WILLIAM ELLEDGE died in Jacksonville in the latter part of 1830. Of this grandson of Kentucky Edward Boone there
is but little record. He was one of the younger sons of Francis Elledge and Charity Boone, who came out to Kentucky
with Daniel Boone and with Charity's father, Edward, in the time of the Revolution. He was born in Kentucky in
1790, according to one record; in 1795, according to another. Scores of his descendants reside in Pike county,
Illinois.
In Kentucky, probably some time in the year 1811, William Elledge married Tabitha D. Beall, a sister of Major Alexander
Beall, whom we have seen in the neighborhood of present Exeter (in Scott county) in the closing days of Illinois
Territory. There is a tradition among William Elledge's descendants that he and Tabitha Beall were married on the
day that William Henry Harrison defeated the Indians and destroyed the Prophet Elskwatawa's town at Tippecanoe.
It is probable, however, that the wedding was earlier in the year 1811.
War with Britain was imminent when William and Tabitha Elledge's first son, Richard Boone Elledge, was born. The
Richard Boone Elledge family record recites that Richard Boone was born March 5, 1812, shortly before the outbreak
of the second conflict with Britain. This son of 1812, Richard Boone Elledge, was long a prominent citizen of Pike
county, Illinois, in the vicinity of Chambersburg. Leonard Boone Elledge, 70 years old last November 17 (1936)
and now in business with his sons at Griggsville, is a son of Richard Boone and a grandson of William Elledge and
Tabitha Beall.
William Elledge was one of the earliest comers to that part of Old Morgan that is now embraced in Scott county.
He arrived there with his family and his brother, Edward, and other Kentuckians, in the early spring of 1822. He
staked a claim not far from present Winchester and later entered it from the government, his entry of an 80-acre
tract under date of November 22, 1823, being the earliest Elledge land entry recorded in the valley. The records
show that he did much trading in the prairie lands and that he accumulated a considerable landed interest on the
old Morgan frontier. His wife, an exceptionally able woman, handled these interests following his death.
William Elledge was born on Boone's Creek near early Boone's Station, in Kentucky, some time in the period 1790-95;
his father was Francis Elledge, probably a descendant of that Robert Eldred (or Eldredge or Eldridge) who is the
first of the name of definite record in America, he being a member of Plymouth Colony in 1643, and later a resident
of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where he married Elizabeth Nickerson in 1649. The Media Research Bureau suggests that
the Elledge name is derived from the ancient Scotch word "elriche" or "elritch," meaning wild.
It occurs in the ancient records of Britain in the various forms of Eldritch, Aldredge, Eldred, Eldredge and Eldridge,
the last three forms being still prevalent at the time of the emigration to America. It is said that the first
to bear the name was Eldred, one of the Saxon kings of Chester, who reigned about the year 951 A. D. - Evelyn Thane
Elledge (Mrs. E. E. Boone), Hibbing. Minn.
William Elledge's mother was Charity Boone, eldest daughter of Edward Boone and Martha Bryan, Edward being Daniel's
favorite brother. The Edward Boone family, as related in former chapters, came west with Daniel Boone on his last
trip out to Kentucky in 1779. Francis Elledge and his wife Charity, who had been married back in North Carolina,
came with the families of Edward and Daniel and the first Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the President.
Tabitha Beall was born in the same Kentucky neighborhood as was her husband, August 27, 1797. Her brother Alexander,
who came on an exploring expedition up through this country in 1818-19, saw this region before it became a state.
He mingled with the tribes encamped along the Mauvaisterre, in the vicinity of present Exeter; his grave is on
the hilltop above Exeter village. He died at Exeter, December 25, 1865, leaving a will wherein he named the Pike
county children of his sister, Tabitha Elledge, as among his beneficiaries. By this will he left $1,000 to the
Christian church at Exeter; also a bequest of $500 to his sister's grandson, William Elledge of Scott county. This
Leonard Boone Elledge was a son of William and Tabitha.
The will of William Elledge, leaving his property to his wife Tabitha, was admitted to probate in Morgan county,
November 7, 1830. The will had been executed in the presence of Lorenzo Edwards, Jesse Burgess and Jesse B. Scholl.
The testator appointed his wife, Tabitha Elledge, and his brother-in-law, Alexander Beall, as executors of his
last will and testament.
