**************************************************************************** File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project Copyright 2008, all rights reserved. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format without the written consent of the author at http://fulton.ilgenweb.net. **************************************************************************** Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908 **************************************************************************** The Biography of Captain Elijah WILLCOXEN [Surnames: BOONE, CALLAWAY, COPE, GRIGSBY, HAIR, HUMMELL, JACOBS, JOHNSON, LASSWELL, PUTMAN, SMITH, STUFFLEBEAM, VAIL, WHITENACK, WILLCOXEN] WILLCOXEN, CAPTAIN ELIJAH (deceased) One of the most prominent pioneers of Fulton County, was born in 1789 in Ashe County, NC, where he was reared. There he married Charlotte CALLAWAY, a daughter of Colonel Elijah Callaway, one of the leading statesmen of that part of the country, and otherwise connected with some of the best families of the South. The father of Captain Willcoxen was a nephew of Daniel BOONE. In 1815 the Captain moved from NC to Estill Co., KY. He had been a soldier in the War of 1812. He remained in Kentucky until about the year 1830, and then moved to Liverpool Twp., Fulton Co., IL where he bought a farm in Section 5, which is now occupied by Jerry F. Willcoxen, who is next to the youngest of his sons. Captain Willcoxen purchased additional land in that vicinity, and finally accumulated more than 1000 acres in one body of which he gave each of his sons 160 acres. He died July 3, 1860, at the age of 71 years, and his wife passed away in 1875, when 84 years. Captain Willcoxen and his wife were the parents of fourteen children, of whom twelve survived the period of infancy. These and their children, about seventy in all, were present at his funeral. His offspring were as follows: Zerilda, deceased, who was the wife of Moses JOHNSON and left a family. Jesse B., deceased Nancy M., deceased, who was the wife of William HUMMELL, also deceased, and who left a family consisting of Mrs. WHITENACK and Jesse B., of Putman Twp. Elijah C., deceased, who married Prudence PUTMAN, also deceased. Mary C., deceased, who married Isaac COPE also deceased Andrew J., deceased husband of Mary GRIGSBY, who is living in Los Angeles, CA at the ripe age of ninety years. Mary E. Annie A. Marshall N. (all three deceased) James C., who resides in South Dakota Charlotte, who died at the age of twelve years A son who died in Kentucky at the age of two years. Jerry F., who occupies the original homestead farm in Sect. 5, Liverpool Twp. America, deceased, who wedded Joseph Jacobs, also deceased and left a family of children. Of those above mentioned, Jesse B. was twice married. His 1st wife was Priscilla STUFFLEBEAM, and his 2nd wife was Margaret SMITH, who still survives, and is a resident of Joshua Twp., Fulton County. She is in receipt of a pension as the widow of a soldier in the Black Hawk War. Mary E. became the wife of William Smith, deceased of Banner Twp., one of the leading men of that community. They left a large family. Annie A., 1st married Appleton VAIL, deceased, of Bernadotte Twp. by whom she had one son, Joseph, who is engaged in farming in Liverpool Twp. She married 2nd George W. RAY, who carries on farming in the same township. Marshall N. married Harriet LASSWELL, deceased, and left a family of ten children. James C. was twice married. His first wife was Clara PUTMAN, deceased. He next married Alice HAIR, of Lewistown, IL, and is now a resident of Black Hawk, SD. Elijah Willcoxen was a hero of two wars. Having rendered his country meritorious service in his youth, in the second conflict with Great Britain, he was still ready to answer her call after becoming a citizen of IL, and served two years in the Black Hawk War. During the first year he held the rank of First Lt., and in the last year he was Captain with headquarters at Peoria. He accompanied Abraham Lincoln on the expedition into the Rock River region. Some of the relics then secured by him, among them a sword and a pistol, are still in the possession of the family. Besides the fighting tribes, scattered Indians were then numerous in that region. Captain Willcoxen was in all respects a typical American citizen of the transition period of the Middle West. He was distinguished by those sturdy traits of character and rugged virtues that fitted the pioneers for the arduous and hazardous task confronting them. Brave, resolute, tenacious, persevering, he was equipped by nature with those potent qualities of head and heart that enabled the first settlers to wrest the untrodden wilds from their primitive condition and lay them as a trophy in the lap of civilization. He was endowed with such traits that he was always found leading, never following. In all public enterprises, he was among the foremost, and gave freely of his time and money to every worthy cause. He was one of those rand and dominant characters, whose strong individuality permeates succeeding generations. In politics, Captain Willcoxen is a Democrat of the old school. In religious faith he accepted the creed of the early Baptist Church.