This barn is located on the North Side of Highway 108 West of Carrollton.

The history of the Eldred property is tied to the expansion of the United States into the Old Northwest territories following the American Revolution and the gradual settlement of Illinois by easterners early in the nineteenth century.

Ward and his cousin Swift traveled by foot from their home in New York’s Mohawk valley to Illinois in 1818 in the months just before statehood, surveying land in northern Madison County (presently Greene County ) before returning to New York. The Eldreds had waited for assurances that Illinois would not enter the union as a slave state before committing themselves to moving west. A letter from Madison County resident George Churchill to Swift Eldred, dated 1818, addresses this concern. Churchill had made the acquaintance to Swift during the Eldred visit, and informed Swift that the state constitutional convention has “decided against slavery in general,” though the presence of previously owned slaves was as yet undecided. Churchill is optimistic about the prospects for Yankee settlement; he hopes for “Yankee Fashion” ballot- based elections and for ridding the new state of the “little remnant of slavery.” 

Ward married his first of four wives in January, 1819 and promptly returned to west central Illinois with his brother Elon and a herd of sheep the two had driven from Ohio.

In March 1820, Jehosophat  Eldred  and a clan of thirteen other family members journeyed from New York to Illinois, settling west of Carrolton and awaiting the creation of a new county with newly surveyed land. Early in 1821, the Illinois legislature created seven new counties, dividing Madison County in the process to create Greene County. Josophat Eldred and his sons William and Ward purchased Greene County land in January. Ward bought 350 acres and William 400 in  Sections 17 , 20, and 21 of township 10 Carrollton Township.

 

 

Ward eventually sold his Carrollton Township land and moved to Bluffdale Township.  William and his wife Ruth Brace remained on the original homestead and had eleven children. William died July 28, 1856 leaving his land holdings to his youngest son Elon A.

 

The 1905 History of Greene County tells us this of  Elon A Eldred’s life:

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E. A. ELDRED is one of Greene county's native sons and respected citizens, who in his business career has so directed his energies that he has won prosperity and a good name. His birth occurred upon the Eldred

homestead about two and a half miles west of Carrollton on the 11th of July, 1842, his parents being William and Ruth (Brace) Eldred.

E. A. Eldred, the youngest in his father's family of twelve children, acquired a public school education and in his youth remained upon the old home farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. When the father died an elder son, L. E. Eldred, took charge of the farm and continued its management until E. A. Eldred attained his majority, when the latter assumed control. His brother is now in Canon City, Colorado. The subject of this review continued on the old homestead, giving his time and energies to its cultivation and improvement and when his brother went to Colorado he purchased his interest. The farm is one of the finest in the county, splendidly improved and comprising six hundred and twenty acres of valuable land. Mr. Eldred continued to engage in agricultural pursuits until 1899, when he removed to Carrollton, where he erected an elegant modern residence, which he now occupies. He then entered into partnership with W. H. Silverling and they carry a large line of hardware, stoves, wagons and harness. A worthy representative of one of the most prominent families of Greene county, the name being closely associated with the history of permanent progress and improvement here since 1820, he is, moreover, because of his personal worth, entitled to distinction as one of the leading residents of Carrollton.

 

It is thought that this porthole barn was constructed as part of the improvements made my Elon to the section 20 property.  This farm is still in possession of an Eldred family descendant, the Hough Family. Adorning the south side of the barn you will find the Wild Goose Tracks Quilt sponsored by the Carrollton Bank.

Quilt 1  Eldred-Hough Barn

William Eldred

E. A.  Eldred