THE NOBLES AND THE RADERS Being a Compilation of Members and Descendents of the NOBLE AND RADER FAMILIES Who were amongst the earliest Pioneer Settlers of Mercer County, Illinois DATE MICROFILMED Oct- ), fltfp GENEALOGICALSOO^ ITE M #____ PROJECT and G. S. R n_L # CALL # YU_p>/(PP , 35. )_}_£> JUN 111988 V by: Robert Melville Danford New York City July 1,1967 Limited Private Edition One copy to each surviving Grandchild and Great Grandchild of DAVID JOHNSON and SARAH RADER NOBLE with the compliments and best wishes of the three sons of DORA NOBLE DANFORD Note: A small number of additional copies have been produced to present to a few selected libraries and to hold for interested members of the NOBLE and RADER families until the supply is exhausted. They will be sold on a first come first served basis so long as they last and at below actual book cost, and postage free. These books are held by Dr. T. N. Danford, 512 NE Second Street, Aledo, Illinois, 61231. CONTENTS page Dedication 1 Acknowledgment 2 Introductory and Prefatory 3 The NOBLE Family 17 DAVID JOHNSON and SARAH RADER NOBLE 31 CHILDREN of David Johnson and Sarah Rader Noble MELISSA 36 JOHN MONROE 39 LEROY 73 HARVEY 89 NATHAN 105 SARAH ELIZABETH 123 DORA 139 ROBERT V 147 JAMES JOHNSON 155 The RADER Family 163 CONCLUSION 206 INDEX 207 Dedicated to THE MEMORY of MELISSA NOBLE FLEMING 'Aunt Melissa' who knew more about her family than any other member of it, and whose life was a rare example of selfless and devoted service to others ACKNOWLEDGMENT My especial thanks are due to all living husbands and wives listed in this publication, for their response to my letters requesting the data that are herein made of record. This response was very nearly 100% and manifested friendly interest and kindly co-operation. Very especial thanks are due to HAROLD AKER NOBLE (Uncle John's family). He with his mother had undertaken a study of the family many years ago and as a result he had an immense amount of data that he made available for this publication. Moreover he had developed a skill for genealogy, and he kept that skill in operation during the preparation of this study. Recent research by him uncovered such valuable new information as the birth, marriage and death dates of DAVID and SARAH FRY NOBLE. Though this work was begun back about 1900, little was done on it until about 1960. Then as it proceeded, especially valuable helpers were found in all the families of the sons and daugh­ ters of DAVID JOHNSON and SARAH RADER NOBLE. They afforded help so valuable as to merit special mention here. These helpers were: In the JOHN MONROE NOBLE Family: In addition to HAROLD AKER NOBLE, RUTH FRANK HALLAND, EMERSON LEE KNISPEL, ORIN WESLEY GUMBRILL, MILDRED NOBLE COOK, CLARA NOBLE PORTER, HELEN PORTER AYRES, MARY JOHNSON MILLER, RAY EMERSON NOBLE AND DWIGHT MONROE NOBLE. In the LEROY NOBLE Family: RUTH STEVENS HARRIS, HAROLD C. STEVENS, RACHEL NOBLE HOLMES, WARREN NICHOLSON NOBLE and LEROY KLDDOO NOBLE. In the HARVEY NOBLE Family: RUTH GILMORE STRONKS, VERNE SHAW MESSER, LOREZE SHAW RICHARDSON, HATTIE CHRISTENSEN NOBLE and HARVARD NEWTON NOBLE. In the NATHAN NOBLE Family: LUCILE NOBLE THOMPSON, LOIS NOBLE SIMPSON, BETTY HENDERSON BRUCE, ROBERT JOSEPH NOBLE and EDYTHE NOBLE BASHAM. In the SARAH NOBLE GODING Family: ELIZABETH McMURTRY SNYDER, CHARLOTTE VANCLEVE McKEOWN, MARGARET VAN CL EVE, KAREEN BISHOPRIC K, CAROL STEVENS HANCOCK and BESSIE SHAW GODING. In the DORA NOBLE DANFORD Family: FRED DWIGHT DANFORD and THORNTON NOBLE DANFORD. In the ROBERT V. NOBLE Family: STACY GRAINGER ADAMS. In the JAMES JOHNSON NOBLE Family: GERALD CLEVELAND BALDWIN and JEANNE EMPSON NICHOLSON. You air have my warmest thanks and deepest appreciation. Robert Melville Danford THE NOBLES AND THE RADERS PIONEER SETTLERS OF MERCER COUNTY ILLINOIS Introductory and Prefatory The desire to describe a childhood that afforded not only a wonderful happiness for the child­ ren involved, but also their exposure to a wholesome, industrious and highly devout atmosphere during the formative period of their lives, impelled me to picture insofar as I am able the child­ hood of the grandchildren of DAVID JOHNSON and SARAH RADER NOBLE. Down through the years, with urban life on an impressive increase, and rural life on as great and lamentable a decline, it has many times occurred to me that such families and such happi­ ness are rarely found in today's crowded and hustling age. On completing this dissertation however, led on as was the case by one happy memory after another, I discover