Sarah Jane Teague (maiden name: Harriss) was born on October 3, 1824, in Bedford County, Tennessee, to Jordan and Lucinda Harriss. Her father was a farmer who owned $3,200 of real estate and $1,100 of personal property by 1860. The family moved to Perry County, Illinois, when she was five years old. She married John Roberts Teague there on November 14, 1839, at the age of 15. They had three sons: William, born around 1841; Jordan, born around 1843; and Marion, born around 1846. Their son Jordan died at the age of eight.

 

They lived in Perry County, and her husband worked as a farmer and merchant. By 1850, they owned $400 of real estate. Sarah was listed as “keeping house” in 1870, a year before her husband died. Sarah’s own father died in 1874 “at the residence of his daughter.” She married William A. King on August 24, 1876, and the couple lived in Ewing, Illinois. She died there on March 28, 1915, “after an illness resulting from a fall.”

 

The letter to Sarah and her husband sent from her brother, Jordan Carroll Harris Jr., indicates a warm relationship between the trio. Harris Jr. expresses well wishes for the education of their youngest son Marion, who was about 16 at the time of the letter.

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