Father: Francis Agnew
Mother: Catherine Robinson

Spouse-1: Margaret McDaniel
  m: 26/Feb/1857 - Mason Co., IL

Child-1: Nancy Catherine (Nannie)
          2: William Francis - b: 5/Feb/1861 - Mason Co., IL
                                        d: 22/Nov/1928 - Salt Creek Twp., Mason Co., IL - bur: Mason City Cem.
                                       m: Mary Caroline (Callie) Berger - 19/Jan/1888 - Mason Co., IL
          3: George McClelland - b: 21/Sep/1862 - Mason Co., IL
                                                d: 4/Sep/1940 -  Limestone Twp., Peoria, Co., IL - bur: Mason City Cem., Mason Co., IL
                                               m: Mary M. Herwig - 12/Jan/1889 - Mason Co., IL
          4: Henry A. - b: 26/Feb/1865 - Mason Co., IL
                               d: 3/Mar/1938 - Shenandoah, Page Co., IA - bur: Rose Hill Cem.
          5: Royal Walter - b: 17/May/1868 - Mason Co., IL
                                     d: 23/Dec/1948 - Carthage, Jasper Co., MO - bur: Park Cem.
                                    m: Emma Dora Maloney - 26/Aug/1891 - Mason Co., IL
          6: Robert Franklin (Frank) - b: Mar/1870 - Mason Co., IL
                                                     d: Jul/1949 - Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., IN
                                                    m: Lydia C. Mayer - 15/Apr/1900 - Mason Co., IL
          7: Estella Margaret - b: 27/Jun/1874 - Mason Co., IL
                                         d: 22/Jan/1950 - bur: Rose Hill Cem., Shenandoah, Page Co., IA
                                        m: Benjamin F. (Frank) Kendall - 24/Jan/1893 - Mason Co., IL
          8: Alice Gertrude - b: 8/May/1876 - Mason Co., IL
                                       d: 2/Jan/1947 - Mason Co., IL - bur: Mason City Cem.
                                      m: Eugene Theodore Sullivan - 24/Feb/1899 - Mason Co., IL

Spouse-2: Sarah Catherine Hawthorne Baxter - b:13/Sep/1842 - Cass Co., IL
   d: 10/Nov/1916 - Mason Co., IL - bur: Big Grove Cem., Salt Creek Twp.
  m: 8/Mar/1882 - Menard Co., IL

Child: Harry Lee - b: 2/Feb/1886 - Mason Co., IL
                             d: 14/Jan/1958 - Tampa, FL - bur: Mason City Cem., Mason Co., IL
                            m: Nina Ethel Genther - 30/Dec/1909 - Mason Co., IL

Biographical Details:

Leander Constantine Agnew was born August 30, 1832, in Monroe County, Illinois, and was a son of Francis and Catherine Robinson Agnew.  Monroe County was organized in 1816 and lies southeast of the city of St. Louis just across the Mississippi River.  As was commonly the case in frontier communities, as a child and/or young adult he evidently acquired an intermittant education such as was available from a local subscription school.  Concomitantly, he worked for seven summers in a brickyard.  L. C. Agnew reportedly moved to Mason County, Illinois, in 1855 and settled in Crane Creek Township.¹  Mason County was formed from portions of Menard and Tazewell Counties in 1841 and lies along the Illinois and Sangamon Rivers approximately one hundred and twenty miles north-northeast of St. Louis and one hundred and seventy miles southwest of Chicago.  At present, Crane Creek Township is located about twelve miles west of the county seat, Mason City, and according to the Federal Township-Range Survey System, can be essentially identfied with "Township Twenty North, Range Seven West of the the Third Principal Meridian".  The township appears to have been first settled in 1829 by squatters, George Garman and his brother.  Others soon followed.  Evidently, L. C. Agnew was a farmer, but his first residence in Mason County is not known.  Indeed, by 1855 all available public land of reasonable value had already been "taken up" and one may suppose that he either rented or purchased land from previous settlers.  Leander C. Agnew married Margaret McDaniel on February 26, 1857, in Mason County.  Eight children have been attributed to them, of which, all survived to adulthood and settled in various localities (including Mason County) across the Middle West.  Moreover, the Agnew family settled in Salt Creek Township just to the east of Crane Creek Township, but still within Mason County.  Indeed, the original survey of Salt Creek Township was made in the autumn of 1823 and corresponds to "Township Twenty North, Range Six West of the the Third Principal Meridian" and evidently adjoins Crane Creek Township immediately along its eastern boundary.  Within this context, L. C. Agnew became a prominent resident of Salt Creek Township and was evidently a member of the Board of School Trustees in in the 1870's.  Likewise, he also held offices of Supervisor and Assessor and Collector.²  Moreover, it is reported that his farm was located in Section Thirty, which would lie along the western edge of Salt Creek Township a mile or two north of the southwestern corner.  (Likewise his son, George, evidently lived immediately to the east in Section Twenty-nine.)³  Geographically, Salt Creek Township is characterized by the Salt Creek Bluffs, which are quite broken and hilly in contrast to the flat prarie and, as such, constitute the southwestern two-thirds of Section Thirty.  Concomitantly, there is a small, presumably natural lake called "Agnew Lake" straddling the boundary between Southwest and Southeast quarters of Sections Twenty-nine and Thirty, respectively.  It would seem likely that the Agnew homestead was located in this vicinity; however, a precise location is not known.  Margaret McDaniel Agnew died in 1877 and in 1882, Leander C. Agnew married a second time to the widow, Mrs. Sarah Catherine Hawthorne Baxter.  They had one child, Harry, born in 1886.  By all accounts the marriage was a happy one and Sarah Agnew died in 1916.⁴  Leander C. Agnew survived until November 11, 1919.  Upon his death, he was buried in Big Grove Cemetery located Section Thirty-four in Salt Creek Township as were both of his wives.

