“The Morrow Family” by S. S. Slane, originally published in 1906, is a historical account of one of the earliest families to settle in Akron Township, Peoria County, Illinois. The article traces the family’s roots from their origins in Park County, Indiana, to their arrival in Illinois in the early 1830s. It focuses on Hugh Morrow, who was the first white child born in Akron Township, and who remained on the same section of land for over six decades. The article also notes the various other members of the Morrow family, including their deaths and relocations to other states. Overall, “The Morrow Family” provides a glimpse into the lives of early settlers in Illinois and their legacies in the region.
By S. S. Slane, 1906.
Hugh Morrow was born on Section 7 in Akron Township, on April 14, 1832. In the year 1838 his parents removed to Section 20 of Akron Township, where he has lived ever since, a period of 68 years. Mr. Morrow’s parents, Thomas Morrow and Eleanor Morrow, came from Park County, Indiana, to Peoria County, Illinois, in the early part of the year 1832 and settled on Section 7, Akron Township. With Mr. Thomas Morrow came his parents, John Morrow, Sr., and Jane Morrow; also four brothers and two sisters, James, John Jr., William, Josiah, Elizabeth, who became the wife of Daniel Prince, the pioneer settler of this place, for whom the Township, the Village and the Grove were named, and Jane, the wife of Samuel R. White, an early settler of Princeville Township. John Morrow, Sr., owned and improved a part of the farm recently sold by Mr. Charles Taylor, South of the Village. He died soon after and was buried in the old Cemetery South of the Village of Princeville, long since abandoned. Mrs. Jane Morrow and son John in company with Mr. Prince and family, moved from this vicinity to the State of Missouri in the fall of 1839, where they have long since been numbered with the dead. Mr. Josiah Morrow moved to Iowa in 1840, having improved a part of the estate owned at this time by the heirs of the late Austin Bouton. Mr. Morrow died January 5, 1899, at the age of eighty. Mr. James Morrow improved the farm now owned by Mr. Elijah Tracy and others, a part being included in the village corporation. lie sold out and moved to Washington County, Iowa, in the year 1854, where he died well advanced in age, and respected by all who knew him. Mr. William Morrow improved the farm now owned by Frank Debord, which he sold in 1872, moving to Andrew County, Missouri, where he died. Mr. Thomas Morrow, father of Hugh Morrow, died in 1848, leaving his wife and a family of ten children, eight sons and two daughters.
Mr. Hugh Morrow has the distinction of being the first white child born in Akron Township, also of having lived a greater number of years on the same section than any other resident of the Township. Hugh Morrow (son of Thomas Morrow), Samuel Morrow (son of William Morrow) and William and Mary Ann White (son and daughter of Mrs. Jane Morrow White), are the only representatives of this large family now living in this vicinity.