James Robinson LINGO, II

                   From the Biographical Sketches section, biography of G.B. Claussen, pages 291-293, PAST AND PRESENT OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS (McBride, 1904): "Our subjects mother was born in St. Charles county, Missouri, February 19, 1817, and is a daughter of James and Jane (Thompson) Lingo, the former born in Virginia, July 5, 1777, and the latter in Kentucky, January 30, 1790. Her paternal grandfather, James Lingo, Sr., was a member of Washingtons army during the Revolutionary war and fell in battle in 1780 or 1781. His widow was left with three small children, the oldest being a girl and the second James, Jr. She died when the latter was only twelve years of age and the children were then bound out to different persons in Virginia as their property had been destroyed by the Tories during the war. James Lingo, Jr., remained a resident of that state until grown and then went to Kentucky, where he was married in 1810 to Jane Thompson." James was 33 and Jane was 20 when they were married with the consent of her father, William Thompson. The marriage is recorded in Campbell County, Kentucky."In 1811, the year following his marriage, Mr. Lingo and his wife removed to Missouri. They went up the Mississippi river in what was known as a keel boat and stopped at St. Louis, which was then a small village, inhabited mostly by French and Spaniards." James and Jane were among the earliest pioneers in Missouri."During their sojourn in Missouri they lived a part of the time in St. Charles county..." (Sarah was born there in 1817, and the family appears in the 1819 Missouri enumeration in St. Charles twsp, St. Charles Co. There was also a mention in the local Missouri newspaper between 1819-24 of James Lingow having lost a mare.) "...and the remainder in St. Louis county. Much of the time they were in great peril on account of the hostile Indians, who would often kill whole families. The early settlers would build their houses without windows so that no light could be seen at night that might be a guide to the Indians. In 1824, Mr. Lingo brought his family to Illinois, our subjects mother being then seven years of age, and settled in Madison county. They crossed the river at St. Louis in a ferryboat propelled by horses. At that time herds of deer were often seen on Looking Glass prairie and the large number of wolves made it dangerous for children and even grown folks to venture out alone, especially after night. Thrilling tales were told of people being torn to pieces by the ferocious wolves. They would come round the houses at night and eat the scraps that were thrown out." James Lingo's family is listed in the Madison County, IL federal census of 1830 (p. 26, l. 191)."Amid such surroundings Mrs. Claussen grew to womanhood. Her father died August 11, 1835, and her mother passed away August 11, 1845."The biography of Tyre M. Lingo, first published in a Texas County, Missouri newspaper in 1888, adds this: "James Lingo was reared chiefly in his native State (Virginia), but after attaining manhood went to Kentucky, where he met and married Miss Thompson, and when Daniel Boone moved from that State westward, they came in the same company, and located in St. Louis County, Mo., and in 1824 took up their abode in Madison County, Ill., . . . He was a Whig in politics, and the only official position he ever held was that of magistrate. He and wife were members of the Presbyterian Church and became the parents of nine children."Perhaps the Lingo's affiliation with the Presbyterian Church provides some insight into their attitude toward slavery. The Presbyterian Church and it's off-shoots at that time were strongly anti-slavery in their beliefs. Maybe the Lingo's anti-slavery views were a factor in their moves from Kentucky to Missouri, and then to Illinois. Each move was to a state more strongly anti-slavery.In regard to traveling to Missouri with Daniel Boone's company, although the Thompson's may have known Boone while he lived in Kentucky, it does not appear possible that the Lingo's came with him on his initial trip, which was in 1799. However, it 
is likely that Boone made an occasional trip back to Kentucky and then home to Missouri, and perhaps the Lingo's traveled to Missouri on one of those occasions. Boone biographer James P. Pierce, in his story, "Daniel Boone's Last Hunt", recounts how friends of Boone's from Kentucky came to visit him in Missouri, late in the summer of 1810. Perhaps the Lingo's accompanied this group or another like it. We do know that Boone settled in St. Charles County, which is where the Lingo family also lived, and in that day the area was sparsely populated, so it is very possible that they knew each other.They came to Madison Co., Illinois, about 1824, settling near what is now Highland, at Looking Glass Prairie, which lay between Silver Creek and Sugar Creek, and varied in width from 6 - 10 miles. Charles