Mark Manlove, the youngest son of George and Rachel Manlove, sat down in Highland county, Ohio and penned a letter on September 10, 1827. He wrote: "Dear and respected Brothers and sisters with gratitude to Him that rules over us all; I pronounce the enjoyments of perfect health and a tranquil mind. Hoping these few lines may reach you all enjoying the same blessings…. My dear father, that has been one of my family for more than four years, is no more. After being afflicted more than 10 months with pains he departed this life the 5th of this instant, mostly in his perfect senses.” Thus ended the life of the man who saw the family migration from Delaware to North Carolina, and then to pioneer the opening of the Indiana-Ohio territories. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, and may have participated in the American Revolution.
Mark’s letter continues, “My dear father received a letter about three weeks before his death from Uncle William Manlove which was dated Sixth Mo., First Day of which I send you some of the particulars.” (George had two half-brothers, William and Jonathon, who moved with the family, as teenagers, from Delaware to North Carolina in 1783.) Further down the letter he states, “I learn that Brother Jonathon and all his children and wives are well pleased with their country.” (They settled in Illinois in the mid 1820s). “Jonathon’s son, William T. Manlove, is now at my house having returned to North Carolina about ten days past. It has long been my intention to visit the Western States and have often been disappointed in my intention; but William has set his cousins all on fire and his old aunt not far behind them for a new country. Till very lately I had no other inducement to come to the west than only to see my near relatives, but I now expect, if I like the country on seeing it, to sell and move. I expect to be at Mark Manlove’s in about 11 months on our way to the Illinois so that if it is the will of heaven to spare us till then and no unforeseen accident happens we may meet again, for which I do most devoutly pray.”
Brother Jonathon went out to Illinois with his extended family, and a James Beard accompanied them. James Beard was married to William’s oldest daughter, Mary. That fact was probably a further inducement for William to move to Illinois. He was listed as living in Schuyler County, Illinois in the 1830 US Census, so I guess he and the family made it - apparently the “will of heaven” answered his prayers. Schuyler County lies in the middle and western side Illinois, one county distant from the Mississippi River. He died three years later. William married Mary Smith in 1793, and all eight of their children moved to Illinois. All apparently died in Schuyler County except for the youngest, John H. Manlove, who moved on to Butler County, Kansas in his later life, after 1880. He died there in 1895.
Jonathon was more adventurous. He moved again in the 1840’s to Grant County, Wisconsin (on the western border with Illinois) with his youngest son, Moses Manlove. He died there in 1852. William T. Manlove died in Schuyler County in 1830. His other two sons, David and Jonathon went further west to Kansas, settling in Bourbon County.
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