Watkins, Samuel

Born: 1812-02-25 Indiana

Died: 1892-02-18 Menard County, Illinois

Flourished: 1821-1834 Sangamon County, Illinois

Watkins moved to what became Menard County, Illinois, in 1821, and in 1832, he began acquiring large tracts of public lands in what would become the northwest part of the county. In 1850, Watkins was farming in Menard County and owned real estate valued at $3,000. By 1860, he owned real estate valued at $12,765 and had a personal estate of $3,240.

Gravestone, Oakford Cemetery, Oakford, IL; R. D. Miller, Past and Present of Menard County, Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1905), 89; Election Returns for New Salem Precinct in Sangamon County, Illinois; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Menard County, 68:128, 134, 180, 199; 70:170, 174, 181, 221, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Menard County, IL, 319; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Menard County, IL, 80.