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Soldiers who served in the War of 1812 were given land grants, leading many to take their families west into Indiana and Illinois. This is what brought Russell Lathrop and his family, including his oldest son Henry, to Illinois in 1839.
Our Lathrop ancestors were some of the earliest and most established families in Richland and Lawrence Counties, Illinois. Excerpt from Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and Richland Counties Illinois, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Governors of the State, and the Presidents of the United States:
HENRY LATHROP, who carries on farming on section 14, German Township, is one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of Richland County, dating his residence here from 1839. A native of the Green Mountain State, he was born in Franklin County, May 14, 1817, and at this writing is seventy-six years of age. ... His well-directed efforts soon brought him a handsome competency, and he made judicious investments of his capital, until at one time he owned eleven hundred acres of valuable land. He has since given to each of his live sons a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and yet retains possession of two hundred and ninety-three acres.
The following is a timeline showing the migration into Indiana and Illinois:
1817 Erastus Lathrop, older brother of Russell, moves with his family from Vermont to Indiana, first to Dearborn County, then settling in Ripley County.
1821 Erastus purchases land in Decatur County, Indiana, but dies before moving his family there.
1822 Ezra, son of Erastus, claims the land bought by his father in Decatur County.
1837 Russell Lathrop moves his family from Vermont to Decatur County, Indiana. Son Henry works with cousin Augustus, oldest son of Erastus, in Ripley County.
1839 Henry Lathrop buys a horse and goes west into Lawrency County, Illinois where he finds work teaching at a subscription school.
1840 Henry returns to Indiana and works with his father who had rented a carding-machine.
1841 Russell and Henry move the family to Lawrence County, Illinois and work on the carding-machine. Henry continues teaching during winters.
1843/44 Henry trades the carding-machine for eighty acres of land in Richland County, Illinois. His father claims his land grant from the War of 1812 in the same county.
1844 Henry marries Rachel Laws, who was born in Lawrence County, and who had been presiding over his home while he was clearing his new land.
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