William Henry Brawner

Male 1818 - 1909  (90 years)


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  • Name William Henry Brawner 
    Born 30 Jul 1818  Columbia, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 21 Jan 1909  Green Valley, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Prairie Rest Cemetery, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I83963  Virts
    Last Modified 22 Jul 2016 

    Father John Speake Brawner,   b. 1796, Charles County, Maryland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1843, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 47 years) 
    Mother Margaret Atkinson,   b. 22 Oct 1796, Chesterfield County, Virginia Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 28 Jul 1858, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 61 years) 
    Married 18 Feb 1817  Adair County, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Family ID F33996  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Mary Elizabeth Patterson,   b. 22 Nov 1825, Paris, Kentucky Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Mar 1891, Tazewell County, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 65 years) 
    Married 20 Oct 1842  Rushville, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Sarah Brawner,   b. 12 Sep 1843, Pekin, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 Jun 1918, Jacksonville, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years)
     2. Nancy Brawner,   b. 22 Mar 1845, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Feb 1940, Dillon, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 94 years)
     3. Joseph Henry Brawner,   b. 11 Nov 1845, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 14 Jun 1924, Pekin, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 78 years)
     4. Edward Patterson Brawner,   b. 26 May 1851, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 31 May 1934, Jackson County, Missouri Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 83 years)
     5. Robert Orndorff Brawner,   b. 1 Dec 1854, Dillon, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Aug 1940, Deer Lodge County, Montana Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years)
     6. Lucy Brawner,   b. 27 Sep 1856, Delavan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Sep 1944, Green Valley Village, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 88 years)
     7. Eliza Brawner,   b. Abt 1858, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     8. William Brawner,   b. 5 Oct 1863, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 11 Oct 1953  (Age 90 years)
     9. Jennie Brawner,   b. 1865, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1964  (Age 99 years)
     10. Frederick Brawner,   b. 2 Jul 1867, Dillon, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Oct 1893, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 26 years)
     11. Charles Louis Brawner,   b. 1870, Dillon, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Dec 1944  (Age 74 years)
    Last Modified 22 Jul 2016 
    Family ID F33999  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois History of Tazwell County

      William Henry Brawner, one of the most venerable and highly honored of the Tazewell County pioneers of 1842, and whose many years of farming activity were followed by retirement to Green Valley in 1902, was born in Columbia, Adair County, Ky., July 3, 1818. He is a son of John S. and Margaret (Atkinson) Brawner, and a grandson of John and Nancy (Speck) Brawner. The paternal branch of the family was known in Virginia before the war of Independence, as was also the maternal branch of Atkinson, the latter being first represented in Kentucky by Josiah, the grandfather her of William Henry, who married Frances Teabue, a native daughter of Kentucky. The marriage of their daughter Margaret to John S. Brawner was solemnized after the removal of the latter to Adair County, Ky., where the young people spent many years of their wedded life, removing to Schuyler County, Ill., in 1834.

      William Henry, then sixteen years of age, entered with zest into this overland trip, and today recalls with undiminished enthusiasm the adventures which made it memorable. A tangible souvenir of these days and nights of travel in covered wagons through an ever- changing country, is a pine tar-bucker, made by his father in Kentucky and used, during the westward journey, to hold axle-grease for the wagons. Mr. Brawner treasures this bucket with exceeding care, and also a turnkey, used for extracting teeth, made over two hundred and fifty years ago.
      The family settled on a farm near Rushville, Schuyler County, and William assisted in the cultivation of a newly improved tract until 1842, removing then to Pekin, where he remained a couple of years. In Rushville, in 1842, he married Mary E. Patterson (born in 1825) and, with his wife, settled near Delavan, in Dillon Township, Tazewell County, which continued to be his home for fifty-eight years, or until coming to Green Valley in 1902.

      As a pioneer of his locality, Mr. Brawner took an active interest in its educational and general advancement, proving himself a progressive and tireless farmer, an obliging and always considerate neighbor, and a husband and father to whom his family are indebted for an excellent livelihood and many advantages. In time he owned 480 acres in Dillon Township, all of which gave evidence of his practical methods and wise management. In the early days, goods were freighted from Pekin to St. Louis on the ice, which extended from shore to shore of the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers, and this method of transportation is cited by Mr. Brawner as illustrating the extent of the changes which have taken place in his own life and surroundings.

      Mrs. Brawner, who died in 1891, bore ten children, of whom the living are: Joseph, Edward, Robert, Lucy, Charles, and Jennie. Mr. Brawner is a member of the Presbyterian Church, which, in common with other institutions for the uplifting of the community, has profited by his generous contributions and active co-operation.

  • Sources 
    1. [S1591] Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954.


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