Alvah D. Akins was born October 22, 1845 in Pine Back Township, Ogle County, Illinois, first son and fourth child of Samuel Avery Akins and Mary Drummond.
During 1863-65, he served in Company H, 46th Illinois Infantry, Union Army, as a volunteer, ending his service with the rank of Corporal. He participated in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi, July 7, 1864 in the Siege of Spanish Fort, and of Blakly, Alabama in March and April 1865. During his service he contracted malaria from which he suffered throughout his life, eventually receiving a small veteran's pension as a result. After his discharge from military service, he returned to Ogle County, Illinois to help his mother on the family farm.
He married Harriet (Hattie) Cable on October 20, 1872 at Ashton, Lee County, Illinois. To this union five known children were born: Estella M., Susie A, John H., Mary Virginia and Mildred H.
Alvah, along with his family, his mother, and married brothers and sisters, migrated to Antelope County, in 1878. He was murdered by an unknown assailant in 1900. The family resided on a farm 3 ½ miles from Plainview. This may have been the farm he homesteaded.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007