This post is a stub entry, which is constantly being added to with raw research data. If a reader has further information or websites that may provide something, please leave a comment.
Several of my forebears resettled from eastern states to Kansas from about 1870 to 1885. One of them, the Robert Ohnsat family, produced a family anecdote that their journey was by "Conestoga wagon" in 1877. This post follows the likely journey westward through Illinois.
Previous post—the Indiana leg
Illinois
The National Road in Illinois passes from east to west through Clark county, Cumberland county, Effingham county, and Fayette county, where the completed road ended in Vandalia. Travelers could continue to St. Louis through Bond county, Madison county, and St. Clair county or to Alton through Bond county and Madison county.Clark County
This map of Clark county from 1875 shows The Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that roughly parallels the National Road.Livingston
Not served by the railroad, but a small inhabited area just west of Big Creek.Marshall
Town.
Auburn
Town.
Martinsville
Town.
Cumberland
Town.
Cumberland County
This map of Cumberland county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.Casey
Town.
Greenup
Town.
Jewett
Town.
Effingham County
This map of Effingham county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.Teutopolis
Town.
Effingham
Town.
Ewington
Town.
Freemantown
Town.
Altamont
Town.
Funkhousen
Town.
Fayette County
This map of Fayette county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.St. Elmo
Town.
Howards Point
Town.
Avena
Town.
Bluff City
Town.
Vandalia
Actual terminus of historic National Road
Hagarstown
Town.
Lutz Spur
Bond County
This map of Bond county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.Mulberry Grove
Town.
Henderson
Town.
Greenville
Likely point where the routes diverge, with one heading due west toward Alton and the other southwest toward St. Louis.
Stubblefield
Town.
Pocahontas
Town.
West to Alton:
New Berlin
Town.
Old Ripley
Town.
Madison County
This map of Madison county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.Southwest to St. Louis:
Highland
Town.
St. Jacob
Town.
Troy
Town.
Confidence
Town.
Collinsville
Town.
West to Alton:
Alhambra
Town.
Greencastle
Town.
Hamburg
Town.
Bethalto
Town.
Alton
Town.
St. Calir County
This map of St. Clair county from 1875 shows the Vandalia Terre Haute Railroad already in use that parallels the National Road.
taxshedermist replied on rootsweb/ancestry:
ReplyDelete"go to www.nationalroad.org for info on the route from Vandalia to St. Louis. There is a stage stop in Highland built in 1840 that is a museum and the Highland Historical Society might have some info. You also might contact the Madison County Historical Society in Edwardsville, IL."
6grammy replied on rootsweb/ancestry:
ReplyDelete"You can get in touch with the National Road Association of Illinois. The office is in Vandalia, IL. I believe that if you google the name you will come up with a website. There are 2 stage coach stops still in use in Clark County - the Archer House Historic Inn in Marshall (built in 1841 and currrently being renovated) and an inn converted to a house just east of Clarksville, IL. But I have never heard of any registers that were saved from either of them."
A Google search includes these results:
Association in Greenfield IL
https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Road-Association-of-Illinois/214597925254625?sk=info
Larger site that has a page of focus for each state:
http://www.nationalroad.org/history-illinois.php
Detailed history that focuses on Illinois:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilfayett/nationalroad/nationalroad.html