Photo of Birth records by Shirlee Eddy
"Birth records of Wendell, Franklin Co, MA," LDS Microfilm #0453864:
[The original ledger of Vital Records of Wendell, MA is still kept at the tiny post office in tiny Wendell, as of the year, 2009.]
Pg. 34 starts with Mary Tyrah, dau. of James and Ruth Tyrer, followed by "Asa Tyrer, born March ye 12th, 1788."
From: "History of Quincy, Adams Co, IL.," 1882.
"Facts provided to the author by his son, Earl P. Tyrer."
LUTHER's brother, Asa, did not join James and LUTHER in Erie County. Instead, he went to try his luck in Broome County, NY. He stayed there a few years before heading further west. The records show that he was married at Windsor, NY to Chloe Andrews, the daughter of John Andrews and Sara Bloomer.
From records submitted by Mrs. William W. Cowan [maiden name: Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX:
Broome Co, NY Deeds, Vol. T3, pg. 425:
In the year 1818, he purchased the bounty land warrant of a man named Stephen B. Leonard. They were both living in the village of Oswego, NY, and for $320, Asa Tyrer received 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, in the SW quarter of Section 12 of Township 2 south in Range 9 West].
Stephen Leonard had purchased the warrant from a soldier of the War of 1812, John Garrison:
Broome Co, NY Deed Book G, pg. 208:
"Stephen B. Leonard of Oswego, Broome Co, NY to Asa Tyrer, same village and county, May 6, 1818. 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, SW quarter of Section 12, Twsp 2, South, Range 9 West, in the tract for Military Bounties, granted to soldier John Garrison for his services in the War of 1812. Recorded 12th Sept. 1818.
Also several land deeds cited by:
From: Mrs. W. W. Cowan [Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX. "Genealogical Tips," Vol. XVI, NO. 3, pg. 45, a publication of Tip of Texas Gen. Soc.:
History of Quincy, Illinois
Old Times and Old Stories, 1882, pg. 32
(Account first published in the Dollar Monthly, 1874)
Facts furnished by his son, Earl P. Tyrer, Esq.
"Asa Tyrer was born in Hampshire County, MA, Oct. 17, 1788, of Scottish ancestry. He died at his home near Quincy Aug. 6, 1873, age 85 years. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818 for the purpose of finding a quarter section of land lying in the Military Bounty Land Tract, and which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300. He found the land, then returned to St. Louis. In 1822 he came back to his land and built a log cabin on it. (The farm is 2 miles SE of the old Courthouse in Quincy.) In 1844, his family moved to Quincy."
"Asa Tyrer was the first coroner of Adams County, and one of the first jurymen. He had a blacksmith shop and corn mill. He removed to Galena, but always held his land in Adams County, where he died on the old place. The first steamboat to go up the Mississippi River was called Western Enterprise. The first trip was in 1820 and it took on Asa Tyrer. The figure head of the boat was a serpent which spit fire."
I have noticed that two of Asa's daughters [Martha and Mahala, who were born reportedly abt 1820 and 1822] claim to have been born in Kentucky [Martha, who consistently reported her birth there in the census records] and Missouri [Mahala, who reported her birth there in 2 census records, and once as Illinois, and I haven't been able to locate her by name in the 1880 census, and she died in 1885, so that was the last.]
[From William Tyrer interviewing Gerald Fieldhouse: "The Old Times and Stories from 1882 incorrectly has him on the Western Enterprise. This went up the Missouri River, not the Mississippi, and had the figurehead like a serpent. Asa went on the Virginian, which left St. Louis on April 21, 1823. The account of the voyage is in "Steamboating on the Mississippi" by Wm. J. Peterson, State Historical Soc of Iowa, 1968.]
From: "Quincy and Adams County: History and Representative Men," Vol. I, 1919, edited by David F. Wilcox, page 100-101:
"Asa Tyrer, the first coroner of Adams County, was a native of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, born 1788. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818, that he might locate a quarter section of land in the Military Bounty Tract, which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300 [actually purchased from Stephen B. Leonard of Broome County, NY, who had himself purchased it from John Garrison, the soldier] At the time of his visit there were no steamboats, or other public conveyances, to be used in reaching Illinois."
"He provided himself with a knapsack and provisions, with flint, steel and punk, and after wearisome days of travel, reached St. Louis. There he crossed the Mississippi River and started northward for his intended home, afoot and alone. Reaching the Illinois River, he met a man who had camped on the bank and was on his way to some point about one hundred and fifty miles above, journeying in a skiff, which contained a cargo, a barrel of whiskey."
"Mr. Tyrer spent the night there and the next morning was rowed across the river, thankful for the assistance as he continued his trip up the 'Father of Waters.' After several days of travel, he reached the bluffs upon which we live today and started searching for the land he had purchased. Because the government surveyors had only recently been working here, he had no difficulty locating the tract which was the southwest quarter of section 12, 2 south, 9 west in what would some day become Melrose Township. The next day he started back to St. Louis."
Near one of the government lines, he discovered a spring, which he [eventually] named 'Watson Spring' for his son-in-law. This was a natural plateau covered with a forest of trees, while on the lower level, the spring bubbled up from its rocky bed with a constant stream of pure cool water… On both trips to St. Louis and back to the bluffs, Tyrer saw and heard bands of Indians, herds of deer and great amounts of wild game."
"Realizing the possibilities offered by this new country, he was determined to bring his family here. However, his wife could not accept the idea of leaving civilization for this 'howling wilderness' with wilder Indians for companions, and he returned alone…"
"In the year 1822, Tyrer returned to his land on the bluffs overlooking the river and built a cabin on his tract, located about two miles southeast of the original town of Quincy. Two years afterward the entire family settled on it [actually only the older children settled there with him], coming up the river in skiffs, two being lashed together, which served as a foundation for a platform, the structure resembled the present day houseboat, although in a crude way."
"Tyrer set up a blacksmith shop and corn grinder on his land, which for years was the only ones in the county. In 1825, with the organization of county government, he became the first coroner, serving for two years. After a few years, he moved to Galena, returning then to the old homestead where he lived until his death on August 6, 1873."
From: "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881," page 903:
"…Asa Tyrer engaged in farming [in Quincy. IL], and in the summer of 1827, went to Dodgeville with his son (William), they spending the summer on what is now [in 1881] the Thomas Parry farm north of the village; their winters were spent in Illinois until the Black Hawk war."
"William and Simon [his brother], were among the last to seek refuge in Brigham's Fort at the Mounds, and a few days later, left for Galena, thence down the Father of Waters in a rude canoe, to Quincy, Illinois, where the parents then resided, and where the mother now lives at the age of 90."
From: "Dodgeville Chronicle," issue of Sept 12, 1884:
"…in company with his father and others, he came to Dodgeville and engage in mining on what is now the Thomas Parry farm, just west of this village… Mr. Tyrer was among those whose custom of coming up here to mine in the summer and returning to Illinois to spend the winters gave to that state its name of 'sucker' state, a custom which he and his co-workers followed until after the Black Hawk war, when he permanently settled in this vicinity."
Asa Tyrer was back in Adams County, Illinois in 1830 as shown by this Circuit Court record:
State of Illinois
Adams County
"The people of the state of Illinois to the Sheriff of Adams County, Greeting:
Whereas Thomas McBeaney as principal and Asa Tyrer as security of the County of Adams and state aforesaid, on the 18th of June, 1830, came into the Circuit Court of said County of Adams before the judge thereof, in their own proper persons and acknowledged themselves jointly and severally to owe and be indebted to the people of the State of Illinois in the sum of $100 to be levied of their especial goods and chattels, lands and tenements for the use of the people aforesaid:"
"Provided the said Thomas McBeaney should fail to appear before the judge of said court on the 1st day of the next term thereof, to be holden at the Courthouse in Quincy on the 21st day of October, 1830 to answer unto the people of the State of Illinois in an indictment for an affray pending in said court;
"And the said Thomas McBeaney having failed to appear at the said term of the said Court to answer to the indictment aforesaid, although solemnly called;
"We therefore, command you to summon the said Thomas McBeaney and Asa Tyrer to be and appear before the Judge of our said Court on the 1st day of the next term to be holden on the 23rd day of May next, to show cause, if any they can, why the said people of the State of Illinois ought not to have execution against them for the said sum of money for which they are bound according to the force and form of their recognizance, and further to do and receive whatever said court shall then and there consider and adjudge against them in that behalf, etc."
