Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameEdward Thomas Milby 1143,100
Birth4 Aug 1835, Lewes, Essex County, Delaware, United States1144,1145
Death4 Mar 1909
BurialRushville City Cemetery, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States
Death4 Mar 1909, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States
FatherNathaniel Milby (1804-1873)
MotherEliza Burton Wilson (1808-1873)
Misc. Notes
Living at the Jonathan Patteson home in 1860

Living in Rushville in 1860 Schuyler Census, age.

Living in Rushville in 1900 Schuyler Census, age 64. 1142


E. T. Milby, one of the old time residents of Schuyler Co., died at his home just east of Rushville on Thursday morning of last week. He had been seriously ill since his return from his trip to the Pacific coast and his death was not unexpected to the loved ones who had been at his bedside during the week.
On Saturday afternoon at 2:00 funeral services were held at the M.E. church conducted by Rev. A. P. Stover: interment in the Rushville Cemetery.
Edward Thomas Milby was born in Essex County, Delaware. Aug 4th, 1835 and died March 4th 1909 at age 75 years and seven months. In the year 1840 his father Nathaniel Milby came west and settles on a farm 3 miles east of Rushville. The boy of only 5 years when his long journey was made he never forgot the difficulties and hardships through which they had to pass while making the trip to Illinois by wagon which consumed the greater part of the season.
In his new home his boyish days were passed and he grew to be a sturdy, hard working, pioneer farmer. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Miss Lizzie Hillis, who died a short 5 years later, leaving in his care three little children --- Frank, Clem, and Lizzie. Aug 29, 1872 he was married to Lizzie Davidson. To this union was born three children- Homer, Walter, Ida.
In 1878 he was again left without a companion. Time rolled on and on Jan 21, 1896 he was united in marriage to Mary Bower, who survives him. In 1908 he retired from farming and came to Rushville.
Last fall he, in company with his wife, went to California. On returning home through Arizona he contacted a lung trouble, which developed into pneumonia, and in spite of all efforts put forth by his faithful physician, his loving wife, his dear children and his neighbors to conquer the disease, his afflictions were more than he could bear, and grim death won the victory; the spirit of a loving husband, a kind father and a most excellent neighbor was born on angel wings to the God who gave it.
In early life he became a Christian and so moving to tow he identified himself with the First M.E. church by letter and was a faithful attendant at Devine service to the end.
He leaves a devoted wife, two sons, Clem of Rushville township and Wallace of Beardstown; two daughters Lizzie Hochderffer of Los Angeles California and Ida Rogers of Snowflake Arizona one brother Z.L. Milby of Rushville and one sister Dora Wray of Iowa; also a host of friends and neighbors; always doing some little act of kindness whenever an opportunity presents itself. But he is good, his work is done and he has passed from labor to his reward.




Edward lives with Family again in 1870 Census Rushville Township
Occupation is a farmer.
1860 Census Edward lives in Huntsville Township , Schuyler County, Illinois
with first wife Mary and 3 months old baby and brother Nathaniel
See obituary of E.T. Milby.
Edward has to sue for his Elizabeth J. Milby. She had been living with her grandfather John Hills for 9 years after Mothers death.

