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James QUERREY
James Querrey is one of the pioneers and early settlers of Macon county.
He was born in what is now known Western Virginia, October 18th, 1810. The Querry
family are of French descent. Their ancestors came to America prior to the revolutionary
war. Elisha Querrey, the father of James, was a soldier of the revolution, and served his
country for seven years and six months in that memorable struggle. He afterwards settled
in Pennsylvania, and then moved to Virginia, and died in that state. He married Sarah Stediek,
a native of Pennsylvania. By this marriage there were nine children--six sons and three
daughters. James is among the younger children; he remained at home until he was fourteen
years of age, when he started out to learn the blacksmith trade. When in his eighteenth year,
being young and ambitious and desirous of seeing the west, of which he had heard much, he
joined a family who were coming to Illinois. He, in company with them, landed in Clinton
county, Illinois, April 1st, 1828. Mr. Querry remained there until January 2d, 1831, when
he came to Macon county, landing here on the fifth of the same month. He stopped in Decatur
and worked at the carpenter trade. He afterwards purchased a farm near the town and rented
it out, and continued at his trade. He remained there until 1858, when he sold out and purchased
two hundred and seventy acres of land in section 24, T. 18, R. 3, which he improved, and here
he has continued to reside up to the present time. On the 8th January, 1833, he was united in
marriage to Miss Elizabeth S. Williams. Her parents, Philip D. and Jane Williams, were among
the earliest settlers of Macon county; he was born in Connecticut, and his wife in Virginia.
Before her marriage she was a Bryant. Mr. Williams removed from Pittsylvania county, Va.,
to Illinois in the fall of 1825, and settled on Stevens' Creek, two miles north of Decatur.
There were then but nine families on the north side of the Sangamon river, in what is now
Macon county. Mr. Williams had the honor of building the first house in Decatur. There
have been born to James and Elizabeth S. Querrey thirteen children, six of whom are living.
Two of his sons were soldiers in the late war. Bartlett D. enlisted for three years in Co.
"L" Tenth Cavalry; and Eri S. was for three years a private in the 116th Regiment Illinois
Vols. The names of the other children are: Miriam K., wife of W.J. Myers; Levina Belle, Charles
B., and Warner C. Querrey; Sarah J., wife of E.A. Piper. Olive Frances, Ira, and Miriam and
Aquilla E. are dead. Three others died in infancy. Mrs. Querrey had been a consistent member
of the Christian Church for over thirty years. Politically Mr. Querrey is a republican.
His first vote was cast for Andrew Jackson in 1828: he afterwards joined the whig party, and
in 1860 voted for Abraham Lincoln, and since that time has been a republican. He is now
among the older settlers living in the county, having been a resident for nearly fifty years.
History of Macon Co, IL, 1880 - p. 197
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