McDonough County Genealogical Society
Pioneers of the Past apotlights the next nine notable women from the early records of McDonough County.
Each was listed as the head of household in the 1840 US Federal Census or the taxpayer in the 1840 tax records for McDonough County.
Zilpha Norris Jobe (17961861) Zilpha was the widow of William Jobe. The Jobe family, John Vance family and Hugh Wilson family established the Job/Jobe Settlement near Blandinsville in 1826. William died in 1835 leaving Zilpha with at least five small children at home. By 18555, she is Margaret Mourning Lyon (1803-1877) is buried in Friendship/Mourning Cemetery. Margaret was born in 1803 in Adair County, Kentucky where many future McDonough County residents lived. Her husband, John Lyon, Jr. had died in either 1839 or 1840 and was buried in Adair County, Kentucky. Margaret appears in the McDonough County 1840 Census, which was enumerated after June 1, 1840. The census lists 9 other household members. In the 1840 tax register, Margaret paid tax on horse and cattle with a total of 81 cents in tax collected.
Nancy Bell Maury (1798 – 1876) was born in Virginia, and at age 2, her family moved to Kentucky. In 1818, she married Abraham Maury. In 1834 the family came to Rushville, and Macomb in 1837.
