BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ELLEDGE, son of Boone and Rebecca (Bell) Elledge, was born in Boone township, Harrison county,
Indiana, January 3, 1819. He was 17 years of age when his parents crossed the Illinois river at Philips Ferry on
June 7, 1836, to make a permanent settlement in Pike county, Illinois. He was one of the Elledges who here in the
West perpetuated the name of that Benjamin Elledge who, with his brother Leonard, followed Colonel John Donelson
and his black-eyed daughter Rachel (afterward the wife of "Old Hickory" Jackson), over the western water
route in the time of the Revolution, to an unknown fate here in this western country.
Here in Pike county on October 21, 1841, Benjamin F. Elledge married Nancy N. Scott, a daughter of pioneer John
Scott and a sister of Catharine Scott, who was the wife of Benjamin's half-brother, Uriah Elledge. Nancy Scott
was born April 2, 1820, a twin sister of Julia Scott who married Josiah Kenady. Her birthplace is in doubt. Some
say she was the first white child born in what is now Scott county. Others say that Nancy's brother, John C. Scott,
long a resident of Pike county, was the first white child born in present Scott; that Nancy and her twin sister
Julia were born in a cabin in the forks of Wood River near present Alton, where pioneer John Scott left his family
at the beginning of 1820, while he with five other men pushed on into the northern wilderness to a point near present
Lynnville, and within sight of the high mound and grove, known in early days as Olmstead's Mound, where was located
the first justice seat of old Morgan county.
It was on January 8, 1820 that John Scott, his brother James, Adam Miller and his son Alfred, Thomas Stevens and
Thomas Allen (the latter of whom married Charity Boone's daughter, Charity Elledge) first camped in the wilderness
that is now Scott county. These six pioneers, three on horseback with axes and three on foot with rifles, had pressed
on through the winter storm from the cabin of old Dicky Rattan on Apple Creek, three miles south of present White
Hall, then the farthest north of any white man's cabin on the border. At Rattan's they had left their huge flatboat-shaped
Tennessee wagon, in which they had brought their families and belongings from Kentucky. Crossing through the barrens
and emerging on the north side of Sandy timber, they beheld in the distance the high mound that had been described
to them at Wood River by those who had pursued a murdering band of Indians that way in 1814.
In the month of February that year, Allen built himself a cabin, the first human habitation, other than the wigwams
of the Indians and the rude huts of the early French, to be built within the limits of Scott. Allen then went back
to the forks of Wood River after his family, taking James Scott with him, and returning in the month of April with
the Tennessee wagon, household goods, a "kit" of carpenter's tools, cows, pigs, poultry, and Charity
Allen, the first white woman to settle in the great valley, in what is now Scott county. Charity's brothers, William
and Edward Elledge, followed her to this region early in 1822.
Allen brought with him the first plow in Scott county, the irons of which had been made at Wood River by William
Moore, the blacksmith, some of whose family had been slaughtered in the Indian massacre of 1814. From the pursuit
of the savages, which ended at a point on the Illinois river above old Philips Ferry, men from Wood River carried
back news of these great northern prairies in the Illinois valley, news which was repeated by them to Kentucky
emigrants coming up the Wood river trail, news that brought the Bealls, Scotts, Allens, Elledges and Scholls to
this region during the period beginning in 1818.
John Scott built the second house, a log cabin, in Scott county, immediately following the completion of Allen's
abode. He then returned to Wood River for his family. This was in April, 1820. On April 2 that year, Nancy Scott
and her sister Julia were born. It seems probable from the foregoing, which is from the relation of James Scott
to the late Judge J. M. Riggs, Scott county historian, that Nancy Scott was born in the forks of Wood River, where
the family had been left at the beginning of January, 1820, and that later in April, 1820, the Scott family occupied
their cabin home in what is now Scott county, then, with Pike, a part of Morgan county.
