Updike, Richard S.

Born: 1789-XX-XX Rhode Island

Died: 1876-XX-XX Tazewell County, Illinois

Flourished: Tremont, Illinois

Richard S. Updike was a town official, landowner, merchant, and postmaster. Updike spent his early years in his native state. In January 1811, he married Mary S. Whitman. Updike moved from Rhode Island to Tazewell County, Illinois, in the 1830s, settling in Tremont. When voters agreed to incorporate Tremont as a town in 1836, Updike was among those elected to be the first town trustees. He became a prominent landowner, purchasing approximately 640 acres of public land in Tazewell and Woodford counties in 1836 alone. He served as postmaster of Tremont from February 1848 to March 1849. In 1850, Updike was living in Tremont and owned real property valued at $3,000. By 1860, Updike was living in Spring Lake Township and owned real estate valued at $15,000 and had a personal estate of $2,000.

History of Tazewell County Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 653; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Tazewell County, 69:80; Woodford County, 69:58, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Fitz Henry Warren to Abraham Lincoln; Fitz Henry Warren to Abraham Lincoln; James N. Arnold, Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636–1850 (Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical, 1909), 18:131; U.S. Census Office, Fifth Census of the United States (1830), Providence, Providence County, RI, 100; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Tremont, Tazewell County, IL, 137; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Spring Lake, Tazewell County, IL, 296; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1845-1855, 18:186, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Gravestone, Mount Hope Cemetery, Tremont, IL.