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A HISTORY OF THE F IRS
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A History
of the
FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
in
VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Brown County, Illinois
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A HISTORY OF THE
FIRST WHITE SETTLERS
IN VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP,
BROWN COUNTY.
Published in The Democrat-Message, Mt. Sterling, Illinois, in
the summer of 1959, from clippings owned by W. R. Adams of
Versailles, Illinois.
The story contained herein is the history of the first white settlers
to homestead in Brown County, Illinois. The account was written by
B. F. Bond and was published for the first time in the Versailles Senti-
nel in 1922, 100 years following the events described.
Printed by
THE DEMOCRAT-MESSAGE
Mt. Sterling, Illinois
1960
A FIRST SETTLER'S CABIN-This picture was taken from
a postcard acquired with other antiques by Miss Bertha
Smith of Mt. Sterling. It is perhaps typical of the cabins of
the Vandeventer-McFarland families. The picture is captioned
"An Early Settler's Cabin in Brown County."
tuvV
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
"n
Page 3
Preface
Early in the spring of 1901,
N. J. Dawson, then publishing
The Graphic, a weekly news-
paper in Versailles, was solicit-
ed by a number of citizens to
have R. N. McFarland, the last
survivor of that little band of
sturdy pioneers who made the
first permanent settlement in
Versailles township and what is
now Brown county, narrate for
publication a series of reminis-
cences of those early days as
he saw them, realizing that his
knowledge of these interesting
events and incidents in the
lives of our first settlers should
be recorded in some manner in
the history of the township for
the benefit of coming genera-
tions.
Mr. McFarland at that date
was in his 83rd year, yet his
mind and memory were as fer-
tile as ever and nothing gave
him greater pleasure than a re-
cital of the adventures, hard-
ships and incidents that daily
went to make up the lives of
this brave little band of Empire
builders. Mr. Dawson entered
heartily into the plan and Mr.
McFarland immediately con-
sented to give a full recital that
would cover everything con-
nected therewith that might
prove of interest to the readers
of that paper.
Accordingly a purse was rais-
ed to cover any expense that
^ might occur in trips to the
^ scenes of early historical points
£ and in procuring data, etc. It
^ was also agreed between Mr.
McFarland and Mr. Dawson
that I should accompany Mr.
C McFarland, write his narrative
^ as he told it and assist in put-
Jo ting it in form for publication.
We spent a full day in the
late spring of that year for this
express purpose in the Vande-
venter settlement and there Mr.
McFarland pointed out to me
the sites of the first cabins,
Ai early trails, Indian camps, etc.
With a recital of those early
times, that to me was so vividly
interesting, that at times I be-
came so intent in his story that
I would forget my part of the
program and would stop writ-
ing. After our return from this
trip, I spent that evening until
after midnight writing his nar-
rative just as he told it. I did
the same the following night
and on the third night I read
my notes to Mr. McFarland and
he and I made such corrections
as suited him. We had several
meetings following this and I
had, at the last reading with
him completely filled a large
tab of soft paper with his re-
cital of these events and were
it all printed now would make
several lengthy newspaper
articles.
Following this for first one
reason and then another, we
neglected "our narrative." Busi-
ness reasons prevented me mak-
ing another trip as "Uncle Nel-
son" suggested and with the ad-
dition of several pages would at
different times when he would
spend an afternoon with me in
the post office that winter, our
"historical narrative lay dor-
mant, although we frequently
talked of and planned for our
next trip, we never made it.
The Graphic suspended or
changed hands and "Uncle
Nelson" subsequently entered in-
to his final rest.
The notes I preserved, and
long after Mr McFarland's death,
or when Mr. Hedenberg and
myself were engaged in our
Souvenir Edition of The Sen-
tinel, I discovered I had mis-
placed them. Although every
effort was made to locate them
at that time, not until the sum-
mer of 1922 were they found
among a box of old paper.^.
Dates of some incidents have
become dim from age and mil-
dew and a few names almost
obliterated, but in preparing
this article I will only attempt
to give the parts plainly legible
•i
Page 4
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
and as were actually related to
me by Mr. McFarland and at
the different times we were en-
gaged in preparing them.
Respectfully,
B. F. Bond.
"We're Off"
A single horse and buggy
from the livery barn was pre-
pared for us and with a well
filled lunch basket, a spade, a
hoe and ax, taken by Mr. McFar-
land, (Uncle Nelson, as I ad-
dressed him), left Versailles
bright and early on a beautiful
mornmg in late May, 1901, to
spend the day among scenes
and surroundings made histor-
ical by the first white settlers
of what is now Brown county.
Uncle Nelson was as a school
boy as the spirited horse took
up a brisk trot that was to
carry us on our day's outing.
As we were descending tne
Vandeventer hill. Uncle Nelson
commenced his narrative
"Right there," he pointed,
'stood the first log school house
and over yonder by those big
trees in the meadow, is where
Dr. Isaac Vandeventer built his
first cabin and just around that,
while we were engaged in a
barn raising early in the spring
of 1832, Black Hawk, the In-
dian chief, paid us a visit." But
he added, "Let's let all this go
We'll take a trip down that
road the next time past the
Hambaugh, Stone and Root set-
tlements. I want to start our
story at the old cabin."
But still he couldn't refrain
from pointing out places of in-
terest, for we had just crossed
the bridge over Camp creek
when he said, "Right over
there is where they buried
'Indian Tom,' yes sir, and they
buried everything he owned
with him. They even led his
pony into the grave they had
opened and knocked it in the
head and it fell dead upon the
body of old 'Indian Tom' so he
could have it for use in the
'Happy Hunting Ground'."
We now soon reached the
Vandeventer school house
where we unhitched our horse
from the buggy and tied him to
graze and prepared to spend the
day on "the actual spot," as
Uncle Nelson termed it, where
stood the cabin home of Brown
county's first white families.
Locating the Cabin Spot
"You follow on this flat up
south of the grave yard," he
said as he commenced the as-
cent of the hill leading to the
Vandeventer cemetery. He stop-
ped at the stone marking the
first grave in Brown county.
Suddenly he called, "Go on East
to that little clump of trees
and stop."
He returned to the buggy and
came to where I was standing
with a spade in his hand. He
quickly turned over a few
shovelsful of earth, and there
lay the outlines of the oid
hearthstone of the Vandeven-
ter-McFarland cabin erected in
the spring of 1824. "I knew ex-
actly where it stood," he said
as he dropped the spade and
found a seat on a grassy ledge
and gazed silently across the
newly plowed fields to where
the blue mist from the old
Illinois river arose to mingle
with the rays of the morning
sun.
Memories
For full five minutes he sat
thus while memories of the
misty past, no doubt were
crowding his every thought.
"Old scenes bring back old
memories. Uncle Nelson. Think
only of the happier ones and
you'll be happy in telling them,"
I said.
