Andrew was a pioneer in KY, OH, IN, and IL and was a very colorfulchar acter.
He was said to be tall, extremely dignified, with jet black hair whichb ecame snow white with age. He was a stately looking gentleman,always n eatly dressed, never without a silk tie, always well brushed,"with ruf fled shirt common to those who had seen city life." "Therewas an air o f importance and superiority permeating every fibre ofAndy's nature."
He acquired considerable wealth but also lost a great part of it topol itics and speculation.
He and Jane had a total of 12 children.
Residences & events in his life:
1797 KY. Andrew accompanied his father and a surveying party to OHan d he recorded the experience: "We were with the surveying partyheaded b y Lucas Sullivant from Kentucky, and went up along the SciotoRivver as f ar north as the Forks where the Whetstone joins - thencalled the Forks o f the Scioto. The party returned to Chillicothelate in the fall. Whe n we (the whole family) returned next spring wefound a white family, J oseph Dixon's."
1805 Chillicothe, Ross Co, OH. At age 13 he became a mail carrierand d escribed the job: "A weekly mail left Franklinton each Friday,stayed o ver night at Markly's Mill on Darby Creek, next day madeChillicothe an d returned to Thompson's on Deer Creek, thence home onSunday. There w as no postoffice between Columbus and Chillicothe. Iwas the first mai l carrier and did carry the first mail toFranklinton and was employed i n that business about one year, duringthe winter and spring, having tw ice to swim the Darby and Deer Creekscarrying
the small mail bag on my shoulders. There was not a house but WilliamB rown's between Franklinton and Darby and but a cabin at Westfall andDe er Creek to Chillicothe. I commenced carrying the mail at 13 yearsold . It was a rather lonesome route for a boy."
At 19 he was a trumpeter in Jacob Raub's company of "Rifles" in theWar o f 1812 and promoted until he reached Capt.
He and his brothers, along with the Sells brothers, were co-buildersof a d am on the Scioto River, OH. He bought the Swan Tavern, was thepostmas ter, and built a flour mill.
Columbus, Franklin Co, OH. He was described as a prominent residentof t he county.
"The story goes that he was expecting a visit from his cousin, thelate B ishop McIlvaine, and that he had to go to New York on business.While a way he left his inscription for the sign painter and owing tothe fact t hat he had a sort of legal scrawl and that his capital 'I'slooked like ' E's, and that the 'e' at the end of the name was alwaysstrung out so f ar that it was not recognizable, the sign painter putin 'McElvain.' T he paper states that the Colonel swore roundly andmade such a commotio n that the people along the street came out tosee what was the matter, a nd finally a young fellow named Martin, afavorite nephew, came over an d put the Colonel in a good humor. Thisstart was seconded by a friend a cross the street who admired the signvery much and said that it was a c redit to Columbus, so that owing tothe fact that it could not be chang ed in time for the Bishop's visitit was allowed to remain so. The res t of the family, feeling greatrespect for the Colonel's ability, and r ecognizing the fact that thenew style was easier, at once adopted it, e xcept two or three of thefamily who still cling to the 'I', although n early all of them havediscarded the 'a' in the prefix."
1819 Near Clinton, IN. His wife, Martha, died enroute to Vincennes,IN , as the family was moving. He was so grieved that he returned toColu mbus with their two sons while the rest of the family trudged on.
Columbus, OH. There he married Martha's cousin, Jane, and stayedawhil e longer.
1832 Near Ft Hamilton, WI. Lured by lead and zinc mining, he andbrot her, James, went north. Andrew was one of the lucky ones toescape the I ndian raid which resulted in James' death.
1832-1837 Franklin Co, OH. Back home on safer ground, he became thes heriff.
1840 Mifflin twp, Franklin Co, OH was his residence at census time.Li sted under A McElvain, his family consisted of: 1 male under 5, 2were 5 -10, 2 at 10-15, 1 was 15-20, Andrew was 40-50, 1 female under5, and 1 a t 30-40. Next door was a V or N McElvain.
1842-1844 He served as one of the directors of the Ohio penitentiary.
