Born in Alsace, France, in 1814, Charles Guthneck came to America with a French colony in 1837 and settled near Vincennes. He became a skilled stone-and-brick contractor, building numerous bridges for
Jacob May was a merchant in the newly formed village of Sumner, Lawrence County, Illinois, from 1853 to 1857. His surviving account book, published by the Richland County Genealogical and Historical S
On November 8, 1870, 63-year-old farmer Richard Swinson of Petty Township, Lawrence County, Illinois, sat down to settle his affairs by writing his Last Will and Testament—and apparently to assign roo
