| Page content last modified: | October 20, 2009, added tombstone photographs and text.
April 29, 2007, amended tombstone inscriptions, added text and census transcriptions. |
| FOUNTAIN GREEN CEMETERY HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS |
THOMAS A. BULLOCK 1834-1896
JENETTE I. BULLOCK (nee ROBERTSON) 1837-1890
(military marker not yet photographed)
Born May 14, 1834 Died Apr. 17, 1896 Father thou art now at home 'Mong angels fair above But yet before thy child must roam Till summon'd by his love.
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Wife of T. H. Bullock Born Sept. 19, 1837 Died Feb. 4, 1890 Earth has no sorrow That heaven cannot heal. The above inscription is on one face of a broken tombstone which also bears inscriptions for several of the Bullock children. Note the incorrect middle initial H. It's one of a number of such errors imaged on this website. Did the person who ordered the marker give the wrong name? Did the person who carved the inscription make this mistake? Thomas survived her - he certainly would have known his middle initial. Was the initial misunderstood due to a Scottish accent or was poor handwriting the cause? What was the common business practice, i.e., did the purchaser get a reduced price? Questions, questions, questions..... |
Thomas A. Bullock and Jenette I. Robertson were first cousins. He was the son of  William H. Bullock and Christina McDougal, she was the daughter of Andrew Robertson and Catherine Calder Bullock. William and Catherine were brother and sister, born in Scotland and immigrants with their parents to Ontario, Canada, in 1820.
William Bullock brought his family to Hancock County, Illinois, in 1842, and would remain there until his death. Andrew Robertson and Catherine Calder Bullock had five children, all born in Canada before Catherine's early death; Jenette was the next to youngest. Andrew then married Isabell Bullock, William and Catherine's younger sister, and together they had a daughter, Mary, born in Canada. The year 1860 found Andrew, Isabell and children (by both Catherine and Isabell) in Sullivan County, Missouri. Within the next year Andrew brought his extended family to Hancock County, probably to the Fountain Green area. (There is evidence that Thomas Robertson, son of Andrew and Catherine, was in Hancock County in 1855. We can make note of this but not necessarily assume that Andrew and the rest of the family came with Thomas at that time. In the 1900 and 1910 censuses there were no entries for year of immigration for either of Andrew's living daughters, Catherine Robertson Woodworth or Mary Robertson White.) Next on the Robertson family calendar was the marriage of Jenette to Thomas Bullock, on the 1st of January, 1862. Eight and a half months later Thomas enlisted in the Union Army. From a transcription of the Muster and Descriptive Rolls compiled by the Illinois Adjutant General's Office:
Name BULLOCK, THOMAS
Personal Characteristics
Service Record
Jenette died February 4, 1890. In local records we've seen so far, the only time her name was spelled Jeanetta was in the inscription on her tombstone. In fact, we have not found it spelled the same way twice: 1860 census - Jennett; 1862 marriage license - Jenette; 1880 census - Jennet I; 1890 tombstone - Jeanetta I.; 1896 daughter Kittie's marriage license - Genette I. On April 26, 1892, Thomas applied for a pension based on his military service. The absence of a certificate number on the application card (image above right) indicates it was not granted, which seems most odd. Thomas followed Jenette in death on April 17, 1896. They were laid to rest with their children at Fountain Green cemetery. The Bullock children were probably all born at the family home in Fountain Green Township. Obituaries of Silas Monroe Parker, Kittie's husband, stated that he and Kittie had always lived on the Bullock farm, located northeast of the village of Fountain Green. Follow the link for Kittie to view a map of the area.
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Thomas and Jenette farmed in Fountain Green Township into the 1890s. Out of five children born, only Kittie survived infancy. We cannot help but recall another couple who married, first cousins William Weir and Amanda Malvina Stefler. They, too, had five babies and only one lived to adulthood. But who's to know whether it was genetics or childhood disease that put the four little Bullocks in their graves?
enumerated September 19, 1850, dwelling #407 Bullock, William, 47, male, farmer, value of real estate 135, born Scotland
enumerated July 27, 1860, dwelling #3523 William Bullick, 54, male, farmer, value of real estate 4000, value of personal estate 3000, born Scotland
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enumerated June 25, 1860, dwelling #147 Andrew Robertson, 53, male, farmer, value of real estate 1500, value of personal estate 855, born Scotland
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enumerated June 10, 1870 Dwelling #237
Thomas' family was counted immediately preceding the household of his brother, James, whose wife's name was, in fact, Caroline. We cannot account for the incorrect entries shown for Jennett, or the young girl named as Eva, other than to suggest that the enumerator errored when transcribing this page from his original copy. Thomas' entries are accurate; the wife's name and age are the same as those for James' wife; Thomas and Jenette's daughter, Catherine/Kittie/Katie was born at the very end of July, rather than August (discrepancies in birth months are common.) Note also that the entries for James' children show only a foreign born father, not a foreign born mother, as do the entries for Eva and Katie, above. Dwelling #238
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enumerated June 2, 1880, dwelling #23 Bullock, Thos A, white, male, 46, married, farmer, born Canada, both parents born Scotland
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