Dickens visited the area in 1842, and wrote about it in "Jaunt to Looking Glass Prairie & Back" (American Notes), describing it as "...a vast expanse of level ground, unbroken save by one thin line of trees until it met the glowing sky." A large group of Swiss immigrants formed a colony at Looking Glass Prairie in about 1831, about the time the Lingo family moved on.It appears that the family made its final move around 1831-33 to Bond County, Illinois, where they lived in the northwest part of the county, in Old Ripley township, a mile or two northwest of the town of Old Ripley. The deed records indicate that James Lingo, in 1833, purchased 320 acres mostly in Sections 5 and 6, Township 5N, Range 4W, but also including 80 acres in Sec. 28, just north of Pocahontas. Among their neighbors is Johnston Fitz Henry, who later became a son-in-law. A year after purchasing the land, in 1834, James remortgaged it for $375, with the full amount due on Sept. 16, 1835. According to the contract, if not paid in full on that date, interest would accrue at 12%.James became ill in August of 1835, and he dictated a will to three neighbor men, leaving all to his wife, and stating that she should sell his goods to pay off debts, and died that same day, leaving his wife with several children still at home, the youngest being just 1 year old, and his wife possibly expecting a baby. Not only this, but the mortgage on the property was due in 1 month, and there were crops standing in the fields unharvested. A list was made of his possessions, and many were then sold, including farm equipment, standing corn in the field, farm animals, tools, his rifle, and household items. Seeing the list of items sold, one wonders what was left for the widow and her children. Included in his possessions were two chests of books, one being medical books. This indicates he was well educated, as many people did not read or write at that time. Perhaps he was a local doctor of sorts, or perhaps he kept the books to help provide care to his family when needed. Jane sold another 40 acres in 1837. By this time there was severe financial depression throughout the midwest that lasted until about 1843. The court ordered the public sale of 125 acres in 1839.In addition to financial struggles following James' death, Jane may have lost a baby, William, and also her toddler, America. She had family members around her, as her oldest child, James, appears near her in the Bond Co. census of 1840, as well as her daughter Mary and her new husband. Her daughter Sarah and her family were just a few miles away across the county line in Montgomery Co. In 1841, in response to a request by her son-in-law Johnston Fitz Henry and daughter Mary, the court ordered another public sale to pay debts, at which time Jane sold all the remaining land except her dower, which would have been her home and just enough land to support her and her minor children as allowed under the law, 53 acres in Sect. 6. In July of 1843, Jane sold her home and her remaining land. She may have remained in Bond County, moving in with one of her adult children, or she may have relocated to Jefferson County, as did Sarah's family. Jane died in either 1844 or 1845. Her youngest children lived with older siblings after her death.A g
reat-granddaughter of James and Jane reported they were buried at Kirkland's Grove, near Sorento, Illinois. This is the oldest cemetery in the county, and the oldest grave markers and records of burials are now gone, including the Lingo's, if they were there. But one can still see the old section of the cemetery on this small hill nestled among farms. It is still in use and well kept. This cemetery is about 5 miles north of where the James Lingo family is believed to have lived in Bond County. Their daughter Sarah lived very near this cemetery at the time of James' death. There are some other interesting notes about the area near Kirkland's Grove and the people who settled there. The Kirkland family patriarch, John Kirkland, fought in the Battle of Brandywine and was at Valley Forge during the Rev. War, as was James Lingo's father. The Kirkland's were Scotch-Irish, as were the Lingos and most of the early settlers in that area, and came to Illinois via Kentucky, then Missouri, as did James and Jane Lingo. Peter Cartwright, who Jane Thompson Lingo is said to have grown up with, organized a group of Methodist's at the site of the Kirkland's farm, making it the first church in the township, in 1824. The HISTORY OF BOND AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS, 1882, states on p. 373, "A burial ground was laid out on the farm of John Kirkland, in the southern part of the township, in a very early day, and is now known as the Kirkland Graveyard. Among the first internments here were....There were several graves here previous to this time, as different parties had been brought here for burial from the little settlement farther south in Bond County."