Jonathan (John) Darr was born December 26, 1849 in Wayne County, Illinois, third child (second son) of Henry Darr and Charlotte Unknown. His father was a farmer, and as a young man, John worked on the farm. But he learned carpentry, and worked as a carpenter when he was older.
His parents were both born in Pennsylvania (although his mother might have been born in Tennessee or Ohio, sigh), but whether they married there before they came out to Illinois, or met and married after they arrived, I don't know. They came out to Illinois sometime in the early 1840s: according to the censuses, their first child, George W Darr was born in 1844 in Illinois, probably Wayne County, and he lived there all his life. A sister, Mary Jane, was born in 1845, but I don't know anything more about her. Then Jonathan (1849), then two brothers: Joseph (1856) and William H (1858).
Mother Charlotte died in September, 1860, when John was only 10 years old (and little brother William only 2). Father Henry remarried in 1861, and he and his new wife had 8 or 9 more children.
Older brother George served during the Civil War as a private in Company H, 56th Illinois Infantry. (I don't have the dates of his service.) John enlisted in the 156th Illinois Infantry on February 22, 1865 (he was only 15!) but the war ended and he was discharged on May 11.
He returned to Wayne County, and worked as a farmhand. In 1870, he was working for his older brother George, who was now married, with a wife and children (and a farm) of his own.
In 1876 (June 8), John married Emily Rebecca Lusk, known to us as Grandma Becky. She was born and had grown up in Indiana (Warrick County, mostly), but sometime after the Civil War most of her family - aunts and cousins and all - moved west to Wayne County, Illinois.
John and Becky stayed in Wayne County for the early part of their married life. Their first child, Henry B. Darr was born there in December 1878. Like his father, he became a carpenter, but he must have been unhappy - he never married, and he committed suicide when he was 40.
Daughter Mary A (known to us as Maud) was born September 24, 1880. She married Ira Delmar Condit (Del) in 1903 and had two children, Elsie and Roy. She and Del lived in Peoria for much of their lives.
Great Grandma Maggie Lou Bessie Darr was born October 31, 1884. Bess of course married Grandpa Rufus and had 4 children.
Those three children (Henry, Maude and Bess) were born in Illinois (according to most of the census information). Two more girls, Ida Ethel (May 1888) and Charlotte Mildred (September 1893), were born in Indiana, so sometime between 1884 and 1888, the family must have moved back to Becky's old stamping grounds.
Ida was married twice, first to Unknown Berry and then to Leonard Brace. She had three children: Richard Berry and Chester and Betty Brace.
Mildred also married twice. Her first husband was Jack Stevens, something of a bigshot in Evansville - there was a bit of a fuss about their marriage. They went to live in Detroit, and later talked Becky and Ruth into coming and living with them. Eventually, they got divorced. Mildred then married Jules van Britson; they had two boys, Raymond and Donald.
On the 1900 census, Becky says she had 7 children, 5 of whom were still living, so apparently they had other children who died young.
John and Becky separated, but I don't know the date - it seems it must have been sometime between 1900 and 1910. According to Grandma Ruth, they remained good friends, just couldn't stand to live together. It seems as though he lived alone, still in Evansville, for a while, while Becky kept the kids and ran a boarding house.
Grandma Ruth: He was separated from Rebecca but remained friends. He was a carpenter. Little man - not fat. He had a fungus under his fingernails which Grandma Ruth used to try to get out with a knife. He stored apples in the attic of his house at Terrace Park - Evansville, Ind. He'd always say "Pick out the bad ones first." When he was gone, Bess would get them a good one to eat. For some reason Grandma Bess and Grandpa Rufus, Elmer and Ruth were living with Gr Grandpa Darr at the time. Usually he lived alone. Grandma Ruth went to a one-room schoolhouse from Grandpa Darr's house - clapboard house - plain lumber - unpainted.
In 1910, John was back in Illinois - at the time of the census, he was with his young half-brother Thomas and his wife and children in White County. Sometime before 1920, he moved back to Wayne County, and for a while, until he got to be too old, he worked as a carpenter. I think it was in 1920 that he did stop working - he is listed twice in that census, and in one place his occupation is "carpenter, own shop" and in another his occupation is"none." (He also calls himself a widower, but Grandma Becky was still plenty alive!)
