More on James Niece

John Niece's death certificate states that his father was James Niece.¹ This agrees with the 1850 census record for James Niece in Shelby County, IL.²

James was a farmer who was born in Kentucky in about 1803. He moved to Madison County, IL sometime in the 1820's or early 1830's. This is based on the fact that the 1850 census lists Kentucky as the birthplace of his eldest children, and Madison County is listed as the birthplace of both John and William on their Illinois Civil War muster rolls.³

(There is some disagreement between James's 1850 census record and later records for John, who always listed his birthplace as Illinois (for example, his death certificate), and sometimes more precisely as Madison County, IL (for example, his Civil War documents).

By contrast, James Niece, Jr listed his birthplace as Okonee, Sangamon County, IL on his Civil War papers.⁴ This was an error; Oconee (the correct spelling) has always been in Shelby County.

No further information has been found to date on James's other children, although James Sr. and his children Philip and Mary are also listed in the 1850 census for Madison County, IL, where they appear to have been hired hands.⁵)

I also found a census record for James Niece in Madison County in 1840.⁶ 

1840 Census Record for James Niece, Madison Co., IL

It is certainly possible that this is my great-great-grandfather's record, as the location makes sense and the ages of everyone in the household agree with the 1850 census. So this claim seems supportable, but I have nothing substantial to prove this. However, I have seen threads on Rootsweb that claim records exist documenting land sales in the same area between James Niece and other parties that I believe are related to my ancestor, so I think it is likely that this census record does indeed belong to my ancestor.

My search for information about James Niece would be at an end if I had not recently stumbled across a Find-a-Grave entry for James Niece in Shedd Cemetery in Ramsey Township, Fayette County, IL.⁷ Recall James's 1850 census says he lived in Beck's Creek District of Shelby County, IL. This was located just across the county line from Shedd Cemetery. The tombstone says that James was 55 years old when he died in 1856, all of which make it very likely that this is indeed the grave of my ancestor. I am deeply grateful to this kind contributor. And herein lies a lesson, which I have often read but failed to apply in this case: when your ancestor lives near a county line, it is good practice to look across that county line for additional information. I didn't do that, and so I almost missed this valuable gem.

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1. John Long Niece, death certificate no. 3554 (1917), Christian County Clerk’s Office, Taylorville, Illinois.

2. James Niece household, 1850 U.S. census, Shelby County, Illinois, population schedule, Becks Creek District, p. 151b, lines 3-12, dwelling 850, family 850; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 128, tiff image (Online: ProQuest LLC, 1999-2007) [Digital scan of original records in the National Archive, Washington, DC], subscription database, <http://www.heritagequestonline.com>, accessed 30 July 2004.

3. John Neice. 143rd Illinois Infantry, Company C. Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls (transcribed by Fred Delap), State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.

-- John Neice. 14th Illinois Infantry Reorganized, Company I. Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls (transcribed by Fred Delap), State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.

-- William Niece. 35th Illinois Infantry Reorganized, Company B. Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls (transcribed by Fred Delap), State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.

4. James Niece. 9th Illinois Infantry, Company F. Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls (transcribed by Fred Delap), State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.

5. Daniel Meeker household, 1850 U.S. census, Madison County, Illinois, population schedule, T5N R6W, p. 432a, line 42, and p. 432b, lines 1-10, dwelling 39, family 39; National Archives micropublication M432, roll 119, tiff image (Online: ProQuest LLC, 1999-2007) [Digital scan of original records in the National Archive, Washington, DC], subscription database, <http://www.heritagequestonline.com>, accessed 23 January 2007.

6. James Niece household, 1840 U.S. census, Madison County, Illinois, Ridge Prairie Township, p. 91a, line 27; National Archives micropublication M704, roll 64, tiff image (Online: ProQuest LLC, 1999-2007) [Digital scan of original records in the National Archive, Washington, DC], subscription database, <http://www.heritagequestonline.com>, accessed 22 August 2005.

7. James Niece memorial, Shedd Cemetery, Ramsey Township, Fayette County, Illinois, Find-A-Grave (Online: FindAGrave.com, 1995), <http://www.findagrave.com>, accessed 26 September 2012.