^ LIB RA FLY
OF THL
U N 1VLR.51TY
or ILLl NOIS
L
IlLINOIS HISTORICAL SUDVEV
\
Jl
THE
PAST AND PRESENT
OF
WOODFORD COUNTY,
iLLiisrois,
CONTAINING
A History of the County — its Cities, Towns, &c. ; a Directory of its
Tax-Payers; War Record of its Volunteers in the Late Re-
bellion; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men ;
General and Local Statistics; Map of Woodford
County; History of Illinois, Illustrated;
History of the Northwest, Illustrated ;
Constitution of the United States,
Miscellaneous Matters,
&c., &c.
ILXjTJSTia.A.TEID.
CHICAGO:
WM. LE BARON, JE., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET.
1878.
PREFACE.
In presenting our History of Woodford County, we deem a few prefatory words
necessary. We have spared neither pains nor expense to fiilfill our engagement with
our patrons and make the work as complete as possible. We have acted upon the
principle that justice to those who have subscribed, be they few or many, requires that
the work should be as well done as if it was patronized by every citizen in the county.
We do not claim that our work is entirely free from errors ; such a result could not be
attained by the utmost care and forsight of ordinary mortals. The County History was
compiled by our historians, W. H. Perrin and H. H. Hill. Some of the Township His-
tories are indeed longer than others, as the townships are older, containing larger cities
and towns, and have been the scenes of more important and interesting events. While
fully recognizing this important difference, the historians have sought to write up each
township with equal fidelity to the facts and information within their reach. We take
this occasion to present our thanks to all our numerous subscribers for their patronage
and encouragement in the publication of the work. In this confident belief, we submit
it to the enlightened judgment of those for whose benefit it has been prepared, believing
that it will be received as a most valuable and complete work.
THE PUBLISHERS.
Clllf'Afio:
Cl'LVKR, l-A(iE, IIOYNE * CO., PKl.NTERS,
118 >n4 13< MonrM Strcrl.
CONTENTS.
Page.
History Northwest Territory 19
Geographical ;. 19
Early Exploration 20
Discovery of the Ohio 33
English Explorations and Settle-
ments 35
American Settlements 60
Division of the Northwest Terri-
tory 66
fecumseh and the war of 1812 70
Black Hawk and the Black Hawk
War 74
HIJiTORICAIi.
Page.
Other Indian Trouhles 79
Present Condition of the Northwest 87
Illinois 99
Indiana 101
Iowa 102
Michigan 103
Wisconsin 104
Minnesota 106
Nebraska 107
History of Illinois 109
Coal 125
Compact of 1787 117
Page.
History of Chicago 132
Early Discoveries 109
Early Settlements •. 115
Education 129
First French Occupation 112
Genius of La Salle 113
Material Resources 124
Massacre of Fort Dearborn 141
Physical Features 121
Progress of Development 123
Religion and Morals 128
War Record of Illinois 130
IL.IilJSTRATIONS.
Page.
Source of the Mississippi 21
Mouth of the Mississippi 21
Wild Prairie 23
La Salle Landing on the Shore of
Green Bay 25
Buffalo Hunt 27
Trapping 29
Hunting 32
Iroquois Chief. 34
Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 43
Indians Attacking Frontiersmen... 56
A Prairie Storm 59
A Pioneer Dwelling 61
Breaking Prairie 63
Page.
Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chieftain... 69
Indians Attacking a Stockade 72
Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain 75
Big Eagle 80
Captain Jack, tlie Modoc Chieftain.. 83
Kinzie House 85
Village Residence 86
A Representative Pioneer 87
Lincoln Monument, Springfield, 111. 88
A Pioneer School House 89
Farm View in the Winter 90
High Bridge and Lake Bluff 94
Great Iron Bridge of Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific Railroad, Cross-
Paoe.
ing the River at Davenport. Iowa 96.
A Western Dwelling 100
Hunting Prairie Wolves at an
Early Day 108
Starved Rock, on the Illinois River,
La Salle County, 111 110
An Early Settlement 116
Chicago in 1833 133
Old Fort Dearbon in 1830 136
Present site of Lake Street Bridge,
Chicago, in 1833 136
Pioneers' First Winter 142
View of the City of Chicago 144
Shabbona 149
IVOODFORD COUUTY HISTORY.
Page.
Qeneral History of Woodford Co. ..223
Cazenovia Township 351
Clayton " 375
Cruger " 310
El Paso " 409
Greene " 342
Page.
Kansas Township 467
Linn •' 375
Metamora " 267
Minonk " 425
Montgomery Township 448
Olio " 318
Page
Palestine Township 436
Panola " 400
Partridge •' 392
Roanoke " 333
Spring Bay " 296
Worth " 363
L,lTHO©RAPHIi; PORTRAITS.
Page.
Briggs, J. Albert 329
Cassell, R. T 239
Cole, Frederick 365
Cavan, Oliver A 437
Davison, S. R 419
Fort, J. M 311
Page.
Guibert, Louis A 186
Hoshor, Jefferson 204
Jaj'nes, James 401
Meek, Henry B 168
Miindell, Abncr ....383
Page, John 221
Page.
Page, Adino 257
Page, John W 275
Snyder, John 465
Willard, P. II 347
Whitmire, James 8 293
Wagner, Michael 473
WOODFORD COITNTY WAR RECORD.
Infantry..
Page. I Page. I
463 I Cavalry 486 | Artillery
Page.
. ...488
4f^^^
("?
^'^
CONTENTS.
Paoe.
Cazenovia Township 627
Cla>ton '• 588 ,
Cruger " 53G
EI Paso " 515 '
Greene " 558 [
Kansas " Co8
TOIVXSIIIP DIRECTORY.
Page.
Linn Townsoip 582
( Metamora " 489
Mlnonk " 547
Montgomery Township 010
Olio " " 594
Palestine " C52
Page
Panola Township 5k8
I'artridgf* " 647
Roanoke " 573
Spring Bay " 532
Worth " 615
ABSTRACT OF II^LIXOIS STATE LAWS.
Page.
Adoption of Children 16u
Bills of E.xchange and Promissory ,
Notes 151 I
County Courts 155
Conveyances 164
Church Organizations 189
Descent 151
Deeds and Moi gages 157
Drainage 163
Damages from Trespass 169
Definition of Commercial Terms 173
Exemptions from Forced Sale 156
Estrays 157
Fences 168
Forms:
Articles of Agreement 175
Bills of Purchase 174
Bills of Sale 176
Bonds 176
Page.
Chattel Mortgages 177
Codicil 189
Lease of Farm and Build-
ings 179
Lease of House 180
Landlord's Agreement 180
Notes 174
Notice Tenant to Quit 181
Orders 174
Quit Claim Deed 185
Receipt 174
Real Estate Mortgaged to Secure
Payment of Money 181
Release 186
Tenant's Agreement 180
Tenant's Notice to Quit 181
Warranty Deed 182
Will 187
Paoe.
Game 1.58
Interest 151
Jurisdiction of Courts 154
Limitation of Action 155
Landlord and Tenant., 169
Liens 172
Married Women 155
Millers 159
Marks and Brands 159
Paupers 164
Roads and Bridges 161
Surveyors and Surveys 160
Suggestions to Persons Purchasing
Books by Subscription 190
Taxes 154
Wills and Estates 152
Weights and Measures 158
Wolf Scalps 164
Page. |
Map of Woodford County Front |
Constitution of the U. S 192 I
Electors of President and Vice Pres- I
ident 206 \
Practical Rules for Every Day Use.207 i
U. S. Government Land Measure. ..210
Agricultural Productions of lUi- I
nois by Counties, 1870 210 '
Surveyors" Measure 211
How to Keep Accounts 211
Interest Table 212
MISC£L.IiAXEOUS.
Page.
Miscellaneous Tables 212
Names of the States of the Union
and their Signification 213
Population of the United States 214
Population of Fifty Principal Cities
of the United States 214
Population and Area of the United
States 215
Population of the Principal Coun-
tries in the World 215
Population of Illinois 216-217
Page.
State Laws Relating to Interest 218
State Laws Belrting to Limitations
of Actions 219
Productions of Agriculture of Illi-
nois 220
Report of Crops in Woodford Co... 462
Population of Woodford Co 462
Business Directory 661
Assessors' Report 668
The Northwest Territory.
GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.
When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi
River; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the
" New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern
Territory."
In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States,
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula-
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of
the entire population of the United States.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far-
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent
on the globe.
I For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North-
west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United
States.
(19)
20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
EARLY EXPLORATIONS.
In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded" no
settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that
he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and
disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery
for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize
upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer
took advantage of these discoveries.
In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene-
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (^Hurons) to the streams which
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the
first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary,
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent
result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes,
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by
Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude
Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the
Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and Jaujes Marquette
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen-
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette establislied a mission at
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St.
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come.
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
21
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22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOxxY.
request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe-
dition, prepared for the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist-
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But,
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told thera he
waS willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the
adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar-
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows,
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in
giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the
year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake.
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to
Joliet, said: " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun-
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin,
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were
now upon the bosom of th3 Father of Waters. The mystery was about
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
23
Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand
" reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab-
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas-
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.
THE WILD PRAIRIE.
On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon
the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person.
After remaining a few daj^s they re-embarked and descended the river to
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course
24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois,
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, •' did we see
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, bufifaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River.*'
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette
returned to the Illinois Indians b}' their request, and ministered to them
until 1G75. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake ISIichigan — he asked
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe,
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefuU}' passed away .while at
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been
called Marquette.
While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre-
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of
those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific,
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol-
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous
western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to
Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan,
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes b}' a chain of forts with the Gulf
of ]\Iexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un-
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis-
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.
LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who
warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received
from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
25
alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on
these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were
some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed
on to Green Bay, the " Bale des Puans " of the French, where he found
a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,
LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.
started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard
of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear-
ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all his men — thirty working
men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by
the Indians, " Theakeke," loolf^ because of the tribes of Indians called
by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The
French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee.
" Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the
country," about the last of December they reached a village of the
Illinois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment
Ub THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuflfs,
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi-
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village
of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored,
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening,
on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have
been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Fim-i-te-wi, that
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent
some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that
place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were
trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men
were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the ti'avel.
He called this fort " Crevecoeur"' (broken-heart), a name expressive of the
very natural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship.
Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the
part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause
him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was
placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered.
While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to
return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in
the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party
to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour-
ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and
was successfully made, though over an almost unknown route, and in a
bad season of the year. He safely reached Canada, and set out again for
the object of his search.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February,
1680. When, LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he"
found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven da^'s after
leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the
icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River
by the 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen-
nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy-
age they found several beautiful lakes, and "saw some charming prairies."
Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux
nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when
they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY.
27
in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling
nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages.
Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their
captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen,
BUFFALO HUNT.
headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene-
trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow-
countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the
borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had
returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went
to France, where he published an account of his adventures.
28 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring,
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander-
ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers,
reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered
about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them-
selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan-
tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it
would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of
Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba.
They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but,
being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country,
and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through.
To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the
first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of
explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed
the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February,
reached the banks of the Mississippi.
On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they
pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis-
covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters
into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event :
" We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river, a
little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the
refMih of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to
the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription :
Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, 1682.
The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, and then, after
a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi^" the column was erected by M. de
LaSalle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of
the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis-
sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where
another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two
succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along
the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
29
treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions "was not
accomplished until 1699, when D"Iberville, under the authority of the
crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea, the mouth
of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by the natives
*^ Malbouchia,'' and by the Spaniards, " Za Palissade,'" from the great
'5V ,-<U"^ V^^ss^ A
I
^^S^^ci^V
TEAPPING.
number of trees about its moutli. After traversing the several outlets,
and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its
western outlet, and returned to France.
An avenue of trade was now opened out which was fully improved.
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colon-
ists. In 1762, the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased by
30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory
of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the
charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in defeat
and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown
open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country;
had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu-
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,)
it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were
peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, tlie first settler of
the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored."
The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois,
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil-
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of
these missions is learned from a letter written b\' Father Gabriel Marest,
dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de Tlmmaculate Conception de
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecceur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river,
(pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly') was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob-
able that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia
and Cahokia. In Jul}', 1701, tlie foundations of Fort Ponchartrain
were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta-
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle-
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England
in 1718. This Avas mainly accomplished through the efforts of the
famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law,
who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who witli his
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away.
From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis-
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated
• There l3 considerable dispute about this date, some asserting it was founded as late as 174.J. When
the new court house at Vluccniies was erectetl, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and
yiOi fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court Iiouse.
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 31
injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains
indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of
the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the
attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the
New "World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary
among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and
Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages,
and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues
situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias). In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred
wliites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The
three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all
told. Most of the French till the soil; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and
horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can
be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and •
save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were
found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France
by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem-
ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the
mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low-
to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I
tliink, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork
and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty
vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans,
plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of
Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty -five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five
or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther
up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners
through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise
excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas,
where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river
traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred
leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at
the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the
Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to
32
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at
Vincennesin 1812, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some
individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada.
Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are
like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find
silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also
in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large
pieces are found in the streams."
HUNTING.
At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at
the Maumee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what
may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest
they had stations at St. Joseph's on tlie St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan,
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac,
Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of
LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of
this vast realm, basing their claim on discoverv and settlement. Another
nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 33
and hearing of its ■wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for
securing the great profits arising therefrom.
The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the .
DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.
This " Beautiful " river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La-
Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet.
and Marquette.
While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois.
He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed
to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident
soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring expedition.
While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state-
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream.
LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great
rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to
embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to
the commerce of China and Japan.
He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov-
ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant,
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro-
vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul-
pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition,
and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money,
the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred
dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the
necessary supplies for the outfit.
()n the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons,
embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence ; two additional canoes
carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present
City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to
conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed.
The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After
waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Lidian
84
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence.
On their wa}' they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they
heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving
^"^^.^V<H.U,
lltOyUOlS CUIKF.
among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume
their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the
arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved
to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. He
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35
had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper mines
on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec.
He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the
lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in
that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the
expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the
Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet
with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and
after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at
Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers,
Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field.
These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron
saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian.
After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a
tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far
as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the
persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669.
The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony-
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count
Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as
an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio
Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony
of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec
replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries
of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to
make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters
and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts
already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri-
ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet
under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty
36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In
Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov-
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces-
sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, b}' that
power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain
to this unexplored wilderness.
England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a
discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants
to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim.
She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat-
ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward. Gov-
ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the ISIohawks, Onei-
das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were
taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six Nations.
They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in
ITOl, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed
was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has
often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of
Virginia," for which the Indians received £200 in gold and a like sum in
goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid.
The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel
William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was
called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with
presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa-
nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings
regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment,
and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desixe the
cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant
of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun-
dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of
June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was
made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100.000
acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French
were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in tlie
West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37'
settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain
possession of the whole country'. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Yaud-
reuil. Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the
consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading-
posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further
secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel-
eron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds
and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which
were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and
within the memory of residents now living along the " Oyo," as the
beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found
with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and
a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the
plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society,
among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not,
however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and
though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and
it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the
frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio
Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees,
on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He
afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down
the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville,
and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur-
ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the
Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing
their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party
of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng-
lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and
Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of
the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
(They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were
carried away to Canada, and one account ssljs several were burned. This
fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the
king's ministers refers to it as " Fickawillanes, in the center of the terri-
tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is i3robably some
variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones
Pickaweke."
■• The following is a translation of the inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV.,
King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com-
mander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have
buried tliis plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty- ninth of JiUy, near the river Ohio, otherwise
Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all Us
tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and
treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."
88 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and
occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about
forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter-
ested in tlie progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter-
mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to
occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing-
ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and
Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan-
caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June,
these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts-
burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban-
doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize
the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour,
the interpreter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a
chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their
favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing
a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a
settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should
not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre
each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally
outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con-
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni-
tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were
coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The
Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when
we wanted help, forsook us."
At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon
and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng-
lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until
the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans
of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them
away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts
already begun, and would not abandon the field.
Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39
ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young
man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank
of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This
personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then
held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just
twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied
by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon-
gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to
Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of
the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and
also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol-
lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to
turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral.
Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to
Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the
French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing
of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the
11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here
he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, received his answer, took his
observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one
but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him,
notwithstandino- the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their
homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet
they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754.
From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by
Washin2:ton to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would
not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made
in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French
finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications,
and o-athered their forces to be in readiness.
The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised
two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were
^fathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent
had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were
40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
working away in hunger and want, to fortify tliat point at the fork of
the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest.
" The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift
river rolled l)y the Allegh'eny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of
Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian
scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet,
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent
in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten
miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder-
ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning
of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw
upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink — sixty batteaux and
three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and
stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecoeur,
and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men
and tools, marched up the Monongahela."
The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle, in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue
of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New-
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the
English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted
disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed
the fortifications begun at the Fork, Avhich they had so easily captured,
and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived.
He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him-
self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called
by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of
French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the
morning of July 4tli. He \vas allowed to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort
Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41
acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This
occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as tlie battle
of Monongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with
various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence-
ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre-
tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to
carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one,
under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie,
against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against
Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a
desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the
Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie
captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne,
of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was
found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession,
rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the
name to Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of
Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to
reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to
capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant
Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga
and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor-
able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated
Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement
Montcolm and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor,
marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of
defeating the English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was
fouoht one of the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It
resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal.
The Governor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was
surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it
was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and
under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of
the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.
On the loth of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent
from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post
in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post,
Beletre- refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the
42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
French aims, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d
under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom,
no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the
purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was
assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not
desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much
to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while
on their journey home.
Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one
month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence
across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com-
mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of
the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is,
crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon
John's Town " on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town
on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one
hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across
Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork.
The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule.
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises
with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe-
trated, and the country would have been spared their recital.
The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named
Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as
far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French,
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his
hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian
to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached
him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He
declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no presents sent
them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation.
He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was
civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies.
The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina,
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified
February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
13
PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN.
44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead.
Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander
of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares
and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unite
in this enterprise.
The blow came, as near as can now be' ascertained, on May 7, 176^.
Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, '"• scooped up in the hollow
of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton.
Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit.
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing
the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out,
however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when
Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian
chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed
musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He
saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He
endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt
was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe
reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.
Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764,
continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He org-anized a reo-ular
commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark,
which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At
the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went
further south, living many years among the Illinois.
He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and onh' ended in a
quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon
afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern
Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed.
Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly
have been carried out.
It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex-
ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and
were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met Ihe chief,
Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their
French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said :
*' Englishman, although you have conquered the French, 'you have not
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45
yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves ! These lakes, these woods,
these mountains, were left us by our ancestors'. They are our inheritance,
and we will part with tliem to none. Your nation supposes that we, like
the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you
ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided
food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains."
He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them,
no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war.
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the
French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the
English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going
on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments.
In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre-
vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters
of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon-
tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States
and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great
Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these
sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and
twenty. years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to
France, and by France sold to the United States.
In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set-
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia,
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large ti'act
of rich alluvial soil in" Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St.
Louis.
By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including
all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England;
but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until 1765, when
Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him-
self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage,
dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath-
olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their
effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen.
It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the
war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that
chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle-
46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year
17G4, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed-
eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French. Pon-
tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom
he afterward lost his life.
As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began
rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces
explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga-
hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This
was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing-
ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford
and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts-
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen,
miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which
were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort.
Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus-
tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This
same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages.
He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only
forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and
at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year
or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally
Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main-
tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts
was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and
flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the
policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension
of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal
proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the
sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance
of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement
without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy
reach of Great Britain.
The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for
themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother
country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow."
In accordance with this policy, Gov. Gage issued a proclamation
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set-
tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To tMs thej
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47
strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were allowed to
remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its
change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French
population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned
the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which
was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend-
ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the j)i'esent
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern-
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor
that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the
early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side
of the war for independence.
In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration
to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the
pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth.
One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the
Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it
Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for
settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed
portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the
famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and
driven across the Ohio.
During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies
and the perseveranceof individuals, several settlements were firmly estab-
lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held
in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling
themselves the " Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the
Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on
the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer-
chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes
as the agent of the association called the " Wabash Land Company." On
the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for
37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested
by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in
the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com-
panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all
were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of
April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the
" United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made
48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all
sionallv failed.
When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor-
ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders.
In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at that time
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in-
habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con-
tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were
east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa-
tions were made — " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230
negroes."
From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report
made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following
extract is made :
"Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which
appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of
the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la
Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There
are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five
miles further up the river."
St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con-
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country
west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until
ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the
country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there
were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to
1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more
than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated— the people being engaged
in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will liere
relate.
It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width.
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space
between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house
(near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn,
and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by
oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had
four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first three of these
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49
gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six-
pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a.
parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running
east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen
feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten
to fifteen feet in width.
At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present,
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was
inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two
stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient
to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The
citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of
Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story,
with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some
hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance,
called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east
gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned
by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and
the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of
twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning
between nine and ten o'clock. Each furnished four sentinels, who were
relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who per-
formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset;
even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were
delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened
in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter
town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand-
ino- order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of
every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were
restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were
allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only
at the east and. west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the
Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house
near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians.
The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two
hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by
fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present '' new "
town was laid out.
On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post of
importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of
Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests,
60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in
this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those
within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their
civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway,
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state.
Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held
in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived
in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which
had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty
was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented
her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the
British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. Ht,
saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British
intended to penetrate the country from the north and south, and annihi-
late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel,
afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. Ho knew the Indians were not
unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could
the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives
might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose,
he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements
might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the
project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on
November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th,
Burg03'ne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly
encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at
once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been
agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the
scene of action to be able to guide them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his
plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret,
the other open — the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven
companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three
months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand
at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country.
With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 51
stou for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required
number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to
join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private
volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he
navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified
Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville,
Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may
yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him
with such recruits as had reached Kentucky by the southern route, and
as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to
the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements,
and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the
24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured
no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with
his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as
far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia.
Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to
Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he
intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the
Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor-
mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the
United States ; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois
country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to
believe by the British that the ^ Long Knives" or Virginians, were the
most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With
this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would
cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati-
tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency.
The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun,
and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort
near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and without
the loss of a single man or b}^ killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per-
fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the
great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity
from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab-
itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked
for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom-
panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place
surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus
52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English
into the possession of Virginia.
In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a
powerful allv and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession
of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its ln)un-
daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken.
St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit,remained yet to be taken
before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that
he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection
with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July,
in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of
peace, and on the 1st of August returned Avith the cheerful intelligence
that the post on the "Oubache"' had taken the oath of allegiance to
the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts,
placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his
men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville,
erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who
had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond.
In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature
of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor,
and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of
the Old Dominion through their Legislature.
In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle-
giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton,
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down
the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing
the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the
rebels from the West. Gen. Chirk had, on the return of M. Gibault,
dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend-
ant named Heniy, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort.
Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly
surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at
the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail-
ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of tha
fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to
the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the
force in the garrison.
Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53
and to annoy the Americans in oil ways, and sat quietly down to pass the
Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he
saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless
he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the
news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi-
ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi
a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and
Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray.
On the next day, Clark,. with his little force of one hundred and
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching
thiough much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back-
woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the
intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind-
ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton w^as
sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement.
During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes
to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him,
and had earned in consequence thereof the title "• Hair-buyer General,"
by which he was ever afterward known.
Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being
apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con-
cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts.
Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in
uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West
would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny
Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from
the commencement, by the British.
" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the
union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might
have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed."
At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern-
ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in-
Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde-
pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the
Ohio frontier. Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders,
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled
to sue for peace.
54 THE NORTHWEST TERKITORY.
During this same year (1779) the famous " Land Laws" of Virginia
were passed. The passage of these hiws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian
conflicts. These hiws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed
to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the
settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at
forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature
sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many
of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These
gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and
continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided
three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who
came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the
10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the
next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in
relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States
to be rejected. The American Government, considered they had a right
to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle-
ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur-
ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the
West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth.
The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a
friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had
been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence,
and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the
refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the
satisfaction of both nations.
The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the
''Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few
pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians
and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting
colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the
inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they were
compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on the
settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable
manner, they fled the country in great haste.
About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con-
cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55
and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele-
gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for
the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress
during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep-
tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States
claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body.
This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative
measures which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same
year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might
have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished
him. Nothing decisive was done, yet the heads of the Government knew
that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the
territory.
Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun-
ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town
of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the
United States.
Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d
day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United
States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and
the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was
anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies
were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in
consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements.
Upon the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of
American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian
Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the
frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of
their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity,
a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives.
For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians
committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and
1772 in the history of the Northwest.
During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and
frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan-
dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives,
many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious
56
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his hrothere,
was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefl\' in the Ohio
valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky,
in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill
and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc-
<^.
INDIANS ATTAiKINc; Ki;( ).\TIi:i:S.MEX.
tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American
banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had
been arranged Ijetween the Commissioners of England and her uncon-
querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October
preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th ol
April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was
THE NORTHWEST TEREITORY. 57
proclaimed to the arni}^ of the United States, and on the 2d of the next
September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle
was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West
were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of
the Great La,kes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake ;
thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi
River; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line
east to the head of the Appalachicola River ; down its center to its junc-
tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and
thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts
were still occuj^ied by the British in the North and West. Among these
was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements
with the Indians throughout Ohio and Lidiana occurred, upon whose
lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by
the proper treaty.
To remedy this latter evil. Congress appointed commissioners to
treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the set-
tlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the
year another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however,
not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest
she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of
December preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded
to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March followino-, and
the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred
and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the
Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region
opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of
Clarksville, about midway between the Cities of New Albany and Jeffer-
son ville, Indiana.
While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit
refused to evacuate alleging that he had no orders from his King to do
so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the Spring
of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur
Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian
council at Fort Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in
appearance. He says :
" Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who
live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being
bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila-
68 THE NORTHWEST TEKKITORY.
delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and
money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a
priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."'
Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and
was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A
land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take
defensive precaution against the Indians who were yet, in some instances,
incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year,
1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although no
entries were recorded until 1787.
The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They
held large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress
adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the
surveys of the lands gained thereby', as well as for those north of the
Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made
with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made
in 1784. That at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, and through these much land
was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to comply
with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel
their adherence to its provisions, force was used. During the year 1786,
the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused
various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to
excite speculation in regard to the western lauds. Congress had promised
bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the
unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its naviga-
tion, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared
its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded
between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, how-
ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some
grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con-
necticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as
the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a
large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a company, who at once
took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company
were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction
of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies. They received
750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the
seventh range of townships, on the west by the sixteenth range, and on
the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without
the reservations. In addition to this, Congress afterward granted 100,000
acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the
resolutions of 1789 and 1790.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
69
While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing
its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the
cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected.
A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition
of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered,
and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states
'^^.^^'«~-'^^•
A PRAIRIE STORM.
by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten
states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the
northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher-
sonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly-
potamia and Pelisipia.
There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of
names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu-
tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries
of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles
60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
square. These resolutions bein^ presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the
sub ect was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into
not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by
the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was
again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year
and until July, 1787, when the famous "Compact of 1787" was passed,
and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com-
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book,
and to it the reader is referred.
The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company
was soon followed by an application to the Government b}- John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis.
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1780, and.
being greath- pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the
New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasurv
Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following
year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Companv
were preparing to occupy their grant the following Spring, and upon the
23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men,
under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six
boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur-
veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart-
ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as
soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the od of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and
to prevent unauthorized intrusions : and two days later appointed Arthur
St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest.
AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.
The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now couk
plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from
the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New Ens-land
Company sent their men during the Winter of 17S7-S pressing on over
the AUeghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into
Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike
from Cuml)erland westward. Through the wearv winter davs thev toiled
on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had
been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here thev arrived
on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded
as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
61
Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not having
yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published hy
being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed
to administer them.
Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the
Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under
such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum.
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of such a community.'"
m:'m
v^'^l^^^^^^^^^
^^^'^^
A PIONEER DAVELLING.
On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held
on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purjiose of naming the new-
born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the
*'Muskingura," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor
of Marie Antoinette. The square uj)on which the block -houses stood
was called ^'■Campus Martins ;'' square number 19, ^'- Capitoli.um ;"" square
number 61, ^'•Cecilia;'' and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra
Via.'' Two days after, art oration was delivered by James M. Varnum,
who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the
judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of Octol)er, 1787. On July 9,
Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act
of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest,
02 THE NORTRWEST TERRITORY.
under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a
governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon
the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th
of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the
next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country
that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the
County of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the
doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the
2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing
ceremonies.
The emiirration westward at this time was verv crreat. The com-
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb-
ruary and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the
''Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been
ready to receive them.
On the 26th of November, 1787, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating
the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In
January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest
in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon
which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he
sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the
three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which
was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the mouih of which
they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the
town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : — " Mr. Filson, who had
been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to
its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of the mixed race that
were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being
interpreted, means : ville. the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os. the
mouth ; L. of Licking."
Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse
teams under Avav for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mavs-
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here
Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left
the " Point." two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first
was by ^Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a
colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami,
whither Svmmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
63
been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr.
Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788,
with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain
through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they
were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood
of 1789.
On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States
went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaug-
urated President of the American people, and during the next Summer,
an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The
President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General
Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but
BREAKING PRAIRIE.
was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne,
Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were
the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair
was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while
he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee,
he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men.
General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794,
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following j-ear, the
treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large
tract of country was ceded to the United States.
Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati.
Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the
64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOKY.
whole country, have had their nuclei in tho>e rude pioneer struct ures»
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon-
ehartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago,
Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west
of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a
rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of
strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks
were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters
were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished.
The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an
acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.
The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the cround
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row. now
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river,
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the
Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by
small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house,
familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of
the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished
and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was
for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments
of the Northwestern Territory.
Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec-
ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain
from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands.
These Avere generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous
schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27. 170."), the treaty between the United States and Spain
was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured.
No sooner had the treat}' of 1795 been ratified than settlements began
to pour rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the
occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was
this year, under the provisions of the treat}', evacuated by the British
forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not feel
justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to Detioit
and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were
called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne, who
had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who, before
the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 65
quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after
him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan,
and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were
formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle-
town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators
began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland
was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and
Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red-
stone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy
houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous
to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians,
Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that
part of the Northwest.
The election of representatives for the territory had taken place,
and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now
known as Cincinnati, liaving been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and
considered the capital of the Territory — to nominate persons from whom
the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with
a previous ordinance. Tliis nomination being made, the Assembly
adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named
the President selected as members of the council, Henrv Vandenburo;,
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President
of the Council.
The message of Gov. St. Clair Avas addressed to the Legislature
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to
Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes
cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of
Gen. St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by
the Governor, were thirty-seven — eleven others were passed, but received
his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to
the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro-
tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the
30th of December the President nominated Charles Willins: Brvd to tlie
office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to
Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day.
66 THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY.
DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain,
and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct
the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to
divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a
committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution.
This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that :
"In the three western countries there has been but one court havinsr
cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders
experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim-
inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements
in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist-
ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To
minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee
that it is expedient that a division of said territor}- into two distinct and
separate governments should be made : and that such division l)e made
b}^ a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running
directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States
and Canada."
The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its
suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri-
tory, which Act was approved May 7. Amdng its provisions were these :
" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of
the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward
of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the
Kentuckv River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north
until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a
separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory."
After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of
the territories, and other provisions, the Act fiirtlier provides :
" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the
said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the
seat of government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the
Ohio River; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the
seat of government for the Indiana Territory."
Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut
also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67
was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made upon
thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven
hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of November
the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year,
the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no
township containing- more than eleven families. It was upon the first of
October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province
of Louisiana.
In Januar}^ 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char-
tered the colleo-e at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787,
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read
throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the
Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern
territory the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of
the " compact of 1787 " provided that whenever the number of inhabit-
ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to
a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a
census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number,
and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits,
and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio,
so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundary, came
into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known,
but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly
within the territory of Indiana.
Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties
with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is
memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from
France by the United States for $15,000,000. Thus by a peaceful mode,
the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of
country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction
of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early
part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits
of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year
large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of
Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill respecting the
College Township in the district of Cincinnati.
Before the close of the year. Gen. Harrison obtained additional
grants of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present
limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at
St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from the
68 THE NORTHWEST TEKKITORY.
aborigines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in
and about Detroit.
C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri-
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post :
" The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now,
from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those
two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town
and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four
acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm.
Macomb. * * * A stoctade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a. state of gradual decay. The
streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right
angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant."
During this year. Congress granted a township of land for the sup-
port of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these
wilds, and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to
fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same 3'ear, also,
a law Avas passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into two
portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of
government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed to the
domain of Gen. Harrison.
On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed,
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the
change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fire
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed almost every building in the place.
When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it in
ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the country. Rebuild-
ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more
houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built.
While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade
of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large
tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian,
Tecumthe or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main cause
of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the
settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the
British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Techjmseh at
the battle of the Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest,
we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life,
and his connection with this conflict.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
6v
TECUMSEH, THE SHAWAXOE CHIEFTAIN.
(0 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
TECUMSEH. AND THE WAR OF 1812.
This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from
the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa,
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his
mother, ]Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century
to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be
chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum-
seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was
declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the
present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he
returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he went to White River, Indiana. In
1805, he and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced
himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chief
comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age,
was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of
enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas-
ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed
by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi-
dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who
afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first
house built on the site of Chicago. At this time, Tecumseh entered
upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of
land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the
Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land
could be made save by the consent of this confederation.
