The first Bobbitt family to live in Illinois was the family of Stephen and Barbara Bobbitt in the year of 1820. There were several families of New England Babbitts living in Fulton County, and had been there since the late 1700's. Most of the early families belonging to the Bobbitt families were of southern origin and descendants of Isham and Elizabeth Bobbitt of Warren County, North Carolina.
Between 1820 and 1850, Bobbitt families lived in Morgan, Green, Pike, Hancock, Champaign, Schulyer and Tazwell counties. The census records of each family is recorded in the chapters pertaining to each family. The 1850 census was the first census to give the name of each member of the household, their age, and the state where each was born.
In 1850 Bobbitt families were recorded in Brown, Hancock, Mason, Morgan, Pike, Scott, Tazwell, and Washington counties.
BROWN COUNTY, ILLINOIS formed in 1839 from Schuyler County.
Wiley Madison Bobbitt was a son of William James and Elizabeth (Hale) Bobbitt. He was born in Christian County, Kentucky. He met and married Sarah Pyle on August 20, 1835. Several of his children were named after his brothers and sisters. In 1860 Wiley and Sarah were living in Morgan County, Illinois.
Many of the young unmarried males of our Bobbitt family who lived in Illinois when the 1850 census was taken worked on various state projects. For the most part they lived in labor camps, and worked on building roads, railroads, canals, etc. It is doubtful that these men were counted in the 1850 census records in every instance. In 1860 many were counted as being married and living with their own families.
Because of various work records and projects these families moved frequently from one place to another. Vital records are often found in counties adjoining the counties the census records are recorded in. Sometimes the workers moved so frequently that they were counted in the census two times, depending on where they were located when the census was taken.
