Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Moffett, John B.

Born: 1800-10-29 Bath County, Kentucky

Died: 1862-09-15 Macon County, Illinois

John B. Moffett was a merchant and pioneer settler of Sangamon County, Illinois. In 1821, he married Martha Morgan in Butler County, Ohio. He arrived in Sangamon County in the 1820s, marrying Polly Ann Taylor in May 1827. Moffett and his wife settled in Springfield, where Moffett entered into partnership with J. H. Smith and became a director of the Springfield Auxiliary Bible Society. Moffett dissolved his partnership with Smith in 1833, and between 1833 and 1850, he had several partnerships in mercantile enterprises. Moffett and his father-in-law, David S. Taylor, provided building and construction materials for the Sangamon County Courthouse. In 1849, Moffett and partner Jonas G. Johnson were dealers in dry goods, groceries, and patent medicines. He next partnered with Richard P. Snow and James L. Hill to form Snow, Hill & Company. Moffett also owned a steam saw and grist mill in Rushville, Illinois. Moffett sold his interest in the firm to Snow and Hill in February 1850, and in September 1850, he married Nancy McDowell. In 1850, Moffett was a farmer in Christian County, Illinois, and owned real estate valued at $25,000. By 1860, he was farming in Blue Mound, Illinois, and owned real property valued at $30,000 and a personal estate of $2,000.

Family Genealogy, n.d.; Account Book, n.d., both in John Bigham Moffett Papers, SC 2282, Manuscript Division, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL; Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, 20 July 1821, Butler County (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2016); Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Sangamon County, 17 May 1827; Schuyler County, 26 September 1850, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 19 January 1832, 3:5; 12 January 1833, 3:3; Illinois Journal (Springfield), 12 September 1849, 2:3; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 12 February 1850, 3:1; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 298; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 555; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Christian County, IL, 155; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Blue Mound, Macon County, IL, 256; Gravestone, Brown Cemetery, Blue Mound, IL.