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 ILLIAM G. WADDILL, of Mattoon Township, and the oldest living settler of Coles County, was born in Washington County, E. Tenn., Nov. 7, 1804, and was the eldest of eleven children included in the family of Jonathan and Hannah (Greenway) Waddill. The former, also a native of Tennessee, was the son of John and Rachel (Twee) Waddill, who were of Scotch and Irish ancestry. They were among the early settlers of East Tennessee, where they spent the last years of their life, the grandfather dying at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. The mother of our subject was the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Humphreys) Greenway, natives respectively of New Jersey and Tennessee. Both grandfathers served in the Revolutionary War. Jonathan Waddill was reared to farm pursuits, which he followed all his life, with the exception of the time he served as Captain in the War of 1812, being under the direct command of Gen. Jackson. Afterward he returned to his native State, where, with his worthy wife, he spent the remainder of his days. Our subject continued under the home roof until nearly twenty-one years of age, and was married on the 29th of June, 1825, to Miss Elizabeth Burgner, a native of his own county, and the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Cline) Burgner, of Rockingham County, Va. The young people located on a farm which Mr. W. had purchased, and where they remained eleven years. Mr. W. then sold out with the intention of migrating to the North, and coming to this county purchased eighty acres of wild land in Mattoon Township. This he sold not long afterward for a more desirable tract of the same extent, and which included both prairie and timber. Here in due time he established a comfortable home, which he still occupies. Besides general farming he has engaged considerably in stock-raising and has been fairly prosperous in his labors. When Mr. Waddill first came to this section the nearest mill was twenty miles away. Neighbors were few and far between, and deer, wolves and other wild game were plentiful. The wolves robbed them of their fowls at night and frequently howled close to their cabin door. Our subject, however, was not dismayed by any of these things, but fought his way bravely through difficulty and hard-ship, and with very few changes of residence has spent a lifetime in the same community, and occupied his present dwelling for a period of forty-eight years. His first great affliction occurred on the 4th of September, 1854, when death deprived the home circle of the faithful and affectionate wife and mother, who departed hence and left a family of eight children. These were named respectively Jonathan, Hannah Pamelia, John B., Elizabeth Caroline, Mary Sophia, William Henry, Elizabeth Ann and Thomas Chamberlin. Of these but four are now living, namely, John B., William H., Sophia and Pamelia. Mr. Waddill after the death of the mother kept his family together as well as he could for the year following, and was then married, Aug. 26, 1855, to Miss Julia A., the eldest child of Andrew and Sarah (Moore) Bell, who were natives of East Tennessee, and the parents of twelve children. Of this union there. were born four children, two now living Charles T. and Andrew E. The eldest died unnamed, and Dora passed away when an interesting girl fourteen years of age. Andrew married Miss Louetta Morris, and remains upon the homestead, which he manages for his father. Mr. Waddill is a church member, and when a young man affiliated with the Whig party. He now takes no part in politics. |
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