Tabitha Beall Elledge was a remarkable woman. Her "mark" adorns numerous yellowed documents in the basement
of the Pike county court house. She could not write her own name; she never went to school. Her girlhood was devoted
to the hard chores of the frontier; she worked in the field at picking, piling and burning brush, rolling logs,
building rail or brush fences, cutting grain with a sickle or binding behind the cradle. In her system of household
economy, she used locust thorns for pins. She rode a horse well, could yoke and handle a double team of oxen, was
a good marksman with the ‘rifle gun," and could swing a two-bitted axe with telling effect. She built traps
and caught wild turkeys and snared prairie chickens by the hundreds. Once, wading into the waters of McGee Creek,
in water waist-deep, with her bare hands she is said to have helped her dogs drag down a deer.
This widow of William Elledge appears to have been one of the outstanding business women of her time; the records
tell the story of her numerous activities; she dealt in lands, buying and selling; she attended pioneer sales and
did her own bidding; she loaned money and, unschooled though she was, negotiated notes and mortgages and executed
documents with seemingly rare business acumen; when necessary, she went into the early Pike county courts and defended
or maintained her rights, and, judging from the records of her various lawsuits, with almost unfailing success.
Tabitha Elledge died in Pike county September 27, 1870, and is buried in Hinman cemetery, where stood the early
log chapel in which numerous of the pioneer Elledges worshiped. On the stone that marks her grave her given name
is recorded as "Tobitha," a spelling that appears also in some of the official records of her activities.
The inscription on her stone recites: "Tobitha D.- wife of Wm. Elledge - died Sept. 27, 1870 - age 73 yrs.
1 mon." Her grave is near the graves of Boone Elledge and his wife Rebecca.
Richard Boone Elledge, first son of William Elledge and Tabitha Beall, was born in Kentucky March 5, 1812. (Date
obtained from record of Elledge vital statistics collected by Clement Elledge, grandson of Richard Boone, now in
U. S. Government service and at present located in the state of Louisiana.) Richard Boone was therefore ten years
old when the family settled in the Sangamo country, east of the Illinois river.
On March 18, 1847, in Pike county, Richard Boone Elledge married Catharine S. Baldwin. The ceremony was said by
Charles Harrington of Griggsville, then a minister of the gospel and later a county judge, whose son, Samuel Harrington,
a year later married Richard Boone Elledge's sister, Charity.
The wedding of Richard B. Elledge and Catharine Baldwin was one of numerous intermarriages of the Elledge and Baldwin
families. The Baldwins had come from Connecticut, being of English descent. Catharine S. was one of several children
of John and Sarah Ann (Hawkins) Baldwin. The Baldwin family achieved early prominence in the northern townships
of Pike county.
Richard Boone Elledge by this first marriage became the father of two sons, William and James. William died in
the Civil War and James emigrated to California.
Richard Boone's second marriage was to Lavina Jane Hildreth in Pike county, January 30, 1856. She was born in Harrison,
West Virginia, May 9, 1835, a daughter of Uriah Hildreth and Nancy Knitter, both West Virginians.
Richard Boone Elledge and Lavina Hildreth had the following children:
John Uriah Elledge, born December 4, 1857, died at Chambersburg, unmarried, September 19, 1886; buried at Chambersburg.
Catherine S. Elledge born April 21, 1859, married Jesse Morris, son of William and Susan J. (Todd) Morris, at Chambersburg,
December 24, 1878; they had two children, Maude Morris, born January 13, 1880, and Frank, born July 9, 1884. Maude
married Richard (Dick) Murphy, in Chesterfield, Illinois, and now lives in Springfield, Illinois. She has four
sons. Frank Morris married Nellie Hanlin of Griggsville, a daughter of James and Julia (Hunter) Hanlin, the wedding
being at Griggsville, July 1, 1906. Frank died in Alton, Illinois. Jesse Morris and his wife are both deceased,
the wife, Catherine, having died October 12, 1896.
Rebecca Elledge, born February 8, 1860, married Frank Clement, July 22, 1880. Both are dead; Rebecca died in Toledo,
Ohio, and is buried at Griggsville. The Clements had two children, Alice, who married Chester McDonald and lives
in Toledo, Ohio, and Helen, who married Melvin Adair of Port Arthur, Texas. Helen died and is buried in Griggsville.
Louella Elledge, born December 22, 1861, married Harry Zarantine at Alton, Illinois, and resides there. There are
no children.
