I saw this on the Prather list:
The following was copied word for word from "The Western Christian
Advocate", dated May 11, 1853 that was found in the trunk of a cousin of
mine:
April 12 - WILLIAM PRATHER aged eight six years, seven months and twenty
seven days. He was born August 15, 1766, in Maryland. His parents were
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and removed to North Carolina in
1778. He himself removed to Clark's Grant, Indiana - then territory - in
1799, and took part in guarding the frontier. He removed to Jennings
County, In, in 1816 and was one of its first settlers. He was elected Judge
of the said county in 1817; served in said office seven years; became a
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1801; and was among the first
class-leaders in that part of the country. The first Methodist sermon
preached in Jennings County was at his log-cabin, in the winter of 1816, by
J. Chitwood, a local preacher. A short time after that Russel Bigelow, of
Ohio, organized a Church at his house, appointing brother Prather their
leader. As such he served up to the time of losing his sight, which was
about the year 1830. He never had a lawsuit in his life, nor an enemy. His
children, numbering thirteen, were all members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, three of whom, however, are now dead. He had 105 grandchildren and
89 great, grandchildren - making in all 207.
H. Prather
I imagine H. Prather is William's son, Hiram. This obituary makes William
Prather sound 'squeaky clean', and I was surprised to find out a couple of
years ago that he was a bigamist.
I am searching for any information on this William, especially marriage
records for his other 'wives'.
Thanks, Shannon