Obituary of Catherine (Knott) McFall
Of Marengo, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois
Who Died 31 JAN 1917 at Marengo, Iowa
Marengo Republican
07 FEB 1917
Four Iowa County Pioneers Called By The Grim Reaper
-------------------------------------
Mrs. M’Fall Laid To Rest
-------------------------------------
Marengo’s Oldest Citizen, Who Came Here in 1855, Dies at Age 94
-------------------------------------
Mrs. Catherine Knott McFall, Marengo’s oldest citizen, who once entertained Abraham Lincoln, died at the home of her son, W.L. McFall of this city Wednesday, Jan. 31st, at the age of 94 years.
[Per Wikipedia, Marengo served as the county seat of Iowa County since 1845 when Marengo was first laid out. Marengo was later platted in 1847, but was not incorporated until July 1859. The population was 50 in 1850, not long before the McFall family arrived]
She was born in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, March 2nd, 1822, and after spending the early part of her girlhood there she came with her parents to Farmer City, Ill., and on June 4th, 1837 she married to Dr. W. H. McFall. To this union were born eleven children, six of whom proceeded her to the spirit world.
[Per Wikipedia, Ocean Grove was not founded until 1869.“Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as an outgrowth of the camp meeting movement in the United States, when a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to develop and operate a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey seashore”]
[Per Wikipedia regarding Farmers City, Illinois “The westward push of trader and adventurers led to settlers around 1825”.
“The area to the south of Hurley's Grove solidified as a permanent settlement, within the wooded areas safety. North of the primary area became known as Mt. Pleasant. Subdivision of the land divided the area into 14 blocks, with a central public square; the first residence built was that of Nathan Clearwater, and William McFall opened a store in 1837. Mail delivery was established in 1837, but with another Mt. Pleasant in the state, the name changed to Santa Anna.
Dewitt County was part of the Eighth Judicial District in the early 1850s, and lawyer Abraham Lincoln traveled in the area many times on his circuit; he was well respected by county residents.[4] C. H. Moore House in nearby Clinton is the former residence of Lincoln's co-counsel in various cases”
In the year 1855 they came to Marengo, Iowa, and since that time Mrs. McFall has lived here with the exception of three years in Hastings, Neb., and nine years in the city of Chicago. During their stay in Chicago her husband, Dr. McFall, was in a street car accident, receiving injuries from which he died, and following his death Mrs. McFall returned to Marengo, where she has since resided until the time of her death, which occurred Jan. 31st, 1917, when in the presence of part of her family, she passed peacefully to the great beyond.
Mrs. McFall knew something of the hardships, loneliness and privations of the war times, as her husband was in the Blackhawk, and the Civil war, but in the midst of it all she was always cheerful, and courageous. She was raised a Methodist, and always held to that branch of the church, her home was always open to the ministers of the gospel, and they frequently were entertained there.
Mrs. McFall was a woman of extraordinary physical and mental strength, and was often appealed to by those who were in search of accurate information regarding some past event in connection with the history of Marengo. She was among the earliest settlers of this city, and was the oldest resident among us at the time of her death. Had she lived one month longer she would have been ninety-five years of age. Mrs. McFall was always ready to do her part, when able, to assist those in trouble.
She leaves to mourn their loss, one daughter, and four sons, Mrs. M.E. Flaugher [Martha Ella (McFall) Flaugher, of LeMars, Iowa, D. H. McFall [David Harrison McFall], of Cody, Wyoming, W. L. McFall [William Lawrence McFall] of Marengo, C. V. McFall {Charles Vance McFall] of Marengo and H.W. McFall [Henry Clay McFall] of Chicago, Ill. Beside these, there are six grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and a host of friends.
Funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, conducted by Rev. George E. Monkman, assisted by Rev. Craig G. Whitsitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church on Friday, February 2nd, at 2 o’clock, and her remains were laid to rest in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.
