Coincidence?

 

James Williamson Heacock and Son Foster James Heacock

Ancestry handed me a hint today in the form of an 1874 landowners map of Padua, Dawson Twp, McClean Co, Illinois and surrounding area.  On this map was marked the property of James Williamson Heacock, the grandfather of Floyd Heacock.  And just at the western edge of the map is Benjaminville, Illinois.  The significance of these locations is that Foster Heacock, father of my grandfather, Floyd, was born there in 1869.  James had been living there since 1865 when he moved from Washington Co, Indiana with his wife, Sarah Nixon, and son Elmer.  The family did not stay long there though.  When Foster was about 4 or 5, they moved back to Washington Co, Indiana, now a family of 5, James, Sarah, Elmer, Semira and Foster. 

 

James in later years

                 Foster as a young man

1874 Land Ownership Map

1870 Census showing the value of James' land at $2000

It's always pretty cool to see exactly where an ancestor lived, especially when all that is left there is a farm field with no sign of there ever having been a house there.  Looking at the 1874 map, I marked the Heacock land with a blue dot.  The map notes that it was 40 acres and marked J W Heacock.  I have also marked the map with a black dot where the Benjaminville Friends meeting house and cemetery are located.  It was a distance of about 3-4 miles from one to the other.  In addition, to help know just where in Illinois this is, the Bloomington Airport is just 10 miles west of James’ land.  I include a modern Google map of the same locations, with James’ land marked with the red pin. 

 

                                                       1874 and 2025 locations of James' land

                                             James' land in relation to Bloomington airport

All that is left of Benjaminville is the meeting house and cemetery, the town having disappeared long ago.  I have used Benjaminville as Foster’s birthplace because of the Meeting House, where the Quaker records show the family as members.  Dawson township is probably more precise as he would have likely been born at home.  Benjaminville was founded in 1859 by Quaker settlers.  The current and 2^nd meeting house was built in 1874 about the time the Heacocks departed the area.  This meeting house has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1983. 

 

                                             1874 Benjaminville Quaker Meeting House

A personal note, for about 7 or 8 months we lived in Rantoul, Illinois. Our son was born while we were there.  Only about 45 miles east from where James W Heacock owned this land.  Unfortunately, I was very far from even thinking about genealogy in 1975. If only…. I would have wanted visited the area.  I’m not sure in those days if I would have found the exact location, but the meeting house would have been there if nothing else.  But living there, I did get a sense of that part of Illinois ---- flat, flat, flat, wide open views for miles.  Perfect farmland all around. 

 So a life and family coincidence, both James’ and my families lived and had children and moved away not long after, from this part of Illinois.  What if one of us stayed?  How would that have changed our families? 

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