The Still Genealogy

The English surname "Still" originated in two ways. Sometimes an Englishman or Scotsman would be called "Still" because of his calm or quiet temperament or personality, but more often the Still surname in England derives from the fact that the ancestor lived near a stell or still, the Middle English word for a fish trap in a river. Our Still ancestors came from an ancient village in Dorsetshire named Fontmell Magna, where persons of the surname Still first appear on record perhaps as early as the 1300s. From the 1500s through the 1800s, the surname of Still was rather common in Fontmell Magna, and many of those Still families were no doubt related.

In addition to the English origins of our Still lineage, our ancestor Jeremy Still married Charlotte Axworthy, whose surname probably indicates that her family originally came from an English town or village named Axworthy. There is a hamlet named Axworthy in Thrushelton Parish, West Devon, north of Tavistock in the Lifton Hundred near the Cornish border. Old maps show this Axworthy as Arkeswrthi in 1238, Assworthe in 1244 and Assworthi in 1330. There is also a Devonshire hamlet called Essworthy, located about a mile and a half south-southeast of Hatherleigh. If our Axworthy ancestors came from Devon, that would place them a good ways to the west of our Still ancestors, who came from Dorset. There is a possibility that our Axworthy ancestors came from Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands.

1. JOSEPH STILL of Fontmell Magna, Dorsetshire, England. According to the parish records of Fontmell Magna, Joseph married EDITH SHARP on 2 Sept. 1784 in Fontmell Magna. The parish records say that Joseph and Edith had a son named William, who was born in Fontmell Magna and was baptised 2 June 1788. William thus was born in May or very early June 1788. Nothing further is known of Joseph and Edith Still at this time.

     2.  WILLIAM STILL, born in May or June 1788.

2. WILLIAM STILL, son of Joseph and Edith Still, born 1788 in May or early June in Fontmell Magna, Dorsetshire, England; died in Dec. 1854 in Dorsetshire, probably in Fontmell Magna. William was an agricultural laborer of Fontmell Magna. He was baptised 2 June 1788 in Fontmell Magna, and his baptismal record identifies his parents as Joseph and Edith Still. Around 1818, William married MARY KIMBER, who was born circa 1787 or circa 1791 in Stower Provost (Stour Provost), a Dorsetshire village in the vicinity of Fontmell. Mary's maiden name is recorded in the 1883 marriage record of her son Jeremiah. The 1841 English Census shows him as "William Still," age 50 (so born circa 1791), a resident of the village and parish of Fontmell Magna, located in the Sixpenny Handley hundred of County Dorset. Listed with him in the 1841 census are his wife Mary, age 50 (so born circa 1791), and his sons Edward, age 20 (so born circa 1821), Jeremiah, age 15 (so born circa 1826), and Frederick (spelled "Frederic"), age 12 (so born circa 1829). The 1841 census says all members of William Still's family were born in Dorsetshire. Ten years later, in the 1851 English Census, William and Mary Still are again listed as residents of Fontmell Magna. The 1851 census document says they lived on Woodbridge Street, and shows William's occupation as agricultural laborer. The document also says William was 62 years old (so born circa 1789) and was born in "Dorset Fontmell," and says Mary was 64 years old (so born circa 1787) and was born in "Dorset Stower Provost."

According to English death records, William's son Edward died in July 1846 at age 25 in Dorsetshire, England. His older brother Thomas Still, a shoemaker, came to the U.S. in 1849 at the age of 28 (so born circa 1821). Thomas' obituary says he was born 8 Aug. 1820 in "Fontanett" (a misreading of "Fontmell"), and his gravestone in Godfrey Cemetery, Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois, says he was born in 1820. Thomas was living or working elsewhere at the time of the 1841 census, and so was not listed in his parents' household. He arrived in New Orleans on 27 Feb. 1849 on the S.S. Boadicea, which had sailed from Liverpool, England. With Thomas were his wife Anne, age 24, three children, Anne, age 3, Edward, age 2, and John, age 10 months, and Frederick Still, age 18 (so born circa 1831), a farm laborer, who is known from other records to have been Thomas' younger brother. Thomas and Frederick settled in southern Illinois, and Frederick worked farms in Murrayville, Morgan County, Illinois. Also in the party of Thomas and Frederick was a victualler named Thomas Cosser, age 18, who is evidently the Thomas Cosser, age 12, son of Thomas and Ann Cosser of Fontmell Magna, who appears in the 1841 English Census. Thomas and Frederick's brother Jeremiah followed them to Illinois in 1851. The known children of William and Mary Still are:

     --  THOMAS STILL, born 8 Aug. 1820 in Dorsetshire, England.
     --  EDWARD STILL, born circa 1821 in Dorsetshire.
     3.  JEREMIAH STILL ("Jeremy" or "Jerry"), born 7 Aug. 1827 in Dorsetshire.
     --  FREDERICK STILL, born circa 1830 in Dorsetshire.