From: "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County", edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 886-7, Note: a Reprinted by Stevens Publishing Company, Astoria, Illinois 61501, 1970, is sold by the Steelier County Historical Society, Rushville, Illinois. Milby, Edward T. -
A life Sketch of Edward Thomas Milby in the History of Schyler County, Illinois. The book was published in 1908 about a year before he died.
In the mind of Edward T. Milby the fast fading pioneer history of Schuyler County, Ill., remains a vivid and enduring memory. His life is of the home-spun kind, a record of hard work performed with cheerfulness and intelligence, of obstacles surmounted with vigor and determination, and of sacrifices made with true Christian courage and fortitude. Incidents of early times recalled by him are tree felling, stump pulling with oxen, log cabin rearing, plowing, cultivating and harvesting with the crudest of agricultural implements, spinning, weaving, tallow dip making, flint fire lightening, husking bees, barn raisings, apple parings and church "socials" and donations. In all of these Mr. Milby took an active interest, although certain of them fell to the lot of the women members of his own and his father's household. In his present leisure to recall the comparative quiet of a time long since elapsed, and to contrast it with the nerve-racking, competition-torn age in which his declining years are being spent. Mr. Milby is one of the wealthy retired farmers of Rushville, Ill., and all that he has is the result of his own untiring exertions. He was born in the State of Delaware, August 4, 1835, and is a son of Nathaniel and Eliza J. (Wilson) Milby, also natives of Delaware. The father developed the pioneering inclination and sold his Delaware property in 1839, and in the winter of 1840, with his wife and four children, undertook the journey to Illinois which consumed the greater part of the season. Edward T. Milby remembers well this arduous journey, although he was but five years old, and especially that part made on the canal, through which they were drawn on a boat by a single horse. During this portion of the trip the older members of the family walked for a considerable distance along the tow path, probably out of consideration for the poor, overworked horse, whose lot certainly was not an enviable one. The journey was continued in a covered wagon, and the arrival on Frederick, Schuyler County, was not calculated to inspire enthusiasm for the country to which the wayfarers had so laboriously and hopefully tended. The day was bitterly cold, the snow penetrated the chinks of the wagon, and the wind swirled across the prairies, striking a dreary chill to the heart of even the most courageous. Finding no desirable resting place, the little party soon after pushed on to Rushville, making the small village their home until the following spring. The father then located on a rented farm, and in the fall of 1841, bought eighty acres of land east of Rushville, in the township of the name. The timber on this land was dense and varied, and arduous tasks confronted the settlers. To the small log cabin which they found on the land, the father added, as such addition became necessary, until finally he had what was called a double log cabin. In this humble abode were born the rest of the children, in all eleven, eight of whom attained maturity. Three of these still survive, namely: Edward T.; Zadoc L.; and Dora, wife of David Wray, a farmer of Johnson County, Iowa. Zadoc now owns and occupies the old homestead. Three years after the close of the Civil War (in 1868) the log house was torn down and a modern, six-room, two-story, frame dwelling was erected. This was made possible largely through the efforts of Edward T. and Zodac, who so faithfully had worked at grubbing trees and hazel bushes, using oxen for the task, and hitching a chain around the stump or bush at which the strong animals tugged until accomplishing the task. The mother, in the meantime, rocked the cradle with one foot, while with the other she ran the spinning wheel; and later she made her cloth into jeans for her sons and into dresses for her daughters. Her toil seemed never ending, and her working day extended from raising to the setting of the sun. The father lived to see eighty acres of his land cleared and under the plow, and he was in fairly prosperous circumstances at the time of his death, July 28, 1873. The wife who had shared his hard labors did not survive him, her death occurring on October 12, next following. They had occupied the same farm continuously for thirty-two years, and were among the honored and influential people of the township. Among the first children to leave the old Milby homestead was Edward T., who, with a practical education acquired under great difficulties, and an amount of farm experience which fitted him for conducting almost any agricultural enterprise, was married, in November, 1860, to Lizzie Hillis, and thereupon settled on a rented farm in Huntsville Township. In 1865 he purchased a small piece of land in Buena Vista Township, and there his wife died the following November, leaving him with the care of three children, of whom Frank is deceased; Clement is a farmer in Schuyler County; and Lizzie is the wife of Frank Haughduffer, of Los Angeles, California. In 1873 Mr. Milby was united in marriage to Lizzie J. Davidson, and form this union resulted two children: Walter, a farmer of Oakland Township; and Ida, wife of George Rogers, of Flagstaff, Arizona. Mrs. Milby died in 1878, and on January 21, 1886, Mr. Milby married Mary Bower, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and an early resident of Schuyler County. Mr. Milby added frequently to his land until he owned a large tract, 308 acres of which still remains on his possession. He was industrious and progressive, lived always within his income. And was exceedingly conservative in adopting new and untried methods of farming. In 1903 he left the farm and located in Rushville, where lived also many of his friends of the strenuous pioneer days. Politically, he had always been on the side of the Democratic party, but has steadfastly refused the honors of local office. The Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has worshipped since early manhood, has profited continuously by his generosity and zeal, and in all the walks of life, its teachings have been his guide. Note: Zodac and Zadoc are the same person. It was spelled both ways in the article.

