Adam Casper 1827-1880 Adam Casper (great grandfather of my maternal grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Anderson) was born in February of 1827 in North Carolina to Peter Casper and Catherine Frick. Adam was the second of Peter and Catherine's children and the first boy. Following the birth of Adam, the family quickly grew having five boys by 1837, before having twins in 1839 followed by three more children (with the last one born in 1844). As of 1850 the family is recorded in Rowan, North Carolina; however according to a post on ancestry.com by rickernest in 2011, Adam purchased 80 acres of land (described as the N1/2 NW1/4 SEC13 TWP 13S R1W. This land was along and generally west of Route 51, some 2 miles north of Dongola) on September 1 of 1853. He purchased it from Wiley Dillow (Susannah's brother?) This same post goes on to advise that sometime before his death Adam added 40 more acres, the NW1/4 NE1/4 SEC13 TWP 13S R1W, and had a 3/5 interest in 80 acres, N1/2 NE1/2 SEC14. In 1855 Adam's father Peter passed away in Wetaug, Pulaski County at the age of 58. In 1856 Adam married Susannah Dillow in Union County, Illinois and they began their family. In 1860, Adam and Susannah lived in Union County with the first two of their children (Jane C (1857–1883) and Minerva Lutetia (1860–1908)). Their real estate was valued at $1600 and their personal estate at $200. Adam and Suzannah's third child, Amanda E (1861–1894) was born in September of 1861. On Aug. 14, 1862, Adam enlisted at Camp Anna for service into the U.S. Civil War. He enrolled into Co. I, 109th IL. Infantry, and was transferred in Nov of 1863 to 140th Co., First Battalion, Invalid Corps, and finally to the 64th Regt. of the Veterans Reserves, upon discharge at Rock Island, IL. Adam had considerable health problems while in the service. He was ill at Milliken's Bend, LA. on Apr 23 1863. His transfers came about chiefly because of what doctors called "feebleness of constitution." Adam was home on furlough from Feb to May of 1864, because of poor health. Again, he was sick at Cairo on Feb 28, 1865. Still, after the war, Adam never applied for a pension. (this paragraph from a post by Michael Olund on wikitree.com) Following his service in the Civil War, Adam was made guardian of Thomas J. Dillow, Calvin Jenkins Dillow, Warren A. Dillow and Cicero Augustus Dillow, sons of Susannah's brother, John Dillow Jr. who died on Mar 13 1865 as a result of service in the Civil War. Adam himself had lost two brothers in the Siege of Vicksburg. ((*Possibly two more who died in August of that same year - Article in the Union newspaper)) In 1870, the Caspers remained in Union County. Adam farmed and Susannah kept house. Their property value is listed in the census as $2500 and their personal estate as $5000. In addition to their own children living in the household in 1870, Thomm Dillow, age 14 resided there. Daniel Holley, a 30 year old farmer born in Alabama also lived with the family. By 1880 the Caspers live with only their children in Union County. Daniel Holley no longer lives with the Caspers, nor does Thomm Dillow whom I assume to have been a nephew of Susannah. He would now be 24 and moved on to start a life of his own. The Caspers were recorded in the 1880 census in June of 1880 and in November of 1880, Adam would pass away of pneumonia at his residence near Dongola at the age of 53. from the Jonesboro Gazette 13 Nov 1880: Adam Casper, born in North Carolina, aged about 54 years, died of pneumonia at residence three miles north of Dongola 6 Nov 1880. Adam Casper - FindaGrave.com June 26, 2020 at 06:43AM
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