James Allen Pruitt ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7}

   FamilySearch ID: KJ8X-CFB.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Census in 1840 in , Tippecanoe, IN. ¹⁰ The 1840 census recorded John R. Pruitt, living as neighbor to his wife Barbara's father John Beeker, with this household:
Home in 1840: Tippecanoe, Indiana
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: 3
Free White Persons - Males - 30 thru 39: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39: 1
Persons Employed in Agriculture: 1
Free White Persons - Under 20: 6
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49: 2
Total Free White Persons: 8.

2. Census in 1850 in Jefferson Township, Carroll, IN. ¹¹ The 1850 census recorded John Pruett, farmer, 45, born in Kentucky, living with his family all born in Indiana: wife Barbara, 41; Allen, 17; Daniel, 14; William H., 12; John B. 10; Elizabeth, 8; Joseph, 6; Randolph, 3; and Jane, 1. John's real estate was valued at $1500.
.

3. Arrival: 1856, in Milford, Iroquois, IL. ¹

4. 80 acres on section 3 in 1859 in Fountain Creek Township, Iroquois, IL. ¹

5. Census in 1860 in Ash Grove Township, Iroquois, IL. ¹² The 1860 census recorded James A. Pruett, farmer, 28, living with wife Barbara, 24; Mary M., 2; and son Ely, 1. The parents were born in Indiana and children in Illinois. The post office was Ash Grove.

6. 105 acres in section 31 in 1862 in Milford Township, Iroquois, IL. ¹

7. Census in 1870 in Milford, Iroquois, IL. ¹³ The 1870 census recorded James A. Pruitt, farmer, 38, living with wife Barbara, 34; Mary M., 11; Elias, 10; and Annie, 6. The parents were born in Indiana and children in Illinois. The post office was Milford. On the same census page is Randolph Pruitt, farmer, 23, born in Indiana.

8. Census in 1880 in Milford Township, Iroquois, IL. ¹⁴ The 1880 census recorded James A. Pruitt, farmer, 49, living with wife Barbara, 45; Elias, farmer, 20; Alice, 16; and James H., 9. Also in the home was Mollie A. Stewart, music teacher, 34, and nephew Lincoln Laird, farm laborer, 19. James and Barbara were born in Indiana and their children in Illinois. James' father was born in Virginia and mother in North Carolina. Barbara's parents were born in Pennsylvania. Mollie was born in Indiana, her father in Kentucky and mother in Ohio. Lincoln was born in Illinois and his parents in Indiana.

9. Residence: in 1886 in Watseka, Iroquois, IL. ⁹

10. Residence: in 1891 in Goodwine, Iroquois, IL. ⁹

11. Book: Portrait and Biographical Record of Iroquois County, Illinois, 1893. ^{1 15}
JAMES A. PRUITT, a retired farmer now residing in Goodwine, well deserves representation in this volume, for he is numbered among its early pioneers, almost forty years having passed since he located in the county. He has experienced the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and has watched the growth of the county from the days of its early infancy almost, has seen its wild land transformed into beautiful homes and farms, while towns and villages have sprung up, indicating rapid progress and advancement.

Mr. Pruitt was born near La Fayette, in Tippecanoe County, Ind., August 21, 1832. His father, John R. Pruitt, was a native of Virginia, and during childhood went to Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood. He learned the trade of a shoe-maker with his father, and in 1820 emigrated to Washington County, Ind., where he was married five years later to Miss Barbara Beeker. Her grandfather was a native of Germany. In an early day he emigrated to America, locating in North Carolina, and served in the Revolutionary War, under Gen. Washington.

In 1820, he [John Pruitt] emigrated to Washington County, Ind., and seven years later to Tippecanoe County, where his death occurred. Mrs. Pruitt is still living with our subject at the age of eighty-three years.
In 1827, the parents of James emigrated to Tippecanoe County, and located among the Indians. He there followed his trade and took up Government land, on which he developed a farm. The city of La Fayette was not yet founded.

In 1856, John Pruitt came with his family to Iroquois County, and carried on merchandising in Milford until his death on the 1st of May, 1858. He took quite a prominent part in public affairs, and was honored with a number of local offices. With the Christian Church he held membership, and his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he was a Whig. Their children were as follows: Lucretia became the wife of Elias Laird, and died in this county; Simeon died in Indiana in 1850; James A. is the next younger; Daniel was in the Forty-second Illinois Infantry for three years, and is now a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, located in Ottawa, Iowa; William Henry Harrison, who served in the Twentieth Indiana Infantry for nearly four years, is now a farmer in Nebraska; John B., who wore the blue as a member of the Forty-second Illinois Infantry for three years, is now living in Watseka; Joseph, who was also in the war, owns a fine farm near Wellington; Randolph is a silversmith in Kansas; Mrs. Elizabeth Brownlee is living in Ellsworth, Wis.; Mrs. Jennie Crawford makes her home in Kansas; and Mrs. Margaret Davis completes the family.

