Amos H. Whitmore and family arrived in Audubon Twp., Montgomery Co., IL between March 12, 1845 and April 6, 1847. On April 6, 1847 the first Whitmore, a daughter, purchased land. On this date, daughter Sarah J. Whitmore of Montgomery Co., and State of Illinois purchased 200 acres from Benjamin and Eliza Thaxter of Boston, Mass. for $112 ($0.56/acre).Two other children purchased land on April 26, 1847 in the same general area from Benjamin and Eliza Thaxter.

Amos H. Whitmore made his first purchase of land in Audubon Twp., Montgomery Co., IL on October 12, 1847. He purchased 40 acres from Benjamin Sewall of Boston in the County of Suffolk and State of Mass. for the sum of $55 ($1.38/acre).

Amos H. Whitmore made a major land purchase on November 21, 1849 when he purchased 725 acres from Benjamin and Eliza Thaxter of Boston, Mass. for $150 ($0.21/acre). Among this land purchase is the 80 acres, which has been handed down through the generations to the current 6th and 7th generations.

All the owners beginning with the original have been: Amos H. Whitmore,Willard & Abigail Whitmore Kellogg, Otis & Louise Kellogg, Gordon and Madeline Kellogg, Clifford & Dorothy Betzold and the current owners Barbara Paine, Bruce and Austin Betzold. The 80 acres is located: West half of
North West Quarter of Section 8, Township 9, North Range 1 West of the Third Principal Meridian.

Amos was born in Newburyport, Essex Co., Mass. to Nathaniel Whitmore and Jane Mills. He was raised in the assachusetts and New Hampshire areas before moving to Ohio. Amos lived in Ohio for approximately 36 years before moving to Audubon Twp., Montgomery Co., IL in or prior to 1847. In Ohio,
Amos lived in the Portsmouth area of Scioto Co., located on the Ohio River, and later in the Northwest portion of Darby Twp, Madison Co., Ohio (near Columbus, Ohio). Amos and his family moved from Scioto Co., OH to Madison Co. OH around 1828 - 1829. Amos and his second wife, Mary, sold all their
Madison Co., OH land on March 12, 1845 and headed for Illinois.

Amos was a wheelwright (maker of wagon wheels) and a farmer. Amos' first wife, Betsey Lamb was a sister to Nancy Lamb Kellogg. About the time that Amos and all his children (from two marriages) moved from Ohio to Audubon
Twp, so did 5 of his Kellogg nieces and nephews. All settled in Audubon Twp. Amos' daughter, Abigail Whitmore (by his second marriage) married Williard Kellogg. Some of the land purchased by Williard and Abigail Kellogg has also been in the family for over 100 years and has been recognized as a Centennial Farm.

The following was taken from text written in the book "Past And Present of Montgomery County Illinois" by Jacob L. Traylor, pages 582 - 585. The book is dated (year) 1904. It is written after an interview with Joseph
Whitmore, Amos youngest son. In the fall of 1845 Amos H. Whitmore came to Illinois and purchased raw land. The country was wild and the work of improvement and progress seemed scarcely begun. There were large herds of deer roaming over the prairie and there were many wild turkeys and smaller game. Wolves were also seen in great numbers and rattlesnakes were heard in the wild prairie grass. There
were no fences at that time and one could drive across the prairie to Pana without coming to a fence or building to impede progress. The prairie grass grew as high as a horse and almost as far as the eye could reach there was one boundless stretch of this waving grass, having the appearance of a billowy sea. In early days Mr. (Amos) Whitmore raised hogs, which he drove to St. Louis, Missouri, where he sold them for from a dollar and a half to
two and a half per hundredweight. He would take a load of dressed hogs to the city and bring back a line of merchandise for the business men of Audubon, which town at that time contained about fifteen houses and one large store. Later more houses were built and three stores and two hotels established, but like so many other places it was killed by the railroad.

In early days Audubon and Hillsboro were really the only large towns between Mr. (Amos) Whitmore's farm and St. Louis. He continued to make his home in Audubon Township until his death, which occurred in 1857.

The current owners produce corn, soybeans and wheat on this farm in alternating years. A portion of the land has been placed into a program to promote conservation and wildlife habitat.