Oatman, James R.

Born: 1817-12-27 Indiana

Died: 1899-01-15 Douglas County, Kansas

Flourished: Woodford County, Illinois

James R. Oatman was a farmer and deacon. In December 1836, he married Letitia Ann Davidson, with whom he eventually had at least seven children. In 1850, he was farming in Woodford County, Illinois and owned $1,500 in real estate. In 1855, he was elected deacon of the Church of Christ, four miles northwest of Eureka, Illinois. By 1860, he lived in Eureka and owned $11,000 in real estate and another $1,000 in personal property.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Tazewell County, 15 December 1836, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Woodford County, IL, 454; Nathaniel S. Haynes, History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois, 1819-1914 (Cincinnati: Standard, 1915), 450; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Eureka, Woodford County, IL, 196; U.S. Census Office, Ninth Census of the United States (1870), Cedar County, MO, 30; Gravestone, Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence, KS.