by Mae Biesinger Rose
Mary Pennington and Andrew Free lived in Burk Co., North Carolina. Land had just opened up for expansion in St. Clair Co., Illinois in 1814 when they moved their little family to Belleville, near East St. Louis, Illinois, in St. Clair County. Absalom was their eldest child and would have been sixteen years old at the time. Their were eight children in the family when they moved to Illinois. Their names were: Absalom Pennington, born 1789; Betsey, born 1799; Allen, no date; Joshua Perkins, born 1803; Mildred, born 1805; John Page, born 1808; Joseph, born 1811; and William Hart, born 1812. Three children were born after arriving in Illinois--namely, LeRoy, born 1817; Isaac, born 1820; and Marjorie, born 1822.
Here in this new area, the family worked hard to clear the land of the dense growth and large nut trees native to this place. It is a tribute to their industry and determination for they became very prosperous farmers. Four years after arriving in Belleville, Absalom eloped with Martha Belcher, a pretty little girl of sixteen years. The family has enjoyed telling of this fairy tale like romance through the years. Absalom put a ladder up to her second story window from which she descended into his arms. Their happiness was to be of short duration however, for she died three years later leaving him with two baby boys, Andrew and John Belcher. This marriage took place in St. Clair Co., Illinois in 1818.