Notes for Hankerson Rude

Notes for Hankerson Rude

!Information from the Maybury Family Web Site - http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~mabry/
Hankerson Rude was born on 24 January 1777 in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. He was a son of Jesse Rude (ca 1750 - 1791) and Mary Ann Ashby. Hankerson was just 14 years old when his father died in Nelson Co., Kentucky. He and his brother, Isaac, age 8, were apprenticed out to learn carpentry. Their mother, Mary Ann, sold her husband's 400 acre land patent in Nelson County and soon married John Deremiah.
Hankerson was married on 8 January 1799 in Hardin Co., Kentucky to Susannah Yotsler, daughter of Jacob Yotsler. It is interesting to note that Thomas Lincoln and his wife, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, moved their family to Nolin Creek in Hardin County in 1808. It was there that Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 February 1809 just a short distance from where Hankerson Rude was living and raising his family and thinking about moving to Illinois.
There is a family tradition that Hankerson Rude came to Illinois with several of his brothers in the company of Andrew Jackson who, according to the tradition was looking to purchase salt mines in the area. The tradition goes on to say that the Rudes were related to Andrew Jackson, though no documentation of that has ever been found.
Hankerson Rude was one of the first settlers in what is now Saline County. The first land entries were made in 1814 by John Wren in the SE Ľ, Sec. 8, Twp. 10, Range 7E, and Hankerson Rude whose land was in the NW Ľ, Sec. 19, Township 10, R. 7E. These two land entries were just over a mile apart from each other. A study of the land entries shows that the early settlers grouped themselves together on high ground for protection against the Indians, wild animals and high water.
Hankerson Rude's blockhouse was in the Somerset community where the land was very fertile and the high ground was defensible as it did not flood during rainy seasons.
The location of this settlement was, "one of the most beautiful and interesting in the county. At the top of Eagle Mountain is the Old Stone Face looking out over the Saline Valley and Still-house Hollow."
On 17 Feb 1863 Hankerson Rude was on his way to Harrisburg for supplies when he was struck by lightning and killed. He is buried in the Hart Cemetery on land were he built his first house. His wife, Susannah died in 1843 and is buried in the Lockwood Cemetery, also in Saline County.