1. Anonymous, Portrait and Biographical Record of Tazewell and Mason Counties, Illinois, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1894: pgs. 476-7.
     "LEANDER C. AGNEW, for many years the well known and efficient Supervisor of Salt Creek Township, Mason County, is one of its worthy citizens, who is cultivating a fine farm on section 30.  He was born in Monroe County, this state, August 30, 1832, while his father, Francis Agnew, is a native of Hamilton County, Ohio.  The latter came to Illinois in 1826 and located in Monroe County, where he carried on his trade of a carpenter and had the honor of erecting some of the best houses in the county.
     The parents of our subject were married in Monroe County in 1828, the mother being Miss. Catherine Robinson, a native of that county.  She was born in 1812 and was the daughter of David Robinson, a native of Virginia, who on coming to Monroe County was classed among the earliest settlers of the section, as was also his wife's parents.  Mr. and Mrs. Francis Agnew remained in the above county (with the exception of a few years spent in Marion County) until the decease of the mother in 1854.  The father then continued to make his home in various places until 1877, when he joined our subject in this county and lived in this place until his death, at the age of eighty years.  He was of Irish descent, while the mother of our subject was of German parents.
     L. C., of this sketch, was the second in order of birth of the eight children comprised in his parents' family, only three of whom grew to manhood and womanhood.  He continued to make his home under the parental roof until two years after reaching his majority, in the meantime acquiring such an education as could be obtained in the subscription school near his home.  When beginning to make his own way in the world he worked for seven summers in a brickyard, and in 1855 came to this county, locating in what was then Crane Creek Township, where he was engaged in farm work.
     Miss Margaret McDaniel became the wife of our subject February 26, 1857.  She was born in this state and became the mother of eight children, Nancy C., now Mrs. J. H. Potts, living in Kansas; William F., a farmer of Salt Creek Township, which is also the home of George M.; Henry A., living in Franklin Grove, this state; Royal W., a resident of Mason City; R. Frank, an agriculturist in this township; Estella M., now Mrs. Frank Kendall, living in the above township, and A. Gertrude, at home with her father.  The wife and mother died in February 1877, and the lady to whom our subject was married March 8, 1882, was Mrs. Sarah C., widow of A. Baxter.  She was likewise born in this state, and by her union with Mr. Agnew became the mother of a son, Harry L.
     Our subject gives his entire time and attention to farm pursuits.  He is a stalwart advocate of Democratic principles, on which ticket he was elected Supervisor of Crane Creek Township in 1872 and 1873, and again in 1878.  After removing to this township he was elected to the same position, which office he held each successive year until 1884.  In 1885 he was appointed to fill a vacancy, and in the spring of 1886 was again elected Supervisor and continued to discharge the duties of that office with the exception of three years until 1894, making in all a service of fourteen years.  He has also been Assessor and Collector and rendered efficient service as School Director and Trustee.  He is ever found to be a promoter of every worthy enterprise which tends to advance the best interests of the community and to aid in the up building and development of the county.  He may be truly called a self-made man and is deserving of all the praise that that term implies."
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2.  Anonymous, The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, O. L. Baskin & Co., Historical Publishers, Chicago, Illinois, 1879: pgs. 625-34, 660-70.
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3a. Anonymous, 20th Century Atlas of Mason County, Illinois, Middle-West publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1903: pg. 83.
     "L. C. AGNEW, Farmer, Sec. 30, Salt Creek Twp.  Was born in Monroe Co., Ill., in 1832.  He has held office of supervisor and Twp. Assessor and Collector.  In 1857 he married Miss Margaret McDaniel, and in 1882 Mrs. S. C. Baxter.  P. O. Mason City."