He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south
to the north, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect.
Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move-
ments of the Indians, became convinced that a grand coaispiracy was
forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseh's
plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacity.
During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre-
paring for the work. In that year. Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians
and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon
the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter protest, averring
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 71
as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any
lands north and west of the Ohio River.
Tecumseh, in August, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and
held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly
angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after
departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict.
Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the
prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten-
tions, provided tliey were true to the existing treaties. He encamped
near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he
was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of
Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their toAvn broken
up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his
brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating
the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans.
Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned
from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time
previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go
as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never
made. *
In June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against
the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his
people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif-
ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew
his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai-
den, in Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard.
He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was,
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow-
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan-
tonly murder the captive.
In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victory on Lake Erie occurred, and
shortly after active preparations were made to capture Maiden. On the
27th of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai-
den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand-
wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen.
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.
72
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor,
whom they overtook on the otli, and the battle of the Thames followed.
Earlv in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief-
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the war in
the Northwest.
INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADI,.
Jiist who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ;
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson,
who, fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal.
In I8O0 occurred Burr's Insurrection. He took possession of a
l)eautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged
by many with attempting to set up an indei)endent government. His
plans were frustrated by the general government, his j^roperty confiscated
and he Avas compelled to flee the country for safety.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73
In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about
Detroit. It was also daring this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored
to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby
slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts,
however, all signally failed.
In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory.
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western
part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year,
the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and
then began the events already narrated.
While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with
surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the
first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of
the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the
*' monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the
close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being
nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its
downward trip.
The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not
fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green-
ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States
and the Indian tribes, in which it was stipulated that the Indians should
cease hostilities aoainst the Americans if the war were continued. Such,
happily, was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty
of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United
States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various
Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again
restored in this part of the new world.
On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city.
It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its
manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed
to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties
organized, containing about sixty -three thousand inhabitants. The first
election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings
was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and
on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For
some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central
location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana),
vras laid out January 1, 1825.
74 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
On the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was
chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were
under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish branches
at different convenient points.
Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati liad in turn enjoyed the
privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the
northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a
more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col-
umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State.
Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was
chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state
the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable
to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend.
In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her
northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich-
igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes
was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of
revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that
the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to
navigate the bosom of that inland sea.
Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War,
but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were
opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab-
lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan
University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were
becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended,
and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the
record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros-
perity.
BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in
the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part
of the United States.
Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal
Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the
Mississippi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ;
his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early
distinguished himself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted
to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he
went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, one
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
76
BLACK ITAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN.
76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian braver}^ he was
permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the
head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the
Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to
his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce
battle ensued, in which the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The
Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees
for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City
of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of
the " Medicine Bag,"' at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation.
He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the
liead of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged
war against the Osage nation and subdued it. For two years he battled
successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered.
Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to
the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish
Father," he declined to see an}'- of the Americans, alleging, as a reason,
he did not want two fathers.
The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the
United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines
Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who
at once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was
garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties
with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812
■followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by
giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the
Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, at the head of al)Out five
hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on
his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre
had a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British
Government but little is kno\yn. In 1813 he with his little band descended
the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard
was defeated.
In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi
were notified that peace had been declared between the United States
and England, and nearly all hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not
sign any treaty, however, until May of the following year. He then recog-
nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. Ffrom the time of
signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he
and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life.
Ten years before the commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77
Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of
Waters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of
which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal,
and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of
the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set-
tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of his
native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and
his actions were undoubtedly misunderstood, and had his wishes been
acquiesced in at the beginning of tlie struggle, much bloodshed would
have been prevented.
Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted
warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearl}^ three
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived
many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them,
they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their
time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village
and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who
from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From
one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white
men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice they obtained
deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were
finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the
lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, l)ut as the
authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he
was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged
the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty
made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to
enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the
river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On
the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a
band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were
defeated.
This attack and its result aroused the whites. A large force of men
was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the
lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of
the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was
repulsed by Major Demont between Rock River and Galena. The Ameri-
can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of
the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band,
and defeated them near the Blue Mounds.
Before this action. Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main
armv by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the whole crossed the
78 THE NORTHWEST TEKRITORY.
"Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the ild of August, and in the battle
which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He
fled, but was seized by the Winnebasroes and delivered to the whites.
On the 21st of September, 18-32, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con-
cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes b}- which they
ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain
peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi-
sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that
Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs
of the hostile band>^ should be retained as hostages during the pleasure
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons.
The next Spring, by order of the Secretary of War. they were taken
to "Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress ^lonroe,
"there to remain until the conduct of their nation was such as to justify
their being set at libert}-." They were retained here until the 4th of
June, Avhen the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal
cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white
people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the
old chief being e<tensively known. By the middle of August they
reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon
after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth-
place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village
where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had
hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer.
On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and
his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder
of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re-
mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among
the Indians, living with her upward of forty years.
Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel-
ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all
times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten-
tion. He was an honored ofuest at the old settlers" reunion in Lee County,
Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem.
In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his
annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted
in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3.
His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply
during his sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre-
sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried in
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. " The
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 79
body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a
seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him
by Henry Clay, was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it.
Many of the old Avarrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some
Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons."
No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began
rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin,
now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, from a trading post, had
grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence.
In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed,
but did not take active form until two years later, when the State became
a part of the Federal Union.
The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of
Lake Michigan, now included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial
wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this
region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 183() was
made a territory, then including Minnesota and Iowa. The latter State
was detached two years later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a
State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various
divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from
the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances
compelled its present division.
OTHER INDIAN TROUBLES.
Before, leaving this part of the narrative, we will narrate briefly the
Indian troubles in Minnesota and elsewhere by the Sioux Indians.
In August, 1862, the Sioux Indians living on the western borders of
Minnesota fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, and in a few hours mas-
sacred ten or twelve hundred persons. A distressful panic was the
immediate result, fully thirty thousand persons fleeing from their homes
to districts supposed to be better protected. The military authorities
at once took active measures to punish the savages, and a large number
were killed and captured. About a year after, Little Crow, the chief,
was killed by a Mr. Lampson near Scattered Lake. Of those captured,
thirty were hung at Mankato, and the remainder, through fears of mob
violence, were removed to Camp McClellan, on the outskirts of the City
of Davenport. It was here that Big Eagle came into prominence and
secured his release by the following order :
80
THE N'OKTFfWKST TERRITORY.
»^^
BIG EAGLE.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 8X
"Special Ordei\ No. 430. '^ War Department,
"■ Adjutant General's (Jffice, Washington, Dec. 3, 1864.
'• Big Eagle, an Indian now in confinement at Davenport, Iowa,
will, upon the receipt of this order, be immediately released from confine-
ment and set at liberty.
•' B}^ order of the President of the United States.
" Official : " E. D. Townsend, AssH Adft Gen.
" Capt. James Vanderventer, Corny Sub. Vols.
^' Through Com'g Gen'l, Washington, D. C."
Another Indian who figures more prominently than Big Eagle, and.
who was more cowardly in his nature, with his band of Modoc Indians,
is noted in the annals of the New Northwest: we refer to Captain Jack.
This distinguished Indian, noted for his cowardly murder of Gen. Canby^
was a chief of a Modoc tribe of Indians inhabiting the border lands
between California and Oregon. This region of country comprises what
is known as the " Lava Beds," a tract of land described as utterly impenc'
trable, save by those savages who had made it their home.
The Modocs are known as an exceedingly fierce and treacherous
race. They had, according to their own traditions, resided here for many
generations, and at one time were exceedingly numerous and powerful.
A famine carried off nearly half their numbers, and disease, indolence
and the vices of the white man have reduced them to a poor, weak and
insignificant tribe.
Soon after the settlement of California and Oregon, complaints began
to be heard of massacres of emigrant trains passing through the Modoc
country. In 1847, an emigrant train, comprising eighteen souls, was en-
tirely destroyed at a place since known as " Bloody Point." These occur-
rences caused the United States Government to appoint a peace commission,
who, after repeated attempts, in 1864, made a treaty with the Modocs,
Snakes and Klamaths, in whicli it was agreed on their part to remove to
a reservation set apart for them in the southern part of Oregon.
With the exception of Captain Jack and a band of his followers, who
remained at Clear Lake, about six miles from Klamath, all the Indians
complied. The Modocs who went to the reservation were under chief
Schonchin. Captain Jack remained at the lake without disturbance
until 1869, when he was also induced to remove to the reservation. The
Modocs and the Klamaths soon became involved in a quarrel, and Captain
Jack and his band returned to the Lava Beds.
Several attempts were made by the Indian Commissioners to induce
them to return to the reservation, and finally becoming involved in a
82 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
difficulty with the commissioner and his military escort, a fight ensued,
in whicli tlie chief and his hand were routed. They were greatly enraged,
and on their retreat, before the day closed, killed eleven inoffensive wliites.
The nation was aroused and immediate action demanded. A com-
mission was at once appointed by the Government to see what could be
done. It comprised the following persons : Gen. E. R. S. Canby, Rev.
Dr. E. Thomas, a leading Methodist divine of California ; Mr. A. B.
Meacham, Judge Rosborough, of California, and a Mr. Dyer, of Oregon.
After several interviews, in whicli the savages were always aggressive,
often appearing with scalj)s in their belts. Bogus Charley came to the
commission on the evening of April 10, 1873, and informed them that
Capt. Jack and his band would have a " talk '' to-morrow at a place near
Clear Lake, about three miles distant. Here the Commissioners, accom-
panied by Charley, Riddle, the interpreter, and Boston Charley repaired.
After the usual greeting the council proceedings commenced. On behalf
of the Indians there were present : Capt. Jack, Black Jim, Schnac Nasty
Jim, Ellen's Man, and Hooker Jim. They had no guns, but carried pis-
tols. After short speeches by Mr. Meacham, Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas,
Chief Schonchin arose to speak. He had scarcely proceeded when,
as if by a preconcerted arrangement, Capt. Jack drew his pistol and shot
Gen. Canby dead. In less than a minute a dozen shots were fired by the
savages, and the massacre completed. Mr. Meacham was shot by Schon-
chin, and Dr. Thomas by Boston Charley. Mr. Dyer barely escaped, being
fired at twice. Riddle, the interpreter, and his squaw escaped. The
troops rushed to the spot where they found Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas
dead, and Mr. Meacham badly wounded. The savages had escaped to
their impenetrable fastnesses and could not be pursued.
The whole country was aroused by this brutal massacre ; but it was
not until the following May that the murderers were brought to justice.
At that time Boston Charley gave himself up, and offered to guide the
troops to Capt. Jack's stronghold. This led to the capture of his entire
gang, a number of whom were murdered by Oregon volunteers while on
their way to trial. The remaining Indians were held as prisoners until
July when their trial occurred, which led to the conviction of Capt.
Jack, Schonchin, Boston Charley, Hooker Jim, Broncho, alias One-Eyed
Jim, and Slotuck, who were sentenced to be hanged. These sentences
were approved by the President, save in the case of Slotuck and Broncho
whose sentences were commuted to imprisonment for life. The others
were executed at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873.
These closed the Indian troubles for a time in the Northwest, and for
several years the borders of civilization remained in peace. They were
again involved in a conflict with the savages about the country of the
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
S-3
CAPTAIN JACK, THE MODOC CHIEFTAIN.
84 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Black Hills, in which war the gallant Gen. Custer lost his life. Just
now the borders of Oregon and California are again in fear of hostilities ;
but as the Government has learned how to deal with the Indians, they
will be of short duration. The red man is fast passing away before the
march of the white man, and a few more generations will read of the
Indians as one of the nations of the past.
The Northwest abounds in memorable places. We have generally
noticed them in the narrative, but our space forbids their description in
detail, save of the most important places. Detroit, Cincinnati, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia and their kindred towns have all been described. But ere we
leave the narrative we will present our readers with an account of the
Kinzie house, the old landmark of Chicago, and the discovery of the
source of the Mississippi River, each of which may well find a place in
the annals of the Northwest.
Mr. John Kinzie, of the Kinzia house, represented in the illustra-
tion, established a trading house at Fort Dearborn in 1804. The stockade
had been erected the year previous, and named Fort Dearborn in honor
of the Secretary of War. It had a block house at each of the two angles,
on the southern side a sallyport, a covered way on the north side, that led
down to the river, for the double purpose of providing means of escape,
and of procuring water in the event of a siege.
Fort Dearborn stood on the south bank of the Chicago River, about
half a mile from its mouth. When Major Whistler built it, his soldiers
hauled all the timber, for he had no oxen, and so economically did he
work that the fort cost the Government only fifty dollars. For a while
the garrison could get no grain, and Whistler and his men subsisted on
acorns. Now Chicago is the greatest grain center in the world.
Mr. Kinzie bought the hut of the first settler, Jean Baptiste Point au
Sable, on the site of which he erected his mansion. Within an inclosure
in front he planted some Lombardy poplars, seen in the engraving, and in
the rear he soon had a fine garden and growing orchard.
In 1812 the Kinzie house and its surroundings became the theater
of stirring events. The garrison of Fort Dearborn consisted of fifty-four
men, under the charge of Capt. Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant
Lenai T. Helm (son-in-law to Mrs. Kinzie), and Ensign Ronan. The
surgeon was Dr. Voorhees. The only residents at the post at that time
were the wives of Capt. Heald and Lieutenant Helm and a few of the
soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and a few Canadian voyagers with their
wives and children. The soldiers and Mr. Kinzie were on the most
friendly terms with the Pottawatomies and the Winnebagoes, the prin-
cipal tribes ai-ound them, but they could not win them from their attach-
ment to the British.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
85
After the battle of Tippecanoe it was observed that some of the lead-
ing chiefs became sullen, for some of their people had perished in that
conflict with American troops.
One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing his violin and his
children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing into
the house pale with terror, and exclaiming, " The Indians ! the Indians ! "
" What? Where? " eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. " Up at Lee's, killino-
and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who, when the alarm was
given, was attending Mrs. Burns, a newly-made mother, living not far off.
KTNZIE HOUSE.
Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river in boats, and took refuge in
the fort, to which place Mrs. Burns and her infant, not a day old, were
conveyed in safety to the shelter of the guns of Fort Dearborn, and the
rest of the white inhabitants fled. The Indians were a scalping party of
Winnebagoes, who hovered around the fort some days, when they dis-
appeared, and for several weeks the inhabitants were not disturbed by
alarms.
Chicago was then so deep in the wilderness, that the news of the
declaration of war against Great Britain, made on the 19th of June, 1812,
did not reach the commander of the garrison at Fort Dearborn till the 7th
of August. Now the fast mail train will carry a man from New York to
Chicago in twenty-seven hours, and such a declaration might be sent,
every word, by the telegraph in less than the same number of minutes.
M'
THE ITOETHWEST TERRITORY.
87
PRESENT CONDITIOX OF THE NORTHWEST
Preceding- chapters have brought us to the close of the Black Hawk
war, and we now turn to the contempLation of the growth and prosperity
of the Northwest under the smile of peace and the blessings of our civili-
zation. The pioneers of this region date events back to the deep snow
- s^ /;)}'
A REPKESKKTATIVE PIOXEER.
of 1831, no one arriving here since that date taking first honors. The
inciting cause of the immigration wliich overflowed the prairies early in
the '30s was the reports of the marvelous beauty and fertility of the
region distributed through the East by those who had participated in the
Black Hawk campaign with Gen. Scott. (^'hicago and Milwaukee then
had a few hundred inhabitants, and Gurdon S. Hubbard's trail from the
former c!ty to Kaskaskia led almost through a wilderness. Vegetables
and clothing were largely distributed through the regions adjoining the
88
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
lakes by steamers from the Ohio towns. There are men now living in
Illinois who came to the state when barely an acre was in cultivation,
and a man now prominent in the business circles of Chicago looked over
the swampy, cheerless site of that metropolis in 1818 and Avent south-
ward into civilization. Emigrants; from Pennsvlvania in 1830 left behind
LINCOLN ^lONUMENT, srillNGFlELD, ILLINOIS.
them but one small railway in tlie coal regions, thirty miles in length,
and made their way to the Northwest mostly with ox teams, finding in
Northern Illinois petty settlements scores of miles apart, although the
southern portion of the state was fairly dotted with farms. The
water courses of the lakes and rivers furnished transportation to the
second crreat armv of immigrants, and about 1850 railroads were
pushed to that extent that the crisis of 1837 was precipitated upon us,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
89
from the effects of which the "Western country had not fully recovered
at the outbreak of the war. Hostilities found the colonists of the prairies
fuUv alive to the demands of the occasion, and the honor of recruiting
IL
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the vast armies of the Union fell larofelv to Gov. Yates, of Illinois, and
Gov. Morton, of Indiana. To recount the share of the glories of the
campaign won hf cv- Western troops is a needless task, except to
mention the fact that Illinois g-ave co the nation the President who saved
90
THE NORTHWEST TEltltlTOBY.
it, and sent out at the head of one of its regiments tne general Avho led
its armies to the final victory at Apiiomattox. The struggle, on the
FAKM VlJiW IX AVINTER.
whole, had a marked effect for the better on the new Northwest, g dng
it an impetus which twenty years of peace would not have produced.
In a large degree this prosperity was an inflated one, and with the rest
of the Union we have since been compelled to atone therefor by four
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 9S
years of depression of values, of scarcity of employment, and loss of
fortune. To a less degree, however, than the manufacturing or mining
regions has the West suffered during the prolonged panic now so near its
end. Agriculture, still the leading feature in our industries, has -been
quite prosperous through all these dark years, and the farmers liave
cleared away many incumbrances resting over them from the period of
fictitious values. The population has steadily increased, the arts and
sciences are gaining a stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is
becoming daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked communities on the
seaboard dependent wholly on foreign commerce or domestic manufacture.
At the present period there are no great schemes broached for the
Northwest, no propositions for government subsidies or national works
of improvement, but the capital of the world is attracted hither for the
purchase of our products or the expansion of our capacity for serving the
nation at large. A new era is dawning as to transportation, and we bid
fair to deal almost exclusively with the increasing and expanding lines
of steel rail running through every few miles of territory on the prairies.
The lake marine will no doubt continue to be useful in the warmer
season, and to serve as a regulator of freight rates; but experienced
navigators forecast the decay of the system in moving to the seaboard
the enormous crops of the West. Within the past five years it has
become quite common to see direct shipments to Europe and the West
Indies going through from the second-class towns along the Mississippi
and Missouri.
As to popular education, the standard has of late risen very greatly,
and our schools would be creditable to any section of the Union.
More and more as the events of the war pass into obscurity will the
fate of the Northwest be linked with that of the Southwest, and the
next Congressional apportionment will give the valley of the Mississippi
absolute control of the legislation of the nation, and do much toward
securing the removal of the Federal capitol to some more central location.
Our public men continue to wield the full share of influence pertain-
ing to their rank in the national autonomy, and seem not to forget that
for the past sixteen years they and their constituents have dictated the
principles which should govern the country.
In a work like this, destined to lie on the shelves of the library for
generations, and not doomed to daily destruction like a newspaper, one
can not indulge in the same glowing predictions, the sanguine statements
of actualities that fill the columns of ephemeral publications. Time may
bring grief to the pet projects of a writer, and explode castles erected on
a pedestal of facts. Yet there are unmistakable indications before us of
94
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
LAKE BLUFF.
The .''rontage of Lake Bluff Grounds on Lake Michigan, with one hnndied and seventj feet of gradual ascent
IIIOII BRIDGE, LAKE BLUFF, LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 95
the same radical change in our great Northwest which characterizes its
history for the past thirty years. Our domain has a sort of natural
geographical border, save where it melts away to the southward in the
cattle raising districts of the southwest.
Our prime interest will for some years doubtless be the growth of
the food of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival in this duty will naturally be the fertile
plains of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, to say nothing of the new
empire so rapidly growing up in Texas. Over these regions there is a
continued progress in agriculture and in railway building, and we must
look to our laurels. Intelligent observers of events are fully aware of
the strides made in the way of shipments of fresh meats to Europe,
many of these ocean cargoes being actually slaughtered in the West and
transported on ice to the wharves of the seaboard cities. That this new
enterprise will continue there is no reason to doubt. There are in
Chicago several factories for the canning of prepared meats for European
consumption, and the orders for this class of goods are already immense.
English capital is becoming daily more and more dissatisfied with railway
loans and investments, and is gradually seeking mammoth outlays in
lands and live stock. The stock yards in Chicago, Indianapolis and East
St. Louis are yearly increasing their facilities, and their plant steadily
grows more valuable. Importations of blooded animals from the pro-
gressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality
of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing
display in this line than at our state and county fairs, and the interest
in the matter is on the increase.
To attempt to give statistics of our grain production for 1877 would
be useless, so far have we surpassed ourselves in the quantity and
quality of our product. We are too liable to forget that we are giving
the world its first article of necessity — its food supply. An opportunity
to learn this fact so it never can be forgotten was afforded at Chicago at
the outbreak of the great panic of 1873, when Canadian purchasers,
fearing the prostration of business mightbring about an anarchical condition
of affairs, went to that city with coin in bulk and foreign drafts to secure
their supplies in their own currency at first hands. It may be justly
claimed by the agricultural community that their combined efforts gave
the nation its first impetus toward a restoration of its crippled industries,
and their labor brought the gold premium to a lower depth than the
government was able to reach by its most intense efforts of legislation
and compulsion. The hundreds of millions about to be disbursed for
farm products have already, by the anticipation common to all commercial
96
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY,
nations, set the wheels in motion, and will relieve us from the perils so
long shadowing our efforts to return to a healthy tone.
Manufacturing has attained in the chief cities a foothold which bids
fair to render the Nortliwest independent of the outside world. Nearly
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our whole region has a distribution of coal measures Avhich will in time
support the manufactures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As
to transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles excep""
food, )io section is so magnificently endowed, and our facilities are yearly
increasing beyond those of any other region.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 97
The period from a central point of the war to the outbreak of the
panic was marked by a tremendous growth in our railway lines, but the
depression of the times caused almost a total suspension of operations.
Now that prosperity is returning to our stricken country we witness its
anticipation by the railroad interest in a series of projects, extensions,
and leases which bid fair to largely increase our transportation facilities.
The process of foreclosure and sale of incumbered lines is another matter
to be considered. In the case of the Illinois Central road, which formerl}-
transferred to other lines at Cairo the vast burden of freight destined for
the Gulf region, we now see the incorporation of the tracks connecting
through to New Orleans, every mile co-operating in turning toward the
northwestern metropolis the weight of the inter-state commerce of a
thousand miles or more of fertile plantations. Three competing routes
to Texas have established in Chicago their general freight and passenger
agencies. Four or five lines compete for all Pacific freights to a point as
as far as the interior of Nebraska. Half a dozen or more splendid bridge
structures have been thrown across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by
the railways. The Chicago and Northwestern line has become an aggre-
gation of over two thousand miles of rail, and the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul is its close rival in extent and importance. The three lines
running to Cairo via Vincennes form a through route for all traffic with
the states to the southward. The chief projects now under discussion
are the Chicago and Atlantic, which is to unite with lines now built to
Charleston, and the Chicago and Canada Southern, which line will con-
nect with all the various branches of that Canadian enterprise. Our
latest new road is the Chicago and Lake Huron, formed of three lines,
and entering the city from Valparaiso on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago track. The trunk lines being mainly in operation, the
progress made in the way of shortening tracks, making air-line branches,
and running extensions does not show to the advantage it deserves, as
this process is constantly adding new facilities to the established order
of things. The panic reduced the price of steel to a point where the
railways could hardly afford to use iron rails, and all our northwestern
lines report large relays of Bessemer track. The immense crops now
being moved have given a great rise to the value of railway stocks, and
their transportation must result in heavy pecuniary advantages.
Few are aware of the importance of the wholesale and jobbing trade
of Chicago. One leading firm has since the panic sold i|24,000,000 of
dry goods in one year, and they now expect most confidently to add
seventy per cent, to the figures of their last year's business. In boots
and shoes and in clothing, twenty or more great firms from the east have
placed here their distributing agents or their factories ; and in groceries
98
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Chicago supplies the entire Northwest at rates presenting advantages
over New York.
Chicago has stepped in between New York and the rural banks as a
financial center, and scarcely a banking institution in the grain or cattle
regions but keeps its reserve funds in the vaults of our commercial insti-
tutions. Accumulating here throughout the spring and summer months,
they are summoned home at pleasure to move the products of the
prairies. This process greatly strengthens the northwest in its financial
operations, leaving home capital to supplement local operations on
behalf of home interests.
It is impossible to forecast the destiny of this grand and growing
section of the Union. Figures and predictions made at this date might
seem ten years hence so ludicrously small as to excite only derision.
ILLINOIS.
Length, 380 miles, mean width about 156 miles. Area, 55,410 square
miles, or 35,462,400 acres. Illinois, as regards its surface, constitutes a
table-land at a varying elevation ranging between 350 and 800 feet above
the sea level ; composed of extensive and highly fertile prairies and plains.
Much of the south division of the State, especially the river-bottoms, are
thickly wooded. The prairies, too, have oasis-like clumps of trees
scattered here and there at intervals. The chief rivers irrigating the
State are the Mississippi — dividing it from Iowa and Missouri — the Ohio
(forming its south barrier), the Illinois, Wabash, Kaskaskia, and San-
gamon, with their numerous affluents. The total extent of navigable
streams is calculated at 4,000 miles. Small lakes are scattered over vari-
ous parts of the State. Illinois is extremely prolific in minerals, chiefly
coal, iron, copper, and zinc ores, sulphur and limestone. The coal-field
alone is estimated to absorb a full third of the entire coal-deposit of North
America. Climate tolerably equable and healthy ; the mean temperature
standing at about 51° Fahrenheit As an agricultural region, Illinois takes
a competitive rank with neighboring States, the cereals, fruits, and root-
crops yielding plentiful returns ; in fact, as a grain-growing State, Illinois
may be deemed, in proportion to her size, to possess a greater area of
lands suitable for its production than any other State in the Union. Stock-
raising is also largely carried on, while her manufacturing interests in
regard of woolen fabrics, etc., are on a very extensive and yearly expand-
ing scale. The lines of railroad in the State are among the most exten-
sive of the Union. Inland water-carriage is facilitated by a canal
connecting the Illinois River with Lake Michigan, and thence with the
St. Lawrence and Atlantic. Illinois is divided into 102 counties ; the
chief towns being Chicago, Springfield (capital), Alton, Quincy, Peoria,
Galena, Bloomington, Eock Island, Vandalia, etc. By the new Consti-
tution, established in 1870, the State Legislature consists of 51 Senators,
elected for four years, and 153 Representatives, for two years ; which
numbers were to be decennially increased thereafter to the number of
six per every additional half-million of inhabitants. Religious and
educational institutions are largely diffused throughout, and are in a very
flourishing condition. Illinois has a State Lunatic and a Deaf and Dumb
Asylum at Jacksonville ; a State Penitentiary at Joliet ; and a Home for
(99)
100
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Soldiers' Orphans at Normal. On November 30, 1870, the public debt of
the State was returned at $4,870,937, with a balance of $1,808,833
unprovided for. At the same period the value of assessed and equalized
property presented the following totals: assessed, 8840,031,703 ; equal-
ized -"^480, 064,058. The name of Illinois, through nearly the whole of
the eighteenth century, embraced most of the known regions north and
west of Ohio. French colonists established themselves in 1673, at
Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and the territory of which these settlements
formed the nucleus was, in 1763, ceded to Great Britain in conjunction
with Canada, and ultimately resigned to the United States in 1787.
Illinois entered the Union as a State, December 3, 1818; and now sends
19 Representatives to Congress. Population, 2,539,891, in 1870.
JS^Lj/J^!^
&',~..'^ *-'-''
A WESTERX DA\T2LL1NG.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. lUl
INDIANA
The profile of Indiana forms a nearly exact parallelogram, occupy-
ing one of the most fertile portions of the great Mississippi Valley. The
greater extent of the surface embraced within its limits consists of gentle
undulations rising into hilly tracts toward the Ohio bottom. The chief
rivers of the State are the Ohio and Wabash, with their numerous
affluents. The soil is highly productive of the cereals and grasses — most
particularly so in the valleys of the Ohio, Wabash, Whitewater, and
White Rivers. The northeast and central portions are well timbered
with virgin forests, and the west section is notq.bly rich in coal, constitut-
ing an offshoot of the great Illinois carboniferous field. Iron, copper,
marble, slate, gypsum, and various clays are also abundant. From an
agricultural point of view, the staple products are maize and wheat, with
the other cereals in lesser yields ; and besides these, flax, hemp, sorghum,
hops, etc., are extensively raised. Indiana is divided into 92 counties,
and counts among her principal cities and towns, those of Indianapolis
(the capital), Fort Wayne, Evansville, Terre Haute, Madison, Jefferson-
ville, Columbus, Vincennes, South Bend, etc. The public institutions of
the State are many and various, and on a scale of magnitude and
efficiency commensurate with her important political and industrial status.
Upward of two thousand miles of railroads permeate the State in all
directions, and greatly conduce to the development of her expanding
manufacturing interests. Statistics for the fiscal year terminating
October 31, 1870, exhibited a total of receipts, -$3, 896,541 as against dis-
bursements, $3,532,406, leaving a balance, 1364,135 in favor of the State
Treasury. The entire public debt, January 5, 1871, $3,971,000. This
State was first settled by Canadian voyageurs in 1702, who erected a fort
at Vincennes ; in 1763 it passed into the hands of the English, and was
by the latter ceded to the United States in 1783. From 1788 till 1791,
an Indian ware fare prevailed. In 1800, all the region west and north of
Ohio (then formed into a distinct territory) became merged in Indiana.
In 1809, the present limits of the State were defined, Michigan and
Illinois having previously been withdrawn. In 1811, Indiana was the
theater of the Indian War of Tecumseh, ending with the decisive battle
of Tippecanoe. In 1816 (December 11), Indiana became enrolled among
the States of the American Union. In 1834, the State passed through a
monetary crisis owing to its having become mixed up with railroad,
Qanal, and other speculations on a gigantic scale, which ended, for the
time being, in a general collapse of public credit, and consequent bank-
ruptcy. Since that time, however, the greater number of the public
102 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
works which had brought about that imbroglio — especially the great
Wabash aud Erie Canal — have been completed, to the great benefit of
the State, whose subsequent progress has year by year been marked by
rapid strides in the paths of wealth, commerce, and general social and
political prosperity. The constitution now in force was adopted in 1851.
Population, 1,680,637.
IOWA.
In shape, Iowa presents an almost perfect parallelogram ; has a
length, north to south, of about 300 miles, by a pretty even width of 208
miles, and embraces an area of 55,045 square miles, or 35,228,800 acres.
The surface of the State is generally undulating, rising toward the
middle into an elevated plateau which forms the " divide " of the
Missouri and Mississippi basins. Rolling prairies, especially in the south
section, constitute a regnant feature, and the river bottoms, belted with
woodlands, present a soil of the richest alluvion. Iowa is well watered ;
the principal rivers being the Mississippi and Missouri, which form
respectively its east and west limits, and the Cedar, Iowa, and Des
Moines, affluents of the first named. Mineralogically, Iowa is important
as occupying a section of the great Northwest coal field, to the extent of
an area estimated at 25,000 square miles. Lead, copper, zinc, and iron,
are also mined in considerable quantities. The soil is well adapted to
the production of wheat, maize, and the other cereals ; fruits, vegetables,
and esculent roots ; maize, wheat, and oats forming the chief staples.
Wine, tobacco, hops, and wax, are other noticeable items of the agricul-
tural yield. Cattle-raising, too, is a branch of rural industry largely
engaged in. The climate is healthy, although liable to extremes of heat
and cold. The annual gross product of the various manufactures carried
on in this State approximate, in round numbers, a sum of $20,000,000.
Iowa has an immense railroad system, besides over 500 miles of water-
communication by means of its navigable rivers. The State is politically
divided into 99 counties, with the following centers of population : Des
Moines (capital), Iowa City (former capital), Dubuque, Davenport, Bur-
lington, Council Bluffs, Keokuk, Muscatine, and Cedar Rapids. The
State institutions of Iowa — religious, scholastic, aud philanthropic — are
on a par, as regards number and perfection of organization and operation,
with those of her Northwest sister States, aud education is especially
well cared for, and largely diffused. Iowa formed a portion of the
American territorial acquisitions from France, by the so-called Louisiana
purchase in 1803, and was politically identified with Louisiana till 1812,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 103
when it merged into the Missouri Territor}-; in 1834 it came under the
Michigan organization, and, in 1836, under that of Wisconsin. Finally,
after being constituted an independent Territory, it became a State of
the Union, December 28, 1846. Population in 1860, 674,913 ; in 1870,
1,191,792, and in 1875, 1,353,118.
MICHIGAN.
United area, 56,243 square miles, or 35,995,520 acres. Extent of the
Upper and smaller Peninsula — length, 316 miles; breadth, fluctuating
between 36 and 120 miles. The south division is 416 miles long, by from
50 to 300 miles wide. Aggregate lake-shore line, .1,400 miles. The
Upper, or North, Peninsula consists chiefly of an elevated plateau,
expanding into the Porcupine mountain-system, attaining a maximum
height of some 2,000 feet. Its shores along Lake Superior are eminently
bold and picturesque, and its area is rich in minerals, its product of
copper constituting an important source of industry. Both divisions are
heavily wooded, and the South one, in addition, boasts of a deep, rich,
loamy soil, throwing up excellent crops of cereals and other agricultural
produce. The climate is generally mild and humid, though the Winter
colds are severe. The chief staples of farm husbandry include the cereals,
grasses, maple sugar, sorghum, tobacco, fruits, and dairy-stuffs. In 1870,
the acres of land in farms were : improved, 5,096,939 ; unimproved
woodland, 4,080,146 ; other unimproved land, 842,057. The cash value
of land was $398,240,578 ; of farming implements and machinery,
$13,711,979. In 1869, there were shipped from the Lake Superior ports,
874,582 tons of iron ore, and 45,762 of smelted pig, along with 14,188
tons of copper (ore and ingot). Coal is another article largely mined.
