1a.  Jordan R. Dodd, ed.  1993.  Illinois/Indiana Marriages:  Early to 1850.  Liahona Research, Orem, UT (Broderbund CD-228):  not found.

1b.  Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900:  not found.

2a.  Census Index:  U.S. Selected Counties, 1840 (Broderbund CD-316):  not found, but then Ogle Co., IL, is not indexed on this CD.

2b.  1840 Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com):  not found, but Ogle Co., Il is not indexed on this CD.

2c.  1840 Ogle County Census (online at the Ogle County ILGenWeb site; transcribed by Laurie Hendrickson):  still not found.

3.  1850 Census Index/Images (online at GenealogyLibrary.com):  Leaf River Twp., Ogle Co., IL, Roll 123, p. 117A/233, 4/4, enumerated 14 Oct 1850, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

John Light	37	M		Merchant	6000	Pa
Catharine "	26	F				"
Tena      "	4	F				Ill
Martin    "	3	M				"
Christian Mudkopt	28	M		Tailor	200	Ger
Nankin? Real	28	M		Laborer		"
Catharine Shriver?	16	F				"

4.  1860 Census Images (online at Ancestry.com; Image #565 of 583):  Leaf River P.O., Leaf River, Ogle Co., IL, p. 925, PN 565, 4040/3930, enumerated 30 Jul 1860, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1860 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

John Light	46	M		Farmer	13920	8620	Pa
Catherine	36	F					"
Denna	14	F					Ills
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John Light	9	M					Ills
Martin Light	13	M					"
Cathrine	6	F					"
Henry	3	M					"
Mary	1	F					"

5.  1870

6.  LDS.  Family Search: Census Records: 1880 United States (online at FamilySearch.org):

Census Place: Ridott, Stephenson, Illinois
Source: FHL Film #1254253; NARA Film #T9-0253; Pg 234A
	Relation	Sex	Marr	Race	Age	Birthplace	Occupation	Fa	Mo
John LIGHT	Self	M	M	W	67	PA	Farmer	PA	PA
Catherine LIGHT	Wife	F	M	W	65	PA	Keeping House	PA	PA
Joseph LIGHT	Son	M	S	W	18	IL	Works On Farm	PA	PA
Riley MOTTAR	SonL	M	S	W	26	IL	Farmer	PA	PA
Mary MOTTAR1	Dau	F	S	W	19	IL	Keeping House	PA	PA
Anna MOTTAR2	GDau	F	S	W	11M	IL		PA	PA
Addie MOTTAR3	GDau	F	S	W	11M	IL		PA	PA
Notes    1REL WAS WIFE   2REL WAS DAU   3REL WAS DAU

7.  1890 Census:  the 1890 Population Schedules were destroyed.

8.  1900 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com; Image #4 of 32):  Leaf River Village, Leaf River Township, Ogle Co., IL, Roll 333 (Book 1), p. 149B, SN 2, SD 3, ED 81, 2 Jun 1900, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1900 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

1900:  for an explanation of the column headings, please see What the Numbers in the Federal Census Mean (missing columns contained no data).
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	19	22	23	24	25	26	27
46	46	Light John	Head	W	M	Jul 1812	87	M	56			PA	PA	PA	Capitalist	Y	Y	Y	O	F	H
		_____ Catherine	Wife	W	F	Nov 1824	75	M	56	7	5	PA	PA	PA		Y	N	Y

9.  Anon.  1878.  The History of Ogle County, Illinois.  H.F. Kett & Co., Chicago, p. 746.

Leaf River Township... LIGHT, JOHN, Farmer, Sec. 36, Ridott Township, Stephenson County; P.O. Wales; owns 1,461 acres of land.  Mr. L. was born July 17, 1812, in Lebanon Co., Pa., and, when seventeen years old, served his apprenticeship to the trade of weaving and followed it for about five years.  In 1836 he started across the country with a wagon to Ogle County and arrived here in 1837; worked near Oregon at his trade until the Spring of 1838 when he came to Leaf River Township and settled.  He built a log house, broke some land, worked for some of the neighboring farmers, split 20,000 rails, and in 1844 opened a general store in the village that now bears his name — Lightsville.  In March, 1845, he married Catherine, daughter of Michael Schucker, of Schuylkill Co., Pa.  They have seven children — Dena, born March 2, 1846; Martin, May 23, 1847; John, Dec. 6, 1850; Catharine, May 19, 1854; Henry, March 17, 1857; Mary, June 15, 1860, and Joseph, March 24, 1862.  Mr. L. was the first Postmaster in Lightsville and built the first school house (at his own expense) in that village, was School Director, Road Commissioner, and Road Master for many years.  Mr. and Mrs. Light are members of the Society of River Brethren.  Mr. Light's great-grandfather, John Peter Light, came from Germany to Lebanon Co., Pa., Aug. 30, 1737.  Mr. L. hauled grain many times to Chicago and Peru and teamed to Galena and many other trading points to procure supplies for his store and customers.  He now enjoys one of the most beautiful homes in the West, and all of his children are provided for, and he and his wife find much enjoyment in making annual trips to their old home in Pennsylvania to see the friends of their youth.

