Laws of Illinois Passed at Vandalia, 1820-1839

My hometown, Vandalia, IL, was state capital in 1819-1839. I found a site that listed all the collections of laws passed by the Illinois legislature during those years. I have all of these books except the two publications of incorporation laws, which I’ve never seen for sale since I began collecting in the 1990s.

http://www.wiu.edu/libraries/govpubs/illinois_laws/1818_1839.php

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Pieterskerk in Leiden

This post connects to earlier posts: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/my-pilgrim-ancestors-in-leiden/ and https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/my-family-the-washburns-back-to-the-pilgrims/

My 9-great-grandfather, Francis Cooke, was an English separatist who moved to Leiden in 1603, married Hester Mahieu, and they eventually joined the congregation of other separatists at the Pieterskerk (St. Peter’s Church) in Leiden. Eventually several of the families sailed on the ship Mayflower and settled in New England, while others stayed in Leiden. Cooke was one of the Mayflower passengers, and Hester came over a few years later. The Cookes’ 3-great-grandson, David Washburn, was my 3-great-grandfather and an early settler of my hometown area (Four Mile Prairie) in the 1830s. We got to visit the Pieterskerk and think about national, religious, and family history.

The first three photos are from our 2016 trip. The rest of the photos are from the Webster University Leiden commencement ceremony at the church in May 2023. My wife Beth is chancellor of Webster University.

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My Pilgrim Ancestors in Leiden

This post connects to my previous poet here: https://paulstroble.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/my-family-the-washburns-back-to-the-pilgrims/

My 10th-great-grandfather Jacques le Mahieu (born about 1550, died after 1611) was buried in the Vrouwekerk in Leiden, a church that existed from the early 1300s until the 1800s. Some of the stones of the church are preserved and memorialized in this little plaza in Leiden.

Mahieu is believed to have been a French Protestant from the Walloon region. He is said to have been among the refugees from French Catholic persecution who travelled to Canterbury, England. He married Jeanne Leman Mahieu (1563-1609), and among their children was Hester Mahieu (c 1584-after 1666). Eventually the family settled in Leiden, where they affiliated with this church, the Vrouwekerk.
It was built as Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady). By late 1500s and early 1600s it had become a Protestant church—specifically a Walloon church who were joined by English Puritans who had migrated to Leiden.

As the plaque reads, Hester Mahieu married Francis Cooke (1583-1663) at this church. They are my 9th-great-grandparents. Cooke was one of those English Puritans who had settled in Leiden prior to deciding to travel to America.

Francis Cooke sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, along with a son. Hester and the rest of the children came to Plymouth three years later on the Anne. The family lived the rest of their lives in Plymouth Plantation and are buried there.

Eventually the descendants via the Cookes’ daughter Jane (1605-1666) became a family among my Brownstown, IL roots (the Washburn family).

In May, 2023, how lovely it was to stand where a distant ancestor was buried, and where two others were married.

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Robert W. Ross, Vandalia & Fayette Co. Historian

Vandalia and Fayette County has had so many wonderful historians and caretakers of the local history. It captures people’s imagination and they devote their time to it. Robert W. Ross was born in Vandalia on December 31, 1843. Here he is in 1878 and 1910. His maternal grandfather Moses Philips was a furniture maker in Vandalia when the town was state capital. Ross wrote two indispensable history books. One is Historical Souvenir of Vandalia, Illinois (1904), which has many photographs of local people and a wealth of information about the town. The other is the long and detailed History of Fayette County (1910), which was published in volume 2 of the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Both of Ross’ books have been reprinted. He was a Civil War veteran who served in different elective offices in Fayette County government, and in the state legislature representing Bond, Fayette, and Montgomery Counties. Although his name is on the family tombstone in Vandalia’s Old State Cemetery, he is buried in the row of veterans along the road in the South Hill Cemetery. I always notice it when I drive over to visit my parents’ graves, which are up the hill.

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