Inland communication is provided for by an admirably organized railroad
system, and by the St. Mary's Ship Canal, connecting Lakes Huron and
Superior. Michigan is politically divided into 78 counties ; its chief
urban centers are Detroit, Lansing (capital), Ann Arbor, Marquette,
Bay City, Niles, Ypsilanti, Grand Haven, etc. The Governor of the
State is elected biennially. On November 30, 1870, the aggregate l)onded
debt of Michigan amounted to $2,385,028, and the assessed valuation of
land to $266,929,278, representing an estimated cash value of $800,000,000.
Education is largely diffused and most excellently conducted and pro-
vided for. The State University at Ann Arbor, the colleges of Detroit
and Kalamazoo, the Albion Female College, the State Normal School at
Ypsilanti, and the State Agricultural College at Lansing, are chief among
the academic institutions. Michigan (a term of Chippeway origin, and
104 THE NORTHWEST TEUKITORY.
signifying "Great Lake), was discovered and first settled by French
Canadians, who, in 1670, founded Detroit, the pioneer of a series of trad-
ing-posts on the Indian frontier. During the " Conspiracy of Pouitiac,"
following the French loss of Canada, Michigan became the scene of a
sanguinary struggle between the whites and aborigines. In 1796, it
became annexed to the United States, which incorporated this region
with the Northwest Territory, and then with Indiana Territory, till 1803,
when it became territorially independent. Michigan was the theater of
warlike operations during the war of 1812 with Great Britain, and in
1819 was authorized to be represented by one delegate in Congress ; in
1837 she was admitted into the Union as a State, and in 1869 ratified the
IStli Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Population, 1,184,059.
WISCONSIN.
It has a mean length of 260 miles, and a maximum breadth of 215.
Land area, 53,924 square miles, or 34,511,360 acres. Wisconsin lies at a
considerable altitude above sea-level, and consists for the most part of an
upland plateau, the surface of which is undulating and very generally
diversified. Numerous local eminences called mounds are interspersed
over the State, and the Lake Michigan coast-line is in many parts char-
acterized by lofty escarped cliffs, even as on the west side the banks of
the Mississippi form a series of high and picturesque bluffs. A group of
islands known as The Apostles lie off the extreme north point of the
State in Lake Superior, and the great estuary of Green Bay, running far
inland, gives formation to a long, narrow peninsula between its waters
and those of Lake Michigan. The river-system of Wisconsin has tlu'ee
outlets — those of Lake Superior, Green Bay, and the Mississippi, which
latter stream forms the entire southwest frontier, widening at one point
into the large watery expanse called Lake Pepin. Lake Superior receives
the St. Louis, Burnt Wood, and Montreal Rivers ; Green Bay, the
Menomonee, Peshtigo, Oconto, and Fox ; while into the Mississippi
empty the St. Croix, Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, and Rock Rivers.
The chief interior lakes are those of Winnebago, Horicon, and Court
Oreilles, and smaller sheets of water stud a great part of the surface.
The climate is healthful, with cold Winters and brief but very warm
Summers. Mean annual rainfall 31 inches. The geological system
represented b}' the State, embraces those rocks included between the
primary and the Devonian series, the former containing extensive
deposits of copper and iron ore. Besides these minerals, lead and zinc
are found in great quantities, together with kaolin, plumbago, gypsum.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 105
and various clays. Mining, consequently, forms a prominent industry,
and one of yearly increasing dimensions. The soil of Wisconsin is of
varying quality, but fertile on the whole, and in the north parts of the
State heavily timbered. The agricultural yield comprises the cereals,
together with flax, hemp, tobacco, pulse, sorgum, and all kinds of vege-
tables, and of the hardier fruits. In 1870, the State had a total number
of 102,904 farms, occupying 11,715,321 acres, of which 5,899,343 con-
sisted of improved land, and 3,437,442 were timbered. Cash value of
farms, $300,414,064 ; of farm implements and machinery, $14,239,364.
Total estimated value of all farm products, including betterments and
additions to stock, $78,027,032 ; of orchard and dairy stuffs, $1,045,933 ;
of lumber, $1,327,618 ; of home manufactures, $338,423 ; of all live-stock,
$45,310,882. Number of manufacturing establishments, 7,136, employ-
ing 39,055 hands, and turning out productions valued at $85,624,966.
The political divisions of the State form 61 counties, and the chief places
of wealth, trade, and population, are Madison (the capital), Milwaukee,
Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Prairie du Chien, Janesville, Portage City,
Racine, Kenosha, and La Crosse. In 1870, the total assessed valuation
reached $333,209,838, as against a true valuation of both real and personal
estate aggregating $602,207,329. Treasury receipts during 1870, $886,-
696 ; disbursements, $906,329. Value of church property, $4,749,983.
Education is amply provided for. Independently of the State University
at Madison, and those of Galesville and of Lawrence at Appleton, and
the colleges of Beloit, Racine, and Milton, there are Normal Schools at
Platteville and Whitewater. The State is divided into 4,802 common
school districts, maintained at a cost, in 1870, of $2,094,160. The chari-
table institutions of Wisconsin include a Deaf and Dumb Asylum, an
Institute for the Education of the Blind, and a Soldiers' Orphans' School.
In January, 1870, the railroad system ramified throughout the State
totalized 2,779 miles of track, including several lines far advanced toward
completion. Immigration is successfully encouraged by the State author-
ities, the larger number of yearly new-comers being of Scandinavian and
German origin. The territory now occupied within the limits of the
State of Wisconsin was explored by French missionaries and traders in
1639, and it remained under French jurisdiction until 1703, when it
became annexed to the British North American possessions. In 1796, it
reverted to the United States, the government of which latter admitted
it within the limits of the Northwest Territory, and in 1809, attached it
to that of Illinois, and to Michigan in 1818. Wisconsin became independ-
ently territorially organized in 1836, and became, a State of the Union,
March 3, 1847. Population in 1870, 1,064,985, of which 2,113 were of
the colored race, and 11,521 Indians, 1,206 of thfe latter being out of
tribal relations.
106 THE NORTHWEST TERHITORY.
MINNESOTA
Its length, north to south, embraces an extent of 380 miles ; its
breadth one of 250 miles at a maximum. Area, 84,000 square miles, or
54.760,000 acres. The surface of Minnesota, generally speaking, con-
sists of a succession of gently undulating plains and prairies, drained by
an admirable water-system, and with here and there heavily- timbered
bottoms and belts of virgin forest. The soil, corresponding with such a
superfices, is exceptionally rich, consisting for the most part of a dark,
calcareous sandy drift intermixed with loam. A distinguishing physical
feature of this State is its riverine ramifications, expanding in nearly
every part of it into almost innumerable lakes — the whole presenting an
aggregate of water-power having hardly a rival in the Union. Besides
the Mississippi — which here has its rise, and drains a basin of 800 miles
of country — the principal streams are the Minnesota (334 miles long),
the Red River of the North, the St. Croix, St. Louis, and many others of
lesser importance ; the chief lakes are those called Red, Cass, Leech,
Mille Lacs, Vermillion, and Winibigosh. Quite a concatenation of sheets
of water fringe the frontier line where Minnesota joins British America,
culminating in the Lake of the Woods. It has been estimated, that of
an area of 1,200,000 acres of surface between the St. Croix and Mis-
sissippi Rivers, not less than 73,000 acres are of lacustrine formation. In
point of minerals, the resources of Minnesota have as yet been very
imperfectly developed; iron, copper, coal, lead — all these are known to
exist in considerable deposits ; together with salt, limestone, and potter's
clay. The agricultural outlook of the State is in a high degree satis-
factory ; wheat constitutes the leading cereal in cultivation, with Indian
corn and oats in next order. Fruits and vegetables are grown in great
plenty and of excellent quality. The lumber resources of Minnesota are
important ; the pine forests in the north legion alone occupying an area
of some 21,000 square miles, which in 1870 produced a return of scaled
logs amounting to 313,116,416 feet. The natural industrial advantasres
possessed by Minnesota are largely improved upon by a railroad system.
The political divisions of this State number 78 counties ; of which tlie
chief cities and towns are : St. Paul (the capital), Stillwater, Red Wing,
St. Anthony, Fort Snelling, Minneapolis, and Mankato. Minnesota has
already assumed an attitude of high importance as a manufacturing State ;
this is mainly due to the wonderful command of water-power she pos-
sesses, as before spoken of. Besides her timber-trade, the milling of
flour, the distillation of whisky, and the tanning of leather, are prominent
interests, which, in 1869, gave returns to the amount of 814,831,043.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 107
Education is notably provided for on a broad and catholic scale, the
entire amount expended scholastically during the year 1870 being $857,-
816 ; while on November 30 of the preceding year the permanent school
fund stood at -$2,476,222. Besides a University and Agricultural College,
Normal and Reform Schools flourish, and with these may be mentioned
such various philanthropic and religious institutions as befit the needs of
an intelligent and prosperous community. The finances of the State for
the fiscal year terminating December 1, 1870, exhibited a balance on the
right side to the amount of $136,164, being a gain of $44,000 over the
previous year's figures. The earliest exploration of Minnesota by the
whites was made in 1680 by a French Franciscan, Father Hennepin, who
gave the name of St. Antony to the Great Falls on the Upper Missisippi.
In 1763, the Treatv of Versailles ceded this region to Enoland.
Twenty years later, Minnesota formed part of the Northwest Territory
transferred to the United States, and became herself territorialized inde-
pendently in 1849. Indian cessions in 1851 enlarged her boundaries, and.
May 11, 1857, Minnesota became a unit of the great American federation
of States. Population, 439,706.
NEBRASKA.
Maximum length, 412 miles ; extreme breadth, 208 miles. Area,
75,905 square miles, or 48,636,800 acres. The surface of tliis State is
almost entirely undulating prairie, and forms part of the west slope of
the great central basin of the North American Continent. In its west
division, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, is a sandy belt of
country, irregularly defined. In this part, too, are the " dunes," resem-
bling a wavy sea of sandy billows, as well as the Mauvaises Terres. a tract
of singular formation, produced by eccentric disintegrations and denuda-
tions of the land. The chief rivers are the Missouri, constituting its en-
tire east line of demarcation ; the Nebraska or Platte, the Niobrara, the
Republican Fork of the Kansas, the Elkhorn, and the Loup Fork of the
Platte. The soil is very various, but consisting chiefly of rich, bottomy
loam, admirably adapted to the raising of heavy crops of cereals. All
the vegetables and fruits of the temperate zone are produced in great
size and plenty. For grazing purposes Nebraska is a State exceptionally
well fitted, a region of not less than 23,000,000 acres being adaptable to
this branch of husbandry. It is believed that the, as yet, comparatively
infertile tracts of land found in various parts of the State are susceptible
of productivity by means of a properly conducted system of irrigation.
Few minerals of moment have so far been found witliin the limits of
108
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
Nebraska, if we may except important saline deposits at the head of Salt
Creek [n ics southeast section. Tlie State is divided into 57 counties,
independent of the Pawnee and Winnebago Indians, and of unorganized
territory in the northwest part. The principal towns are Omaha, Lincoln
(State capital), Nebraska City, Columbus, Grand Island, etc. In 1870,
the total assessed value of property amounted to 853,000,000, being an
increase of $11,000,000 over the previous year's returns. The total
amount received from the school-fund during the j'ear 1869-70 was
$77,999. Education is making great onward strides, the State University
and an Agricultural College being far advanced toward eompletion. In
the matter of railroad communication, Nebraska bids fair to soon place
herself on a par with her neighbors to the east. Besides being inter-
sected by the Union Pacific line, with its off-shoot, the Fremont and Blair,
other tracks are in course of rapid construction. Organized by Con-
gressional Act into a Territory, May 30, 1854, Nebraska entered the
Union as a full State, March 1, 1867. Population, 122,993.
TirXTTXc; PKATEIE WOLVES IX AX KAKI.V DAY.
Early History of Illinois.
The name of this beautiful Prairie State is derived from Illini, a
Delaware word signifying Superior Men. It has a French termination^
and is a symbol of how the two races — the French and the Indians —
were intermixed during the early history of the country.
The appellation was no doubt well applied to the primitive inhabit-
ants of the soil whose prowess in savage warfare long withstood the
combined attacks of the fierce Iroquois on the one side, and the no less,
savage and relentless Sacs and Foxes on the other. The Illinois were
once a powerful confederacy, occupying the most beautiful and fertile
region in the great Valle}^ of the Mississippi, which their enemies coveted
and struggled long and hard to wrest from them. By the fortunes of
war they were diminished in numbers, and finally destroyed. " Starved
Rock," on the Illinois River, according to tradition, commemorates their
last tragedy, where, it is said, the entii-e tribe starved rather than sur-
render.
EARLY DISCOVERIES.
The first European discoveries in Illinois date back over two hun-
dred years. They are a part of that movement which, from the begin-
ning to the middle of the seventeenth century, brought the French
Canadian missionaries and fur traders into the Valley of the Mississippi,,
and which, at a later period, established the civil and ecclesiastical
authority of France from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the foot-hills of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains.
The great river of the West had been discovered by DeSoto, the
Spanish .conqueror of Florida, three quarters of a century before the
French founded Quebec in 1608, but the Spanish left the country a wil-
derness, without further exploration or settlement within its borders, in
which condition it remained until the Mississippi was discovered b}' the
agents of the French Canadian government, Jolietand Marquette, in 1673.
These renowned explorers were not the first white visitors to Illinois.
In 1671 — two years in advance of them — came Nicholas Perrot to Chicago,
He had been sent by Talon as an agent of the Canadian government to
rog
110
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OP nJLlNOIS. HI
call a great peace convention of "Western Indians at Green Bay, prepara-
tory to the movement for the discovery of the Mississippi. It was
deemed a good stroke of policy to secure, as far as possible, the friend-
ship and co-operation of the Indians, far and near, before venturing upon
an enterprise which their hostility might render disastrous, and which
their friendsliip and assistance would do so much to make successful ;
and to this end Perrot was sent to call too-ether in council the tribes
throughout the Northwest, and to promise them the commerce and pro-
tection of the French government. He accordingly arrived at Green
Bay in 1671, and procuring an escort of Pottawattamies, proceeded in a
bark canoe upon a visit to the Miamis, at Chicago. Perrot was there-
fore the first European to set foot upon the soil of Illinois.
Still there were others before Marquette. In 1672, the Jesuit mis-
sionaries. Fathers Claude AUouez and Claude Dablon, bore the standard
of the Cross from their mission at Green Bay through western Wisconsin
and northern Illinois, visiting the Foxes on Fox River, and the Masquo-
tiiies and Kickapoos at the mouth of the Milwaukee. These missionaries
penetrated on the route afterwards followed by Marquette as far as the
Kickapoo village at the head of Lake Winnebago, where Marquette, in
his journey, secured guides across the portage to the Wisconsin.
The oft-repeated story of Marquette and Joliet is well known.
They were the agents employed by the Canadian government to discover
the Mississippi. Marquette was a native of France, born in 1637, a
Jesuit priest by education, and a man of simple faith and of great zeal and
devotion in extending the Roman Catholic religion among the Indians.
Arriving in Canada in 1666, he was sent as a missionary to the far
Northwest, and, in 1668, founded a mission at Sault Ste. Marie. The
following year he moved to La Pointe, in Lake Superior, where he
instructed a branch of the Hurons till 1670, when he removed south, and
founded the mission at St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. Here
he remained, devoting a portion of his time to the study of the Illinois
language under a native teacher who had accompanied him to the mission
from La Pointe, till he was joined by Joliet in the Spring of 1673. By
the way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, they entered
the Mississippi, which they explored to the mouth of the Arkansas, and
returned by the way of the Illinois and Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan.
On his way up the Illinois, Marquette visited the great village of
the Kaskaskias, near what is now Utica, in the county of LaSalle. The
following year he returned and established among them the mission of
the Immaculate Virgin Mary, which was the first Jesuit mission founded
in Illinois and in the Mississippi Valley. The intervening winter he
had spent in a hut which his companions erected on the Chicago River, a
few leagues from its mouth. The founding of this mission was the last
112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
act of Marquette's life. He died in Michigan, on his way back to Green
Bay, May 18, 1675.
FIRST FRENCH OCCUPATION.
The first French occupation of the territory now embraced in Illi-
nois was effected by LaSalle in 1680, seven years after the time of Mar-
quette and Joliet. LaSalle, having constructed a vessel, the " Griffin,"
above the falls of Niagara, which he sailed to Green Bay, and having
passed thence in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph River, by which
and the Kankakee he reached the Illinois, in January, 1680, erected Fort
.Crevecoeur^ at the lower end of Peoria Lake, where the cit}' of Peoria is
now situated. The place where this ancient fort stood may still be seen
just below the outlet of Peoria Lake. It was destined, however, to a
temporary existence. From this point, LaSalle determined to descend
the Mississippi to its mouth, but did not accomplish this purpose till two
years later — in 1682. Returning to Fort Frontenac for the purpose of
getting materials with which to rig his vessel, he left the fort in charge of
Touti, his lieutenant, who during his absence was driven off by the Iro-
quois Indians. These savages had made a raid upon the settlement of
the Illinois, and had left nothing in their track but ruin and desolation.
Mr. Davidson, in his History of Illinois, gives the following graphic
account of the picture that met the eyes of LaSalle and his companions
on their return : '
" At the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene
which opened to their view. No hunter appeared to break its death-like
silence with a salutatory whoop ot welcome. The plain on which the
town had stood was now strewn with charred fragments of lodges, which
had so recently swarmed with savage life and hilarity. To render more
hideous the picture of desolation, large numbers of skulls had been
placed on the upper extremities of lodge-poles which had escaped the
devouring flames. In the midst of these horrors was the rude fort of
the spoilers, rendered frightful by the same ghastly relics. A near
approach showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and
swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting: their loathsome stomachs
on the reeking corruption. To complete the work of destruction, the
growing corn of the village had been cut down and burned, while the
pits containing the products of previous years, had been rifled and their
contents scattered with wanton waste. It was evident the suspected
blow of the Iroquois had fallen with relentless fury."'
Tonti had escaped LaSalle knew not whither. Passing down the
lake in search of him and his men, LaSalle discovered that the fort had
been destroyed, but the vessel which he had partly constructed was still
*a.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 118
on the stocks, and but slightly injured. After further fruitless search,
failing to find Tonti, he fastened to a tree a painting representing himself
and party sitting in a canoe and bearing a pipe of peace, and to the paint-
ing attached a letter addressed to Tonti.
Tonti had escaped, and, after untold privations, taken shelter among
the Pottawattamies near Green Bay. These were friendly to the French.
One of their old chiefs used to say, " There were but three great cap-
tains in the world, himself, Tonti and LaSalle."
GENIUS OF LaSALLE.
We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in such
bold relief. He was born in Rouen, France, in 1643. His father was
wealth}^ but he renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the
Jesuits, from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man in 1666.
The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a brother, were then the
proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus of which was a seminary or con-
vent founded by that order. The Superior granted to LaSalle a large
tract of land at LaChine, where he established himself in the fur trade.
He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his competitors in
exploits of travel and commerce with the Indians. In 1669, he visited
the headquarters of the great Iroquois Confederacy, at Onondaga, in the
heart of New York, and, obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to
the falls at Louisville.
In order to understand the genius of LaSalle, it must be remembered
that for many years prior to his time the missionaries and traders were
obliged to make their way to the Northwest by the Ottawa River (of
Canada) on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the lower
lakes and Niagara River, which entirely closed this latter route to the
Upper Lakes. They carried on their commerce chiefly b}^ canoes, pad-
dling them through the Ottawa to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across
the portage to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron. This
being the route by which they reached the Northwest, accounts for the
fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions were established in the neighbor-
hood of the Upper Lakes. LaSalle conceived the grand idea of opening
the route by Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce
by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the Mississippi, and
thus opening a magnificent water communication from the Gulf of St.
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. This truly grand and comprehensive
purpose seems to have animated him in all his wonderful achievements
and the matchless difficulties and hardships he surmounted. As the first
step in the accomplishment of this object he established himself on Lake
Ontario, and built and garrisoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present
114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
city of Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from the
French crown and a body of troops b}^ which he beat back the invading
Iroquois and cleared the passage to Niagara Falls. Having by this mas-
terly stroke made it safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his
next step, as we have seen, was to advance to the Falls with all his
outfit for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He was success-
ful in this undertaking, though his ultimate purpose was defeated by a
strange combination of untoward circumstances. Tlie Jesuits evidently
hated LaSalle and plotted against him, because he had abandoned them
and co-operated with a rival order. The fur traders were also jealous of
his superior success in opening new channels of commerce. At LaChine
he had taken the trade of Lake Ontario, which but for his presence tliere
would have gone to Quebec. While they were plodding with their barK
canoes through the Ottawa he was constructing sailing vessels to com-
mand the trade of the lakes and tlie Mississippi. These great plans
excited the jealousy and envy of the small traders, introduced treason and
revolt into the ranks of his own companions, and finally led to the foul
assassination by which his great achievements were prematurely ended.
In 1682, LaSalle, having completed his vessel at Peoria, descended
the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of Mexico. Erecting a
standard on which he inscribed the arms of France, he took formal pos-
session of the whole valley of the mighty river, in the name of Louis
XIV., then reigning, in honor of whom he named the country Louisiana.
LaSalle then went to France, was appointed Governor, and returned
with a fleet and immigrants, for the purpose of planting a colony in Illi-
nois. They arrived in due time in the Gulf of Mexico, but failing to
find the mouth of the Mississippi, up which LaSalle intended to sail, his
supply ship, with the immigrants, was driven ashore and wrecked on
^Matagorda Bay. With the fragments of the vessel he constructed a
stockade and rude huts on the shore for the protection of the immigrants,
calling the post Fort St. Louis. He then made a trip into New Mexico,
in search of silver mines, but, meeting with disappointment, returned to
find his little colony reduced to forty souls. He then resolved to travel
on foot to Illinois, and, starting with his companions, had reached the
valley of the Colorado, near the mouth of Trinity river, when he was
shot by one of his men. This occurred on the 19th of March, 1687.
Dr. J. W. Foster remarks of him : " Thus fell, not far from the banks
of the Trinity, Robert Cavalier de la Salle, one of the grandest charac-
ters that ever figured in American history — a man capable of originating
the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment capable of
carrying them to successful results. Had ample facilities been placed by
the King of France at his disposal, the result of the colonization of this
continent might have been far different from what we now behold."
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 115
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
A temporarr settlement was made at Fort St. Louis, or the old Kas-
kaskia village, on the Illinois River, in what is now LaSalle County, in
1682. In 1690, this was removed, with the mission connected with it, to
Kaskaskia, on the river of that name, emptying into the lower Mississippi
in St. Clair County. Cahokia was settled about the same time, or at
least, both of these settlements began in the year 1690, though it is now
pretty well settled that Cahokia is the okler place, and ranks as the oldest
permanent settlement in lUinuib', as well as in the Mississippi Valley.
The reason for the removal of the old Kaskaskia settlement and mission,
was probably because the dangerous and difficult route by Lake Michigan
and the Chicago portage had been almost abandoned, and travelers and
traders passed down and up the Mississippi by the Fox and Wisconsin
River route. They removed to the vicinity of the Mississippi in order
to be in the line of travel from Canada to Louisiana, that is, the lower
part of it, for it was all Louisiana then south of the lakes.
During the period of French rule in Louisiana, the population prob-
ably never exceeded ten thousand, including whites and blacks. Within
that portion of it now included in Indiana, trading posts were established
at the principal Miami villages which stood on the head waters of the
Maumee, the Wea villages situated at Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and
the Piankeshaw villages at Post Vincennes ; all of which were probably
visited by French traders and missionaries before the close of the seven-
teenth century.
In the vast territory claimed by the French, many settlements of
considerable importance had sprung up. Biloxi, on Mobile Bay, had
been founded by DTberville, in 1699; Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac had
founded Detroit in 1701 ; and New Orleans had been founded by Bien-
ville, under the auspices of the Mississippi Company, in 1718. In Illi-
nois also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they
embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred " con-
verted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In that portion of the
country, on the east side of the Mississippi, there were five distinct set-
tlements, with their respective villages, viz. : Cahokia, near the mouth
of Cahokia Creek and about five miles below the present city of St.
Louis ; St. Philip, about forty-five miles below Cahokia, and four miles
above Fort Chartres ; Fort Chartres, twelve miles above Kaskaskia ;
Kaskaskia, situated on the Kaskaskia River, five miles above its conflu-
, ence with the Mississippi ; and Prairie du Rocher, near Fort Chartres.
To these must be added St. Genevieve and St. Louis, on the west side
of the Mississippi. These, with the exception of St. Louis, are among
116
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF LLIJLNOIS.
K
t^
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 117
the oldest French towns in the Mississippi Valley. Kaskaskia, in its best
days, was a town of some two or three thousand inhabitants. After it
passed from the crown of France its population for many years did not
exceed fifteen hundred. Under British rule, in 1773, the population had
decreased to four hundred and fifty. As early as 1721, the Jesuits had
established a college and a monaster}- in Kaskaskia.
Fort Chartres was first built under the direction of the Mississippi
Company, in 1718, by M. de Boisbraint, a military officer, under command
of Bienville. It stood on the east bank of the Mississippi, about eighteen
miles below Kaskaskia, aitd was for some time the headquarters of the
military commandants of the district of Illinois.
In the Centennial Oration of Dr. Fowler, delivered at Philadelphia,
by appointment of Gov. Beveridge, we find some interesting facts with
regard to the State of Illinois, which we appropriate in this history :
In 1682 Illinois became a possession of the French crown, a depend-
ency of Canada, and a part of Louisiana. In 1765 the English flag was
run up on old Fort Chartres, and Illinois was counted among the treas-
ures of Great Britain. /
In 1779 it was taken from the English by Col. George Rogers Clark.
This man was resolute in nature, wise in council, prudent in policy, bold
in action, and heroic in danger. Few men who have figured in the his-
tory of America are more deserving than this colonel. Nothing short of
first-class ability could have rescued Vincens and all Illinois from the
English. And it is not possible to over-estimate the influence of this
achievement upon the republic. In 1779 Illinois became a part of Vir-
ginia. It was soon known as Illinois County. In 1784 Virginia ceded
all this territory to the general government, to be cut into States, to be
republican in form, with " the same right of sovereignty, freedom, and
independence as the other States."
In 1787 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legislation found
in any merely human records. No man can study the secret history of
THE "COMPACT OF 1787,"
and not feel that Providence was guiding with sleepless eye these unborn
States. The ordinance that on July 13, 1787, finally became the incor-
porating act, has a most marvelous history. Jefferson had vainly tried
to secure a system of government for the northwestern territory. He
was an emancipationist of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery
from the territory Virginia had ceded to the general government ; but
the South voted him down as often as it came up. In 1787, as late as
July 10, an organizing act without the anti-slavery clause was pending.
This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in
118 HISTORY OF TPTE STATE OP ILLINOIS.
session in New York City. On July 5, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of
Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the northwestern terri-
tory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe.
The state of the public credit, the growing of Southern prejudice,
the basis of his mission, his personal character, all combined to complete
one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that
once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the
breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a graduate of Yale — received his
A.M. from Harvard, and his D.D. from Yale. He had studied and taken
degrees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He
had thus America's best indorsement. He had published a scientific
examination of the plants of New England. His name stood second only
to that of Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly gentle-
man of the old style, a man of commanding presence, and of inviting
face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman
in the North. He came representing a company that desired to purchase
a tract of land now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony.
It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on
the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected enough to pur-
chase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made
Dr. Cutler their agent (lobbyist). On the 12th he represented a demand
for 5,500,000 acres. This would reduce the national debt. Jefferson
and Virginia were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia
had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the public credit,
and this was a good opportunity to do something.
Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was
crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the northwestern
region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspira-
tion, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The English minister invited liim to
dine with some of the Southern gentlemen. He was the center of interest.
The entire South rallied round him. Massachusetts could not vote
against him, because many of the constituents of her members were
interested personally in the western speculation. Thus Cutler, making
friends with the South, and, doubtless, using all the arts of the lobb}-,
was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convictions, he
dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise states-
manship that has ever adorned any human law book. He borrowed from
Jefferson the term " Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal
constitution, rose into the most sacred character. He then followed very
closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before.
Its most marked points were :
1. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever.
2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary,
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 119
and every section numbered 16 in each township ; that is, one-thirty-sixth
of all the land, for public schools.
3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any constitution or the
enactment of any law that should nullify pre-existing contracts.
Be it forever remembered that this compact declared that " Religion,
morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the
happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always
be encouraged."
Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield.
Griving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing — that unless
they could make the land desirable they did not want it — he took his
horse and buggy, and started for the constitutional convention in Phila-
delphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was
unanimously adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one
man, Mr. Yates, of New York, voting against it. But as the States voted
as States, Yates lost his vote, and the compact was put beyond repeal.
Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis-
consin — a vast empire, the heart of the great valley — were consecrated
to freedom, intelligence, and honesty. Thus the great heart of the nation
was prepared for a year and a day and an hour. In the light of these eighty-
nine years I affirm that this act was the salvation of the republic and the
destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder, and
tried to repeal the compact. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee
of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance
was a compact, and opposed repeal. Thus it stood a rock, in the way
of the on-rushing sea of slavery.
With all this timely aid it was, after all, a most desperate and pro-
tracted struggle to keep the soil of Illinois sacred to freedom. It was
the natural battle-field for the irrepressible conflict. In the southern end
of the State slavery preceded the compact. It existed among the old
French settlers, and was hard to eradicate. The southern part of the
State was settled from the slave States, and this population brought their
laws, customs, and institutions with them. A stream of population from
the North poured into the northern part of the State. These sections
misunderstood and hated each other perfectly. The Southerners regarded
the Yankees as a skinning, tricky, penurious race of peddlers, filling the
country with tinware, brass clocks, and wooden nutmegs. The North-
erner thought of the Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy creature, burrowing
in a hut, and rioting in whisky, dirt and ignorance. These causes aided
in making the struggle long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy
with slavery that, in spite of the ordinance of 1787, and in spite of the
deed of cession, it was determined to allow the old French settlers to
retain their slaves. Planters from the slave States mi^ht bring their
120 HISTORY OF TETE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
slaves, if they would give them a chance to choose freedom or years
of service and bondage for their children till they should become
thirty years of age. If they chose freedom the}^ must leave the State
in sixt}^ days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for offenses
for which white men are fined. Each lash paid forty cents of the fine. A
negro ten miles from home without a pass was whipped. These famous
laws were imported from the slave States just as they imported laws foi"
the inspection of flax and wool when there was neither in the State.
These Black Laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was made
to protect slavery in the State Constitution of 1817. It barely failed.
It was renewed in 1825, when a convention was asked to make a new
constitution. After a hard fight the convention was defeated. But
slaves did not disappear from the census of the State until 1850. There
were mobs and murders in the interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added
to the list of mart3a's — a sort of first-fruits of that long life of immortal
heroes who saw freedom as the one supreme desire of their souls, and
were so enamored of her that they preferred to die rather than survive her.
The population of 12,282 that occupied the territory in A.D. 1800,
increased to 45,000 in A.D. 1818, when the State Constitution was
adopted, and Illinois took her place in the Union, with a star on the flag
and two votes in the Senate.
Shadrach Bond was the first Governor, and in his first message he
recommended the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
The simple economy in those daj's is seen in the fact that the entire
bill for stationery for the first Legislature was only il3.50. Yet this
simple body actually enacted a very superior code.
There was no money in the territory before the war of 1812. Deer
skins and coon skins were the circulating medium. In 1821, the Legis-
lature ordained a State Bank on the credit of the State. It issued notes
in the likeness of bank bills. These notes were made a legal tender for
every thing, and the bank was ordered to loan to the people 8100 on per-
sonal security, and more on mortgages. They actunlly passed a resolu-
tion requesting the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States to
receive these notes for land. The old French Lieutenant Governor, Col.
Menard, put the resolution as folloAvs: '' Gentlemen of the Senate : It is
moved and seconded dat de notes of dis hank be made land-office money.
All in favor of dat motion say aye ; all against it say no. It is decided
in de affirmative. Now, gentlemen, I bet you one hundred dollar he
never be land-office money ! " Hard sense, like hard money, is always
above par.
This old Frenchman presents a fine figure up against the dark l)ack-
ground of most of his nation. They made no progress. They clung to
their earliest and simplest implements. Tliey never wore hats or caps*
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF TLLINOIS. 121
They pulled their blankets over their heads in the winter like the Indians,
with whom they freely intermingled.
Demagogism had an early development. One John Grammar (only
in name), elected to the Territorial and State Legislatures of 1816 and
1836, invented the policy of opposing every new thing, saying, " If it
succeeds, no one will ask who voted against it. If it proves a failure, he
could quote its record." In sharp contrast with Grammar was the char-
acter of D. P. Cook, after whom the county containing Chicago was
named. Such was his transparent integrity and remarkable ability that
his will was almost the law of the State. In Congress, a young man,
and from a poor State, he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee. He was pre-eminent for standing by his committee, regard-
less of consequences. It was his integrity that elected John Quincy
Adams to the Presidency. There were four candidates in 1824, Jackson,
Clay, Crawford, and John Quincy Adams. There being no choice by the
people, the election was thrown into the House. It was so balanced that
it turned on his vote, and that he cast for Adams, electing him ; then
went home to face the wrath of the Jackson party in Illinois. It cost
him all but character and greatness. It is a suggestive comment on the
times, that there was no legal interest till 1830. It often reached 150
per cent., usually 50 per cent. Then it was reduced to 12, and now to
10 per cent.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE PRAIRIE STATE.