Adams Circuit Court, of the term of May 1832:
"Asa Tyrer, being sworn says that in the case of the people vs. Thomas McGraney and Asa Tyrer on ?Sam ?Farias. This deponent says that within a few days past he made a journey to the Blue Mounds in the attached part of the Michigan Territory where the aforesaid McGraney resides, and who is engaged in the mining business there, for the purpose of bringing the said McGraney with him to this place to surrender him at the present term of this court in execution of this deponent who was bail for said McGraney on an indictment of an affray."
"This deponent further states that he fund said McGraney at his residence in Michigan as aforesaid and said McGraney started with this deponent to come to this place to attend at this present term, on part of the way to Galena I was informed that martial law was proclaimed at that place, and the commanding officer at that place refused to let any man come away who was able to bear arms and would not give permission for the said McGraney to come to this place. This deponent states that he could not get away himself without a pass from the commanding officer there. The instrument of writing given his deponent for that purpose is herewith, and further this deponent says not."
Asa Tyrer.
"The person whose duty it is to prevent militia men from leaving this place are permitted to let Joseph R. Martin depart for the reason that he has given bail in $600 for his appearance at the Marion Circuit Court, Missouri State.
"And also let Asa Tyrer depart for being exempted from military duty for four or five years past. Given at Galena, May the 20th, 1832 Mr. ?Stone, Col. Commanding, 27 Reg't Ill Militia."
"To the Coroner [Asa Tyrer], State of Illinois, Greeting:
We command you to summon Samuel Farmer, H. B. Berry, Levi Wells, Samuel Powers… in the case of the people of the State of Illinois vs. Thomas C King, defendant in an indictment for an assault with a deadly weapon."
Of the September term of the Adams Circuit Court in the year of our Lord, 1837.
"The Grand Jurors chosen, selected and sworn in and for the County of Adams in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oaths present that Thomas C. King, late of the County of Adams, on the 10th day of September in the year of our Lord 1837, in the county aforesaid, with a certain deadly weapon to wit, with a stone, which he, the said Thomas C. King in his right hand, then and there had and held in and upon the person of one Samuel Farmer, without any considerable provocation, unlawfully, maliciously and wickedly did make an assault with an intent to inflict a great bodily injury upon the person of the said Samuel Farmer against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Illinois. H. L. Bryant, state's attorney."
There is a memoir in the possession of the Wisconsin State Historical Society which was written by James Roberts, in the collection donated by Eleanor Sanford, file MAD 4/14/SC 326, which contains the following information concerning George's father, Asa Tyrer:
"…During the weeks that followed, my father and brother-in-law were attended by no regular physician [for cholera], but were waited on by "Old Man Tyrer" as he was called, who lived about a mile west of the present NW Depot. He had remarkable success with the cases he treated. I think it was said that all those he treated recovered. He waited on my father and Matthew Rogers and both recovered. His treatment was medicated steam inhaled through the nose. Soon after, those [who] had gone away returned, when the plague ceased."
Elva Power Fieldhouse, of Elkton MD, gives the Tyrer family recipe for this medicated steam in the following article "Thomas Bolton Shaunce and the Helena Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River". Don Fieldhouse submitted it for publication to the Iowa County Historical Society Newsletter for publication. "In 1850-1851 when the cholera was so serious, Thomas Shaunce went with his father-in-law and mother-in-law (Asa and Chloe Tyrer) and helped people wherever people had the disease. They tried to comfort the living and helped lay out the dead. They often prepared food for those too frightened to think of food. Asa Tyrer and Chloe had a prescription for steaming and hydrating the victims, which did not fail if they arrived in time. This often involved steaming and using wet sheets for the hydration.
"Steam Medicine (as written by Chloe Tyrer especially for her descendants): To one-quart whiskey, drown ten or twelve live coals of fire in it, then strain it. Add three tablespoonfuls of salt-petre and three of sulphur. Directions: This steam is preferable over the cold cholera medicine, and preferable to whiskey, but for the inflammatory you should use whiskey and set it afire and let it burn as long as it will burn. Chloe was very opposed to whiskey, but for medical purposes, it was accepted." While Chloe was home fighting the cholera, her son George Tyrer was traveling in a wagon train in the California Gold Rush. At least one other of her sons, William Tyrer, was already there, and some of her adopted nephews, Hiram Tyrer, and possibly Elisha. It had to be a time of great anxiety for her, and it is likely that she prepared her boys with her cholera recipe for their trek across the continent.
Fellow descendant, David Jones of Illinois, has provided this researcher with a plausible explanation for the success of the seemingly "folk" remedy:
"The cholera formula has some scientific basis, in fact. Current treatment consists of giving salts orally to replace electrolytes. The salts stop the cholera in a matter of minutes. Soaking charcoal from a fire in whiskey would have the effect of leaching potassium salts from the burned wood into the whiskey. Adding saltpeter to the solution would raise the potassium content to give a solution near to what is used today."
"The addition of sulfur is to be expected. Sulfur was used extensively from the colonial times onward as a treatment for everything. It was a good universal drug."
The Tyrers were also mentioned in the "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881":
"Among the physicians who remained were Dr. Silbey and Dr. Burrall. A man named Tyre, a farmer in the vicinity, was very successful in treating the disease; he has a method of steaming which proved very efficacious. The first symptoms of the disease was an acute diarrhea, followed by cramps and vomiting, the patient dying with great suffering in a few hours after the first attack."
From: "Adams Co, IL Wills," Vol. 4, pg. 124, Box 51, Will of Asa Tyrer:
Last Will and Testament of Asa Tyrer, deceased
"I, Asa Tyrer of Melrose, Adams County, Illinois, do hereby make and declare this, my last will and testament, in manner and form following, to wit:
"It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be fully paid, after which being done, it is my will that my beloved wife, Chloe Tyrer shall have during her lifetime, one third or the yearly income of one third of all my real estate, which I give and bequeath to her as herein stated;
"I give, devise and bequeath unto the heirs of my late daughter, Pheba Maria Watson, deceased, wife of Benjamin G. Watson, also deceased, the following described piece of land, to wit:
"Beginning at a point eighty rods east of the Southwest corner of Section 12, in Township 2, South Range, 9 West of the 4th Principle Meridian, thence running north twenty ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ to the place of beginning, in Adams County and state of Illinois:
"I give, devise and bequeath unto my children, William L. Tyrer, Simon Hiram Tyrer, Jerusha Persons, Edward A. Tyrer, Mahala Shaunce, George W. Tyrer, Sarah Jane Parry, Earl P. Tyrer, Susan Adeline Burmen? and James D. Tyrer, in equal shares, all the residue, balance and remainder of my estate that doth or may in any wise pertain to or belong to me at my death, both real and personal property, money, rights, and credits of every kind, nature or description."
"It is my will, that provided any one or more of my last named children or their legal heirs shall fail or neglect for the space of three full years to claim their respective portion under the provisions of this will, after advertisement shall have been made notifying them to appear and claim for six months in the public newspapers, in the states of Illinois, Kansas and California; their portion or share to which they would have been entitled shall be divided in equal shares among my last-named children, entirely excluding the said heirs of the said Pheba Maria Watson from any part in said division;
"And if, after three years as stated, anyone or more should come forward to claim under this will, then in that case, such one or more shall receive the sum of five dollars in money as, and for their portion of my estate."
"It is my will, and I give, devise and bequeath, after the death of my said wife, Chloe Tyrer, unto my children hereinbefore named (except the said heirs of Pheba Maria Watson herein before named) in equal shares the residue of my estate, real and personal, of every kind and nature;"And I hereby name appoint as my executors, William L. Tyrer, Earl P. Tyrer and James D. Tyrer to carry the provisions of this will into execution; hereby _____ and annulling all former wills by me made, and ratifying and confirming this and no other as my last ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ whereof I, the said Asa Tyrer have hereunto set my hand and seal on this 13th day of October, in the year of our Lord, 1869. Asa Tyrer.
Proved and admitted and received August 11th, 1873, Volume 4, page 124."
From: "Quincy Whig," Aug. 7, 1873:
"At his residence on 12th Street, near Harrison, yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, Asa Tyrer, aged 86 years. The funeral will take place from his late residence tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Friends are invited to attend without further notice."
From: William G. Tyrer's [of AZ] notes:
"We have been unable to find where Asa was buried. His son, Earl, owned a plot in the Woodland Cemetery. He [Asa] is listed by Great River Genealogical Society, 1979, as having owned the south half of lot #135 in Block 10. There are no grave markers there. It is thought perhaps Asa was buried on his farm or in a nearby cemetery in Melrose Township."
"Birth records of Wendell, Franklin Co, MA," LDS Microfilm #0453864:
[The original ledger of Vital Records of Wendell, MA is still kept at the tiny post office in tiny Wendell, as of the year, 2009.]