The following excerpts from article publish October 15, 1916, in Rock Island Dailey Union, from the pen of Orin S. Holt, who superintended the construction of Marengo’s sewer system, furnish interesting sidelights on the life of this good woman.
Dr. McFall and his wife were both personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. McFall recalls that on one occasion, Lincoln, Judge David Davis and two others stopper for dinner at her father’s home, as they were enroute to Urbana.
[Judge David Davis (1815-1886) settled at Bloomington, IL. where he practice law in 1835. He served in State legislature in 1845. Davis also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847. From 1848 to 1862, Davis preside over the court of the Illinois Eighth Circuit, the same circuit where his friend, attorney Abraham Lincoln, was practicing. David also served as Lincoln’s campaign manager during the 1860 presidential election. He was nominated by Lincoln and served in the US Supreme Court from 1862 until 1877.]
Lincoln was the last to the table and Davis chided him for being tardy. To this Lincoln replied that he would not sit down to eat until he knew from personal inspection that his horse was properly fed and cared for.
She further recalls that Lincoln wore on that occasion a long loose black coat and high leggings, and that he was badly spattered with mud, which her brother assisted in removing. She says no words can describe how middy it sometimes was in that part of Illinois in those days.
D. McFall enlisted in the militia during the Black Howk war of 1832, and served through the campaign, and in recognition received warrants for 160 acres of government land.
After his marriage in 1837, he with his wife removed to Chicago, where he studied medicine for three years after which he moved to Morris, Ill., where he practice several years, later returning to the vicinity of his home near Bloomington, Ill.
[Per Wikipedia the town of Chicago was organized 12 AUG 1833 with a population of 200. The city of Chicago was actually incorporated 04 MAR 1837, which is about the time William McFall first showed up in Chicago.]
In 1855 he removed to Marengo, Iowa county, Iowa, on the Iowa River, the same locality to which Keokuk’s band of Indians came after they left Illinois. Here again the McFalls underwent the hardships of frontier life.
Mrs. McFall saw much of the Indians in Iowa, as she had in Illinois. She recalls the story of Shabbanos’ ride, to warn the whites of the threatened attack of Black Hawk’s band, as related by her father.
[Chief Benjamin Shabbona (1775 Will County, Illinois-1859 Seneca, Grundry County, Illinois) was a friend of the white man and as such often clashed with his Indian peers]
At one time when enroute with her father, they stopped at a blacksmith shop near Ottawa, Ill., for repairs and found Shabbano there on the same errand. He was accompanied by his son, who played with Mrs. McFall’s brother while they waited.
Mrs. McFall recalls a visit to a Fox Indian camp near Marengo, when some ceremonies of a special nature was in progress, in which the squaws did not take part and to which the whites were not welcome. There were rows of Kettles suspended over fires on horizontal poles, in which dogs were cooking with their feet protruding.
Four dogs were seen tied back to back around the truck of a tree, by strands of bark about their necks and bodies, while their protruding feet were ornamented with strips of colored cloth. The visitors were informed the proceeding were those of a secret society.
Black Hawk’s trip through the east as a captive, after the defeat at Bad Axe, occurred while Mrs. McFall was still in New Jersey, and she saw him in that occasion. She does not recall ever having seen Keokuk to know him, but she remembers to have seem many chiefs, and he was probably among them, as the agency for his band was nearby.
Dr. McFall and his wife are still further connected with the history of Rock Island County by the fact that Dr. McFall served sometime in the Iowa Gray Beard regiment in the civil war and was for a time stationed at the military prison on Rock Island, serving as assistant to the regimental surgeon. During this time, Mrs. McFall lived at the barracks on the Island.
She remembers the incident of the stockade fence blowing down and the escape of a number of prisoners, some of whom were not recaptured.
Speaking of her residence in Chicago in the 30s, she says her husband was offered a lot on Lake Street, within the present loop, for his horse and saddle. To him the horse appeared worth the most, so he declined the offer.