In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It is about
150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in latitude from Maine to
North Carolina. It embraces wide variety of climate. It is tempered
on the north by the great inland, saltless, tideless sea, which keeps the
thermometer from either extreme. Being a table land, from 600 to 1,600
feet above the level of the sea, one is prepared to find on the health
maps, prepared by the general government, an almost clean and perfect
record. In freedom from fever and malarial diseases and consumptions,
the three deadly enemies of the American Saxon, Illinois, as a State,
stands without a superior. She furnishes one of the essential conditions
of a great people — sound bodies. I suspect that this fact lies back of
that old Delaware word, lUini, superior men.
The great battles of history that have been determinative of dynas-
ties and destinies have been strategical battles, chiefly the question of
position. Thermopylae has been the war-cry of freemen for twenty-four
centuries. It only tells how much there may be in position. All this
advantage belongs to Illinois. It is in the heart of the greatest valley in
the world, the vast region between the mountains — a valley that could
122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
feed mankind for one thousand years. It is well on toward the center of
tlie continent. It is in the great temperate belt, in which have been
found nearly all the aggressive civilizations of history. It has sixty-five
miles of frontage on the head of the lake. With the Mississippi forming
the western and southern boundary, with the Ohio running along the
southeastern line, witli the Illinois River and Canal dividing the State
diagonally from the lake to the Lower Mississippi, and with the Rock and
Wabash Rivers furnishing altogether 2,000 miles of water-front, con-
necting with, and running through, in all about 12,000 miles of navi-
gable Avater.
But this is not all. These waters are made most available by the
fact that the lake and the State lie on the ridge running into the great
valley from the east. Within cannon-shot of the lake the water runs
away from the lake to the Gulf. The lake now empties at both ends,
one into the Atlantic and one into the Gulf of Mexico. Tlie lake thus
seems to hang over the land. This makes the dockage most serviceable ;
there are no steep banks to damage it. Both lake and river are made
for use.
The climate varies from Portland to Richmond ; it favors every pro-
duct of the continent, including the tropics, with less than half a dozen
exceptions. It produces every great nutriment of the world except ban-
anas and rice. It is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive
spot known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the earth full
of minerals ; with an upper surface of food and an under layer of fuel ;
with perfect natural drainage, and abundant springs and streams and
navigable rivers ; half way between the forests of the North and the fruits
of the South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal, cop-
per, lead, and zinc ; containing and controlling the great grain, cattle,
pork, and lumber markets of the world, it is not strange that Illinois has
the advantage of position.
This advantage has been supplemented by the character of the popu-
lation. In the early days when Illinois was first admitted to the Union,
her population were cliiefly from Kentucky and Virginia. But, in the
conflict of ideas concerning slavery, a strong tide of emigration came in
from the East, and soon changed this composition. In 1870 her non-
native population were from colder soils. New York furnished 133,290 ;
Ohio gave 162,623; Pennsylvania sent on 98,352; the entire South gave
us only 206,734. In all her cities, and in all her German and Scandina-
vian and other foreign colonies, Illinois has only about one-fifth of her
people of foreign birth.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLtNOIS. 123
PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.
One of the greatest elements in the early development of Illinois is
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, connecting the Illinois and Mississippi
Rivers with the lakes. It was of the utmost importance to the State.
It was recommended by Gov. Bond, the first governor, in his first message.
In 1821, the Legislature appropriated $10,000 for surveying the route.
Two bright young engineers surveyed it, and estimated the cost at
1600,000 or $700,000. It finally cost $8,000,000. In 1825, a law was
passed to incorporate the Canal Company, but no stock was sold. In
1826, upon the solicitation of Cook, Congress gave 800,000 acres of land
on the line of the work. In 1828, another law — commissioners appointed,
and work commenced with new survey and new estimates. In 1834-35,
George Farquhar made an able report on the whole matter. This was,
doubtless, the ablest report ever made to a western legislature, and it
became the model for subsequent reports and action. From this the
work went on till it was finished in 1848. It cost the State a large
amount of money ; but it gave to the industries of the State an impetus
that pushed it up into the first rank of greatness. It was not built as a
speculation any more than a doctor is employed on a speculation. But
it has paid into the Treasary of the State an average annual net sum of
over $111,000.
Pending the construction of the canal, the land and town-lot fever
broke out in the State, in 1834—35. It took on the malignant type in
Chicago, lifting the town up into a city. The disease spread over the
entire State and adjoining States. It was epidemic. It cut up men's
farms without regard to locality, aiid ^ut up the purses of the purchasers
without regard to consequences. It is estimated that building lots enough
were sold in Indiana alone to accommodate every citizen then in the
United States.
Towns and cities were exported to the Eastern market by the ship-
load. There was no lack of buyers. Ever/ up-ship came freighted with
speculators and their money.
This distemper seized upon the Legislature in 1836-37, and left not
one to tell the tale. They enacted a system of internal improvement
without a parallel in the grandeur of its conception. They ordered the
construction of 1,300 miles of railroad, crossing the State in all direc-
tions. This was surpassed by the river and canal improvements.
There were a few counties not touched by either railroad or river or
canal, and those were to be comforted and compensated by the free dis-
tribution of $200,000 among them. To inflate this balloon beyond cre-
dence it was ordered that work should be commenced on both ejids of
124 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
each of these railroads and rivers, and at each river-crossing, all at the
same time. The appropriations for these vast improvements were over
$12,000,000. and commissioners were appointed to borrow the money on
the credit of the State. Remember that all this was in the earh' days of
railroading, when railroads were luxuries ; that the State had whole
counties with scarcely a cabin ; and that the population of the State was
less than 400,000, and you can form some idea of the vigor with which
these brave men undertook the work of making: a oreat State. In the
light of history I am compelled to say that this was only a premature
throb of the power that actually slumbered in the soil of the State. It
was Hercules in the cradle.
At this juncture the State Bank loaned its funds largely to Godfrey
Gilman & Co., and to other leading houses, for the purpose of drawing
trade from St. Louis to Alton. Soon they failed, and took down the
bank with them.
In 1840, all hope seemed gone. A population of 480,000 were loaded
with a debt of $14,000,000. It had only six small cities, really only
towns, namely : Chicago, Alton, Springfield, Quincy, Galena, Nauvoo.
This debt was to be cared for when there was not a dollar in the treas-
ury, and when the State had borrowed itself out of all credit, and when
there was not good money enough in the hands of all the people to pay
the interest of the debt for a single year. Yet, in the presence of all
these difficulties, the young State steadily refused to repudiate. Gov.
Ford took hold of the problem and solved it, bringing the State through
in triumph.
Having touched lightly upon some of the more distinctive points in
the history of the development of Illinois, let us next briefly consider the
MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE.
It is a garden four hundred miles long and one hundred and fifty
miles wide. Its soil is chiefly a black sandy loam, from six inches to
sixty feet thick. On the American bottoms it has been cultivated for
one hundred and fifty years without renewal. About the old French
towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without rest or help.
It produces nearly everything green in the temperate and tropical zones.
She leads all other States in the number of acres actually under plow.
Her products from 25,000,000 of acres are incalculable. Her mineral
wealth is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal, iron,
lead, copper, zinc, many varieties of building stone, fire clay, cuma clay,
common brick clay, sand of all kinds, gravel, mineral paint — every thing
needed for a high civilization. Left to herself, she has the elements of
all greatness. The single item of coal is too vast for an appreciative
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 125
handling in figures. We can handle it in general terms like algebraical
signs, but long before we get up into the millions and billions the human
mind drops down from comprehension to mere symbolic apprehension.
When I tell you that nearly four-fifths of the entire State is under-
laid with a deposit of coal more than forty feet thick on the average (now
estimated, by recent surveys, at seventy feet thick), you can get some
idea of its amount, as you do of the amount of the national debt. There
it is ! 41,000 square miles — one vast mine into which you could put
any of the States ; in which you could bury scores of European and
ancient empires, and have room enough all round to work without know-
ing that they had been sepulchered there.
Put this vast coal-bed down by the other great coal deposits of the
world, and its importance becomes manifest. Great Britain has 12,000
square miles of coal; Spain, 3,000; France, 1,719 ; Belgium, 578 ; Illinois
about twice as many square miles as all combined. Virginia has 20,000
square miles ; Pennsylvania, 16,000 ; Ohio, 12,000. Illinois has 41,000
square miles. One-seventh of all the known coal on this continent is in
Illinois.
Could we sell the coal in this sins^le State for one-seventh of one cent
a ton it would pay the national debt. Converted into power, even with
the wastage in our common engines, it would do more work than could
be done by the entire race, beginning at Adam's wedding and working
ten hours a day through all the centuries till the present time, and right
on into the future at the same rate for the next 600,000 years.
Great Britain uses enough mechanical power to-day to give to each
man, woman, and child in the kingdom the help and service of nineteen
untiring servants. No wonder she has leisure and luxuries. No wonder
the home of the common artisan has in it more luxuries than could be
found in the palace of good old King Arthur. Think, if you can conceive
of it, of the vast armv of servants that slumber in the soil of Illinois,
impatiently awaiting the call of Genius to come forth to minister to our
comfort.
At the present rate of consumption England's coal supply will be
exhausted in 250 years. When this is gone she must transfer her dominion
either to the Indies, or to British America, which I would not resist ; or
to some other people, which I would regret as a loss to civilization.
COAL IS KING.
At the same rate of consumption (which far exceeds our own) the
deposit of coal in Illinois will last 120,000 years. And her kingdom shall
be an everlasting kingdom.
Let us turn now from this reserve power to the annual products of
126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
the State. We shall not be humiliated in this field. Here we strike the
secret of our national credit. Nature ^jrovides a market in the constant
appetite of the race. Men must eat, and if we can furnish the provisions
we can command the treasure. All that a man hath will he give for his
Hfe.
According to the last census Illinois produced 30,000,000 of bushels
of wheat. That is more wheat than was raised by any other State in the
Union. She raised In 1875, 130,000,000 of bushels of corn — twice as
much as any other State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United
States. She harvested 2,747,000 tons of hay, nearly one-tenth of all the
hay in the Republic. It is not generally appreciated, but it is true, that
the hay crop of the country is worth more than the cotton crop. The
hay of Illinois equals the cotton of Louisiana. Go to Charleston, S. C,
and see them peddling handfuls of hay or grass, almost as a curiosity,
as we regard Chinese gods or the cryolite of Greenland ; drink your
coffee and condensed milk ; and walk back from the coast for many a
league through the sand and burs till you get up into the better atmos-
phere of the mountains, without seeing a waving meadow or a grazing
herd ; then you will begin to appreciate the meadows of the Prairie State,
where the grass often grows sixteen feet high.
The value of her farm implements is $211,000,000, and the value of
her live stock is onl}' second to the great State of New York. in 1875
she had 25,000,000 hogs, and packed 2,113,845, about one-half of all that
were packed in the United States. This is no insignificant item. Pork
is a growing demand of the old world. Since the laborers of Europe
have gotten a taste of our bacon, and we have learned how to pack it dry
in boxes, like dry goods, the world has become the market.
The hog is on the march into the future. His nose is ordained to
uncover the secrets of dominion, and his feet shall be guided by the star
of empire.
Illinois marketed $57,000,000 worth of slaughtered animals — more
than any other State, and a seventh of all the States.
Be patient with me, and pardon my pride, and I will give j'ou a list
of some of the things in which Illinois excels all other States.
Depth and richness of soil ; per cent, of good ground ; acres of
improved land ; large farms — some farms contain from 40,000 to 60,000
acres of cultivated land, 40,000 acres of corn on a single farm ; number of
farmers ; amount of wheat, corn, oats and honey produced ; value of ani-
mals for slaughter; number of hogs; amount of pork; number of horses
— three times as many as Kentucky, the horse State.
Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in miles of
postal service, and in money orders sold per annum, and in the amount of
lumber sold in her markets.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 127
Illinois is only second in many important matters. This sample list
comprises a few of the more important : Permanent school fund (good
for a young state) ; total income for educational purposes ; number of pub-
lishers of books, maps, papers, etc.; value of farm products and imple-
ments, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined.
The shipping of Illinois is only second to New York. Out of one
port during the business hours of the season of navigation she sends forth
a vessel every ten minutes. This does not include canal boats, which go
one every five minutes. No wonder she is only second in number of
bankers and brokers or in physicians and surgeons.
She is third in colleges, teachers and schools ; cattle, lead, hay,
flax, sorghum and beeswax.
She is fourth in population, in children enrolled in public schools, in
law schools, in butter, potatoes and carriages.
She is fifth in value of real and personal property, in theological
seminaries and colleges exclusively for women, in milk sold, and in boots
and shoes manufactured, and in book-binding.
She is only seventh in the production of wood, while she is the
twelfth in area. Surely that is well done for the Prairie State. She now
has much more wood and growing timber than she had thirty years ago.
A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She manufactures
1205,000,000 worth of goods, which places her well up toward New York
and Pennsylvania. The number of her manufa:cturing establishments
increased from 1860 to 1870, 300 per cent.; capital employed increased 350
per cent., and the amount of product hicreased 400 per cent. She issued
5,500,000 copies of commercial and financial newspapers — only second to
New York. She has 6,759 miles of railroad, thus leading all other States,
worth $636,458,000, using 3,245 engines, and 67,712 cars, making a train
long enough to cover one-tenth of the entire roads of the State. Her
stations are only five miles apart. She carried last year 15,795,000 passen-
gers, an average of 36^ miles, or equal to taking her entire population twice
across the State. More than two-thirds of her land is within five miles of
a railroad, and less than two per cent, is more than fifteen miles away.
The State has a large financial interest in the Illinois Central railroad.
The road was incorporated in 1850, and the State gave each alternate sec-
tion for six miles on each side, and doubled the price of the remaining
land, so keeping herself good. The road received 2,595,000 acres of land,
and pays to the State one-seventh of the gross receipts. The State
receives this year $350,000, and has received in all about 17,000,000. It
is practically the people's road, and it has a most able and gentlemanly
management. Add to this the annual receipts from the canal, #111,000,
and a large per cent, of the State tax is provided for.
128 fflSTORY OF THE STATE OP ILLTNOiS.
THE RELIGION AND MORALS
of the State keep step with her productions and growth. She was born
of the missionary spirit. It was a minister who secured for her the ordi-
nance of 1787, by which she has been saved from slavery, ignorance, and
dishonesty. Rev. Mr. Wile\', pastor of a Scotch congregation in Randolph
County, petitioned the Constitutional Convention of 1818 to recognize
Jesus Christ as king, and the Scriptures as the only necessary guide and
book of law. The convention did not act in the case, and the old Cove-
nanters refused to accept citizenship. They never voted until 1824, when
the slavery question was submitted to the people; then they all voted
against it and cast the determining votes. Conscience has predominated
whenever a great moral question has been submitted to the people.
But little mob violence has ever been felt in the State. In 1817
regulators disposed of a band of horse-thieves that infested the territory.
The Mormon indignities finally awoke the same spirit. Alton was also
the scene of a pro-slavery mob, in which Lovejoy was added to the list of
martyrs. The moral sense of the people makes the law supreme, and gives
to the State unruffled peace.
With 822,300,000 in church property, and 4,298 church organizations,
the State has that divine police, the sleepless patrol of moral ideas, that
alone is able to secure perfect safety. Conscience takes the knife from
the assassin's hand and the bludgeon from the grasp of the highwa\Tnan.
We sleep in safety, not because we are behind bolts and bars — these only
fence against the innocent ; not because a lone officer drowses on a distant
corner of a street; not because a sheriff may call his posse from a remote
part of the county : but because conscience guards the very portals of the
air and stirs in the deepest recesses of the public mind. This spirit issues
within the State 9,500,000 copies of religious papers annually, and receives
still more from without. Thus the crime of the State is only one-fourth
that of New York and one-half that of Pennsvlvania.
Illinois never had but one duel between her own citizens. In Belle-
ville, in 1820, Alphonso Stewart and William Bennett arranged to vindi-
cate injured honor. The seconds agreed to make it a sham, and make
them shoot blanks. Stewart was in the secret. Bennett mistrusted some-
thing, and, unobserved, slipped a bullet into his gun and killed Stewart.
He then fled the State. After two years he was caught, tried, convicted,
and. in spite of friends and political aid, was hung. This fixed the code
of honor on a Christian basis, and terminated its use in Illinois.
The early preachers were ignorant men, who were accounted eloquent
according to the strength of their voices. But tliey set the style for all
public speakers. Lawyers and political speakers followed this rule. Gov.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 129
Ford says: "Nevertheless, these first preachers were of incalculable
benefit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality. To them
are we indebted for the first Christian character of the Protestant portion
of the people."
In education Illinois surpasses her material resources. The ordinance
of 1787 consecrated one thirty-sixth of her soil to common schools, and
the law of 1818, the first law that went upon her statutes, gave three per
cent, of all the rest to
EDUCATION.
The old compact secures this interest forever, and by its yoking
moralit}^ and intelligence it precludes the legal interference with the Bible
in the public schools. With such a start it is natural that we should have
11,050 schools, and that our illiteracy should be less than New York or
Pennsylvania, and only about one-half of Massachusetts. We are not to
blame for not having more than one-half as many idiots as the great
States. These public schools soon made colleges inevitable. The first
college, still flourishing, was started in Lebanon in 1828, by the M. E.
church, and named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois College, at Jackson-
ville, supported by the Presbyterians, followed in 1830. In 1832 the Bap-
tists built Shurtleff College, at Alton. Then the Presbyterians built Knox
College, at Galesburg, in 1838, and the Episcopalians built Jubilee College,
at Peoria, in 1847. After these early years colleges have rained down.
A settler could hardly encamp on the prairie but a college would spring
up by his wagon. The State now has one very well endowed and equipped
university, namely, the Northwestern University, at Evanston, with six
colleges, ninety instructors, over 1,000 students, and $1,500,000 endow-
ment.
Rev. J. M. Peck was the first educated Protestant minister in tne
State. He settled at Rock Spring, in St. Clair County, 1820, and left his
impress on the State. Before 1837 only party papers were published, but
Mr. Peck published a Gazetteer of Illinois. Soon after John Russell, of
Bluffdale, published essays and tales showing genius. Judge James Hall
published The Illinois Monthly Magazine with great ability, and an annual
called The Western Souvenir^ which gave him an enviable fame all over the
United States. From these beginnings Illinois has gone on till she has
more volumes in public libaaries even than Massachusetts, and of the
44,500,000 volumes in all the public libraries of the United States, she
has one-thirteenth. In newspapers she stands fourth. Her increase is
marvelous. In 1850 she issued 5,000,000 copies ; in 1860, 27,590,000 ; in
1870, 113,140,000. In 1860 she had eighteen colleges and seminaries ; in
1870 she had eighty. That is a grand advance for the war decade.
This brings us to a record unsurpassed in the history of any age,
130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
THE WAR RECORD OF ILLINOIS.
I hardly know where to begin, or how to advance, or what to say. I
can at best give you only a broken synopsis of her deeds, and you must
put them in the order of glory for yourself. Her sons have always been
foremost on fields of danger. In 1832-33, at the call of Gov. Reynolds,
her sons drove Blackhawk over the Mississippi.
When the Mexican war came, in May, 1846, 8,370 men offered them-
selves when only 3,720 could be accepted. The fields of Buena Vista and
Vera Cruz, and the storming of Cerro Gordo, will carry the glory of Illinois
soldiers along after the infamy of the cause they served has been forgotten.
But it was reserved till our day for her sons to find a field and cause and
foemen that could fitly illustrate their spirit and heroism. Illinois put
into her own regiments for the United States government 256,000 men,
and into the army through other States enough to swell the number to
290,000. This far exceeds all the soldiers of' the federal government in
all the war of the revolution. Her total years of service were over 600,000.
She enrolled men from eighteen to forty -five years of age when the law
of Congress in 1864 — the test time — only asked for those from twenty to
forty-five. Her enrollment was otherwise excessive. Her people wanted
to go, and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment. Thus the
basis of fixing the quota was too great, and then the quota itself, at least
in the trying time, was far above any other State.
Thus the demand on some counties, as Monroe, for example, took every
able-bodied man in the county, and then did not have enough to fill the
quota. Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for ninety or one hundred days,
for whom no credit was asked. When Mr. Lincoln's attention was called
to the inequality of the quota compared with other States, he replied,
" The country needs the sacrifice. We must put the whip on the free
horse." In spite of all these disadvantages Illinois gave to the country
73,000 years of service above all calls. With one-thirteenth of the popu-
lation of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-tenth of all the soldiers,
and in the peril of the closing calls, when patriots were few and weary,
she then sent one-eighth of all that were called for by her loved and hon-
ored son in the white house. Her mothers and daughters went into the
fields to raise the grain and keep the children together, while the fathers
and older sons went to the harvest fields of the world. I knew a father
• and four sons who agreed that one of them must stay at home ; and they
pulled straws from a stack to see who might go. The father was left.
The next day he came into the camp, saying : " Mother says she can get
the crops in, and I am going, too." I know large Methodist churches
from which every male member went to the army. Do you want to know
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 131
what these heroes from Illinois did in the field ? Ask any soldier with a
good record of his own, who is thus able to judge, and he will tell you
that the Illinois men went in to win. It is common history that the greater
victories were won in the West. When everything else looked dark Illi-
nois was gaining victories all down the river, and dividing the confederacy.
Sherman took with him on his great march forty-five regiments of Illinois
infantry, three companies of artillery, and one company of cavalry. He
could not avoid
GOING TO THE SEA.
If he had •been killed, I doubt not the men would have gone right on.
Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with, " It is impossible ;
there is a mighty sight of fight in 100,000 Western men." Illinois soldiers
brought home 300 battle-flags. The first United States flag that floated
over Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and nurses to
every field and hospital, to care for her sick and wounded sons. She said,
" These suffering ones are my sons, and I will care for them."
When individuals had given all, then cities and towns came forward
with their credit to the extent of many millions, to aid these men and
their families.
Illinois gave the country the great general of the war — Ulysses S.
Grant — since honored with two terms of the Presidency of the United
States.
One other name from Illinois comes up in all minds, embalmed in all
hearts, that must have the supreme place in this story of our glory and
of our nation's honor ; that name is Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois.
The analysis of Mr. Lincoln's character is difficult on account of its
symmetry.
In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising honesty.
And well we may, for this saved us. Thousands throughout the length
and breadth of our country who knew him only as " Honest Old Abe,"
voted for him on that account ; and wisely did they choose, for no other
man could have carried us through the fearful night of the war. When
his plans were too vast for our comprehension, and his faith in the cause
too sublime for our participation ; when it was all night about us, and all
dread before us, and all sad and desolate behind us ; when not one ray
shone upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant at the
South, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ; when the loyal men here
seemed almost in the minority ; when the stovitest heart quailed, the bravest
cheek paled ; when generals were defeating each other for place, and
contractors were leeching out the very heart's blood of the prostrate
republic : when every thing else had failed us, we looked at this calm,
patient man standing like a rock in the storm, and said : " Mr. Lincoln
132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
is honest, and we can trust him still." Holding to this single point with
the energy of faith and despair we held together, and, under God, he
brought us through to victory.
His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands. "With such
certainty did Mr. Lincoln follow causes to their ultimate effects, that his
foresight of contingencies seemed almost prophetic.
He is radiant with all the great virtues, and his memory shall shed a
glory upon this age that shall fill the eyes of men as they look into his-
tory-. Other men have excelled him in some point, but, taken at all
points, all in all, he stands head and shoulders above every other man of
6,000 years. An administrator, he saved the nation in the perils of
unparalleled civil war. A statesman, he justified his measures by their
success. A philanthropist, he gave liberty to one race and salvation to
another. A moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the
foot of tl\e Cross, and became a Christian. A mediator, he exercised mercy
under the most absolute abeyance to law. A leader, he was no partisan.
A commander, he was untainted with blood. A ruler in desperate times,
he was unsullied with crime. A man, he has left no word of passion, no
thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of jealousy, no purpose of
selfish ambition. Thus perfected, without a model, and without a peer,
he was dropped into these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that
is good and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all coming
time the representative of the divine idea of free government.
It is not too much to say that away down in the future, when the
republic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time ; when the great
war itself shall have faded out in the distance like a mist on the horizon ;
when the Anglo-Saxon language shall be spoken only by the tongue of
the stranger ; then the generations looking this way shall see the great
president as the supreme figure in this vortex of historv
CHICAGO.
It is impossible in our brief space to give more than a meager sketch
of such a city as Chicago, which is in itself the greatest marvel of the
Prairie State. This mysterious, majestic, mighty city, born first of water,
and next of fire ; sown in weakness, and raised in power ; planted among
the willows of the marsh, and crowned with the glory of the mountains ;
sleeping on the Ijosom of the prairie, and rocked on the bosom of the sea ,
the youngest city of the world, and still the eye of the prairie, as Damas-
cus, the oldest city of the world, is the eye of the desert. AVith a com-
merce far exceeding that of Corinth on her isthmus, in the highway to
the East ; with the defenses of a continent piled around her by the thou-
sand miles, making her far safer than Rome on the banks of the Tiber ;
HISTORY OP THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
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134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
with schools eclipsing Alexandria and Athens : with liberties more con-
spicuous than those of the old republics ; with a heroism equal to the first
C-arthage, and with a sanctity scarcely second to that of Jerusalem — set
your thoughts on all this, lifted into the eyes of all men by the miracle of
its growth, illuminated by tjie flame of its fall, and transfigured by the
divinity of its resurrection, and you will feel, as I do, the utter impossi-
bility of compassing this subject as it deserves. Some impression of her
importance is received from the shock her burning gave to the civilized
world.
When the doubt of her calamity was removed, and the horrid fact
was accepted, there went a shudder over all cities, and a quiver over all
lands. There was scarcely a town in the civilized world that did not
shake on the brink of this opening chasm. The flames of our homes red-
dened all skies. The city was set upon a hill, and could not be hid. All
eyes were turned upon it. To have struggled and suffered amid the
scenes of its fall is as distinguishing as to have fought at Thermopylae, or
Salamis, or Hastings, or Waterloo, or Bunker Hill.
Its calamity amazed the world, because it was felt to be the common
property of mankind.
The early history of the city is full of interest, just as the early his-
tory of such a man as Washington or Lincoln becomes public property,
and is cherished by every patriot.
Starting with 560 acres in 1833, it embraced and occupied 23,000
acres in 1869, and, having now a population of more than 500,000, it com-
mands general attention.
The first settler — Jean Baptiste Pointe au Sable, a mulatto from the
West Indies — came and began trade with the Indians in 1796. John
Kinzie became his successor in 1804, in which year Fort Dearborn was
erected.
A mere trading-post was kept here from that time till about the time
of the Blackhawk war, in 1832. It was not the city. It was merely a
cock crowing at midnight. The morning was not yet. In 1833 the set-
tlement about the fort was incorporated as a town. The voters were '
divided on the propriety of such corporation, twelve voting for it and one
against it. Four years later it was incorporated as a city, and embraced
560 acres.
The produce handled in this city is an indication of its power. Grain
and flour were imported from the East till as late as 1837. The first
exportation by way of experiment was in 1839. Exports exceeded imports
first in 1842. The Board of Trade was organized in 1848, but it was so
weak that it needed nursing till 1855. Grain was purchased by the
wagon-load in the street.
I remember sitting with my father on a load of wheat, in the long
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 135
line of wagons along Lake street, while the buyers came and untied the
bags, and examined the grain, and made their bids. That manner of
business had to cease with the day of small things. Now our elevators
will hold 15,000,000 bushels of grain. The cash value of the produce
handled in a year is $215,000,000, and the produce weighs 7,000,000
tons or 700,000 car loads. This handles thirteen and a half ton each
minute, all the year round. One tenth of all the wheat in the United
States is handled in Chicago. Even as long ago as 1853 the receipts of
grain in Chicago exceeded those of the goodly city of St. Louis, and in
1854 the exports of grain from Chicago exceeded those of New York and
doubled those of St. Petersburg, Archangel, or Odessa, the largest grain
markets in Europe.
The manufacturing interests of the city are not contemptible. In
1873 manufactories employed 45,000 operatives ; in 1876, 60,000. The
manufactured product in 1875 was worth 1177,000,000.
No estimate of the size and power of Chicago would be adequate
that did not put large emphasis on the railroads. Before they came
thundering along our streets canals were the hope of our country. But
who ever thinks now of traveling by canal packets ? In June, 1852,
there were only forty miles of railroad connected with the city. The
old Galena division of the Northwestern ran out to Elgin. But now,
who can count the trains and measure the roads that seek a terminus or
conneption in this city ? The lake stretches away to the north, gathering
in to this center all the harvests that might otherwise pass to the north
of us. If you will take a map and look at the adjustment of railroads,
you will see, first, that Chicago is the great railroad center of the world,
as New York is the commercial city of this continent ; and, second, that
the railroad lines form the iron spokes of a great wheel whose hub is
this city. The lake furnishes the only break in the spokes, and this
seems simply to have pushed a few spokes together on each shore. See
the eighteen trunk lines, exclusive of eastern connections.
Pass round the circle, and view their numbers and extent. There
is the great Northwestern, with all its branches, one branch creeping
along the lake shore, and so reaching to the north, into the Lake Superior
regions, away to the right, and on to the Northern Pacific on the left,
swinging around Green Bay for iron and copper and silver, twelve months
in the year, and reaching out for the wealth of the great agricultural
belt and isothermal line traversed by the Northern Pacific. Another
branch, not so far north, feeling for the heart of the Badger State.
Another pushing lower down the Mississippi — all these make many con-
nections, and tapping all the vast wheat regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Iowa, and all the regions this side of sunset. There is that elegant road,
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, running out a goodly number of
136
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
OLD FOKT DEARBORN, 1830.
PRESENT SITE OF LAKE STREET BRIDGE, CHICAGO, IX 1833.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 137
branches, and reaping the great fields this side of the Missouri River.
I can only mention the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, our Illinois Central,
described elsewhere, and the Chicago & Rock Island. Further around
we come to the lines connecting us with all the eastern cities. The
Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne &
Chicago, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Cen-
tral and Great Western, give us many highwaj^s to the seaboard. Thus we
reach the Mississippi at five points, from St. Paul to Cairo and the Gulf
itself by two routes. We also reach Cincinnati and Baltimore, and Pitts-
burgh and Philadelphia, and New York. North and south run the water
courses of the lakes and the rivers, broken just enough at this point to
make a pass. Through this, from east to west, run the long lines that
stretch from ocean to ocean.
This is the neck of the glass, and the golden sands of commerce
must pass into" our hands. Altogether we have more than 10,000 miles
of railroad, directly tributary to this city, seeking to unload their wealth
in our coffers. All these roads have come themselves by the infallible
instinct of capital. Not a dollar was ever given by the city to secure
one of them, and only a small per cent, of stock taken originally by her
citizens, and that taken simply as an investment. Coming in the natural
order of events, they will not be easily diverted.
There is still another showing to all this. The connection between
New York and San Francisco is by the middle route. This passes inevit-
ably through Chicago. St. Louis wants the Southern Pacific or Kansas
Pacific, and pushes it out through Denver, and so on up to Cheyenne.
But before the road is fairly under way, the Chicago roads shove out to
Kansas City, making even the Kansas Pacific a feeder, and actually leav-
ing St. Louis out in the cold. It is not too much to expect that Dakota,
Montana, and Washington Territory will find their great market in Chi-
cago.
But these are not all. Perhaps I had better notice here the ten or
fifteen new roads that have just entered, or are just entering, our city.
Their names are all that is necessary to give. Chicago & St. Paul, look-
ing up the Red River country to the British possessions ; the Chicago,
Atlantic & Pacific ; the Chicago, Decatur & State Line ; the Baltimore &
Ohio ; the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes ; the Chicago & LaSalle Rail-
road ; the Chicago, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati ; the Chicago and Canada
Southern ; the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad. These, with their
connections, and with the new connections of the old roads, already in
process of erection, give to Chicago not less than 10,000 miles of new
tributaries from the richest land on the continent. Thus there will be
added to the reserve power, to the capital within reach of this city, not
less than $1,000,000,000.
138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
Add to all this tninsporting power the ships that sail one every nine
minutes of the business hours of the season of navigation ; add, also, the
canal boats that leave one every five minutes during the same time — and
you will see something of the business of the city.
THE COMMERCE OF THIS CITY
has been leaping along to keep pace with the growth of the country
around us. In 1852, our commerce reached the hopeful sum of
820,000,000. In 1870 it reached 1400,000,000. In 1871 it was pushed
up above $450,000,000. And in 1875 it touched nearly double that.
One-half of our imported goods come directly to Chicago. Grain
enough -is exported directly from our docks to the old world to employ a
semi-weekly line of steamers of 3,000 tons capacity. This branch is
not likely to be greatly developed. Even after the great Welland Canal
is completed we shall have only fourteen feet of water. The great ocean
vessels will continue to control the trade.
The banking capital of Chicago is $24,431,000. Total exchange in
1875, $659,000,000. Her wholesale business in 1875 was $294,000,000.
The rate of taxes is less than in any other great city.
The schools of Chicago are unsurpassed in America. Out of a popu-
lation of 300,000 there were only 186 persons between the ages of six
and twenty-one unable to read. This is the best known record.
In 1831 the mail system was condensed into a half-breed, who went
on foot to Niles, Mich., once in two weeks, and brought back what papers
and news he could find. As late as 1846 there was often only one mail
a week. A post-office was established in Chicago in 1833, and the post-
master nailed up old boot-legs on one side of his shop to serve as boxes
for the nabobs and literary men.
It is an interesting fact in the growth of the young city that in the
active life of the business men of that day the mail matter has grown to
a daily average of over 6,500 pounds. It speaks equally well for the
intelligence of the people and the commercial importance of the place,
that the mail matter distributed to the territory immediately tributary to
Chicago is seven times greater than that distributed to the territory
immediately tributary to St. Louis.
