p 1191

JACOB KARRAKER
was born in Union county, Illinois, September 30, 1822, and died at his home in Dongola, Illinois, March 12, 1910. His parents were North Carolina Germans. His father, Daniel Karraker, was born in Cabarrus county, North Carolina, February 8, 1793, and his mother, Rachel Blackwelder Karraker, in Rowan county, October 1, 1794. They were married May 19, 1818, and left North Carolina on July 28th of the same year and located in what was then a wilderness three miles east of the present location of Dongola, Illinois. Daniel Karraker was a man of strong moral and religious convictions, and his standard was ahead of the time in which he lived.

Jacob Karraker, the subject of this sketch, was born on the farm on which his father settled when he came to Illinois. In October, 1848, he made profession of religion and joined the Bethany Baptist church. In 1851 he was made a licensed preacher and in 1855 he was ordained as a minister of the Gospel, from which time he continued active in the ministry. He was essentially a pioneer in his field. At a time when the temperance movement was not popular, he advised total abstinence from intoxicants and set the example himself. He was largely instrumental in the organization of many new churches in Southern Illinois. He preached to his churches, served as pastor, officiated at marriages and conducted funerals without charge and often without compensation. He was a man of strong conviction and fixed purpose, a great force for the moral and religious uplift of the people among whom he labored.

On December 8, 1842, Jacob Karraker was married to Miss Mary Peeler, whose parents were Christian Peeler and Rachel Brown Peeler,

p 1192

Tennesseeans who migrated to Union county, Illinois, in 1827. The following were their children: Rachel was married first to Barnabus Penrod and after his death to Mr. W. Martin Keller, a retired farmer living near Dongola, Illinois. Anna M. is deceased. Malinda married Mr S. W. O. Head, and both husband and wife are now deceased. William Wilford was for twenty-seven years a teacher in the public schools of Union county, Illinois, and is now living on his farm near Dongola, Illinois. His wife was Miss Sarah Ellen Richardson. David W. was county superintendent of schools from 1877 to 1880, state's attorney from 1880 to 1888, state senator from 1888 to 1892, an officer and director of a number of banks in Southern Illinois and an attorney at law. He lives at Jonesboro, Illinois. His wife was Miss Cora Harreld. Lucinda J. is deceased. Henry W. is moderator of the Clear Creek Baptist Association and active in the Baptist Ministry, Dongola, Illinois. His wife was Miss Ina Davis. Julius F. is deceased. His wife was Miss Mary Keller. Jacob Calvin is deceased. His wife was Miss Nannie Keller. Mary Ellen married Dr. George W. Ausbrooks, a practising physician of Dongola, Illinois.