There is differences in this bio from the first one. From: "Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois 1892", by Biographical Review Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois; page 554-5; Note: a reprinted by Stevens Publishing Co., Astoria, Ill., 1971, is sold by the Schuyler County Historical Society, Rushville, Illinois. Edward T. Milby was born in Sussex county, Delaware, August 4, 1835. His father, Nathaniel J. Milby, emigrated with his wife and four children to Illinois in 1840, settling in Rushville township. The journey was made by canals and rivers and proven a tiresome one. The father bought a tract of land and hastened to make it ready for settlement. Two acres of the land had been cleared and a plain log cabin had been built. This was all. But deft and willing fingers soon made things assume a fairly comfortable shape, and western life was fairly under way. This log cabin, by the way, was the first permanent house of its kind in Illinois. Mr. Milby, Sr., occupied the farm to the day of his death. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of this sketch was Mary Wilson, born in Sussex county, Delaware. She died on the Schuyler county home farm. In those days nearly every one lived in log cabins of one room. The housewife spun and wove the cloth used for the clothes for both sexes. She also had many other duties to which the wives of farmers now are strangers. Edward attended school attired in homespun that his mother had made for him with her own hands. Notwithstanding his school duties he assisted on the farm and continued to do so until his marriage, when he began for himself on rented land in Huntsville. He continued to pay rent for land for about ten years, when he bought two and half acres in Buena Vista township. He lived in the latter place but two months as he went to his father's farm, where he stayed for seven years and then bought eighty acres in section 23. After ten years' residence there he sold out and bought the place he now resides. On his farm of 223 acres he does general farming and stock-raising. Mr. Milby has been married thrice. The first time he was twenty-three years of age when he married, and the lady who honored him with her hand was Lydia Hillis, of Rushville, the daughter of John and Jane Ferres Hillis. She died in 1865 and Mr. Milby remained single until 1872, when he again entered the married state. The second lady was Lizzie J. Davidson, of Kentucky, and she died in 1879. Mary A. Bauer, of Highland county, Ohio, the daughter of Valentine Bauer, was the lady to whom he was married January 21, 1886. Mr. Milby has had six children, all of which save one, are living. Three of the children are the issue of the first marriage: Frank, Clement and Lizzie, and the other three are the issue of the second marriage, Herne, died when three years old, but the other two Walter and Ida, are living. Mr. Milby is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, while the present Mrs. Milby is a member of the same church in the North. In politics Mr. Milby is a disciple of "Old Hickory", he being a Democrat.
Spouses
Birth11 May 1836, Hillsboro, OH
Death2 Apr 1922, Prescott AZ
BurialRushville, IL
Birth11 May 1836, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States
Death2 Apr 1922, Prescott, , Arizona, United States
BurialRushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States
FatherValentine Bauer (1801-1890)
Marriage19 Jan 1886, Rushville, IL1143
Birth4 Oct 1844, , Kenton, Kentucky, United States
Death14 May 1880, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States1163
Burial16 May 1880, Rushville City Cemetery, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States1164
Marriage29 Aug 1872, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States1165
ChildrenGeorge Walter (1873-1920)
 Homer (1876-1878)
 Ida May (1878-1914)
Birth13 May 1839, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States1166
Death29 Oct 1865, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States
BurialBurried in Hillis Lot in Rushville
Marriage20 Nov 1858, Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois, United States1167,1168
ChildrenWilliam Frank (1860-1906)
 Clement C. (1864-1925)
 Elizabeth J. (1865-1939)
Last Modified 22 Sep 2016Created 6 Jul 2024 using Reunion for Macintosh