Cantrall, Charles S.

Born: 1826-01-06 Sangamon County, Illinois

Died: 1885-12-19 Sangamon County, Illinois

Alternate name: Cantrill, Cantral, Cantrell

Born near Cantrall, Illinois, Charles S. Cantrall grew up on his father's farm and attended what little schooling that was available locally at the time. Although a childhood fall eventually led to the amputation of his left leg, he lived a full and active life as a farmer, Mason, member of the local Christian Church, county constable, political delegate, merchant, and an ardent advocate of temperance. In January 1845, he married Emily M. Vandergrift, with whom he had two children. In 1847, he ran in the Sangamon County election as a Whig and won a position as county constable. By 1850, he was doing well enough that he owned $1,800 in real estate. After his wife Emily died in January 1852, he married Lucy Swearengin in June 1852. She died less than a year later, after giving birth to their first child together. He remarried in April 1855, to Harriet A. Graham. They had at least nine children together. In 1857, he ran unsuccessfully for Sangamon County assessor and treasurer. He remained politically active, however, and won positions in 1860 as a delegate for both the Republican County Convention and Republican State Convention. By that time, he was working as a retail dealer. He lived in Illiopolis, Illinois until his death.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 182; Carmi G. Cantrell, The Cantrell Family (Springfield, IL: Illinois State Register, 1898), 60; Joseph Wallace, Past and Present of the City of Springfield and Sangamon County Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1904), 886; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 6 August 1847, 3:3; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 251; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 21 October 1857, 3:1; 30 April 1860, 3:2; 12 May 1860, 2:3; U.S., IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2008); Gravestone, Riverside Cemetery, Illiopolis, IL.