He was a boy again in an in-
stant. "Proverbs say 'The mem-
ory of the just is blessed.'
Where will we start?" he re-
plied.
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 5
"You came from Ohio. Let's
tell of the trip out here and
who made up your party, or
weren't you born in Kentucky"
"Yes," he replied, "I was the
oldest of our family and was
born in Harrison county, Ken-
tucKy, April 1, 1818, and I was
only 6^/2 years old when we
reached here. But I can re-
member many things that hap-
pened before we left Ohio and
I know I can remember every-
thing that has happneed since,"
he stated with a happy laugh.
"Alright let's start from Ohio."
"Cornelius Vandeventer and
my father, William McFarland,
were broihers-in-law; they mar-
ried sisters, Elizabeth and Susan
Myers. Well, they made plans
in the fall of 1823 to come
West, bring their families and
locate on the lands then open-
ing for settlers in this state. It
was agreed that my father and
family were to come through
overland and bring the stock
and stop and spent the winter
where Springfield now stands
and Cornelius and family were
to come by the way of the Ohio
river and spend the winter with
relatives in Shawneetown and
join us in the early spring In
our hunt for land. My father
died that winter and left my
mother with four young chil-
dren, myself the oldest. So
when Cornelius and family
joined us the next spring, it
was decided best to leave us a'l
there until he and his three
oldest boys could come and lo-
cate the land, put in a corn
crop, build a cabin, and come
back and get us. They did this
and when they reached Naples
or Columbia, it was called then,
and stood on the high river
bluff just this side of the
present town of Naples, the
settlers there told them where
there was vacant land and
directed them to this place.
"They found the six acres
right here fronting us had been
cleared and the charred logs of
a cabin that had burned right
on the spot where our first
cabin stood. This improvement
had been started the year pre-
vious by a man by the name of
Shepherd, a squatter, who had
either been killed by the In-
dians or gone off and left it.
Well, at any rate they finished
clearing this six acres, put m
corn and built the cabin. They
tended this crop and made as
many improvement as they could
and came back to where we
were near Springfield late in
June. 'By the time Cornelius
could make a trip to Edwards-
ville to file on our land and re-
pair the wagons and make
ready to return, it was the
fourth of September when all
was in readiness for us to leave
Springfield to take up our
abode in this little cabin m
the wilderness with no neigh-
bors, no friends, and prey pos-
sibility for the Indians or wild
beasts of the forest.
"Cornelius Vandeventer in a
one horse wagon and leading a
horse behind, led our caravan
followed by two ox teams
drawing the wagons with our
two families and our little
earthy effects. He again cross-
ed the river at Naples and the
path followed across the river
bottom, winding around the bluff
to our cabin. It seemed an end-
less journey. The oxen could at
times only move with the
wagons in the heavy soggy
ground. At times the prairie grass
would come way up on our
wagons and several times we
saw wolves dart across our way.
"As we reached the heavy
timber where we were to cross
Camp Creek, we could see the
Indians. Two Indian boys on a
pony passed us in opened-eye
wonder, as we approached the
others, ' they hid behind trees
and in the underbrush. Several
Indian bucks came toward us
with their hands extended in
welcome. We were all pretty
badly excited when we reached
Page 6
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
our cabin and many of the chil-
dren were crying The women
asked Cornelius if the Indians
that greeted him were some he
had met on the previous trip.
He replied that he didn't know,
all Indians looked alike to him.
"But the cabin reached, all
hands were soon engaged in un-
packing the wagons and making
ready for our first night in our
little homes in the western
wilds. Cornelius was surprised
and happy to find everything
unmolested, the corn crop a
promising yield and as he told
the women, 'Not an Indian
track in the field'. He fully be-
lieved all would be well."
"Our cabin was well made,
but it had only one door and
no windows and I think back
now and wonder how we man-
aged that first year. There were
nine in Cornelius Vandeventer's
family and my mother and her
four children made 14 in all
crowded into the 14x14 one room
cabin, but we made it somehow.
"Well, we were here, and
after a good night's sleep we
were all up the next morning
bright and early, we children
out the first thing to see if we
could see the Indians and we
didn't have long to wait. The
women had washed some of our
garments and hung them
around on the bushes and the
first thing we knew several
Indian bucks were there in-
specting them, and one fellow,
we soon found out was the big
chief, made known they wanted
the buttons on the garments.
They were made to understand
they couldn't have them and
presently they all left for camp.
That afternoon here came their
squaws, some of them carrying
papooses, and by this time other
garments were out for drying
that had big bright buttons on
them and it was hard work to
keep the squaws from taking
them.
"This Indian camp was down
on the river at the old mouth
of Camp Creek where they
would stay through the summer
and when cold weather came or
the river commenced to rise
they would move back to the
ravines along the bluff. Well,
we soon got used to the Indians.
While they were awful beggars
and a terrible nuisance some-
times, we put up with it be-
cause we had to for they were
our only neighbors you know.
""Cornelius, the boys and the
women worked hard that fail
getting things ready for the
winter; shelter had to be pro-
vided for the stock, the corn
gathered and all things made
ready for cold weather. I re-
member hearing the older ones
talk about how they dreaded
the first winter. While it was a
cold one for a time, it wasn't a
bad winter and we got through
it in good shape. We found
plenty to live on, wild honey,
more than we could use, all
kinds of game and we lived on
the fat of the land.
"We had made big plans
through the winter what should
be done the next spring and
summer, and oh, my, how
everybody did work. Well, Cor-
nelius and the boys even the
women working in the clearing
every day they could the first
winter, but when spring opened
up it was from daylight till
dark. We expected other whites
would come from the East that
year, but none came. Some
passed through but went on to
Missouri.
Dies on Ihe Way
"One evening in the month of
April, a man and a woman
driving a one-horse wagon and
leading another horse behind,
drove up to our cabin and said
they wanted to camp there for
the night. The woman was sick
and our women folk wanted
her to sleep in the cabin, but
she claimed she was used to
sleeping in the wagon and pre-
ferred to do that rather than
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 7
trouble our people. In the nigat
the man awo^e us and said nis
wiife was very sick. They car-
ried her in the house and she
died before daylight. Cornelius
and her husband made a rude
coffin and they buried her up
there on the hill. The man re-
mained for two or three days
cutting a mariner out of stone
to place at her grave, but none
ever came afterward to visit her
grave. And there she sleeps, for-
go Uen I suppose, but only one
of the many who lost in the bat-
tle for life and a home in the
then western wilderness."
As we sat there, Uncle Nel-
son, living again those days
then 77 years past and gone, I
noticed the men were "turmng
out" of the fields below us for
dinner and when his attentio.n
was called to the fact, he was
as ready as myself to adjourn
for lunch.
