The next meeting of the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society will be on Tuesday, April 14th at 7 PM. This will be the first of several TCGHS Roadshows this year to celebrate local history so we are planning to meet at The Farmhouse, 120 E 5th St., in Delavan. The program will cover Boynton and Delavan area history. 

All history is local until it is woven together with other stories to become part of the National fabric and there is no aspect of National history that doesn’t touch Tazewell County. 

Tazewell County Bounty Land
For those of you who don’t know, bounty land warrants were granted to soldiers who served in U. S. wars prior to 1855. There was only one award in Tazewell County under the Script Warrant Act of 1812, but hundreds were awarded under the Script Acts of 1847 and 1850. Only nine under the 1852 Act and six under the 1855 Act, which was the last.

It was under the Script Warrant Act of 1850 that there was exactly one instance of a Fondulac township military warrant. Most were in the southern part of the county.

Berry Huddleston, a private in Captain Dorsey’s company of Illinois Volunteers in the Black Hawk War, was awarded forty acres in the North West Quarter of the North East Quarter of Section 12 in Township Twenty-six North, Range Four West. Today, that land appears to be a part of the Fondulac Park District just south of Spring Creek Rd.

Huddleston Family
Berry Huddleston was born 6 November 1811 in Bedford, Virginia to Abram and Nancy Huddleston. Abram relocated his family to Tazewell County about 1836, where he bought land in Section 20 of Washington township on 30 March 1837, as did his son Austin. The children that came with him, in addition to Berry, were Martin 1813-1898, Austin 1817-1844, Melchizebek 1819-1904, Elizabeth 1822-1842, William 1824-1895 and Nancy 1834-1903. Mel, Wm and Nancy all moved on to Nebraska after their parents died. 

Berry purchased land in Section 26 of Fondulac township in 1841 and was later awarded land in Section 12 for his military service. Berry sold the military tract to Daniel Birkett in 1861. Berry was listed as a farmer in all the Tazewell census records.

Berry first married Asena Roberts on the 3rd of December 1837, then Rachael McNutt (1835-1852) on the 14th of August 1851 and finally Susannah McNutt (1828-1875) on the 22nd of December 1856. All in Tazewell county. As far as can be deduced, Berry’s children were Sara (1852-1852), Napolean B. (1859-192?), Louvina Marble (1861-1937), Eliza Harriet Wright (1864-1963) and Daniel Levi (1869-1939).

It would appear that only Daniel Levi Huddleston stayed in the area. He married Augusta Krull and they lived in Washington with their daughters, Clara and Grace.

Abram, Nancy, Berry, Rachel, Sara, Austin, and Elizabeth are all buried in the Huddleston Cemetery. The Huddleston family cemetery is located in the woods at the edge of a clearing behind a residence on Centennial drive. When Henry Huddleston (Austin’s son) sold the land in 1864 to James Shores, he set aside a tract 2 rods by 3 rods that was reserved as the graveyard. 

The Huddleston family was one of dozens of Virginia families that moved to the Fondulac and Washington townships area of Tazewell county around 1836. 

If anyone would like more information about these families, contact TCGHS.

The Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society is an award-winning 501c3, all-volunteer organization that has been in continuous service to our members and the public for 47 years. TCGHS operates an archive, library, and research facility at 719 N. 11th St., Pekin. Visit our website at www.tcghs.org to learn more about us. If you have any point of interest that you would like to know more about, stop in at TCGHS or drop us a line.