10.  Anon.  1886.  Portrait and Biographical Album of Ogle County, Illinois.  Chapman Bros., Chicago.

Henry S. Light.  One of the prominent, as well as successful, farmers of Leaf River Township, is the gentleman whose name heads this biographical notice.  He was born in what was known as Lightsville, this county, March 17, 1856, his father being John Light, one of the old pioneers of the county and founder of the village of Lightsville.  He was born in Lebanon Co., Pa., July 17, 1812. The first known ancestor of the Light family to locate in the United States was John Peter Light, a native of Germany, who came to this country in 1737, locating in Lancaster Co., Pa.  We trace the genealogy of our subject from this ancestor as follows:  Martin Light, grandfather of the subject of this notice, was the son of Henry, who was the son of Henry, and who in turn was the son of John Peter Light.  The grandfather of our subject was born in Pennsylvania as likewise were his father and grandfather, the date of his birth being 1788.  He was a farmer by occupation and resided in that portion of Lancaster now included within the boundary line of Lebanon County, where he followed his vocation until his death. The father of our subject, John Light, when quite young, learned the trade of a weaver, which he followed the greater portion of this life in his native State.  During the year 1836, in company with ten other families, he emigrated to Ohio.  They stopped a short time in that State and then started overland for Illinois, arriving in this county July 15, 1836, after a journey of three weeks.  At that time, the father of our subject was yet a single man, but remained with the families for a time when he engaged at the carpenter's trade.  He was fortunate in having a few carpenters' tools and a small sum of money and, stopping in what is now Oregon Township, he at once engaged in working at his trade and thus continued until the fall of that years.  He then started in company with four others for his home in Pennsylvania.  They had but two horses between them, and they would ride and tie, that is, two would ride two or three miles, then they would dismount, tie their horses and start on afoot, whereupon the other two would come up to where the horses were tied, mount them and ride two or three miles, and then dismount and tie.  In this manner, they reached Ohio, where John Light secured a horse and rode to Maryland, when he walked the rest of the way, over 100 miles, to his home in the Keystone State. In 1837, the father again returned to this county and purchased a claim on sections 2 and 4 of what is now Leaf River Township.  The reader will please observe that this was among the first settlements made in that township.  On his claim Mr. Light erected a log cabin, which he rented, and boarded with his tenant.  As soon as the land came into market, Mr. Light purchased it and, during his first year or two while improving his land, he worked at the carpenters' trade.  In 1845, March 18, he was united in marriage with Miss Chucker, also a native of Pennsylvania.  They commenced house-keeping in the log cabin, which Mr. Light had erected on his claim, and, in addition to the cultivation of his land, Mr. Light engaged in the mercantile business opening the first store in Leaf River Township.  It was also about this time that Mr. Light platted the village of Lightsville.  His goods were purchased either at Chicago or Peru, and, after retiring from the mercantile business, he engagd extensively in agricultural pursuits, in which he has met with more than ordinary success.  In 1864, the father moved to Stephenson County where he has a fine farm, and April 1, 1866, he moved to Leaf River village.  On his farm, he has erected six substantial frame buildings and is at present the proprietor of nearly 15,000 acres of land. Coming to this county at an early day, as he did, and realizing that it was sure to develop and the land increase in value, he secured as much of it as he could.  He and his wife have become the parents of six children — Tena is the wife of Henry Schrader, a resident of Leaf River Township; Martin also lives in Leaf River Township; Catherine married John Pennenborg, who lives in Stephenson County; Henry is the subject of this notice; Mary is the wife of Riley Motter, a resident of Stephenson County, and Joseph lives on the old homestead.  The parents are members of the River Brethren Church. The subject of this biographical notice was reared on the old homestead in Leaf River Township on which his parents settled in 1837.  His education was acquired in the primitive log school house of the county, and he has devoted his entire life to the vocation of an agriculturist. Henry S. continued to reside with his parents until June 28, 1877, at which time he was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Shaffer.  She was born in Freeport, this State, Oct. 21, 1856, and is a daughter of George and Sophia (Dercho) Shaffer, natives of Germany; they at present reside in Leaf River Township, Ogle Co.  A little less than a year after their marriage, Mr. Light located on the old homestead of 187 acres in Leaf River Township, of which he is now the proprietor, and has there lived and labored until the present time.  He has erected a good frame house on the farm and, likewise, a fine large frame barn with stone basement and is meeting with success in his chosen calling.  He and his wife have one child, George A., born on the homestead June 22, 1879.  Mrs. Light is a member of the U.B. Church.