John C. Scott, Nancy's brother, born in Scott county December 22, 1823, probably was the first white child born
in Scott county, which was then a part of Morgan county. He claimed that honor in 1880 and was so credited by the
1880 historian. He came to Pike county in 1836, when he was 12 years old. In 1843 he returned to Scott county where
he married, in January, 1845, Mary A. Hobson, who died the following year. Mr. Scott then returned to Pike county
where he married, September 18, 1850, Martha Wilson; they had eleven children, two of whom died young; others were
Charles W., James M., Leonard G., David W., Frank W., Joseph L., Benjamin E., Margaret J. and George E. Mr. Scott
farmed on Section 7 in Flint township.
John C. Scott died August 6, 1881; his wife, Martha (Wilson) Scott, born in 1832, died in 1908. Both are buried
in Griggsville cemetery. Near them are the graves of their son, Benjamin E., born in 1866, died in 1888, and of
their daughter, Margaret J., born in 1871, died in 1895.
John Scott, the pioneer, a soldier in the War of 1812 and early settler for whom Scott county was named, was a
war pensioner until his death, which occurred at Griggsville in January, 1856. He is buried at Griggsville. He
was known to all as a noble-hearted man; is so described in a commentary of the period. His wife, Martha Murphy,
whom he married in Kentucky, died in Scott county, preceding her husband by many years.
Benjamin F. Elledge and Nancy Scott had eleven children, namely: Mary Jane, John Boone, William Hardin, Charles
Lewis, Daniel Edward, James Henry, Terry Benjamin, Julia Catherine, David Lowry, Arthur Harrison and Margaret Maria.
Mary Jane Elledge was born near Griggsville August 1, 1843. On November 23, 1876 she married, in Pike county, Joseph
Lovejoy, a son of John A. (Aleck) Lovejoy, a pioneer settler who married as his second wife Mrs. Eliza Ann Steele,
fifteenth child and ninth daughter of pioneer Abraham Scholl. Mrs. Steele's first husband was Gilham Steele, whom
she married in Pike county September 24, 1835. The John A. Lovejoys, following the Civil War, lived for some years
on the old Hickerson place (now the home of Thomas Crisp) on the Pittsfield-Detroit road, and later lived in the
village of Detroit, going from Detroit township to Scott county, in the vicinity of Naples, and then to Valley
City where Eliza Ann Lovejoy died. John A. Lovejoy died in the state of Texas.
Josias Brown Wade, an early Pike county minister of the gospel, a son of the younger Josias Wade and a grandson
of Josias of Tippecanoe fame, said the ceremony which united Mary Jane Elledge and Joseph Lovejoy. Joseph Lovejoy
had first married Mariah (Sis) Burns, on January 2, 1873, and by her had one son, Wilbur Lovejoy.
Joseph Lovejoy and Mary Jane Elledge had five children, namely, Joseph Jr., Raymond, Laura Maude, Anna Elledge
and Wilda Mary.
Joseph Lovejoy, Jr. died in St. Louis, unmarried, in 1907 at the age of 23.
Raymond and Laura Maude Lovejoy were twins, born near Griggsville in 1878. Raymond married Ivy Newton of Kansas.
He died in California in 1929.
Laura Maude Lovejoy at the age of 22 married Riley Griffin of Griggsville, a son of E. B. Griffin, the wedding
being at Pittsfield November 26, 1900, with Squire S. P. Rupert officiating and George R. Scott and John R. Gicker
witnessing. Laura Maude's second husband was William Franklin, whom she married in Hannibal, Missouri, November
14, 1914. She is now a resident of Pike county, at Independence. There are no children.
Anna Elledge Lovejoy, at the age of 19, married William Webster of Griggsville, a son of David Webster, the wedding
being at New Salem on January 2, 1901, with the Rev. Robert Irwin Officiating. They lived at various times in Springfield,
Rockport and Peoria, Mr. Webster died at Peoria and is buried there. There are four children: Nita, who married
Joe Bonk at Peoria and resides there; Marian, who married Herman Ruch and lives in Peoria; and William and Robert
at home.
Wilda Mary Lovejoy, at the age of 16, married Eugene Farrell of Griggsville, a son of John Farrell and Sarah Groves.
N. L. Burton married them at Griggsville, August 19, 1896, with Anna Lovejoy and Nellie Farrell witnessing. On
September 2, 1900, Wilda Mary married as her second husband Marion (Maynie) Johnson of Griggsville, a son of M.
