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Below is a family biography included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. in 1879. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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JAMES B. STEVENSON, Bloomington; was born in Christian Co., Ky., and moved to Illinois and located in Bloomington in 1853; in 1867, in company with others, he helped to sink the McLean Co. Coal Shaft, which was first sunk to a depth of about three hundred feet; this vein they worked for a year or more, when they sunk it again to a second vein, which was about four hundred feet from the surface; this vein proved to be a better quality, but also very expensive to work. After a period of about three years of discouragement and unforeseen difficulties, the company again prospered, and found a third vein of coal at five hundred and forty feet below the surface, being the deepest working shaft in the State. The McLean County Coal Co. are now raising from three hundred to four hundred tons of coal per day, and their pay rolls vary from $16,000 to $19,000 per month, giving employment to about three hundred men, and reducing the price of coal to half its former cost, saving many thousand dollars to this community.
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This family biography is one of 1257 biographies included in The History of McLean County, Illinois published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr. Co. in 1879. View the complete description here: The History of McLean County, Illinois
View additional McLean County, Illinois family biographies here: McLean County, Illinois Biographies
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