JOHN STRINGER--1880
John is a farmer, Sec. 9, P. O. Kickapoo. Is a native of Bullitt county, Ky. He was the third child of Reuben and Delila Stringer, nee Owen, and was born on the 3rd day of November, 1806. His father died when he was eight years of age, leaving the family in humble circumstances. Edward Stringer, the grandfather of John, with the concurrence of his children, provided in his will for the liberation of the slaves he owned; that those who were too young to care for themselves should be given into the keeping of humane persons, to be kept until they were twenty years of age, and then to go free. After the death of Reuben Stringer, the support of the family fell upon the widowed mother and the older children. John remained at home with his mother until twenty-one years of age, his twenty-first birthday occurring on Saturday, Nov. 3, 1827. Soon after attaining his majority, he went to Louisville, where, in the Winter of 1827-28, he drove a team for $7 per month, including boarding and washing. At that time there was a good deal of excitement about the lead mines of Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois, and John Stringer and John Coyle, who had married Stringer’s only sister, took passage on a steamboat early in the Spring of 1828, descended the Ohio river to the Mississippi, thence up the Mississippi and Fever rivers to Galena. At Galena a Dr. Hill, of Cossville, Wis., placed the hull of a keel-boat at their disposal, and the rest of the journey to Cossville was made in that frail craft. They remained at Dodgeville and vicinity until the beginning of July of the next year, but did not do more than make a living, and concluded to abandon the mining region, and to try their luck somewhere else. They loaded their household effects on a two-horse wagon and, without any definite point in view, journeyed southeast, and reached the present site of Mossville on the 15th of July, 1829, where they halted. At that time Mr. Stringer’s possessions consisted of a wardrobe he could carry in a handkerchief, an ax, and an iron wedge. In the Winter of 1829-30, he “squatted” on the southwest quarter of Sec. 34, in what is now Medina township, and commenced to make farm improvements. That Winter he cleared and fenced twelve acres, which he plowed and planted to corn in the Spring of 1830. He made a good crop, and there has never been a season since that he has not had corn to sell from that farm. By the time the land was ready for sale, he had made and saved enough to pay for the land, which still remains in his ownership. In 1832, the Black Hawk war came on, and he was one of the seventy-five men in the county liable to military duty, and was elected corporal in Capt. Ead’s Peoria company, and was one of the last men to leave the field of Stillman’s disastrous defeat at Stillman’s Run. He still has in his possession the rifle he carried in that campaign. On the 27th of June, 1837, he united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Zed and Elizabeth Harris of Bullitt county, Ky., where she was born on the 17th of June, 1818. They remained at the Mossville farm until the 6th day of March, 1846, then removed to the farm they now occupy. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. S. has ever been inside a railroad car. He has never been sued at law, nor his taxes ever become delinquent. The spirit of Kentucky hospitality and generosity is ever present in Mr. Stringer’s home. He commenced in the world with nothing; but his industry and economy has rewarded his old age with competence. Their marital union was honored with five children: Nancy Ann, born 24th August, 1839, married Christian Koener, 25th march, 1858, died 7th April, 1877; John H., born 31st February, 1843, married Miss Anna M. Grundy, 25th December, 1865, died from the effects of an accidental gunshot wound, 4th March, 1866; Eveline, born 21st February, 1845, died 15th September, 1854; Thomas F., born 20th April, 1847; Mary E., born 12th May, 1852. Mr. Stringer was raised under the influences of the M. E. Church, but neither himself or wife are members of any religious society. Politically, Mr. S. has always adhered to the Democratic party. Besides the Mossville farm, of 175 acres, valued at $40 an acre, he owns 290 other acres, including the home place, valued at $50 an acre.
The Blackhawk War 1832
The now venerable and honorable John Stringer, of Kickapoo township, Peoria county, was a corporal in Captain Abner Ead's Peoria company, says there was not an officer to be found anywhere, when the stampede commenced; that the men dashed away regardless of discipline or consequences, that they threw their guns over their shoulders, and for some distance after there was a continuous discharge of rifles to the rear. Mr. Stringer was in the rear when the flight began, and to avoid danger to himself and others from the discharge of the rifles, he turned to one side, rode along the line, and cautioned the men against the danger of killing their comrades. "And," said he, "suppose you should run into an Indian ambuscade, what would you do with empty guns?" "We never thought of that," was the reply, and the firing ceased ; but the flight was kept up. At Old Man's creek, since called Stillman's run, some delay was occasioned in crossing, because of its muddy banks. After passing the stream. Major Perkins and Captain Adams succeeded in rallying fifteen or twenty of the fieeing men, and made a short stand, checking the approach of the Indians, and no doubt saved the lives of many men who would otherwise have been killed. In this short engagement Captain Adams killed two Indians with his own hands, and in turn was killed himself, his body being recovered the second day. None of the men lived to tell the story of the engagement, but from broken guns, ghastly wounds, inflicted with rifles, tomahawks, scalping-knives, and other instruments of Indian warfare, the engagement must have been a terrific one. A young man named Hackelton had a hand-to-hand conflict with an Indian, in which the Indian threw down his gun and attempted to use his knife. Hackelton closed with him, caught the blade of the knife in his hand, cutting it severely, but succeeded in wrenching it from the Indian's grasp and plunging it into his heart, the Indian fell lifeless at his feet. Hackelton escaped and found his way to Dixon.
1832 Muster Rolls
Having thus exhausted all official sources of information, recourse was had to the memory of Mr. John Stringer, of Kickapoo township, who was a corporal in the Peoria company that served for two months or sixty days in the second campaign against Black Hawk and his forces, who furnishes the following names from among the seventy-five subject to military duty at that time:
Akin, Thomas. Blanchard, William. Caldwell, Alexander. Caldwell, John W. Carroll, Steve. Clifton, John. Cleveland, Hiram. Cleveland, John. Curry, Hiram. Coyle, John. Doty, Elisha. Doty, James. DuMont, Peter. Eads, Abner. Ewalt, John. Essex, Thomas.
Felton, Joseph. Fulton, Josiah. Hinkle, John. Hines, Jack. Harkness, Ed. Harkness, James. Johnson, John, Sr. Love, John. Langworthy, Dr. Moffatt, Aquilla. Moffatt, Alva. McCormack, Levi. Meredith, Joseph. Nicholson, John. Parr, Thomas. Ridgeway, David.
Ridgeway, John. Reed, Simon. Root, Lucas. Read, Thomas. Stringer, John. Sharp, Frank. Stillman, Henry B. Smith, W. M. Stewart, William. Thomas, Frank. Trial, William. Van Tassel, Alonzo. Wright, William. Wren, Aquilla.
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