Jesse Elledge, born July 12, 1863, died September 15, 1864 and is buried at Chambersburg.
William S. Elledge, born October 28, 1865, died, unmarried, October 5, 1911, and is buried at Chambersburg.
Leonard Boone Elledge, born November 17, 1866, married Miss Della Brooks, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hume)
Brooks, at Griggsville, January 23, 1890; the ceremony was said by E. A. F. Allen, J. P. and witnessed by Ruth
Allen and Lou Elledge. Mr. and Mrs. Elledge, who have a pleasant home in Griggsville, are the parents of four children,
as follows:
Clayton Griffeth Elledge, who married Maud Thurmon of Versailles, a daughter of James and Matilda McCoy Thurmon.
They live near his parents in Griggsville and have two children, namely, Phyllis Nadine and James Clayton Elledge.
Tolbert Rex Elledge married Goldie Dryden of Stillwell, Oklahoma, and they live near Valley City. Their four children
are Tolbert Rex Jr., Jacqueline Mae, Deloris Nadine, and Joe.
Leonard Brooks Elledge resides with his parents in Griggsville. He married a Coffeyville, Kansas, girl; has no
children.
Calista Marie Elledge married as her first husband Chester Hummer of Kansas City; recently she has married as her
second husband J. J. Grealis of Chicago. They have lately returned to Chicago from a honeymoon in South America
and the West Indies.
Leonard Boone Elledge and his sons, Clayton G., Tolbert R. and Leonard B., operate a feed store in Griggsville.
The father is a great great grandson of Edward (Neddie) Boone, who was killed and scalped by the Shawnees in Kentucky
in 1780, the year after he came out from North Carolina with his brother, Daniel Boone.
Continuing the roll call of Richard Boone Elledge's children:
Frank Elledge, born March 5, 1868, married Fannie Wade at Chesterfield, Illinois, April 13, 1899. Fannie Wade married
a gentleman of the same name as her first husband; she was born January 2, 1874, died October 21, 1935. By her
marriage to Frank Elledge she became the mother of Clement and Wade Elledge. Clement is in the government service;
with no established location; Wade is teaching school at New Berlin, Illinois.
Harry Elledge, born November 13, 1870, died August 26, 1876 and is buried at Chambersburg.
Edward Elledge, born July 23, 1872, died, unmarried, April 21, 1936, and is buried at Chambersburg.
Albert (Bert) Elledge, born July 16, 1874, married Mrs. Anna (Killgore) Churchill of Hull, January 23, 1899. He
was then a barber at Chambersburg, and is now located at Hannibal, Missouri. His wife is dead.
Blanche Elledge, born February 27, 1876, married Joseph Hewitt, a son of George Hewitt of Chesterfield, at Chambersburg
July 22, 1896. Mrs. Hewitt resides at Chesterfield. Her husband died in the fall of 1936.
Richard Boone Elledge was thus the father of 14 children, two by his first wife, Catharine Baldwin, and 12 by his
second wife, Lavina Hildreth.
Richard Boone Elledge died April 5, 1877; his second wife, Lavina, died January 28, 1918, in her 83rd year. She
is buried in Brown cemetery.
Leonard Boone Elledge, second son of William Elledgeand Tabitha Beall and younger brother of Richard Boone, was
prominent in the early days of Scott county where on March 5, 1846, he married Adaline Hill, a descendant of Governor
Thomas Carlin, sixth in Illinois' roll of governors and a campaigner with Alexander Beall in the Black Hawk War.
They had a son, William Elledge, mentioned as a $500 beneficiary in the will of his uncle, Alexander Beall of Exeter.
Leonard Elledge at a later date was engaged in business at Perry in Pike county as a wagon maker. He died in Lathrop,
Missouri.
William Riley Elledge, brother of Richard Boone and Leonard Boone, went to California in 1852 and died there in
1853. The last record of him is a document he signed at Coloma, California, March 9, 1853. He had made a will before
leaving Pike county for the gold fields, which is of record in the Pike county court house. It is dated February
10, 1852; in this will he named Richard Boone Elledge as executor and divided his Pike county property equally
among his six brothers and sisters.
Sarah D. Elledge, a sister of Richard, Leonard and William Riley, married Riley J. Curry in Pike county October
23, 1845. He was a descendant of the Currys who first settled Mt. Sterling, being a kinsman of Eliza Jane Coleman
(first wife of Pike county Peter Scholl), whose mother was Mary Curry.