Pg. 34 starts with Mary Tyrah, dau. of James and Ruth Tyrer, followed by "Asa Tyrer, born March ye 12th, 1788."
From: "History of Quincy, Adams Co, IL.," 1882.
"Facts provided to the author by his son, Earl P. Tyrer."
LUTHER's brother, Asa, did not join James and LUTHER in Erie County. Instead, he went to try his luck in Broome County, NY. He stayed there a few years before heading further west. The records show that he was married at Windsor, NY to Chloe Andrews, the daughter of John Andrews and Sara Bloomer.
From records submitted by Mrs. William W. Cowan [maiden name: Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX:
Broome Co, NY Deeds, Vol. T3, pg. 425:
In the year 1818, he purchased the bounty land warrant of a man named Stephen B. Leonard. They were both living in the village of Oswego, NY, and for $320, Asa Tyrer received 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, in the SW quarter of Section 12 of Township 2 south in Range 9 West].
Stephen Leonard had purchased the warrant from a soldier of the War of 1812, John Garrison:
Broome Co, NY Deed Book G, pg. 208:
"Stephen B. Leonard of Oswego, Broome Co, NY to Asa Tyrer, same village and county, May 6, 1818. 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, SW quarter of Section 12, Twsp 2, South, Range 9 West, in the tract for Military Bounties, granted to soldier John Garrison for his services in the War of 1812. Recorded 12th Sept. 1818.
Also several land deeds cited by:
From: Mrs. W. W. Cowan [Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX. "Genealogical Tips," Vol. XVI, NO. 3, pg. 45, a publication of Tip of Texas Gen. Soc.:
History of Quincy, Illinois
Old Times and Old Stories, 1882, pg. 32
(Account first published in the Dollar Monthly, 1874)
Facts furnished by his son, Earl P. Tyrer, Esq.
"Asa Tyrer was born in Hampshire County, MA, Oct. 17, 1788, of Scottish ancestry. He died at his home near Quincy Aug. 6, 1873, age 85 years. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818 for the purpose of finding a quarter section of land lying in the Military Bounty Land Tract, and which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300. He found the land, then returned to St. Louis. In 1822 he came back to his land and built a log cabin on it. (The farm is 2 miles SE of the old Courthouse in Quincy.) In 1844, his family moved to Quincy."
"Asa Tyrer was the first coroner of Adams County, and one of the first jurymen. He had a blacksmith shop and corn mill. He removed to Galena, but always held his land in Adams County, where he died on the old place. The first steamboat to go up the Mississippi River was called Western Enterprise. The first trip was in 1820 and it took on Asa Tyrer. The figure head of the boat was a serpent which spit fire."
I have noticed that two of Asa's daughters [Martha and Mahala, who were born reportedly abt 1820 and 1822] claim to have been born in Kentucky [Martha, who consistently reported her birth there in the census records] and Missouri [Mahala, who reported her birth there in 2 census records, and once as Illinois, and I haven't been able to locate her by name in the 1880 census, and she died in 1885, so that was the last.]
[From William Tyrer interviewing Gerald Fieldhouse: "The Old Times and Stories from 1882 incorrectly has him on the Western Enterprise. This went up the Missouri River, not the Mississippi, and had the figurehead like a serpent. Asa went on the Virginian, which left St. Louis on April 21, 1823. The account of the voyage is in "Steamboating on the Mississippi" by Wm. J. Peterson, State Historical Soc of Iowa, 1968.]
From: "Quincy and Adams County: History and Representative Men," Vol. I, 1919, edited by David F. Wilcox, page 100-101:
"Asa Tyrer, the first coroner of Adams County, was a native of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, born 1788. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818, that he might locate a quarter section of land in the Military Bounty Tract, which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300 [actually purchased from Stephen B. Leonard of Broome County, NY, who had himself purchased it from John Garrison, the soldier] At the time of his visit there were no steamboats, or other public conveyances, to be used in reaching Illinois."
"He provided himself with a knapsack and provisions, with flint, steel and punk, and after wearisome days of travel, reached St. Louis. There he crossed the Mississippi River and started northward for his intended home, afoot and alone. Reaching the Illinois River, he met a man who had camped on the bank and was on his way to some point about one hundred and fifty miles above, journeying in a skiff, which contained a cargo, a barrel of whiskey."
"Mr. Tyrer spent the night there and the next morning was rowed across the river, thankful for the assistance as he continued his trip up the 'Father of Waters.' After several days of travel, he reached the bluffs upon which we live today and started searching for the land he had purchased. Because the government surveyors had only recently been working here, he had no difficulty locating the tract which was the southwest quarter of section 12, 2 south, 9 west in what would some day become Melrose Township. The next day he started back to St. Louis."
Near one of the government lines, he discovered a spring, which he [eventually] named 'Watson Spring' for his son-in-law. This was a natural plateau covered with a forest of trees, while on the lower level, the spring bubbled up from its rocky bed with a constant stream of pure cool water… On both trips to St. Louis and back to the bluffs, Tyrer saw and heard bands of Indians, herds of deer and great amounts of wild game."
"Realizing the possibilities offered by this new country, he was determined to bring his family here. However, his wife could not accept the idea of leaving civilization for this 'howling wilderness' with wilder Indians for companions, and he returned alone…"
"In the year 1822, Tyrer returned to his land on the bluffs overlooking the river and built a cabin on his tract, located about two miles southeast of the original town of Quincy. Two years afterward the entire family settled on it [actually only the older children settled there with him], coming up the river in skiffs, two being lashed together, which served as a foundation for a platform, the structure resembled the present day houseboat, although in a crude way."
"Tyrer set up a blacksmith shop and corn grinder on his land, which for years was the only ones in the county. In 1825, with the organization of county government, he became the first coroner, serving for two years. After a few years, he moved to Galena, returning then to the old homestead where he lived until his death on August 6, 1873."
From: "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881," page 903:
"…Asa Tyrer engaged in farming [in Quincy. IL], and in the summer of 1827, went to Dodgeville with his son (William), they spending the summer on what is now [in 1881] the Thomas Parry farm north of the village; their winters were spent in Illinois until the Black Hawk war."
"William and Simon [his brother], were among the last to seek refuge in Brigham's Fort at the Mounds, and a few days later, left for Galena, thence down the Father of Waters in a rude canoe, to Quincy, Illinois, where the parents then resided, and where the mother now lives at the age of 90."
From: "Dodgeville Chronicle," issue of Sept 12, 1884:
"…in company with his father and others, he came to Dodgeville and engage in mining on what is now the Thomas Parry farm, just west of this village… Mr. Tyrer was among those whose custom of coming up here to mine in the summer and returning to Illinois to spend the winters gave to that state its name of 'sucker' state, a custom which he and his co-workers followed until after the Black Hawk war, when he permanently settled in this vicinity."
Asa Tyrer was back in Adams County, Illinois in 1830 as shown by this Circuit Court record:
State of Illinois
Adams County
"The people of the state of Illinois to the Sheriff of Adams County, Greeting:
Whereas Thomas McBeaney as principal and Asa Tyrer as security of the County of Adams and state aforesaid, on the 18th of June, 1830, came into the Circuit Court of said County of Adams before the judge thereof, in their own proper persons and acknowledged themselves jointly and severally to owe and be indebted to the people of the State of Illinois in the sum of $100 to be levied of their especial goods and chattels, lands and tenements for the use of the people aforesaid:"
"Provided the said Thomas McBeaney should fail to appear before the judge of said court on the 1st day of the next term thereof, to be holden at the Courthouse in Quincy on the 21st day of October, 1830 to answer unto the people of the State of Illinois in an indictment for an affray pending in said court;
"And the said Thomas McBeaney having failed to appear at the said term of the said Court to answer to the indictment aforesaid, although solemnly called;
"We therefore, command you to summon the said Thomas McBeaney and Asa Tyrer to be and appear before the Judge of our said Court on the 1st day of the next term to be holden on the 23rd day of May next, to show cause, if any they can, why the said people of the State of Illinois ought not to have execution against them for the said sum of money for which they are bound according to the force and form of their recognizance, and further to do and receive whatever said court shall then and there consider and adjudge against them in that behalf, etc."
Adams Circuit Court, of the term of May 1832:
"Asa Tyrer, being sworn says that in the case of the people vs. Thomas McGraney and Asa Tyrer on ?Sam ?Farias. This deponent says that within a few days past he made a journey to the Blue Mounds in the attached part of the Michigan Territory where the aforesaid McGraney resides, and who is engaged in the mining business there, for the purpose of bringing the said McGraney with him to this place to surrender him at the present term of this court in execution of this deponent who was bail for said McGraney on an indictment of an affray."