Before The Days of Volstead
We returned to our buggy
and gave the horse his feed and
water and went for our basket
of lunch. While Uncle Nelson
was busily engaged in prepar-
ing a table on the ground, on
which to spread our midday re-
past, I was engaged in inspect-
ing the grub basket prepared
for us by the restaurant people,
found therein a long necked
bottle that I was, at first, at a
loss to know as to what it con-
tained. Thinking perhaps that
"Uncle" had ordered it, I called
to him: "What's in the long
bottle Uncle?" "I'm sure I don't
know," he replied, adding he
never was able to tell what was
in a bottle until he had sampled
its contents. I Lifted the cork,
telling him it looked like
whiskey and tasting it, notified
him it tasted like it; and passing
it on to him, he sampled it,
and said he believed it was and
how he laughed. "The boys have
put it in for an appetizer and
to brighten our wits, but we'll
touch it lightly," and when we
had finished, we had enough
of the lunch and also the ap-
petizer left for supper and we
voted then and there that we
would stay and drive home in
the cool of the evening.
Taken Prisoner by the Indians
"One morning in the summer
of 1825, we found our cabin
surrounded by 15 or 20 Indian
bucks and several more came
marching Cornelius and the boys
out of the field. They took us
all, men, women and children to
their camp down at the mouth
of Camp Creek. None of us
knew what had happened but
realized that something out of
the ordinary had and the women
and we children were almost
frightened to death. I guess jf
the truth was known Cornelius
and the older boys were also
badly excited.
"When we arrived at their
camp, they put Cornelius and
Elihu in two canoes and took
them across the river and land-
ed on Eagle island. They left
them there and came back and
took the two other older boys.
By this time we were mighty
badly excited because my
mother and aunt were crying
and so were most of the chil-
dren. But they were not gone
long before they brought them
all back to this side of the
river and our men told there
was a dead Indian lying over
there under a tree and they
wanted to suspect that some of
our people had killed him.
"They kept us there all day
with nothing to eat; some of
the squaws did offer the women
folks food but they refused it.
Cornelius nor none of the older
boys knew what to do. The In-
dians wouldn't talk, but were
careful to keep us all enclosed
in the circle they formed, chat-
tering and grunting the live long
day. Cornelius noticed and spoke
to us about it that the Chief
was not there and he seemed
at a loss to understand this. But
Page 8
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
late that afternoon he returned
when the bucks all gathered
around him and told him what
happened. Then commenced the
same precedure that had taken
place that morning. Cornelius
and the three boys were again
taken across the river. They
were away about the same
length of time, but we could tell
before the returning canoes hit
the river bank that the mystery
had been cleared because
Cornelius and the Chief were
talking and Cornelius was smil-
ing and waved his hands at us.
As soon as they landed he said,
"Come, let's go," and when we
were out of sight of the Indian
camp he told us the story.
"He said when the Chief saw
the dead Indian he stepped back
and looked up the tree, then he
went forward, taking the dead
Indian's head between his
hands, he twisted his neck and
grunted. Then he called to the
other Indians and pointed to a
dead squirrel in the forks of the
tree under which the dead In-
dian lay, at the same time telling
them that he had shot that
squirrel, it had become lodged
and that he had attempted to
climb the tree by a dead grape
vine that was still hanging
from the branches. This had
broken and he said he had
fallen and broken his neck. That
in short, was 'his verdict,' and
that was what had happened.
That Chief made a friend of us
all right there and he never
asked for a favor at our cabm
after that day but what he got
it.
"This Indian chief was no
doubt then, or had been, a
prominent man among the In-
dians. He was a Kickapoo, for
he told Cornelius that he was
one of the twenty-three Indian
chiefs who had signed the
treaty at Edwardsville in July,
1819, only five years then be-
fore we came, ceding over 12
million acres in Illinois to the
government. This treaty was
made at Edwardsville and this
tract comprised the finest lands
within the state, including all
the prairies of the central part
of the state, the Kickapoo's
favorite hunting grounds, and
which they claimed as their
property by descent from their
ancestors and by reason of in-
terrupted possession of nearly
sixty years. That these Indians
signed this treaty under pro-
test was evident by the bitter-
ness with which this Chief told
in his native way the proceed-
ings that took place and led up
to the evacuation. These 23
chiefs and their warriors with
their plumes, beads and paint
acting for their tribes, reluctant-
ly made their scrawls and marks
that forced them to give up
their homes and hunting
grounds forever to the hated
whites, all for the sum of less
than one-third cent per acre
with the additional promise of
lands beyond the Mississippi.
"'I remember the chief better
than all the other Indians,"
Uncle Nelson continued, "Not
because he was chief — one
thing maybe, he saved our lives
— but there was something
about him that made you like
him, and at times fear him. He
was the ugliest Indian I ever
saw or the ugliest man for that
matter. The Indians called him
(name obliterated), translated
in our language means ' Scare
the World" and he was ugly
enough to do it. I'll tell you
more about him when we come
to where Isaac Vandeventer
build his cabin.
Some of The Hardships
"Of course our settlement was
all covered with heavy timber,
just like the thickets you have
seen in the river timber, or
some of it was like that. To clear
this land seemed like an endless
job and when it was done, there
were the stumps to contend with
and then to try to plow it 'with
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 9
a yoke of oxen' and a wooden
mole-board plow in a patch of
ground that would average from
100 to 200 smmps to the acre
and that's not counting deaden-
ed trees left standing in the
patch. But down there along
this bluff, around the edge of
this prairie, it wasn't as bad as
that.
"Land along these bluffs on
the edge of this river bottom
prairie was covered with a
heavy growth of grass and weeds
that in places grew so tall and
rank that a man on horse back
could hardly see over it and in
places covered with flowers of
every hue of the rainbow.
"Great fires swept these bot-
toms almost every fall the In-
dians told us. No doubt the In-
dians set those fires to run out
the wild game. This would des-
troy all the vegetation and leave
the ground blackened and char-
red and no doubt, was the cause
of these low lands having no
more timber on them as these
fires would extend into the for-
ests hereabouts, burning the un-
der bush, but for no great dis-
tance, for one could hardly
penetrate far into the timber
when we first came here for the
trees and brush were covered
with grape vines. Virginia creep-
ers, trumpet vines and wild ivy
binding and tying the trees
and undergrowth together mak-
ing it so dark and well nigh im-
possible to w^ork your way
through any distance."
Wild Fowls and Animals
"These impenetrable forests
and patches of underbrush fur-
nished protection to the many
wild animals that inhabited this
country then. There were plenty
of deer lots of wolves, panthers
and wildcats, foxes, badgers,
coons, oppossums, otters, minks,
muskrats, skunks and varments
such as these by the thousands;
and snakes, the country was
alive with 'em."
"How about ducks and geese,
Uncle Nelson?"
