Richard was married to Louisa Van Brunt on August 27, 1840. She was described as a well-educated, Spanish woman. Together they had nine children. Only five of their children lived to maturity and Gideon, their oldest son, was killed in the Civil War in the battle of Chickamaugua. So, only four of the nine children born, lived to produce heirs. Richard Henry Bloxsom was a very rich man. He had a townhouse in Sidney, Illinois, and owned property in Danville, Illinois. He owned walnut groves and maple trees. They sold lumber from the walnut trees to be made into furniture. He owned several thousand acres of land which extended into two counties. He donated the land for the town of Sidney to the state of Illinois. The family had black servants. Although not slaves apparently, they were treated not much different than the slaves of that time. They were not paid, but were given five acres of land and a cottage to live in. Each child in the family had their own personal, young , black servant.

Gideon Bloxsom was the oldest son of Richard and Louisa Bloxsom. When he was seventeen years old he joined the 35th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on the Union Army, which was organized at Decatur, Illinois. He joined the infantry on the date of its inception, July 3. 1861, and served as a private. He was missing in action after the first day of the Battle Of Chickamauga, presumed to have died on September 19, 1863. three months shy of twenty years of age.

George Washington Bloxsom was the fifth child of Richard and Louisa. He was born January 14, 1851 in Illinois. George married Isadora “Dora” Rudicill on December 19, 1869. George’s sister, Virginia, married Isadora’s brother Lawrence Rudicill. Dora’s father’s name was Henry and her mother was Mary Zorned and their family was possibly from either Ohio or Indiana.

George and Isadora had ten children. The first two children died soon after birth. The third child, Richard Henry “Hank” Bloxsom was born July 28, 1877 in Quincy, Illinois. Due to the death of the first two children, he was then the oldest child. The family’s life in Illinois was later remembered in rather idyllic terms. They gathered black walnuts by the wagon loads. They husked and sacked them and then cracked them in the winter time. They had black-walnut cookies and black -walnut candy. They also had maple sugar from their maple trees and this was considered a delicacy in those days.

George, and his wife Dora and their Children lived on land owned by his father in Champaign County, Illinois. He lived and raised his family on a piece of his father’s property. The first seven of the children were born in Illinois. After Richard Bloxsom’s death, it was specified in his will that the oldest child could have their choice of the property. Since Gideon, the oldest, had died in the Civil War, Jane was now the oldest living child. Jane wanted the property where George and his family lived and so forced him to move from the land.

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