Calkins 68th Anniv, 1906, Iroquois Co., IL
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Calkins 68th Anniv, 1906, Iroquois Co., IL
| Amy Timmerman-Sheehan (View posts) | Posted: 2 Oct 2002 7:01PM GMT |
Classification: Query
PLEASE NOTE......This is not my family. I own an Antique Shop and ran across this newspaper clipping and thought someone who is in this family may be interested in it. The clipping also has a photo of the couple. Please do not contact me about information about the family in this article, I am just a information giver, not a family member.
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MARRIED SIXTY EIGHT YEARS ~
Remarkable Matrimonial Record of Iroquois Couple.
Sire a well known Farmer once Hoofed It Across Panama. Descendent From RevolutIonary Father.
One of the most remarkable matrimonial records ever brought to light in Iroquois county has been made by Mr. and Mrs. James M. Calkins, well known people residing in Iriquois To'wnship north of Crescent City who celebrated the 68th anniversary of their wedding day at the home of their. son, Charles A;
Calkins, last Sunday. The aged husband. was 93 years old last January and the wife was 85 last December. They were married May 13, 1838, in Will county, not many miles from Chicago. They became the parents of six children, three girls and three boys. Two of the children died in infancy. Those living are, Mrs. Mary Jarvis of Dallas , Texas; Mrs Ruth Oldham or Purdum, Neb; Samuel N. of Milford township and Charles A. whith whom the aged couple reside. James M. Calkins and wife are the grand parents of 22 children the the great grand parents of 16. Eleven of the grand children and four of the great grand children were present at the reunion. The combined ages of the parents and the four living children are 413 years, or an average of 69 years each. In religion they are Methodists and in politics Mr. Calkins has been a republican ever since John C. Fremont ran for the presidency. Mrs. Calkins was a strong abolitionist and she is now an ardent prohibitionist and a woman suffragist.
Revolutionary Stock.
Mr. Calkins the the descendant of a Revolutionary soldier. His grandfather, Oliver Calkins fought in that great struggle. The family originally came from Wales, in the sixzteenth century. The earliest known members of the family were ship builders and were called calkers, hence the name Calkins. The first arrivals from Wales settled in Connecticut. Oliver, the Revolutionary soldier, purchased a 7000-acre tract of land in New York at a shilling an acre. It was there that the subject of this sketch was born, in Sullivan county. In 1836 Mr; Calkins came to Chicago, then a trading post. The first day's work he did in this state was near Naperville where he hoed corn. Mr. Calkins cast his first vote for Martin Van Buren.
TRAVERSES CONTINENT.
In March, 1850, Mr. Calkins in company with some neighbors start overland for the gold fields of California. He landed in Haughtown after a journey of four months during which time all the hardships incidented to a trip across the plains were experienced. He spent two years in the mines and then returned home via the isthmus of Panama, walking 26 miles of the distance from ocean to ocean. From there he boarded a vessel bound for New York. In 1865 Mr. and Mrs. Calkins with their children came to Iroquois county and settled on a farm where he has since resided, in Iroquois township about three miles north of Cresent City. Mrs Calkins was born near Salem Mass, December 4, 1820. When six years old her mother died leaving her father with four children, all girls. Her father afterward married and later moved to New York and then to Chicago making the trip from New York to this state with an ox team. The married life of Mr. and Mrs Calkins has been singularly happy No clouds have marred the beauty of the sky that like a canopy of the deepest blue has been held over them to protect them from the tempests and the fierce glare of the noon day sun. Side by side, contentment written on their faces, these two have journeyed through life, happy in the possession of each other and the children that came to add pleasure to the home. The Times-Democrat joins with the people of Iroquois township and all Iroquois county in wishing this venerable couple many more wedding anniversary days.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
MARRIED SIXTY EIGHT YEARS ~
Remarkable Matrimonial Record of Iroquois Couple.
Sire a well known Farmer once Hoofed It Across Panama. Descendent From RevolutIonary Father.
One of the most remarkable matrimonial records ever brought to light in Iroquois county has been made by Mr. and Mrs. James M. Calkins, well known people residing in Iriquois To'wnship north of Crescent City who celebrated the 68th anniversary of their wedding day at the home of their. son, Charles A;
Calkins, last Sunday. The aged husband. was 93 years old last January and the wife was 85 last December. They were married May 13, 1838, in Will county, not many miles from Chicago. They became the parents of six children, three girls and three boys. Two of the children died in infancy. Those living are, Mrs. Mary Jarvis of Dallas , Texas; Mrs Ruth Oldham or Purdum, Neb; Samuel N. of Milford township and Charles A. whith whom the aged couple reside. James M. Calkins and wife are the grand parents of 22 children the the great grand parents of 16. Eleven of the grand children and four of the great grand children were present at the reunion. The combined ages of the parents and the four living children are 413 years, or an average of 69 years each. In religion they are Methodists and in politics Mr. Calkins has been a republican ever since John C. Fremont ran for the presidency. Mrs. Calkins was a strong abolitionist and she is now an ardent prohibitionist and a woman suffragist.
Revolutionary Stock.
Mr. Calkins the the descendant of a Revolutionary soldier. His grandfather, Oliver Calkins fought in that great struggle. The family originally came from Wales, in the sixzteenth century. The earliest known members of the family were ship builders and were called calkers, hence the name Calkins. The first arrivals from Wales settled in Connecticut. Oliver, the Revolutionary soldier, purchased a 7000-acre tract of land in New York at a shilling an acre. It was there that the subject of this sketch was born, in Sullivan county. In 1836 Mr; Calkins came to Chicago, then a trading post. The first day's work he did in this state was near Naperville where he hoed corn. Mr. Calkins cast his first vote for Martin Van Buren.
TRAVERSES CONTINENT.
In March, 1850, Mr. Calkins in company with some neighbors start overland for the gold fields of California. He landed in Haughtown after a journey of four months during which time all the hardships incidented to a trip across the plains were experienced. He spent two years in the mines and then returned home via the isthmus of Panama, walking 26 miles of the distance from ocean to ocean. From there he boarded a vessel bound for New York. In 1865 Mr. and Mrs. Calkins with their children came to Iroquois county and settled on a farm where he has since resided, in Iroquois township about three miles north of Cresent City. Mrs Calkins was born near Salem Mass, December 4, 1820. When six years old her mother died leaving her father with four children, all girls. Her father afterward married and later moved to New York and then to Chicago making the trip from New York to this state with an ox team. The married life of Mr. and Mrs Calkins has been singularly happy No clouds have marred the beauty of the sky that like a canopy of the deepest blue has been held over them to protect them from the tempests and the fierce glare of the noon day sun. Side by side, contentment written on their faces, these two have journeyed through life, happy in the possession of each other and the children that came to add pleasure to the home. The Times-Democrat joins with the people of Iroquois township and all Iroquois county in wishing this venerable couple many more wedding anniversary days.