Burch/Kirby Family History:Information about Benjamin Stallings
Benjamin Stallings (b. 1800, d. 1851)
Notes for Benjamin Stallings:
Benjamin Stallings and his wife Anna emigrated from Indiana to Effingham County, Ill in the year 1825.The Stallings family settled on a tract of government land in town 8 North, Range 6 East of the Third Principal Meridian, and their nearest neighbors at first were at least twelve miles distant.Here Mr. Stallings, surounded by a few skulking Indians, a goodly number of wolves and other wild animals could truly exclaim, "I am monarch of all I Survey, my right there is none to dispute." He built a primitive house and established a home for his family.He was a native of North Carolina, moved from his native State to Posey County, Indiana, and a few years later made the trip to Illinois, taking with him his wife and three children - Jackson, Henry and SUSAN (our descendent, grandmother of Erastus Burch) .He brought his household goods and his children on one pack-horse, and he and his wife walked most of the way.After they left Vincennes, Indiana they were without any guide except the old Indian trails and those made by the Government surveyors.In their new home in Effingham County the family endured all the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, their nearest trading point of that day being Vincennes or Vandalia.Mr. Stallings had practically to support his family with his rifle as their main food was venison and other wild game.It is recounted by his son Henry who was of an age to remember their trials, that for one whole year the family subsisted on venison and wild honey.Thus surrounded by difficulties and hardships, this sturdy pioneer reared his family of eight children, four of whom survive, viz: Henry, Susan, Telitha and Amanda, the youngest born in 1830.
For some years after Benjamin Stallings first settled in Illinois it was impossible to raise any kind of grain for bread, as the deer, wild turkeys, squirrels and prarie chickens would eat it up or destroy it before it could ripen.He never owned any land in Illinois, raising his family on government land, and when the neighborhood became more settled , he sold his claim and moved to a point where there were few settlers. He died in Effingham Cunty in 1851, his wife surviving him but a short time.
Taken from the book "History of Effingham County Illinois" published in 1910.
Children of Benjamin Stallings and Anna are:
- +Susan Stallings, b. Abt. 1826, Indiana78, d. date unknown.
- Jackson Stallings, d. date unknown.
- +Henry Stallings, b. June 08, 1821, Posey County, Indiana, d. date unknown.
- Talitha Stallings, b. Abt. 1831, d. date unknown.
- Amanda Stallings, b. 1830, d. date unknown.