Stephen Wing of Pike County, Illinois

I would like to say a heartfelt "thankyou," to John Jackson, the son of Alice Wing Jackson, the grandson of Ezra Wing, the great grandson of Theodore Wing and the great-great grandson of Stephen Wing. This article and information would not have been possible without his kind efforts to send me copies of what you see here and other places on this website. His mother, Alice Wing Jackson, is still living and wrote much of what is written here.

Stephen Wing was born in Vermont on November 28, 1810, the 3rd child and 1st son of Joseph Wing and Amy Pettis. According to the biography written by Alice Jackson, Stephen Wing was well educated and taught school in Canada for a time. He was well informed on the Bible and his religion was Christian Adventist. It is said that Stephen Wing also studied the stars and was very well versed in that study. According to his great-great granddaughter, Alice Wing, Stephen was of medium height and had a dark complexion. Stephen was a farmer, carpenter, mason, brick layer and he could finish a house from celler to attic, hewing the timbers from the trees of the forest.

About 1826, the Wing family moved from Vermont to Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio. Stephen Wing would have been about 16 years old when they moved. It was in Ohio that he met his bride, Olive Rice and on October 12, 1834, they were married at Trumbull County, Ohio. They remained married for 47 years until Olive's death on January 24, 1881. Stephen remained a widower for the rest of his life. He died on October 24, 1896 at Clayton Township, Adams County, Illinois. Both Olive and Stephen are buried in Howe Cemetery, Brown County, Lee Township, Illinois.

When the Wing family moved to Pike County, Illinois, Stephen and his wife, Olive, remained in Ohio on the Wing family homestead. They remained there until sometime in 1845. Their move to Illinois was probably precipitated by the death of his father, Joseph Wing, on February 12, 1844. Joseph and Amy Pettis Wing had made a trip to Mecca, Trumbull Co., Ohio to visit Stephen and Olive and their young family. It was there that Joseph Wing died. The decision was made to bury Joseph in Mecca rather than transport his body back to Illinois.

Like it or not, when his father died, Stephen Wing became the patriarch of the family and the nominal head of his mother's affairs. So, by 1845, Stephen, Olive and their 3 children; Theodore, Rose Linda and Sarah Elizabeth were sharing the Wing home in Pike County, Illinois with Amy Pettis Wing, Charles, Joseph Smith and Benjamin Franklin Wing.

Whether or not Stephen and his family remained in the home of his mother for the next 12 years is unknown at this time. They did remain in Pike County until 1857, when they moved to Clayton, Adams County, Illinois. It was there that Stephen Wing bought his land and with the help of his son, Theodore, built the Wingdale Homestead. The bricks were made and baked out of the farm land and the home was of brick and fine wood with gingerbread trim.

Thanks to the documents that remain at the courthouse in Pittsville, Pike County, Illinois, we also know that in June of 1854, Stephen became the legal guardian of Adelia and Byron Wing, the children of his brother, Joseph Smith Wing. His brother and his wife, Rebecca Pierce Davis, were embroiled in a bitter divorce at the time. Why Rebecca would want her ex-husband's oldest brother to be the guardian of her children is a mystery. Either way, he gave Adelia back to her mother in August of 1856 but he kept Byron (my great-grandfather), and later adopted him. Although we have not found any papers to confirm this adoption, the legal battles that followed involving Adelia Wing indicate that Byron was legally protected and under the guardianship of his uncle, Stephen Wing.

Even as I write this article on Stephen Wing, new documents surface at the Pike County Courthouse concerning the Wing family, the Davis family and the Pettis family. These documents are mute evidence of the adversarial nature of all three families, but most specifically, the polite feud between the Wing's and the Davises.

At one time, four generations of Wing's lived at Wingdale; Stephen, his son, Theodore, Theodore's son, Ezra, and Ezra's wife and their two sons, Floyd and Neil Wing. It must have been a busy, happy home. Theodore, Stephen's son attended Hazel Dell School at Concord Township in 1856. In 1869 the contract for a new Hazel Dell school house was let to Stephen Wing for the carpentering work. Stephen, assisted by his son, Theodore built the new school where four generations of Wings attended school; Theodore, Ezra, and his sons, Floyd and Neil and Floyd's daughter and son, Alice and Roy. This school was later sold when community school units were formed. Wingdale farm was inherited by Neil from his father Ezra and was later sold in the early 1970's to Mr. And Mrs. Richard Hapke who later tore down the homestead and built a new ranch style home. The Stephen, Theodore, Ezra and Floyd Wing families are all buried in the Howe Cemetery east of the Wingdale homestead in Brown County, Lee Township."

