I spent the morning and part of the afternoon doing family history research, mostly for a book about the first families of Phillipstown, IL (an older draft of which can be found here). But I also wanted to find some sort of estate file for my great grandfather, William Thomas Malone, who my grandmother had said died in nearby Maunie, White County, Illinois. I suspect that was where he was living when he died, but not where he died. At any rate, there was no deed or probate record that would indicate who his heirs were. My aunt says that he had a daughter by an unknown wife, and that is a mystery that I'd like to solve. But no luck so far.
I'd often wondered if my 2nd ggf, Absalom Malone, was the first blacksmith of Crossville, IL? The 1880 Census shows that the village had another blacksmith (Charles Ward) in addition to Abs, so who came before whom? It turns out that Absalom purchased four lots in town (Lots 1, 2 & 3 of Block 15 and Lot 1 of Block 13) on 1 Jan 1878 (White County, Illinois Deeds, Book 21, pages 511 and 512). While Charles Ward didn't show up until 1 Apr 1880, purchasing Lot 6 of Block 13 (White County, Illinois Deeds, Book 29, page 165). So Absalom holds the distinction of having been the first blacksmith of Crossville!
Absalom's brother Thomas was the first blacksmith of Poseyville, IN, and their grandfather, John Hunter, Junior, was the first blacksmith of Owensville, Indiana Territory. So it's nice to know that the pioneering tradition was kept alive.
My apologies for all this family history stuff lately. I'm using the blog as a way to maintain the notes from my research, at least for stuff where I haven't gotten copies or some sort of digital record. It's pretty likely this will be the end of the genealogy research for this year.
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