Kellar, Abraham H.

Born: 1788-09-18 Virginia

Died: 1855-07-28 Moultrie County, Illinois

Flourished: Moultrie County, Illinois

About 1795, Kellar moved with his family from Tennessee to Kentucky, where he married Nancy J. Hitt around 1810. In the fall of 1832, Kellar and his family migrated to a part of Macon County, Illinois, that later became Moultrie County, and there they began farming. Kellar built the first gristmill in the area, which he replaced with an improved one in 1838 and again in 1844. He was a charter member and elder of the Christian Church in Lovington, Illinois. He served as a justice of the peace in the Lovington district and as one of Moultrie County's first commissioners, in which capacity he served until 1848, when the new state constitution reorganized local governments. He was familiarly known as "Hickory" because of his intense loyalty to the Democratic Party. In 1850, Kellar owned real estate worth $3,000.

Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink & McDonough, 1881), 67, 74, 142-43, 197, 222-23; Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois (Chicago: Biographical, 1891), 653-54; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Moultrie County, IL, 387; Gravestone, Keller Cemetery, Lovington, IL.