Lydia Bickett

James Kendall was born about 1800 in Pennsylvania and died December 29, 1835 in Hale Twp., Warren Co, IL at about age 35. He was the son of Unknown.

Lydia Bickett was born about 1795 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and died February 27, 1874 in Hale Twp., Warren Co, IL (about age 78). She was the daughter of Adam Bickett of County Antrim, Northern Ireland and Elizabeth Reed of Ulster, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

James and Lydia were married March 25, 1825.

James and Lydia had Unknown children.

TIMELINE

Lydia Bickett was born about 1795 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

James Kendall was born about 1800 in Pennsylvania.

James and Lydia were married March 25, 1825.

James Kendall died December 29, 1835 in Hale Twp., Warren Co, IL at about age 35.

Lydia is found in the 1850 Illinois census, Warren county, Hale township. She is age 54, born in Ireland and living with her two sons.

Lydia is found in the 1860 Illinois census, Warren county, Sumner township. She is age 66 and born in Ireland.

Lydia is found in the 1870 Illinois census, Warren county, Sumner township. she is age 75 and born in Ireland. She is living with her two sons, William and Adam B. and their families. William is age 40, a farmer born in Ohio with $600 in real estate and $457 in personal property.

Lydia (Bickett) Kendall died February 27, 1874 in Hale Twp., Warren Co, IL at about age 78.

Monmouth Review, March 20,  1874

Early Resident Dead.

The death of Mrs. Lydia Kendall, relict of James Kendall, which had taken place on 27 February 1874 near her home in Denny, after a brief illness. Mrs. Kendall was in her 84th year. She was born in County Antrim, Ireland but came to this county from Greene county, Ohio with her husband in 1831, so was one of the earliest residents of the county. She and her husband first settled at Center Grove, near what is now Kirkwood and during the following winter, her husband froze his feet badly while lost in a terrible snow storm in coming home from Jack's Milles near Oquawka. He lost one of his feet and never fully recovered from the sufferings sustained which caused his death some years later. Mrs. Kendall was the mother of four children, A. B. and William, both of whom were living in Sumner township at the time of her death. She was a member of the Sugar Tree Grove Church and was buried in the Sugar Tree Grove cemetery.

The Monmouth Review of 5 March 1904 has a long story written by Martha Kendall Jones of Monmouth about the early years in Warren county. Of all stories, none are more interesting than those which tell of the trials, the privations and the sufferings of the men and women who early in the last century left the civilization and comfort of eastern states and in prairie schooners invaded the west to make new homes and a new civilization. Especially interesting to the people of this section of the country are the stories of the early settlers of western Illinois, who made out of a dreary wilderness one of the garden spots of the country. In the great majority of cases, these tales will never again be told by those who had a part in their making. With very few exceptions those pioneers have passed away and their life work is told by other lips. In this city, however, there lives one who had a part in the struggles of those days. Mrs. Martha Kendall Jones is the sole survivor of that gallant band which in 1830 came to this part of the state from Greene county, Ohio and laid the foundation on which has been built the development and growth of the city and surrounding territory. This woman, whose life story is a remarkable one, has written a letter for the Review, which, in its quaint way, tells something of the history of the early days. It will be read with interest by Monmouth and Warren county people. Mrs. Jones writes as follows.

In the years gone by, many things have occurred which make many pages in memory to be read by those of us who have lived through those years, especially those first settling in the new countries. In 1831, many families came to this part of Illinois from Greene county, Ohio, some traveling in covered wagons with their families, some in two horse carriages. Eleven such came in October of that year to this part of the state, stopping for the time with their friends who came in October, 1830. There were four families of the Kendalls, Robert, Francis, Wilson and John and three of Gibsons, John, James and Samuel with William Gibson, single. The Kendalls were brothers of Dr. Thomas Kendall. Then in May 1830 from near Xenia came James Junkins and John Caldwell. Then living here at the time were a number of families in the Sugar Tree Grove neighborhood named Richie and Temple and some at the grove, west of Sugar Tree Grove, named Campbell. Then up in the grove west of Monmouth lived one man and family named Hodgens and one named Rust with his family. They were from Kentucky. Where Rockwell's mills is a man named Hiram Buffum lived. He built the first mill of any kind here. The nearest to us then was a mill down in what is now Henderson county, owned by a man named Smith. There the people here went with wagons loaded with sacks of wheat and corn to get it ground. We had to get enough ground at one time in the fall to last us until the ice was gone out of the streams in the spring. Buffum could only grind when the water was not frozen or too high, for the mill was not completed. he was a man well liked by all, an eastern man. This was a cold, long hard winter. It began to snow on December 6, 1930 and changed from a mild dry autumn to a cold so intense that for six weeks in succession the eaves of the cabin never dropped water. The snow kept falling at intervals until sixteen snows lay one upon the other. We could see the sun-dogs or circles for days and frost and fine snow filled the air. The snow was so deep that people did not pretend to travel, as they could not cross the low places of hollows, filled level. Near neighbors would hitch teams of horses or oxen to logs and haul them back and forth to make roadways to each other's homes and to get wood. The cold lasted until March 1831, then it turned warm and the snow melted, and floods of water ran in every little stream and ditch, filling up the springs (we had no wells) and larger creeks until they spread out like rivers. But it soon passed away and the ground was once more dry. This was our first experience of winter in Illinois. Then spring opened and the prairies, so long covered with the great deep snow, were covered with green grass and many new sweet flowers appeared and the prairie larks sang out their cheery songs and the strange cooing of the prairie chickens were heard. Early in the morning the children would run out to see them and listen, but these birds were not afraid of us and we would get so near to them that we could see their bright eyes. Then the loved friends we had traveled with from Ohio, could come and se us. One family, that of Samuel Gibson, lived in the grove just west of Monmouth, his brother William living with them. For three long months during this winter, Mrs. Gibson never saw the face of any but her own family. Soon, however, we were all together again. James Gibson's and the Kendalls had wintered down at the Rapids, (Warsaw now) so as to be where they could lay in their winter's supply of provisions from the ...... The first thing to do was to build log cabins and stables for the horses that had brought us all safely here.

The Monmouth Review of 28 December 1905 has further reminiscences by Martha Kendall Jones, she talks about the first winter in Illinois in 1830/31, at Joseph Kendall's house that winter were his brother James and his wife Lydia and their children, Elizabeth, Anna, Jane, William and Adam, also Bicket Kendall, John Quinn and his wife Rachel and their three children, Mary, Harvey and Anna, the babe. Another wedding occurring 17 March 1836 was that of Francis G. Kendall and Miss Jane B. Merrifield, that one in Monmouth, at the home of Rodliff Allen, where the First United Presbyterian church was later build. The couple were married by Reverend James C. Bruce. The attendants were W. B. Stapp and Miss Salome Patterson, sister of Mrs. Rodliff Allen. The dinner and reception were held the next day at John Kendall's, brother of the groom. They had a fine rich dinner prepared for them. Among the guests were Thomas Andrews and sisters, Nancy and Elizabeth, Mr. Holcomb, Mr. and Mrs. James McCallen and two daughters, Mr. and Mrs. S. L. Hogue. Miss Patterson and the bride were dressed in elegant black silk and Mrs. McCallen and the Misses Andrews also wore silk. Those people were all gone in 1905, Miss Salome Patterson married Sumner Phelps of Oquawka. Mr. Phelps was an Indian trader.

William is listed in the Past and Present of Warren county. He was a farmer on section 36 of Sumner township, post office Denny. He was born in Greene county, Ohio 31 August 1827 and came to Warren county in 1831. He was a republican and a member of the United Presbyterian church. He owned 160 acres valued at $5,200. He married Mrs. Virginia Home on 12 April 1870. She was born 3 May 1840 in Illinois and had one daughter Nancy E. Home, they had James F. David H. and Lydia I. all living.

Burial: Hale township, Warren county, Illinois, Sugar Tree Grove cemetery