Absalom Pennington Free

Personal History of Annie Irene Free Morris

by Her Hand

I was born on the 8th of December 1870 to Absalom Pennington and Annie Hicks Free, early pioneers of Utah. There were seven children of us and we lived on a farm between 5th and 3rd East on 21st South. It did not look then much like it does now. Father was a wonderful farmer and the older children had plenty of hard work to do but I, being next to the youngest, didn’t have to work on the farm but just helped mother in the house and took care of the chickens. I just loved to “set hens” and wait for them to hatch the little ones. We also had Turkeys, Ducks and Geese. There was a large spring on the place where the stock was watered and the ducks and geese swam. There was also what we called the little spring that was down by our comfortable adobe four large room home. I mustn’t forget the summer kitchen or the roof where we used to dry our apples. I can just barely remember the oxen. Buck and Jack were their names. I can remember our mules, Kit and Jack. Later father got a nice team, Pet and Tilley.

Each of these stories can be (or will be) found on this web site. But they are all grouped together here in a ".zip" file for your downloading convenience. (Click on attachment)

Absalom P. Free history
Anders Gustav Blad
Annie Hicks Free history
Carl and Addie Blad history
Ida Minerva Rollins history
James B. Wheeler;Rachel T.
JAMES HENRY ROLLINS
Mina Jean Blad history
Oscar Hamblin history
Rachel D. Wheeler history
Wenlock Wheeler Free

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.

By LaRae Free Kerr, 15 Jun 2005, Gallatin, Missouri

In 1908 a Free family reunion was held in Salt Lake City. Fortunately, the program survived. This program is the basis of our Free pedigree. And well it should be, for Absalom P Free knew his parents, his grandparents and his great grandfather, Joshua Perkins. He traveled from North Carolina, to Tennessee to Illinois with them. Though A P Free had died twenty-plus years before this reunion, he had, apparently, given his pedigree to Junius Free Wells, the family genealogist. The records of his ancestors were also found in TIBs. If possible, we plan to adopt some of the activities from this program for the 2006 reunion.

In 1976, Ron VanderBeek and I made a research trip to Illinois. We stood where A P Free's farm flourished in St Clair County. We found several living Free descendants. We found historical items almost every place we went as well as legal information in the IRAD shed. I did not find a single Free entry in Hancock County, Illinois. All in all it was a rewarding trip.

Absalom and Elizabeth (Betsy) Free

Absalom Pennington and Elizabeth (Betsy) Strait