"This deponent further states that he fund said McGraney at his residence in Michigan as aforesaid and said McGraney started with this deponent to come to this place to attend at this present term, on part of the way to Galena I was informed that martial law was proclaimed at that place, and the commanding officer at that place refused to let any man come away who was able to bear arms and would not give permission for the said McGraney to come to this place. This deponent states that he could not get away himself without a pass from the commanding officer there. The instrument of writing given his deponent for that purpose is herewith, and further this deponent says not."
Asa Tyrer.
"The person whose duty it is to prevent militia men from leaving this place are permitted to let Joseph R. Martin depart for the reason that he has given bail in $600 for his appearance at the Marion Circuit Court, Missouri State.
"And also let Asa Tyrer depart for being exempted from military duty for four or five years past. Given at Galena, May the 20th, 1832 Mr. ?Stone, Col. Commanding, 27 Reg't Ill Militia."
"To the Coroner [Asa Tyrer], State of Illinois, Greeting:
We command you to summon Samuel Farmer, H. B. Berry, Levi Wells, Samuel Powers… in the case of the people of the State of Illinois vs. Thomas C King, defendant in an indictment for an assault with a deadly weapon."
Of the September term of the Adams Circuit Court in the year of our Lord, 1837.
"The Grand Jurors chosen, selected and sworn in and for the County of Adams in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oaths present that Thomas C. King, late of the County of Adams, on the 10th day of September in the year of our Lord 1837, in the county aforesaid, with a certain deadly weapon to wit, with a stone, which he, the said Thomas C. King in his right hand, then and there had and held in and upon the person of one Samuel Farmer, without any considerable provocation, unlawfully, maliciously and wickedly did make an assault with an intent to inflict a great bodily injury upon the person of the said Samuel Farmer against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Illinois. H. L. Bryant, state's attorney."
There is a memoir in the possession of the Wisconsin State Historical Society which was written by James Roberts, in the collection donated by Eleanor Sanford, file MAD 4/14/SC 326, which contains the following information concerning George's father, Asa Tyrer:
"…During the weeks that followed, my father and brother-in-law were attended by no regular physician [for cholera], but were waited on by "Old Man Tyrer" as he was called, who lived about a mile west of the present NW Depot. He had remarkable success with the cases he treated. I think it was said that all those he treated recovered. He waited on my father and Matthew Rogers and both recovered. His treatment was medicated steam inhaled through the nose. Soon after, those [who] had gone away returned, when the plague ceased."
Elva Power Fieldhouse, of Elkton MD, gives the Tyrer family recipe for this medicated steam in the following article "Thomas Bolton Shaunce and the Helena Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River". Don Fieldhouse submitted it for publication to the Iowa County Historical Society Newsletter for publication. "In 1850-1851 when the cholera was so serious, Thomas Shaunce went with his father-in-law and mother-in-law (Asa and Chloe Tyrer) and helped people wherever people had the disease. They tried to comfort the living and helped lay out the dead. They often prepared food for those too frightened to think of food. Asa Tyrer and Chloe had a prescription for steaming and hydrating the victims, which did not fail if they arrived in time. This often involved steaming and using wet sheets for the hydration.
"Steam Medicine (as written by Chloe Tyrer especially for her descendants): To one-quart whiskey, drown ten or twelve live coals of fire in it, then strain it. Add three tablespoonfuls of salt-petre and three of sulphur. Directions: This steam is preferable over the cold cholera medicine, and preferable to whiskey, but for the inflammatory you should use whiskey and set it afire and let it burn as long as it will burn. Chloe was very opposed to whiskey, but for medical purposes, it was accepted." While Chloe was home fighting the cholera, her son George Tyrer was traveling in a wagon train in the California Gold Rush. At least one other of her sons, William Tyrer, was already there, and some of her adopted nephews, Hiram Tyrer, and possibly Elisha. It had to be a time of great anxiety for her, and it is likely that she prepared her boys with her cholera recipe for their trek across the continent.
Fellow descendant, David Jones of Illinois, has provided this researcher with a plausible explanation for the success of the seemingly "folk" remedy:
"The cholera formula has some scientific basis, in fact. Current treatment consists of giving salts orally to replace electrolytes. The salts stop the cholera in a matter of minutes. Soaking charcoal from a fire in whiskey would have the effect of leaching potassium salts from the burned wood into the whiskey. Adding saltpeter to the solution would raise the potassium content to give a solution near to what is used today."
"The addition of sulfur is to be expected. Sulfur was used extensively from the colonial times onward as a treatment for everything. It was a good universal drug."
The Tyrers were also mentioned in the "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881":
"Among the physicians who remained were Dr. Silbey and Dr. Burrall. A man named Tyre, a farmer in the vicinity, was very successful in treating the disease; he has a method of steaming which proved very efficacious. The first symptoms of the disease was an acute diarrhea, followed by cramps and vomiting, the patient dying with great suffering in a few hours after the first attack."
From: "Adams Co, IL Wills," Vol. 4, pg. 124, Box 51, Will of Asa Tyrer:
Last Will and Testament of Asa Tyrer, deceased
"I, Asa Tyrer of Melrose, Adams County, Illinois, do hereby make and declare this, my last will and testament, in manner and form following, to wit:
"It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be fully paid, after which being done, it is my will that my beloved wife, Chloe Tyrer shall have during her lifetime, one third or the yearly income of one third of all my real estate, which I give and bequeath to her as herein stated;
"I give, devise and bequeath unto the heirs of my late daughter, Pheba Maria Watson, deceased, wife of Benjamin G. Watson, also deceased, the following described piece of land, to wit:
"Beginning at a point eighty rods east of the Southwest corner of Section 12, in Township 2, South Range, 9 West of the 4th Principle Meridian, thence running north twenty ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ to the place of beginning, in Adams County and state of Illinois:
"I give, devise and bequeath unto my children, William L. Tyrer, Simon Hiram Tyrer, Jerusha Persons, Edward A. Tyrer, Mahala Shaunce, George W. Tyrer, Sarah Jane Parry, Earl P. Tyrer, Susan Adeline Burmen? and James D. Tyrer, in equal shares, all the residue, balance and remainder of my estate that doth or may in any wise pertain to or belong to me at my death, both real and personal property, money, rights, and credits of every kind, nature or description."
"It is my will, that provided any one or more of my last named children or their legal heirs shall fail or neglect for the space of three full years to claim their respective portion under the provisions of this will, after advertisement shall have been made notifying them to appear and claim for six months in the public newspapers, in the states of Illinois, Kansas and California; their portion or share to which they would have been entitled shall be divided in equal shares among my last-named children, entirely excluding the said heirs of the said Pheba Maria Watson from any part in said division;
"And if, after three years as stated, anyone or more should come forward to claim under this will, then in that case, such one or more shall receive the sum of five dollars in money as, and for their portion of my estate."
"It is my will, and I give, devise and bequeath, after the death of my said wife, Chloe Tyrer, unto my children hereinbefore named (except the said heirs of Pheba Maria Watson herein before named) in equal shares the residue of my estate, real and personal, of every kind and nature;"And I hereby name appoint as my executors, William L. Tyrer, Earl P. Tyrer and James D. Tyrer to carry the provisions of this will into execution; hereby _____ and annulling all former wills by me made, and ratifying and confirming this and no other as my last ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ whereof I, the said Asa Tyrer have hereunto set my hand and seal on this 13th day of October, in the year of our Lord, 1869. Asa Tyrer.
Proved and admitted and received August 11th, 1873, Volume 4, page 124."
From: "Quincy Whig," Aug. 7, 1873:
"At his residence on 12th Street, near Harrison, yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, Asa Tyrer, aged 86 years. The funeral will take place from his late residence tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Friends are invited to attend without further notice."
From: William G. Tyrer's [of AZ] notes:
"We have been unable to find where Asa was buried. His son, Earl, owned a plot in the Woodland Cemetery. He [Asa] is listed by Great River Genealogical Society, 1979, as having owned the south half of lot #135 in Block 10. There are no grave markers there. It is thought perhaps Asa was buried on his farm or in a nearby cemetery in Melrose Township."
Photo of Birth records by Shirlee Eddy
"Birth records of Wendell, Franklin Co, MA," LDS Microfilm #0453864:
[The original ledger of Vital Records of Wendell, MA is still kept at the tiny post office in tiny Wendell, as of the year, 2009.]
Pg. 34 starts with Mary Tyrah, dau. of James and Ruth Tyrer, followed by "Asa Tyrer, born March ye 12th, 1788."