that although it may very well reflect the kind of childhood that we all en­ joyed together, it will be pronounced more of an autobiography than the story of a family. How­ ever, rather than making an attempt to rewrite and modify it, may I charge that the reader, whoever he or she may be, is not required to read it either in whole or in part, but is at perfect liberty to skip it and to charge the pleasure of reciting it to one who, as the oldest surviving member of the Golden Wedding Group, is at an appropriate age to be living in his second child­ hood! To somewhat clarify the story that follows, a summary outline of the family is presented herewith: MY FAMILY My mother was DORA NOBLE, and her family was as follows: DAVID JOHNSON NOBLE, b. May 1, 1818 Fayette County, Indiana d. December 11, 1897 Old Homestead New Boston, Illinois aged 79 years, 7 months and 10 days, m. July 5, 1840 New Boston, Illinois, to SARAH RADER, who was b. March 4, 1818 Rockingham County, Virginia, and who d. January 27, 1891 Old Homestead New Boston, Illinois aged 72 years, 10 months and 23 days. Issue: The children of this union, all born on the Old Homestead farm in New Boston Township of Mercer County, Illinois, were: 1. MELISSA, b. December 4, 1842 d. January 29, 1931 Joy, Illinois aged 88 years, 1 month and 25 days. 2. JOHN MONROE, b. May 17, 1844 d. July 10, 1923 Albion, Michigan aged 79 years, 1 month and 23 days. 3. LEROY, b. February 9, 1846; d. February 26, 1932 Joy, Illinois aged 86 years, 17 days. 4. DAVID L.: 1847 1852 5. HARVEY, b. August 26, 1849 d. January 28, 1934 Mitchell, South Dakota aged 84 years, 5 months and 2 days. 6. NATHAN, b. June 17, 1851 d. September 15, 1928 Mayo Clinic, Minnesota aged 77 years, 2 months and 28 days. 7. SARAH ELIZABETH, b. May 31, 1853 d. February 12, 1933 Portland, Oregon aged 79 years, 8 months and 11 days. 8. DORA, b. April 11, 1855 d. August 24, 1894 On a farm New Boston, Illinois aged 39 years, 4 months and 13 days. 9. ROBERT V., b. September 22, 1857 d. May 12, 1928 Robbins, Tennessee aged 70 years, 7 months and 20 days. 10. JAMES JOHNSON, b. October 23, 1859 d. May 19, 1951 Hospital in Davenport, Iowa aged 91 years, 6 months and 26 days. My father was MELVILLE COX DANFORD, and his family was as follows: WILLIAM DANFORD, b. March 21, 1807 Butler County, Ohio d. July 27, 1850 Enroute to California by ox-train aged 43 years, 4 months and six days, m. September 13, 1845 New Boston, Illinois, to MARY ALYEA, who was b. May 31, 1823 Butler County, Ohio, and who d. October 24, 1883 Willits Homestead on the Bluff, New Boston, Illinois aged 60 years, 4 months and 23 days. Issue: m. (1) The children of this union were: 1. WILLIAM BEVERLY DANFORD. b. June 29, 1846 in Louisiana, and who d. July 21, 1913 San Diego, California aged 67 years and 22 days. 2. MELVILLE COX DANFORD, b. September 22, 1847 New Boston, Illinois d. December 29, 1921 Aledo, Illinois aged 74 years, 3 months and 7 days. 3. JOSEPH ALYEA DANFORD, b. December 5, 1848 New Boston, Illinois d. October 17, 1922 Winfield, Kansas aged 73 years, 10 months and 12 days. 4. MOZART DANFORD, b. March 16, 1850 New Boston, Illinois d. April, 1931 Berkeley, California aged 81 years and about 1 month. MARY ALYEA DANFORD, widow, was married at New Boston, Illinois, on March 10, 1852 to, m. (2) WILLIAM WILLITS, who was b. January 7, 1802 Hocking County, Ohio d. September 1, 1871 New Boston, Illinois aged 69 years, 7 months and 24 days. Issue: m. (2) The children of this union were: 1. VIENNA CHARIAH WILLITS, b. January 19, 1853 d. October 10, 1867 New Boston, Illinois aged 14 years, 8 months and 21 days. 2. ARTHUR WILLITS, b. April 23, 1855 New Boston, Illinois d. March 22, 1951 Winterset, Iowa aged 95 years, 10 months and 29 days. 3. SILAS DEMENT WILLITS, b. February 26, 1857 New Boston, Illinois d. July 28, 1923 Jacksonville, Florida aged 66 years, 5 months and 2 days. 4. CLARENCE WILLITS, b. April 4, 1859 New Boston, Illinois d. May 21, 1925 Harvey, Illinois aged 66 years, 1 month and 17 days. 5. FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE WILLITS, b. September 24, 1861 New Boston, Illinois d. May 28, 1940 Flushing, Long Island, New York aged 78 years, 8 months and 4 days. My cousins in the NOBLE, DANFORD and WILLITS families numbered some 59, and except for John and Nathan Noble who had married and left Mercer County by the early 1870's, all were settled in a comparatively restricted area of land that the families had homesteaded from the government in the 1830's early after the Black Hawk War.