Of Marengo, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois
Who Died 31 JAN 1917 at Marengo, Iowa
Marengo Republican
07 FEB 1917
Four Iowa County Pioneers Called By The Grim Reaper
-------------------------------------
Mrs. M’Fall Laid To Rest
-------------------------------------
Marengo’s Oldest Citizen, Who Came Here in 1855, Dies at Age 94
-------------------------------------
Mrs. Catherine Knott McFall, Marengo’s oldest citizen, who once entertained Abraham Lincoln, died at the home of her son, W.L. McFall of this city Wednesday, Jan. 31st, at the age of 94 years.
[Per Wikipedia, Marengo served as the county seat of Iowa County since 1845 when Marengo was first laid out. Marengo was later platted in 1847, but was not incorporated until July 1859. The population was 50 in 1850, not long before the McFall family arrived]
She was born in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, March 2nd, 1822, and after spending the early part of her girlhood there she came with her parents to Farmer City, Ill., and on June 4th, 1837 she married to Dr. W. H. McFall. To this union were born eleven children, six of whom proceeded her to the spirit world.
[Per Wikipedia, Ocean Grove was not founded until 1869.“Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as an outgrowth of the camp meeting movement in the United States, when a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to develop and operate a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey seashore”]
[Per Wikipedia regarding Farmers City, Illinois “The westward push of trader and adventurers led to settlers around 1825”.
“The area to the south of Hurley's Grove solidified as a permanent settlement, within the wooded areas safety. North of the primary area became known as Mt. Pleasant. Subdivision of the land divided the area into 14 blocks, with a central public square; the first residence built was that of Nathan Clearwater, and William McFall opened a store in 1837. Mail delivery was established in 1837, but with another Mt. Pleasant in the state, the name changed to Santa Anna.
Dewitt County was part of the Eighth Judicial District in the early 1850s, and lawyer Abraham Lincoln traveled in the area many times on his circuit; he was well respected by county residents.[4] C. H. Moore House in nearby Clinton is the former residence of Lincoln's co-counsel in various cases”
In the year 1855 they came to Marengo, Iowa, and since that time Mrs. McFall has lived here with the exception of three years in Hastings, Neb., and nine years in the city of Chicago. During their stay in Chicago her husband, Dr. McFall, was in a street car accident, receiving injuries from which he died, and following his death Mrs. McFall returned to Marengo, where she has since resided until the time of her death, which occurred Jan. 31st, 1917, when in the presence of part of her family, she passed peacefully to the great beyond.
Mrs. McFall knew something of the hardships, loneliness and privations of the war times, as her husband was in the Blackhawk, and the Civil war, but in the midst of it all she was always cheerful, and courageous. She was raised a Methodist, and always held to that branch of the church, her home was always open to the ministers of the gospel, and they frequently were entertained there.
Mrs. McFall was a woman of extraordinary physical and mental strength, and was often appealed to by those who were in search of accurate information regarding some past event in connection with the history of Marengo. She was among the earliest settlers of this city, and was the oldest resident among us at the time of her death. Had she lived one month longer she would have been ninety-five years of age. Mrs. McFall was always ready to do her part, when able, to assist those in trouble.
She leaves to mourn their loss, one daughter, and four sons, Mrs. M.E. Flaugher [Martha Ella (McFall) Flaugher, of LeMars, Iowa, D. H. McFall [David Harrison McFall], of Cody, Wyoming, W. L. McFall [William Lawrence McFall] of Marengo, C. V. McFall {Charles Vance McFall] of Marengo and H.W. McFall [Henry Clay McFall] of Chicago, Ill. Beside these, there are six grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and a host of friends.
Funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, conducted by Rev. George E. Monkman, assisted by Rev. Craig G. Whitsitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church on Friday, February 2nd, at 2 o’clock, and her remains were laid to rest in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.
The following excerpts from article publish October 15, 1916, in Rock Island Dailey Union, from the pen of Orin S. Holt, who superintended the construction of Marengo’s sewer system, furnish interesting sidelights on the life of this good woman.