From: "History of Quincy, Adams Co, IL.," 1882.
"Facts provided to the author by his son, Earl P. Tyrer."
LUTHER's brother, Asa, did not join James and LUTHER in Erie County. Instead, he went to try his luck in Broome County, NY. He stayed there a few years before heading further west. The records show that he was married at Windsor, NY to Chloe Andrews, the daughter of John Andrews and Sara Bloomer.
From records submitted by Mrs. William W. Cowan [maiden name: Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX:
Broome Co, NY Deeds, Vol. T3, pg. 425:
In the year 1818, he purchased the bounty land warrant of a man named Stephen B. Leonard. They were both living in the village of Oswego, NY, and for $320, Asa Tyrer received 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, in the SW quarter of Section 12 of Township 2 south in Range 9 West].
Stephen Leonard had purchased the warrant from a soldier of the War of 1812, John Garrison:
Broome Co, NY Deed Book G, pg. 208:
"Stephen B. Leonard of Oswego, Broome Co, NY to Asa Tyrer, same village and county, May 6, 1818. 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, SW quarter of Section 12, Twsp 2, South, Range 9 West, in the tract for Military Bounties, granted to soldier John Garrison for his services in the War of 1812. Recorded 12th Sept. 1818.
Also several land deeds cited by:
From: Mrs. W. W. Cowan [Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX. "Genealogical Tips," Vol. XVI, NO. 3, pg. 45, a publication of Tip of Texas Gen. Soc.:
History of Quincy, Illinois
Old Times and Old Stories, 1882, pg. 32
(Account first published in the Dollar Monthly, 1874)
Facts furnished by his son, Earl P. Tyrer, Esq.
"Asa Tyrer was born in Hampshire County, MA, Oct. 17, 1788, of Scottish ancestry. He died at his home near Quincy Aug. 6, 1873, age 85 years. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818 for the purpose of finding a quarter section of land lying in the Military Bounty Land Tract, and which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300. He found the land, then returned to St. Louis. In 1822 he came back to his land and built a log cabin on it. (The farm is 2 miles SE of the old Courthouse in Quincy.) In 1844, his family moved to Quincy."
"Asa Tyrer was the first coroner of Adams County, and one of the first jurymen. He had a blacksmith shop and corn mill. He removed to Galena, but always held his land in Adams County, where he died on the old place. The first steamboat to go up the Mississippi River was called Western Enterprise. The first trip was in 1820 and it took on Asa Tyrer. The figure head of the boat was a serpent which spit fire."
I have noticed that two of Asa's daughters [Martha and Mahala, who were born reportedly abt 1820 and 1822] claim to have been born in Kentucky [Martha, who consistently reported her birth there in the census records] and Missouri [Mahala, who reported her birth there in 2 census records, and once as Illinois, and I haven't been able to locate her by name in the 1880 census, and she died in 1885, so that was the last.]
[From William Tyrer interviewing Gerald Fieldhouse: "The Old Times and Stories from 1882 incorrectly has him on the Western Enterprise. This went up the Missouri River, not the Mississippi, and had the figurehead like a serpent. Asa went on the Virginian, which left St. Louis on April 21, 1823. The account of the voyage is in "Steamboating on the Mississippi" by Wm. J. Peterson, State Historical Soc of Iowa, 1968.]
From: "Quincy and Adams County: History and Representative Men," Vol. I, 1919, edited by David F. Wilcox, page 100-101:
"Asa Tyrer, the first coroner of Adams County, was a native of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, born 1788. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818, that he might locate a quarter section of land in the Military Bounty Tract, which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300 [actually purchased from Stephen B. Leonard of Broome County, NY, who had himself purchased it from John Garrison, the soldier] At the time of his visit there were no steamboats, or other public conveyances, to be used in reaching Illinois."
"He provided himself with a knapsack and provisions, with flint, steel and punk, and after wearisome days of travel, reached St. Louis. There he crossed the Mississippi River and started northward for his intended home, afoot and alone. Reaching the Illinois River, he met a man who had camped on the bank and was on his way to some point about one hundred and fifty miles above, journeying in a skiff, which contained a cargo, a barrel of whiskey."
"Mr. Tyrer spent the night there and the next morning was rowed across the river, thankful for the assistance as he continued his trip up the 'Father of Waters.' After several days of travel, he reached the bluffs upon which we live today and started searching for the land he had purchased. Because the government surveyors had only recently been working here, he had no difficulty locating the tract which was the southwest quarter of section 12, 2 south, 9 west in what would some day become Melrose Township. The next day he started back to St. Louis."
Near one of the government lines, he discovered a spring, which he [eventually] named 'Watson Spring' for his son-in-law. This was a natural plateau covered with a forest of trees, while on the lower level, the spring bubbled up from its rocky bed with a constant stream of pure cool water… On both trips to St. Louis and back to the bluffs, Tyrer saw and heard bands of Indians, herds of deer and great amounts of wild game."
"Realizing the possibilities offered by this new country, he was determined to bring his family here. However, his wife could not accept the idea of leaving civilization for this 'howling wilderness' with wilder Indians for companions, and he returned alone…"
"In the year 1822, Tyrer returned to his land on the bluffs overlooking the river and built a cabin on his tract, located about two miles southeast of the original town of Quincy. Two years afterward the entire family settled on it [actually only the older children settled there with him], coming up the river in skiffs, two being lashed together, which served as a foundation for a platform, the structure resembled the present day houseboat, although in a crude way."
"Tyrer set up a blacksmith shop and corn grinder on his land, which for years was the only ones in the county. In 1825, with the organization of county government, he became the first coroner, serving for two years. After a few years, he moved to Galena, returning then to the old homestead where he lived until his death on August 6, 1873."
From: "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881," page 903:
"…Asa Tyrer engaged in farming [in Quincy. IL], and in the summer of 1827, went to Dodgeville with his son (William), they spending the summer on what is now [in 1881] the Thomas Parry farm north of the village; their winters were spent in Illinois until the Black Hawk war."
"William and Simon [his brother], were among the last to seek refuge in Brigham's Fort at the Mounds, and a few days later, left for Galena, thence down the Father of Waters in a rude canoe, to Quincy, Illinois, where the parents then resided, and where the mother now lives at the age of 90."
From: "Dodgeville Chronicle," issue of Sept 12, 1884:
"…in company with his father and others, he came to Dodgeville and engage in mining on what is now the Thomas Parry farm, just west of this village… Mr. Tyrer was among those whose custom of coming up here to mine in the summer and returning to Illinois to spend the winters gave to that state its name of 'sucker' state, a custom which he and his co-workers followed until after the Black Hawk war, when he permanently settled in this vicinity."
Asa Tyrer was back in Adams County, Illinois in 1830 as shown by this Circuit Court record:
State of Illinois
Adams County
"The people of the state of Illinois to the Sheriff of Adams County, Greeting:
Whereas Thomas McBeaney as principal and Asa Tyrer as security of the County of Adams and state aforesaid, on the 18th of June, 1830, came into the Circuit Court of said County of Adams before the judge thereof, in their own proper persons and acknowledged themselves jointly and severally to owe and be indebted to the people of the State of Illinois in the sum of $100 to be levied of their especial goods and chattels, lands and tenements for the use of the people aforesaid:"
"Provided the said Thomas McBeaney should fail to appear before the judge of said court on the 1st day of the next term thereof, to be holden at the Courthouse in Quincy on the 21st day of October, 1830 to answer unto the people of the State of Illinois in an indictment for an affray pending in said court;
"And the said Thomas McBeaney having failed to appear at the said term of the said Court to answer to the indictment aforesaid, although solemnly called;
"We therefore, command you to summon the said Thomas McBeaney and Asa Tyrer to be and appear before the Judge of our said Court on the 1st day of the next term to be holden on the 23rd day of May next, to show cause, if any they can, why the said people of the State of Illinois ought not to have execution against them for the said sum of money for which they are bound according to the force and form of their recognizance, and further to do and receive whatever said court shall then and there consider and adjudge against them in that behalf, etc."
Adams Circuit Court, of the term of May 1832:
"Asa Tyrer, being sworn says that in the case of the people vs. Thomas McGraney and Asa Tyrer on ?Sam ?Farias. This deponent says that within a few days past he made a journey to the Blue Mounds in the attached part of the Michigan Territory where the aforesaid McGraney resides, and who is engaged in the mining business there, for the purpose of bringing the said McGraney with him to this place to surrender him at the present term of this court in execution of this deponent who was bail for said McGraney on an indictment of an affray."
