Gill, James

Born: 1798-02-26 Montgomery County, Kentucky

Died: 1884-09-26 Cumberland County, Illinois

Flourished: Cumberland County, Illinois

James Gill was a prosperous farmer, civic leader, and pioneer of Eastern Illinois. In 1814, he moved from his native state to the Illinois Territory, settling at Palestine on the Wabash River. For seven years, Gill engaged in flat boating between Vincennes, Indiana and New Orleans. In December 1829, he married Didama Neal, with whom he had six children. In 1830, Gill moved to Coles County, Illinois, purchasing land in the southern part of the country that would eventually become part of Cumberland County. Throughout the 1830s, he purchased land in Pleasant Grove and Hutton townships in Coles County and southward, eventually amassing 1,800 acres. Gill was one of the first justices of the peace for Hutton Township. From 1841 to 1843, he served as county commissioner for Coles County. He was among the first county commissioners of Cumberland County. In 1850, he was farming and owned real estate valued at $7,250. By 1860, he owned real estate valued at $3,000 and had a personal estate of $1,000. One of his sons served in the Union Army and another in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 1837 and 1847, Abraham Lincoln represented Gill in Coles County Justice of the Peace Court.

Gravestone, Ryan Cemetery, Cumberland County, IL; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Coles County, 291:113, 158, 229, 255, Cumberland County, 291:42, 49, 66, 113, 158, 180, 246, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Crawford County, 27 December 1829, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and Biographical (Chicago: F. A. Battey, 1884), 351; George B. Balch to Jesse W. Weik, [1885], Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis, eds., Herndon’s Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998), 595; The History of Coles County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 246, 440; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Hurricane, Cumberland County, IL, 273; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Hurricane, Cumberland County, IL, 167; For Lincoln's involvement in representing Gill, search, "Gill, James," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org.