Please note that any genealogical data on this website should not assumed to be accurate.  Some data on this site has been received from unverified sources and should not be assumed to be my own research.  Rule of thumb:  just because it is in black and white, doesn't mean it's right!  Do your own research, if you want to be sure!

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I would like to thank all my cousins--either by actual relation or by the genealogy hobby-- who have helped make this Messenger page possible.

Early records spell the name mostly Messinger.  I'm not sure when Messenger became the standard.  I do have a copy of John Messenger's signature, written 1816, and he spells it Messinger.

Andrew Messenger came from England to America about 1610.  He resided in Massachusetts and had sons Andrew, Edward, and Henry.  Andrew Sr.'s third great-grandson, Roderick Messenger, was in the Revolutionary War.  This is my husband's line.  Roderick's son John was born in Stockbridge, MA in 1771.  On the 29th of September, 1796, he married Anne Lyon in Jericho, Vermont.   In 1799, he and his family removed to Kentucky with his wife's father, Col. Matthew Lyon (Revolutionary War veteran, Congressman).  When Col. Lyon got into slave trading, John Messenger took his family and headed to Illinois (then part of the Indiana Territory).  About 1806, he moved to what is now St. Clair County, Illinois.  He helped survey parts of Illinois, and was on the committee to frame the first contstitution for Illinois.  (I am convinced that many of his descendants have his aptitude for math, several are in the engineering or math fields!).  John and Anne had 9 children, 8 of which lived to adulthood.
 

If you see a connection,  please E-mail me!  I'd love to hear from a cousin!

To View Data on My Messenger Line   When you goto the data site, you must enter at least a surname (for example, Messenger) you are interested in viewing. You may also enter SURNAME, GIVEN to see if I have a specific person.  Use your browser's back key to return here, or click on the link back to this site's home page.
 

More Biographical information on John Messinger

Transcription of John Messinger's Will

Headstone Photos

John Messinger Markers and Memorial Signs in St. Clair County

Scans of the Pamelia Anne (Messinger) Lienesch Family Bible (John Messinger purchased this Bible in 1816 and inscribed many of the family records before giving it to Pamelia and her husband, George Phillip Lienesch) 
 
 

Last Updated:  6 June 2002