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 byNewton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, SchuylerCounty", edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 886-7, Note: a Reprinted byStevens Publishing Company, Astoria, Illinois 61501, 1970, is sold bythe 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 fadingpioneer history of Schuyler County, Ill., remains a vivid and enduringmemory. His life is of the home-spun kind, a record of hard workperformed with cheerfulness and intelligence, of obstacles surmountedwith vigor and determination, and of sacrifices made with true Christiancourage and fortitude. Incidents of early times recalled by him aretree 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, huskingbees, barn raisings, apple parings and church "socials" and donations. In all of these Mr. Milby took an active interest, although certain ofthem fell to the lot of the women members of his own and his father'shousehold. In his present leisure to recall the comparative quiet ofa 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., andall that he has is the result of his own untiring exertions. He wasborn in the State of Delaware, August 4, 1835, and is a son of Nathanieland Eliza J. (Wilson) Milby, also natives of Delaware. The fatherdeveloped the pioneering inclination and sold his Delaware property in1839, and in the winter of 1840, with his wife and four children,undertook the journey to Illinois which consumed the greater part of theseason. Edward T. Milby remembers well this arduous journey, althoughhe 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 thisportion of the trip the older members of the family walked for aconsiderable distance along the tow path, probably out of considerationfor the poor, overworked horse, whose lot certainly was not an enviableone. The journey was continued in a covered wagon, and the arrival onFrederick, Schuyler County, was not calculated to inspire enthusiasm forthe country to which the wayfarers had so laboriously and hopefullytended. The day was bitterly cold, the snow penetrated the chinks ofthe wagon, and the wind swirled across the prairies, striking a drearychill to the heart of even the most courageous. Finding no desirableresting place, the little party soon after pushed on to Rushville,making the small village their home until the following spring. Thefather then located on a rented farm, and in the fall of 1841, boughteighty acres of land east of Rushville, in the township of the name. The timber on this land was dense and varied, and arduous tasksconfronted the settlers. To the small log cabin which they found on theland, the father added, as such addition became necessary, until finallyhe had what was called a double log cabin. In this humble abode wereborn the rest of the children, in all eleven, eight of whom attainedmaturity. Three of these still survive, namely: Edward T.; Zadoc L.; and Dora, wife of David Wray, a farmer of Johnson County, Iowa. Zadocnow owns and occupies the old homestead.Three years after the close of the Civil War (in 1868) the log house wastorn down and a modern, six-room, two-story, frame dwelling waserected. This was made possible largely through the efforts of EdwardT. and Zodac, who so faithfully had worked at grubbing trees and hazelbushes, using oxen for the task, and hitching a chain around the stumpor bush at which the strong animals tugged until accomplishing thetask. The mother, in the meantime, rocked the cradle with one foot,while with the other she ran the spinning wheel; and later she made hercloth into jeans for her sons and into dresses for her daughters. Hertoil seemed never ending, and her working day extended from raising tothe setting of the sun. The father lived to see eighty acres of hisland cleared and under the plow, and he was in fairly prosperouscircumstances at the time of his death, July 28, 1873. The wife who hadshared his hard labors did not survive him, her death occurring onOctober 12, next following. They had occupied the same farmcontinuously for thirty-two years, and were among the honored andinfluential 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, andan amount of farm experience which fitted him for conducting almost anyagricultural enterprise, was married, in November, 1860, to LizzieHillis, and thereupon settled on a rented farm in Huntsville Township. In 1865 he purchased a small piece of land in Buena Vista Township, andthere his wife died the following November, leaving him with the care ofthree children, of whom Frank is deceased; Clement is a farmer inSchuyler County; and Lizzie is the wife of Frank Haughduffer, of LosAngeles, California. In 1873 Mr. Milby was united in marriage to LizzieJ. Davidson, and form this union resulted two children: Walter, a farmerof Oakland Township; and Ida, wife of George Rogers, of Flagstaff,Arizona. Mrs. Milby died in 1878, and on January 21, 1886, Mr. Milbymarried Mary Bower, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and an early residentof Schuyler County.Mr. Milby added frequently to his land until he owned a large tract, 308acres of which still remains on his possession. He was industrious andprogressive, lived always within his income. And was exceedinglyconservative in adopting new and untried methods of farming. In 1903 heleft the farm and located in Rushville, where lived also many of hisfriends of the strenuous pioneer days. Politically, he had always beenon the side of the Democratic party, but has steadfastly refused thehonors of local office. The Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he hasworshipped since early manhood, has profited continuously by hisgenerosity and zeal, and in all the walks of life, its teachings havebeen his guide.Note: Zodac and Zadoc are the same person. It was spelled both ways inthe 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 fourchildren to Illinois in 1840, settling in Rushville township. Thejourney was made by canals and rivers and proven a tiresome one. Thefather bought a tract of land and hastened to make it ready forsettlement. Two acres of the land had been cleared and a plain logcabin had been built. This was all. But deft and willing fingers soonmade things assume a fairly comfortable shape, and western life wasfairly under way. This log cabin, by the way, was the first permanenthouse of its kind in Illinois. Mr. Milby, Sr., occupied the farm to theday of his death. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of thissketch was Mary Wilson, born in Sussex county, Delaware. She died onthe Schuyler county home farm.In those days nearly every one lived in log cabins of one room. Thehousewife 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 arestrangers.Edward attended school attired in homespun that his mother had madefor him with her own hands. Notwithstanding his school duties heassisted on the farm and continued to do so until his marriage, when hebegan for himself on rented land in Huntsville. He continued to payrent for land for about ten years, when he bought two and half acres inBuena Vista township. He lived in the latter place but two months as hewent to his father's farm, where he stayed for seven years and thenbought eighty acres in section 23. After ten years' residence there hesold out and bought the place he now resides. On his farm of 223 acreshe does general farming and stock-raising.Mr. Milby has been married thrice. The first time he was twenty-threeyears of age when he married, and the lady who honored him with her handwas Lydia Hillis, of Rushville, the daughter of John and Jane FerresHillis. She died in 1865 and Mr. Milby remained single until 1872, whenhe again entered the married state. The second lady was Lizzie J.Davidson, of Kentucky, and she died in 1879. Mary A. Bauer, of Highlandcounty, Ohio, the daughter of Valentine Bauer, was the lady to whom hewas 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 secondmarriage, Herne, died when three years old, but the other two Walter andIda, are living.Mr. Milby is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal ChurchSouth, while the present Mrs. Milby is a member of the same church inthe North.In politics Mr. Milby is a disciple of "Old Hickory", hebeing a Democrat.