to the Court an Inventory of said Estate and the appraisement Bill which are examined by the Court approved and ordered toe filed and recorded.
OBIT:
Copy of the Obituary of Preston Breckenridge from the Sangamon Monitor
Gone to Rest, Preston Breckenridge, Born Aug 5 1807; Died Sun July 25, 1880
Life's toils being or'r he retires to rest
No sound will disturbe his slumbers;
His work well done and among the blest
He's one of God's chosen number
Another workman in life's vineyard has wrapped the mantle of a well spent life around the imperfections of nature and gone into the presence of God to deliver up life's stewardship. For 73 years he has been constant in season and out of it, bve in voice for the truth as he understood it, courageous in deeds for his race when duty whispered action. However differeing, and honestly as men may from the sentiments on any subject which interests mankind, there was none who knew the man who would dare question his earnestness nor doubt his actions and utterances as other than the result of candor and conviction.
Preston Breckenridge was in many respects one of the most remarkable men of his age. He belongs to a family of whom one has said "to feel the grandeur of the Breckenridg family you must be thoroughly acquainted." Preston Breckenridge was onf the uncultivate members of the family. He had great force of character from native worth and implanted principles without cultivation. His native good sense was immense and had he been educated and scholarly, he would have been one of the giants of his day. For forty-six years he has been the center of marked characters in this county. Always ready to express his sentiments and being s intensely Democratic in his theory of government and catholic in his views of man's relation to God, that it lead him at times to be victimized into affililiation with those whose sinister motives misled him and his earnestness in effort became lost to the good of the world.
His presence was always an assurance that good-nature and kindness should prevail, if he had the indexing. He was kind and courteous, and would uter his sentiments regardless of friend or foe, and totally indifferent to the size of the man, tally or physically. His figures of speech were crude but forcible, his language plain but emphatic, and his courage to say or do doubted least by those who knew him best. He had no man-fearing spirit when he attempted a religious duty, he never quailed in the presence of an antagonist to his temperance principles, and fearned nothing in uttering his convictions politically. For the possession of these qualities he commanded the respect of his neighbors, however they honestly differed with him, and he woujld go out of his way to show his admiration for an opponent whom he believed earnest in his belife, and who might doal him the hardest blows in defending his sentiments.
It was to his earnest effort that we are indebted for many of the good things we enjoy as a people in the county.
But he has passed away, and paid the debt - in peace and is home - which human nature must liquidate in some way. His name lives in the annals of the county and his memory will be preserved by all who appreciate the life, and the virtures,d courage of an honest man. His remains were interred at the family burial ground on the ?rn y, and the services conducted by the Rev. A.J. King of this city, who was his bosom friend.
Preston Breckenridge was born near Paris, Ky., was married in 1827 and returned to this state in 1843, settling on the farm where he died in Cotton Hill Township in this county. He was the father of eleven children and grandfather to a largemily of that name in this county and other points west. He was the second cousin to John C. Breckenridge, Vice-President of the United States under President Buchanan. He was a member of the State Legislature of this State in 1852, beathing Abraham Lincoln for the nomination of the Whig party, upon which ticket he was elected. He was also a member of the Sangamon County Board of Suprevisors for one or more terms. He took great interest in the meetings of the Old Settlers and was one of the principal parties interested in keeping up the association.
Breckenridge Cemetery:
A Large Monument.
on West Side: Breckenridge
Alexander Breckenridge Oct 31 1828 - July 26 19?
Martha, his wife. Aug 19 1933 - May 18, 1904
on East Side: Elizabeth Mountz, daughter March 28, 1854 - May 15 1883
Infant son 1853
Children of A & M Breckenridge
Infant 1892 - son of R.C. & A.E. Breckenridge
B Large Monument
on West Side: Cleophes C. Breckenridge
Lillian T. Breckenridge
on North Side: Infant son July 2 1880
on South Side: from 1861 to 1865, C.C. Breckenridge, Co. D. 33 Reg D.V.
(Sleep Solider Sleep Thy Warfares O'er."
C Large Monument
Lucy Robb, wife of Preston Breckenridge, Sr.
Died Nov 18, 1854 aged 38 yrs 4 months
Catherine Moler, wife of Preston Breckenridge, Sr. (above-ground vault)
Died Feb 4, 1847 Aged 42 yrs 6 months 1 day
Preston Breckenridge, Sr.
Died July 25, 1880 Aged 72 yrs 11 mons 20 days
___
Event: Biography
Note:
In Bourbon County, Ky., near Paris, the late Preston Breckenridge was born August 5, 1807, and in Nicholas County the eyes of Catherine Moler opened to the light, August 30, 1804. This couple were united in marriage at the bride's home November 17, 1827, and spent a few years of wedded life in the county where their marriage took place. They then removed to this county, arriving in October, 1834, and at once taking up their residence on the farm now owned and operated by their son, our subject. The faithful wife and mother died February 4, 1847, and the father subsequently married Lucy D. Robb, who survived until November 18, 1854. Mr. Breckenridge lived until July 26, 1880, reaching a goodly old age. His first marriage was blessed by the birth of seven sons and five daughters. He was a near relation of Hon. John C. Breckenridge, whose connection with politics is well known and belongs to the annals of history.
6
Event: 1850 Census 1850 IL, Sangamon Co 7
Event: 1880 Census 1880 IL, Sangamon Co, Cotton Hill Township 8
Event: 1860 Census 1860 IL, Sangamon Co, Springfield Precinct 16 3
Event: 1870 Census 1870 IL, Sangamon Co, Cooper Township 9
Father: Alexander Breckenridge b: 16 MAY 1743 in VA, Augusta Co
Mother: Mary Chadd b: ABT 1776 in VA, Washington Co
______________
Subj: Re: Moyers & Breckenrides
Date: 8/9/99 9:48:18 PM Central Daylight Time
From:BhthuesonTo:Lumoto
Dear Sherry,
Thanks a bunch for sending all that info on Preston Breckenridge and family. I did have some of it; some of it I didn't. I had the picture of Preston Breckenridge, but now, because of your sending it, I have it on disk.
By the way, Roger Carroll Breckenridge's email address now is: rogerb@pclink.com.
Thanks for all your help.
Barbara
|
1807 - 1880 (72 years)
