Vital Statistics

Oliver Cromwell Hackett was born March 29, 1822 in Scott County Kentucky. His father was John Hackett, and his grandfather was noted Kentucky frontiersman and militiaman of the American Revolution, Peter Hackett

Peter Hackett

Peter Hackett was born in approximately 1763 or 1764 in the English colony of Virginia. It is believed that Peter was the son of Thomas Hackett, likely of Montgomery County, Virginia...

. John Hackett moved the family, including young O. C., from Kentucky to Coles County, Illinois

Coles County, Illinois

Coles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 53,873, which is an increase of 1.3% from 53,196 in 2000. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University....

 in 1835. O. C. Hackett married Ellen Roxanne (Wyeth) on March 14, 1854. O. C.'s children included Frederick W. Hackett. O. C. died April 8, 1905 in Tuscola, Illinois. Family legend holds that Abraham Lincoln stayed at the Hackett farm during the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858

Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858

The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for Senate in Illinois, and the incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. At the time, U.S. senators were elected by state legislatures; thus Lincoln and...

.

Illinois Pioneer and Participant in the California Gold Rush

In late 1849 or 1850 O. C. joined the California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

, traveling to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama

Isthmus of Panama

The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...

 and setting up a claim in the Auburn

Auburn, California

Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...

 area. O.C. soon left the gold fields to return to the farm in Illinois.

In the mid-1850s O. C. bought a farm just outside Tuscola

Tuscola, Illinois

Tuscola is a city in Douglas County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,480 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Douglas County.-Geography:Tuscola is located at ....

, in Douglas County, Illinois. O. C. Hackett was the founding Supervisor of Tuscola township, and was elected in 1868. Hackett was elected Supervisor with a majority of only one vote over W. B. Ervin. O. C. planted Hackett's Grove, a sassafras grove situated on Section 31, Township 16, Range 9, on the east side of the township. This 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) grove is traversed by a branch of Scattering Fork of the Embarrass River, long known as Hackett's Run, and according to the History of Douglas County (1884), the grove had been owned by the Hackett's since long before Douglas County had an existence.

Sources and External Links

http://www.iltrails.org/Coles/early_settlers_1.htm -- Early Settlers of Coles County, Illinois

http://genealogytrails.com/ill/coles/history.html -- History of Coles County, Illinois

Douglas County, Illinois

Hackett (surname)

California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

List of people associated with the California Gold Rush