Eastman, Asa

Born: 1802-09-12 Winthrop, Maine

Died: 1887-10-25 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: 1840-1887 Sangamon County, Illinois

In 1831, Eastman moved to Illinois and settled initially in Waverly. In 1835, he helped to lay out the town of Auburn, and three years later he constructed the first steam gristmill in Sangamon County on a stream near Auburn. In 1837, he married Susan Tanner, with whom he had two children. In 1840, Eastman moved his family to Auburn. In 1841, he moved to Springfield, where he partnered with James L. Lamb in a steam flouring mill. In 1865, Eastman built the only grain elevator in Springfield. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Leland Hotel in Springfield.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 276-77; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 749; Gravestone, Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL.