Richland County IL Archives Biographies.....Canby, Richard Sprigg 1808 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 28, 2011, 2:18 pm Source: See below Author: Lake City Publishing Co. HON. RICHARD SPRIGG CANBY, an eminent jurist of Illinois, now resides in Olney, and was one of the prominent and leading members of the Richland County Bar. He was born on his grandfather's farm in Greene County, Ohio, on the 30th of September, 1808, and is descended from one of the oldest Quaker families of Pennsylvania. Thomas Canby, the common ancestor of all the Canbys in America, came from England to America with William Penn in 1683, and settled in Philadelphia. He obtained a tract of land from William Penn, and the deed of record shows the consideration to have been persecution endured for conscience sake. Thomas Canby had been imprisoned in England on account of his religious views, he being a Quaker, and had been released under the reign of James II., but a short time before he came to America. He built a mill on his purchase and erected a dwelling. It is said that the old mill-house is still standing. Thomas Canby, who was twice married and had seventeen children, was born in the town of Thorn, Yorkshire, England, in 1666. The name is now extinct in England but is said to exist in France, where tradition states that the family originated and that some members were driven to England in a remote period by religious persecution. Our subject traces his genealogy from Thomas Canby as follows: Thomas Canby had a son Benjamin, who lived and died in the original settlement in Pennsylvania. He had a son Samuel, whose son Joseph was born in Loudoun County, Va., in 1781, and married Lydia Pedrick in the Quaker meeting-house in January, 1807, after the peculiar marriage ceremony of the Society of Friends. He died in Logan County, Ohio, in February, 1843. His wife was born in New Jersey in 1787, and died in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, in August, 1816. Four children were born unto Joseph and Lydia Canby, two sons and two daughters. Anna married Mr. Kitchen; Hannah became the wife of John Evans, Governor of Colorado; Samuel died in infancy; and Richard Sprigg completes the family. The last-named is the subject of this sketch. He passed his childhood and youth on the farm and was educated partly in Oxford, Butler County, Ohio. On the 16th of March, 1835, he was married in Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio, to Miss Eliza, a daughter of Oliver Simpson. The lady was a native of Ross County. Ten children were born of tbe union of our subject and his wife. Elizabeth, born in 1836, married Homer G. Platz and died leaving one daughter, who married and is the mother of two sons. Lydia Ann, born in 1837, is the wife of T. W. Hutchinson, a lawyer of Olney, Ill. Oliver S. and Joseph died after attaining to manhood. Samuel died in infancy. Samuel, the second of that name, married Miss Martha Bates and is a practicing physician of Bonpas Township, Richland Connty. They have four children living and four deceased. One of their daughters is married and has three children. Cornelia is the wife of Dr. E. Boyles, of Clay City, Clay County. Richard S., Jr., is deceased. Benjamin is married and is City Judge of East St. Louis, serving his second term in that position. Eliza died in infancy. In 1829 Mr. Canby embarked in mercantile business in Bellefontaine, Ohio, and while thus engaged read law with B. Stanton, of that place. In 1840 he began the practice of law and in 1845 was elected to the State Legislature. The following year he was elected to Congress from the Twelfth Ohio District, where he served as Representative with credit to himself and his constituents. When his term was over he removed to a tract of land of one thousand acres, and for a number of years engaged in farming. Subsequently, he removed to Bellefontaine in order to provide his children with better educational advantages, and there resided until March, 1863, when he removed to Olney, Ill., where he resumed the practice of his profession. In June, 1867, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court and served on the bench for six years with distinction. He then resumed the practice of law, from which he retired in 1882, at the age of seventy-four years. Almost from the time he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, Mr. Canby was recognized as a lawyer of much merit, possessing more than ordinary ability. He won an enviable reputation and was elected to a number of positions of honor and trust, in which he discharged his duties with a promptness and fidelity that won him high commendation. In 1867 Judge Canby was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in Olney on the 14th of January of that year. In political sentiment in early life the Judge was a Whig but joined the Republican party on its organization in 1854, and since that time until recent years he has been an active and earnest supporter of that party. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Portrait and Biographical Record of Effingham, Jasper and Richland Counties Chicago: Lake City Publishing Co. 1893 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/richland/photos/bios/canby1696gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/richland/bios/canby1696gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb