Individual Details
William Cantrill
(January 17, 1800 - November 26, 1881)
"William Cantrill was born January 17, 1800, in Green County, Kentucky. In 1825 he went with his sister, Anna Black, and other members of the family, to Sangamon County, Illinois, and lived with this sister until February 14, 1828, when he married Elizabeth Hall.
"Sangamon County was mostly settled by Kentuckians and North Carolinians and had only been a county four years when William Cantrill rode to it from his old home in Kentucky, carrying with him a long, single barrelled Kentucky rifle, that is now in the possession of the compiler of this book. The fame of the beautiful rolling prairies of that section of Illinois drew many new settlers, and in the same year he went there, Elizabeth Hall, with her uncle and aunt, Andrew and Eleanor Goodan Jones, also went from Kentucky and settled four and a half miles from Springfield, and only a mile from the farm that was destined to become the home of Cantrills for several generations.
"Elizabeth Hall was born December 8, 1809, in that part of Montgomery County, Kentucky, that afterward became Bath County. She was a daughter of David and Susan Goodan Hall. David Hall was accidently drowned in the Licking River. He was the son of Thomas Hall and Nancy Chinn, nee Bartlett, his wife, of Staunton, Virginia. Thomas Hall was a lawyer of Augusta County, Virginia, and went to Boone County, Kentucky, before the Revolutionary War and was residing there in 1810. The War Records at Washinton, D. C., show that: "Thomas Hall enlisted March 1779 at Boonesboro, Kentucky, in Colonel Daniel Boone's Regiment, Captain John Holder's Company, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the Indians." He received a pension in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1833. Thomas Hall was a son of Edward and Eleanor Stuart Hall, of Staunton, Virginia, and grandson of Isaac Hall, who married Sarah Allison in Pennsylvania, and went to Augusta County, Virginia in 1736, with the Scotch - Irish emigrants, who went there from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Eleanor Stuart, wife of Edward Hall, was a daughter of Archibald Stuart, and Janet Brown, his wife. The Stuart family are of Scotch origin. During the reign of James I they removed to Ireland, where Archibald and Janet were married, and they emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1727 and to Augusta County, Virginia in 1736. They were a family of wealth and distinction. On the maternal side, Elizabeth Hall Cantrill was a granddaughter of Daniel and Eleanor Goodan. The Goodans emigrated from England to Pennsylvania in 1760 and to Kentucky in the latter part of that century. Isaac Hall, a half-brother of Elizabeth, was killed in his own door yard during the Civil War by Union soldiers. He had three sons in the Confederate Army.
"Elizabeth Hall Cantrill was one of less than a dozen people who organized the first Christian church at Decatur, Illinois, in 1834, and was a consistent and active member until her death, August 4, 1868. In sickness and trouble her neighbors and friends turned to her instinctively for help and her home was one of the most hospitable, ready alike to receive friend and stranger, in Decatur.
"William Cantrill moved with his family from Springfield, to Decatur, Illinois in 1833, taking with him the first stock of general merchandise ever taken to Decatur. The store he opened with this stock stood on the southeast corner of East Main Street, on what was known for many years as the "Old Square," but is now called "Lincoln Square." In this building in 1835 - 36 he officiated as postmaster, stowing the little wafer sealed missives away in a small box in a corner of the store, though sometimes he was known to carry the United States mail in his hat, as the population of the village at this time was little over one hundred adults, and mail was a luxury that the receiver and not the sender paid for in those days.
"He was a member of the State Legislature, and being one of the few men there who was "handy with his pen," he served several terms as county treasurer. He was a man of great influence in central Illinois; was an uncompromising Democrat all his life, and for many years wielded an influence in politics in his own and adjacent counties that defied opposition. He was Second Lieutenant in Captain Levi Goodan's Company, Black Hawk War, 1832. This was not attached to any regiment, but was part of General Whitesides' Brigade of mounted volunteers. He died at his home in Decatur, Illinois, November 26, 1881, and the local papers, after giving many of the forgoing facts of his life, summed up his characteristics in these words: "His word was as good as his bond." A street in the now city of Decatur is named for him." (THE CANTRILL - CANTRELL GENEALOGY, 1908, by Susan Cantrill Christie, pages 43 - 45.)
"Sangamon County was mostly settled by Kentuckians and North Carolinians and had only been a county four years when William Cantrill rode to it from his old home in Kentucky, carrying with him a long, single barrelled Kentucky rifle, that is now in the possession of the compiler of this book. The fame of the beautiful rolling prairies of that section of Illinois drew many new settlers, and in the same year he went there, Elizabeth Hall, with her uncle and aunt, Andrew and Eleanor Goodan Jones, also went from Kentucky and settled four and a half miles from Springfield, and only a mile from the farm that was destined to become the home of Cantrills for several generations.
