Stockwell, Alanson

Born: 1804-12-23 Vermont

Died: 1879-12-08 Bement, Illinois

Alanson Stockwell was a physician and surgeon. In 1836, Stockwell moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, settling in Chatham, where he became the first doctor in the area. With few patients to tend, he was forced to supplement his income by working as a mechanic and day laborer. Stockwell soon left Sangamon County for Tazewell County, opening a medical practice in Tremont. In April 1839, he married Elizabeth Kellogg. Stockwell was among the organizers of the Congregational Church in Tremont, and in 1848, he served on the committee that contracted to erect the first permanent building for the congregation. In 1850, Stockwell was practicing medicine in Tremont and owned $600 in real property. In 1859, Stockwell moved his medical practice from Tremont to El Paso, Illinois. In 1860, he was practicing in El Paso and owned real property valued at $5,000 and had a personal estate of $500. During the Civil War, Alanson served as assistant surgeon for the Fourth Regiment, U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery.

Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 2 April 1836, 2:7; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 833; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Tazewell County, 3 April 1839, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Sixth Census of the United States (1840), Tazewell County, IL, 16; Ben C. Allensworth, ed., History of Tazewell County (Chicago: Munsell, 1905), 2:847; Patron's Directory for Woodford County 1873 Illinois Atlas, accessed 1 September 2020, http://genealogytrails.com/ill/woodford/1873Atlas2.html; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Tremont, Tazewell County, IL, 141; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), El Paso, Woodford County, IL, 286; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Piatt County, 8 December 1879, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; N. A. Strait, comp., Roster of All Regimental Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons in the Late War, with their Service, and Last-Known Post-Office Address (Washington, DC: N. A. Strait, 1882), 287; Gravestone, Bement Cemetery, Bement, IL.