The improvements that have characterized the city are as startling
as the city itself. In 1831, Mark Beaubien established a ferry over the
river, and put himself under bonds to carry all the citizens free for the
privilege of charging strangers. Now there are twenty-four large bridges
and two tunnels.
In 1833 the government expended $30,000 on the harbor. Then
commenced that series of manoeuvers with the river that has made it one
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. l'6\i
of the world's curiosities. It used to wind around in the lower end of
the town, and make its way rippling oVer the sand into the lake at the
foot of Madison street. They took it up and put it down where it now
is. It was a narrow stream, so narrow that even moderately small crafts
had to go up through the willows and cat's tails to the point near Lake
street bridge, and back up one of the branches to get room enough in
which to turn around.
In 1844 the quagmires in the streets were first pontooned by plank
roads, which acted in wet weather as public squirt-guns. Keeping you
out of the mud, they compromised by squirting the mud over you. The
wooden-block j)avements came to Chicago in 1857. In 1840 water was
delivered by peddlers in carts or by hand. Then a twenty-five horse-
power engine pushed it through hollow or bored logs along the streets
till 1854, when it was introduced into the houses by new works. The
first fire-engine was used in 1835, and the first steam fire-engine in 1859.
Gas was utilized for lighting the city in 1850. The Young Men's Chris-
tian Association was organized in 1858, and horse railroads carried them
to their work in 1859. The museum was opened in 1863. The alarm
telegraph adopted in 1864. The opera-house built in 1865. The city
grew from 560 acres in 1833 to 23,000 in 1869. In 1834, the taxes
amounted to $48.90, and the trustees of the town borrowed |60 more for
opening and improving streets. In 1835, the legislature authorized a loan
of $2,000, and the treasurer and street commissioners resigned rather than
plunge the town into such a gulf.
Now the city embraces 36 square miles of territory, and has 30 miles
of water front, besides the outside harbor of refuge, of 400 acres, inclosed
by a crib sea-wall. One-third of the city has been raised up an average
of eight feet, giving good pitch to the 263 miles of sewerage. The water
of the city is above all competition. It is received through two tunnels
extending to a crib in the lake two miles from shore. The closest analy-
sis fails to detect any impurities, and, received 35 feet below the surface,
it is always clear and cold. The first tunnel is five feet two inches in
diameter and two miles long, and can deliver 50,000,000 of gallons per
day. The second tunnel is seven feet in diameter and six miles long,
running four miles under the city, and can deliver 100,000,000 of gal-
lons per day. This water is distributed through 410 miles of water-
mains.
The three grand engineering exploits of the city are : First, lifting
the city up on jack-screws, whole squares at a time, without interrupting
the business, thus giving us good drainage ; second, running the tunnels
under the lake, giving us the best water in the world ; and third, the
turning the current of the river in its own channel, delivering us from the
old abominations, and making decency possible. They redound about
140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
equally to the credit of the engineering, to the energy of the people, and
to the health of the city.
That which really constitutes the city, its indescribable spirit, its soul,
the way it lights up in every feature in the hour of action, has not been
touched. In meeting strangers, one is often surprised how some homely
women marry so well. Their forms are bad, their gait uneven and awk-
ward, their complexion is dull, their features are misshapen and mismatch-
ed, and when we see them there is no beauty that we should desire them.
But when once they are aroused on some subject, they put on new pro-
portions. They light up into great power. The real person comes out
from its unseemly ambush, and captures us at will. They have power.
They have ability to cause things to come to pass. We no longer wonder
why they are in such high demand. So it is with our city.
There is no grand scenery except the two seas, one of water, the
other of prairie. Nevertheless, there is a spirit about it, a push, a breadth,
a power, that soon makes it a place never to be forsaken. One soon
ceases to believe in impossibilities. Balaams are the only prophets that are
disappointed. The bottom that has been on the point of falling out has
been there so long that it has grown fast. It can not fall out. It has all
the capital of the world itching to get inside the corporation.
The two great laws that govern the growth and size of cities are,
first, the amount of territory for which they are the distributing and
receiving points ; second, the number of medium or moderate dealers that
do this distributing. Monopolists build up themselves, not the cities.
They neither eat, wear, nor live in proportion to their business. Both
these laws help Chicago.
The tide of trade is eastward — not up or down the map, but across
the map. The lake runs up a wingdam for 500 miles to gather in the
business. Commerce can not ferry up there for seven months in the year,
and the facilities for seven months can do the work for twelve. Then the
great region west of us is nearly all good, productive land. Dropping
south into the trail of St. Louis, you fall into vast deserts and rocky dis-
tricts, useful in holding the world together. St. Louis and Cincinnati,
instead of rivaling and hurting Chicago, are her greatest sureties of
dominion. They are far enough away to give sea-room, — farther off than
Paris is from London, — and yet they are near enough to prevent the
springing up of any other great city between them.
St. Louis will be helped by the opening of the Mississippi, but also
hurt. That will put New Orleans on her feet, and with a railroad running
over into Texas and so West, she will tap the streams that now crawl up
the Texas and Missouri road. The current is East, not North, and a sea-
port at New Orleans can not permanently help St. Louis.
Chicago is in the field almost alone, to handle the wealth of one-
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 141
fourth of the territory of this great republic. This strip of seacoast
divides its margins between Portland, Boston, New York, Philadelpliia,
Baltimore and Savannah, or some other great port to be created for the
South in the next decade. But Chicago has a dozen empires casting their
treasures into her lap. On a bed of coal that can run all the machinery
of the world for 500 centuries ; in a garden that can feed the race by the
thousand years; at the head of the lakes that give her a temperature as a
summer resort equaled by no great city in the land ; with a climate that
insures the health of her citizens ; surrounded by all the great deposits
of natural wealth in mines aud forests and herds, Chicago is the wonder
of to-day, and will be the city of the future.
MASSACRE AT FORT DEARBORN.
During the war of 1812, Fort Dearborn became the theater of stirring
events. The garrison consisted of fifty-four men under command of
Captain Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant Helm (son-in-law of Mrs.
Kinzie) and Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees was surgeon. The only resi-
dents at the post at that time were the wives of Captain Heald and Lieu-
tenant Helm, and a few of the soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and
a few Canadian voyageurs, with their wives and cliildren. The soldiers
and Mr. Kinzie were on most friendly terms with the Pottawattamies
and Winnebagos, the principal tribes around them, but they could not
win them from their attachment to the British.
One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing on his violin and
his children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing
into the house, pale with terror, and exclaiming: "The Indians! the
Indians!" "What? Where?" eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. "Up
at Lee's, killing and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who,
when the alarm was given, was attending Mrs. Barnes (just confined)
living not far off. Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river and took
refuge in the fort, to which place Mrs. Barnes and her infant not a day
old were safely conveyed. The rest of the inhabitants took shelter in the
fort. This alarm was caused by a scalping party of Winnebagos, who
hovered about the fort several days, when they disappeared, and for several
weeks the inhabitants were undisturbed.
On the 7th of August, 1812, General Hull, at Detroit, sent orders to
Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and to distribute all the United
States property to the Indians in the neighborhood — a most insane order.
The Pottawattamie chief, who brought the dispatch, had more wisdom
than the commanding general. He advised Captain Heald not to make
the distribution. Said he : " Leave the fort and stores as they are, and
let the Indians make distribution for themselves ; and while they are
engaged in the business, the white people may escape to Fort Wayne."
M'
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p
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 143
Captain Heald held a council with the Indians on the afternoon ot
the 12th, in which his officers refused to join, for they had been informed
that treachery was designed — that the Indians intended to murder the
white people in the council, and then destroy those in the fort. Captain
Heald, however, took the precaution to open a port-hole displaying a
cannon pointing directly upon the council, and by that means saved
his life.
Mr. Kinzie, who knew the Indians well, begged Captain Heald not
to confide in their promises, nor distribute the arms and munitions among
them, for it would only put power into their hands to destroy the whites.
Acting upon this advice, Heald resolved to withhold the munitions of
war ; and on the night of the 13th, after the distribution of the otlier
property had been made, the powder, ball and liquors were thrown into
the river, the muskets broken up and destroyed.
Black Partridge, a friendly chief, came to Captain Heald, and said :
" Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day: be careful on the
march you are going to take." On that dark night vigilant Indians had
crept near the fort and discovered the destruction of their promised booty
going on within. The next morning the powder was seen floating on the
surface of the river. The savages were exasperated and made loud com-
plaints and threats.
On the following day when preparations were making to leave the
fort, and all the inmates were deeply impressed with a sense of impend-
ing danger, Capt. Wells, an uncle of Mrs. Heald, was discovered upon
the Indian trail among the sand-hills on the borders of the lake, not far
distant, with a band of mounted Miamis, of whose tribe he was chief,
having been adopted by the famous Miami warrior. Little Turtle. When
news of Hull's surrender reached Fort Wayne, he had started with this
force to assist Heald in defending Fort Dearborn. He was too late.
Every means for its defense had been destroyed the night before, and
arrangements were made for leaving the fort on the morning of the loth.
It was a warm bright morning in the middle of August. Indications
were positive that the savages intended to murder the white people ; and
when they moved out of the southern gate of the fort, the march was
like a funeral procession. The band, feeling the solemnity of the occa-
sion, struck up the Dead March in Saul.
Capt. Wells, who had blackened his face with gun-powder in token
of his fate, took the lead with his band of Miamis, followed by Capt.
Heald, with his wife by his side on horseback. Mr. Kinzie hoped by his
personal influence to avert the impending blow, and therefore accompanied
them, leaving his family in a boat in charge of a friendly Indian, to be
taken to his trading station at the site of Niles, Michigan, in the event oi
his death.
14t
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
■ " "'''il,ll?liPniF"""*"""''^"7n"TT':^iii|
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLESTOIS. 145
The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached
the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawattamie
escort, under the leadership of Blackbird, filed to the right, placing those
hills between them and the white people. Wells, with his Miarais, had
kept in the advance. They suddenly came rushing back. Wells exclaim-
ing, " They are about to attack us ; form instantly." These words were
quickly followed by a storm of bullets, which came whistling over the
little hills which the treacherous savages had made the covert for their
murderous attack. The white troops charged upon the Indians, drove
them back to the prairie, and then the battle was waged between fifty-
four soldiers, twelve civilians and three or four women (the cowardly
Miamis having fled at the outset) against five hundred Indian warriors.
The white people, hopeless, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as j)ossible.
Ensign Ronan wielded his weapon vigorously, even after falling upon his
knees weak from the loss of blood. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of
his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest
coolness and courage. He said to her, " We have not the slightest chance
for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you."
And then he dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a
demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve children, and tomahawk
them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, " If that is your
game, butchering women aAd children, I will kill too." He spurred his
horse towards the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and
papooses, hotly pursued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent bullets
whistling after him. One of these killed his horse and wounded him
severely in the leg. With a yell the young braves rushed to make him
their prisoner and reserve him for torture. He resolved not to be made
a captive, and by the use of the most provoking epithets tried to induce
them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a squaiv, when
the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his tomahawk, jumped
upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm morsel
with savage delight !
In this fearful combat women bore a conspicuous part. Mrs. Heald
was an excellent equestrian and an expert in the use of the rifle. She
fought the savages bravely, receiving several severe wounds. Though
faint from the loss of blood, she managed to keep her saddle. A savage
raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face,
and with a sweet smile and in a gentle voice said, in his own language,
" Surely you will not kill a squaw ! " The arm of the savage fell, and
the life of the heroic woman was saved.
Mrs. Helm, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had an encounter with
a stout Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. Springing to one side,
she received the glancing blow on her shoulder, and at the same instant
14(3 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
seized the savaq:e round the neck with her arms and endeavored to jjet
hold of his scalping knife, which hung in a sheath at his breast. While
she was tlius struggling she was dragged from her antagonist by anothei
powerful Indian, who bore her, in spite of her struggles, to the margin
of the lake and plunged her in. To her astonishment she was held by
him so that she would not drown, and she soon perceived that she was
in the hands of the friendly Black Partridge, who had saved her life.
The wife of Sergeant Holt, a large and powerful woman, behaved as
bravely as au Amazon. She rode a fine, high-spirited horse, which the
Indians coveted, and several of them attacked her with the butts of their
guns, for the purpose of dismounting her ; but she used the sword which
she had snatched from her disabled husband so skillfully that she foiled
them ; and, suddenly wheeling her horse, she dashed over the prairie,
followed by the savages shouting, " The brave woman ! the brave woman !
Don't hurt her ! " They finally overtook her, and while she was fighting
them in front, a powerful savage came up behind her, seized her by the
neck and dragged her to the ground. Horse and woman were made
captives. Mrs. Holt was a long time a captive among the Indians, but
was afterwards ransomed.
In this sharp conflict two-thirds of the white people were slain and
wounded, and all their horses, baggage and provision were lost. Only
twenty-eight straggling men now remained to fight five hundred Indians
rendered furious b}'- the sight of blood. They succeeded in breaking
through the ranks of the murderers and gaining a slight eminence on the
prairie near the Oak Woods. The Indians did not pursue, but gathered
on their flanks, while the chiefs held a consultation on the sand-hills, and
showed signs of willingness to parley. It would have been madness on
the part of the whites to renew the fight ; and so Capt. Heald went for-
ward and met Blackbird on the open prairie, where terms of surrender
were soon agreed upon. It was arranged that the white people should
give up their arms to Blackbird, and that the survivors should become
prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable.
With this understanding captives and captors started for the Indian
camp near the fort, to which Mrs. Helm had been taken bleeding and
suffering by Black Partridge, and had met her step-father and learned
that her husband was safe.
A new scene of horror was now opened at the Indian camp. The
wounded, not being included in the terms of surrender, as it was inter-
preted by the Indians, and the British general, Proctor, having offered a
liberal bounty for American scalps, delivered at Maiden, nearly all the
wounded men were killed and scalped, and the price of the trophies was
afterwards paid by the British government.
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
149
SHABBONA.
[This was engraved from a daguerreotype, taken when Shabbona was 83 years old.]
This celebrated Indian chief, whose portrait appears in this work, deserves
more than a passing notice. Although Shabbona was not so conspicuous as
Tecumseh or Black Hawk, yet in point of merit he was superior to either
of them.
Shabbona was born at an Indian village on the Kankakee River, now in
Will County, about the year 1775. While young he was made chief of the
band, and went to Shabbona Grove, now DeKalb County, where they were
found in the early settlement of the county.
In the war of 1812, Shabbona, with his warriors, joined Tecumseh, was
loO HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
aid to that grcit chief, and stood by his side when he fell at the battle of
the Thames. At the time of the Winnebago war, in 1827, he visited almost
every village among the Pottawatomies, and bj' his persuasive arguments
prevented them from taking part in the war. By request of the citizens
of Chicago, Sliabbona,.accompanied by Billy Caldwell (Sauganash), visited
Big Foot's village at Geneva Lake, in order to pacify the warriors, as fears
were entertained that they were about to raise the tomahawk against the
whites. Here Shabbona was taken prisoner by Big Foot, and his life
threatened, but on the following day was set at liberty. From that time
the Indians (through reproach) styled him " the white man's friend,"
and many times his life was endangered.
Before the Black Hawk war, Shabbona met in council at two differ-
ent times, and by h.is influence prevented his people from taking part with
the Sacs and Foxes. After the death of Black Partridge and Senachwine,
no chief amonsf the Pottawatomies exerted so much influence as Shabbona.
Black Hawk, aware of this influence, visited him at two different times, in
order to enlist him in his cause, but was unsuccessful. While Black Hawk
was a prisoner at Jefferson Barracks, he said, had it not been for Shabbona
the whole Pottawatomie nation would have joined his standard, and he
could have continued the war for years.
To Shabbona many of the early settlers of Illinois owe the pres-
ervation of their lives, for it is a well-known fact, had he not notified the
people of their danger, a large portion of them would have fallen victims
to the tomahawk of savages. By saving the lives of whites he endangered
his OAvn, for the Sacs and Foxes threatened to kill him, and made two
attempts to execute tlieir threats. They killed Pypeogee, his son, and
Pyps, his nephew, and hunted him down as though he was a wild beast.
Shabbona had a reservation of two sections of land at his Grove, but
by leaving it and going west for a short time, the Government declared
the reservation forfeited, and sold it the same as other vacant land. On
Shabbona's return, and finding his possessions gone, he was very sad and
broken down in spirit, and left the Grove for ever. The citizens of Ottawa
raised money and bought him a tract of land on the Illinois River, above
Seneca, in Grundy County, on which they built a house, and supplied
him with means to live on. He lived here until his death, which occurred
on the ITth of July, ISoO, in tlie eighty-fourth year of his age, and Avas
buried with great pomp in the cemetery at Morris. His squaw, Pokanoka,
was drowned in Mazen Creek, Grundy County, on the 30th of November,
18G4, and was buried by his side.
In 1861 subscriptions were taken up in many of the river towns, to
erect a monument over the remains of Shabbona, but the war breaking
out, the enterprise was abandoned. Only a plain marble slab marks the
resting-place of this friend of the white man.
Abstract of Illinois State Laws.
BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES.
No promissory note, check, draft, hill of exchange, order, or note, nego-
tiable instrument payable at sight, or on demand, or on presentment, shall
be entitled to days of grace. All other bills of exchange, drafts or notes are
entitled to three days of grace. All the above mentioned paper falling
due on Sunday, New Years' Day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, or any
d^y appointed or recommended by the President of the United States or
the Grovernor of the State as a day of fast or thanksgiving, shall be deemed
as due on the day previous, and should two or more of these days come
together, then such instrument shall be treated as due on the (\.?ij pirevious
to the first of said days. No defense can be made against a negotiable
instrument (^assigned before due') in the hands of the assignee without
notice, except fraud was used in obtaining the same. To hold an indorser,
due diligence must be used by suit, in collecting of the maker, unless suit
would have been unavailing. Notes payable to person named or to order,
in order to absolutely transfer title, must be indorsed by the payee. Notes
payable to bearer may be transferred by delivery, and when so payable
every indorser thereon is held as a guarantor of payment unless otherwise
expressed.
In computing interest or discount on negotiable instruments, a month
shall be considered a calendar month or tivelfth of a year, and for less
than a month, a day shall be figured a thirtieth part of a month. Notes
only bear interest when so expressed, but after due they draw the legal
interest, even if not stated.
INTEREST.
The legal rate of interest is six per cent. Parties may agree in writ-
ing on a rate not exceeding ten per cent. If a rate of interest greater
than ten per cent, is contracted for, it works a forfeiture of the whole of
said interest, and only the principal can be recovered.
DESCENT.
When no ivill is made, the property of a deceased person is distrib-
uted as follows :
T5I
152 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
First. To his or her children and their descendants in equal parts ;
the descendaiics of the deceased child or grandchild taking the share of
their deceased parents in equal parts among them.
Second. Wliere there is no child, nor descendant of such child, and
no widow or surviving husband, then to the parents, brothers and sisters
of the deceased, and their descendants, in equal parts, the surviving
parent, if either be dead, taking a double portion ; and if there is no
parent living, then to the brothers and sisters of the intestate and their
descendants.
Third. When there is a widow or surviving husband^ and no child or
childreti^ or descendants of the same, then one-half of the real estate and
the whole of the personal estate shall descend to such widow or surviving
husband, absolutely, and the other half of the real estate shall descend as
in other cases where there is no child or children or descendants of the
same.
Fourth. When there is a ividoio or surviving husband and also a child
or children., or descendants of the latter, then one third of all the personal
estate to the widotv or surviving husband absolutely.
Fifth. If there is no child., parent., brother or sister, or descendants of
either of them, and no widow or surviving husband, then in equal parts
to the next of kin to the intestate in equal degree. Collaterals shall not
be represented except with the descendants of brothers and sisters of the
intestate, and there shall be no distinction between kindred of the whole
and the half blood.
Sixth. If any intestate leaves a ividoiv or surviving husband and no
kindred^ then to such widow or surviving husband ; and if there is no such
widow or surviving husband, it shall escheat to and vest in the county
where the same, or the greater portion thereof, is situated.
WILLS AND ESTATES OF DECEASED PERSONS.
No exact form of ivords are necessarv in order to make a will good at
law. Every male person of the age of twenty-one years, and eyevy feiuale
of the age of eighteen years, of sound mind and memory, can make a valid
will ; it must be in writing, signed by the testator or by some one in his
or her presence and by his or her direction, and attested by tivo or more
credible witnesses. Care should be taken that the witnesses are not inter-
ested in the will. Persons knoiving themselves to have been named in the
will or appointed executor, must within thirty days of the death of
deceased cause the will to be proved and recorded in tlie proper county,
or present it, and refuse to accept ; on failure to do so are liable to forfeit
the sum of twenty dollars per motith. Inventory to be made by executor
or administrator within three months from date of letters testamentary or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 153
of administration. Executors' and administrators' compensation not to
exceed six per cent, on amount of personal estate, and three per cent,
on money realized from real estate, with such additional allowance as
shall be reasonable for extra services. Appraisers' compensation $2 pei
day.
Notice requiring all claims to be presented against the estate shall b^
given by the executor or administrator within six months of being quali-
fied. Any person having a claim and not presenting it at the time fixed
by said notice is required to have summons issued notifying the executor
or administrator of his having filed his claim in court ; in such cases the
costs have to be paid by the claimant. Qlaims should be filed within tivo
years from the time administration is granted on an estate, as after that
time they 2(,vq forever barred, unless other estate is found that was not in-
ventoried. Married women, infants, persons insane, imprisoned or without
the United States, in the employment of the United States, or of this
State, have two years after their disabilities are removed to file claims.
Claims are classified and paid out of the estate in the following manner:
First. Funeral expenses.
Second. The widow's award, if there is a widow ; or children if there
are children, and no ividoiv.
Third. Expenses attending the last illness, not including physician's
bill.
Fourth. Debts due the common school or township fund .
Fifth. All expenses of proving the will and taking out letters testa-
mentary or administration, and settlement of the estate, and the physi-
cian's bill in the last illness of deceased.
Sixth. Where the deceased has received money in trust for any pur-
pose, his executor or administrator shall pay out of his estate the amount
feceived and not accounted for.
Seventh. All other debts and demands of whatsoever kind, without
regard to quality or dignity, which shall be exhibited to the court within
two years from the granting of letters.
Award to Widow and Children, exclusive of debts and legacies or be-
quests, except funeral expenses :
First. The family pictures and tvearing apparel, jewels and ornaments
of herself and minor children.
Second. School books and the family library of the value of $100.
Third. One sewing machine.
Fourth. Necessary beds, bedsteads and bedding for herself and family.
Fifth. The stoves and pipe used in the family, with the necessary
cooking utensils, or in case they have none, $50 in money.
Sixth. Household and kitchen furniture to the value of $100.
Seventh. One milch cow and calf for every four members of her family.
154 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Eighth. Two sheep for each member of her family, and the fleeces
taken from the same, and one horse, saddle and bridle.
Ninth. Provisions for herself and family for one year.
Tenth. Food for the stock above specified for six months.
Eleventh. Fuel for herself and family for three months.
Twelfth. One hundred dollars worth of other property suited to her
condition in life, to be selected by the widow.
The loidoiv if she elects may have in lieu of the said award, the same
personal property or money in place thereof as isDr may be exempt from
execution or attachment against the head of a family.
TAXES.
The owners of real and personal property,- on the first day of May in
each year, are liable for the taxes thereon.
Assessments should be completed before the fourth Monday in June.,
at which time the town board of review meets to examine assessments,
hear objections., and make such changes as ought to be made. The county
board have also power to correct or change assessments.
The tax books are placed in the hands of the town collector on or
before tl.e tenth day of December, who retains them until the tenth day
of March following, when he is required to return them to the county
treasurer, who then collects all delinquent taxes.
No costs accrue on real estate taxes till advertised., which takes place
the first day of April, when three weeks' notice is requu*ed before judg-
ment. Cost of advertising, twenty cents each tract of land, and ten cents
each lot.
Judgment is usually obtained at May term of County Court. Costs
six cents each tract of land, and five cents each lot. Sale takes place in
June. Costs in addition to those before mentioned, twenty-eight cents
each tract of land, and twenty-seven cents each town lot.
Real estate sold for taxes may be redeemed any time before the expi-
ration of two years from the date of sale, by payment to the County Clerk
of the amount for which it was sold and twenty-five per cent, thereon if
redeemed within six months, fifty per cent, if between six and twelve
months, if between twelve and eighteen months seventy-five per cent.,
and if between eighteen months and two years one hundred per cent.,
and in addition, all subsequent taxes paid by the purchaser, with ten per
cent, interest thereon, also one dollar each tract if notice is given by the
purchaser of the sale, and a fee of twenty-five cents to the clerk for his
certificate.
JURISDICTION OF COURTS.
Justices have jurisdiction in all civil cases on contracts iov the recovery
of moneys for damages for injury to real property., or taking, detaining, or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 155
injuring personal property ; for rent; for all cases to recover damages done
real or personal property by railroad companies, in actions of replevin, and
in actions for damages for fraud in the sale, purchase, or exchange of per-
sonal property, when the amount claimed as due is not over $200. They
have also jurisdiction in all cases for violation of the ordinances of cities,
towns or villages. A justice of the peace may orally order an officer or a
private person to arrest any one committing or attempting to commit a
criminal offense. He also upon complaint can issue his warrant for the
arrest of any person ac-used of having committed a crime, and have him
brought before him for examination.
COUNTY COURTS
Have jurisdiction in all matters of probate (except in counties having a
population of one hundred thousand or over), settlement of estates of
deceased persons, appointment of guardians and conservators, and settle-
ment of their accounts ; all matters relating to apprentices ; proceedings
for the collection of taxes and assessments, and in proceedings of executors,
administrators, guardians and conservators for the sale of real estate. In
law cases they have concurrent jurisdiction with Circuit Courts in all
cases where justices of the peace now have, or hereafter may have,
jurisdiction when the amount claimed shall not exceed $1,000, and in all
criminal offenses where the punishment is not imprisonment in the peni-
tentiary, or death, and in all cases of appeals from justices of the peace
and police magistrates ; excepting when the county judge is sitting as a
justice of the peace. Circuit Courts have unlimited jurisdiction.
LIMITATION OF ACTION.
Accounts jive years. Notes and written contracts ten years. Judg-
ments twenty years. Partial payments or new promise in writing, within
or after said period, will revive the debt. Absence from the State deducted,
and when the cause of action is barred by the law of another State, it has
the same effect here. Slander and libel, one year. Personal injuries, tioo
years. To recover land or make entry thereon, twenty years. Action to
foreclose mortgage or trust deed, or make a sale, ivithin ten years.
All persons in possession of land, and payiiig taxes for seven consecu-
tive years, with color of title, and all persons paying taxes for seven con-
secutive years, with color of title, on vacant land, shall be held to be the
legal owners to the extent of their paper title.
MARRIED WOMEN
May sue and be sued. Husband and wife not liable for each other's debts,
either before or after marriage, but both are liable for expenses and edu-
cation of the family.
4
156 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
She may contract the same as if unmarried^ except that in a partner-
ship business she can not, without consent of her husband, unless he has
abandoned or deserted her, or is idiotic or insane, or confined in peniten-
tiary ; she is entitled and can recover her own earnings, but neither hus-
band nor wife is entitled to compensation for any services rendered for the
other. At the death of the husband, in addition to widow's award, a
married woman has a dower interest (one-third) in all real estate owned
by her husband after their marriage, and which has not been released by
her, and the husband has the same interest in the real estate of the wife
at her death.
EXEMPTIONS FROM FORCED SALE.
Some tvorth f 1,000, and the following Personal Property : Lot of ground
and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence by the debtor, being a house-
holder and having a family, to the value of $1,000. Uxonption continues
after the death of the householder for the benefit of widow and family, some
one of them occupying the homestead until youngest child shall become
twenty-one years of age, and until death of ividow. There is no exemption
from sale for taxes, assessments, debt or liability incurred for the purchase
or improvement of said homestead. No release or waiver of exemption is
valid, unless in writing, and subscribed by such householder and wife (if
he have one), and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate are required
to be acknowledged. The following articles of personal property owned
by the debtor, are exempt from execution, ivrit of attachment, and distress
for rent : The necessary wearing apparel, Bibles, school books and family
pictures of every person ; and, 2d, one hundred dollars worth of other
property to be selected by the debtor, and, in addition, when the debtor
is the head of a family and resides with the same, three hundred dollars
worth of other property to be selected by the debtor ; provided that such
selection and exemption shall not be made by the debtor or allowed to
him or her from any money, salary or wages due him or her from any
person or persons or corporations whatever.
When the head of a family shall die, desert or not reside with the
same, the family shall be entitled to and receive all the benefit and priv-
ileges which are by this act conferred upon the hfead of a family residing
with the same. No personal property is exempt from execution when
judgment is obtained for the wages of laborers or servants. Wages of a
laborer who is the head of a family can not be garnisheed, except the sum
due him be in excess of $25.
ABSTRACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 157
DEEDS AND MORTGAGES.
To he valid there must he a valid consideration. Special care should
be taken to have them signed, sealed, delivered, and properly acknowl-
edged, with the proper seal attached. Witnesses are not required. The
acknoivledgement must be made in this state, before Master in Chancery,
Notary Puhlic, United States Commissioner, Circuit or County Clerk, Justice
of Peace, or any Court of Record having a seal, or any Judge, Justice, or
Clerk of any such Court. When taken before a Notary Public, or United
States Commissioner, the same shall be attested by his official seal, when
taken before a Court or the Clerk thereof, the same shall be attested by
the seal of such Court, and -vvhen taken before a Justice of the Peace resid-
ing out of the county where the real estate to be conveyed lies, there shall
be added a certificate of the County Clerk under his seal of office, that he
was a Justice of the Peace in the county at the time of taking the same.
A deed is good without such certificate attached, but can not be used in
evidence unless such a certificate is produced or other competent evidence
introduced. Acknowledgements made out of the state must either be
executed according to the laws of this state, or there should be attached
a certificate that it is in conformity with the laws of the state or country
where executed. Where this is not done the same may be proved by any
other legal way. Acknowledgments where the Homestead rights are to
be waived must state as follows : " Including the release and waiver of
tlie right of homestead."
Notaries Public can take acknowledgements any where in the state.
Sheriffs, if authorized by the mortgagor of real or personal property
in his mortgage, may sell the property mortgaged.
In the case of the death of grantor or holder of the equity of redemp-
tion of real estate mortgaged, or conveyed by deed of trust where equit}'
of redemption is waived, and it contains power of sale, must be foreclosed
in the same manner as a common mortgage in court.
ESTRAYS.
Horses, mules, asses, neat cattle, swine, sheep, or goats found straying
at any time during the year, in counties where such animals are not allowed
to run at large, or between the last day of October and the 15th day of
April in other counties, the owner thereof being unknown, may he taken up
as estrays.
No person not a householder in the county where estray is found can
laufully take up an estray, and then only upon or about his farm or place
of residence. Estrays should not he used before advertised, except animalg
giving milk, which may be milked for their benefit.
158 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Notices must be posted up witliin five (5) days in three (3) of the
most public places in the town or precinct in which estray was found, giv-
ing the residence of the taker up, and a particular description of the
estra}', its age, color, and marks natural and artificial, and stating before
what justice of the peace in such town or precinct, and at what time, not
less than ten (10) nor more than fifteen (15) days from the time of post-
ing sucii notices, he will apply to have the estray appraised.
A copy of such notice should be filed by the taker up with the totvn
clerk, whose duty it is to enter the same at large, in a book kept by him
for that purpose.
If the owner of estray shall not have appeared and proved ownership,
and taken the same away, first paying the taker up his reasonable charges
for taking up, keeping, and advertising the same, the taker up shall appear
before the justice of the peace mentioned in above mentioned notice, and
make an affidavit as required by law.
As the affidavit has to be made before the Justice, and all other steps as
to appraisement, etc., are before him, who is familiar therewith, they are
therefore omitted here.
Any person taking up an estray at any other place than about or
upon his farm or residence, or without complying tvith the laiv, shall forfeit
and pay a fine of ten dollars with costs.
Ordinary diligence is required in taking care of estrays, but in case
they die or get away the taker is not liable for the same.
GAME.
It is unlaivful for any person to kill, or attempt to kill or destroy, in
any manner, any prairie hen or chicken or woodcock between the 15th day
of January and the 1st day of September ; or any deer, fawn, ivild-turkey,
partridge or pheasant between the 1st day of February and the 1st day
of October ; or any quail between the 1st day of February and 1st day of
November ; or any wild goose, duck, snipe, brant or otlier water fowl
between the 1st day of May and 15th day of August in each year.
Penalty : Fine not less than $5 nor more than $25, for each bird or
animal, and costs of suit, and stand committed to county jail until fine is
paid, but not exceeding ten days. It is unlawful to hunt with gun, dog
or net within the inclosed grounds or lands of another without permission.
Penalty: Fine not less than 83 nor more than $100, to be paid into
school fund.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Whenever any of the following articles shall be contracted for, or
sold or delivered, and no special contract or agreement shall be made to
the contrary, the weight per bushel shall be as follows, to-wit :
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 159
Pounds.
Pounds.
Stone Coal,
- 80
Buckwheat, -
- 52
Unslacked Lime,
- 80
Coarse Salt,
- 50
Corn ill the ear.
- 70
Barley, - - -
- 48
Wheat, - -. -
- 60
Corn Meal,
- 48
Irish Potatoes,
- 60
Castor Beans,
- 46
"White Beans,
- 60
Timothy Seed, -
- 45
Clover Seed, -
- 60
Hemp Seed, -
- 44
Onions, _ ~ -
57
Malt, - - - -
- 38
Shelled Corn,
- 56
Dried Peaches,
- 33
Rye, - - - -
- 56
Oats, - - - -
- 32
Flax Seed, -
- 56
Dried Apples,
- 24
Sweet Potatoes, -
55
Bran, - - - -
- 20
Turnips,
- 55
Blue Grass Seed, -
- 14
Fine Salt, -
- 55
Hair (plastering).
8
Penalty for giving less than the above standard is double the amount
of property wrongfully not given, and ten dollars addition thereto.
MILLERS.
The owner or occupant of every public grist mill in this state shall
grind all grain brought to his mill in its turn. The toll for both steam
and ivater mills, is, for grinding and bolting wheat., rye., or other grain, one
eighth part; for grinding Indian corn., oats., barley and huckivheat not
required to be bolted, one seventh part; for grinding malt, and chopping all
kinds of grain, one eighth part. It is the duty of every miller when his
mill is in repair, to aid and assist in loading and unloading all grain brought
to him to be ground, and he is also required to keep an accurate half
bushel measure, and an accurate set of toll dishes or scales^ for weighing
the grain. The penalty for neglect or refusal to comply with the law is
$5, to the use of any person to sue for the same, to be recovered before
any justice of the peace of the county where penalty is incurred. Millers
are accountable for the safe keeping of all grain left in his mill for the
purpose of being ground, with bags or casks containii^ same (except it
results from unavoidable accidents), provided that such bags or casks are
distinctly marked with the initial letters of the owner's name.
MARKS AND BRANDS.
Owners of cattle, horses, hogs, sheep or goats may have one earmark
and one brand, but which shall be different from his neighbor's, and iiiay
be recorded by the count}^ clerk of the county in which such property is
kept. The fee for such record is fifteen cents. The record of such shall
be open to examination free of charge. In cases of disputes as to marks
or brands, such record is vrima facie evidence. Owners of cattle, horses,
hogs, sheep or goats that may liave been branded by the former owner,
lOU ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
may be re-bianded iu presence of one or more of his neighbors, wlio shall
certify to the facts of the marking or branding being done, when done,
and in what brand or mark they were re-branded or re-marked, which
certificate may also be recorded as before stated.
ADOPTION OF CHILDREN.
Children may be adopted by any resident of this state, by filing a
petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which he resides,
asking leave to do so, and if desired may ask that the name of the child
be changed. Such petition, if made by a person having a husband or
wife, will not be granted, unless the husband or wife joins therein, as the
adoption must be by them jointly.
The petition shall state name, sex, and age of the child, and the new
name, if it is desired to change the name. Also the name and residence
of the parents of the child, if known, and of the guardian, if any, and
whether the parents or guardians consent to the adoption.
The court must find, before granting decree, that the parents of the
child, or the survivors of them, have deserted his or her family or such
child for one year next preceding the application, or if neither are living,
the guardian ; if no guardian, the next of kin in this state capable of giving
consent, has had notice of the presentation of the petition and consents
to such adoption. If the child is of the age of fourteen years or upwards^
the adoption can not be made without its consent.
SURVEYORS AND SURVEYS.
There is in every county elected a surveyor known as county sur-
veyor, who has power to appoint deputies, for whose official acts he is
responsible. It is the duty of the county surveyor, either by himself or
his deputy, to make all surveys that he may be called upon to make within
his county as soon as may be after application is made. The necessary
chainmen and other assistance must be employed by the person requiring
the same to be done, and to be by him paid, unless otherwise agreed ; but
the chainmen must be disinterested persons and approved by the surveyor
and sworn by him to measure justly and impartially.
The County Board in each county is required by law to provide a copy
of the United States field notes and plats of their surveys of the lands
in the county to be kept in the recorder's office subject to examination
by the public, and the county surveyor is required to make his surveys
in conformity to said notes, plats and the laws of the United States gov-
erning such matters. The surveyor is also required to keep a record
of all surveys made by him, which shall be subject to inspection by any
one interested, and shall be delivered up to his successor in office. A.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 161
certified copy of the said surveyor's record shall be prima facie evidence
of its contents.
The fees of county surveyors are six dollars per day. The county
surveyor is also ex officio inspector of mines, and as such, assisted by some
practical miner selected by him, shall once each year inspect all the
mines in the county, for which they shall each receive such compensa-
tion as may be fixed by the County Board, not exceeding $5 a day, to
be paid out of the county treasury.
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
Where practicable from the nature of the ground, persons traveling
in any kind of vehicle, 7nust turn to the right of the center of the road, so
as to permit each carriage to pass without interfering with each other.
The j^'^nalti/ for a violation of this provision is $5 for every offense, to
be recovered by the parti/ injured ; but to recover, there must have
occurred some injury to person or property resulting from the violation.
The owners of any carriage traveling upon any road in this State for the
conveyance of passengers who shall employ or continue in his employment
as driver any person who is addicted to drunkenness, or the excessive use of
spiritous liquors, after he has had notice of the same, shall forfeit, at the
rate of |5 per day, and if any driver while actually engaged in driving
any such carriage, shall be guilty of intoxicatio7i to such a degree as to.
endanger tjie safety of passengers, it shall be the duty of the owner, on
receiving written notice of the fact, signed by one of the passengers, and
certified by him on oath, forthwith to discharge such driver. If such owner
shall have such driver in his employ withiii three months after such notice,
he is liable for $5 per day for the time he shall keep said driver in his
employment after receiving such notice.
Persons driving any carriage on any public highway are prohibited
from running their horses upon any occasion under a penalty of a fine not
exceeding $10, or imprisonment not exceeding sixty .days, at the discre-
tion of the court. Horses attached to any carriage used to convey passen-
gers for hire must be properly hitched or the lines placed in the hands of
some other person before the driver leaves them for any purpose. For
violation of this provision each driver shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be
recovered by action, to be commenced within six^ months. It is under-
stood by the term carriage herein to mean any carriage or vehicle used
for the transportation of passengers or goods or either of them.
The commissioners of highways in the different tov/ns have the care
and superintendence of highways and bridges therein. They have all
the powers necessary to lay out, vacate, regulate and repair all roads*
build and repair bridges. In addition to the above, it is their duty to
erect and keep in repair at the forks or crossing-place of the most.
162 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
important roads post and guide boards with plain inscriptions, giving
directions and distances to the most noted phices to which such road may
lead ; also to make provisions to prevent thistles, burdock, and cockle
burrs, mustard, yellow dock, Indian mallow and jimson weed from
seeding, and to extirpate the same as far as practicable, and to prevent
all rank growth of vegetation on the public highways so far as the same
may obstruct public travel, and it is in their discretion to erect watering
places for public use for watering teams at such points as may be deemed
advisable.
The Commissioners, on or before the 1st day of May of each year,
shall make out and deliver to their treasurer a list of all able-bodied men
in their town, excepting paupers, idiots, lunatics, and such others as are
exempt by law, and assess against each the sum of two dollars as a poll
tax for highway purposes. Within thirty days after such list is delivered
they shall cause a written or printed notice to be given to each person so
assessed, notifying him of the time when and place where such tax must
be paid, or its equivalent in labor performed ; they may contract with
persons owing such poll tax to perform a certain amount of labor on any
road or bridge in payment of the same, and if such tax is not paid nor
labor performed by the first Monday of July of such year, or within ten
days after notice is given after that time, they shall bring suit therefor
against such person before a justice of the peace, who shall hear and
determine the case according to law for the offense complained of, and
shall forthwith issue an execution, directed to any constable of the county
where the delinquent shall reside, who shall forthwith collect the moneys
therein mentioned.
The Commissioners of Highways of each town shall annually ascer-
tain, as near as practicable, how much money must be raised b}^ tax on real
and personal property for the making and repairing of roads, only, to any
amount they may deem necessary, not exceeding forty cents on each one
hundred dollars' wortli, as valued on the assessment roll of the previous
year. The tax so levied on property lying within an incorporated village,
town or city, shall be paid over to the corporate authorities of such town,
village or city. Commissioners shall receive $1.50 for each day neces-
sarily employed in the discharge of their duty.
Overseers. At the first meeting the Commissioners shall choose one
of their number to act General Overseer of Highways in their township,
whose duty it shall be to take charge of and safely keep all tools, imple-
ments and machinery belonging to said town, and shall, by the direction
of the Board, have general supervision of all roads and bridges in their
town.
ABSTRACT OP ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 163
As all township and county officers are familiar with their duties, it
is only intended to give the points of the law that the public should be
familiar with. The manner of laying out, altering or vacating roads, etc.,
will not be here stated, as it would require more space than is contem-
plated in a work of this kind. It is sufficient to state that, the first step
is by petition, addressed to the Commissioners, setting out what is prayed
for, giving the names of the owners of lands if known, if not known so
state, over which the road is to pass, giving the general course, its place
of beginning, and where it terminates. It requires not less than twelve
freeholders residing within three miles of the road who shall sign the
petition. PubHc roads must not be less than fifty feet wide, nor more
than sixty feet wide. Roads not exceeding two miles in length, if peti-
tioned for, may be laid out, not less than forty feet. Private roads
for private and public use, may be laid out of the width of three rods, on
petition of the person directly interested ; the damage occasioned thereby
shall be paid by the premises benefited thereby, and before the road is
opened. If not opened in two years, the order shall be considered
rescinded. Commissionerrs in their discretion may permit persons who
live on or have private roads, to work out their road tax thereon. Public
roads must be opened in five days from date of filing order of location,
or be deemed vacated.
DRAINAGE.
Whenever one or more owners or occupants of land desire to construct
I drain or ditch across the land of others for agricultural, sanitary or
mining purposes, the proceedings are as follows :
File a petition in the Circuit or County Court of the county in which
the proposed ditch or drain is to be constructed, setting forth the neces-
sity for the same, with a description of its proposed starting point, route
and terminus, and if it shall be necessary for the drainage of the land or
coal mines or for sanitary purposes, that a drain, ditch, levee or similar
work be constructed, a description of the same. It shall also set forth
the names of all persons owning the land over which such drain or ditch
shall be constructed, or if unknown stating that fact.
No private property shall be taken or damaged for the purpose of
constructing a ditch, drain or levee, without compensation, if claimed by
the owner, the same to be ascertained by a jury; but if the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee shall be a benefit to the owner, the same
shall be a set off against such compensation.
If the proceedings seek to affect the property of a minor, lunatic or
married woman, the guardian, conservator or husband of the same shall
be made party defendant. The petition may be amended and parties
made defendants at any time when it is necessary to a fair trial.
164 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
When the petition is presented to the judge, he shall note therein
when he will hear the same, and order the issuance of summonses and
the publication of notice to each non-resident or unknown defendant.
The petition may be heard by such judge in vacation as well as in
term time. Upon the trial, the jury shall ascertain the just compensation
to each owner of the property sought to be damaged by the construction
of such ditch, drain or levee, and truly report the same.
As it is only contemplated in a work of this kind to give an abstract
of the laws, and as the parties who have in charge the execution of the
further proceedings are likely to be familiar with the requirements of the
statute, the necessary details are not here inserted.
WOLF SCALPS.
The County Board of any county in this State may hereafter alliiW
such bounty on wolf scalps as the board may deem reasonable.
Any person claiming a bounty shall produce the scalp or scalps with
the ears thereon, within sixty days after the wolf or wolves shall have
been caught, to the Clerk of the County Board, who shall administer to
said person the following oath or affirmation, to-wit: "You do solemnly
swear (or affirm, as the case may be), that the scalp or scalps here pro-
duced b}' you was taken from a wolf or wolves killed and first captured
by yourself within the limits of this county, and within the sixty days
last past."
CONVEYANCES.
When the reversion expectant on a lease of any tenements or here-
ditaments of any tenure shall be surrendered or merged, the estate which
shall for the time being confer as against the tenant under the same lease
the next vested right to the same tenements or hereditaments, shall, to
the extent and for the purpose of preserving such incidents to and obli-
gations on the same reversion, as but for the surrender or merger thereof,
would have subsisted, be deemed the reversion expectant on the same
lease.
PAUPERS.
Every poor person who shall be unable to earn a livelihood in conse-
quence ot any bodily infirmity, idiocy, lunacy or unavoidable cause, shall
be supported by the father, grand-father, mother, grand-mother, children,
grand-children, brothers or sisters of such poor person, if they or either
of them be of sufficient ability ; but if any of such dependent class shall
have become so from intemperance or other bad conduct, they shall not be
entitled to support from any relation except parent or child.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 167
The children shall first be called on to support their parents, if they
are able ; but if not, the parents of such poor person shall then be called
on, if of sufficient ability ; and if there be no parents or children able,
then the brothers and sisters of such dependent person shall be called
upon ; and if there be no brothers or sisters of sufficient ability, the
grand-children of such person shall next be called on ; and if they are
not able, then the grand-parents. Married females, while their husbands
live, shall not be liable to contribute for the support of their poor relations
except out of their separate property. It is the duty of the state's
(county) attorney, to make complaint to the County Court of his county
against all the relatives of such paupers in this state liable to his support
and prosecute the same. In case the state's attorney neglects, or refuses, to
complain in such cases, then it is the duty of the overseer of the poor to
do so. The person called upon to contribute shall have at least ten days'
notice of such application by summons. The court has the power to
determine the kind of support, depending upon the circumstances of the
parties, and may also order two or more of the different degrees to main-
tain such poor person, and prescribe the proportion of each, according to
their ability. The court may specify the time for which the relative shall
contribute — in fact has control over the entire subject matter, with power
to enforce its orders. Every county (except those in which the poor are
supported by the towns, and in such cases the towns are liable) is required
to relieve and support all poor and indigent persons latvfuUy resident
therein. Residence means the actual residence of the party, or the place
where he was employed ; or in case he was in no employment, then it
shall be the place where he made his home. When any person becomes
chargeable as a pauper in any county or town who did not reside at the
commencement of six months immediately preceding his becoming so,
but did at that time reside in some other county or town in this state,
then the county or town, as the case may be, becomes liable for the expense
of taking care of such person until removed, and it is the duty of the
overseer to notify the proper authorities of the fact. If any person shall
bring and leave any pauper in any county in this state where such pauper
had no legal residence, knowing him to be such, he is liable to a fine of
$100. In counties under township organization, the supervisors in each
town are ex-officio overseers of the poor. The overseers of the poor act
under the directions of the County Board in taking care of the poor and
granting of temporary relief; also, providing for non-resident persons not
paupers who may be taken sick and not able to pay their way, and in case
of death cause such person to be decently buried.
The residence of the inmates of poorhouses and other charitable
institutions for voting purposes is their former place of abode.
168 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
FENCES.
In counties under township organization, the toivn assessor and com-
missioner of highways are the fence-viewers in their respective towns.
In other counties the County Board appoints three in each precinct annu-
ally. A lau'ful fence is four and one-half feet high, in good repair, con-
sisting of rails, timber, boards, stone, hedges, or whatever the fence-
viewers of the town or precinct where the same shall lie, shall consider
equivalent thereto, but in counties under township organization the annual
town meeting may establish any other kind of fence as such, or the County
Board in other counties may do the same. Division fences shall be made
and maintained in just proportion by the adjoining owners, except when
the owner shall choose to let his land lie open, but after a division fence is
built by agreement or otherwise, neither party can remove his part of such
fence so long as he may crop or use such land for farm purposes, or without
giving the other part}* one year's notice in writing of his intention to remove
his portion. When any person shall enclose his land upon the enclosure
of another, he shall refund the owner of the adjoining lands a just pro-
portion of the value at that time of such fence. The value of fence and
the just proportion to be paid or built and maintained by each is to be
ascertained by two fence-viewers in the town or precinct. Such fence-
viewers have power to settle all disputes between different owners as to
fences built or to be built, as well as to repairs to be made. Each party
chooses one of the viewers, but if the other party neglects, after eight
days" notice in writing, to make his choice, then the other party may
select both. It is sufficient to notify the tenant or part}' in possession,
when the owner is not a resident of the town or precinct. The two
fence-viewers chosen, after viewing the premises, shall hear the state-
ments of the parties , in case they can't agree, they shall select another
fence-viewer to act with them, and the decision of any two of them is
final. The decision must be reduced to writing, and should plainly set
out description of fence and all matters settled by them, and must be
filed in the office of the town clerk in counties under township organiza-
tion, and in other counties with the countv clerk.
Where any person is liable to contribute to the erection or the
repairing of a division fence, neglects or refuses so to do, the party
injured, after giving sixty days notice in writing when a fence is to be
erected, or ten days when it is only repairs, may proceed to have the
work done at the expense of the party whose duty it is to do it, to be
recovered from him with costs of suit, and the party so neglecting shall
also be liable to the party injured for all damages accruing from such
neglect or refusal, to be determined bv anv two fence-viewers selected
as before provided, the appraisement to be reduced to writing and signed.
CRU6«T0WNSHIP
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 169
Where a person shall conclude to remove his part of a division fence,
and let his land lie open, and having given the year's notice required, the
adjoining owner may -cause the value of said fence to be ascertained by
fence-viewers as before provided, and on payment or tender of the
amount of such valuation to the owner, it shall prevent the removal. A
party removing a division fence without notice is liable for the»damages
accruing thereby.
Where a fence has been built on the land of another through mis-
take, the owner may enter upon such premises and remove his fence and
material within oix months after the division line has been ascertained.
Where the material to build such a fence has been taken from the land
on which it was built, then before it can be removed, the person claiming
must first pay for such material to the owner of the land from which it
was taken, nor shall such a fence be removed at a time when the removal
will throw open or expose the crops of the other party ; a reasonable
time must be given beyond the .six months to remove crops.
The compensation ^i fence-viewers is one dollar and fifty cents a
day each, to be paid in the first instance by the party calling them, but
in the end all expenses, including amount charged by the fence-viewers,
must be paid equally by the parties, except in cases where a party neglects
or refuses to make or maiiktain a just proportion of a division fence, when
the party in default shall pay them.
DAMAGES FROM TRESPASS.
Where stock of any kind breaks into any person's enclosure, the
fence being good and sufficient, the owner is liable for the damage done ;
btit where the damage is done by stock runyiing at large, contrary to law,
the owner is liable where thore is not such a fence. Where stock is
found trespassing on the enclosure of another as aforesaid, the owner oi
occupier of the premises may take possession of such stock and keep the
same until damages, with reasonable charges for keeping and feeding and
all costs of suit, are paid. Any person taking or rescuing such stock so
held without his consent, shall be liable to a fine of not less than three
nor more than five dollars for each animal rescued, to be recovered by
suit before a justice of the peace for the use of the school fund. Within
twenty-four hours after taking such animal into his possession, the per-
son taking it up must give notice of the fact to the owner, if known, or
if unknown, notices must be posted in some ptiblic place near the premises.
LANDLORD AND TENANT.
The owner of lands, or his legal representatives, can sue for and
recover rent therefor, in any of the following cases :
First. When rent is due and in arrears on a lease for life or lives.
170 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS,
Second. When lands are held and occupied by any person without
any special agreement for rent.
Third. When possession is obtained under an agreement, written
or verbal, for the purchase of the premises and before deed given, the
right to possession is terminated by forfeiture on con-compliance with the
agreement, and possession is wrongfully refused or neglected to be giver,
upon demand made in writing by the party entitled thereto. Provided
that all payments made by the vendee or his representatives or assigns,
mav be set off aoainst the rent.
Fourth. When land has been sold upon a judgment or a decree of
court, when the party to such judgment or decree, or person holding under
him, wrongfully refuses, or neglects, to surrender possession of the same,
after demand in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
Fifth. When the lands have been sold upon a mortgage or trust
deed, and the mortgagor or grantor or person holding under him, wrong-
fully refuses or neglects to surrender possession of the same, after demand
in writing by the person entitled to the possession.
If any tenant, or any person who shall come into possession from or
under or by collusion with such tenant, shall willfully hold over any lands,
etc., after the expiration the term of their lease, and after demand made
in icriting for the possession thereof, is liable to pay double rent. A
tenancy from year to 3^ear requires sixty days notice in writing, to termi-
nate the same at the end of the 3'ear ; such notice can be given at any
time within four months preceding the last sixty days of the year.
A tenancy by the month, or less than a year, where the tenant holds
over without any special agreement, the landlord may terminate the
tenancy, by thirty days notice in writing.
When rent is due, the landlord may serve a notice upon the tenant,
stating that unless the rent is paid within not less than five days, his lease
will be terminated ; if the rent is not paid, the landlord may consider the
lease ended. When default is made in any of the terms of a lease, it
shall not be necessary to give more than ten days notice to quit or of the
termination of such tenancy ; and the same may be terminated on giving
such notice to quit, at any time after such default in any of the terms of
such lease ; which notice may be substantially in the following form, viz:
To , You are hereby notified that, in consequence of your default
in (^here insert the character of the default), of the premises now occupied
by you, being etc. (here describe the premises), I have elected to deter-
mine your lease, and you are hereby notified to quit and deliver up pos-
session of the same to me within ten days of this date (dated, etc.)
The above to be signed by the lessor or his agent, and no other notice
or demand of possession or termination of such tenancy is necessary.
Demand may be made, or notice served, by delivering a written or
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. . 171
pnflted, or partly either, copy thereof to the tenant, or leaving the same
with some person above the age of twelve years residing on or in posses-
sion of the premises ; and in case no one is in the actual possession of the
said premises, then by posting the same on the premises. When the
tenancy is for a certain time, and the term expires by the terms of the
lease, the tenant is then bound to surrender possession, and no notice
to quit or demand of possession is necessarj^
Distress for rent. — In all cases of distress for rent, the landlord, by
himself, his agent or attorney, may seize for rent any personal property of
his tenant that may be found in the county where the tenant resides ; the
property of an}^ other person, even if found on the premises, is not
liable.
An inventory of the property levied upon, with a statement of the
amount of rent claimed, should be at once filed with some justice of the
peace, if not over $200 ; and if above that sum, with the clerk of a court
of record of competent jurisdiction. Property may be released, by the
party executing a satisfactory bond for double the amount.
The landlord may distrain for rent, any time within six months after
the expiration of the term of the lease, or when terminated.
In all cases where the premises rented shall be sub-let, or the lease
assigned, the landlord shall have the same right to enforce lien against
such lessee or assignee, that he has against the tenant to whom the pre-
mises were rented.
When a tenant abandons or removes from the premises or any part
thereof, the landlord, or his agent or attorney, may seize upon any grain
or other crops grown or growing upon the premises, or part thereof so
abandoned, whether the rent is due or not. If such grain, or other crops,
or any part thereof, is not fully grown or matured, the landlord, or his
agent or attorney, shall cause the same to be properly cultivated, harvested
or gathered, and may sell the same, and from the proceeds pay all his
labor, expenses and rent. The tenant may, before the sale of such pro-
perty, redeem the same by tendering the rent and reasonable compensation
for work done, or he may replevy the same.
Exemption. — The same articles of personal property which are bylaw
exempt from execution, except the crops as above stated, is also exempt
from distress for rent.
If any tenant is about to or shall permit or attempt to sell and
remove from the premises, without the consent of his landlord, such
portion of the crops raised thereon as will endanger the lien of the land-
lord upon such crops, for the rent, it shall be lawful for the landlord to
distress before rent is due.
172 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
LIENS.
Any person who shall by contract^ express or implied, or partly lioth,
with the owner of any lot or tract of land, furnish labor or material, or
services as an architect or superintendent, in l)uilding, altering, repairing
or ornamenting any house or other building or appurtenance thereto on
such lot, or upon any street or alley, and connected with such improve'
ments, shall have a lien upon the whole of such lot or tract of land, and
upon such house or building and appurtenances, for the amount due to
him for such labor, material or services. If the contract is expressed, and
the time for the completion of the work is beyond three years from the com-
mencement thereof; or, if the time of payment is beyond one year from
the time stipulated for the completion of the work, then no lien exists.
If the contract is implied, then no lien exists, unless the work be done or
material is furnished within one year from the commencement of the work
or delivery of the materials. As between different creditors having liens,
no preference is given to the one whose contract was first made ; but each
shares pro-rata. Incumbrances existing on the lot or tract of the land at
the time the contract is made, do not operate on the improvements, and
are only preferred to the extent of the value of the land at the time of
making the contract. The above lien can not be enforced unless suit is
commenced within six months after the last payment for labor or materials
shall have become due and payable. Sub-contractors, mechanics, workmen
and other persons furnishing any material, or performing any labor for a
contractor as before specified, have a lien to the extent of the amount due
the contractor at the time the following notice is served upon the owner
of the land who made the contract :
To , You are hereby notified, that I have been employed by
(here state whether to labor- or furnish material, and substantially the
nature of the demand) upon your (here state in general terms description
and situation of building), and that I shall hold the (building,- or as the
case may be), and your interest in the ground, liable for the amount that
ma}^ (is or may become) due me on account thereof. Signature,
Date,
If there is a contract in writing between contractor and sub-x;ontractor,
a copy of it should be served with above notice, and said notice must be
served within forty days from the completion of such sub-contract, if there
is one ; if not, then from the time payment should have been made to the
person performing the labor or furnishing the material. If the owner is
not a resident of the county, or can not be found therein, then the above
notice must be filed with the clerk of the Circuit Court, with his fee, fifty
cents, and a copy of said notice must be published in a newspaper pub-
lished in the county, for four successive weeks.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 173
When the owner or agent is notified as above, he can retain any
money due the contractor sufficient to pay such claim ; if more than one
claim, and not enough to pay all, they are to be paid pro rata.
The owner has the right to demand in writing, a statement of the
contractor, of what he owes for labor, etc., from time to time as the work
progresses, and on his failure to comply, forfeits to the owner $50 for
every offense.
The liens referred to cover any and all estates, whether in fee for
life, for years, or any other interest which the owner may have.
To enforce the lien of sub-contractors, suit must be commenced within
three months from the time of the performance of the sub-contract, or
during the work or furnishing materials.
Hotel, inn and hoarding-house keepers, have a lien upon the baggage
and other valuables of their guests or boarders, brought into such hotel,
inn or boarding-house, by their guests or boarders, for the proper charges
due from such guests or boarders for their accommodation, board and
lodgings, and such extras as are furnished at their request.
Stable-keepers and other persons have a lien upon the horses, car-
riages and harness kept by them, for the proper charges due for the keep-
ing thereof and expenses bestowed thereon at the request of the owner
or the person having the possession of the same.
Agisters (persons who take care of cattle belonging to others), and
persons keeping, yarding, feeding or pasturing domestic animals, shall
have a lien upon the animals agistered, kept, yarded or fed, for the proper
charges due for such service.
All persons who may furnish any railroad corporation in this state
with fuel, ties, material, supplies or any other article or thing necessary
for the construction, maintenance, operation or repair of its road by con-
tra.ct, or may perform work or labor on the same, is entitled to be paid as
part of the current expenses of the road, and have a lien upon all its pro-
perty. Sub-contractors or laborers have also a lien. The conditions and
limitations both as to contractors and sub-contractors, are about the same
as herein stated as to general liens.
DEFINITION OF COMMERCIAL TERMS.
$ means dollars, being a' contraction of U. S., which was formerly
placed before any denomination of money, and meant, as it means now,
United States Currency.
£ means pounds, English money.
@ stands for at or to. Ih ioT pound, and bbl. for barrel; "^ iov per or
hy the. Thus, Butter sells at 20@30c f lb, and Flour at |8@12 f bbl.
fo for per cent and # for number.
May 1. — Wheat sells at $1.20@1.25, "seller June." Seller Jane
i;4 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
means that the person who sells the wheat has the privilege of delivering
it at any time during the month of June.
Selling shorty is contracting to deliver a certain amount of grain or
stock, at a fixed price, within a certain length of time, when the seller
has not the stock on hand. It is for the interest of the person selling
''short," to depress the market as much as possible, in order that he may
buy and fill his contract at a profit. Hence the " shorts " are termed
" bears."
Buying long^ is to contract to purchase a certain amount of grain or
shares of stock at a fixed price, deliverable within a stipulated time,
expecting to make a profit by the rise of prices. The "longs" are
termed '• bulls," as it is for their interest to " operate " so as to " toss "
the prices upward as much as possible.
NOTES.
Form of note is legal, worded in the simplest way, so that the
amount and time of payment are mentioned.
$100. Chicago, 111., Sept. 15, 1876.
Sixty days from date I promise to pay to E. F. Brown,
or order, One Hundred dollars, for value received.
L. D. LowRY.
A note to be payable in any thing else than money needs only the
facts substituted for money in the above form.
ORDERS.
Orders should be worded simply, thus :
Mr. F. H. Coats: Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Please pay to H. Birdsall, Twenty-five dollars, and charge to
F. D. SiLVA.
RECEIPTS.
Receipts should always state when received and what for, thus :
$100. Chicago, Sept. 15, 1876.
Received of J. W. Davis, One Hundred dollars, for services
rendered in grading his lot in Fort Madison, on account.
Thomas Brady.
If receipt is in full it should be so stated.
BILLS OF PURCHASE.
W. N. Mason, Salem, Illinois, Sept. 15, 1876.
Bought of A. A. Graham.
4 Bushels of Seed Wheati at 81.50 ... - $6.00
2 Seamless Sacks " .30 - - .60
Received payment. $6.60
A. A. Graham.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 176
ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT.
An agreement is where one party promises to another to do a certain
thing in a certain time for a stipulated sum. Good business men always
reduce an agreement to writing, which nearly always saves misunder-
standings and trouble. No particular form is necessary, but the facts must
be clearly and explicitly stated, and there must, to make it valid, be a
reasonable consideration.
GENERAL FORM OF AGREEMENT.
This Agreement, made the Second day of October, 1876, between
John Jones, of Aurora, County of Kane, State of Illinois, of the first part,
and Thomas Whiteside, of the same place, of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that the said John Jones, in consideration of the agree-
ment of the party of the second part, hereinafter contained, contracts and
agrees to and with the said Thomas Whiteside, that he will deliver, in
good and marketable condition, at the Village of Batavia, 111., during the
month of November, of this year, One Hundred Tons of Prairie Hay, in
the following lots, and at the following specified times ; namely, twenty-
five tons by the seventh of November, twenty-five tons additional by the
fourteenth of the month, twenty-five tons more by the twenty -first, and
the entire one hundred tons to be all delivered by the thirtieth of
November.
And the said Thomas Whiteside, in consideration of the prompt
fulfillment of this contract, on the. part of the party of the first part,
contracts to and agrees with the said John Jones, to pay for said hay five
dollars per ton, for each ton as soon as delivered.
In case of failure of agreement by either of the parties hereto, it is
hereby stipulated and agreed that the party so failing shall pay to the
other. One Hundred Dollars, as fixed and settled damages.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands the da}^ and
year first above written. John Jones,
Thomas Whiteside.
AGREEMENT WITH CLERK FOR SERVICES.
This Agreement, made the first day of May, one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six, between Reuben Stone, of Chicago, County
of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the first part, and George Barclay, of
Englewood, County of Cook, State of Illinois, party of the second part —
WITNESSETH, that Said George Barclay agrees faithfully and dili-
gently to work as clerk and salesman for the said Reuben Stone, for
and during the space of one year from the date hereof, should both
live such length of time, without absenting himself from his occupation ;
176 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
during- which time he, the said Barchiy, in the store of said Stone, of
Chicago, will carefully and honestly attend, doing and performing all
duties as clerk and salesman aforesaid, in accordance and in all respects
as directed and desired by the said Stone.
In consideration of which services, so to be rendered by the said
Barclay, the said Stone agrees to pay to said Barclay the annual sum of
one thousand dollars, payable in twelve equal monthly payments, each
upon the last day of each month ; provided that all dues for days of
absence from business b}- said Barclay, shall be deducted from the sum
otherwise by the agreement due and payable by the said Stone to the said
Barclay.
Witness our hands. Reuben Stone.
George Barclay.
BILLS OF SALE.
A bill of sale is a written agreement to another party, for a consider-
ation to convey his right and interest in the personal property. The
purchaser must take actual possession of the property. Juries have'
power to determine upon the fairness or unfairness of a bill of sale.
COMMON FORM OF BILL OF SALE.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, Louis Clay, of Princeton,
Illinois, of the first part, for and in consideration of Five Hundred
and Ten dollars, to me paid by John Floyd, of the same place, of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have sold, and
by this instrument do convey unto the said Floyd, party of the second
part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, my undivided half of
.ten acres of corn, now growing on the farm of Thomas Tyrrell, in the
town above mentioned ; one pair of horses, sixteen sheep, and five cows,
belonging to me, and in my possession at the farm aforesaid ; to have and
to hold the same unto the party of the second part, his executors and
assigns, forever. And I do, for myself and legal representatives, agree
with the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives, to
warrant and defend the sale of the afore-mentioned property and chattels
unto the said party of the second part, and his legal representatives,
against all and every person whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand, this tenth day
of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Louis Clay.
BONDS.
A bond is a written admission on the part of the maker in which h«
pledges a certain sum to another, at a certain time.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 177
COMMON FORM OF BOND.
Know all Men by this instrument, that I, George Edgerton, of
Watseka, IrocLUois Count}', State of Illinois, am firmly bound unto Peter
Kirchoff, of the place aforesaid, in the sum of five hundred dollars, to be
paid to the said Peter Kirchoff, or his legal representatives ; to which
payment, to be made, I bind myself, or my legal representatives, by this
instrument.
Sealed with my seal, and dated this second day of November, one
thousand eight hundred and sixtv-four.
The condition of this bond is such that if I, George Edgerton, m}'
heirs, administrators, or executors, shall promptly pay the sum of two
hundred and fifty dollars in three equal annual payments from the date
hereof, with annual interest, then the above obligation to be of no effect;
otherwise to be in full force and valid.
Scfiled and delivered in
presence of George Edgerton. [l.s.]
William Turner.
CHATTEL MORTGAGES.
A chattel mortgage is a mortgage on personal property for paj^ment
of a certain sum of money, to hold the property against debts of other
creditors. The mortgage must describe the property, and must be
acknowledged before a justice of the peace in the township or precinct
where the mortgagee resides, and entered upon his docket, and must be
recorded in the recorder's office of the county.