11/5/1846 Upper Sandusky, Wyandot Co, OH. Andrew purchased 3 plotsof l and that date, all cash entries. It is unknown if he alreadylived in t he county at the time. Two plots were unspecified as toacreage and we re located at 1 19 1ST PPM No 2 S 14 E, 1 191 1ST PPMNo 2 S 14 E, the t hird was 42.29 acres at 1 SWNW 1ST PPM Yes 2 S 14E 3. Also on that s ame date were several entries for brothers,Joseph and Purdy McElvaine.
1846 "Having suffered some severe pecuniary losses in trade, andhavin g incurred some debts, thereby boldly started for California...for the p urpose of retrieving his fortunes and of paying his justdebts."
From the History of Wyandot Co, OH is an account of that trip:
THE EXODUS.
In 1848, the news came from the newly discovered El Dorado, thatmounta ins of silver and valleys of gold were lying around loose, andthat any body with a mule and cart and a barrel of whisky could becomea million aire in a few days. All he had to do was to treat thenatives, and haul a way the metal. A few nuggets of gold were shown toour citizens by a fe llow who strutted our Streets with a watch chainmade of grizzly teeth, a nd that settled it. Bill Giles offered tosell or give a no printing of fice; old Andy McIlvain pulled down theblinds of the only aristocratic h otel we had; and other of our peoplerefused their usual meals and toss ed their better halves out of bedin wrestling with nightmares that wer e dropping down upon them wholetons of precious gold. They had it bad, a nd soon a party was formedto cross the plains. Bill Giles loaned the P ioneer office to hisbrother, Lige and Josiah Smith, and donned the dre ss andaccouterments of a fighting guerrilla. He had Deacon McGill forg e himthree or four bowie knives out of rat-tail files, and with a revolutionary musket and a pocket cannon he announced his readiness todriv e an ox-team or do the cooking on buffalo chips. Old AndyMcIlvain wrap ped himself in a blanket and said he was ready to ridein that ox. team a nd demolish the provender. Also waiting to join thecaravan were Col. A aron Lyle, William McIlvain, Swayne McIlvain andseveral others whose n ames we cannot call to mind, including asprightly nigger, named Buck, w ho had been raised by the Garrets.This Buck, with the strength of Herc ules, was active as a cat, and assaucy as he was active. A short dista nce out on the plains Buck afound with a hole through his head, and co nsequently it was supposedthat he died suddenly for want of breath, bu t as it was only onenigger less for grizzly feed, the party moved on. B efore the plainswere overcome, poor Bill McIlvain, and that large gene rous heartedfellow, Col. Lyle, who was seeking health instead of gold, surrendered to the pale horse and his rider, and left their bones onthe d esert wastes of the Great West.
Bill McIlvain was a promising young man, about to enter the law, butbl ighted love for one who also felt the bitterness of the shock, madehim l ess to do and dare, and his sad fate was more the result ofpiercing he art-throbs than the wreck of health from exposure.
Col. Lyle was a brilliant young lawyer, who came here from Lancaster,O hio, with the Beerys; his long and severe application while astudent h ad impaired his health, and the hectic flush that mingledwith his smil es and good humor, was a warning which thrilled hisfriends with the gr avest apprehensions. It was death to remain; anoverland trip might rev ive a shattered constitution, and still makelife the dream of his ambi tion; but hope in its struggle with diseasesoon ended in the death of t hat grand, good fellow, who was loved andesteemed by all our citizens.
Swayne McIlvain, after an experience of several weeks on the plains,go t scared at a moccasin track, and took the first balloon forSandusky. H e denied the soft impeachment, giving as a reason for hissudden reappe arance, "that father thought he had better go home andprepare a cave o r two for the nuggets."
Of the party, Bill Giles and old Andy McIlvain drove their ox-team ins ight of the Pacific, and ordered the natives to bring out their golddu st if they wanted it panned out
Mcllvain, who had never done anything -in his life but bow tofellow-ci tizens from a hotel door, commencing at the American inColumbus, and e nding with a house at Upper Sandusky, didn't believein exercising the p ick and shovel; but he would go into a hayspeculation with Bill Giles, a nd he did. Andy got the profits, andBill got the hay. Bill has still s ome of that crop on hand, and willget up on a fence and swear till the s ulphur oozes down into hisboots every time he passes a hay stack. Afte r Bill had killed hisIngin, fought a grizzly, and started and publishe d two papers inCalifornia, he returned to Upper Sandusky and resumed p ublication ofthe Pioneer.