3. JEREMIAH STILL ("Jeremy" or "Jerry"), son of William and Mary Still, born 7 Aug. 1827 in Fontmell Magna, Dorsetshire, England, died 16 Aug. 1899 in Madison County, Illinois. Jeremiah was baptised at Fontmell Magna on 2 Sept. 1827. He appears in the 1841 English Census as "Jeremiah," age 15 (so born circa 1826), a resident of the village and parish of Fontmell Magna, Dorsetshire. The census shows him as one of three sons of William and Mary Still, a family of agricultural laborers. On 13 May 1847 in England, Jeremiah married CHARLOTTE AXWORTHY, born circa 1830 in England, died 17 Sept. 1877 in Madison County, Illinois. On 30 Jan. 1883 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois, Jeremiah took a second wife, MARY ATTER ALLEN, born 24 Dec. 1850 in Alton, died 8 Dec. 1917 in Alton. The 1841 British census of the Channel Islands shows a "Charlotte Axworthy," age 10 (so born circa 1831), daughter of John and Elizabeth Axworthy, both 40 years old, of the parish of St. Peter Port on the Island of Guernsey. The same census indicates that Charlotte was born on Guernsey, and lists her with two older siblings: Elizabeth, age 20, and George, age 13. We can find no other likely candidate for our Charlotte Axworthy in the 1841 census, so it is possible that John and Elizabeth Axworthy's daughter Charlotte is our Charlotte. However, there was also a "Charlotte Axworthy," age 15 (so born circa 1831), who arrived in New York Harbor on 11 May 1846 aboard the S.S. Switzerland, which had sailed out of London, England. It seems most unlikely that the Charlotte Axworthy who came to New York in 1846 was our Charlotte, because our Charlotte arrived in the U.S. in 1851 accompanied by her husband Jeremiah and her infant firstborn daughter -- unless she came to the U.S. in 1846 but soon returned to England, where she married Jeremiah in 1847 and then emigrated to the U.S. a second time in 1851. It is possible, however, that neither the Charlotte of the 1841 census nor the Charlotte of the 1846 passenger list is our Charlotte -- and it is also possible that the 1841 Charlotte and the 1846 Charlotte are the same person, but not the Charlotte we are looking for. Another question to be answered is, if the Charlotte Axworthy of Guernsey Island is our Charlotte, how did she and Jeremiah, who lived in Dorsetshire, meet and marry?

In 1851, Jeremiah, age 24 (so born circa 1827), and Charlotte, age 21 (so born circa 1830), left England and came to America with their daughter Sophia, age 10 months (so born circa 1850). They arrived in New York Harbor on 16 June 1851 on the S.S. Guy Mannering, which had sailed out of Liverpool. The passenger list of the Guy Mannering identifies Jeremiah as a shoemaker, and says he and his wife and daughter were headed to Illinois. No doubt they were planning to join Jeremiah's brothers Thomas (1820-1907) and Frederick (1829-1918), who had come to Illinois two years earlier on the S.S. Boadicea, sailing out of Liverpool, England, and landing in New Orleans on 27 Feb. 1849. All three brothers, Thomas, Jeremiah, and Frederick, settled in southern Illinois, with Thomas and Jeremiah residing in Madison County. Frederick worked on farms in Murrayville, Morgan County, Illinois, where his niece Luvenia and her husband Albert Riggs later came to live.

It should be noted that Riggs family tradition says Jeremiah and Charlotte had come from England with three daughters. An old typed genealogy of the Albert Riggs family says of Albert's wife Luvenia La Dora Still that, "Her parents and family of three daughters came to America from England . . . ." However, the passenger list of the S.S. Guy Mannering shows they arrived with only their daughter Sophia, who was apparently their firstborn child. Jeremiah and Charlotte had six daughters and one son, and Luvenia, born in 1857, was their fourth child. But if Jeremiah and Charlotte had arrived with three daughters, then their daughter Charlotte, born circa 1855, would have to have been born in England, which means they couldn't have arrived in America until 1855 at the earliest. The Guy Mannering's passenger list makes clear that only their eldest child, Sophia, was born in England, so the rest of their children had to have been born in the United States. It could be that the tradition that Jeremiah and Charlotte came with three daughters is a garbling of the facts pertaining to Jeremiah's older brother Thomas, who came from England when he was 28 years old with his wife Anne, age 24, and three children, Anne, age 3, Edward, age 2, and John, age 10 months.