GENERAL FORM OF CHATTEL MORTGAGE.
This Indenture, made and entered into this first day of January,
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
between Theodore Lottinville, of the town of Geneseo in the County
of Henry, and State of Illinois, party of the first part, and Paul Henshaw,
of the same town, county, and State, party of the second part.
^ Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consider-
ation of the sum of one thousand dollars, in hand paid, the receipt whereof
is hereby acknowledged, does hereby grant, sell, convey, and confirm unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever, all and
singular the followino- descriljed goods and chattels, to wit:
Two three-year old roan-colored horses, one Burdett organ. No. 987,
one Brussels carpet, 15x20 feet in size, one marble-top center table, one
Home Comfort cooking stove. No. 8, one black walnut bureau with mirror
attached, one set of parlor chairs (six in number), upholstered in green
rep, with lounge corresponding with same in style and color of upholstery,
now in possession of said Lottinville, at No. 4 Prairie Ave., Geneseo, 111. ;
178 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Together with all and singular, the appurtenances thereunto "belong-
ing, or in any wise appertaining ; to have and to hold the above described
goods and chattels, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and
assigns, forever.
Provided, always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said Theodore Lottinville, his heirs, executors, administrators,
or assigns, shall, on or before the first day of January, A.D., one thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six, pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Paul
Ranslow, or his lawful attorney or attorneys, heirs, executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, the sum of One Thousand dollars, together with the
interest that ma}' accrue thereon, at the rate of ten per cent, per annum,
from the first day of January, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and
seventj^-five, until paid, according to the tenor of one promissory note
bearing even date herewith for the payment of said sum of money, that
then and from thenceforth, these presents, and everything herein con-
tained, shall cease, and be null and void, anything herein contained to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Provided, also, that the said Theodore Lottinville may retain the
possession of and have the use of said goods and chattels until the day
of payment aforesaid ; and also, at his own expense, shall keep said goods
and chattels; and also at the expiration of said time of payment, if said
sum of money, together with the interest as aforesaid, shall not be paid,
shall deliver up said goods and chattels, in good condition, to said Paul
Ranslow, or his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns.
And provided, also, that if default in paj'ment as aforesaid, by said
party of the first part, shall be made, or if said party of the second part
shall at any time before said promissory note becomes due, feel himself
unsafe or insecure, that then the said party of the second part, or his
attorney, agent, assigns, or heirs, executors, or administrators, shall have
the right to take possession of said goods and chattels, wherever they
may or can be found, and sell the same at public or private sale, to the
highest bidder for cash in hand, after oiving ten davs' notice of the time
and place of said sale, together with a description of the goods and chat-
tels to be sold, by at least four advertisements, posted up in ptiblic places
in the vicinity where said sale is to take place, and proceed to make the
sum of money and interest promised as aforesaid, together with all reason-
able costs, charges, and expenses in so doing ; and if there shall be any
overplus, shall pay the same without delay to the said party of the first
part, or his legal representatives.
In testimony whereof, the said party of the first part has hereunto
set his hand and affixed his seal, the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in
presence of Theodore Lottinville. [l.s.]
Samuel J. Tilden.
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 179
LEASE OF FARM AND BUILDINGS THEREON.
This Indenture, made this second day of June, 1875, between David
Patton of the Town of Bisbee, State of Illinois, of the first part, and John
Doyle of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said David Patton, for and in consideration of
the covenants hereinafter mentioned and reserved, on the part of the said
John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to be paid, kept,
and performed, hath let, and by these presents doth grant, demise, and
let, unto the said John Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns,
all that parcel of land situate in Bisbee aforesaid, bounded and described
as follows, to wit :
\_nere describe the land.~\
Together with all the appurtenances appertaining thereto. To have
and to hold the said premises, with appurtenances thereto belonging, unto
the said Doyle, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for the term of
five years, from the first day of October next following, at a yearly rent
of Six Hundred dollars, to be paid in equal payments, semi-annually, as
lonsr as said buildinQ^s are in oood tenantable condition.
.And the said Doyle, by these presents, covenants and agrees to pay
all taxes and assessments,, and keep in repair all hedges, ditches, rail, and
other fences ; (the said David Patton, his heirs, assigns and administra-
tors, to furnish all timber, brick, tile, and other materials necessary for
such repairs.)
Said Doyle further covenants and agrees to apply to said land, in a
farmer-like manner, all manure and compost accumulating upon said
farm, and cultivate all the arable land in a husbandlike manner, accord-
ing to the usual custom among farmers in the neighborhood ; he also
agrees to trim the hedges at a seasonable time, preventing injury from
cattle to such hedges, and to all fruit and other trees on the said premises.
That he will seed down with clover and timothy seed twenty acres yearly
of arable land, ploughing the same number of acres each Spring of land
now in grass, and hitherto unbroken.
It is further agreed, that if the said Doyle shall fail to perform the
whole or any one of the above mentioned covenants, then and in that
case the said David Patton may declare this lease terminated, by giving
three months' notice of the same, prior to the first of October of any
year, and may distrain any part of the stock, goods, or chattels, or other
property in possession of said Doyle, for sufficient to compensate for the
non-performance of the above written covenants, the same to be deter-
mined, and amounts so to be paid to be determined, by three arbitrators^
chosen as follows : Each of the parties to this instrument to choose one,
180 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
and the two so chosen to select a third ; the decision of said arbitrators
to be tinal.
In witness whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in presence of David Patton. [l.s.]
James Waldron. John Doyle. [l.s.]
FORM OF LEASE OF A HOUSE.
This Instrument, made the first day of October, 1875, witnesseth
that Amos Griest of Yorkville, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, hath
rented from Aaron Young of Logansport aforesaid, the dwelling and lot
No. 13 Ohio Street, situated in said City of Yorkville, for five years
from the above date, at the yearly rental of Three Hundred dollars, pay-
able monthly, on the first day of each month, in advance, at the residence
of said Aaron Young.
At the expiration of said above mentioned term, the said Griest
agrees to give the said Young peaceable possession of the said dwelling,
in as good condition as when taken, ordinary wear and casualties excepted.
In witness whereof, we place our hands and seals the day and year
aforesaid.
Signed, sealed and delivered Amos Griest. [l.s.]
in presence of
Nickolas Schutz, Aaron Young, [l.s.]
Notary Public.
LANDLORD'S AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have let and rented, this first day of January,
1876, unto Jacob Schmidt, my house and lot, No. 15 Erie Street, in the
City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and its appurtenances ; he to have the
free and uninterrupted occupation thereof for one year from this date, at
the yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly in advance ;
rent to cease if destroyed by fire, or otherwise made untenantable.
Peter Funk.
TENANT'S AGREEMENT.
This certifies that I have hired and taken from Peter Funk, his
house and lot. No. 15 Erie Street, in the City of Chicago, State of Illi-
nois, with appurtenances thereto belonging, for one year, to commence
this day, at a yearly rental of Two Hundred dollars, to be paid monthly
in advance ; unless said house becomes untenantable from fire or other
causes, in which case rent ceases ; and I further agree to give and ^-ield
said premises one year from this first day of January 1876, in as good
condition as now, ordinary wear and damage by the elements excepted.
Given under my hand this day. Jacob Schmidt.
• ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 181
NOTICE TO QUIT.
To F. W. Arlen,
Sir : Please observe that the term of one year, for which the house
and land, situated at No, 6 Indiana Street, and now occupied by you,
were rented to you, expired on the first day of October, 1875, and as I
desire to repossess said premises, you are hereby requested and required
to vacate the same. Respectfully Yours,
P. T. Barnum.
Lincoln, ISeb., October 4, 1875.
TENANT'S NOTICE OF LEAVING.
Dear Sir:
The premises I now occupy as your tenant, at No. 6 Indiana Street,
I shall vacate on the first day of November, 1875. You will please take
notice accordingly.
Dated this tenth day of October, 1875. F. W. Arlen.
To P, T. Barnum, Esq.
REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE TO SECURE PAYMENT OF MONEY.
This Indenture, made this sixteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between William
Stocker, of Peoria, County of Peoria, and State of Illinois, and 011a, his
wife, party of the first part, and Edward Singer, party of the second part.
Whereas, the said party of the first part is justly indebted to the said
party of the second part, in the sum of Two Thousand dollars, secured
to be paid by two certain promissory notes (bearing even date herewith)
the one due and payable at the Second National Bank in Peoria, Illinois,
with interest, on the sixteenth day of May, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three ; the other due and payable at the Second
National Bank at Peoria, 111., with interest, on the sixteenth day of May,
in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Now, therefore, this indenture witnesseth, that the said party of the
first part, for the better securing the payment of the money aforesaid,
with interest thereon, according to the tenor and effect of the said two
promissory notes above mentioned ; and, also in consideration of the fur-
ther sum of one dollar to them in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
ond part, at the delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby
acknowledged, have granted, bargained, sold, and conveyed, and by these
presents do grant, bargain, sell, and convey, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain parcel of land,
situate, etc.
\^Descrihing the premises.^
To have and to hold the same, together with all and singular the
Tenements, Hereditaments, Privileges and Appurtenances thereunto
182 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
belonoing or in any wise appertaining. And also, all the estate, interest,
anil claim whatsoever, in law as well as in equity which the party of
the first part have in and to the premises hereby conveyed unto the said
party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, and to their only proper
use, benefit and behoof. And the said William Stocker, and 011a, hip
wife, party of the first part, hereby expressly waive, relinquish, release,
and convey unto the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors,
administrators, and assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit
whatever, in and to the above described premises, and each and every
part thereof, which is given by or results from all laws of this state per-
taining to the exemption of homesteads.
Provided always, and these presents are upon this express condition,
that if the said party of the first part, their heirs, executors, or adminis-
trators, shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, to the said part}^ of
the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, or assigns, the afore-
said sums of money, with such interest thereon, at the time and in the
manner specified in the above mentioned promissory notes, according to
the true intent and meaning thereof, then in that case, these presents and
every thing herein expressed, shall be absolutely null and void.
Iji witness whereof, the said party of the first part hereunto set their
hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
James Whitehead, William Stocker. [l.s.]
Fred. Samuels. Olla Stocker. [l.s.]
WARRANTY DEED WITH COVENANTS.
This Indenture, made this sixth day of April, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, between Henry Best
of Lawrence, County of Lawrence, State of Illinois, and Belle, his wife,
of the first part, and Charles Pearson of the same place, of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in consideration
of the sura of Six Thousand dollars in hand paid by the said party of the
second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have granted,
bargained, and sold, and by these presents do grant, bargain, and sell,
unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, all the fol-
lowing described lot, piece, or parcel of land, situated in the City of Law-
rence, in the County of Lawrence, and State of Illinois, to wit :
\_Ht're describe the property.']
Together with all and singular the hereditaments and appurtenances
thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining, and the reversion and
reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof;
and all the estate, rignt, title, interest, claim, and demand whatsoever, of
the said party of the nrst part, either in law or equity, of, in, and to the
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 185
above bargained premises, with the hereditaments and appurtenances.
To have and to hold the said premises above bargained and described,
with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs
and assigns, forever. And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, par-
ties of the first part, hereby expressly waive, release, and relinquish unto
the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, administrators, and
assigns, all right, title, claim, interest, and benefit whatever, in and to the
above described premises, and each and every part thereof, which is given
by or results from all laws of this state pertaining to the exemption of
homesteads.
And the said Henry Best, and Belle, his wife, party of the first
part, for themselves and their heirs, executors, and administrators, do
covenant, grant, bargain, and agree, to and Avith the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, that at the time of the ensealing and
delivery of these presents they were well seized of the premises above
conveyed, as of a good, sure, perfect, absolute, and indefeasible estate of
inheritance in law, and in fee simple, and have good right, full power,
and lawful authority to grant, bargain, sell, and convey the same, in
manner and form aforesaid, and that the same are free and clear from all
former and other grants, bargains, sales, liens, taxes, assessments, and
encumbrances of what kind or nature soever ; and the above bargained
premises in the quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, against all and every person or persons
lawfully claiming or to claim the whole or any part thereof, the said party
of the first part shall and will warrant and forever defend.
In testimony whereof, the said parties of the first part have hereunto
set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered
in presence of Henry Best, [l.s.]
Jerry Linklater. Belle Best. [l.s.]
- QUIT-CLAIM DEED.
This Indenture, made the eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between David Tour,
of Piano, County of Kendall, State of Illinois, party of the first part,
and Larry O'Brien, of the same place, party of the second part,
Witnesseth, that the said party of the first part, for and in considera-
tion of Nine Hundred dollars in hand paid by the said party of the sec-
ond part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and the said party
of the second part forever released and discharged therefrom, has remised,
released, sold, conveyed, and quit-claimed, and by these presents does
remise, release, sell, convey, and quit-claim, unto the said party of the
second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all the right, title, interest,
180 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
claim, and demand, which the said party of the first part has in and to
tlie following described lot, piece, or parcel of land, to wit :
\^Here describe the land.~\
To have and to hold the same, together Avith all and singular the
appurtenances and privileges thereunto belonging, or in any wise there-
unto appertaining, and all the estate, right, title, interest, and claim
whatever, of the said party of the first part, either in law or equity, to
the only proper use, benefit, and behoof of the said party of the second
part, his heirs and assigns forever.
In witness whereof the said party of the first part hereunto set his
hand and seal the day and year above written.
Signed, sealed and delivered David Tour, [l.s.]^
in presence of
Thomas Ashley.
The above forms of Deeds and Mortgage are such as have heretofore
been generally used, but the following are much shorter, and are made
equally valid by the laws of this state.
WARRANTY DEED.
The grantor (here insert name or names and place of residence), for
and in consideration of (here insert consideration) in hand paid, ijonveys
and Avarrants to (here insert the grantee's name or names) the following
described real estate (here insert description), situated in the County of
in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
QUIT CLAIM DEED.
The grantor (here insert grantor's name or names and place of resi-
dence), for the consideration of (here insert consideration) convey and
quit-claim to (here insert grantee's name or names) all interest in the
following described real estate (here insert description), situated in the
County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
MORTGAGE.
The mortgagor (here insert name or names) mortgages and warrants
to (here insert name or names of mortgagee or mortgagees), to secure the
payment of (here recite the nature and amount of indebtedness, showing
when due and tlie rate of interest, and whether secured by note or other-
wise), the following described real estate (here insert description thereof),
situated in the County of in the State of Illinois.
Dated this day of A. D. 18 .
RELEASE.
Know all Men by these presents, that I, Peter Ahlund, of Chicago,
of the County of Cook, and State of Illinois, for and in consideration of
One dollar, to me in hand paid, and for other good and valuable considera-
■■■■^.
m<^%
«2N
t
V
■■■■. jSi--">?'"^';^
PARTRIDGE TOWNSHIP
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 187
tions, the receipt whereof is hereby confessed, do hereby grant, bargain,
remise, convey, release, and quit-claim unto Joseph Carlin of Chicago,
of th^ County of Cook, and State of Illinois, all the right, title, interest,
claim, or demand whatsoever, I may have acquired in, through, or by a
certain Indenture or Mortgage Deed, bearing date the second day of Jan-
uary, A. D. 1871, and recorded in the Recorder's office of said county,
in book A of Deeds, page 46, to the premises therein described, and which
said Deed was made to secure one certain promissory note, bearing even
date with said deed, for the sum of Three Hundred dollars.
Witness my hand and seal, this second day of November, A. D. 1874.
Peter Ahlund. [l.s.]
State of Illinois, )
Cook County. ) ' I, George Saxton, a Notary Public in
and for said county, in the state aforesaid, do hereby
certify that Peter Ahlund, personally known to me
as the same person whose name is subscribed to the
foregoing Release, appeared before me this day in
[ "^seII^^" ] person, and acknowledged that he signed, sealed, and
delivered the said instrument of writing as his free
a.id voluntary act, for the uses and purposes therein
set forth.
Giv^n under my hand and seal, this second day of
November, A. D. 1874.
George Saxton, N. P.
6ENERAL FOItM OF WILL FOR REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
I, Charles Mansfield, of the Town of Salem, County of Jackson,
Srate of Illinois, being aware of the uncertainty of life, and in failing-
health, but of sound mind and memory, do make and declare this to be
my last will and testament, in manner folio iving, to wit:
First. I give, devise and bequeath unto my oldest son, Sidney H.
Mansfield, the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, cf bank stock, now in the
Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the farm owned by myself
in the Town of Buskirk, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, with
all the houses, tenements, and improvements thereunto belonging ; to
have and to hold unto my said son, his heirs and assiguv, forever.
Second. I give, devise and bequeath to each of my daughters, Anna
Louise Mansfield and Ida Clara Mansfield, each Two ThouSvind dollars in
bank stock, in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, and also each
one quarter section of land, owned by myself, situated in the Town of
Lake, Illinois, and recorded in my name in the Recorder's officvi in the
county where such land is located. The north one hundred and sixty
acres of said half section is devised to my eldest daughter, Anna Louise.
6
188 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
Third. I give, devise and bequeath to my son, Frank Alfred Mans-
field, Five shares of Railroad stock in the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
and my one hundred and sixty acres of land and saw mill thereon, situ-
ated in Manistee, Michigan, with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, which said real estate is recorded in my name in the
county where situated.
Fourth. I give to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, all my
household furniture, goods, chattels, and personal property, about my
home, not hitherto disposed of, including Eight Thousand dollars of bank
stock in the Third National Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifteen shares in
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and the free and unrestricted use, pos-
session, and benefit of the home farm, so long as she may live, in lieu of
dower, to which she is entitled by law ; said farm being my present place
of residence.
Fifth. I bequeath to my invalid father, Elijah H. Mansfield, the
income from rents of my store building at 145 Jackson Street, Chicago,
Illinois, during the term of his natural life. Said building and land there-
with to revert to my said sons and daughters in equal proportion, upon
the demise of my said father.
Sixth. It is also my will and desire that, at the death of my wife,
Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, or at any time when she may arrange to
relinquish her life interest in the above mentioned homestead, the same
may revert to my above named children, or to the lawful heirs of each.
And lastly. I nominate and appoint as executors of this my last will
and testament, my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield, and my eldest son,
Sidney H. Mansfield.
I further direct that my debts and necessary funeral expenses shaJ
be paid from moneys now on deposit in the Savings Bank of Salem, the
residue of such moneys to revert to my wife, Victoria Elizabeth Mansfield,
for her use forever.
In witness whereof, I, Charles Mansfield, to this my last will and
testament, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this fourth day of April,
eighteen hundred and seventy-two.
Signed, sealed, and declared by Charles
Mansfield, as and for his last will and
testament, in the presence of us, who,
at his request, and in his presence, and
in the presence of each other, have sub- >
scribed our .names hereunto as witnesses
thereof.
Peter A. Schenck, Sycamore, Ills.
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills.
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
Charles Mansfield, [l.s.]
>
ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. 18U
CODICIL
Whereas I, Charles Mansfield, did, on the fourth d^y of April, one
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, make my last will and testa-
ment, I do now, by this writing, add this codicil to my said will, to be
taken as a part thereof.
Whereas, by the dispensation of Providence, my daughter, Anna
Louise, has deceased November fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three,
and whereas, a aon has been born to me, which son is now christened
Richard Albert Mansfield, I give and bequeath unto him my gold watch,
and all right, interest, and title in lands and bank stock and chattels
bequeathed to my deceased daughter, Anna Louise, in the body of this will.
In witness whereof, I hereunto place my hand and seal, this tenth
day of March, eighteen hundred and seventy-five.
Signed, sealed, published, and declared to~
us by the testator, Charles Mansfield, as
and for a codicil to be annexed to his
last will and testament. And we, at
his request, and in his presence, and in
the presence of each other, have sub-
scribed our names as witnesses thereto,
at the date hereof.
Frank E. Dent, Salem, Ills.
John C. Shay, Salem, Ills.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS
May be legally made by electing or appointing, according to the usages
or customs of the body of which it is a part, at any meeting held for that
purpose, two or more of its members as trustees, wardens or vestrymen, and
may adopt a corporate name. The chairman or secretary of such meeting
shall, as soon as possible, make and file in the office of the recorder of
deeds of the county, an affidavit substantially in the following form :
State of Illinois, /
County. i|
I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be),
that at a meeting of the members of the (here insert the name of the
church, society or congregation as known before organization), held at
(here insert place of meeting), in the County of , and State of
Illinois, on the day of , A.D. 18 — , for that purpose, the fol-
lowing persons were elected (or appointed) [here insert their names']
trustees, wardens, vestrymen, (or officers by whatever name they may
choose to adopt, with powers similar to trustees) according to the rules
and usages of sucih Tchurch, society or congregation), and said
y
190 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS.
adopted as its corporate name (here insert name), and at said meeting]
tliis affiant acted as (chairman or secretary, as the case may be).
Subscribed and sworn to before me. this day of , A.D,
18^ — -, Name of Affiant
which affidavit must be recorded by the recorder, and shall be, or a certi-
fied cop3' made by the recorder, received as evidence of such an incorpo-
ration.
JVb certificate of election after the first need he filed for record.
The term of office of the trustees and the general government of the
society can be determined by the rules or by-laws adopted. Failure to
elect trustees at the time provided does not work a dissolution, but the
old trustees hold over. A trustee or trustees may be removed, in thi-
same manner by the society as elections are held by a meeting called for
that purpose. The property of the society vests in the corporation. The
corporation may hold, or acquire b}' purchase or otherwise, land not
exceeding ten acres, for the purpose of the society. The trustees have
the care, custody and control of the property of the corporation, and can,
when directed by the society, erect houses or improvements, and repair
and alter the same, and may also when so directed by the society,
mortgage, encumber, sell and convey any real or personal estate belonging
to the corporation, and make all proper contracts in the name of such
corporation. But they are prohibited by law from encumbering or inter-
fering with any property so as to destroy the effect of any gift, grant,
devise or bequest to the corporation ; but such gifts, grants, devises oi
bequests, must in all cases be used so as to carrj' out the object intended
by the persons making the same. Existing societies may organize in the
manner herein set forth, and have all the advantages thereof.
SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE PURCHASING BOOKS BY SUBSCRIPTION.
The business of puhUshing hooks hy suhscription having so often been
brought into disrepute by agents making representations and declarations
not authorized hy the puhlisher ; in order to prevent that as much as possi-
ble, and that there may be more general knowledge of the relation such
agents bear to tbeir principal, and the law governing such cases, the fol-
lowing statement is made :
A suhscription is in the nature of a contract of mutual promises, by
which the subscriber agrees to pay a certain sum for the work described ;
the consideration is concurrent that the publisher shall puhlish the ho'Jc
named, and deliver the same, for which the subscriber is to pay the price
named. The nature and character of the work is described in the prospectus
and hy the sample shoivn. lihesQ ^\\o\\\i\. he carefully examined hefore syh.
scribing, as they are the basis and consideration of the promise to pav,
t
ABSTRACT OF Il^LTNOIS STATE LAWS. 191
and not the too often exaggerated statements of the agents who is merely
employed to solicit subscriptions, for which he is usually paid a commission
i for each subscriber, and has no authority to change or alter the conditions
j upon which the subscriptions are authorized to be made by the publisher.
I Should the agent assume to agree to make the subscription conditional or
j modify or change the agreement of the publisher, as set out by prospectus
Q^nA )i,^ra^\Q, \n oxdiev to bind the p)rincipal, the subscriber should see that
sucli conditions or changes are stated over or in connection with his signa-
ture, so that the publisher may have notice of the same.
All persons making contracts in reference to matters of this kind, or
any other business, should remember that the laiv as to written contracts is,
that thev can not be varied, altered or rescinded verbally, but if done at all,
must be done in tvriting. It is therefore important that all persons contem-
plating subscribing should distinctly understand that all talk before or after
the subscription is made, is not admissible as evidence, and is no part of the
contract.
Persons employed to solicit subscriptions are known to the trade as
canvassers. They are agents appointed to do a particular business in a
prescribed mode, and have no authority to do it in any other way to the
prejudice of their principal, nor can they bind their principal in any other
matter. They cannot collect money, or agree that payment may be made
in anything else but money. They can not extend the time of payment
' beyond the time of delivery, nor bind their principal for the payment of
expenses incurred in their buisness.
It would save a great deal of trouble, and often serious loss, if persons,
before signing their names to any subscription book, or any written instru-
ment, would examine carefully ivhatit is ; if they can not read themselves,
should call on some one disinterested who can.
6
192 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND ITS AMENDMENTS.
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common
defense', promote the general ivelfare, and secioe the blessings of liberty
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Article I.
Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.
Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem-
bers chosen ever}- second j^ear b}' the people of the several states, and the
lectors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of
the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.
No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the
age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in
which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev-
eral states which may be included within this Union, according to their
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
The actual enumeration shall be made within three j-ears after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse-
quent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand,
but each state shall have at least one Representative ; and until such
enumeration shall be made the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plan-
tations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New Jerse}' four, Penns^lva-
nia eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten. North Carolina five,
and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other
officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
Sec. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six years ;
and each Senator shall have one vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, the}- shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.
The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expira-
AiTD ITS AMENDMENTS. 193
tion of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth
year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that
one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state,
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next
meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such vacaxicies.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age
of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and
who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he
shall be chosen.
The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise
the office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the
President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall preside.
And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds
of the members present.
Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of
honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment,
and punishment according to law.
Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Sen-
ators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the Legis-
lature thereof; but the Congress ma}^ at any time by law make or alter
such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.
Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the election, returns, and
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members
in such manner and under such penalties as each liouse may provide.
Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds,
expel a member.
Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment,
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered
on the journal.
Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.
Sec. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compen-
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the
treasury of the United States. They shall in ail cases, except treason,
194 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their
attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and
returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in either house
they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil ofiBce under the authority of the United
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall
have been increased during such time ; and no person holding any office
under the United States, shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.
Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments
as on other bills.
Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President
the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it ; but if not he shall
return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have origi-
nated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two-thirds of that
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec-
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by } eas and nays,
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted), after it shall have
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he
had signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its
return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and House of Rei>resentatives may be necessary (except on a
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the
United States, and before the same shall take effect shall be approved by
him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds of
the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and lim-
itations prescribed in the case of a bill.
Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power —
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts,
and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
Jtates ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States ;
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several
Str.tes, and with the Indian tribes ;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and
fix the standard 5f weights and measures ;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and
current coin of the United States;
To establish post offices and post roads ;
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 195
To promote the progress of sciences and useful arts, by securing,
for ^'mited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries ;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offenses against the law of nations ;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules
concerning captures on land and water ;
To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that
use shall be for n longer term than two years ;
To provide and maintain a navy ;
To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and
naval forces ;
To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ;
To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and
for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the
United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the
ofScers, and the authority of training the militia according to the disci'
pline prescribed by Congress ;
To exercise legislation in all cases whatsoever over such district (not
exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United
States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the
consent of the Legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful
buildings ; and
To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying
intc execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this
Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any depart-
ment or officer thereof.
Sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight,
but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten
dollars for each person.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.
No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev-
enue to the ports of one state over those of another; nor shall vessels
bound to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in
another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account of
the receipts and expeditures of all public money shall be published from
time to time.
196 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and no
person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, M'ithout the
consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title
of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confeder-
ation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of
credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the
obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No state shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts
or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary
for executing its inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties and
imposts laid by any state on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the
revision and control of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any
agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as wiU
not admit of delay.
Article II.
Section 1. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same
term, be elected as follows :
Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof
may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress ;
but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
[*The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of
the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each ; which list they
shall sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres-
ident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep-
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal
number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no person have a ma-
jority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like
manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the vote
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one
vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members
from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be
necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President,
• This clause between, brackets bas been superseded and annulled by the Twelfth amendment.
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 197
the person having the greatest number of votes of the Electors shall be
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-Presi-
dent.]
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and
the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that
of&ce who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-Pi^esident, and the Congress
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inabil-
ity, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what oflScer shall
then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the dis-
ability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a com^
pensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of
them.
Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the fol-
lowing oath or affirmation :
" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Sec. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the army and
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the
opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardon for offenses
against the United States, ex<iept in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present con-
cur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose
appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by law ; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment
of such inferior officers as they think proper in the President alone, in
the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.
Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such mea-
sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may on extraordinary
"198 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
occasions convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagree-
ment between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he maj
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive
ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United
States.
Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and con-
viction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article III.
Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested
in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Congress may from
time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the Supreme and
inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at
stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be
diminished during their continuance in office.
Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; to all cases of
admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies to which the United
States shall be a party ; to controversies between two or more states ;
between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of differ-
ent states ; between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants
of different states, and between a state or the citizens thereof, and foreign
states, citizens, or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls,
and those in which a state shall be a party, the Supreme Court shall have
■original jurisdiction.
In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions
and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall
have been committed ; but when not committed within an}^ state, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.
Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levy-
ing war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the tes-
timony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open
court.
The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason,
but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture,
except during the life of the person attainted.
Article IV.
Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 199
the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such
acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several states.
A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime,
who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand
of the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be delivered
up, to be removed to the state having jurisdiclon of the crime.
No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered
up on the claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.
Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this Union ;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any
other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the Legislatures of the states
concerned, as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging
to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed
as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any particular state.
Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them
against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or of the Execu-
tive (when the Legislature can not be convened), against domestic vio-
lence.
Article V.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessar}^ shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the ap-
plication of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be
valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution, when rati-
fied by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by con-
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifi-
cation may be proposed by the Congress. Provided that no amendment
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall
be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Akticle VL
All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adop-
tion of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States under
this Constitution as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the
land ; and the Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in
the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the mera->
7
200
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
bers of the several state Legislatures, and all executive and judicial offi-
cers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under
the United States.
Article VII.
The ratification of the Conventions of nine states shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so ratifying
the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, the
seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independence of the
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names.
GEO. WASHINGTON,
President and Deputy from Virginia.
New ffanipshire.
John Langdon,
Nicholas Oilman.
Massachusetts.
Nathaniel Gorham,
RuFus King.
Connecticut.
Wm. Sam'l Johnson,
Roger Sherman.
Delaware.
Geo. Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco. BroOxM,
Gunning Bedford, Jr.,
Richard Bassett.
Maryland.
James M' Henry,
Danl. Carroll,
Dan. of St. Thos. Jenifer.
New York.
Alexander Hamilton.
New Jersey.
WiL. Livingston,
Wm. Paterson,
David Brearley,
JoNA. Dayton.
Virginia.
John Blair,
James Madison, Jr.
North Carolina.
Wm. Blount,
Hu. Williamson,
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight.
Pennsylvania.
B. Franklin,
Robt. Morris,
Thos. Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,
Thos. Mifflin,
Geo. Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Gouv. Morris.
South Carolina.
J. Rutledge,
Charles Pinckney,
Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney,
Pierce Butler.
Georgia.
William Few,
Abr. Baldwin.
WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary.
AJSTD ITS AMENDMENTS. 203
Articles in Addition to and Amendatory of the Constitution
OF THE United States of America.
Proposed hy Congress and ratified by the Legislatures of the several statei,
pursuant to the fifth article of the origiyial Constitution.
Article I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Article II.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Article III.
No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be pre-
scribed by law.
Article IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio-
lated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the persons or things to be seized.
Article V.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in
cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual
service in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject
for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor
shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Article VI.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Article VII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
twenty dollars, the riarht of trial bv lurv shall be preserved, and no fact
204 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United
States than according to the rules of the common law.
Article VIII.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Article IX.
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Article X.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively,
or to the people.
Article XI.
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to
extend to any suit in law or equity commenced or prosecuted against one
of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or sub-
jects of any foreign state.
Article XII.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an
inhabitant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their
ballots the person to be voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of
all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-
President, and of the number of votes for each, which list they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in presence pf the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ;
and if no person have such majorit3',*then from the persons having the
highest number not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; a
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi-
dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the
fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of
the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be the majority
of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a majo] --
(deceased) ^
partridge: TOWNSHIP
AND ITS AMENDMENTS. 205
ity, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose
the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number
shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible
to the ofBce of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.
Article XIII.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a
punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their juris-
diction.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
Article XIV.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in tlie United States and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and
of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.
Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the several states
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per-
sons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed ; but when the right to
vote at any election for the choice of Electors for President and Vice-
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the execu-
tive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the Legislature
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States, or in any way
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crimes, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the num-
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens
twenty-one years of age in such state.
Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress,
or Elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or
military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previ-
ously taken an oath as a Member of Congress, or as an officer of the
United States, or as a member of any state Legislature, or as an execu-
tive or judicial officer of any. state to support the Constitution of the
United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress mav
by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.
Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States author-
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and boun-
ties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques-
tioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall pay any debt
or obligation incurred in the aid of insurrection or rebellion against the
United States, or any loss or emancipation of any slave, but such debts,
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.
206
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this act.
Article XV.
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any state, on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro-
priate legislation.
ELECTORS OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT.
November 7, 1876.
COUNTIES.
Haves and
Wheeler,
Republican.
'" ^ n
-B °
S 3 2
c —
03
|5
- ?
■2c^
!J
il
1
COUNTIES.
Hayes and
Wheeler,
Republican.
Tilden and
Hendrick.s,
Democrat.
PeterCooper
Greenback.