"Say, they were so thick
when you would scare them up
down there in some of the
marshes that when they raised
up to fly, they made so much
noise it sounded like a thunder
storm; and wild pigeons, oh mj !
oh my! thousands and thousands
of them. Would you believe it
that sometimes when they came
to their roosting places in the
evening, they would alight in
such swarms that they wouid
break the limbs of the trees. Yes,
that's the honest fact. But
pigeons weren't thicker than
mosquitoes and all kinds of in-
sects. My! My! I'll tell you Fred,
the mosquitoes made life the sec-
ond summer almost unbearable.
Why some nights we wouldn't
get a wink of sleep, particularly
if the weather was warm and
the air was damp. Smoke
wouldn't stop 'em then, no sir;
and the green flies, oh how they
would cover the horses and
oxen in the fields Many's the
day I have trudged along with
a big willow brush fanning them
off as the boys drove the oxen
to the old mole board plow. And
the first roll of mosquito net-
ting we got, we did make that
stretch out and cover a lot of
sleeping quarters. No, that was
many years before screens were
ever dreamed of and a good
many years after we came.
End of the Second Summer
Death Comes to the Cabin
"The second year's harvest
promised an abundant yield,
corn, flax and vegetables, and
we could look forward to the
coming of the winter without
so much dread and apprehen-
sion. The summer was drawing
to a close and it had been one
of utter toil. We had all suffer-
ed some sickness more malaria
than anything else, until my
Aunt Lizzie, Cornelius' wife,
took sick. No doctor in miles of
course then and only home
Page 10
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
remedies. There was real sadne.ss
around this cabin then, for my
mother and Cornelius realized
the chances were all against her,
and they couldn't hide their
anxiety from us children when
my poor mother moaned 'Oh, for
aeighbors and help now.' But I
[ook back and wonder how they
stood up under some of the trials
they were called upon to under-
go; it required a strong heart,
yes indeed. But death came to
Dur cabin on Sept. 5, 1825. My
aunt passed away on that date
and sadness and grief reigned
upon us for days and weeks,
rhey buried her up there just
above the cabin, with only the
members of our family about her
3pen grave. She was the first
to go, but others followed witn-
in the next few years. But here
in the wilderness, it was a
struggle with life and death al-
ways, especially in those early
y'ears. But the winter was com-
ing and all preparations were
made to meet it and we car-
ried our grief and were ready
For it when it reached us."
Winter Comes and With it
Additions to +he Colony
'The greatest event ever cele-
brated in this first cabin was
the arrival of Isaac Vandeventer
and his young wife from Vir-
ginia. He was a nephew of
Cornelius and came from Vir-
ginia on the advice of Cornelius,
who had written him months
before of the opportunity to ob-
tain land here.
"It was after dark in the eve-
ning of December 12, 1825,
when they drove up to our
cabin. The evening was uncom-
monly warm for that time of
the year, and the door of the
cabin was open. They saw the
light on this account several
miles away, or they wouldn't
have been able to find us that
night, they said. They came
through in a one-horse covered
wagon and had been over three
weeks on the road.
"A new back log was rolled
into the fire place that night,
and our families and the new
comers gathered around the fire
that lighted up the whole cabin
clear to the roof, for it didn't
have any ceiling. Us 'tow-head
youngsters' were all allowed to
sit up, and you are mighty
right if you think we found
places as close to the new com-
ers as we could while they told
us the latest news from Virginia
and their trip across the country
to join us. Cornelius and our
boys told them of the happenings
since our arrival and we ate
supper again with them. My
mother made Johnny cakes and
we had plenty of venison and
wild honey and lots of other
good food in abundance, and it
was way after midnight when
we, all three in the same room,
retired more happy than we had
been for weeks and months, if
not since we had come to the
cabin."
Plan New Cabins
"The next morning after the
arrival of Isaac Vandeventer
and his young wife, and by the
way, she was a fine woman,
well educated for that day, full
of fire and ambition and her
first thought was the location
for their cabin. Of course, it
was then pointed out to her that
this be placed near a spring and
close to wood for you know we
passed up all that fine land
around Jacksonville for it wasn't
good for wood and water. And
then everybody from the cabin
went with them and they de-
cided on the spot I pointed out
coming just under the bluff.
There was a spring close and
wood in abundance, but the nev/-
comers were made to understand
they had a home with us until
their cabin could be gotten ready
and Isaac would have to make
a trip to Edwardsville and enter
the land according to law before
commencing improvements. A
'squatter' had no rights and
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 11
would lose all the improvements
he had made should someone en-
ter it according to law, and he
would have to move off.
"On the way back from selec-
ting the site for Isaac's cabin,
Cornelius and he intended to
build another cabin, a larger
one, in the spring as we were
crowded and he selected a spot
at the spring north of the road
and west of the school house
about 500 yards. We had carried
water from the spring ever
since we arrived.
"Some mighty bad weather
followed the coming of Isaac
and his wife, but by February
the snow was off and all hands
were busy. Our men folks helped
Isaac when they could and he
put up what we called a 'lean-
to', sort of a shed facing the
south with all the south part
open. He built this to have a
place to work and take his
time in putting up his cabin,
and on the 13th of March that
year, he and his wife moved in.
We had some pretty chilly
weather following, but they
'toughed' it out and they got
into their new cabin the next
fall. And by that time Cornelius
had his new cabin about ready
to move into, working at times
when they could leave the crops.
"We could hear of more set-
tlers coming into the new coun-
try, but none coming into our
neighborhood. There were sev-
eral cabins at Meredosia, or
south of where Meredosia now
stands, just south of the present
railroad depot. Some of these
were French traders."
New Town On River
"Columbia had been changed
to Naples and there a new town
laid out on August 8th of that
year (1825), and we all prophe-
seid that it couldn't help but
make a city. I guess if our folks
had the money they would have
invested in town lots."
"During that fall a party of
French traders paid our Indian
camp a visit for the purpose of
buying their furs. They always
brought plenty of whiskey when
they made such visits for it's a
pretty easy matter to trade with
an Indian when he's filled up
on 'fire water.' One of the
squaws from the camp was at
our cabin for salt just before
dark and told us that the trad-
ers had left whiskey and the
Indians were drunk. We could
hear them whooping and yelling
occasionally. We were always a
little more on the alert after
hearing the Frenchmen had
visited with the Indians. We
could hear them long before we
went to bed and for hours after-
ward, and about two o'clock in
the morning we could hear the
squaws coming jabbering and
moaning. The folks let them in-
to the cabin. Some of them had
their bodies beaten black and
blue; they had been trying to
keep the drunken Indians from
killing each other. They wanted
our men to go to the camp, but
they refused.
"Several of them remained
the rest of the night in the
cabin and Cornelius and some of
the boys went back with them
early the next morning. I sup-
pose it looked to them like a
cyclone had passed over that
camp. Several were badly beat-
en up but only one was dead.
The Indian that committed the
murder had jumped into a
canoe and started down the
river in the middle of the chan-
nel. Two of the dead Indian's
relatives had given chase, fol-
lowing him on foot down the
bank of the river. The Indian
in the canoe went on to St.
