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Imans and Eymans were early
pioneers arriving in Illinois
near the turn of the 19th
century. In 1796, Abraham is
thought to have made his first
journey to explore the area for
possible homesites. That summer
it seems he stayed over while
others scouting the area returned
to Hardy with positive reports.
It's thought that Abraham stayed
in order to plant parts of the
land he was to claim. He settled
first somewhere near what was
then called "American Bottom", a
lake-filled region of the
Mississippi river which changed
considerably with subsequent
engineering. The area was in
Southwest Illinois, quite near
the spot where St. Louis Missouri
emerged.
Abraham was not the only Eyman
to head to Illinois in the early
1800s. There were others in
quantities we don't know
precisely. It's thought that
Imans were involved in a fateful
migration of the Reverend David
Badgley who sheperded over 100
settlers to an area he called New
Design, and where an early
Baptist church was soon
organized. Over half of the
parties to that fateful
expedition are thought to have
perished.
By 1815 though, one finds
records of a Christopher Iman and
a Henry Iman listed as farmers
with livestock in the area. They
seem to have remained in the area
which is today called Monroe
County, while Abraham seems to
have migrated toward an area
SouthEast of Belleville, an
emerging German town in St. Clair
County. Other Imans appeared on
the scene, including Samuel, who
appears to have migrated from
Rockinham Virginia. In 1828, a
Christian Iman born about 1799
married a Mary Whiteside in
Monroe.
Little is currently known
about the precise relationships
among Eymans though they
obviously knew of one another and
were likely closely associated.
Children of Henry and Abraham
inter-married and were described
as "second-cousins". Samuel was a
buyer at estate sales upon the
death of Christian in 1850. A
child of Christian was raised in
Henry's family upon the death of
his parents. At the death of
Abraham, the estate includes
notes held in common between
Henry and Abraham.
 One
suspects that there is much to be
learned about the relationships
beween these people as records
are discovered
Illinois
Abraham Eyman was perhaps one
of our most colorful ancestors,
though not enough is known about
his origins. He lived with
Virginia Eymans, married into the
Whetstone family like so many
Imans, and hailed from Lancaster.
He filed for 100 acres of land in
southwest Illinois after an early
expedition to American Bottom
(the St. Louis area) and may have
had links to the Reverend David
Bradgley, an early 'primitive
baptist' and founder of an
anti-slavery community called
"New Design". He was elected by
local farmers to represent them
in efforts to get a closer seat
of government and later was
elected as a Whig Representative
for Illinois. A farmer,
Blacksmith, carpenter, he was
quite literate and we should find
some correspondence if we look in
the right places. He re-captured
and took home to the father a
Jacob Stookey who had been
captured by Indians nearly fifty
years before.
There were other Imans in the
area. Christopher and Henry are
both listed as farmers with
livestock as early as 1815-18.
It's thought that our line comes
from Christian Iman, born about
1800 (probably Hardy) who married
Marry Whiteside in 1828. Mary's
family was very prominent in the
area, and in American history.
General Whiteside had come to
Illinois to protect settlers in
native uprisings. His family was
a member of the first Baptist
congregation inland from Eastern
territories. (Eymans who went to
Ohio and Indiana were sometimes
prominent in the emerging Church
of the Brethren.)
Missouri Cousins
Imans of Illinois often felt a
need for more land, and so
families tended to move North in
Illinois, or into Millouri, with
some family members joining them
directly as late as 1815. In the
1830s and after, Imans and Eymans
were migrating to America in
great numbers and often heading
out to settle land wherever they
could find it. Many were
Mennonites, most farmers, though
some laborers. They came from the
Rhine in Germany through Holland,
or down the river from
Switzerland. Some came from the
Alsatian part of France, from
Prussia, or even from Ireland.
They sometimes came as families,
but more often as men, women, or
children alone. They came to
America in steerage and were
rarely "cabin class".
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