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BENJAMIN HAMLIN HARGRAVES, who is engaged
in general farming on section 28, Pana Township, owns and operates ninety acres of the rich land of Christian County.
His farm is one of the best improved places of the neighborhood, neat in appearance and highly cultivated. The
owner is a native of Virginia. He was born in Sussex
County, on the 26th of September, 1815, and is a son of Robert
Hargraves, who was born and reared in the same State.
The paternal grandfather, Jesse Hargraves,
was a native of England, and was the founder of the family in
America. Robert became a
farmer by occupation, and also followed school-teaching for a number of years. He married Nancy Ellis, who was
also born in the Old Dominion and was of English and Scotch descent. Her father, Benjamin Ellis, was likewise a
native of England.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hargraves was
celebrated in Sussex County, and they there
began their domestic life upon a farm. He served as a private in the War of 1812, and after that struggle they removed to Kentucky, in 1816, there making their home until 1830, when they came to Illinois.
Locating at Edwardsville, Madison County, they removed thence
to Macoupin County, Ill.,
where Mr. Hargraves entered land from the Government and began the development of a farm, upon which he resided
until his death, which occurred at the age of sixty-six years. The mother there passed away at the same age.
The subject of this sketch was the second
son and child in a family of five children. He was only a year old when his parents left Virginia and went to Kentucky, where he remained until a youth of fifteen, when he accompanied the
family to Illinois. He was reared in the usual
manner of farmer lads and received such educational privileges as the district and subscription schools afforded. Experience and observation and contact with men and things
have made him a well-informed man. Like a dutiful son, he remained with his parents until their deaths, and tenderly
cared for them in their old age, as they had done for him in childhood. He is now the owner of a good farm of ninety
acres on section 38, Pana Township,
where he successfully carries on agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Hargraves was once a member of the Farmers' Alliance but is not now
connected with that society.
In 1892, he made a trip to Oregon
on the Northern Pacific Railroad and
spent about four months in the Far West, visiting many points of interest on
the journey. He has long lived in this neighborhood, and has therefore witnessed much of the growth and development
of the county. He is recognized as a valued citizen and one that manifests a commendable interest in all that pertains
to the welfare of the community in which he now makes his home.
On the 3d of December, 1878, Mr. Hargraves
was united in marriage with Louise M. Randle, a daughter of John H. and Sarah (Arnold)
Randle. the former a native of North Carolina, and the latter
of Virginia. They were pioneer settlers
of Illinois. Mr. Randle first came to this State
about 1814, and was for some years in the United States
Land Office at Vandalia. In 1825 he went to Kentucky and married Sarah Arnold, and three years later returned to this State.
Settling at Edwardsville, Madison County, he there built
a mill, which he lost by fire soon after it was erected. He later removed to Macoupin County, where he spent the remainder of his days.
In early life Mr. Hargraves was a Whig in politics and cast his
first Presidential vote for William Henry Harrison, in 1840. He has been a supporter of the Republican party since its organization.
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