The 1860’s were a busy decade for the
Higgins family. At the beginning of the decade,
Daniel and Sarah still had seventeen-year-old Henry and sixteen-year-old James
living at home and helping Daniel with the farm. Daniel worked forty acres of improved land -
meaning it was cleared and used for grazing, grass, tillage or lying Fallow. [1]
He also owned thirty acres of unimproved land, his farm was worth $700, the value
of his farming implements and machinery was $30. He owned $250 worth of livestock including two
horses, two milk cows, six heads of cattle, and twelve hogs. He produced fifty bushels of wheat, 300
bushels of Indian corn (feed corn), twenty bushels of potatoes, one ton of hay,
three gallons of molasses, $15 worth of homemade products for home use or sale,
and $40 worth of animals slaughtered during the year. [2]
Jackson, Sarah and their son William
Harrison farmed right next door to Daniel and Sarah. Seventeen year old, Thomas Rice Higgins lived
with them to help Jackson with his farm duties.
Even though Jackson was newly married and just twenty-eight years old,
he was doing fairly well owning $1,000 in real estate and $1,000 in personal
property. His father’s worth at the time
was just $1,000 total. Jackson Higgins
owned a total of 100 acres, sixty acres improved and forty unimproved. He had $200 worth of farm machinery. His life stock was worth $300; two horses, two
milk cows, four cattle, two sheep and thirty hogs. He produced fifty bushels of
wheat, 400 bushels of Indian corn, fourteen bushels of potatoes, sixteen
bushels of buckwheat, 100 lbs of butter, two tons of hay, $20 in homemade
manufactures and $80 in slaughtered animals.[3]
Christopher and Mary lived on the
other side of Jackson with their infant daughter Martha. Christopher was also farming but he did not
own any land. The Hillyer family lived next
door to Christopher. Five-year-old
Thomas Hillyer would later become, Jackson and Christopher’s nephew-in-law when
he eventually married their small niece Julia, who lived just a few houses away
with her parents John W. and Lucinda Higgins.[4]
John W. and Lucinda lived right next
door to Lucinda’s parents and younger siblings, the William Burnett family. John and Lucinda lived on forty acres
improved land, 100 acres unimproved land.
His farm was worth $1,500 with $50 wrapped up in farm machinery. He
owned two horses, two milk cows, seven head of cattle, and seven hogs giving
him $300 worth of livestock. He produced
annually approximately fifty bushels of wheat, 300 bushels of Indian corn, twelve
bushels of potatoes, and 200 lbs of butter, ten tons of hay, $40 home
manufacture, and $150 worth of slaughtered animals.[5]
Henry waited until he was thirty-one
to marry, making him the last to tie the knot. He married Sarah Gossage, fourteen years his
junior, in 1873. They had two sons, the
second one born after Henry’s mother, Sarah Higgins died in 1880.[6]
James Higgins never married but lived
with various family members over the years.
After Sarah’s death, James became his dad’s constant companion.[7] Daniel received the distinction of being the
oldest living citizen of his part of Schuyler County in 1892. Four years later, on February 9, 1896, he
died peacefully while taking a nap at Jackson’s house at 1:35 p.m. on a Sunday
afternoon. All of his living children were
at his bedside except for Christopher who had moved to Nevada. Many of his grandchildren and great
grandchildren and friends were present.
Jackson joined Sarah to rest in peace in the Blackburn Cemetery.[8]
Daniel’s obituary written by his
grandson, John R. Higgins states “To them (Daniel and Sarah) was born eight
children – seven sons and one daughter – of whom four sons are living.” We have a record for five of the seven sons. Most likely, the other two were born during
the seven-year gap between Christopher and Henry. A local history written in 1892, the year of
Daniel’s death alludes to even more children.
It states that, Sarah had ten children born to her with four still
living at the time of her death.[9]
[1]
“Agricultural Schedule 1860, Brooklyn, Schuyler, IL” http://www.census.gov/history/pdf/agcensusschedules.pdf,
(accessed May 8, 2013)
[3]
Agricultural Census 1860
[4]
Federal Census 1860, Brooklyn, IL
[5]
Agricultural Census 1860
[6]
Schuyler County Il GenWeb Project, “Schuyler County Illinois Death Records”, http://schuyler.illinoisgenweb.org/schuylernewhome/Deaths/Deathrecords6.html
, (Accessed on April 10, 2013)
[7] D
Higgins Obituary, Rushville Times
[8]
Ibid.,
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