Stephen M . PETTIS

                   Stephen Pettis  was  in  the  U.S.  Army , he fought  in  the '' War of1812 '' and also in the Black Hawk
War. He rose to the rank of Colonel. From Rhode Island, he went to NewHampshire, to Alburgh, Vermont and, in  the middle 1820s, to FrenchMills, Canada, where he built a mill. From  Canada, he went to MeccaTownship, Trumbull County, Ohio. He left Ohio in  1835 and moved toNewburg Township, Pike County, Ill., where he was a surveyor and farmer.He owned 1,000 acres. He and his family were members  of the PresbyterianChurch. He died of " lung fever " Jan 6, 1855 at 7 p.m. In the War of1812, he was a captain and served in 4 th Regiment ( Williams ) VermontMilitia.  He was married four times and had 21 children - 9 by his firstwife, 2 by  his second, 4 by his third and 6 by his fourth.
Two daughters by his first wife, Sarah and Polly, drowned in a shipwreckon Lake Erie Oct. 18, 1829. Sarah was 26, Polly was 19. Both lefthusbands. The  1880  U.S.  census  report  for  his  son  Solomon
says  that  his  father , ( Stephen  Pettis  ) , was  born  in  Vermont .WJD .