Person Page - 741

     James V. Sample was born in 1860. He was the son of Valentine Sample and Jane Taylor. James V. Sample died in 1920.

     Jane Aileen Sample was born in December 1897. She was the daughter of Granderson "Tan" Sample and Anna Anderson.

     Jeanette Katherine Sample was the daughter of Granderson "Tan" Sample and Anna Anderson.

     Jessie A. Sample was born in July 1883 at Illinois. She was the daughter of Henry L. Sample and Sarah C. Stewart.

     Jewell July Sample was born on 4 July 1898 at Kansas. She was the daughter of James Henry Sample and Georgana McClanahan. Jewell July Sample married Albert H. Harrison. Jewell July Sample died on 22 May 1989 at age 90. She was buried in May 1989 at National Cemetery, Springfield, Greene Co., Missouri.

     John Sample was born circa 1874 at Morgan Co., Illinois. He was the son of Charles N. Sample and Tirza Ann (--?--).
     
Biography of John Sample:

1880 Federal Census, Morgan County, Illinois.¹

     John Sample was born on 2 April 1860 at Illinois. He was the son of William A. Sample and Harriet Moore. John Sample died on 28 February 1865 at age 4.

     John Sample was born on 22 November 1796 at Woodford Co., Kentucky. He was the son of David Sample and Mary "Polly" Townsend. John Sample married Sarah "Sally" Pruitt circa 1817 at Illinois. John Sample married Sarah Hewett on 3 January 1861 at Morgan Co., Illinois. John Sample died on 19 February 1869 at Morgan Co., Illinois, at age 72. He was buried at Sample Cemetery, Morgan Co., Illinois.
     
Biography of John Sample:

The following biography is from Howard Bowers Light Townsend of Kentucky.¹ It is reproduced below with permission:

John Sample served as a private with his father and two brothers in the War of 1812 in Capt. Samuel Whiteside's Company of Mounted Riflemen, Illinois Rangers. Source: Military record of John Sample, War of 1812, National Archives, Washington, D.C. Here is his story excerpted from the Pike County Illinois History, 1936-1937, Chapter 64, p 191:

". . . Early in the month of July, 1814, parts of three families were murdered on Wood River, near where Alton now stands, in what was then Madison county. (Note: Present Pike county was then also a part of Madison county.) Seven were killed in all. They had been up to the fort and were returning on Sunday evening. The killed were Reagan's wife and two of his children, two of Abel Moore's boys and two of William Moore's boys. All were killed except one little girl, who escaped and gave the alarm.

Soon, the Wood River settlement was in arms. Rifles were hurriedly cleaned and bullets moulded. Capt. William Whitesides and 50 rangers took the trail, leaving old George Moore and the women and children in the fort. The Indians were on foot. They proceeded northward through what are now Jersey, Greene, and Morgan counties. Several were along who could "trail an Indian as fast as a horse could gallop." Among them were John Shaw (known among the Indians as Es-sap-pan or the raccoon because of his cunning and sagacity), Peter Waggoner (kinsman of the early Pike county Waggoners), and Samuel Beeman, another noted figure on the old military tract.

The Indians took every advantage, threading almost impenetrable thickets and wading miry swamps. At Brown's Point, near present Manchester, Waggoner shot an Indian. The Indian had hidden behind the roots of a tree. Waggoner shot him without checking his horse from a gallop. A little further on, Samuel Beeman shot another Indian. The Indian had climbed up a grape vine and hidden among the branches of a tree. It was never known for certain whether or not these Indians belonged to the Wood River band of murderers. They may have been inoffensive hunters.

The following morning, the Rangers descried in the Island Grove a spot where the Indians had camped over night; the fires were still burning. (Note: Island Grove was a large body of timber, surrounded with rich prairie, 16 miles west of present Springfield, on the road to present Jacksonville.) Everything indicated the pursuing horsemen were close onto the fleeing savages. The trail led westward, toward the Illinois river and present Pike county. Now it was a race for life; the Indians trying to reach the river, the Rangers urging their jaded steeds to overtake the band.