Johnson. The Rev. R. F. Thrapp of the Pittsfield Christian church married the couple at Pittsfield, with Mrs. Will
Coley and Anna Lovejoy witnessing. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson live in Peoria. They have two sons, Chester and Clyde.
Mary Jane Lovejoy died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Wilda Johnson, in Peoria January 28, 1919, aged 73. Her
body was taken to the home of Mrs. Julia Hanlin in Griggsville, where the funeral was held, interment being in
Griggsville cemetery.
John Boone Elledge, second child of Benjamin F. and Nancy (Scott) Elledge, was born October 12, 1845. On October
3, 1868, in Pike county, he married Sarah Catherine Pyle, a daughter of Joseph Pyle and a sister of Mary A. and
Rachel Pyle, who had married Austin and Coleman Wade, sons of Josias and Cynthia Owens Wade, both prominent in
the early history of Flint township. Leaving Pike county, John Boone and Sara Catherine Elledge located first in
Piatt county, Illinois, going thence to DeWitt county, then to Nebraska, then to Lawrence, Kansas, and finally
to California, to Los Angeles, where John Boone died February 9, 1916. His wife, who survived him a number of years,
also died there and is buried beside her husband. They had two children, Cora Helen and Catherine. Cora Helen married
Walter Manker at Lawrence, Kansas. She died and is buried there. Catherine married a Mr. Lawrence; he died and
she resides in Los Angeles, California.
William Hardin Elledge, third child of Benjamin F., was born October 12, 1847. On November 7, 1869, he married
Permelia Ann Woods, a daughter of Nathan and Martha S. Woods, who came to Pike county in an early day from Steubenville,
Ohio. Permelia Ann was a sister of the late Mrs. Martha (Woods) Dunham, who was the wife of the late Daniel Dunham
of Pittsfield. Mrs. Dunham died in Pittsfield December 21, 1927. Mrs. Lizella Hoss of Fairfax, Oklahoma, was also
a sister.
Mr. Elledge and Miss Woods were married at Griggsville November 7, 1869. They lived in Illinois for 14 years and
in 1883 moved to Nebraska, locating on a farm in Alban precinct near Nelson. They remained there until 1909 when
they moved into Nelson. They had three children, namely, Walter F. Elledge of Mt. Clare, Nebraska, Clarence E.
Elledge of Muscatine, Iowa, and Mrs. C. O. Chapman of Coloma, Michigan. Mrs. Elledge died at Nelson, Nebraska,
April 30, 1917, at 67; Mr. Elledge died about three years later. Both are buried in Nelson cemetery.
Charles Lewis Elledge, fourth in the Benjamin F. Elledge family, was born September 10, 1849. On February 12, 1890,
in DeWitt county, Illinois, he married Mary Stiverson. They went to Nebraska where Mr. Elledge had already located,
settling at Mt. Clare. Mr. Elledge died there February 1, 1923; his wife also died there, a few years later. Both
are buried at Mt. Clare. They had two children. One died in infancy; the other, a daughter, Freda, married Charles
Bowman at Centralia, Kansas. They reside there.
Daniel Edward Elledge, fifth child and fourth son of the Benjamin F. Elledges, was born March 11, 1851, at Griggsville.
He went to Iowa in 1879 and there married Catherine (Kate) R. Tyler on October 6, 1886. The same year Mr. Elledge
became connected with the Iowa State Industrial School for Girls, continuing in that connection for 15 years. In
March, 1901, he moved to Mitchellville, Iowa; he died there January 6, 1902. His wife died several years later.
Both are buried at Mitchellville.
James Henry Elledge, sixth child and fifth son of Benjamin F., was born June 1, 1853. On October 31, 1876, in Lee
county, Iowa, he married Wilda A. Kennedy, a daughter of George Kennedy. He located first in Des Moines, Iowa,
going later to Omaha, Nebraska, where he died soon after. His wife is now a resident of Independence, Iowa.
Terry Benjamin Elledge, seventh child of Benjamin and Nancy, was born at Griggsville October 8, 1855. On October
19, 1876, he married Rebecca Bell Higdon, with the Rev. J. P. Dimmitt officiating. She was a native of Kentucky.
