James Samuel McILROY ⁴

   User ID: 871.

1816 - Married Cassie Baker in Harrison Co., OH
1820C: North twp, Harrison Co., OH - James, 26-45 yrs, Cassie and 2 girls under 10.
These 2 daughters (likely under 5 yrs) are not accounted for in our list of children.
1830C: North twp- 30-40 yrs, w/Cassie, 3 boys & 5 girls. Spelled McIlroy
boys- two (0-5), one (5-10)
girls- one (0-5), two (5-10), two (10-15) That is 1 girl (10-15) more than our list.
1840C: Liberty twp, Union Co., OH - 40 to 50 yrs, 4 boys & 6 girls
boys- one each (0-5), (5-10), (10-20), (20-30)
girls- one each (0-5), (5-10), (10-15), two (15-20),one (20-30)
1850C: Liberty twp- 54 yrs, b. PA, farmer, $2,000 Real property, w/wife & 7 children
1860C: Liberty twp- 65 yrs, b. PA, w/2nd wife, Margaret., no children at home, Census on 6 July
Raymond cemetery tombstone: d. 5 Oct 1860, age 67y 15d.

  Research Notes:

According to a 1915 history of Union Co., OH, James moved his family from Harrison Co. to Union Co. around 1835 (cited elsewhere as 1830 to 1840). It seems likely the family reached Union County in 1837 or 1838.
The 1883 bio of son, James Merriman McIlroy notes he was born in Richland Co., OH in 1837 and his father was James S, a native of Washington Co., PA. 1837 would have been during the family's move west from North twp, Harrison Co. to Liberty twp, Union Co. It is out of the way, but Cassandra's brother, Zachariah Baker was living in Vermilion twp of Richland Co. at that time. The area later became part of Ashland Co.
James S was in North twp, Harrison Co. for the 1820 & 1830 census. It is unknown when they moved to or through Richland Co. They may have been there days or years. In 1840, Samuel Meek lived two doors from Zachariah Baker, some of the Meek offspring later moved to Liberty, Union, OH and son, Reason, married Matilda, daughter of James S McIlroy in 1851.
The death certificate of James Merriman lists his father as James Samuel. This supports a circumstantial connection between James and his purported father, Samuel McIlroy.
Most of the land in Union Co. was originally forested, but once cleared, it was flat and fertile. It would have been a notable improvement for farming compared to the area of North twp, Harrison Co.
We can account for eleven children of James S & Cassie. There was likely one or two daughters, as yet unidentified, who died or married in Harrison Co. before 1840.
Three of James' sons lived out their lives within 30 miles of the homestead in Liberty twp, Union Co., OH. The other children, one son and all seven daughters, moved west.
Before 1848, daughter Hester McIlroy Bisel & family, moved 70 miles west of Union Co., OH, to Jay Co., IN.
After the death of his wife Cassie, James S remarried. Documentation indicates that he and a dozen or so family members, moved to Lyndon twp, Whiteside Co., IL, near the Iowa border, then on to Iowa.
Those in the group were: James & probably his second wife, Margaret; Wallace & Christina McIlroy Herd (w/2 children), Nathaniel McIlroy; James & Elizabeth McIlroy Wilson (w/1 child); James M McIlroy and Telitha McIlroy. It is unknown if Cassandra, youngest daughter of James S, was included.
At different times over the next three years, family members moved from Illinois on to Iowa. They settled in Bremer, Black Hawk, and Benton counties. Those in Black Hawk and Benton counties were in or very near La Porte City, IA. Those in Bremer county were about 25 miles north of La Porte City.
By June 1859, James S was back in Union County.
By 1860, The James Wilson family and Nathaniel McIlroy, with his new bride, were in Bremer Co. The Herd family was in La Porte City, Black Hawk Co., IA and the newly married Telitha McIlroy Bruce was near by in northern Benton Co. As noted, James S was back in Union Co., OH and his son, James M, was close by, in Champaign Co., OH
Daughter, Matilda McIlroy Meek, moved to the La Porte City area in 1864, before moving southwest to MO.
In 1866, daughter, Nancy McIlroy Heminger, moved from Union Co., OH to Blackford Co., IN, about 10 miles west of her sister, Hester McIlroy Bisel, in Jay Co., IN.
By 1870, the youngest of the family, Cassandra McIlroy Cushman, was in La Porte City, IA near her siblings, Nathan, Christina & Telitha.
In all, eight children of James and Cassie McIlroy lived in the LaPorte City area at some time. Christina and Cassandra are buried in Black Hawk Co., IA. The other family members moved on to MO, KS, MI, OK, Canada and some back to OH.
-- Items supporting James' excursion in the west --
[From the Nodaway Co., MO biographic sketch of James E Wilson, husband of Elizabeth McIlroy - "In 1852 he moved to Whiteside County, Illinois, where he sojourned one year, and then emigrated to Bremer County, Iowa."]
[From Will of James McIlroy- "and there is a mortgage for thee hundred dollars left for record in the county seat of Whiteside county which my executor will also attend to"]
[From the appraisal of James McIlroy's estate- "Also, three notes against Daniel Fay of fifty dollars each dated July 1855 (at Lyndon, supposed in Illinois) and secured by Mortgage, payable to Moses Fay; on order. Said notes Supposed to be worthless" - Daniel & Moses Fay were listed in Whiteside Co., IL on the 1850 census]
[On 16 Jun 1859, James appeared before a J.P. in Union Co., OH to swear to a debt of $151.48 owed him by Michael Rariden as of 10 Jul 1858. The debt was $340 for a horse & buggy, less credit for work done. Michael Rariden was a resident of La Porte City, Black Hawk Co.,Iowa]

  Noted events in his life were:

• Will: page 1, 26 Sep 1860.

• Will: page 2, Sep 1860.

• Will: page 3, Sep 1860.

• Probate: Executor's Bond, 10 Nov 1860.

• Cemetery: McIlroy Plot: Raymond cemetery, Union Co., OH.

James married Cassandra BAKER, daughter of Zachariah BAKER and Susanna WASHBURN, on 21 Nov 1816 in Harrison Co., OH.^{1 2} (Cassandra BAKER was born in 1795 in VA,^{2 5 8} died on 27 Jan 1852 in Union Co., OH ⁵ and was buried in Raymond cemetery, Union Co., OH.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Banns, 1816, Cadiz, Harrison Co., OH. Registry of marriage for James McIlroy and Cassandra Baker

  Marriage Notes:

Married by William Anderson, noted in Cadiz, OH court records, James S McIlroy & Cassander Baker. In 1820, William Anderson was listed in Archer twp of Harrison Co. Archer twp was between Green twp on the east, Stock twp on the west, Cadiz on the south & shared a small border with North twp on the NW.

James next married Margaret ERWIN on 6 May 1852 in Union Co., OH.³ (Margaret ERWIN was born about 1821 in OH ³.)

  Marriage Notes:

Union Co. Marriages, Bk 2, pg 293