Transcriber's Note:  Ordinarily, Maryland is not "on the way" from Ohio to Pennsylvania, but if the tale is true, it says something about the route that John took.

11.  Anon.  Apr 1901.  Obituary:  John O. LIGHT, 1812-1901.  Leaf River, IL (online at the Ogle County ILGenWeb site):

John Light died at his residence in Leaf River Thursday, April 18, shortly after the noon hour after a lingering illness of several weeks duration.  He was born in Lebanon Co., PA, July 17, 1812 and had reached the mature age of 88 years, nine months, and one day at his death.  The funeral sermon was preached by Elder Isaac Trump of Polo in the U.B. Church on Saturday and the interment was made in the Lightsville Cemetery.  The career of Mr. Light was great in many ways and his obituary would not be complete without saying something about it. The first known ancestor of the Light family to locate in the United States was John Peter Light, a native of Germany who came to this country in 1737, locating in Lancaster Co., PA. When quite young, John Light learned the trade of a weaver, which he followed the greater portion of his life in his native state.  During the year 1836, in company with ten other families, he emigrated to Ohio.  They stopped a short time in that state and then started overland for Illinois, arriving in this county July 15, 1836, after a journey of three weeks and remained with the families while engaged in the carpenter's trade.  With some carpenter's tools and a small sum of money, he stopped in what is now Oregon Township and worked at his trade until fall.  He then started in company with four others for his home in Pennsylvania.  Two horses constituted their outfit for traveling and they would ride and tie, that is, two would ride two or three miles, then they would dismount, tie their horses and start on afoot, whereupon the other two would come up to where the horses were tied, mount them, and ride two or three miles, and dismount and tie.  In this manner they reached Ohio, where Mr. Light secured a horse and rode to Maryland where he walked the rest of the way, over one hundred miles to his home in the Keystone state. In 1837, he again returned to this county and purchased a claim on sections two and four of what is now Leaf River Township.  Upon this he erected a log cabin which he rented and boarded with his tenants.  As soon as the land came into market from the government, it was purchased.  During the first year or two, while improving the land, he worked at the carpenters trade.  On March 18, 1845, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Schucker, also a native of Pennsylvania.  They commenced keeping house in the log cabin on Mr. Light's land.  In addition to the cultivation of his land, Mr. Light engaged in the mercantile business, opening the first store in Leaf River Township.  It was also about this time that Mr. Light plotted Lightsville.  His goods were purchased either at Chicago or Peru, which were largely conveyed across the country by teams.  After retiring from the mercantile business, he engaged extensively in agricultural pursuits in which he met with more than ordinary success.  In 1864 he moved to Stephenson Co. where he had a fine farm, and in 1886 he located in the village of Leaf River.  Mr. Light was the proprietor of about 1500 acres of land at one time. Seven children were raised to maturity and two of these died after having families of their own.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Light were members of the River Brethren Church.  The survivors of Mr. Light are his widow, Mrs. Henry J. Schrader, Martin Light, Mrs. John Panneborg, Henry Light, and Mrs. Riley Motter, and their families, and the widow and children of John and Joseph Light, deceased.

12.  Horace G. Kauffman & Rebecca H. Kauffman, eds.  1909.  "History of Ogle County" in Newton Bateman & Paul Selby, eds. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois.  Vol. 2.  Munsell Publ. Co., Chicago (online at the Ogle County ILGenWeb site):  biographical sketch of our subject's son, Martin LIGHT (includes information on our subjects).

13.  WorldConnect / Ancestry World Trees (online at RootsWeb.com/Ancestry.com).

14.  Email from Roger Cramer (Roger & Sue Cramer's Genealogy Site).