This family history was written by in 1880 by Thomas W. Kellough, who was born in 1829 in Pennsylvania and died in So. Dakota in 1902. The family was composed of his grandfather, Thomas E. Kellough, his parents Richard A. and Sarah Maxwell Kellough and their thirteen children. Portions of it are quoted here:
"We came to this state (Illinois) in the fall of 1837, from Rising Sun, Maryland. We came in wagons to Columbia, Penn., thence by canal to Pittsburgh, then down the Ohio river to Cairo (Ill.), then up the Mississippi river till we reached the Illinois river, and from there up to Frederic, then in a wagon to Schuyler county, (Ill.) landing on the banks of Crooked creek, opposite Brooklyn, in just four weeks from the time we started. There was at that time six children of us, Thomas W. (the writer), James M., John G., Charles H., Andrew L., and Elizabeth J.
"In a few days we moved into a big log cabin close to the mill. Father could get a school, but there was no school house, so the settlers went to work and built a log house, made windows by cutting out holes on three sides large enough to put in one pane of glass at each place. The stove used in this house was the first one in the neighborhood. There was no public money at that time, but he commenced his school and was to receive two dollars per scholar for three months. He taught nearly a year at that time, and for several years afterwards. The postage on a letter was twenty-five cents, and our closest post office was Rushville, eighteen miles away.
"Father then rented a farm and commenced building a house, but sickness came, and Frances A. died in Aug. 1839. She was born after we came here. The sixth of Jan. 1840 we moved to Plymouth, where Mary E. was born. That summer I hired out to feed silk worms at one dollar per week. Father rented a farm; we stayed there two years, then our only horse died. We then rented a farm where the landlord furnished team, seed and feed and received half the crop. We raised a good crop of oats, sold some to travelers at twelve and a half cents a bushel, sent some to Quncy, which sold there for thirteen cents a bushel, the man who hauled then charged twelve and a half cents per bushel for hauling.
"Albert M. was born in 1842 and died in 1845. The fall of ’43 we moved back to Brooklyn. Richard M. was born in ’44. The place proved to be sickly, and we moved back to Plymouth in ’46. The older boys then hired out; wages ranged from five to 12 dollars per month. Margaret A. was born in ’47, George and Mira in 50. In ’54 father bought 160 acres of land in McDonough county, and in the spring of ’55 we moved on to the old place near Macomb, which we all called home so long. It was about this time that one after another we began to strike out for ourselves. Then came the (Civil) war, with its distractions. Daniel Camp, Elizabeth’s husband, was the first to enlist. He soon fell victim to disease and died, and now lies buried in Missouri. Thomas and Andrew enlisted in the fall of ’61. Andrew was killed the sixth of May, ’62, on the skirmish line in front of Corinth, Miss. He was buried by a citizen where he fell. His body now rests in an unmarked grave in Mississippi. Richard enlisted in ’62 and remained until the close of the ear. Mother died in ’68. . ."
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One of the sons, Charles Henry, chose the spelling Killough instead of Kellough. However, his six daughters and all their descendants use the spelling Kellough.
