Heirology

Ancestors

Rev. James T. Kerr

1863-1933 · Saybrook IL
Born 1863, Saybrook, McLean County, Illinois
Died 1933
Children include Naomi

James T. Kerr was born on 5 July 1863 at Saybrook, McLean County, Illinois. He was the son of McCager Kerr and his wife, named as Mary E. Flesher in his marriage return and as Ellen in his obituary, and one of their eleven children.

On 15 April 1888, at Saybrook, he married Della Doner, and they had seven children: James, Theodore, Leona, Naomi, Helen, Charles and Carl. Della died on 22 July 1909 at Joslin, in Rock Island County. On 16 December 1913 James married again, to Katie C. Fawver of Gibson City.

He was a brick mason by trade, and he came to the ministry in his forties. In 1907 he joined the Northern Illinois Annual Conference of the United Brethren church, the regional body that licensed its preachers and sent them to their churches each year. He was ordained an elder, a full minister, in 1912. His first appointment was Joslin, where he looked after the Rose Hill, Enterprise and Joslin churches for seven years. He went on to Adair, Van Orin, Baylis and Maysville, and returned to Joslin in 1926 for four more years.

In September 1930, at sixty-seven, he was appointed to Willow Grove, near Blandinsville in McDonough County. Before he left Joslin his congregation gave him and his family a farewell party in the parsonage. Katie died at Willow Grove on 1 June 1931.

James died on 27 April 1933 at Van Orin, Bureau County, in the home of his son Charles. His funeral was held in the Joslin church on 29 April. The Rev. W. L. Blackwell of Van Orin preached, assisted by the pastor, the Rev. H. S. Reese, and he was buried beside his wife at Hillsdale. He left seven children and twenty-one grandchildren.

Children

Naomi Evelyn Kerr 1896-1961

Sources

Gibson City Courier, Gibson City, Illinois, 18 May 1933, page 3. Clipping posted to Find a Grave memorial 76895400.
Newspaper notice datelined Joslin, April 28 [1933], text given on Find a Grave memorial 76895400; the newspaper's name is not given.
Mount Moriah cemetery, Hillsdale, Rock Island County, Illinois. Photograph by Paula Schave, 2011, Find a Grave memorial 76895400.
"Veteran Dies At Hines Hospital", Bureau County Tribune, Princeton, Illinois, 27 August 1943, page 1. Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections, BCT19430827-01.1.1.
obituary, Gibson City Courier, 18 May 1933, page 3, and a Joslin notice dated 28 April 1933 (both on Find a Grave memorial 76895400, with the gravestone photograph by Paula Schave, 2011)
Illinois, McLean County, marriage records 1885-1892, return for James Kerr and Della Doner, 15 April 1888. FamilySearch, film 007625297, image ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L924-R43F.
Mount Moriah cemetery, near Hillsdale, Rock Island County, Illinois. Photograph by Paula Schave, 2011, Find a Grave memorial 76895702.
The Argus, Rock Island, Illinois, 17 July 1909, page 2, Zuma column. Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn92053934.
The Argus, Rock Island, Illinois, 28 July 1909, page 2, Hillsdale column. Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn92053934.
The Argus, Rock Island, Illinois, 30 July 1909, pages 2 and 9, Zuma column. Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn92053934.
The Argus, Rock Island, Illinois, 3 July 1907, page 2, and 14 December 1907, page 2, country correspondence. Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn92053934.
The Argus, Rock Island, Illinois, 18 November 1918, page 8. Chronicling America, Library of Congress, sn92053934.
obituary, Gibson City Courier, 18 May 1933, page 3, and a Joslin notice dated 28 April 1933 (both on Find a Grave memorial 76895400, with the gravestone photograph by Paula Schave, 2011); McLean County marriage return, 15 April 1888 (FamilySearch image ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L924-R43F); The Argus, Rock Island, 3 July 1907, 14 December 1907, 17 July 1909, 30 July 1909, 28 September 1910 and 18 November 1918 (Chronicling America)

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Cite: Heirology, "Rev. James T. Kerr (1863-1933)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/rev-james-t-kerr-1863-1933-91a1a9.