They had four children, namely, Fred Farrand, Charles Frank, Clyde and Margaret Elledge. Fred Farrand Elledge,
born at Griggsville, August 13, 1878, died in California at the age of 18. Charles Frank Elledge, born at Griggsville
February 18, 1880, died August 31, 1882 and is buried in Griggsville cemetery. Clyde Elledge, born at Griggsville,
was taken to California when a small child and died there near the time of his brother Farrand's death. Margaret
Elledge married Fred Estell in California; she also died there. Terry Benjamin died in Los Angeles and is buried
there. He took his family to California in 1887. Mrs. Elledge is still living in Los Angeles.
Julia Catherine Elledge, eighth child and second daughter of Benjamin F. and Nancy (Scott) Elledge, was born at
Griggsville February 17, 1857. On October 24, 1882, she was married to James Hardin Pierson, a son of Andrew J.
Pierson and Mary (Windsor) Bell. The Rev. Josias Brown Wade performed the ceremony which was witnessed by David
Wilson and John Boone Elledge. Mr. Pierson was a descendant of noted pioneers in the great valley, John Pierson
(or "Pearson," as the name was usually spelled in early records) had one of the earliest mills in now
Scott county. He and Uriah Elledge were near neighbors in the Scott county country in the early years of Illinois
statehood.
James and Julia Pierson had one son, Shirley Guy Pierson, born in Flint township August 1, 1884. He married Pearl
Bertha Daniels and they have one son, James William Pierson, who was born at Griggsville September 11, 1906. The
Piersons moved to Pittsfield in 1910 and the son Shirley and his family are still resident here. James H. Pierson
and son Shirley operated the old Pittsfield bus line and had the contract for carrying the mails between the Wabash
station and the postoffice. By their ready and courteous service they built the line into a profitable business.
James H. Pierson, born near Griggsville May 7, 1853, died at his home in Pittsfield June 27, 1932, aged 79 years,
one month and 19 days. Mrs. Pierson, aged 80, resides in Griggsville in the home of her brother-in-law, William
Stumborg, who has been an invalid for the past 14 years.
Mrs. Pierson remembers many interesting stories, related in her youth, of the hardships endured by her grandparents,
John and Martha Scott, in pioneer Illinois days. She recalls that her grandfather, pioneer John Scott, for whom
Scott county was named, after he became an invalid was accustomed to sit at the back door of his cabin and shoot
deer and wild turkeys as they passed within range of his rifle gun. She recalls, too, the stories of how her grandparents
had to protect themselves against the Indians, who often, in plundering bands, swooped upon the settlements, carrying
away unprotected property.
Her grandparents were sturdy people, and fortunately so, for when sickness came there was no doctor in all the
wild land. The only remedies were those of the Indians, from whom the whites learned the use of certain herbs.
Numerous quacks, pretending to an understanding of medicinal herbs and their virtues, infested the frontier. Dr.
Lewis G. Newell, a friend of the early Elledges and Scholls, coming up over the great trail from Kentucky in the
spring of 1822, was the first bona fide doctor to settle in the Scott neighborhood. He occupied a cabin near the
mouth of the Mauvaisterre, above old Philips Ferry. The plundering of his cabin by border desperadoes later in
1822 led to a visit of the "Regulators of the Valley," to the cabin of Abraham Williams Keller (known
on the border as Abe Williams) and the killing of Williams in the dead of night at the door of his log house on
McGee Creek in Pike county, his being the first white man's grave in that part of the valley.
Mrs. Pierson relates that her grandfather Scott carried his grist to mill at a point near St. Louis in the early
days of his settlement, riding to mill on horseback, with his grainbags slung behind, sometimes having to camp
at the mill to await his turn, taking several days to make the trip.
She remembers hearing of her grandmother Scott's art in turning to account whatever was at hand, plucking from
the wilderness the native fruits which she transformed into rare delicacies for her pioneer table. Chief of these
delicacies was the wild crab apple which she preserved in wild honey and canned in great gourds from which the
tops had been sliced.