Stephen and Olive Rice Wing's 3 children were;
1. Theodore...Eldest and only son, born in Ohio on March 21, 1836 and died April 10, 1905 at the age of 69 at the home of his son Ezra, at Wingdale Farm, Clayton, Illinois.

2. Rose Linda, born February 23, 1840, died June 24, 1898 at the age of 58.

3. Sarah Elizabeth, born October 13, 1841, died January 2, 1893 at the age of 52.

WHAT FOLLOWS ARE THE NOTES OF ALICE WING JACKSON;

"Theodore Wing (Stephen,Joseph,Giles, Matthew, Joseph, Matthew, Stephen, Rev. John, Matthew) removed to Pike County, Illinois with his father's family in 1845 where they lived for 12 years...and then in the year 1857 moved to Clayton, Illinois. In 1866 on April 12th Theodore and Alice Wing(Giles Nelson, Matthew, Giles, Matthew, Joseph, Matthew, Stephen, Rev. John, Matthew), daughter of Nelson and Miltida Pettis Wing were married. To this union one child was born, a son, Ezra on August 8, 1867, who in later years kindly cared for his father in his last illness."

(Toni's note: Alice Wing, wife of Theodore Wing was the daughter of "Nelson Wing and Matilda Pettis Wing"..that could only be Giles Nelson Wing...who, for whatever reason must have dropped his first name. (see the history above starting with Giles Wing and his family). Giles Nelson Wing was the son of Matthew Wing and Anna Parr. Matthew Wing was the son of Giles Wing and Mary Cornwell (Cornell) Wing.This would mean that Theodore and Alice were 3rd cousins or something like that.)

" Six years after Theodore's marriage he lost his wife, Alice on October 23, 1871 at the age of 26 years, due to childbirth and tuberculois of the lungs. The baby, a son, also died or was born dead. In 1882 Theodore married his second wife, Miss Rhoda Carter. They lived together happily of 12 years when death called Rhoda home. Theodore united with the Christian Adventist Church in Clayton in 1872 and died in the faith and teaching of his church on April 10, 1905 at the age of 69 at Wingdale Farm. He expressed his willingness and readiness to go when death called him. He was an upright citizen, good neighbor and a kind man to his family. The funeral was held in the home of Ezra, his son, at Wingdale Farm and burial was in Howe Cemetery."

Alice Wing , 1st wife of Theodore was tall and slender, red curly hair, blue eyes, very pretty. Educated school teacher. Lover of horses and splendid horsewoman. Very brave. She was born September 30, 1845 and died Oct. 23, 1871 at the age of 26. She had a son Ezra and a second son, born dead."

"Alice Wing's family...wife of Theodore, mother of Ezra... Alice Wing's father was Nelson Wing (Giles Nelson Wing)(Matthew, Giles,, Matthew, Joseph,Matthew, Stephen, Rev. John, Matthew). His people came from Vermont to Ohio and then to Illinois. He was of medium height, heavy set, and at one time the strongest man in Pike County, Illinois. Sandy hair, blue eyes, he was a farmer and had a fair education. His religion was Christian Adventist. He died of old age, ninety and some years. Nelson was married to Mitilda Pettis, daughter of Colonel Pettis, Yankees. Mitilda was tall, slim, raw boned, high cheek bones, and well educated. She was also a Christian Adventist. She died with pneumonia. Nelson Wing went to California in the gold rush in a covered wagon...he had his wife a ring made out of the gold he dug. Nelson died with a stroke. Nelson and Matilda Pettis Wing's children were: Alice, Olive, Homer, Myra, Ernest, Myrtle, and Steven."

Toni's note...Ezra was a double Wing, he was son of Theodore Wing (Theodore, Stephen, Joseph, Giles, Matthew, Joseph, Matthew, Stephen, Rev. John and Matthew) and he was the son of Alice Wing (Alice, Giles Nelson, Matthew, Giles, Matthew, Joseph, Matthew, Stephen, Rev. John and Matthew)