Jeremiah (also called Jeremy and Jerry) and Charlotte settled at Alton, Madison County, Illinois. The 1855 Census of Madison County, page 76, shows "J. Still" as a resident of Alton Township. Madison County records show that Jeremiah was naturalised as a U.S. citizen in April 1859, having given his intention to become a citizen in 1856. His older brother Thomas was naturalised in September 1860, having given his intention in 1857. In June or July 1863, Jeremiah registered for the Civil War military draft. The draft registration book shows him at the top of page 312, identifying him as a resident of the City of Alton in Illinois' Twelfth Congressional District, named "Still Jeremiah," age 25 as of 1 July 1863, white, "Boot Maker" by trade, born in England.

After his 1851 arrival in America, Jeremy had five more daughters and a son, including his fourth child, Luvenia, born in Alton in 1857. Jeremy's eldest daughter Sophia married Harry L. Paddock on 21 May 1870 in Macoupin County, Illinois. The 1870 U.S. Census shows the Jeremiah Still family living in Alton, including Jeremy, age 42 (so born circa 1828), his wife Charlotte, age 40 (so born circa 1830), and daughters Charlotte, age 15 (so born circa 1855), "Lavinia" (Luvenia), age 13, Eveline, age 11, and Ida, age 7. Their only son, William J. Still, died 14 June 1868 and was buried in Alton Cemetery. Jeremy's wife Charlotte died in 1877 and was buried in Alton Cemetery near her daughter Mary, who had died as a child on 20 April 1865. Their daughter Ida died 24 Dec. 1879 and was buried near her mother and sister. In the 1880 U.S. Census, Jeremy (called "Jerry"), age 54 (so born circa 1826), is shown as a widower and a resident of Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois. The 1880 census also shows Jerry's eldest daughter Sophia, age 30, living in Godfrey with her husband Harry Paddock, age 38, three children, Mattie, age 7, Jerry, age 5, and Rollo, age 2, along with Sophia's sister Eveline Still, age 20, and a certain John King, age 60. This census also shows Jeremy's occupation as "shoemaker," and he, his mother, and his father are reported to have been born in England. As indicated above, Jeremy was a shoemaker by trade, and was one of the first to open a shoemaker's shop in Alton. James T. Hair's "Gazetteer of Madison County" (1866), page 235, shows Jeremiah Still as a shoemaker located at the southwest corner of Wall and State streets in Alton. Also, in the 1890 Alton, Illinois, City Directory, Jeremiah Still is listed as a shoemaker located at 316 State St.

Jeremiah Still's gravestone, Alton Cemetery

Photo courtesy Phillip Sherwood Still

Jeremy died in 1899 and was buried in Alton Cemetery with his wife Charlotte and children Mary, Ida, and William. His gravestone gives his dates of birth and death. Jeremy's widow, Mary Allen Still, is buried close by, in the Allen family plot which is near the Still family plot. Jeremy's eldest child, Sophia Still Paddock, died at the age of 68 on 19 Aug. 1918 at her home in Godfrey and was buried in Godfrey Cemetery on 21 Aug. 1918. The children of Jeremy and Charlotte were:

     --  SOPHIA C. STILL, born 26 Nov. 1849 in England, md. Harry L. Paddock
     --  MARY STILL, born circa 1853, died 20 April 1865.
     --  CHARLOTTE STILL, born circa 1855, probably in Alton, Illinois.
     4.  LUVENIA LA DORA STILL, born 27 Feb. 1857 in Alton, Illinois.
     --  EVELINE STILL, born circa 1859.
     --  IDA MAY STILL, born circa 1863, died 24 Dec. 1879.
     --  WILLIAM J. STILL, born circa 1865, died 14 June 1868.