Mr. Pruitt's earliest recollections are of a pioneer home upon a new farm, the Indians being numbered among their neighbors. His education was acquired in a school conducted on the subscription plan, which he attended for three months in the winter season, walking three miles to and from the place. When a lad of nine years, he went to live with his grandfather, and at that early age began work in the fields, following the plow. With him he remained until fourteen years of age, when he went to an uncle, for whom he worked for twenty-five cents per day. Throughout his entire life he has been connected with agriculture. In 1853, he left his uncle, and for a year was employed in a mill. In 1854, he came by wagon to Illinois, and rented a farm until the fall of 1859, when he purchased a tract of eighty acres of land on section 3, Fountain Creek Township. In 1862, he removed to section 31, Milford Township, secured one hundred and five acres, and developed and improved a fine farm, which he made his home until quite recently. There was much hard work connected with this, however, but he labored on unceasingly, and success crowned his perseverance and well-directed efforts. He was not worth $100 when he came to this county, but he now owns eight hundred acres of valuable land, besides other property. In connection with general farming he engaged in shipping cattle and hogs quite extensively.


On the 17th of March, 1857, in Carroll County, Ind., Mr. Pruitt married Miss Barbara, daughter of Henry and Magdalena Heiny. Her parents were from Pennsylvania, and were of German descent. Mrs. Pruitt was a native of Wayne County, Ind., born July 13, 1836. Four children were born of their union: Mary Magdalene, who is now the wife of Peter J. Hickman, of Nebraska; Elias, who owns a fine farm in Ash Grove Township; Annice, wife of J. M. Gillett, of Kankakee; and James H. in a railroad office of Kankakee. All of the children were born and reared in this county. They all attended the public schools, and the last-named was educated in Watseka, Hoopeston and Valparaiso, while the others attended Green Hill Seminary of Indiana.

Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt have been connected with the Christian Church since young, and are numbered among its faithful members and active workers. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic Lodge No. 168, of Milford. He cast his first Presidential vote for Winfield Scott, supporting the Whig party until 1856, when he voted for Fremont. Since that time he has affiliated with the Republican party. During the late war he was a strong friend of the Union, and aided his country and its soldiers in various ways. In 1886, he left the farm, and after spending four years in Watseka, came to Goodwine, where he now owns a handsome and commodious residence and ten acres of ground. Mr. Pruitt is familiar with pioneer life in this region, and as an early settler and a valued and representative citizen, well deserves representation in this volume. The history of his life is one of success, and his career is worthy of emulation, for it has been characterized by uprightness in all things.

12. Newspaper: McCook Tribune: Mrs. P. J. Hickman enjoyed a visit, this week, from her father and mother, Mr. And Mrs. J. A. Pruitt from Illinois. They leave for their home today, accompanied by Miss Maud, who will spend part of the summer with them., 17 Mar 1899, McCook, Red Willow, NE. ¹⁶

13. Census in 1900 in Fountain Creek Township, Iroquois, IL. ¹⁷ The 1900 census recorded James A. Pruitt, retired farmer, 68, born Aug 1832, living with wife Barbra, 64, Jul 1836; daughter Anice Hoffman, 37, Dec 1863; son-in-law Jacob Hoffman, merchant, 32, Jul 1868; and Anice's children by her first marriage: Harry Gillett, 11, Jun 1889; and Ray Gillett, 8, Jun 1892. The census columns record James and Barbra were married 43 years ago and she had birthed 4 children, all alive in 1900. Anice and Jacob were married 0 years and she had birthed 2 children both alive. James and Barba were born in Indiana, her parents in Pennsylvania, and his father in Virginia and mother in North Carolina. All others were born in Illinois. Anice's parents were born in Indiana and Jacob's in Germany. The Gillett boys' father was born in Indiana and mother in Illinois.

James married Barbara Heiny, daughter of Henry Heiny and Magdalena Schock, on 17 Mar 1857 in , Carroll, IN.¹ (Barbara Heiny was born on 13 Jul 1836 in , Wayne, IN,^{1 4 18} died on 7 Oct 1920 in Fountain Creek Township, Iroquois, IL ^{4 18} and was buried in Lovejoy Township: Floral Hill Cemetery, Iroquois, IL ¹⁸.)