He died August 18, 1928.
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Timeline/Documentation
1849 - 26 December - born, Wayne County, Illinois
1850 Census
Illinois Wayne Eleven District p. 225b line 14 - 13 Sep
593-613 Henry Dar 24m farmer 120 Penn Henry actually 34
Char (actually unreadable) 27f Tenn
GW Dar 7m Ils
MJ Dar 5f Ils
Joh Dar 2m Ils
1860 mortality schedule Darr Charlotte 38 F b. PA d Sept
1860 Census
Illinois Wayne Fairfield p. 178 - line 25
Henry Dorr 43m farmer 800 500 PA
George 17 f labor Ils
Mary J 15 Ils
Johnathan 10 Ils
Joseph 4 Ils
Wm H 2 Ils
Catherine McBride 75 domestic help Pa
1865 Civil War Service
156th Illinois Infantry. Only service during Civil War was less than 90 days - so he was not
entitled to benefits. Enlisted: February 22, 1865 Discharged: May 11, 1865
1870 Census - with brother George
Illinois Wayne Jasper Fairfield 122 -
Darr, George W 25 m w farmer 500 350 Ill
Sarah 23 f w keeping house SC ?Mary Jane Boren
Thomas A 8 m w Ill/ John S 1 m w Ill
Jonathan 21 m w farmhand Ill
1876 married Emily Rebecca Lusk
Jonathan D. Darr and Emily R Lusk married 8 June 1876 by WW George, JP
- signed by Joseph D Shaeffer, county clerk - 25 Apr 1878
included in Jonathan Lusk's (Becky's father) Civil War Pension file
1880 Census
Illinois Wayne Jasper p. 143
Darr Jonathan mw30 farmer Il Pa Oh
Emma R 25 Ind Ind Ind
Henry B 1 Il Il Ind
1900 Census
Indiana,Vanderburgh - 5th W Evansville SD 1, ED 108, sheet 91 stamped 77
John Darr b. Dec 1848 carpenter b. Ils, ps. b. PA
Rebecca b. June 1854 b. Ils, father Ky, Mother Ind m 23 yrs (~1877) 7 children, 5 living
Henry B Dec 1878 carpenter Ils
Mary A Sep 1880 cigar maker Ils
Maggie L B Oct 1883 cigar maker Ils
Ida E May 1888 Ind
Lottie M Sep 1893 Ind
1910 Census - with half-brother Thomas
Illinois White Hawthorne 140b - SD15, ED140 Sheet ? 31 May
Darr, Thomas mw38 m16 Il Pa Il
Barbara 39? 3ch/3liv all Ils
Carl 14 / Lois dau 10 / George 8
John brother 54s Il Pa Il
Indiana, Vanderburg - 3rd W. Evansville- p. 190 SD1, ED 104, Sheet 2b - written 805
Pigeon Twp - Evansville city - 15 Apr -317 2nd Avenue
Darr, Rebecca head fw 54 married 1x 35yrs 7 ch 5 living Ind Ky Ky no occ. rents house
Henry son mw 28 single all Ill(sic) carpenter - odd work
Condit, Mary daughter fw 25 m 7y 2ch 2 living
Stanton, Bessie daughter fw 23 m 8y 2ch 2 living
Darr, Ida daughter fw 21 s
Lottie daughter fw 16 s
Stanton, Ruthie granddaughter fw 6 Ind Ky Il / Elmer 4
Condit, Elsa granddaughter 6 Ind Oh Il / Roy 2
1920 Census
Illinois Wayne Grover Twp - Fairfield City - 504 King St - SD16, ED149 Sheet 6b line 73
Clyde Musgrave 21, clerk Il
Lillie (or Nillie) 19 Il
John Darr 70 roomer b. Ils widow ps born Illinois, carpenter, own shop King St?
also - Wayne Co -Jasper Twp Farm 179 (census taken 27 Jan) - SD16, ED157, Sheet 8b - 27Jan
Richardson, George W 39 Ils farmer/Margaret M 39/ Earnest 8/ Pearl 5/ John E 3 5/12
Darr, John boarder m w 70 widowed b. Ils, ps b. Ohio, occupation none
1928, August 18 - died.
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