Louis where he purchased a
plug hat and other citizen
clothes that might disguise him.
But when the two Indians on
his trail reached St. Louis sever-
al days afterward they recog-
nized him and killed him, and
a few days later returned to the
camp with a duty well per-
formed."
Page 12
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Enlertains "Scare the World"
"During that same fall after
Isaac Vandeventer had finished
his cabin, he and his wife were
engaged in making pumpKin
butter in a kettle over a fire
out in their yard. They had a
high rail fence built around the
cabin and in the midst of their
labor, they noticed Chief Scare
the World perched on the top-
most rail taking in the proceed-
ings. He soon came to the con-
clusion that whatever it was
they were cooking was good to
eat, so he slid down the fence
and made his wants known.
Afraid to refuse, Isaac's wife
went to the cabin and came
back with a bowl and spoon
which she filled and handed to
him. It was in the boiling stage
but he managed to make away
with it and passed the bowl
back for a refilling. This was
repeated time and time again,
the only change in the proceed-
ings were that he was taking a
little more time each helping to
store it away, but he was a
'stayer' and it was almost sun-
down when he handed the bowl
back with a grunt that signified
that he had had enough. He
made several attempts to climb
the fence enclosing the cabin
before he reached the top. He
sat there a second or two and
tumbled in a heap on the other
side and there he laid. The folks
didn't have any remedy for
'too much pumpkin butter' so
they didn't bother him, and he
laid right there until after sun-
up the next morning when he
roused up stretched himself and
struck out for the camp, no
doubt thinking he had been
having a 'heap big time'."
Hamilton Neighswonger
Arrives — First Settler
on Siie of Versailles
"In the early spring of 1826,
Hamilton Neighswonger, a broth-
er-in-law of Cornelius Vande-
venter, arrived with his family.
They came from Hamilton coun-
ty and had been living in this
state four or five years up to
this time. He was the son of a
pioneer and had inherited a
love for adventure and romance
of pioneer life and was skilled in
everything pertaining to life in
the wilderness; 'a crack shot'
with a rifle and a reputation for
'tracking Injuns'. He was almost
a giant in stature, straight as an
Indian and as nimble as a deer.
He dressed exactly like the In-
dians; buckskin pants, moccasins
and buckskin hunting shirt and
in cold weather wore a coon
skin cap and blanket. He also
wore his hair long and alto-
gether was the finest looking
specimen of mankind to be
seen among the early pioneers.
"Well, of course, the neighbors
pointed out to the Neighswong-
ers a place to build their cabin.
While this 'old woodsman'
didn't say much they couldn't
tell him anything. He took his
time in selecting a place to en-
ter his land and build his cabin.
He discovered the famous spring
that bears his name and erected
his cabin close by. This was the
first settlement made on the
present site of the town of Ver-
sailles. We now had four cabins
in our settlement. Although the
Neighswongers were nearly four
miles from us, they were con-
sidered close neighbors in those
days.
"H a m i 1 1 o n Neighswonger
hadn't more than finished his
cabin until he was hunting with
the Indians. They took right up
with him and he would join in
their hunts and be gone for days
and after returning home, he
would roll up in his blanket in
front of his fireplace with his
head to the fire Indian fashion
and he would lay there until he
had fully rested from his trip.
His family said that he seldom
slept in a bed until the later
years of his life. He died in the
year of 185'5.
"Your grandfather, Henry
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 13
Casteen, A. D. Ravencroft,
Corneilus and Dr. Isaac Van-
deventer bought 22 acres of the
Neighswonger land and founded
the town. This tract was then
(1836) all in heavy timber, most-
ly sugar maple and black walnut,
and I helped to clear and haul
the logs from most of it. They
were then at that time making
the roadbed for the old North-
ern Cross railroad that passes
through town and to this day is
plainly traceable, but only a
memory of a busted enterprise
that promised too much to us
then.
"The town site was surveyed
and platted by Allen Persinger, a
young settler who lived up on
Crooked Creek in December,
1836. The state road running
from Meredosia to Quincy and
established in 1929, he made it
•Main Street.' with the center of
the block on the east 'the
public square.' But for some
reason the square was after-
wards platted into lots and sold.
One of the Briggs' and a young
man by the name of William-
son, grandfather of Mrs. Andrew
Boss, carried the stakes and
chains, and they and the men
all went to your grandfather's
cabin for dinner and there your
grandmother, Mrs. Casteen, gave
it the name of Versailles after
her old Kentucky Home.' That
was December 2 of that year
(1836).
"Poor woman, they said, she
always longed for her old home
and at times grew very home-
sick. I have heard them tell
that some neighbor women, who
once called to pay a friendly
visit, found her in the sugar
grove west of the cabin kneeling
under a tree. Thinking her ill,
thev started to lift her to her
feet when she said to them.
'I always comie here to pray.'
But hers were not the only
prayers that went up from these
solitudes back in those old days.
Versailles First Wedding
"On the 26th of October, 1826,
Cornelius Vandevenler and my
mother, Mrs. Susan McFarland,
were united in marriage. My
mother, you will remember, was
a sister to his first wife. This
was the first wedding to be
celebrated in Versailles town-
ship.
"The winter of 1826 was not
cold, but squally, high winds
and disagreeable cold rains.
Isaac Vandeventer's new cabin
was nice and comfortable unless
the wind should come from a
certain direction. He had failed
to build the stick chimney high
enough and there would be days
when the wind was coming
from this direction that he and
his wife could not stay in their
cabin on account of smoke. She
complained that she didn't
know which was the worse,
smoke in the winter or mos-
quitoes in the summer.
Hambaugh and Lambkins,
The First Hikers
"In the month of February,
1827, the population of our set-
tlement made another increase
when Pious Hambaugh and
George Lambkin walked over
here from Edwardsville, a trip
that took them three days to
make for the ground was cov-
ered with snow and all the
trails on this side of the river
obliterated. But they finally
found our cabin and our men
directed them where to locate,
and assisted Lambkin to put up
his barn and cabin. He selected
an 80 acres that is now a part
of the Bent Martin farm, and
his cabin stood on the same
spot where the brick dwelling
now stands. It took two weeks
to put up these buildings, and
in the meantime Pious Ham-
baugh had selected his 80 acres
where the old Hambaugh home
still stands. They went back
after Lambkin's family and
stock and returned in March.
Page 14
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
"This was a part of Schuyler
county at that time and settlers
were slowly drifting in here and
there, and during that summer
six election precincts were es-
tablished in the county. Isaac
Vandeventer was appointed as
one of the judges, and it was
that summer that Isaac com-
menced the study of medicine
with Dr. Ross down at Atlas,
then the county seat of Pike
county.
"You know we didn't have a
doctor in miles and you couldn't
have found one if you had spent
a week in the search.