To Island Grove, pursued and pursuers had followed the "old Indian trail" that for centuries had been traveled by the tribes between Cahokia and Peoria. At Island Grove, the Indians, instead of crossing the Sangamon, turned west to take advantage of the high ground and brushy woods of the Mauvaisterre, which after starting from the headwaters afforded an unbroken line of shelter to the Illinois river. The high mounds on the prairie were used as posts of observation. On one of these mounds, northwest of present Alexander, the Indians rested and here they threw away everything that encumbered their flight.

Near present Jacksonville, the Rangers were so close upon the Indians that the latter ran into the swamp for safety. All the region between what is now the city of Jacksonville and Mauvaisterre Creek was then low marsh. Into this the Rangers attempted to follow on foot, a number of their horses having mired down. Here eighteen of the Rangers turned back, the remainder dividing into two parties, one to take care of the horses, the balance pursuing into the swamps on foot. The Indians at length emerged from the swamp lands at the north part of the groves, west of modern Jacksonville, and hurried west.

From here to the Illinois river the race was close. The Rangers repeatedly were in sight of the Indians.
Nearing the river, south of modern Naples and north of early Philips ferry, one of the Indians, a corpulent old fellow, gave out. He was armed with a gun and appeared ready to sell his life as dearly as possible. A rifle ball broke one of his legs and caused him to fall in the grass. Then one Ranger attracted his attention on one side, while another rose up on the opposite side and shot him. Meanwhile, the rest of the band disappeared in the thickets bordering the river. Rushing forward after dispatching the old Indian, the Rangers were just in time to see the Indians crossing the river about a mile below. Hastening down to the water's edge they discharged their guns at them as they climbed the opposite bank into present Pike county, whence they disappeared into the wilds of the McGee creek Country.

Among those participating in this race for life across the Illinois prairies were John Shaw, William Moore, Abel Moore, Peter Waggoner, Samuel Beeman, and John and William Sample, the latter of whom settled later at West Port, Iowa. William and Abel Moore had each lost two sons in the Wood River massacre.

These men who in 1824 pursued this murdering band of Indians to the eastern border of what is now Pike county did not then know it, but they were paving the way for the first settlement of this region."

John Samples household, 1820 U.S. census, Powers Twp., Bond Co., Illinois, M33, Roll 12, p 6:
1, male, 0-9 years of age
1, m, 16-25
1, m, 26-44
1, female, 0-9
1, f, 16-25
2 in agriculture

John Samples household, 1830 U.S. census, Morgan Co., Illinois, M19, Roll 24, p 72:
1, male, 0-5 years of age
1, m, 5-10
1, m, 10-15
1, m, 15-20
1, m, 30-40
1, female, 0-5
1, f, 5-10
1, f, 10-15
1, f, 20-30

John Samples household, 1840 U.S. census, Morgan Co., Illinois, M704, Roll 66, p 448:
1, male, 0-5 years of age
4, m, 5-10
1, m, 10-15
1, m, 15-20
1, m, 20-30
1, m, 40-50
1, female, 5-10
1, f, 10-15
1, f, 15-20
1, f, 40-50

1850 U.S. census, Morgan Co., Illinois, M432, Roll 122, p 213:
John Samples, age 42, male, farmer, $12,000 real estate, b. Kentucky
Sally, 48, f, Kentucky
James, 24, m, Illinois
Fields, 22, m, Illinois
William, 20, m, Illinois
Joseph, 16, m, Illinois
John, 14, m, Illinois
Martin, 12, m, Illinois

1860 U.S. census, Mauvaisterre Twp., Morgan Co., Illinois, M653, Roll 213, p 793:
Jno. Samples, age 60, male, farmer, $26,000 real estate, $2600 personal estate, b. Kentucky
Jno., Jr., 26, m, farmer, Illinois
Sarah, 19, female, England
Marion, 19, m, Illinois.¹

     John Sample was born circa 1856 at Iowa. He was the son of George W. Sample and Harriet K. Garrett.

     III John Sample was born in 1864. He was the son of John Sample Jr. and Sarah Scofield.