5 Jun 2012
I am attaching a picture of Francis Marion Stout, 1823-1907 — My 2nd Great Grandfather. Owner of the Stout Pottery and the F. M. & I. N. Stout (his 2nd son) Mercantile Store in Ripley. He owned 800 acres in Ripley/Cooperstown and it was passed down to each of his family. He was a descendant of Abraham Stout who fought in the Revolutionary War. The picture was passed to me by the family of James Madison Stout, his 4th son and we are both doing extensive research. My Great Grandfather was his 3rd son, John Charles Fremont Stout. Check out this link I found recently for a book compiled in 1882 by W. R. Brink – Over 400 pages – first 40 about the forming of the Western Wilderness from Virginia to the Mississippi. The rest is really interesting with a lot of good stories about the settlers of Schuyler and then the break off of Brown County and many, many of its first settlers, plus pictures of some of them as well as drawings of their properties. The properties were very impressive.. Title: “Combined History of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois” published by W. R. Brink & Co in 1882. I am currently trying to find out who the parents were of Margaret and Nancy Catherine Stout. They were sisters who married my 2nd Great Grandfather Francis Marion Stout. (my 2nd Great Grandmother was Nancy). We think it might have been James W Alexander, a Tennessean who’s father may have been Allen Alexander who first settled in Schuyler but purchased land across Crooked Creek after Brown County was formed. He was licensed to operate one of the Ferry’s to cross the creek according to the above book, but we can’t seem to tie them together.
Contributed by: Jeaneen Hess
