The family tree compiled in the image above serves to show the family connections between Sophronia McNitt and Eli Cress before their marriage. Names including asterisks are members of the Cress family included in letters of this edition. The majority of this family tree comes from the book Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Nicholas Heinrich Kress written by Bernard William Jr. Cruse and Montgomery County Archive. This genealogy illustrates one type of community relations in Montgomery County during the Civil War.  The Cress family's ancestors immigrated from Prussia to Pennsylvania and eventually to Illinois. Other family relations that can be seen in this edition are between the Browns, Moynihans, Harkeys and the McNitt, all through their common ancestor in the Cress family. This family tree helps paint a clearer picture of how blood as well as community connected some of the people featured in this edition.

The head of the Cress/Kress family in Montgomery County was Johann Nicholas Heinrich Kress. He along with his three brothers, Henry, Casper, and Karl, arrived in Pennsylvania  from Prussia on October 4th, 1752. He met his wife, Catherine Eberhardt, in Pennsylvania and had twelve children. Johann N. H Kress’s son, Jacob Cress Sr. lived in North Carolina for a time but eventually traveled to the Indiana/Illinois territory to settle. Along with his wife, he brought with him horses, cattle, and hogs to cultivate the new environment. In 1818, they were the first white settlers in Butler Township in Montgomery, founding the Cress family farms that are still run by the descendants of the Cress family today. Jacob Cress became one of the town’s leading figures; he held many roles in the area such as county commissioner in 1827. To this day, the name Jacob Cress is held in high esteem in Montgomery County.

Peter Cress, the grandson of Johann N. H. Kress and the nephew of Jacob Cress, was born in North Carolina in 1808 but arrived in Montgomery County by 1823. Peter was one of the earliest settlers in Montgomery County and his marriage with Catherine Nussman was the earliest recorded marriage in Rountree Township. Peter lived with his extended family in Fillmore township and participated as a private in Rountree’s company during the Black Hawk War.

Eli Cress was born February 28th, 1838, the son of Peter Cress and Catherine Nussman. He was a private in 117th Illinois infantry during the Civil War.  After the war, he married Sophronia McNitt on May 24th, 1866, who was also the great-grandchild of Johann N. H Kress. Together they had one child, Howard Eli Cress on October 2nd, 1867. Eli Cress died January 28th, 1871 and was laid to rest in Bost Hill Cemetery, Montgomery County IL.

1. Cruse, Bernard William Jr. Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Nicholas Heinrich Kress (Kindle Locations 1140-1148). Cabarrus Genealogy Society. Kindle Edition. v↵
2. Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, and Alexander T. Strange. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois: Volume 2 (Chicago, IL: Munsell Publishing Company, 1918), 849, 857, 885. ↵
3. Cruse, Bernard William Jr. Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Nicholas Heinrich Kress (Kindle Locations 2670-2672). Cabarrus Genealogy Society. Kindle Edition. Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, and Alexander T. Strange. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois: Volume 2 (Chicago, IL: Munsell Publishing Company, 1918), 963.↵
4. Cruse, Bernard William Jr. Ancestors and Descendants of Johann Nicholas Heinrich Kress (Kindle Locations 6525-6535). Cabarrus Genealogy Society. Kindle Edition.↵