b. ibid.: pg. 100.
     "AGNEW, G. M., Farmer, Sec. 29, Salt Creek Twp.  Was born in Mason Co. in 1862 and is the son of L. C. Agnew.  He was married in 1888 to Miss Mary Herwig.  P. O. Mason City."
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4. "The funeral services of Mrs. Sarah Catherine Agnew, wife of L. C. Agnew, were held from the First M. E. church in Mason City, on Monday morning at 10:30 o'clock, conducted by Rev. A. M. Wells, former pastor of the First M. E. church of Mason City.  The interment was made in Big Grove Cemetery, southwest of Mason City.  Sarah Catherine Hawthorne was born in Cass Co., IL on September 13, 1842 and died in Mason City, on November 10, 1916, at the age of 74 years, 1 month and 27 days.  In March, 1861, she married to Abner Baxter, the result of their union being the birth of two children, one of whom proceeded the mother in death.  Mr. Baxter passed from this life in 1864.  Mrs. Baxter was wedded to L. C. Agnew on March 3, 1882, and to them one son was born.  The decendent, who had been for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, had been in poor health for some time and about three weeks ago sustained a broken hip in a fall and passed away at the time above stated from a complication of diseases.  The decedent, who had been a respected resident of Mason City, and vicinity for many years, is survived by her husband and two children, Miss Rue Baxter, of Lewistown, Montana and Harry L. Agnew of Mason City, besides the following step sons and daughters; Mrs. Nannie Potts, of Bartelsville, Oklahoma, W. F. and G. M. Agnew of Mason City, H. A. Agnew of Toluca, IL., and R. W. Agnew of Carthage, Mo., R. F. Agnew of Wayne, IL., Mrs. Estella M. Kendell, of Shenandoah, Iowa, and Mrs. Gertrude Sullivan of Mason City, besides other relatives and many warm friends who will mourn her transition."   (obituary: Mason County Democrat; Mason City, IL, Fri., Nov. 17, 1916.)
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5. 1860 US Census Population Schedule for Mason County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 559, (microfilm: roll M653_210; img. 560).

6. 1870 US Census Population Schedule for Mason County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 55B, (microfilm: roll M593_255; img. 111).

7. 1880 US Census Population Schedule for Mason County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 428A, (microfilm: roll T9_235; img. 237).

8. 1900 US Census Population Schedule for Mason County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 353A, (microfilm: roll T623_328; img. 709).

9. 1910 US Census Population Schedule for Mason County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 34A, (microfilm: roll T624_311; img. 673).

10. Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Illinois State Archives & Illinois Genealogical Society, Springfield, IL, 2014.  ("Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900", www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/marriage.html)

11. Big Grove Cemetery, Mason County, Illinois (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=104754&CScn=Big+Grove+&CScntry=4&CSst=16&, continuously updated).

12. Mason City Cemetery, Mason County, Illinois (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=106770&CScn=Mason+City&CScntry=4&CSst=16&CScnty=752&, continuously updated).

13. Rose Hill Cemetery, Page County, Iowa (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=95985&CScn=Rose+Hill&CScntry=4&CSst=14&, continuously updated).

14. Park Cemetery, Jasper County, Missouri (www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=30740&CScn=Park&CScntry=4&CSst=26&CScnty=1445&, continuously updated).

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