"Elizabeth Hall was born December 8, 1809, in that part of Montgomery County, Kentucky, that afterward became Bath County. She was a daughter of David and Susan Goodan Hall. David Hall was accidently drowned in the Licking River. He was the son of Thomas Hall and Nancy Chinn, nee Bartlett, his wife, of Staunton, Virginia. Thomas Hall was a lawyer of Augusta County, Virginia, and went to Boone County, Kentucky, before the Revolutionary War and was residing there in 1810. The War Records at Washinton, D. C., show that: "Thomas Hall enlisted March 1779 at Boonesboro, Kentucky, in Colonel Daniel Boone's Regiment, Captain John Holder's Company, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the Indians." He received a pension in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1833. Thomas Hall was a son of Edward and Eleanor Stuart Hall, of Staunton, Virginia, and grandson of Isaac Hall, who married Sarah Allison in Pennsylvania, and went to Augusta County, Virginia in 1736, with the Scotch - Irish emigrants, who went there from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Eleanor Stuart, wife of Edward Hall, was a daughter of Archibald Stuart, and Janet Brown, his wife. The Stuart family are of Scotch origin. During the reign of James I they removed to Ireland, where Archibald and Janet were married, and they emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1727 and to Augusta County, Virginia in 1736. They were a family of wealth and distinction. On the maternal side, Elizabeth Hall Cantrill was a granddaughter of Daniel and Eleanor Goodan. The Goodans emigrated from England to Pennsylvania in 1760 and to Kentucky in the latter part of that century. Isaac Hall, a half-brother of Elizabeth, was killed in his own door yard during the Civil War by Union soldiers. He had three sons in the Confederate Army.
"Elizabeth Hall Cantrill was one of less than a dozen people who organized the first Christian church at Decatur, Illinois, in 1834, and was a consistent and active member until her death, August 4, 1868. In sickness and trouble her neighbors and friends turned to her instinctively for help and her home was one of the most hospitable, ready alike to receive friend and stranger, in Decatur.
"William Cantrill moved with his family from Springfield, to Decatur, Illinois in 1833, taking with him the first stock of general merchandise ever taken to Decatur. The store he opened with this stock stood on the southeast corner of East Main Street, on what was known for many years as the "Old Square," but is now called "Lincoln Square." In this building in 1835 - 36 he officiated as postmaster, stowing the little wafer sealed missives away in a small box in a corner of the store, though sometimes he was known to carry the United States mail in his hat, as the population of the village at this time was little over one hundred adults, and mail was a luxury that the receiver and not the sender paid for in those days.
"He was a member of the State Legislature, and being one of the few men there who was "handy with his pen," he served several terms as county treasurer. He was a man of great influence in central Illinois; was an uncompromising Democrat all his life, and for many years wielded an influence in politics in his own and adjacent counties that defied opposition. He was Second Lieutenant in Captain Levi Goodan's Company, Black Hawk War, 1832. This was not attached to any regiment, but was part of General Whitesides' Brigade of mounted volunteers. He died at his home in Decatur, Illinois, November 26, 1881, and the local papers, after giving many of the forgoing facts of his life, summed up his characteristics in these words: "His word was as good as his bond." A street in the now city of Decatur is named for him." (THE CANTRILL - CANTRELL GENEALOGY, 1908, by Susan Cantrill Christie, pages 43 - 45.)
Events
| Birth | January 17, 1800 | Green County, Kentucky | |||
| Marriage | February 14, 1828 | Sangamon County, Illinois - Elizabeth Hall | |||
| Death | November 26, 1881 | Decatur, Macon County, Illinois |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth Hall (1809 - ) |
| Child | Thomas Cantrill (1829 - 1864) |
| Child | Jane Ellen Cantrill (1832 - 1892) |
| Child | Mary Elizabeth Cantrill (1835 - 1883) |
| Child | Susan Lavinia Cantrell (1844 - ) |
| Father | Thomas Cantrill (1775 - 1836) |
| Mother | Elizabeth Murray (1774 - 1836) |
| Sibling | Mary Cantrill (1797 - 1871) |
| Sibling | Susan Cantrill ( - ) |
| Sibling | Anna Cantrill (1805 - ) |
| Sibling | Zebulon Cantrill (1807 - 1840) |
| Sibling | Joel Cantrill (1811 - 1866) |