Re: William Bright - Cumberland County Illinois 1860-1870
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In reply to:
Re: William Bright - Cumberland County Illinois 1860-1870
Cerelle Bolon 11/25/08
Thank you for your response. I think I can clarify the information about William Bright. There were actually two people named William Bright living in Cumberland County in the 1860 to 1880 period. Both were born about 1830 - 1835.
One of them married Matilda Branson, daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Greenwood. Matilda was born about 1839 in Indiana and was living in Randolph County Indiana in 1850 with her parents along with her sister Nancy. The family moved to Cumberland County before 1855 and Matilda married William Bright about 1857. Not much is known about William other than he was born about 1830 in Illinois. He and Matilda had at least four children: Andrew (also referred to as Anderson), born about 1858; George, born about 1861; Lorenzo D., born about 1863; and Elkand, born about 1865. Son Andrew moved to Colorado and named a son Elcana.
The second William Bright was probably the son of Johnson Bright and Elizabeth Clinch. Johnson's father was probably Henson Bright, an early settlers in the Cumberland and Coles County Area. One local history states that he was a native of Kentucky. Johnson's son William married Malana Bowman about 1857. She was the daughter of Hiram Bowman and Lucinda Robinson and stepdaughter of Nancy Branson, sister of the Matilda Branson who married the other William Bright.William and Malana had at least thirteen children: Hiram, born 1858; William, 1859; John, 1864; James, 1868; Lucinda, 1869; Elizabeth, 1869; Minnie Isadore, 1871; Elmer, 1874; Albert, 1876; Mary, 1879; and Lawrence, born 1881. Malana died in 1903 and William died in 1913. Both are buried in the Greenup Cemetery. This is the William who was living in the household of Hiram Bright in 1910.
One other thing. Elkana seems to be a unusual given name but I found to two Bright families with name Elcana or similiar listed in the 1840 Coles County Illinois census. I suspect that one of them was the father of the William Bright who married Matilda Branson. I would appreciate any information you may have on either of them.