"This deponent further states that he fund said McGraney at his residence in Michigan as aforesaid and said McGraney started with this deponent to come to this place to attend at this present term, on part of the way to Galena I was informed that martial law was proclaimed at that place, and the commanding officer at that place refused to let any man come away who was able to bear arms and would not give permission for the said McGraney to come to this place. This deponent states that he could not get away himself without a pass from the commanding officer there. The instrument of writing given his deponent for that purpose is herewith, and further this deponent says not."
Asa Tyrer.
"The person whose duty it is to prevent militia men from leaving this place are permitted to let Joseph R. Martin depart for the reason that he has given bail in $600 for his appearance at the Marion Circuit Court, Missouri State.
"And also let Asa Tyrer depart for being exempted from military duty for four or five years past. Given at Galena, May the 20th, 1832 Mr. ?Stone, Col. Commanding, 27 Reg't Ill Militia."
"To the Coroner [Asa Tyrer], State of Illinois, Greeting:
We command you to summon Samuel Farmer, H. B. Berry, Levi Wells, Samuel Powers… in the case of the people of the State of Illinois vs. Thomas C King, defendant in an indictment for an assault with a deadly weapon."
Of the September term of the Adams Circuit Court in the year of our Lord, 1837.
"The Grand Jurors chosen, selected and sworn in and for the County of Adams in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oaths present that Thomas C. King, late of the County of Adams, on the 10th day of September in the year of our Lord 1837, in the county aforesaid, with a certain deadly weapon to wit, with a stone, which he, the said Thomas C. King in his right hand, then and there had and held in and upon the person of one Samuel Farmer, without any considerable provocation, unlawfully, maliciously and wickedly did make an assault with an intent to inflict a great bodily injury upon the person of the said Samuel Farmer against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Illinois. H. L. Bryant, state's attorney."
There is a memoir in the possession of the Wisconsin State Historical Society which was written by James Roberts, in the collection donated by Eleanor Sanford, file MAD 4/14/SC 326, which contains the following information concerning George's father, Asa Tyrer:
"…During the weeks that followed, my father and brother-in-law were attended by no regular physician [for cholera], but were waited on by "Old Man Tyrer" as he was called, who lived about a mile west of the present NW Depot. He had remarkable success with the cases he treated. I think it was said that all those he treated recovered. He waited on my father and Matthew Rogers and both recovered. His treatment was medicated steam inhaled through the nose. Soon after, those [who] had gone away returned, when the plague ceased."
Elva Power Fieldhouse, of Elkton MD, gives the Tyrer family recipe for this medicated steam in the following article "Thomas Bolton Shaunce and the Helena Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River". Don Fieldhouse submitted it for publication to the Iowa County Historical Society Newsletter for publication. "In 1850-1851 when the cholera was so serious, Thomas Shaunce went with his father-in-law and mother-in-law (Asa and Chloe Tyrer) and helped people wherever people had the disease. They tried to comfort the living and helped lay out the dead. They often prepared food for those too frightened to think of food. Asa Tyrer and Chloe had a prescription for steaming and hydrating the victims, which did not fail if they arrived in time. This often involved steaming and using wet sheets for the hydration.
"Steam Medicine (as written by Chloe Tyrer especially for her descendants): To one-quart whiskey, drown ten or twelve live coals of fire in it, then strain it. Add three tablespoonfuls of salt-petre and three of sulphur. Directions: This steam is preferable over the cold cholera medicine, and preferable to whiskey, but for the inflammatory you should use whiskey and set it afire and let it burn as long as it will burn. Chloe was very opposed to whiskey, but for medical purposes, it was accepted." While Chloe was home fighting the cholera, her son George Tyrer was traveling in a wagon train in the California Gold Rush. At least one other of her sons, William Tyrer, was already there, and some of her adopted nephews, Hiram Tyrer, and possibly Elisha. It had to be a time of great anxiety for her, and it is likely that she prepared her boys with her cholera recipe for their trek across the continent.
Fellow descendant, David Jones of Illinois, has provided this researcher with a plausible explanation for the success of the seemingly "folk" remedy:
"The cholera formula has some scientific basis, in fact. Current treatment consists of giving salts orally to replace electrolytes. The salts stop the cholera in a matter of minutes. Soaking charcoal from a fire in whiskey would have the effect of leaching potassium salts from the burned wood into the whiskey. Adding saltpeter to the solution would raise the potassium content to give a solution near to what is used today."
"The addition of sulfur is to be expected. Sulfur was used extensively from the colonial times onward as a treatment for everything. It was a good universal drug."
The Tyrers were also mentioned in the "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881":
"Among the physicians who remained were Dr. Silbey and Dr. Burrall. A man named Tyre, a farmer in the vicinity, was very successful in treating the disease; he has a method of steaming which proved very efficacious. The first symptoms of the disease was an acute diarrhea, followed by cramps and vomiting, the patient dying with great suffering in a few hours after the first attack."
From: "Adams Co, IL Wills," Vol. 4, pg. 124, Box 51, Will of Asa Tyrer:
Last Will and Testament of Asa Tyrer, deceased
"I, Asa Tyrer of Melrose, Adams County, Illinois, do hereby make and declare this, my last will and testament, in manner and form following, to wit:
"It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be fully paid, after which being done, it is my will that my beloved wife, Chloe Tyrer shall have during her lifetime, one third or the yearly income of one third of all my real estate, which I give and bequeath to her as herein stated;
"I give, devise and bequeath unto the heirs of my late daughter, Pheba Maria Watson, deceased, wife of Benjamin G. Watson, also deceased, the following described piece of land, to wit:
"Beginning at a point eighty rods east of the Southwest corner of Section 12, in Township 2, South Range, 9 West of the 4th Principle Meridian, thence running north twenty ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ to the place of beginning, in Adams County and state of Illinois:
"I give, devise and bequeath unto my children, William L. Tyrer, Simon Hiram Tyrer, Jerusha Persons, Edward A. Tyrer, Mahala Shaunce, George W. Tyrer, Sarah Jane Parry, Earl P. Tyrer, Susan Adeline Burmen? and James D. Tyrer, in equal shares, all the residue, balance and remainder of my estate that doth or may in any wise pertain to or belong to me at my death, both real and personal property, money, rights, and credits of every kind, nature or description."
"It is my will, that provided any one or more of my last named children or their legal heirs shall fail or neglect for the space of three full years to claim their respective portion under the provisions of this will, after advertisement shall have been made notifying them to appear and claim for six months in the public newspapers, in the states of Illinois, Kansas and California; their portion or share to which they would have been entitled shall be divided in equal shares among my last-named children, entirely excluding the said heirs of the said Pheba Maria Watson from any part in said division;
"And if, after three years as stated, anyone or more should come forward to claim under this will, then in that case, such one or more shall receive the sum of five dollars in money as, and for their portion of my estate."
"It is my will, and I give, devise and bequeath, after the death of my said wife, Chloe Tyrer, unto my children hereinbefore named (except the said heirs of Pheba Maria Watson herein before named) in equal shares the residue of my estate, real and personal, of every kind and nature;"And I hereby name appoint as my executors, William L. Tyrer, Earl P. Tyrer and James D. Tyrer to carry the provisions of this will into execution; hereby _____ and annulling all former wills by me made, and ratifying and confirming this and no other as my last ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ whereof I, the said Asa Tyrer have hereunto set my hand and seal on this 13th day of October, in the year of our Lord, 1869. Asa Tyrer.
Proved and admitted and received August 11th, 1873, Volume 4, page 124."
From: "Quincy Whig," Aug. 7, 1873:
"At his residence on 12th Street, near Harrison, yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, Asa Tyrer, aged 86 years. The funeral will take place from his late residence tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Friends are invited to attend without further notice."
From: William G. Tyrer's [of AZ] notes:
"We have been unable to find where Asa was buried. His son, Earl, owned a plot in the Woodland Cemetery. He [Asa] is listed by Great River Genealogical Society, 1979, as having owned the south half of lot #135 in Block 10. There are no grave markers there. It is thought perhaps Asa was buried on his farm or in a nearby cemetery in Melrose Township."
"Birth records of Wendell, Franklin Co, MA," LDS Microfilm #0453864:
[The original ledger of Vital Records of Wendell, MA is still kept at the tiny post office in tiny Wendell, as of the year, 2009.]
Pg. 34 starts with Mary Tyrah, dau. of James and Ruth Tyrer, followed by "Asa Tyrer, born March ye 12th, 1788."
From: "History of Quincy, Adams Co, IL.," 1882.
"Facts provided to the author by his son, Earl P. Tyrer."
LUTHER's brother, Asa, did not join James and LUTHER in Erie County. Instead, he went to try his luck in Broome County, NY. He stayed there a few years before heading further west. The records show that he was married at Windsor, NY to Chloe Andrews, the daughter of John Andrews and Sara Bloomer.
From records submitted by Mrs. William W. Cowan [maiden name: Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX:
Broome Co, NY Deeds, Vol. T3, pg. 425:
In the year 1818, he purchased the bounty land warrant of a man named Stephen B. Leonard. They were both living in the village of Oswego, NY, and for $320, Asa Tyrer received 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, in the SW quarter of Section 12 of Township 2 south in Range 9 West].
Stephen Leonard had purchased the warrant from a soldier of the War of 1812, John Garrison:
Broome Co, NY Deed Book G, pg. 208:
"Stephen B. Leonard of Oswego, Broome Co, NY to Asa Tyrer, same village and county, May 6, 1818. 160 acres in the Territory of Illinois, SW quarter of Section 12, Twsp 2, South, Range 9 West, in the tract for Military Bounties, granted to soldier John Garrison for his services in the War of 1812. Recorded 12th Sept. 1818.
Also several land deeds cited by:
From: Mrs. W. W. Cowan [Esther Glenn Tyrer] of Harlingen, TX. "Genealogical Tips," Vol. XVI, NO. 3, pg. 45, a publication of Tip of Texas Gen. Soc.:
History of Quincy, Illinois
Old Times and Old Stories, 1882, pg. 32
(Account first published in the Dollar Monthly, 1874)
Facts furnished by his son, Earl P. Tyrer, Esq.
"Asa Tyrer was born in Hampshire County, MA, Oct. 17, 1788, of Scottish ancestry. He died at his home near Quincy Aug. 6, 1873, age 85 years. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818 for the purpose of finding a quarter section of land lying in the Military Bounty Land Tract, and which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300. He found the land, then returned to St. Louis. In 1822 he came back to his land and built a log cabin on it. (The farm is 2 miles SE of the old Courthouse in Quincy.) In 1844, his family moved to Quincy."
"Asa Tyrer was the first coroner of Adams County, and one of the first jurymen. He had a blacksmith shop and corn mill. He removed to Galena, but always held his land in Adams County, where he died on the old place. The first steamboat to go up the Mississippi River was called Western Enterprise. The first trip was in 1820 and it took on Asa Tyrer. The figure head of the boat was a serpent which spit fire."
I have noticed that two of Asa's daughters [Martha and Mahala, who were born reportedly abt 1820 and 1822] claim to have been born in Kentucky [Martha, who consistently reported her birth there in the census records] and Missouri [Mahala, who reported her birth there in 2 census records, and once as Illinois, and I haven't been able to locate her by name in the 1880 census, and she died in 1885, so that was the last.]
[From William Tyrer interviewing Gerald Fieldhouse: "The Old Times and Stories from 1882 incorrectly has him on the Western Enterprise. This went up the Missouri River, not the Mississippi, and had the figurehead like a serpent. Asa went on the Virginian, which left St. Louis on April 21, 1823. The account of the voyage is in "Steamboating on the Mississippi" by Wm. J. Peterson, State Historical Soc of Iowa, 1968.]
From: "Quincy and Adams County: History and Representative Men," Vol. I, 1919, edited by David F. Wilcox, page 100-101:
"Asa Tyrer, the first coroner of Adams County, was a native of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, born 1788. He first visited the Illinois country in 1818, that he might locate a quarter section of land in the Military Bounty Tract, which he had purchased from a soldier of the War of 1812 for the sum of $300 [actually purchased from Stephen B. Leonard of Broome County, NY, who had himself purchased it from John Garrison, the soldier] At the time of his visit there were no steamboats, or other public conveyances, to be used in reaching Illinois."
"He provided himself with a knapsack and provisions, with flint, steel and punk, and after wearisome days of travel, reached St. Louis. There he crossed the Mississippi River and started northward for his intended home, afoot and alone. Reaching the Illinois River, he met a man who had camped on the bank and was on his way to some point about one hundred and fifty miles above, journeying in a skiff, which contained a cargo, a barrel of whiskey."
"Mr. Tyrer spent the night there and the next morning was rowed across the river, thankful for the assistance as he continued his trip up the 'Father of Waters.' After several days of travel, he reached the bluffs upon which we live today and started searching for the land he had purchased. Because the government surveyors had only recently been working here, he had no difficulty locating the tract which was the southwest quarter of section 12, 2 south, 9 west in what would some day become Melrose Township. The next day he started back to St. Louis."
Near one of the government lines, he discovered a spring, which he [eventually] named 'Watson Spring' for his son-in-law. This was a natural plateau covered with a forest of trees, while on the lower level, the spring bubbled up from its rocky bed with a constant stream of pure cool water… On both trips to St. Louis and back to the bluffs, Tyrer saw and heard bands of Indians, herds of deer and great amounts of wild game."
"Realizing the possibilities offered by this new country, he was determined to bring his family here. However, his wife could not accept the idea of leaving civilization for this 'howling wilderness' with wilder Indians for companions, and he returned alone…"
"In the year 1822, Tyrer returned to his land on the bluffs overlooking the river and built a cabin on his tract, located about two miles southeast of the original town of Quincy. Two years afterward the entire family settled on it [actually only the older children settled there with him], coming up the river in skiffs, two being lashed together, which served as a foundation for a platform, the structure resembled the present day houseboat, although in a crude way."
"Tyrer set up a blacksmith shop and corn grinder on his land, which for years was the only ones in the county. In 1825, with the organization of county government, he became the first coroner, serving for two years. After a few years, he moved to Galena, returning then to the old homestead where he lived until his death on August 6, 1873."
From: "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881," page 903:
"…Asa Tyrer engaged in farming [in Quincy. IL], and in the summer of 1827, went to Dodgeville with his son (William), they spending the summer on what is now [in 1881] the Thomas Parry farm north of the village; their winters were spent in Illinois until the Black Hawk war."
"William and Simon [his brother], were among the last to seek refuge in Brigham's Fort at the Mounds, and a few days later, left for Galena, thence down the Father of Waters in a rude canoe, to Quincy, Illinois, where the parents then resided, and where the mother now lives at the age of 90."
From: "Dodgeville Chronicle," issue of Sept 12, 1884:
"…in company with his father and others, he came to Dodgeville and engage in mining on what is now the Thomas Parry farm, just west of this village… Mr. Tyrer was among those whose custom of coming up here to mine in the summer and returning to Illinois to spend the winters gave to that state its name of 'sucker' state, a custom which he and his co-workers followed until after the Black Hawk war, when he permanently settled in this vicinity."
Asa Tyrer was back in Adams County, Illinois in 1830 as shown by this Circuit Court record:
State of Illinois
Adams County
"The people of the state of Illinois to the Sheriff of Adams County, Greeting:
Whereas Thomas McBeaney as principal and Asa Tyrer as security of the County of Adams and state aforesaid, on the 18th of June, 1830, came into the Circuit Court of said County of Adams before the judge thereof, in their own proper persons and acknowledged themselves jointly and severally to owe and be indebted to the people of the State of Illinois in the sum of $100 to be levied of their especial goods and chattels, lands and tenements for the use of the people aforesaid:"
"Provided the said Thomas McBeaney should fail to appear before the judge of said court on the 1st day of the next term thereof, to be holden at the Courthouse in Quincy on the 21st day of October, 1830 to answer unto the people of the State of Illinois in an indictment for an affray pending in said court;
"And the said Thomas McBeaney having failed to appear at the said term of the said Court to answer to the indictment aforesaid, although solemnly called;
"We therefore, command you to summon the said Thomas McBeaney and Asa Tyrer to be and appear before the Judge of our said Court on the 1st day of the next term to be holden on the 23rd day of May next, to show cause, if any they can, why the said people of the State of Illinois ought not to have execution against them for the said sum of money for which they are bound according to the force and form of their recognizance, and further to do and receive whatever said court shall then and there consider and adjudge against them in that behalf, etc."
Adams Circuit Court, of the term of May 1832:
"Asa Tyrer, being sworn says that in the case of the people vs. Thomas McGraney and Asa Tyrer on ?Sam ?Farias. This deponent says that within a few days past he made a journey to the Blue Mounds in the attached part of the Michigan Territory where the aforesaid McGraney resides, and who is engaged in the mining business there, for the purpose of bringing the said McGraney with him to this place to surrender him at the present term of this court in execution of this deponent who was bail for said McGraney on an indictment of an affray."