12/19/1850 Franklin, Franklin Co, OH. That year the census recordedA ndrew at age 58, Jane at 50. Andrew was a farmer with propertyworth $ 4000. The family consisted of John, 25, his wife Margt, 20, aNewton A yres, 14, Swayne R, 18, Chas H, 16, Jane, 14, Richard H, 12,Matilda, 1 0, and Andrew M, 5. A 21 year old Rbt P McIlvain livednext door with t he Bunbecker (sp?) family as a laborer. Who was he?
2/7/1853 Logan Co, IL. Moving west again, he bought 80 acres for anu nspecified amount at E2SW S28 T20N R03W. His place of residence atthe t ime was unknown so he was not living in the county yet.
1859 West Point Grove, near Postville/Lincoln, IL. His daughter,Mati lda, said that when their wagons arrived, "Colonel McElvain droveup to t he old tavern, only recently demolished and inquired thedirection to t he section on which laid the farm he had purchase. Atall, bony man ga ve him the directions-that man was Abraham Lincoln,a traveling lawyer f rom Springfield, Ill, and a member of thelegistlature of Illinois, des tined to be great friends and cronieswith Col. McElvain, in spite of t heir political differences. Col.McElvain always argued that if the sl aves were a political subjectthere would be war between the North and t he Sounth but he did notlive to see it. Mr. McElvain and Mr. Lincoln n ever got beyond theMr. in their conversation, but with another grandfa ther, who also wasa friend and fellow Whig with Lincoln, it was always ' Abe' and'Jake.'"
7/3/1860 Logan Co, IL. At census time Andrew was a 68 year oldfarmer w hose property totaled $4000/1000. Jane R was 59 and thechildren still a t home included: John, 35, Jane, 23, Richard, 21,Matilda, 19, and And rew M, 13. Living with the family was futureson-in-law James Bell, 25 , farmer with $200 in personal property.
One descendant has 9/8/1791 as his birth date.
Andrew died of accidental injuries.
The newspaper carried the story:
"DIED - On Thursday evening last, the 9th inst., Andrew McElvain
Esq., of West Point Grove in the county, of this county and recently
of this city, aged 69 years.
Obituary - The somewhat sudden and unexpected death of this
worthy citizen and good man spead a deep gloom on the whole community
and was felt as an irreparable loss by all who knew him. He had gone
out in apparently robust health on Thursday morning with his sons for
the purpose of yoking some oxen on this farm. During the process one
of the cattle which was a little unruly, made a pass at Colonel
McElvain, who was standing at his head and who, in order to save
himself sprang hastily backward. In the sudden effort he must have
ruptured a blood vessel internally as in a brief space he became
insensible and expired the same night about 12 o'clock."
And another:
"....he settled in this state and county on a farm he purchased
on Sugar Creek, which he managed with great success and which he
tended until quite recently, when he sold the farm and retired to his
property in this town, to spend the remainder of his days in the bosom
of this family. But it pleased God that this enjoyment should be of
brief duration and he was transferred to a more permanent home.
The present writer became acquainted with Mr. McElvain soon after
his arrival in this town and has since had frequent opportunities of
enjoying his society and becoming acquainted with the sterling
qualities of his character. He was in all respects a good citizen, a
high minded gentleman and an example eminently worthy of emulation in
all the relations of life; training up his children in the practice of
the best moral and religious principles and though not professing the
peculiar creed of any religious sect or denomination, he was a true
christian, in the highest and noblest acceptance of that term.
His remains were attended to their final resting place on
Saturday by a large and most respectful concourse of his fellow
citizens, without distinction of creed or party, who testified their
respect for the virtues of the deceased and their sympathy for the
bereaved family by those marks of genuine sorrow and feeling which is
more easy to feel than to describe.
Such is the end of a good man, and well may we all join in the
common prayer.
Oh let me die the death of the righteous and
Let my last words be like His,
For it is by their fruits alone, that ye shall know them!"
