When James S. Francis was born on 15 January 1831, in New York, United States, his father, Josiah Francis, was 29 and his mother, Fidelia Clark, was 30. He married Abigail C Barrows on 26 February 1880, in Jefferson, Missouri, United States. He lived in Clear Lake, Sangamon, Illinois, United States in 1880 and Clear Lake Township, Sangamon, Illinois, United States in 1900. He died on 30 January 1914, at the age of 83, and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Pawnee, Sangamon, Illinois, United States.
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Convinced that a group of Native American tribes were hostile, The United States formed a frontier militia to stop them in their tracks. Even though Black Hawk was hoping to avoid bloodshed while trying to resettle on tribal land, U.S. officials opened fire on the Native Americans. Black Hawk then responded to this confrontation by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run and then left northward. After a few months the militia caught up with Black Hawk and his men and defeated them at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. While being weakened by hunger, injuries and desertion, Black Hawk and the rest of the many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. Unfortunately, Black Hawk and other leaders were later captured when they surrendered to the US forces and were then imprisoned for a year.
Historical Boundaries: 1851: Sangamon, Illinois, United States
Historical Boundaries: 1858: Sangamon, Illinois, United States
English: from the Old French personal name Franceis, modern French François, from Latin Franciscus, originally ‘Frank’, though later used to denote a Frenchman. The personal name owed much of its popularity during the Middle Ages to the fame of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), whose baptismal name was actually Giovanni but who was nicknamed Francisco because his father was absent in France at the time of his birth. In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages, e.g. Italian Francesco and Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, and Croatian Franc , and also their derivatives, e.g. Croatian Francišković (see Francisco 4).
English: ethnic name from the Old French adjective Franceis ‘French’ (see 1 above).
Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames, or an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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