"Dr. Isaac graduated at Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, in 1830, and was
the first doctor in the county
and his practice took him as far
as Jacksonville and Quincy.
First White Child Born
In Brown County
"It was on the 26th of June in
the year 1827 that my half-sis-
ter, Lizzie was born, the first
white child born in Brown coun-
ty. She is now Mrs. Elizabeth
Burgesser, widow of the late
George W. Burgesser. You should
have seen the Indian squaws
flock to the cabin when they
heard of it. They crowded and
chattered and called her 'White
Popoose' and one squaw wanted
to trade her copper colored
papoose for the white one. There
was something sacred to an In-
dian squaw about a white baby.
The First Steamboat
"The first steamboat to navi-
gate the Illinois river was 'The
North Star.' This was in the
spring of 1828.
"The Indians knew several
hours before its arrival that it
was coming and how they knew
I can't say unless an Indian run-
ner brought word up from down
the rjver. That would have been
an easy matter, for, of course
the first boats had to stop along
the river occasionally to replen-
ish their fuel supply as they all
burned wood. Of course later
'wood yards' sprung up all along
the river banks to supply them.
"iBut let's get back to the
story. Somehow or other the In-
dians had a dread of the ap-
proaching steamers as their ac-
tions denoted when they came to
the cabin wanting our men to
came to the camp to be present
when it arrived They apparently
thought it possessed supernatur-
al powers to navigate on the
water without paddles or oars.
Cornelius was not surprised to
hear that a boat was 'headed
this way,' He expected it before
this time, and, of course, we
knew the Indians were telling
the truth, so every 'chick and
child' of us headed for the In-
dian camp to see the first steam-
boat.
"We were there, I know, over
an hour watching down the river
without so much as 'batting an
eye — ^we younger ones at any
rate — when all of a sudden ]t
came around the point and we
hadn't so much as seen a
smudge (smoke). It crept slowly
toward us and to me it apparent-
ly grew bigger and bigger. I'll
never forget, I thought is was a
monster. The children from our
cabins chattered, the men talked,
but nary an Indian so much as
grunted I remember looking at
them; their faces don't have any
expression you know at any
time, and this was no exception.
Well, the boat passed and the
waves that followed washed an
Indian canoe from the bank and
a big buck jumped into the
water and dragged it back and
said to Cornelius 'ugh, big boat,
have lots of little boats,' and
then several young bucks com-
menced to take up the river
bank with their eyes glued to
the steamer and occasionally
falling over the underbrush, so
fearful to take their eyes from it
as it slowly plowed its way,
feeling for the unchartered chan-
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 15
nel. This was the first boat lo
unload a cargo at Beard's
Ferry, now Beardstown.
"I don't think that boats came
up the river regularly that sea-
son, Well, at first they didn't
have any schedule; they just
came along when they got here
and back the same way. But it
wasn't so many years after this
there were several different
boats on the river, and after Ver-
sailles started, there were two
warehouses built on the river,
Ravenscroft's and Jeptha WiJ-
son s.
First Post Office
"Two more families joined our
settlement, Sam Root and Joim
Stone and they crossed the river
at Meredosia, a ferry boat was
in operation there now — ^but no
town, (the spring of 1828). In
the fall of the same year Jef-
ferson Hume and Elisha Adams
got here, and that same fall
Cornelius was appointed post-
master and he kept the office at
his cabin and it was called 'Van-
deventer.' A man by the name
of Fowler carried the mail and
I think it was sent up from Al-
ton to Exeter, thence to Naples
and then over here, that is, it
was while Cornelius was post-
master. They didn't bring it very
often either and you paid 25c to
get a letter out of the office;
they didn't send them already
paid. I remember a man came
down from Elisha Adams' that
winter and asked Cornelius if
there was a letter for him and
he told him, yes. He asked Cor-
nelius to read it so he read it to
the man. This fellow told Cor-
nelius he would come back and
Pet it as soon as he could get
the 25c. I think that broke Cor-
nelius of reading letters before
they paid the postage because
that fellow never did come
back."
A Barn Raising
"The two years from 1828 to
1830 saw several more families
added to our settlement. Stephen
Hambaugh, a brother of Pious,
had come with his father and
mother and moved into the cabin
with his brother. People now
had commenced to mingle more
together. They had a barn rais-
ing at Hambaugh's and I'll never
forget that day. All the settlers
gathered there and there was
genuine brotherly love and
kindness shown everybody, and
such a merry time at that din-
ner — and such a dinner — every-
thing provided came from Ham-
baugh's. They had vension, tur-
key, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes,
onions, milk, cornbread and wild
gooseberry pie — that much I can
remember now.
"After dinner the men filled
their pipes and some of the
women smoked and it was home
made twist right out of their
own garden. The men talked of
the needs of the settlement and
the women talked about their
housekeeping and swapped
recipes and home remedies for
the 'ager' and other ills. And
these gatherings sometimes end-
ed up with a religious discussion
and the interpretations of the
Scriptures, but all in the best of
humor."
Forwcud
The notes for this narrative
were originally written to cover
the period dating from Sept. 7,
1824, the date of the arrival of
the Vandeventer and McFarland
families to Dec. 31, 1839, the
date of the marriage of the nar-
rator, Robert Nelson McFarland.
But upon finding the last por-
tion of the manuscript so badly
damaged as to render most of it
illegible, thus making it im-
possible to further arrange a
continued and connecting story.
I am forced, for this reason, to
write "Finis" with the present
installment.
I can only regret that I am by
this prevented in mentioning
names of many of the pioneers.
Page 16
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
who, the narrator states, were
active in the early development
of the township, among whom
are the Briggs', Jethro, Dan,
Hank and Colonel Vandeventer,
James Bullard, the Summys,
Townsends, Humes, Spencer
Hall, John Surratt, David Mc-
Laughlin, Sr., John Sides, Dan
James Brown and many others.
I have, however, copied and
shall preserve the scraps of
many interesting incidents and
events that I have been able to
salvage from the damaged pages
and these, with much other ma-
terial which I possess, may aid
others w^ho might care to add to
the story of our pioneers.
The oldest township in the
county is rich in tradition with
a wealth of sentiment, and all
contributions of this character
Will, I am certain, find welcome
and open columns in The Senti-
nel; and may assist in leading
to the erection of permanent
Markers at some of the histor-
ical spots featured in the town-
ship's history before "Old
Father Time" has removed souls
that has knovi^ledge of their lo-
cations or over whose material
sepulchers Nature shall have
drawn the Mantle of Oblivion.