Dr. McFall and his wife were both personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. McFall recalls that on one occasion, Lincoln, Judge David Davis and two others stopper for dinner at her father’s home, as they were enroute to Urbana.
[Judge David Davis (1815-1886) settled at Bloomington, IL. where he practice law in 1835. He served in State legislature in 1845. Davis also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847. From 1848 to 1862, Davis preside over the court of the Illinois Eighth Circuit, the same circuit where his friend, attorney Abraham Lincoln, was practicing. David also served as Lincoln’s campaign manager during the 1860 presidential election. He was nominated by Lincoln and served in the US Supreme Court from 1862 until 1877.]
Lincoln was the last to the table and Davis chided him for being tardy. To this Lincoln replied that he would not sit down to eat until he knew from personal inspection that his horse was properly fed and cared for.
She further recalls that Lincoln wore on that occasion a long loose black coat and high leggings, and that he was badly spattered with mud, which her brother assisted in removing. She says no words can describe how middy it sometimes was in that part of Illinois in those days.
D. McFall enlisted in the militia during the Black Howk war of 1832, and served through the campaign, and in recognition received warrants for 160 acres of government land.
After his marriage in 1837, he with his wife removed to Chicago, where he studied medicine for three years after which he moved to Morris, Ill., where he practice several years, later returning to the vicinity of his home near Bloomington, Ill.
[Per Wikipedia the town of Chicago was organized 12 AUG 1833 with a population of 200. The city of Chicago was actually incorporated 04 MAR 1837, which is about the time William McFall first showed up in Chicago.]
In 1855 he removed to Marengo, Iowa county, Iowa, on the Iowa River, the same locality to which Keokuk’s band of Indians came after they left Illinois. Here again the McFalls underwent the hardships of frontier life.
Mrs. McFall saw much of the Indians in Iowa, as she had in Illinois. She recalls the story of Shabbanos’ ride, to warn the whites of the threatened attack of Black Hawk’s band, as related by her father.
[Chief Benjamin Shabbona (1775 Will County, Illinois-1859 Seneca, Grundry County, Illinois) was a friend of the white man and as such often clashed with his Indian peers]
At one time when enroute with her father, they stopped at a blacksmith shop near Ottawa, Ill., for repairs and found Shabbano there on the same errand. He was accompanied by his son, who played with Mrs. McFall’s brother while they waited.
Mrs. McFall recalls a visit to a Fox Indian camp near Marengo, when some ceremonies of a special nature was in progress, in which the squaws did not take part and to which the whites were not welcome. There were rows of Kettles suspended over fires on horizontal poles, in which dogs were cooking with their feet protruding.
Four dogs were seen tied back to back around the truck of a tree, by strands of bark about their necks and bodies, while their protruding feet were ornamented with strips of colored cloth. The visitors were informed the proceeding were those of a secret society.
Black Hawk’s trip through the east as a captive, after the defeat at Bad Axe, occurred while Mrs. McFall was still in New Jersey, and she saw him in that occasion. She does not recall ever having seen Keokuk to know him, but she remembers to have seem many chiefs, and he was probably among them, as the agency for his band was nearby.
Dr. McFall and his wife are still further connected with the history of Rock Island County by the fact that Dr. McFall served sometime in the Iowa Gray Beard regiment in the civil war and was for a time stationed at the military prison on Rock Island, serving as assistant to the regimental surgeon. During this time, Mrs. McFall lived at the barracks on the Island.
She remembers the incident of the stockade fence blowing down and the escape of a number of prisoners, some of whom were not recaptured.
Speaking of her residence in Chicago in the 30s, she says her husband was offered a lot on Lake Street, within the present loop, for his horse and saddle. To him the horse appeared worth the most, so he declined the offer.
