Jackson married a local girl,
twenty-three year old Sarah Burnett, who was five years his junior on October
31, 1858.[1] Sarah was born and raised in the neighboring
town, Woodstock. She was the daughter of
William and Mary (Fowler) Burnett who had eight children, four girls and four
sons. Sarah was the second oldest in the
family. Her father was a farmer. Sarah’s older sister Lucinda had married
Jackson’s older brother John W. Higgins just three and half years previously,
making them sister-in-laws as well as blood sisters.[2] Their first son, William Harrison Higgins
was born Sept 1, 1859 in Brooklyn.[3] A second son followed six years later on
February 10, 1864, John Richmond Higgins.
It is possible they had a daughter as well. Oct 1, 1880 the Rushville Times obituary section reported, “A grown daughter of
Jackson Higgins of Brooklyn Township died suddenly Thursday of last week, while
visiting at Mr. Thomas Fowler’s three miles north of this place”.[4] However, the 1900 Census reports Jackson and
Sarah had two children with two still living.
Jackson’s eighteen-year-old niece, Mary Higgins did pass away in 1880 so
perhaps the paper misprinted the father’s name recording Jackson instead of
John W. Higgins.
Farming was Jackson’s life
occupation. He started with forty acres,
which grew to 227 acres by 1892. His
land was completely fenced with more than half under the plow. It included some timberlands and large
pasturage. Jackson served his community
in the capacity of a Justice of the Peace for four years and served as Road
Commissioner as well. Politically, he
was a Democrat and he attended the Methodist Church.
Jackson’s
son, William Harrison Higgins, married Eurilla Lucrecia Crook November 4, 1884
in McComb, McDonough, Illinois. Eurilla,
raised in Stark County Illinois, had six younger siblings and one older
sister. Her father, Charles Nelson Crook,
farmed while her mother, Helen Rosaltha Goodrich kept house.[5]
Eurilla’s older sister, Mary Eudocia,
had married William Harrison’s first cousin, James Marion Higgins, four years
previously. Jackson and Sarah’s first
grandchild, Lillie Elizabeth Higgins was born August 19, 1885 to William and
Rilla. They had four more daughters with
one son sandwiched between all the girls.
William
and Rilla packed up their family and moved to Shawnee County, Kansas sometime
between 1891, after Carl was born in Illinois and 1894, before Nellie Bessie
was born in Kansas. Perhaps they
followed Rilla’s family who moved to Kansas in the early 1880’s. They tried their luck farming in Morgan
County, Colorado for a short while around 1910[6]
but returned to Shawnee, Kansas later that year. Rilla died in Kansas in 1918.[7]
William lived almost another 20 years before passing away in 1937 in Topeka,
Kansas.[8]
Jackson
and Sarah’s second son, John R. married Dora M. Fowler on April 3, 1887 in
Brooklyn.[9] Dora, a Brooklyn native, was born on April 3,
1887. Dora’s parents were John Fowler
and Susannah Mason Fowler. John R’s new
father-in-law was also his uncle through John’s first wife Julia Higgins. John and Dora had four children; Claucia,
Ward, Twila and Harley. They raised
their children in Lower Center Ridge (Brooklyn).[10] John and Dora were Methodist and are both
buried in the Blackburn Cemetery. [11]
The
family of Jackson Higgins and Sarah Burnett are:
1.
William Harrison
Higgins (1859 – 1937)
2.
John Richmond
Higgins (1864 – 1935)
[1]
Museum, Schuyler County, 343,
[2]
Ibid
[4]
“Higgins, ___, Obituary,” The Rushville Times,1
Oct 1880
[5] 1880
Federal Census Brooklyn Illinois “Eurilla L. Crook” ancestry.com (accessed Jan
10, 2013)
[6] 1910
Federal Census Fort Morgan, Morgan, CO
“William H Higgins” ancestry.com (accessed Jan 10, 2013)
[7] Kansas
Find A Grave “Eurilla Lucrecia Crook” http://www.findagrave.com (accessed
January 18, 2013)
[8] Kansas
Find A Grave “William Harrison Higgins” http://www.findagrave.com (accessed
January 18, 2013)
[9]
Illinois Gen Web Project, “Register of Marriages”, http://schuyler.illinoisgenweb.org/MarriageRecords/marriages6.html
(accessed on June12)
[10]
Museum, Schuyler County, 343-4
[11] Illinois,
Find A Grave, “John R Higgins and Dora M. Fowler Higgins”, http://www.findagrave.com
(accessed January 25, 2013)
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