Respectfully,
B. F. Bond.
Paris of the Following
Incidenl Lost
A story of "Bald Knob, a high
point along the bluff east of the
cabin, upon the summit of
which the Indians sent up their
"smoke signals." Also the full
story of an Indian wedding that
took place one night at the In-
dian camp, to which the men of
the settlement were invited and
for fear of offense, Isaac and
Cornelius Vandeventer and the
latter's sons, William and Peter,
attended. They were most cor-
dially received and placed m
the hands of an Indian artist
who painted their faces for the
occasion and then they were
given seats of honor on a log to
witness the ceremony. It is
needless to add that they were
hardly recognizable by their
folks at the cabin on their re-
turn and they spent the balance
of the night in removing their
"Indian make-up "
Uncle Nelson always alluded
to the Indians in a friendly
spirit, stating that the Indians
"were good to the settlers" and
the eight years he spent with
them here were filled with ad-
ventures he enjoyed. He played
as a boy with the young In-
dians and they could always out-
do their white playmates in
running and jumping and all
boyish sports.
And again, the wedding of
Stephen Hambaugh and Elmina
Stone, which occurred on De-
cember 23, 1830. the evening the
"deeo snow" commenced falling.
All the settlers gathered at the
Stone cabin for the event and
Hamilton Neighswonger brought
his fiddle along and they danced
all night, but by daylight the
snov,^ had reached such a depth
that many of the guests were
"marooned" at the cabin and
were forced to remain for sev-
eral days.
One of the incidents of this
wedding was when the guests
were all taken suddenly ill with
the exception of Hamilton
Neighswonger, by eating some-
thing served at the wedding
feast and that he "fiddled away"
until they had recovered suf-
ficiently to go on with the dance.
An Indian Feast
"Things moved along pretty
miich as in previous years only
everything continued to look
more promising. The ground
cultivated in previous years be-
came more productive as the
wild nature was being worked
out of the soil. Our bunch of
stock was all doing well and in-
creasing. We had a good many
head of hogs, several more
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 17
thrifty calves, and lots of chick-
ens considering the trouble we
had to save them from the var-
ments (this was the fall of 1830).
"But speaking of hogs, we
used to in those days turn them
out to run wild, and by late fall
when it came time to 'round
them up', they were most of
them usually as wild as deers,
and on Sundays before that
time we would go out through
the timber and down along the
river and try to have them lo-
cated.
"It was on one of these trips
down in the river timber one
Sunday, when I was a good
sized boy, with Cornelius Van-
deventer that I am about to tell
you about. We had spent the
morning tracking several hogs
and finally found them way
down on the Big Sand Ridge.
Cornelius got close enough to
see that they were fat and he
said we could shoot them when
we got ready for them.
"On returning we came back
up the river bank and by the
Indian camp. Well, when we
reached it. Cornelius stopped
and they insisted we stay and
eat. I had never seen them pre-
paring a 'feast' before and that's
what they were doing. Cor-
nelius decided to stay, and while
they were talking with him I
noticed them heating rocks.
They had several rocks piled on
a log-heap fire and every once
in a while they would get one
of these out of the fire and with
some kind of a two-pronged
hook they would drop these hot
rocks into a big kettle of some-
thing that smelled and looked
like soup. My boyish curosity
aroused I idled over by the
kettle to see what they were
cooking. The contents of the
kettle were boiling, and while
standing there I saw boil up to
the surface the hind leg of a
coon, foot, hair and all, and I
decided right there that I wasn't
hungry enough to tackle that
'Indian soup'."
Meredosia — How it was
Named for a Pretty Girl
Down by the "Old Illinios"
broad expanse.
Where the steamer rocks and
raves,
City lots are staked for sale.
Above Old Indian graves.
"In the fall of 1831, they
staked out a new town on the
river, Meredosia.
''Two brothers by the name of
Waldo had opened a store with
a full stock of goods shipped up
by boat from New Orleans. We
didn't have much money in the
settlement then, but we did
have a pretty good supply of
beeswax and coonskins and they
were both legal tender. We
needed lots of things in our
cabin yet at that time, and we
were mighty glad to see a store
as close as Meredosia.
"I don't know how true it is,
but they used to tell how Mere-
dosia got its name. There was
a French trader lived there, .-o
the story goes, by the name of
Dosia and he had a daughter by
the name of 'Mere'; I suppose
that's French for Mary, I don't
know as to that. Well, anyway
Mere was a pretty girl and ail
the young fellows were in love
with her, in fact, everybody
liked her and when they com-
menced to try to decide on a
name. Mere's many admirers all
asked that the new town De
christened Mere Dosia, but they
compromised by making it one
word, Meredosia, in place of di-
viding it. I am sure that's how
Meredosia got its name.'
Black Hawk Visits Versailles
Indians Depart for War
"In the month of February.
1832. while all the men of the
settlement had gathered at the
cabin of John Stone, one of the
settlers, along the bluff just be-
low Isaac Vandeventer's cabin
for a barn raising, sev-eral In-
Page 18
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
dians from the camp on the
river came up to watch the men
at work. They were accom-
panied that day by a distin-
guished visitor, none other than
the famous Indian Chief, Black
Hawk. They told the men at
work who their visitor was, but
Black Hawk didnt make a
speech, or in fact, talk to any
of the whites that day that I
ever heard of. He was here for
a different purpose we found
out afterwards, for in just 'so
many moons" after his visit
you couldn't have found an In-
dian in the county. They had all
vanished. No one saw them go
or knew where they went, but
we understood it all when a
rider rode into the settlement
and left word at all the cabins
for every man and boy who
could carry a gun to shoulder
his arms and come to Beards-
town to go fight the Indians un-
der Black Hawk. Cornelius Van-
deventer and Stephen Ham-
baugh went from our settlement.
"Of course, we all know what
happened, but that was the last
of the Indians in our settle-
ment. There had been a good
size camp of them along up to
this time on the river near the
mouth of Crooked creek (Indian
Ford). A lot of these Indians
came back following this upris-
ing and one of these Indians
told a white man by the name
of Naught, who was a friend of
the Indian, that they were plan-
ning a massacre against the
whites, adding, 'Red men kill
whites and when we kill, we
kill good.' Naught spread the
alarm, and the settlers swooped
down on the camp and killed all
of their dogs, the worst insult
you could show an Indian and
then drove them out of the
country, following for miles.
That episode marked the last
for 'Mr Indian' along the Illi-
nois river.
"Of course we don't know
how much they hated to leave
here. It was their home, and
love of home is a human passion
and it may have been so with
them. Upon these old bluffs all
along the river are the graves
of their dead. They buried them
here that the spirits might look
down on the prairies below, or
watch the passing canoes along
the river."
Homeward Bound
As we rode home that night,
Uncle Nelson pointed out to me
the site of the Vandeventer saw
mill on Camp Creek erected in
1833. "They used a ship saw,"
he said, ''and it was operated by
water power. Much of the work
was done at night by aid of fire
light. None of the men possess-
ed a time piece and they kept
track of the hours by the aid of
a tallow candle. Elihu Vande-
venter had a notched stick and
he could tell within 15 minutes
of the correct time by placing
this stick along the side of this
burning candle.
