Biographies

GREENUP STILLWELL, who now carries on farming on section 4, Rozetta Township, Henderson County, is a native of the Hoosier State, having been born in Clarke County, on the 29th of October, 1817.

He is the only child of Isaiah and Nancy (Huckleberry) Stillwell. His father died when he was an infant, and he was reared by his mother's people.

In his youth he received no special advantages. At the age of eighteen he started out in life for himself, and has since been dependent on his own resources, so that whatever success he has achieved is due entirely to his own efforts. He began as a cabinetmaker, working at that trade for two years. He then followed the river for about two years, serving as pilot on the United States mail line between Louisville and Cincinnati.

At length Mr. Stillwell determined to seek a home in Illinois, and in 1840 came to Henderson County, which was just being opened up to civilization. He is therefore numbered among its pioneer settlers, and may also be classed among its founders, for in the fifty-four years which have passed since his arrival he has ever borne his part in its upbuilding and development. He began work at the carpenter's trade, which he has followed more or less ever since that time.

In 1846, he purchased eighty acres of land on section 4, Rozetta Township, and is now making his home upon that farm.

Mr. Stillwell has been twice married. In 1835, he was joined in wedlock with Miss Margaret Metheny, and to them was born a daughter, Susan.

For his second wife, Mr. Stillwell chose Mrs. Pereann Morris, and their union was celebrated January 24, 1847. The lady is a daughter of Thomas and Joanna Adams. The father was a native of Wales, born in 1812. When young, he came to America, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing-vessel, and located in Pennsylvania, where he lived for several years. He later removed to Ohio, and afterward came to Illinois, locating in Henderson County in 1840. Purchasing a farm in Rozetta Township, he there made his home until 1875, when he removed to Kansas, where his death occurred in his ninety-third year. He followed farming throughout his entire life, was a member of the Baptist Church, and in political belief was a Democrat. His wife passed away in 1877, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stillwell have been born nine children: Alonzo, who died in infancy; Gertrude, wife of Harry Van Winkle; Clara J., wife of J. B. Reynolds; Greenup O.: Nathaniel, who died in infancy; Luna F., who died in 1893; Melvin T. ; William H. H.; and Helen, who completes the family.

The parents and their children are widely and favorably known in this locality and occupy an enviable position in social circles.

Mr. Stillwell cast his first Presidential vote for William Henry Harrison, but since the organization of the Republican party has been one of its stanch supporters. He holds membership with the Methodist Church, and has lived an honorable, upright life, that has not only gained him many friends, but has won him the respect and esteem of all with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact.

From the Portrait and biographical record of Hancock, McDonough and Henderson counties, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county (1894)
May, 1894. Lake City Publishing Co.