Sangamon Soil: A Family History and Memoir

The vast prairie of Illinois that became known as the Sangamon Country was a favored place for Native American nations such as the Kickapoo and Potawatomi. The soil was rich for growing corn, game was abundant, and there was close proximity to rivers and streams. By the end of the War of 1812, the Kickapoo were the principal inhabitants of the Sangamon Country, but settlers were lining up like runners at the start of a marathon race to get a piece of this land at a dirt cheap price from the American government. This book traces the diverse roots of the author's family who came together in the Sangamon Country of Illinois from 1817 to 1854. They came from Scotland, Germany, England, France, and Holland. They included descendants of slave owners and those who joined Abraham Lincoln's party to battle slavery. Some were poor; some were well off. They all came to establish family farms on soil that proved to be even more fertile and profitable than they had imagined. For more than 100 years, they prospered until market forces changed in the 1920s and 1930s. Sangamon Soil is a story of the settling of the Midwest and the rise and fall of the family farm as seen from the perspective of one family. "There is nothing special about my family," the author said. "Every family has stories, and these are the flesh and blood of our history."