McGinnis, David

Born: 1798-XX-XX Mercer County, Kentucky

Died: 1867-07-02 Sangamon County, Illinois

Flourished:

McGinnis married Eliza Gibson in Boone County, Kentucky, in 1820. The couple had three children while residing in Boone County. In 1826, David travelled to Sangamon County, Illinois, looking for a location for a homestead. In November 1827, he moved his family to Sangamon County, purchasing a little over 400 acres of public land southwest of Springfield. In 1828, he moved his family to what would become Island Grove Township, where he bought approximately 320 acres of public land. David and Eliza Gibson had six additional children in Sangamon County. He built a brick house, the first built in Sangamon County outside of Springfield. David McGinnis became a prominent landowner, farmer, and inventor, inventing a device for guiding prairie plows with wheels and a lever. In 1850, he owned real estate valued at $8,000. In 1844, Eliza McGinnis died, and in 1851, David married again, wedding Sally M. King. By 1860, McGinnis owned real and personal property valued at $30,500.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Sangamon County, 68:36, 47, 48, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 499-500; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Sangamon County, IL, 178; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Sangamon County, IL, 196.