The following will give you a very brief sketch of my Silvis family. My grandmother grew up in Rock Island County, Illinois, with her Silvis relatives. Her grandmother was #683 Elizabeth Silvis. My grandmother knew her great uncles on the Silvis side and they were known as Uncle Ship (#686 Richard Shippen Silvis), Uncle Sharp (#687 Thomas Sharp Silvis) and Uncle Squire (#688 Joseph Robinson Silvis). My grandmother always said that she was raised on "Silvis Tales," not "Fairy Tales" like most children. Uncle Ship's son, #686c Charles Lee Silvis, and Uncle Sharp's son, #687e John Chauncey Silvis, were both dentists. It was the Silvis influence on my grandmother that later in life made her encourage her own two sons to become dentists--which they did.

In 1853, Grandpa Silvis (#223 John) left Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, with some of his family members and headed for Rock Island County, Illinois. They arrived there in 1854 and settled in a small area called Pleasant Valley in Hampton Twp. Pleasant Valley was a small community of farmers and coal miners and was on the stage line that ran from Rock Island to Chicago. Later the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad ran through the farm land of this community.

It was in 1905 that the name of Pleasant Valley was changed to "Silvis" in honor of #686, Richard Shippen Silvis, or Uncle Ship. The Town of Silvis, Illinois, is still in existence today. In my 1997 road atlas it says the population is 6,926!

In Pleasant Valley, Uncle Ship and Uncle Sharp owned and operated the Silvis Mining Company. They were both highly respected men in their community and both held offices of trust and honor. Uncle Ship's obituary states that he was active in politics and he held office as Road Commissioner and was School Director for many years. Uncle Sharp served his community as Commissioner of Highways, Township Collector, Town Supervisor, member of the School District, and Sheriff. Both brothers were Democrats and members of the Methodist Church.

Uncle Ship's and Uncle Sharp's sister is #683, Elizabeth, who is my ancestor. Elizabeth was married twice and she had eleven children. Her three daughters were school teachers and her son, #683b, William "Billy" Shippen Wining, is my great-grandfather. Billy worked in the coal mining business with his Uncle Ship and Uncle Sharp for a number of years. Billy was an industrious, hard-working man and was able to acquire and maintain several farms at the same time in Kansas and Texas. On one of his farms were oil wells and Billy received a royalty check from the oil company each month. After Billy died his monthly royalty check was divided equally among his own children. After their deaths, the checks were passed down to his grandchildren, my mother being one of them. My mother received a royalty check each month for many years after Billy had passed away.

This will give you just a taste of the Rock Island County Silvis family. Uncle Ship and Uncle Sharp were influential citizens in their community and they are written up in the Rock Island County histories.

Martha Heinrichs