CENSUS:
age 50 1850 census home 524 family 524 Warren Co. Illinois page 76/38
Name listed as John C. Bond.
age 60 1860 census home 82 family 82 Warren Co. Illinois p. 12/190
name given as John C. Bond
age 70 1870 census home 89 family 84 Greenbush, Warren county, Illinois p. 69
name given as Jno. C. Bond, several children with his family who look like grandchildren
age 80 1880 census Greenbush, Warren county, Illinois Folio page 157B
name given as John C. Bond
BIRTHPLACE: stated in 1850 census as Tennessee.
BIRTHDATE: from IGI.
MARRIAGE DATE:
1. from IGI, Groom: ; Bride: Polly Grimsly; date: 1818
2. Source #1, Groom: John C. Bond; Bride: Nancy Terry date: 25 Jan 1844
DEATHDATE: from history, given below
HISTORY:
Reference:
"Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren
County, Illinois", Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1886, received copy from Judy Pons
by Email 1996.
Maj. John C. Bond, for nearly half a century one of the most prominent and
valued citizens of Warren County, was born in Knox Co., Tenn., Dec. 25, 1799.
Here he was reared and educated and, in 1818, was married to Miss Polly
Grimsley, of the same county. To them were born five children-Susannah Johnson,
widow of Walter Johnson, deceased; W. G. Bond, ex-Sheriff of this county; Jesse
W. Bond, a prominent citizen of Lenox Township; Ruby L. Cayton, wife of A. J.
Cayton, of Swan Township; and Anna Bond, all of whom are living except the
latter, who died when quite young. Sketches of the former may be found
elsewhere in this volume.
Maj. Bond removed from Tennessee to Alabama, and from there to Morgan County
this State, in 1826, in which county his wife died. In May, 1829, he was
married the second time, to Miss Mary Singleton, of Morgan County, and by her
had three children-Fielding, Mary and Eveline, all of whom are deceased.
Fielding was elected School Commissioner of Warren County in 1861 or 1862, but
died shortly after his election. He was a young man of brilliant promise;
graduated from Lombard University with honors, in 1857; shortly after was
admitted to the Bar, but died April 19, 1862, when only 28 years of age. Mrs.
Bond died in September, 1842, and in January, 1844, Maj. Bond was married to
Mrs. Nancy Terry, by whom he had two children-Canzada S., the wife of Mathew
Campbell, of Stella, Neb.; and Cordelia, the wife of Henry Staat, of Berwick
Township. Maj. Bond was the father of ten children, six of whom survived him,
and all of whom were present at his funeral. He lived to behold his fourth
generation of children. His funeral services were held in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, at Greenbush, Sunday afternoon, May 21, 1882, and were
conducted by lder Van Meter, a well known minister of the Regular Baptist
Church, of McDonough County. It was attended by an immense concourse of old
settlers from the south part of the county, who knew the venerable and esteemed
man so long, so intimately and so well. He was buried in the graveyard laid out
by his father on the old home farm many long years ago.
Maj. Bond played an important part in the early history of Warren County. He
was one of the Commissioners of the county in 1839, when the affairs of the
county were conducted by three men, and in 1853, together with Samuel Hallam and
Robert Gilmore, was appointed to divide the county into Townships, which they
did as they now exist. After the adoption of the township organization system,
he was the first Supervisor elected from Greenbush, and served for 14 successive
years, and until he became so deaf and bending with age he asked his fellow
citizens of Greenbush to relieve him of further discharge of his arduous duties.
He served the county on the Board long and well, and his judgment and excellent
good sense, as well as public spirit, pervaded the affairs of the county for
many years. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the south part of the
county, to which position he was elected in 1835, and appointed his own
constable to conduct his court and serve his papers. His first court was held
in a smoke-house, and the trial was over a steer belonging to some Indianaian.
Being his first term and the occasion an important one, he ordered his sons to
clean out the smoke-house, and set the "court room" in order. While carrying
out the order, they performed some tricks not proper to docket, for which the
'squire fined them "for contempt of court," and they paid the penalty.
In 1844, Maj. Bond was candidate for the Legislature, and was beaten by only
three votes. He was Assessor for his township for a number of years. In 1828,
he went to Galena and worked in the lead mines. He passed through this county
on his way and camped for the first time in the edge of the timber two miles
west of what became his own home. At that time, as he surveyed the broad, open
prairie, that stretched out for miles before him, he was enraptured with the
high rolling mound where the old homested now stands. He remarked to his
companion that "there was where he would settle."
He received his title as Major under the old militia law of Illinois, and was
Major of the regiment of this section of the country, of which John Butler,
deceased of Greenbush, was Colonel. In 1834, Maj. Bond settled on the old
homestad where he died. The land was entered by his father, and after his death
Maj. Bond purchased from the other heirs their interest in the farm.
As a neighbor and friend, he was a most genial and companionable man, and just
as true as the needle to the pole. His integrity was as unbending as the oak,
and no man more heartily despised a dishonorable action than he. His heart and
purse were ever open to the needy, unfortunate and oppressed, and no one was
ever turned hungry from his door. His home and its hospitalities were often
shared by the early settlers who sought locations in this county, and they never
forgot the genuine friendship they received from John C. Bond, and many are the
silent tears that will be shed to his memory by those who bore the trials and
vicissitudes of the years long gone by in the settlement of the county. Having
well and faithfully performed the task set before him, and more than filled out
the measure of his four score years with a firm and abiding faith in the mercies
of a true and just God, he peacefully closed his eyes and rests from the long
journey of life. Thus, on the 20th day of May, 1882, passed away John C. Bond,
as good and true a man as ever resided in Warren County, leaving to his
descendants a priceless heritage a spotless name.
His widow is still living and now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Campbell, at
Stella, Nebraska. His grandson, J. C. Bond, lives on the old farm in Greenbush.
We are pleased to present the portrait of Major Bond in connection with this
sketch.
SOURCES:
1. "Illinois Marriages - Madison Co. Illinois from 1813 to 1851"
Taken from Automated Archives CD 228.
2."Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren
County, Illinois", Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1886, received copy from Judy Pons
by Email 1996.
