Beecroft/Becraft Ancestors

Henry Washington Hitt and Libby Stevenson

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Husband Henry Washington Hitt [14010] ¹

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           Born: 4 Jul 1836 - Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois, United States
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
FamilySearch ID: LVCK-K8H

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         Father: Elisha Bowman Hitt [14007] (1808-1881)
         Mother: Sarah Parker [14008] (1818-1890)

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       Marriage: 28 Jan 1874 - Scott, Illinois, United States 2

Events

• Biography: 1906. HITT, Henry W., one of the oldest, most highly esteemed residents of Jacksonville, Morgan County, Ill., was born on his father's farm, a few miles west of Jacksonville, in that part of Morgan County now included in Scott County, July 4, 1836. He is a son of Elisha B. and Sarah (Parker) Hitt, natives of Bourbon County, Ky., where the father was born in 1808, and the mother in 1818. Elisha B. Hitt, who through his mother was descended from a very prominent family, was a farmer by occupation. He settled in Morgan County in 1835. The place where he located is ten miles west of Jacksonville, and is now a part of Scott County. During the '50s he served two terms in the Legislature of Illinois. In 1865 he located on a farm a mile and a half west of Jacksonville and for a few years was interested in the livery business in that city. He died in 1881.

In boyhood Henry W. Hitt attended the country schools, after which he spent two years in Illinois College, two years in McKendree College, and completed his education in Millersburg, Ky. In 1858 he engaged in the mercantile business at Exeter, Ill., in which he continued for a few years, and then conducted a store at Merritt, Ill., moving thence to Jacksonville in 1887. Since that period he has spent a portion of his time in the livery business, and during the last eight years, from 1896 to January 1, 1905, was a deputy in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court. At the beginning of the Civil War, Mr. Hitt raised a company, of which he was elected Captain, it being mustered into the service as Company B, Twenty-seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

Mr. Hitt has been twice married - first, on November 7, 1861, to Belle Stevenson, a native of Newark, N. J., and a daughter of William and Ann Stevenson. Three children have been born to them, namely: Elisha B., who was born on July 26, 1862, and id engaged in the livery business in Springfield, Ill.; Sallie, born November 29, 1866, who married Rev. Charles A. Crane, of Boston, Mass.; and Anna Lou, born January 4, 1869, who died at the age of twenty-two years. The mother of this family died in 1870. On January 28, 1874, Mr. Hitt was wedded to Lizzie Stevenson, who was born in Newark, N. J., a sister of his first wife.

In politics, Mr. Hitt is an Independent Democrat. Fraternally, he became a member of the Exeter Lodge, No. 424, A. F. & A. M., in 1865. He is also a member of the Jacksonville Chapter, R. A. M., and of Hospitaler Commandery, No. 3, K. T. From 1858 to 1887 he was affiliated with the I. O. O. F. Few men in Jacksonville are more widely known than Henry W. Hitt, and none more cordially regarded or more highly esteemed.

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Wife Libby Stevenson [18622] ²

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           Born: Jan 1844 - New Jersey, United States 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 
FamilySearch ID: LVCK-2DV

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Children

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Sources

1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Nov 2025), entry for Henry W Hitt, person ID LVCK-K8H.

2 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "FamilySearch Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 22 Nov 2025), entry for Henry Washington Hitt, person ID LVCK-K8H.