Illinois Public Land Records, Cass, Scott, and Morgan Counties of Illinois.

Records collected from ancestry.com for State of Illinois that do pertain to James B Davis family as well as records that might pertain to his family. Scroll down the page past the links just below this to view the records and references. There is a link to the State of Illinois Web site below where a platt map can be downloaded. It is an Adobe Acrobat file so you will also need the Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded from the same site.

and research on James B Davis and ancestors.

Illinois Gateway State Archives, Illinois Public Land Tract Sales

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Reference newspaper article on Richard L Davis, and Edward Davis both sons of James B Davis. James B Davis and Elizabeth Hawkins had moved their family from Kentucky to Cass County, Illinois in 1835. As it turns out the article did not mention Cass County explicitly but did mean the Cass County Illinois area. Cass County was formed on 2 Mar 1837 from Morgan County, Illinois and in 1845 the boundary between Cass County and Morgan County was moved south by a few miles. 20 Jan 1821 Sagamon County was formed and included Morgan County. Morgan County was formed from Sagamon County, Illinois 31 Jan 1823.

The first land record is for the James Davis that was Julia Ann Davis father. She married Edward Davis, son of James B Davis. Both James Davis families had 13 children, came from Kentucky, and lived on farms near each other. The Illinois land record was for this James Davis.
(NAME)James Davis,(TYPE)FD,(Section)W2SE,(Sect)12,(Township)17N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)8000,(Price)125,(Total)10000,
(Purchase Date)08 Nov 1826,(Reside)069,(Volume)068,(Page)028,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)060895,
(Correction Tag)0,(County)069 = Morgan *County Code 69 = Morgan County, Illinois, this specific land is now in Cass Co, Illinois after 1845.

Next two records are believed to be James B Davis. The family didn't move to Illinois till 1835. He may have bought land before moving the family and it took about a year to ready the homestead before moving the family. Indicates the first year the family was there may have been a good one, if he added land the next year. For all the land records that follow, ancestry.com, may have errors. The acres does not have a decimal place; example 4000acres would really be 40.00acres, and 125 price should be 1.25 etc.
(Name)James Davis,(Type)FD,(Section)SWNW,(Sect)23,(Township)16N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,
(Purchase Date)21 Dec 1835,(Reside)069(Morgan),(Volume)069,(Page)036,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)060898,
(Correction Tag)0,(County)069(Morgan)
(Name)James Davis,(Type)FD,(Section)NWNW,(Sect)23,(Township)16N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,
(Purchase Date)24 Jun 1834,(Reside)069(Morgan),(Volume)068,(Page)181,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)098918,(County)069(Morgan)

The next record is for William Davis. From the date on this record I suspect he may have been James B Davis' brother unless their son William was old enough in 1836 to buy land. On final thought I am not sure if he is any relation or perhaps a relationship of Julia Ann Davis who married Edward Davis.
(Name)William Davis,(Type)FD,(Sect)SENW,(Section)24,(Township)18N,(Range)10W,
(Meridian)3,(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,(Purchase Date)6 Jun 1836,
(Reside)069(Morgan),(Volume)069,(Page)118,(ID Number)060960,(Blank)no entry,
,(SocStat)no entry,(Correction tag)0,
(County)009(Cass)

The next record is for John Davis. From the date and location there may be a remote possibility he may be James B Davis' brother. On final thought I am not sure what relationship he was if any to James B Davis or his neighbor, James Davis, who had already been farming in the area for a few years by 1836.
(Name)John Davis,(Type)FD,(Sect)NWNE,(Section)30,(Township)15N,(Range)13W,
(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,(Purchase Date)29 Jun 1836,
(Reside)069(Morgan),(Volume)069,(Page)126,(ID Number)060916,(Blank)no entry,
(SocStat)no entry,(Correction Tag)no entry,
(County)069(Morgan)

The next record is for Jasper Buck, Richard Davis father in law.
(Name)Jasper Buck,(Type)FD,(Section)SENW,(Sect)07,(Township)17N,(Range)11W,
(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,(Purchase Date)Mar 6, 1834,
(Reside)069,(Volume)068,(Page)173,(Blank)-,(SocStat)-,(ID No.)097601,
(Correction Tag)0
Another Record for Jasper Buck matching this one except for ID NO, 097602 and Sect SWNE.