"This deponent further states that he fund said McGraney at his residence in Michigan as aforesaid and said McGraney started with this deponent to come to this place to attend at this present term, on part of the way to Galena I was informed that martial law was proclaimed at that place, and the commanding officer at that place refused to let any man come away who was able to bear arms and would not give permission for the said McGraney to come to this place. This deponent states that he could not get away himself without a pass from the commanding officer there. The instrument of writing given his deponent for that purpose is herewith, and further this deponent says not."
Asa Tyrer.
"The person whose duty it is to prevent militia men from leaving this place are permitted to let Joseph R. Martin depart for the reason that he has given bail in $600 for his appearance at the Marion Circuit Court, Missouri State.
"And also let Asa Tyrer depart for being exempted from military duty for four or five years past. Given at Galena, May the 20th, 1832 Mr. ?Stone, Col. Commanding, 27 Reg't Ill Militia."
"To the Coroner [Asa Tyrer], State of Illinois, Greeting:
We command you to summon Samuel Farmer, H. B. Berry, Levi Wells, Samuel Powers… in the case of the people of the State of Illinois vs. Thomas C King, defendant in an indictment for an assault with a deadly weapon."
Of the September term of the Adams Circuit Court in the year of our Lord, 1837.
"The Grand Jurors chosen, selected and sworn in and for the County of Adams in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oaths present that Thomas C. King, late of the County of Adams, on the 10th day of September in the year of our Lord 1837, in the county aforesaid, with a certain deadly weapon to wit, with a stone, which he, the said Thomas C. King in his right hand, then and there had and held in and upon the person of one Samuel Farmer, without any considerable provocation, unlawfully, maliciously and wickedly did make an assault with an intent to inflict a great bodily injury upon the person of the said Samuel Farmer against the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Illinois. H. L. Bryant, state's attorney."
There is a memoir in the possession of the Wisconsin State Historical Society which was written by James Roberts, in the collection donated by Eleanor Sanford, file MAD 4/14/SC 326, which contains the following information concerning George's father, Asa Tyrer:
"…During the weeks that followed, my father and brother-in-law were attended by no regular physician [for cholera], but were waited on by "Old Man Tyrer" as he was called, who lived about a mile west of the present NW Depot. He had remarkable success with the cases he treated. I think it was said that all those he treated recovered. He waited on my father and Matthew Rogers and both recovered. His treatment was medicated steam inhaled through the nose. Soon after, those [who] had gone away returned, when the plague ceased."
Elva Power Fieldhouse, of Elkton MD, gives the Tyrer family recipe for this medicated steam in the following article "Thomas Bolton Shaunce and the Helena Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River". Don Fieldhouse submitted it for publication to the Iowa County Historical Society Newsletter for publication. "In 1850-1851 when the cholera was so serious, Thomas Shaunce went with his father-in-law and mother-in-law (Asa and Chloe Tyrer) and helped people wherever people had the disease. They tried to comfort the living and helped lay out the dead. They often prepared food for those too frightened to think of food. Asa Tyrer and Chloe had a prescription for steaming and hydrating the victims, which did not fail if they arrived in time. This often involved steaming and using wet sheets for the hydration.
"Steam Medicine (as written by Chloe Tyrer especially for her descendants): To one-quart whiskey, drown ten or twelve live coals of fire in it, then strain it. Add three tablespoonfuls of salt-petre and three of sulphur. Directions: This steam is preferable over the cold cholera medicine, and preferable to whiskey, but for the inflammatory you should use whiskey and set it afire and let it burn as long as it will burn. Chloe was very opposed to whiskey, but for medical purposes, it was accepted." While Chloe was home fighting the cholera, her son George Tyrer was traveling in a wagon train in the California Gold Rush. At least one other of her sons, William Tyrer, was already there, and some of her adopted nephews, Hiram Tyrer, and possibly Elisha. It had to be a time of great anxiety for her, and it is likely that she prepared her boys with her cholera recipe for their trek across the continent.
Fellow descendant, David Jones of Illinois, has provided this researcher with a plausible explanation for the success of the seemingly "folk" remedy:
"The cholera formula has some scientific basis, in fact. Current treatment consists of giving salts orally to replace electrolytes. The salts stop the cholera in a matter of minutes. Soaking charcoal from a fire in whiskey would have the effect of leaching potassium salts from the burned wood into the whiskey. Adding saltpeter to the solution would raise the potassium content to give a solution near to what is used today."
"The addition of sulfur is to be expected. Sulfur was used extensively from the colonial times onward as a treatment for everything. It was a good universal drug."
The Tyrers were also mentioned in the "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin, 1881":
"Among the physicians who remained were Dr. Silbey and Dr. Burrall. A man named Tyre, a farmer in the vicinity, was very successful in treating the disease; he has a method of steaming which proved very efficacious. The first symptoms of the disease was an acute diarrhea, followed by cramps and vomiting, the patient dying with great suffering in a few hours after the first attack."
From: "Adams Co, IL Wills," Vol. 4, pg. 124, Box 51, Will of Asa Tyrer:
Last Will and Testament of Asa Tyrer, deceased
"I, Asa Tyrer of Melrose, Adams County, Illinois, do hereby make and declare this, my last will and testament, in manner and form following, to wit:
"It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts be fully paid, after which being done, it is my will that my beloved wife, Chloe Tyrer shall have during her lifetime, one third or the yearly income of one third of all my real estate, which I give and bequeath to her as herein stated;
"I give, devise and bequeath unto the heirs of my late daughter, Pheba Maria Watson, deceased, wife of Benjamin G. Watson, also deceased, the following described piece of land, to wit:
"Beginning at a point eighty rods east of the Southwest corner of Section 12, in Township 2, South Range, 9 West of the 4th Principle Meridian, thence running north twenty ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ to the place of beginning, in Adams County and state of Illinois:
"I give, devise and bequeath unto my children, William L. Tyrer, Simon Hiram Tyrer, Jerusha Persons, Edward A. Tyrer, Mahala Shaunce, George W. Tyrer, Sarah Jane Parry, Earl P. Tyrer, Susan Adeline Burmen? and James D. Tyrer, in equal shares, all the residue, balance and remainder of my estate that doth or may in any wise pertain to or belong to me at my death, both real and personal property, money, rights, and credits of every kind, nature or description."
"It is my will, that provided any one or more of my last named children or their legal heirs shall fail or neglect for the space of three full years to claim their respective portion under the provisions of this will, after advertisement shall have been made notifying them to appear and claim for six months in the public newspapers, in the states of Illinois, Kansas and California; their portion or share to which they would have been entitled shall be divided in equal shares among my last-named children, entirely excluding the said heirs of the said Pheba Maria Watson from any part in said division;
"And if, after three years as stated, anyone or more should come forward to claim under this will, then in that case, such one or more shall receive the sum of five dollars in money as, and for their portion of my estate."
"It is my will, and I give, devise and bequeath, after the death of my said wife, Chloe Tyrer, unto my children hereinbefore named (except the said heirs of Pheba Maria Watson herein before named) in equal shares the residue of my estate, real and personal, of every kind and nature;"And I hereby name appoint as my executors, William L. Tyrer, Earl P. Tyrer and James D. Tyrer to carry the provisions of this will into execution; hereby _____ and annulling all former wills by me made, and ratifying and confirming this and no other as my last ________ [photocopy cut off several words] ___________ whereof I, the said Asa Tyrer have hereunto set my hand and seal on this 13th day of October, in the year of our Lord, 1869. Asa Tyrer.
Proved and admitted and received August 11th, 1873, Volume 4, page 124."
From: "Quincy Whig," Aug. 7, 1873:
"At his residence on 12th Street, near Harrison, yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, Asa Tyrer, aged 86 years. The funeral will take place from his late residence tomorrow, 3 o'clock. Friends are invited to attend without further notice."
From: William G. Tyrer's [of AZ] notes:
"We have been unable to find where Asa was buried. His son, Earl, owned a plot in the Woodland Cemetery. He [Asa] is listed by Great River Genealogical Society, 1979, as having owned the south half of lot #135 in Block 10. There are no grave markers there. It is thought perhaps Asa was buried on his farm or in a nearby cemetery in Melrose Township."
Family Members
Siblings
Half Siblings
Children
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William L. Tyrer
1810–1884
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Simon Hiram Tyrer
1813–1883
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Phebe Maria Tyrer Watson
1815 – unknown
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Edward Asa Tyrer
1817–1878
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Jerusha Tyrer Persons
1818–1899
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Mahala Tyrer Shaunce
1822–1885
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Earl P. Tyrer
1826–1876
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George Washington Tyrer
1828 – unknown
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Sarah Jane Tyrer Parry
1830–1905
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Dr James Deighton Tyrer
1832–1882
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Susan Adeline Tyrer Hagenbaumer
1835 – unknown
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