Vermilion county Illinois, ISAAC CURRENT ==================================================================== Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Joy Fisher ==================================================================== p. 256-258 ISAAC CURRENT comes of sterling pioneer stock, his immediate ancestry on both sides of the house having been early settlers of Vermilion County, who figured honorably in the history of its settlement. He is a fine representative of the native born citizens who are sustaining and extending the large agricultural interests of this fair land of their birth, and the farm that he owns and is successfully managing in Danville Township compares very favorably with the best in this vicinity in point of cultivation, neat and substantial buildings and well ordered appearance, and its fertile acres yield him an ample income. Mr. Current was born in Newell Township, Vermilion County, Nov. 17, 1845. He is a descendant of Virginia families, both his parents and their parents having been born in the Old Dominion, his father, William Current, April 20, 1803, and his mother, Mary Baston, Oct. 19, 1807. The paternal grandfather of subject was a farmer in Harrison County, Va., but he finally disposed of his property in that State, and coming to Vermilion County in 1827, with his family, was one of the earliest settlers in what is now known as Newell Township. He entered a tract of Government land and was a resident in that township till death called him hence, though he did not die on that farm, but on the old homestead of his father, which he had entered; after the death of his father he buying that farm of the other heirs. The father of our subject was reared in his native State, and there married Miss Mary, daughter of Henry Baston. Her father was a resident of Harrison County in his native Virginia till 1827, when he came with others to Vermilion County, and entered a tract of land and improved a farm in what is now Danville Township, and lived here many years. He had learned the trade of a hatter in his youth; and after he came here found it very profitable to work at it a part of the time, his hats finding a ready sale. From this place Mr. Baston moved to Iowa in 1848 and became a pioneer of Marion County. A few years later he came back to Illinois and made his home with his children for a time, and then returned to the Hawk Eye State and resided there till his demise at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. His wife lived to be about the same age. They were the parents of fourteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity and married. The father of our subject continued to live in Harrison County till 1827, but early that year he left the State of his nativity accompanied by his wife, his parents and her parents, bound for the then far West, and made the entire journey with ox teams. He settled in Newell Township and entered the tract of Government land that is now owned and occupied by his eldest son. It was wild prairie at the time, with no improvements whatever, and he had to erect a rude pole house for temporary shelter, and in that the family resided a year. It was then burned with all its contents, and a more substantial log house was put up in its place, and in that humble abode the most of his children were born. When he first went onto this land he did not have money enough to pay for it and held it as a claim till he could earn money enough breaking prairie for others, to buy it. He had learned the trade of wagon-maker before coming here, and he built a shop on his place and devoted part of his time to making wagons. When he had three or four wagons made he would yoke his oxen and start for Chicago to sell them, and at the same time his wife, who was a thrifty, economical housekeeper, would send the eggs and butter that she had saved, to market. There were no railways for years after he settled here, and deer and other kinds of wild game were plentiful and often troublesome in the wheat fields of the pioneers, and where the flourishing city of Danville stands there was then no village. Mr. Current closed a life that had been a useful one and an honor to his community, on his old homestead Aug. 6, 1851, dying while yet in his prime. His wife died in October, 1885. Isaac Current of this sketch was reared and educated in this, his native county. He was but six years old when his father died, and he continued with his mother till his marriage. He then established himself on a part of the homestead, and two years later bought his present farm, where he has built up one of the most attractive homes in the township. Mr. Current has been three times married. Clarissa E. Lynch, to whom he was wedded Dec. 14, 1862, was his first wife. She was born in Danville Township in 1843, and died here June 14, 1869, leaving one child, Rachel H. She is now the wife of Isaac Bowman of Vance Township, and they have one child named William Isaac. Mr. Current's second marriage was to Mary (Campbell) Wyatt, their union taking place Oct. 28, 1869. She was born in Newell Township Aug. 1, 1845, and died June 21, 1872. Mr. Current's marriage with his present wife, Mrs. Derotha (Jones) Noel, took place Jan. 26, 1883. Her first husband was Arthur Noel by whom she had one son, Shelby P. Noel—he married Hannah Lappin, they have three children, viz: Percy Leo, Loda Belle, and Arthur Raymond. She was born in Rockville, Park Co., Ind., Jan. 13, 1845. Her father, Cornelius Jones was born in Virginia, and when a young man went to Park County, Ind., and there married Nancy Hull, a native of Ohio, he lived in Park County till 1881, and then came to Illinois and made his home with a son in Douglas County till his decease in March, 1885. His wife died May 10, 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Current have one son, Charles R. It may well be the pride of our subject that it has been his privilege not only to witness the wonderful progress of his native county since his birth, but that he has had a shave in advancing its material prosperity and making it a great agricultural centre. He has accumulated a valuable property by the exercise of those faculties that mark him as a man of more than usual sagacity, far reaching forethought, and practical tenacity of purpose. Underlying all these traits are those high principles that have gained him the trust and respect of his fellow-citizens. Both he and his wife are active members of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, as is also their son. In politics, on National issues he sides with the Democrats, but in local affairs the best man for the office gets his vote without regard to his party affiliations.