Obituary of Catherine (Knott) McFall
Of Marengo, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois
Who Died 31 JAN 1917 at Marengo, Iowa
Marengo Republican
07 FEB 1917
Four Iowa County Pioneers Called By The Grim Reaper
-------------------------------------
Mrs. M’Fall Laid To Rest
-------------------------------------
Marengo’s Oldest Citizen, Who Came Here in 1855, Dies at Age 94
-------------------------------------
Mrs. Catherine Knott McFall, Marengo’s oldest citizen, who once entertained Abraham Lincoln, died at the home of her son, W.L. McFall of this city Wednesday, Jan. 31st, at the age of 94 years.
[Per Wikipedia, Marengo served as the county seat of Iowa County since 1845 when Marengo was first laid out. Marengo was later platted in 1847, but was not incorporated until July 1859. The population was 50 in 1850, not long before the McFall family arrived]
She was born in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, March 2nd, 1822, and after spending the early part of her girlhood there she came with her parents to Farmer City, Ill., and on June 4th, 1837 she married to Dr. W. H. McFall. To this union were born eleven children, six of whom proceeded her to the spirit world.
[Per Wikipedia, Ocean Grove was not founded until 1869.“Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as an outgrowth of the camp meeting movement in the United States, when a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to develop and operate a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey seashore”]
[Per Wikipedia regarding Farmers City, Illinois “The westward push of trader and adventurers led to settlers around 1825”.
“The area to the south of Hurley's Grove solidified as a permanent settlement, within the wooded areas safety. North of the primary area became known as Mt. Pleasant. Subdivision of the land divided the area into 14 blocks, with a central public square; the first residence built was that of Nathan Clearwater, and William McFall opened a store in 1837. Mail delivery was established in 1837, but with another Mt. Pleasant in the state, the name changed to Santa Anna.
Dewitt County was part of the Eighth Judicial District in the early 1850s, and lawyer Abraham Lincoln traveled in the area many times on his circuit; he was well respected by county residents.[4] C. H. Moore House in nearby Clinton is the former residence of Lincoln's co-counsel in various cases”
In the year 1855 they came to Marengo, Iowa, and since that time Mrs. McFall has lived here with the exception of three years in Hastings, Neb., and nine years in the city of Chicago. During their stay in Chicago her husband, Dr. McFall, was in a street car accident, receiving injuries from which he died, and following his death Mrs. McFall returned to Marengo, where she has since resided until the time of her death, which occurred Jan. 31st, 1917, when in the presence of part of her family, she passed peacefully to the great beyond.
Mrs. McFall knew something of the hardships, loneliness and privations of the war times, as her husband was in the Blackhawk, and the Civil war, but in the midst of it all she was always cheerful, and courageous. She was raised a Methodist, and always held to that branch of the church, her home was always open to the ministers of the gospel, and they frequently were entertained there.
Mrs. McFall was a woman of extraordinary physical and mental strength, and was often appealed to by those who were in search of accurate information regarding some past event in connection with the history of Marengo. She was among the earliest settlers of this city, and was the oldest resident among us at the time of her death. Had she lived one month longer she would have been ninety-five years of age. Mrs. McFall was always ready to do her part, when able, to assist those in trouble.
She leaves to mourn their loss, one daughter, and four sons, Mrs. M.E. Flaugher [Martha Ella (McFall) Flaugher, of LeMars, Iowa, D. H. McFall [David Harrison McFall], of Cody, Wyoming, W. L. McFall [William Lawrence McFall] of Marengo, C. V. McFall {Charles Vance McFall] of Marengo and H.W. McFall [Henry Clay McFall] of Chicago, Ill. Beside these, there are six grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and a host of friends.
Funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, conducted by Rev. George E. Monkman, assisted by Rev. Craig G. Whitsitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church on Friday, February 2nd, at 2 o’clock, and her remains were laid to rest in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.
The following excerpts from article publish October 15, 1916, in Rock Island Dailey Union, from the pen of Orin S. Holt, who superintended the construction of Marengo’s sewer system, furnish interesting sidelights on the life of this good woman.
Dr. McFall and his wife were both personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. McFall recalls that on one occasion, Lincoln, Judge David Davis and two others stopper for dinner at her father’s home, as they were enroute to Urbana.
[Judge David Davis (1815-1886) settled at Bloomington, IL. where he practice law in 1835. He served in State legislature in 1845. Davis also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847. From 1848 to 1862, Davis preside over the court of the Illinois Eighth Circuit, the same circuit where his friend, attorney Abraham Lincoln, was practicing. David also served as Lincoln’s campaign manager during the 1860 presidential election. He was nominated by Lincoln and served in the US Supreme Court from 1862 until 1877.]
Lincoln was the last to the table and Davis chided him for being tardy. To this Lincoln replied that he would not sit down to eat until he knew from personal inspection that his horse was properly fed and cared for.
She further recalls that Lincoln wore on that occasion a long loose black coat and high leggings, and that he was badly spattered with mud, which her brother assisted in removing. She says no words can describe how middy it sometimes was in that part of Illinois in those days.
D. McFall enlisted in the militia during the Black Howk war of 1832, and served through the campaign, and in recognition received warrants for 160 acres of government land.
After his marriage in 1837, he with his wife removed to Chicago, where he studied medicine for three years after which he moved to Morris, Ill., where he practice several years, later returning to the vicinity of his home near Bloomington, Ill.
[Per Wikipedia the town of Chicago was organized 12 AUG 1833 with a population of 200. The city of Chicago was actually incorporated 04 MAR 1837, which is about the time William McFall first showed up in Chicago.]
In 1855 he removed to Marengo, Iowa county, Iowa, on the Iowa River, the same locality to which Keokuk’s band of Indians came after they left Illinois. Here again the McFalls underwent the hardships of frontier life.
Mrs. McFall saw much of the Indians in Iowa, as she had in Illinois. She recalls the story of Shabbanos’ ride, to warn the whites of the threatened attack of Black Hawk’s band, as related by her father.
[Chief Benjamin Shabbona (1775 Will County, Illinois-1859 Seneca, Grundry County, Illinois) was a friend of the white man and as such often clashed with his Indian peers]
At one time when enroute with her father, they stopped at a blacksmith shop near Ottawa, Ill., for repairs and found Shabbano there on the same errand. He was accompanied by his son, who played with Mrs. McFall’s brother while they waited.
Mrs. McFall recalls a visit to a Fox Indian camp near Marengo, when some ceremonies of a special nature was in progress, in which the squaws did not take part and to which the whites were not welcome. There were rows of Kettles suspended over fires on horizontal poles, in which dogs were cooking with their feet protruding.
Four dogs were seen tied back to back around the truck of a tree, by strands of bark about their necks and bodies, while their protruding feet were ornamented with strips of colored cloth. The visitors were informed the proceeding were those of a secret society.
Black Hawk’s trip through the east as a captive, after the defeat at Bad Axe, occurred while Mrs. McFall was still in New Jersey, and she saw him in that occasion. She does not recall ever having seen Keokuk to know him, but she remembers to have seem many chiefs, and he was probably among them, as the agency for his band was nearby.
Dr. McFall and his wife are still further connected with the history of Rock Island County by the fact that Dr. McFall served sometime in the Iowa Gray Beard regiment in the civil war and was for a time stationed at the military prison on Rock Island, serving as assistant to the regimental surgeon. During this time, Mrs. McFall lived at the barracks on the Island.
She remembers the incident of the stockade fence blowing down and the escape of a number of prisoners, some of whom were not recaptured.
Speaking of her residence in Chicago in the 30s, she says her husband was offered a lot on Lake Street, within the present loop, for his horse and saddle. To him the horse appeared worth the most, so he declined the offer.