The next record is for Richard Davis. From the date and location I suspect this was Richard Davis, son of James B and Elizabeth Davis.
(Name)Richard Davis,(Type)FD,(Sect)SENWFR,(Section)01,(Township)17N,(Range)11W,
(Acres)3984,(Price)125,(Total)4980,(Purchase Date)23 Jan 1851,
(Reside)009,(Volume)070,(Page)146,(Blank)no entry,
(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)060942,(Correction tag)0,
(County)009

The next record is for John W Collins who married Anna Davis, daughter of James B Davis in Cass Co, IL on 27 Jun 1842.
(Name)John W Collins,(Type)FD,(Sect)N2SW,(Section)14,(Township)18N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)8000,(Price)25,(Total)200,
(Purchase Date)7 May 1855,(Reside)009,(Cass)(Volume)070,(Page)197,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)154779,
(Correction Tag)0,(County)009**
**County Code 009 equals Cass County, Illinois.

A cemetery plot was mentioned in records on Clark Cemetery owned by or donated by Edward Davis at NW 1/4 of SW 1/4 of Secttion 7, Township 17 North, Range 10 West, 3d prime meridian. No evidence of the cemetery remains for this plot. Clark cemetery is located at NW 1/2 of SW 1/4 of Section 6 of Township 17 North, Range 10 West, 3d prime meridian. This source was from copy of Clark cemetery listing.

The next two records are for the father of Elizabeth Shoopman. She married Elijah Davis in 1837 in Cass County, Illinois. Elijah is James B Davis' son.
(Name)William Shoopman,(Type)FD,(Section)NWNW,(Sect)12,(Township)17N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,
(Purchase Date)30 Apr 1836,(Reside)069,(Volume)069,(Page)099,
,(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(Correction tag)0,(ID Number)105030,
(County)009(Cass)
(Name)William Shoopman,(Type)FD,(Section)SESW,(Sect)01,(Township)17N,
(Range)11W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)4000,(Price)125,(Total)5000,
(Purchase Date)25 Oct 1832,(Reside)069(Morgan),(Volume)068,(Page)131,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)105031,
(County)009(Cass)

The next record is for Charles Augustine, Christina Liming's great-grandfather. He originally moved to Morgan County in 1830 from Ohio or Canada. Charles W Augustine, his son was born on the land Charles Augustine (Sr) settled on, Township 16N, Range 13W, Meridian 3 in Morgan County. She married John Barton Davis, grandson of James B Davis and Elizabeth (Hawkins)Davis.
(Name)Charles Augustine,(Type)FD,(Section)W2LOT3NE,(Sect)02,(Township)15N,
(Range)13W,(Meridian)3,(Acres)7550,(Price)125,(Total)9437,
(Purchase Date)18 Jul 1836,(Reside)0069(Morgan),(Volume)069,(Page)141,
(Blank)no entry,(SocStat)no entry,(ID Number)055258,
(Correction tag)0,(County)086=Scott

Not to repeat all of them but some of the Number Codes used for Illinois Counties are: 009 = Cass; 069 = Morgan; 084 = Sagamon; 086 = Scott. Cass County was formed in 1837 from parent county of Morgan and in the mid 1840s the Morgan and Cass County boundary was adjusted South into Morgan County.

A Township is divided into 36 sections. There are 6 sections per row. The top or northern row of 6 begin with Section 1 on the North East and end with 6 on the North West of that Township. The Range is measured in Townships from the Prime Meridian, East or West and the Townships are measured from the Centralia Base Line for meridian 3 and the Beardstown base line for meridian 4. For the complete description with maps use link near top of this page to link to State of Illinois.

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By Thomas S. Smith