Robert Caswell was born on 23 June 1876 in Rabbit City, Illinois, to John Caswell and Elizabeth Russell. I have been unable to find Rabbit City on any map. His father had emigrated from Wales as a young teenager and was a coal miner. Elizabeth Russell was born in Pennsylvania, but her parents had both been born in Scotland. When the 1880 census was enumerated, the family lived in Streator, Illinois, where his father worked as a coal miner.
By 1900 the family lived at 610 South Illinois Street, where his parents would remain for the rest of their lives. Both father and son, Robert, worked in the coal mines which surrounded Streator. Robert must have met Margaret Muir in Streator after she, her mother, and siblings emigrated from Scotland in 1887. The couple married on 3 August 1902 In St. Joseph, Michigan. St. Joseph was the county seat of Berrien County, a well-known "Gretna Green" county, a place with fewer marriage restrictions. Robert's younger sister, Mary Ann "Mallie" Caswell was one of the witnesses. The couple had seven children, though only four lived to adulthood according to my grandmother, Alice (Muir) Jennings, genealogy notebook. All of their children were likely born in Missouri.
By 1910 Robert and his family had moved to Nineveh Township, Missouri, where he continued working as a coal miner as he did his entire working life. On 11 September 1918 Robert went to the local Adair County draft board and registered for the World War I draft. The family lived in Novinger, Missouri, at the time, a town in Nineveh Township. He worked for Kansas City Midland Coal and Mining Co., which employed about 400 men. The family remained at that location when the 1920 census was enumerated.
Between 1922 and 1928, the family moved to Tilton, Illinois, a village in Danville Township, which was established to house families of the local coal miners in the 1850s. The family eventually owned a home at 501 South D Street in Tilton, which sometime between 1953 and 1955 became 501 Dellwood Avenue.
Robert died on 21 May 1959 and was interred at Spring HIll Cemetery and Mausoleum in Danville. His wife, Margaret (Muir) Caswell, died in 1966 and was buried beside her husband.
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1880 US Federal Census, Census Place: Streator, La Salle, Illinois; Roll: 222; Family History Film: 1254222; Page: 108B; Enumeration District: 055; Image: 0219
1900 US Federal Census, Census Place: Streator Ward 6, Lasalle, Illinois; Roll: 315; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0039; FHL microfilm: 1240315
1910 US Federal Census, Census Place: Nineveh, Adair, Missouri; Roll: T624_766; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 1374779
1920 US Federal Census, Census Place: Nineveh, Adair, Missouri; Roll: T625_902; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 17; Image: 325
1930 US Federal Census, Census Place: Danville, Vermilion, Illinois; Roll: 564; Page: 22B; Enumeration District: 36; Image: 973.0; FHL microfilm: 2340299
1940 US Federal Census, Census Place: Danville, Vermilion, Illinois; Roll: T627_898; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 92-52
Alice (Muir) Jennings Genealogy Notebook, page 15
Global, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Memorial No. 83805884
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1928 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1955, 1947 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1949 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1951 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1953 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1955 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1957 Danville, IL (Robert Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1957 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, City Directories, 1822-1995, 1958 Danville, IL (Robert and Margaret Caswell)
US, Illinois Find A Grave Index, 1809-2012, Memorial No. 83805884
US, Michigan Marriage Certificate, State File Number: 1-300, Record Number: 820
US, Michigan Marriage Records, 1867-1952, 1902 Caswell, Robert - Muir, Margaret
US, Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Number: 329-09-9807
US, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Registration State: Missouri; Registration County: Adair; Roll: 1683088; Draft Board No. 1
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