4. LUVENIA LA DORA STILL, daughter of Jeremiah and Charlotte Still, born 27 Feb. 1857 in Alton, Madison County, Illinois; died 21 April 1934 in Jacksonville, Morgan County, Illinois, at the home of her daughter Ida Ketner. According to the Estate Administrations Probate Court records of Morgan County, her eldest son Waldon and youngest son Charles were executors of her will. Luvenia married on 13 May 1874 at Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois, to ALBERT RIGGS, son of Albert and Mary Elizabeth Riggs, born 19 Aug. 1852; died at age 68 on 8 Jan. 1921 while waiting for the train at the C. & A. station in Jacksonville, Illinois. Albert and Luvenia are buried in Murrayville Cemetery, Murrayville, Morgan County, Illinois. The 1880 U.S. Census says Albert was born in Illinois, but family records say Albert was born in New York City and first came to Illinois when he was 8 years old (i.e., circa 1860). In the 1880 U.S. Census, Albert, 28, and his wife Luvenia, 23, are listed with two children, Mary, 5, and Scott, 1. After the marriage of Albert and Luvenia, they lived for several years in the village of Godfrey (formerly called Monticello), where their first four children were born. While they lived in Godfrey, Albert was head gardener of Monticello Female Seminary (today called Lewis and Clark Community College), and Luvenia, a gifted seamstress, did sewing for the Monticello employees and students. They moved to Murrayville in June 1885. Albert and Luvenia had eleven children, including two boys, Clarence and William, who died in infancy, and an unnamed infant son who died the day of his birth and is buried with his older sister Mary Elizabeth in Bethel Cemetery, Murrayville, Illinois. It is uncertain when Clarence and William were born, so they are listed last in order, but the other children are here listed in order of birth, starting with the firstborn child of Albert and Luvenia -- Mary Elizabeth, who was born 1875 in Godfrey, Madison County, Illinois:

     --  MARY ELIZABETH RIGGS, born 14 March 1875, md. William Andrew Still, her cousin.
     --  WALDON SCOTT RIGGS ("Walter"), born 8 Feb. 1878, md. Emma Adelia Million.
     13. HERBERT BENJAMIN RIGGS, born 7 Aug. 1880 in Godfrey, Ill.
     --  GEORGE LAWNSBERRY RIGGS (or "Lonsberry"), born 28 April 1883, md. Myrtle Blanch Kent.
     --  IDA MAE FRANCES RIGGS, born 1885, md. Basil Cameron Ketner.
     --  SADA AMELIA RIGGS ("Sadie"), born 30 June 1889, md. Clinton Uriah Million.
     --  CLARA CLARISSA RIGGS, born 29 April 1892, m1. Clifford H. Ketner; m2. Charles J. Roberts.
     --  CHARLES VERTREES RIGGS ("Charlie"), born 11 March 1895, md. Lelia Ann Galloway.
     --  "Infant Son", born and died 19 Oct. 1897.
     --  CLARENCE RIGGS, died in infancy.
     --  WILLIAM RIGGS, died in infancy.

There was more than one family of English-immigrant Stills in Madison County during the 1800s, but it is not always clear which of them were related to our English Stills of Madison County. Also, on 16 May 1892, Luvenia's first cousin, William Andrew Still, born 1864, married Luvenia's eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth Riggs, born 14 March 1875 in Godfrey. William was the son of Frederick Still, younger brother of Luvenia's father Jeremiah. William Andrew Still and Mary Elizabeth Riggs had one child, Thomas Lee Still (also called Lee Thomas Still or Lea Thomas Still), born 14 Aug. 1896. Mary Elizabeth died 12 June 1898 and was buried in Bethel Cemetery, Murrayville, Morgan County, Illinois, next to the grave of her unnamed baby brother who had died soon after he was born in 1897. Her son Thomas Lee has living descendants. After Mary Elizabeth's death, William married Matilda J. Spencer (1872-1969), daughter of Jonas and Josephine Spencer. William died in 1953, and he is buried with his second wife Matilda in Murrayville Cemetery.

Other Still-Axworthy Genealogy Resources:

Fontmell Magna - Dorset Online Parish Clerk website
Fontmell Magna Village Archive
The Still Family of Fontmell Magna
Alton Cemetery Index (including the Jeremiah Still Family Plot)
Still Surname Message Board
Still Family Genealogy Forum
Genealogy of an Axworthy Family of Devonshire: Descendants of John of Yealmton
Axworthy Surname Message Board
Axworthy Family Genealogy Forum
Murrayville Cemetery Index
Children of Albert and Luvenia Riggs (with errors)
Riggs burials in Murrayville

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