The Kilbourne/Boyd/Dixon/Breithut /Ohaus Families:Information about Angelica Hamilton Boyd
Angelica Hamilton Boyd (b. 03 Nov 1828, d. 19 May 1911)
 | Angelica Boyd Paddock |
Angelica Hamilton Boyd (daughter of Charles S. Boyd and Elizabeth Dixon)46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 was born 03 Nov 1828 in Springfield, IL52, and died 19 May 1911 in 906 S. Main St., Princeton, IL53, 54, 55.She married S. (Solomon) Allen Paddock on 18 Feb 1849 in Princeton, IL56.
Notes for Angelica Hamilton Boyd:Angelica Hamilton Boyd was named for the daughter of statesman Alexander Hamilton by Hamilton's son, William, who was a business partner of her father, Charles S. Boyd.She and her husband,Dr. S.(Solomon) A. (Allen) Paddock, had four children, one of whom died in infancy.
The Paddocks lived at 832 South Main Street in Princeton in a house built in the late 1840's or early 1850's*. Here they entertained, dined, and housed overnightAbraham Lincoln during his campaign for the U.S. Senate on July 4, 1856. Except for a letter written by Stephen G. Paddock to his family indicating that he was present at the dinner, there seems to be no record whether there were other guests, or where Lincoln sat. The occasion for Lincoln's visit to Princeton was a political meeting organized by Dr. Paddock. On this occasion Lincoln delivered a campaign speech. The meeting proved to be the birth of the Republican party in Bureau County.
After dinner,Angelica asked Lincoln to sit for a picture for her.He consented, and they went to the William H. Masters gallery.It was then that his famous beardless photo, awas taken.Mr. Lincoln inquired if his hair was all right and sat for his picture without further preparation except to run his fingers through his hair, with the results shown in the portrait.(see attached).By the ambrotype method of picture taking used by Masters there was no negative or plate from which future prints could be made.In 1872, Angelica loaned the picture back to the Masters studio which copied it and made a negative larger than the original picture. From this the pictures placed upon the market were made.Angelica gave the original picture to Robert Lincoln, son of the President, in 1885.The local historical society has the letter Robert Lincoln sent to her in return.The original Princeton daguerrotype has been lost, but many copies were made and sold by Master's studio after Lincoln became president.
After the early death of her husband at age 39, Angelica moved in with her son in a house at 906 South Main Street in Princeton. She also owned a block of other houses, which she rented.She lived in Princeton all her life after the arrival of her family there, save for a period of 15 years which she spent with her son, Captain George H. Paddock, in the army in San Antonio, TX, acting as his housekeeper,.
Angelica was very active in women's suffrage, and was a friend of Susan B. Anthony.She was a member of a dramatic club.It was through her efforts that Memorial Day became a public custom in Princeton.A 1911 article about her in the Bureau County Republican newspaper states that she " was identified longer and more closely with the development of Bureau county than any other woman whose name appears in the pages of local history."
In 1902, at age 73, Angelica wrote an eleven page memoir entitled"A Little Sketch of What I Remember of Early Times."In it she claims to have witnessed many changes in Bureau County as it was converted from an Indian hunting ground into richly cultivated farms with substantial homes, and here and there thriving towns and villages, in which were found all the industrial, manufacturing and commercial interests knows to the older east.She recalls when the homes were largely log cabins, when cooking was done over the fireplace and when the house was lighted with candles.Spinning and weaving were done by the housewives, and the farmer plowed his land with primitive machinery.She recalls many incidents of the early days when, as a child, she played and shot at a mark with the young Indians.Shabbona, a Winnebago chief near whom her family camped when their home burned down, always rewarded the best marksman with a silver quarter.
She has a vivid memory of the burning of their home, which she describes as follows: "Although at this time but four years old, so frightful was the experience it fixed upon my childish memory little incidents that ordinarily would have left no impression.The crackling, devouring flames rising high on the midnight sky; the strange frightened faces of the family; my father in his night clothes striving in bewilderment to catch the range of the four or five loaded guns which hung upon the walls; the frantic efforts of the boys to save something; my mother counting and recounting her children, all form a picture never to be forgotten".
She also recalls the log school house built by her father in their yard at Boyd's Grove, where the children were educated by private teachers for eight years.Her last and most fondly remembered teacher, a Lucy T. Butler, gave her instructions in making a sampler on the face of which was inscribed in silk the legend, "I am six years old".Angelica kept this sampler until the time of her death.
Angelica Boyd Paddock died on May 25, 1911 at age 82 from a fracture of the left hip resulting from a fall down a flight of stairs in her home.One death notice states that she was the last survivor from Bureau County of the Black Hawk War.
*The house at 832 South Main Street was of Gothic Revival style (1840-1880). It had seven rooms. Identifying features were a side gabled roof with a centered gable, segmental arch door and windows, paired windows in the centered gable end, a full-width front porch.The dining room had a quaint skylight. There was a step down from the living room to the dining room.As of Feb. 1957, the house was preserved just as was in 1856 with one exception.At the time Lincoln was there the house was located close to the sidewalk.When the Paddocks built a larger house south of the original in 1903, they had the original house moved back on a line with the new one.The house stands today. (see photo)."
More About Angelica Hamilton Boyd:
Burial: Unknown, Oakland Cemetery, Princeton, IL.
More About Angelica Hamilton Boyd and S. (Solomon) Allen Paddock:
Marriage: 18 Feb 1849, Princeton, IL.56
Children of Angelica Hamilton Boyd and S. (Solomon) Allen Paddock are:
- +Eliza Dixon Paddock, b. 20 Mar 1850, Princeton, IL, d. 12 Apr 1899, Chicago57.
- George Hussey Paddock, b. 14 Jan 1852, Princeton, IL, d. 29 Dec 1934, St. Augustine, FL.
- James Allen Paddock, b. 05 Jan 1854, Princeton, IL, d. 16 Sep 1900, Deadwood, S.D..
- John Allen Paddock, b. 04 Jan 1857, Princeton, IL, d. 16 May 1857, Princeton, IL.