Of Marengo, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois
Who Died 31 JAN 1917 at Marengo, Iowa
Marengo Republican
07 FEB 1917
Four Iowa County Pioneers Called By The Grim Reaper
-------------------------------------
Mrs. M’Fall Laid To Rest
-------------------------------------
Marengo’s Oldest Citizen, Who Came Here in 1855, Dies at Age 94
-------------------------------------
Mrs. Catherine Knott McFall, Marengo’s oldest citizen, who once entertained Abraham Lincoln, died at the home of her son, W.L. McFall of this city Wednesday, Jan. 31st, at the age of 94 years.
[Per Wikipedia, Marengo served as the county seat of Iowa County since 1845 when Marengo was first laid out. Marengo was later platted in 1847, but was not incorporated until July 1859. The population was 50 in 1850, not long before the McFall family arrived]
She was born in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, March 2nd, 1822, and after spending the early part of her girlhood there she came with her parents to Farmer City, Ill., and on June 4th, 1837 she married to Dr. W. H. McFall. To this union were born eleven children, six of whom proceeded her to the spirit world.
[Per Wikipedia, Ocean Grove was not founded until 1869.“Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as an outgrowth of the camp meeting movement in the United States, when a group of Methodist clergymen, led by William B. Osborn and Ellwood H. Stokes, formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to develop and operate a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey seashore”]
[Per Wikipedia regarding Farmers City, Illinois “The westward push of trader and adventurers led to settlers around 1825”.
“The area to the south of Hurley's Grove solidified as a permanent settlement, within the wooded areas safety. North of the primary area became known as Mt. Pleasant. Subdivision of the land divided the area into 14 blocks, with a central public square; the first residence built was that of Nathan Clearwater, and William McFall opened a store in 1837. Mail delivery was established in 1837, but with another Mt. Pleasant in the state, the name changed to Santa Anna.
Dewitt County was part of the Eighth Judicial District in the early 1850s, and lawyer Abraham Lincoln traveled in the area many times on his circuit; he was well respected by county residents.[4] C. H. Moore House in nearby Clinton is the former residence of Lincoln's co-counsel in various cases”
In the year 1855 they came to Marengo, Iowa, and since that time Mrs. McFall has lived here with the exception of three years in Hastings, Neb., and nine years in the city of Chicago. During their stay in Chicago her husband, Dr. McFall, was in a street car accident, receiving injuries from which he died, and following his death Mrs. McFall returned to Marengo, where she has since resided until the time of her death, which occurred Jan. 31st, 1917, when in the presence of part of her family, she passed peacefully to the great beyond.
Mrs. McFall knew something of the hardships, loneliness and privations of the war times, as her husband was in the Blackhawk, and the Civil war, but in the midst of it all she was always cheerful, and courageous. She was raised a Methodist, and always held to that branch of the church, her home was always open to the ministers of the gospel, and they frequently were entertained there.
Mrs. McFall was a woman of extraordinary physical and mental strength, and was often appealed to by those who were in search of accurate information regarding some past event in connection with the history of Marengo. She was among the earliest settlers of this city, and was the oldest resident among us at the time of her death. Had she lived one month longer she would have been ninety-five years of age. Mrs. McFall was always ready to do her part, when able, to assist those in trouble.
She leaves to mourn their loss, one daughter, and four sons, Mrs. M.E. Flaugher [Martha Ella (McFall) Flaugher, of LeMars, Iowa, D. H. McFall [David Harrison McFall], of Cody, Wyoming, W. L. McFall [William Lawrence McFall] of Marengo, C. V. McFall {Charles Vance McFall] of Marengo and H.W. McFall [Henry Clay McFall] of Chicago, Ill. Beside these, there are six grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and a host of friends.
Funeral services were held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, conducted by Rev. George E. Monkman, assisted by Rev. Craig G. Whitsitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church on Friday, February 2nd, at 2 o’clock, and her remains were laid to rest in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.
The following excerpts from article publish October 15, 1916, in Rock Island Dailey Union, from the pen of Orin S. Holt, who superintended the construction of Marengo’s sewer system, furnish interesting sidelights on the life of this good woman.