"The material for Squire Van-
deventer's early mansion built
in 1863 was turned out by this
mill, as was much of the lumber
for the eai'ly homes built in
Versailles, among them the old
Ravenscroft dwelling north of
the M. E. church."
He talked of early roads and
when George Finch's stage line
ran between Meredosia and
Quincy, and how Hamilton
Neighswonger stopped hunting
with the Indians long enough to
show the settlers, who were en-
gaged in helping a newcomer
with his cabin, something they
didn't know. He told them to al-
ways put two doors in the cabin
exactly opposite and they could
drag up a big log to one door
and by passing a rope or chain
through from the opposite door
and hitching on the oxen, the
log could be pulled into the
house and easily rolled into the
fireplace, a plan adopted in
building all the cabins after
that.
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
Page 19
He told me how after the
second cabin was finished that
the first one was then used as
a sort of "boy house" — sleeping
quarters for all the boys in both
families.
Peter Vandeventer, a brother
of Cornelius, had arrived in the
fall of 1832. The late Dr. Saul
Vandeventer was a son of Peter
and was almost 15 years of age
at that time. Peter died three
weeks after their arrival and as
the mother had died previous
to the family's coming, Saul, it
was decided, was to make his
home with his Uncle Cornelius
and he thus became a member
of "the family of boys in the
cabin."
One night that winter, the
boys were all gathered in front
of the fireplace cracking nuts
and popping corn, and were in
a good-natured argument as to
whose night it was to go after
water to the spring a quarter of
a mile away, when suddenly a
panther screamed just outside of
the cabin door, "Well," ne
laughed, "I thought then we
would go to bed thirsty that
night, but pretty soon the argu-
ment was resumed. You know
how thirsty a fellow gets eating
parched corn, well, they start-
ed the argument again because
we had to have water and they
finally decided Saul and I
hadn't carried any water for a
week. So Saul took the rifle
down and I got the bucket— we
just had it to do. There was a
fresh skift of snow on the
ground and a pale moon and
by these we could see the ani-
mal's tracks, and he was head-
ed for the spring too. I tell you
we were feeling 'pretty creepy,'
but we kept going and before
we reached the spring, the
tracks took over the hill to the
north. We got the water, and
decided before we went to bed
to start at daylight on its track.
We did but a man living north
of where the DeWitt school
house now stands had just kill-
ed it before we reached there.
It had killed some of his young
stock and he shot it while it
was standing at its kill."
Reminded of hunting, he told
of how he had captured a young
fawn and how it had become
domesticated. He had strapped a
small bell about its neck after
it had taken to leaving for sev-
eral days at a time and when it
would return, it would usually
bring a wild deer back with it.
He would kill this and in a few
days the same thing would De
repeated until the tame deer
lost its bell, then he supposed
some hunter killed it. After that
if he wanted venison he had to
go hunt for it but in those days
he could always get it.
Among other things, he told
of the siege the settlers went
through the winter of the deep
snow, 1830-31. Most of the set-
tlers were not prepared for so
desperate a storm and they nec-
essarily suffered untold hard-
ships. The storm, he said later,
lasted for three weeks and he
didn't suppose that the ther-
mometer raised above 10 or 12
below zero during all that time.
And then came the cholera
epidemic in 1833. He did not
know how many died in this
section of the country, but seven
or eight in their immediate set-
tlement died from May 31 to
June 20. Cornelius Vandeventer
lost three children, the two old-
est boys, William whose age was
26 and Peter, 24 and Eliza, a
daughter, 13. In several instances
a strong healthy man would
die in the same day he would
get sick. A kettle of boiling
water was kept at each cabin.
A continuous bath in very hot
water was the best remedy
known. Dr. Isaac Vandeventer
never slept during this time and
saved many of the settlers'
lives, and again when the epi-
demic reappeared in 1844 and
again in 1849 he was even more
successful. But during the la.st
siege of this terrible plague in
Page 20
HISTORY OF VERSAILLES TOWNSHIP
1851, the good doctor appeared
to have a premonition that he
left as though he would be per-
mitted to take his patients
through but probably loose his
own life. And such proved to be
the fact. He came home late in
the evening from visiting a pa-
tient when he was suddenly
stricken with the disease and
was a corpse before morning,
his death occuring in Aug. 1851,
at the age of 52 years. His resi-
dence and office stood on the
corner where Reid's store now
stands. Dr. Saul Vandeventer,
who was then practicing at
Cooperstown, came to Versailles
and succeeded Dr. Isaac and he
too, went through numerous
hardships.
"You of your age can only
have a meager conception of
the hardships endured, the
struggles and trials and anxie-
ties experienced back in those
days by the early settlers. There
were no roads, just a sort of a
path or winding trail here and
there to avoid a hill or marsh or
find a place to ford a stream. In
farming wheat was sown broad-
cast and cut with a reap hook
or cradle, threshed over the top
of a barrel or tramped out on
the barn floor by horses or cat-
tle, corn was planted by hand,
plowed with a one-horse plow
or tended with a hoe, and most
of these first settlers hadn't
reached middle-age when they
came here. Cornelius Vandeven-
ter was 42 when he arrived, his
first wife was then 37, my
mother, her sister and Cornel-
ius' second wife, was 34, Isaac
Vandeventer was 26, and Jane,
his wife, was only 20. Hamilton
Neighs wonger was in his early
forties and that is about the
way it averaged.
"Back in those days when
clothing was all "homespun"
and about everything home-
made, there was not many
"society events." Though the
"husking bee," old fashioned
spelling school and the occas-
ional religious gatherings in
some settler's cabin served to
draw the people together. And
the first sermon your grand-
father. Rev. Granville Bond, the
old Methodist minister ever
preached, was delivered in the
door yard at Dr. Isaac Vande-
venter's under the bluffs in the
early thirties. All these gather-
ings afforded the settlers en-
joyment and then for further
amusement, the young folks
could ride horseback, take long
strolls together and during the
winter slide down the hills,
crack nuts and pop corn by the
fire in the big, old fireplaces,
which all brought as much hap-
piness to the youngsters in those
old days as are enjoyed by the
younger generation of this age."
He spoke of the early struggles
of his own early married life
and its sunshine and sorrows —
the parting of loved ones.
He had lived it all over
again that day and before we
reached our homes, we had
made plans for a tour down the
road to the Hambaugh settle-
ment. But unknown to us then,
we were returning from the last
trip we would ever take to-
gether. Mr. McFarland, however,
lived five years after this, but
during his last years he was
always poorly, and on July 16
1906, passed to the Great Be-
yond, where, we trust all of
those who were here with him
in these early pioneer cabins
back in the days so long ago,
stood ready to greet him as the
Shores of Eternity received his
soul.
The End.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
SR THE FIRST StE SETTLERS IN
3 0112 025391787
