Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of the papers of the Sullivant family, the owners of a significant amount of Illinois farmland in the 19th century. Materials include financial records, newspaper clippings, photographs, a book of family history, and correspondence related to farm management and personal matters among the family.
Michael L. Sullivant (1807-1879) was born in Franklinton, Ohio to Lucas Sullivant (1756-1823) and Sarah Starling (1781-1814). He began purchasing land in Illinois in the 1850s. At the height of his success, the family land amounted to over one-thousand acres in Ford, Champaign, Livingston, and Piatt counties. The largest of these farms was Broadlands, 26,000 acres in Champaign County, where Sullivant employed African American, Irish, and Italian men to raise corn and graze cattle. By 1876, he had sold much of this land to pay off debts incurred through mismanagement of the farms.
Joseph M. Sullivant (1832-1900), the second eldest son of Michael L. Sullivant, was born in 1832 to Sarah McDowell (1808-1844), Michael L. Sullivant’s first wife. Alongside his father, he managed the family’s finances, land, and played a major role in the acquisition and sale of cattle.
In the 20th century, descendants of the Sullivant family in Kansas, Ohio, and Illinois were connected through research into their ancestry. Along with his wife Anne, Allen Sullivant, the grandson of Joseph M. Sullivant, exchanged letters with Andrew Denny Rogers III, the grandson of William Starling Sullivant and great grandson of Lucas Sullivant, and Madge Sullivant, Lucas Sullivant’s great granddaughter.
The collection is arranged into four series: Correspondence, Farm Records, Kansas Sullivant Descendants, and Miscellaneous. The Correspondence series contains letters between Michael L. Sullivant, Joseph M. Sullivant, farm superintendent T.J. Kerr, and multiple farm managers. These letters discuss farm operations, livestock, and finances. Additional letters are written among members of the Sullivant family, including Joseph M. Sullivant’s siblings. The Farm Records series contains documentation of land ownership, invoices, banknotes, and calculations for services and labor. The Kansas Sullivant Descendants series includes letters between Andrew Denny Rogers III, Allen Sullivant, and Madge Sullivant discussing family history and the letters from this collection’s Correspondence series. The series also contains mortgage records, real estate certificates, contracts for land purchase, and court summons regarding Allen and Anne’s land in Kansas. The Miscellaneous series includes newspaper clippings, photographs of the Sullivant family, and a book of genealogy and history written by Joseph Sullivant.
This collection was purchased in 2024 with support from the Bruce C. Creamer Fund.
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