Dr. McFall and his wife were both personally acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. McFall recalls that on one occasion, Lincoln, Judge David Davis and two others stopper for dinner at her father’s home, as they were enroute to Urbana.
[Judge David Davis (1815-1886) settled at Bloomington, IL. where he practice law in 1835. He served in State legislature in 1845. Davis also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1845 and a delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in McLean County, 1847. From 1848 to 1862, Davis preside over the court of the Illinois Eighth Circuit, the same circuit where his friend, attorney Abraham Lincoln, was practicing. David also served as Lincoln’s campaign manager during the 1860 presidential election. He was nominated by Lincoln and served in the US Supreme Court from 1862 until 1877.]
Lincoln was the last to the table and Davis chided him for being tardy. To this Lincoln replied that he would not sit down to eat until he knew from personal inspection that his horse was properly fed and cared for.
She further recalls that Lincoln wore on that occasion a long loose black coat and high leggings, and that he was badly spattered with mud, which her brother assisted in removing. She says no words can describe how middy it sometimes was in that part of Illinois in those days.
D. McFall enlisted in the militia during the Black Howk war of 1832, and served through the campaign, and in recognition received warrants for 160 acres of government land.
After his marriage in 1837, he with his wife removed to Chicago, where he studied medicine for three years after which he moved to Morris, Ill., where he practice several years, later returning to the vicinity of his home near Bloomington, Ill.
[Per Wikipedia the town of Chicago was organized 12 AUG 1833 with a population of 200. The city of Chicago was actually incorporated 04 MAR 1837, which is about the time William McFall first showed up in Chicago.]
In 1855 he removed to Marengo, Iowa county, Iowa, on the Iowa River, the same locality to which Keokuk’s band of Indians came after they left Illinois. Here again the McFalls underwent the hardships of frontier life.
Mrs. McFall saw much of the Indians in Iowa, as she had in Illinois. She recalls the story of Shabbanos’ ride, to warn the whites of the threatened attack of Black Hawk’s band, as related by her father.
[Chief Benjamin Shabbona (1775 Will County, Illinois-1859 Seneca, Grundry County, Illinois) was a friend of the white man and as such often clashed with his Indian peers]
At one time when enroute with her father, they stopped at a blacksmith shop near Ottawa, Ill., for repairs and found Shabbano there on the same errand. He was accompanied by his son, who played with Mrs. McFall’s brother while they waited.
Mrs. McFall recalls a visit to a Fox Indian camp near Marengo, when some ceremonies of a special nature was in progress, in which the squaws did not take part and to which the whites were not welcome. There were rows of Kettles suspended over fires on horizontal poles, in which dogs were cooking with their feet protruding.
Four dogs were seen tied back to back around the truck of a tree, by strands of bark about their necks and bodies, while their protruding feet were ornamented with strips of colored cloth. The visitors were informed the proceeding were those of a secret society.
Black Hawk’s trip through the east as a captive, after the defeat at Bad Axe, occurred while Mrs. McFall was still in New Jersey, and she saw him in that occasion. She does not recall ever having seen Keokuk to know him, but she remembers to have seem many chiefs, and he was probably among them, as the agency for his band was nearby.
Dr. McFall and his wife are still further connected with the history of Rock Island County by the fact that Dr. McFall served sometime in the Iowa Gray Beard regiment in the civil war and was for a time stationed at the military prison on Rock Island, serving as assistant to the regimental surgeon. During this time, Mrs. McFall lived at the barracks on the Island.
She remembers the incident of the stockade fence blowing down and the escape of a number of prisoners, some of whom were not recaptured.
Speaking of her residence in Chicago in the 30s, she says her husband was offered a lot on Lake Street, within the present loop, for his horse and saddle. To him the horse appeared worth the most, so he declined the offer.
Inscription
Mother
Gravesite Details
There is no McFall headstone, merely a round granite stone that say Mother.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
