Pgs 412-686 - Illinois Ancestors

486 BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES
3iutthew Bz~cha~tccn Pccrks, son of William and Agnes (Buchsnatn)
Parks, mas born in Washington county, Va., August 15, 1818. His
father was born in Cumbel*l:~nd coun'ty, Pa., Malycll 7,. 17'77, where
Joseph Parlis (a native of Irelantl and a, tailor by trade), gmnclfathe~
of Mattlie\v, had settletl prior to the Iterolntion. Josepll's wife,
Rebecca Clarli, \vats a, native of England came to Airle~aica with
her people before the Eevolntion, ;tnd ]net ant1 innrrietl Mia. Parks in
Ci~lnberlnncl county, Pa., amtl iuored to Augusta coon ty, Va. The
founder of this family in the United States n6r lies in the cemetery
near his Virginia, home. In 1810 Willianl Parks, a millwrigl~t, ~narrietl
Miss Agnes Duchnnan. This lady nTas a dnugl~ter of' M;rttlle\v I3uclranan,
\vho served in the 12evolubion untler General Camld~ell at Kings
Mountain, and with two conlpanies sent ag~insthe Indians in ICentuclcy.
His wife was Elizabeth Etlloontlson. To tlreul seven cllilclren
were born, namely : Granville C., a ~vidomrr of Euresu county ;
Eliza, unmarried, residing here ; Rebecc;~ who tlietl in 1855 ;&Iattlle~v
B., of Elmira, Polly Ann died March 29, 1847; Joseph, unmarried, ancl
Nancy II., unma.&iecl, residing here. The family movetl from Virginia
to Macon county, Ill., in 1835 ; but after a very brief stay tllel-e,
William 10cat~ed 160 acres of land in \vl~at is no\v Ehnir:~ townstrip,
erected the first 11ouse ever built in Elnlira on this land, and resitletl
therein until 1842, when 11e inored out of the timber "onto the
r~rairie," ancl there, so soon as tho iantls were offered for sale, entered
h80 acres. I-Ie was engaged in farming and stock-mising until his
death. His \\rife was born in W~lshington county, virgin^:^, 0ctobt:r
13, 1785, of which state her parents nelae natives, of tlce tlescentls,nts
from Scotch-Irish B~~chanans of Lancltster co~un ty, Pa. She tlietl in
1877. &Iatthei\~. B has alm;~ps been :L bacllelor citizen, representetl
his t,ocvnsllip on the suyervisbrs' board for a, number of terms, and
filled nearlv a11 the tournsllip offices. IIe resides on the old Palbl<
~~ornestead~ with his sisters, Eliza ancl Nancy II., ancl his brother*
Joseph. The latter is a lneln ber of the J3;q)tist church, while Mat.tllew
B. is not a lneinber of any society, tlloogl~ a supporter of the I'l*esl)yterian
Cllurch. In the f&nily ci;cle all questions a.ffecting their interests
are thoroughly discussed, and dissenting ol~inions so expressed as
to leave no room lvhtttsoever for discol*tl.
TVllinir Q. I'e~hs, born in O~aitnge county, V enrion t, Januar \-
19, 1819, is the son of 1,enruel and Lucretia, (Cfentlelna~ri) ~erki~is.
Lemuel Perkins was a nati re of New 11nml)sllire. He ~~~rrs the son of
Timothy Perkins and Betsy Genileinan. Tinlothy Perltins, a native of
England, was it soldier in the ~*evolutiona,rv war, and after the war he
engaged in fanning in the state of New %ampshire, remaining there
until his tleath. Betsy Gentleman was 21, n;l.tive of Connecticut, 11er
parents coming from prance. 1,enluel Pel-liins enlisted for the war of'
1SI2 at the age of fourteen, ser~recl seven years in the amijr, ant1 after
the war he enwaged in tlre cooper trade. He mas ~narrietl in IS1 to
Lucwtia GentTeman, and bail by her two children, the subject of our
sketch being the olclest. Daniel tlietl when two years old, in the tow11
of Tapsham, Orange county. Trt. His wife died in 1823, and in 1833
he married Miss EIetty Pomeroy, a native of Vermont, by ~vhoin he