5
■~ a;
■<
Adams
4953
1219
1520
1965
944
3719
441
2231
1209
4530
2501
1814
1416
1329
2957
36548
1355
1145
3679
1928
1631
2129
2715
970
1145
1881
1601
966
4187
703
1695
1996
627
3496
330
1315
4177
3768
2040
6308
1280
1142
363
1495
2218
900
918
1618
3103
3287
2197
1541
1989
2822
39240
1643
1407
1413
1174
1.357
1276
2883
466
2265
2421
742
1302
4669
1140
3160
1142
1433
4207
611
1015
1928
2578
2071
41
17
Livingston
3550
2788
3120
3567
4554
2009
1553
1566
1231
2952
3465
6363
1115
2209
845
2486
3069
1245
3833
4665
1319
1541
1807
3055
1043
646
2357
1410
3912
980
4851
1522
910
2069
1140
4708
3198
2850
978
4372
650
2795
1911
1570
1297
3851
4770
1672
4505
1733
2134
2595
2782
4076
4730
2444
1430
1939
793
2811
1874
4410
1657
1428
1651
3013
3174
1672
1921
5443
800
1383
1316
4040
772
459
2589
1552
2838
1081
5847
1804
1269
3553
786
5891
2758
3171
2155
3031
936
1984
1671
1751
2066
2131
3999
1644
1568
2105
1170
37
268
114
39
209
135
86
20
347
34
518
10
90
201
109
28
104
95
5
48
117
35
16
""i
"3
"8
•i
Alexander
Logan
Bond
17
43
183
145
"2
1
2
li
Macon
Boone
Macoupin
Madison
Brown
Bureau
Marion
Calhoun
Marshall . .
I
Carroll . .
111
74
604
207
236
112
132
102
277
38
129
65
746
94
25
161
61
43
57
204
391
89
282
1
108
770
1
7
'■'i
16
"2
3
"i
6
9
■■3
3
■'8
"i
•■4
Mason
Cass
Massac
McDonougli
Champaign
McHenry
•}
Clark
McLean
7
Clay
Menard
Mercer
3
Coles
Monroe
Cook
Montgomery
Crawford
Morgan
5
Cumberland
Moultrie
DeKalb
Ogle
DeWitt .
Peoria
'
Douglas
Pone
'"i
DuPage
Perry
Edgar
Piatt
Edwards
Pike
4
Effingham
Pulaski
FavpJte
Putnam
14
2
55
27
641
29
115
182
341
96
99
26
44
3
288
207
138
39
482
469
133
677
41
70
237
Foru
R.andolph
Frnriklin
Richland
Fulton
Rock Island
Gallatin
Saline
Greene
Sangamon
Schuyler
Scott
Grundv
"2
1.3
1
Hancock
Shelby
Stark
Hardin
134
1
340
249
106
"a
14
"6
1
Henderson
St. Clair
1
Henrv
Stephenson
3
Iroquois
Tazewell
Union
9
Jackson
Jasper ...
9
Jetf erson
1346
1345
2907
1367
5398
2627
1869
5235
2619
6277
1198
3087
1667
2166
2276
893
2850
1363
524
2632
1647
6001
1329
2080
647
■■■146
61
172
26
309
141
55
514
27
100
12
2
"■2
■■■3
"5
2
■■'i
1
15
Wabash
Jersey
Warren
1
Jo Daviess
Johnson
Kane
Wayne
White
Whiteside
"4
1
Kendall
Will
Knox
Williamson
Winnebago
9
LaSalle
Woodford
4
Total
275958
257099
16951 l.'ioll.'i?
Practical Rules for Every Day Use.
Soiv to find the gain or loss per cent, when the cost and selling py'ice
are given.
Rule. — Find the difference between the cost and selling price, which
will be the gain or loss.
Annex two ciphers to the gain or loss, and divide it by the cost
price ; the result will be the gain or loss per cent.
Hoiv to change gold into currency.
Rule. — Multiply the given sura of gold by the price of gold.
Hoiv to change currency into gold.
Divide the amount in currency by the price of gold.
Hoiv to find each partner's share of the gain or loss in a copartnership
business.
Rule. — Divide the whole gain or loss by the entire stock, the quo-
tient will be the gain or loss per cent.
Multipl}^ each partner's stock by this per cent., the result will be
each one's share of the gain or loss.
Hoiv to find gross and net weight and price of hogs.
A short and simple method for finding the net weight., or price of hogs,
when the gross iveight or price is given, and vice versa.
Note.— It is generally assumed that the gross weight of Hogs diminished by 1-5 or 20 per cent.
of itself gives the net weight, and the net weight increased by K or 25 per cent, of itself equals the
Rross weiglit.
To find the net iveight or gross price. « *
Multiply the given number by .8 (tenths.)
To find the gross iveight or net price.
Divide the given number by .8 (tenths.)
How to find the capacity of a granary, bin, or wagon-bed.
Rule. — Multiply (by short method) the number of cubic feet by
6308, and point off one decimal place — the result will be the correct
answer in bushels and tenths of a bushel.
For only an app)roximate answer, multiply the cubic feet by 8, and
point off one decimal place.
Hoiv to find the contents of a corn-crib.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 54, short method, or
(207)
208 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
by 4§ ordinary method, and point off one decimal place — the result will
be the answer in bushels.
Note.— In estlraating corn in the ear, the quality and the time it has been cribbed, must be taken
into consideration, since corn will shrinls considerably during the Winter and Spring. This rule generally holds
good for corn measured at the time it is cribbed, provided it is sound and clean.
Hoiv to find the contents of a cistern or tank.
Rule. — Multiply the square of the mean diameter by the depth (all
in feet) and this product by 5681 (short method), and point off" one
decimal place — the result will be the contents in barrels of 31^ gallons.
How to find the contents of a barrel or cask.
Rule. — Under the square of the mean diameter, write the length
(all in inches) in reversed order, so that its units will fall under the
TENS ; multiply by short method, and this product again by 430 ; point
off one decimal place, and the result will be the answer in wine gallons.
Jloiv to measure boards.
Rule. — Multiply the length (in feet) by the width (in inches) and
divide the product by 12 — the result will be the contents in square feet.
IToiv to measure scantlings, joists, planks, sills, etc.
Rule. — Multiply the width, the thickness, and the length together
(the width and thickness in inches, and the length in feet), and divide
the product by 12 — the result will be square feet.
Soiv to find the number of acres in a body of land.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width (in rods), and divide the
product by 160 (carrying the division to 2 decimal places if there is a
remainder) ; the result will be the answer in acres and hundredths.
When the opposite sides of a piece of land are of unequal length,
add them together and take one-half for the mean length or width.
Hoiv to find the number of square yards in a floor or ivall.
Rule. — Multiply the length by the width or height (in feet), and
divide the product by 9, the result will be square yards.
Hoiv to find the number of bricks required in a building.
Rule. — Multiply the number of cubic feet by 22^. ■ •
The number of cubic feet is found by multiplying the length, height
and thickness (in feet) together.
Bricks are usually made 8 inches long, 4 inches wide, and two inches
thick ; hence, it requires 27 bricks to make a cubic foot without mortar,
but it is generally assumed that the mortar fills 1-6 of the space.
Hoiu to find the number of shingles required in a roof.
Rule. — Multiply the number of square feet in the roof by 8, if the
shingles are exposed 4^ inches, or by 7 1-5 if exposed 5 inches.
To find the number of square feet, multiply the length of the roof by
twice the length of the rafters.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 209
To find the length of the rafters, at one-fourth pitch, multiply the
width of the building by .56 (hundredths) ; at one-third pitch, by .6
(tenths) ; at two-fifths pitch, by .64 (hundredths) ; at one-half
pitch, by .71 (hundredths). This gives the length of the rafters from
the apex to the end of the wall, and whatever they are to project must be
taken into consideration.
Note.— By K or M pitch is meant that the apex or comb of the roof is to be Ji or J^ the width of the
building liigrher than the walls or base of the rafters.
ffoiv to reckon the cost of hay.
Rule. — Multiply the number of pounds by half the price per ton,
and remove the decimal point three places to the left.
How to measure grain.
Rule. — Level the grain ; ascertain the space it occupies in cubic
feet ; multiply the number of cubic feet by 8, and point off one place to
the left.
Note.— Exactness requires the addition to every three hundred bushels of one extra bushel.
The foregoing rule may be used for finding the number of gallons, by
multiplying the number of bushels by 8.
If the corn in the box is in the ear, divide the answer by 2, to find
the number of bushels of shelled corn, because it requires 2 bushels of eai
corn to make 1 of shelled corn.
Rapid rules for measuring land ivithout instruments.
In measuring land, the first thing to ascertain is the contents of any
given plot in square 3^ards ; then, given the number of yards, find out the
number of rods and acres.
The most ancient and simplest measure of distance is a step. Now,
an ordinary-sized man can train himself to cover one yard at a stride, on
the average, with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes.
To make use of this means of measuring distances, it is essential to
walk in a straight line ; to do this, fix the eye on two objects in a line
straight ahead, one comparatively near, the other remote ; and, in walk-
ing, keep these objects constantly in line.
Farmers and others hy adopting the folloiving simple and iiigenious con-
trivance., may ahvays carry loith them the scale to construct a correct yard
measure.
Take a foot rule, and commencing at the base of the little finger of
the ^ft hand, mark the quarters of the foot on the outer borders of the
left arm, pricking in the marks with indelible ink.
To find hoiv many rods in length will make an acre., the width being given.
Rule. — Divide 160 by the width, and the quotient will be the answer.
210 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Holo to find the number of acres in any plot of land, the number of rods
being given.
Rule. — Divide the number of rods by 8, multiply the quotient by 5,
and remove the decimal point two places to the left.
The diameter being given, to find the circumference.
Rule. — Multiply the diameter by 3 1-7.
How to find the diameter, lohen the circumference is given.
Rule. — Divide the circumference by 3 1-7.
To find hotv many solid feet a round stick of timber of the same thick-
ness throughout will contain when squared.
Rule. — Square half the diameter in inches, multiply by 2, multiply
by the length in feet, and divide the product by 144.
General 7'ule for measuring timber, to find the solid contents in feet.
Rule. — Multiply the depth in inches by the breadth in inches, and
then multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 144.
To find the number of feet of timber in trees with the bark on.
Rule. — Multiply the square of one-fifth of the circumference in
inches, by twice the length, in feet, and divide by ]'-44. Deduct 1-10 to
1-15 according to the thickness of the bark.
Hoivard' s neiv rule for computi^ig interest.
Rule. — The reciprocal of the rate is the time for which the interest
on any sum of money will be shown by simply removing the decimal
point two places to the left ; for ten times that time, remove the point
one place to the left ; for 1-10 of the same time, remove the point three
places to the left.
Increase or diminish the results to suit the time given.
Note.— The reciprocal of the rate is found by inverting the rate ; thus 3 per cent, per month, in-
Terted, becomes % of a month, or 10 days.
When the rate is expressed by one figure, always write it thus : 3-1,
three ones.
Rule for converting English into American currency.
Multiply the pounds, with the shillings and pence stated in decimals,
by 400 plus the premium in fourths, and divide the product by 90.
U. S. GOVERNMENT LAND MEASURE.
A township — 36 sections each a mile square.
A section — 640 acres.
A quarter section, half a mile square — 160 acres.
An eighth section, half a mile long, north and south, and a quarter
of a mile wide — 80 acres.
A sixteenth section, a quarter of a mile square — 40 acres.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 211
The sections are all numbered 1 to 36, commencing at the north-east
corner.
The sections are divided into quarters, which are named by the
cardinal points. The quarters are divided in the same way. The de-
scription of a forty acre lot would read : The south half of the west half of
the south-west quarter of section 1 in township 24, north of range 7 west,
or as the case might be ; and sometimes will fall short and sometimes
overrun the number of acres it is supposed to contain.
The nautical mile is 795 4-5 feet longer than the common mile.
^&'
SURVEYORS' MEASURE.
7 92-100 inches make 1 link.
25 links " 1 rod.
4rods " 1 chain.
80 chains " 1 mile.
Note. — A chain is 100 links, equal to 4 rods or 66 feet.
Shoemakers formerly used a subdivision of the inch called a barley-
corn ; three of which made an inch.
Horses are measured directly over the fore feet, and the standard of
measure is four inches — called a hand.
In Biblical and other old measurements, the term span is sometimes
used, which is a ler.gth of nine inches.
The sacred cubit of the Jews was 24.024 inches in length.
The common cubit of the Jews was 21.704 inches in length.
A pace is equal to a yard or 36 inches.
A fathom is equal to 6 feet.
A league is three miles, but its length is variable, for it is strictly
speaking a nautical term, and should be three geographical miles, equal
to 3.45 statute miles, but when used on land, three statute miles are said
to be a league.
In cloth measure an aune is equal to li yards, or 45 inches.
An Amsterdam ell is equal to 26.796 inches.
A Trieste ell is equal to 25.284 inches.
A Brabant ell is equal to 27.116 inches.
HOW TO KEEP ACCOUNTS.
Every farmer and mechanic, whether he does much or little business,
should keep a record of his transactions in a clear and systematic man-
ner. For the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of ac-
quiring a primary knowledge of the principles of book-keeping, we here
present a simple form of keeping accounts which is easily comprehended,
and well adapted to record the business transactions of farmers, mechanics
and laborers.
212
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
1875.
A. H. JACKSON.
Dr.
Jan. lOlTo
i(.
17
By
Feb.
4
'lo
u
4
To
March
8
Bv
u
8
By
ii
13
By
li
27
To
April
To
''
By
May
G
By
((
24
To
.Fulv
4
Bv
7 bushels Wheat at $1.25
shoeing span of Horses
14 bushels Oats at $ .45
5 lbs. Butter at .25
new Harrow
sharpening 2 Plows
new Double-Tree _
Cow and Calf
half ton of Hay
Cash
repairing Corn-Planter
one Sow with Pigs
Cash, to balance account
$s
75
$2
6
30
1
25
18
/<0
48
00
6
25
1
1 25
4
17
50
35
188
05
888
50
00
40
00
iO
15
05
187o.
CASS A MASON.
!>:•
Cr.
March 21
By 3 days' labor ..
. . at $1.25
m
8
10
2
2
20
18
00
10
00
75
70
00
20
$3
25
12
18
9
$67
75
" 21
" 23
May 1
" 1
To 2 Shoats
To 18 bushels Corn
By 1 month's Labor
at 3.00
at .45
00
To Cash - _ _ -
June 19
By 8 days' Mowing .
at *1.50
00
26
To 50 lbs. Flour ...
July 10
29
Aug. 12
12
To 27 lbs. Meat
By 9 days' Harvesting
Bv <j davs' Labor
To Cash .
at $ .10
at 2.00
at 1.50
00
00
Sept. 1
To Cash to balance account
#67
75
75
INTEREST TABLE.
A Si.MPLK Ru'Lii voii AccuRAxaLr CosiPUTiNG Interest at Axv Give.v Pkii Cent, for Any
Length op Time.
byth
and
Multiply the principal (amount of money at interest) by the time
the quotifnJ obtained by dividing 360 (the numljer of days in the
Ithe quotient thus nhtni'nerl will be the required interest.
ILLUSTRATION.
time reduced to days; then divide this product
*■'" "nterest year) liy the per cent, of interest,
Solution.
Requiietheiiiterestof S462.50for one month and eiRhteen days at 6 per cent. An $463.50
interest mouth is 30 davs; one month and eiKbreen days efjual 48 days. $4b-.J.50 multi- .48
plied bv .48 ffives $222 0000; 360 divided bv 6 (the per cent, of interest) gives 60, and —
$222.0600aividedby 60 will give vou the exact interest, which is $.3.70. If the rav of 370000
interest in the above example were 12 per cent., we would divide the 3222.0000 by 30 6)360 i 185000
(because 360 <livided l)v 12 gives 30); if 4 per cent., we would divide by 90; if 8 per
cent., by 45; and in like manner for any other per cent. 60y$222.0000($3.70
180
420
420
"oo
MISCELLANEOUS TABLE.
12 units, or things, 1 Dozen.
12 dozen, 1 (iross.
nothings, 1 .Score.
196 pounds, 1 Barrel of Flour.
200 pounds. 1 Barrel of Porii.
56 pounds, 1 Firkin of Butter.
24 sheets of paper, 1 Quire.
20 quires paper 1 Ream.
4 ft. wide, 4 ft. high, and 8 ft. long.
1 Cord Wood.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 213
NAMES OF THE STATES OF THE UNION, AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS.
Virginia. — The oldest of the States, was so called in honor of Queen
Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh made
his first attempt to colonize that region.
Florida. — Ponce de Leon landed on the coast of Florida on Easter
Sunday, and called the country in commemoration of the day, which was
the Pasqua Florida of the Spaniards, or " Feast of Flowers."
Louisiana was called after Louis the Fourteenth, who at one time
owned that section of the country.
Alabama was so named by the Indians, and signifies '• Here we Rest."
3Iissis8ippi is likewise an Indian name, meaning " Long River."
Arkansas, from Kansas, the Indian word for " smoky water." Its
prefix was really arc, the French word for " bow."
The Carolinas were originally one tract, and were called "Carolana,"
after Charles the Ninth of France.
Gieorgia owes its name to George the Second of England, who first
established a colony there in 1732.
Te7inessee is the Indian name for the " River of the Bend," i. e., the
Mississippi which forms its western boundary.
Kentucky is the Indian name for " at the head of the river."
Ohio means " beautiful ; " loioa, " drowsy ones ; " Minnesota, " cloudy
water," and Wisconsin, " wild-rushing channel."
Illinois is derived from the Indian word illini, men, and the French
suffix ois, together signifying "tribe of men."
Michigan was called by the name given the lake, fish-iveir, which was
so styled from its fancied resemblance to a fish traj).
Missouri is from the Indian word " muddy," which more properly
applies to the river that flows through it.
Oregon owes its Indian name also to its principal river.
Cortes named California.
Massachusetts!^ the Indian for "The country around the great hills."
Connecticut, from the Indian Quon-ch-ta-Cut, signifying "Long
River."
Margland, after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles the First, of
England.
JVew York was named by the Duke of York.
Pennsylvania means " Penu's woods," and was so called after Williarp,
Penn, its orignal owner.
214
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
Delaware after Lord De La Ware.
Nciv Jersey^ so called in honor of Sir George Carteret, who was
Governor of the Island of Jersey, in the British Channel.
Maine was called after the province of Maine in France, in compli-
ment of Queen Henrietta of England, who owned that province.
Vennont, from the French word Vert Mont, signifying Green
Mountain.
Neiv Hampshire, from Hampshire county in England. It was
formerly called Laconia.
The little State of Rhode Island owes its name to the Island of
Rhodes in the Mediterranean, which domain it is said to greatly
resemble.
Texas is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that
section of the country was called before it was ceded to the United States.
POPULATION OF THE
UNITED STATES.
States and Territories.
Alaliuuia
Ark;iiisas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts •
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire. . .
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina ....
Ohio. ..
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Total States.
Arizona
Colorada
Dakota
District of Columbia.
Idaho
Montana
New Mexico
rtah
Washington
Wyoming
Total Territories
Total United States
Total
Population.
996.992
484.471
560,247
537,454
125,015
187.748
184,109
539,891
680.637
191,792
364,399
,321,011
726,915
626,915
780,894
457,351
184,059
439.706
827,922
721,295
122,993
42.491
318.300
906.096
,382.759
071,361
66,5.260
90,923
521,791
217.353
705,606
258,520
818.579
330.551
225.163
442.014
054,670
38.11.3,253
9,658
39,864
14,181
131.700
14,999
20,595
91,874
86.786
23.955
9.118
442,730
POPULATION OF FIFTY
PRINCIPAL CITIES.
Cities.
1 Aggregate
Population.
38.555,983
New York, N. Y....
Philadelphia, Pa...
Brooklyn, N. Y
St. Louis, Mo
Cliicago, 111
Baltimore, Md
Boston, Mass
Cincinnati, Ohio...
New Orleans, La. .
San Francisco, cal.
Buffalo, N. Y
Washington, D. C. .
Newark, N. J
Louisville, Ky
Cleveland, Ohio
Pittsburg, Pa
Jersey City, N. J ..
Detroit, Mich
Milwaukee, Wis...
All>any, N. Y
Providence, K. I...
Rochester, N. Y
Allegheny, Pa.
Richmond, Va
New Haven, Conn.
Chirleston, S. C...
Indianapolis, Ind..
Troy, N. Y
Syracuse, N. Y
Worcester, Mass...
Lowell, Mass
Memphis, Tenn
Cambridge, Mass..
Hartford, Conn
Scranton, Pa
Reading, Pa
Paterson, N. J
Kansas City, Mo...
Mobile, Ala
Toledo. Ohio
Portland. Me
Columl)U.s. Ohio
Wilmington. Del...
Dayton, Ohio
Lawrence. Mass
Utica, N. Y
Charlestown, Mass
Savannah, Ga
Lynn. Mass
Fall River, Mass...
942,
674,
396,
310.
298.
267,
250.
216,
191,
149.
117,
109,
105,
100.
92,
86,
82.
79.
71,
69,
68,
62
53
51
50,
48
48,
46,
43,
41.
40
40
39,
37,
35,
33
3.3,
32
32
31,
31,
31
30.
30.
28,
28.
28,
28,
28,
26
292
022
099
864
977
354
526
239
418
473
714
199
059
753
829
076
546
577
440
423
904
386
180
038
840
956
244
465
051
105
928
226
634
180
092
930
579
260
034
584
413
274
841
473
921
804
323
235
233
766
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
21a
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
States and
Territouiks.
Staffs.
Alabama
Arkansas..
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts...
Michigan*
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire.
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina..
Ohio
Oregon
50,
52,
188,
4
59^
58,
55,
33,
55,
81,
37,
41,
31,
11,
56!
83,
47,
65,
75,
ll:i,
9,
8,
47,
50,
39,
95,
» Last Census of
Area in
s<iuare
Miles.
198
981
.674
120
268
000
410
,809
045
,318
600
,346
,776
184
800
,451
531
,156
,350
,995
,090
,280
,320
000
,704
,964
244
POPULATIOX.
1870.
996,
484.
560,
537,
125,
187,
1,184,
2,539,
1,680,
1.191.
364,
1,321,
726,
626,
780,
1,457,
1,184,
439,
827,
1,721,
123,
42,
318.
906,
4,382,
1,071.
2,665,
90,
Michigan
1875.
1,350,544
528,349
857,039
1,651,912
1,334,031
598,429
246.280
52,540
1,026,502
4,705,208
992
471
247
454
015
748
109
891
637
792
399
Oil
915
915
894
351
059
706
922
295
993
491
300
096
59
361
260
923
taken in 1874.
Miles
R. R.
1872.
671
25
013
820
227
466
108
904
529
ItiO
760
123
539
871
820
606
235
612
990
580
828
593
790
265
470
190
740
lo9
States and
Territories.
Stales.
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina...
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
AMrginia
West Virginia
AVisconsin
Total States.
Territories.
Arizona
Colorado
Dakota
Dist. of Columbia.
Idaho
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Total Territories.
Area in
square
Mih
lies.
46,000
1,306
29,385
45,600
237,504
10,212
40,904
23,000
53,924
1,950,171
113,916
104,500
147,490
60
90,9.32
143.776
121,201
80,056
69,944
93,107
965,032
PoprLATioy
1870.
3,521,
217,
705,
1,2.58
818,
330,
1,225,
442.
1,054.
791
353
606
520
579
551
163
014
670
38,113,253
9,6.58
39,864
14,181
131.700
14,999
20,595
91,874
86,786
23,955
9,118
442,730
187
258,239
925,145
1,236,729
Miles"
R. R.
1872.
5,113
136
1.201
1,520
865
675
1,490
•485
1,725
59,587
393
375
■498
1,365
Aggregate of U. S.. 2,915,203 38,555,983 60.853,
• Included in the Railroad Mileage of Maryland.
PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
Population and Area.
Countries.
Population.
China
British Kmpire
Russia
United States with Alaska
France
Austria and Hungary
Japan
Great Britain and Ireland
German Empire
Italy
Spain
Brazil
Turkey
Mexico
Sweden and Norway
Persia
Belgium
Bavaria
Portugal
Holland
iV ew Grenada
Chili
Switzerland
Peru
Bolivia
Argentine Republic
Wurteniburg
Dsnmark
Venezuela
Baden
Greece
Guatemala
Ecuador
Paraguay
Hesse
Liberia
San Salvador ,
Hayti
Nicaragua
Uruguay
Honduras
San Domingo
('osta Rica
Hawaii
446,500.000
226.817.108
81.925,400
38,925,600
36,469,800
35,904,400
34,785,300
31.817.100
29,906,092
27,439,921
16,642,000
10.000.000
16,463,000
9.173.000
5, 921.. 500
5.000.000
5,021,300
4,861,400
3,995,200
3,688,300
3,000,000
2,000,000
2.669,100
2.500,000
2,000,000
1,812,000
1,818,500
1,784.700
1,500,000
1,461,400
1,457.900
1,180,000
1.300,000
1,000,000
823,138
718,000
600,000
572,000
3.50.000
300,000
350,000
136,000
165.000
62.950
Date of
Census.
1871
1871
1871
1870
1866
1869
1871
1871
1871
1871
1867
Area in
Square
Miles.
Inhabitants
to Square
Mile.
1869
1870
1870
1869
1871
1868
1870
1870
1869
1870
1871
"1869
1871
1870
■1871
1870
1871
'1871
isVi
1871
1871
1871
1871
1870
3.741,846
4,677,432
8.003.778
2,603,884
204,091
240.348
149,399
121,315
160,207
118,847
195,775
3.2,53,029
672,621
761,526
292,871
635,964
11.373
29.292
34.494
12,680
357,157
132,616
15,992
471,838
4 9 7, .321
871,848
7.533
14,753
368,238
5,912
19.353
40.879
218.928
63,787
2,969
9,576
7.335
10.205
58,171
66,722
47,092
17,827
21.505
7,633
119.3
48.6
10.2
7.78
178.7
149.4
232.8
262.3
187.
230.9
85.
3.07
24.4
20.
7.8
441.5
165.9
115.8
390.9
8.4
15.1
166.9
5.3
4.
2.1
241.4
120.9
4.2
247.
75.3
28.9
5.9
15.6
277.
74.9
81.8
56.
6.
6.5
7.4
7.6
7.7
80.
Capitals.
Pekin
London
St. Petersburg
Washington
Paris
Vienna
Yeddo
London
Berlin
Rome
Madrid
Rio Janeiro
Constantiiioiile ...
Mexico
Stockholm
Teheran
Brussels
Munich
Lisbon
Hague
Bogota
Santiago
Berne
Lima
Chuquisaca
Buenos Ayres
Stuttgart
Copenhagen
Caraccas
Carlsruhe
Athens
Guatemala
Quito
Asuncion
Darmstadt
Monrovia
Sal Salvador
Port an Prince...
Managua
Monte Video
Comayagua
San Domingo
San Jose
Honolulu
Population,
648.800
251.800
667.000
109,199
82,5,300
833,900
554,900
251,800
825,400
244,484
332.000
420,000
075,000
210.300
136,900
120,000
314,100
169.500
224.063
90.100
45,000
115,400
36,000
160,100
25.000
177.800
91.600
162.043
47.000
36.600
4.3.400
40.000
70,000
48,000
30,000
3,000
15,000
20,000
10,000
44,500
12,000
20,000
2,000
7,63a.
216
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION
POPUL/lTION of ILLINOIS,
By Counties.
COUNTIES.
Adams
Alexander. .
Bond
Boone
Brown
Bureau
Calhoun
Carroll
Cass
Champaign.
Christian ..
Clark.
Clay .-
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cumberland
De Kalb...
De Witt...
Douglas
Du Page
Edgar
Edwards
Effingham..
Fayette
Ford
Franklin
Fulton
Gallatin '
Greene
Grundy
Hamilton -.
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson .
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jasper
Jefferson
Jersey
Jo Daviess.
Johnson
Kane
Kankakee. .
Kendall
Knox
Lake
La Salle
Lawrence..
Lee
Livingston .
Logan
AGGREGATE.
1870. I860. 1850. 1840. 1830. 1820.
56362
10564
I3152
12942
12205
32415
6562
16705
II5S0
32737
20363
1S719
15875
16285
25235
349966
13889
12223
23265
14768
I34S4
16685
21450
7565
15653
I963S
9103
12652
3S29I
III34
20277
14938
I3OI4
35935
5113
12582
35506
25782
19634
11234
17S64
15054
27S20
1124S
39091
24352
12399
39522
21014
60792
12533
27171
31471
23053
41323
4707,
9S151
1167S
9938
26426
5144
11733
113251
14629!
10492
14987
9336
10941
14203
144954
11551,
8311
19086
10820
7140
14701
16925
5454
7816
111S9
1979
9393
33333
8055
16093
10379
9915
29061
3759
9501
20660
12325
95S9
8364
12965
12051
27325
9342
30062
15412
13074
28663
18257
4S332
9214
17651
11637
14272
2650S
2484
6144
7624
719S
8841
3231
4586
7253
2649
3203
9532
4289
5139
9335
43385
7135
3718
7540
5002
9290
10692
3524
3799
8075
14476
3313
5060
1705
4183
3067
1741
1023
2981
1475
1878
7453
3228
3718
9616
10201
4422
5681
22508
5448
12429
3023
6362
14652
2887
4612
3S07,
4149
5S621
3220
8109!
7354'
186041
4114,
16703'
7730'.
132791
14226'
17S15
6l81|
5.392'
1553!
51281
16971
3247
3535
8225
3070
1675
6328
3682
13142
10760
11951
3945
9946
137S
1260;
1695!
3566J
1472
5762
4535I
6180
3626
6501
7060
2634'
9348(
7092
2035
759
2333
2186
1390
3124
1090
3940
755
2330
3117
4071
1649
2704
4083
1841
7405
7674
2616
483
41
1828
2555
2111
1596
274
3668
626
2931
931
^23
2999
3444
1763
3155
1542
691
843
MISCELLANEOUS INFORjMATION.
217
POPULATION OF ILLINOIS— Concluded.
COUNTIES.
Macon
Macoupin
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Mason
Massac
McDonough.
McHenry ..,
McLean
Menard
Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perry
Piatt
Pike
Pope -.
Pulaski
Putnam
Randolph
Richland
Rock Island
Saline
Sangamon ..
Schuyler
Scott
Shelby
Stark-
St. Clair
Stephenson..
Tazewell
Union
Vermilion . . ,
Wabash ....
Warren
Washington .
Wayne
White
Whitesides . .
Will.
Williamson..
Winnebago..
Woodford . . .
Total...
AGGREGATE.
1870.
26481
3272b
44131
20622
16950
16184
95S1
26509
23762
53988
II735
18769
12982
25314
2S463
103S5
27492
47540
13723
10953
30708
II437
875^
6280
20859
12803
29783
12714
46352
17419
10530
25476
IO751
51068
3060S
27903
16518
303 88
8841
23174
17599
19758
16846
27503
43013
17329
29301
18956
2539891
1860.
13738
24602
31251
12739
13437
IO931
6213
20069
22089
28772
9584
15042
12832
13979
22II2
63S5
22888
36601
9552
6127
27249
6742
3943
55S7
17205
9711
21005
9331
32274
14684
9069
14613
9004
37694
25112
21470
11181
19800
7313
18336
13731
12223
12403
18737
29321
12205
24491
13282
1711951
1850.
3988
12355
20441
6720
5180
5921
4092
7616
14978
IO163
6349
5246
7679
6277
16064
3234
10020
17547
5278
1606
18S19
3975
2265
3924
1 1079
4012
6937
5588
19228
10573
7914
7807
3710
20180
1 1666
12052
7615
1 1492
4690
8176
6953
6825
8925
5361
16703
7216
11773
4415
851470
1840.
i8;jo.
3039
7926
14433
4742
1849
5308
2578
6565
4431
2352
4481
4490
19547
3479
6153
3222
11728
4094
2131
7944
2610
14716
6972
6215
6659
1573
13631
2800
7221
5524
9303
4240
6739
4810
5133
7919
2514
10167
4457
4609
476183
1122
1990
6221
2125
{b)
26
2000
2953
12714
1215
2396
3316
(-1310
4429
12960
^2959
2972
7078
4716
3239
5836
2710'
308
1675
2553
6091
I574JL5
1830.
13550
*2I
1516
2610
3492
5248
2362
I517
III4
4828
*49
55162
218
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
STATE LAWS
Relating to Rates of Interest and Penalties for Usury.
States and Territories.
I Legal : Rate al- !
Rate of lowed by
Interest. Contract.
Penalties for Usury.
per cent
8
lO
6
lo
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado lo
Connecticut ,
Dakota
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
7
I 7
I 6
6
; 8
7
! lo
6
6
6
8
Kentucky 6
Louisiana.
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts .
Michigan
Minnesota
5
6
6
6
7
7
Mississippi \ 6
Missouri.
Montana..
Nebraska.
Nevada....
6
lo
lO
lO
New Hampshire 6
N e w J e r s e y
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Ontario, Canada
Oregon
7
6
7
6
6
6
lO
Pennsyl vani a 6
6
6
7
6
8
lO
6
6
lO
6
7
12
Quebec, Canada
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington Territory
West Virginia
W^isconsin
Wyoming
per cent.
8
Any rate.
lO
Any rate.
Any rate.
7
12
6
lO
Any rate.
12
24
lO
lO
lO
12
8
8
Any rate.
6
Any rate.
lo
12
lo
lo
Any rate.
12
Any rate.
6
7
Any rate.
7
8
8
Any rate.
12
Any rate
Any rate.
Any rate.
Any rate,
lo
12
Any rate.
6
6*
Any rate.
6*
lo
Any rate.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of principal and interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of principal.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Fine and imprisonment.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 12 per cent.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of ex. of in. above 7 per cent.
No Usury Law in this State.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of thrice the excess and costs.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of contract.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess above 6 per cent.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
Forfeiture of excess of interest.
Forfeiture of entire interest.
♦ Except in cases defined by statutes of the State.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
219
STATE LAWS
Relating to Limitations of Actions : Showing Limit of Time in which
Action may be Brought on the following :
States and Tbrbitories.
Alabama
Arkansas —
California,...
Colorado
Connecticut.
Dakota
Delaware....
District ol
I'^lorida
Georgia....
Maho
Illinois
Indiana....
Columbia
Iowa
Kansas....
Kentucky.
Louisiana.
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts .
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri..., ...
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire.
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina...
Ohio
Ontario (U. Canada).
Oregc
Pennsylvania
Quebec (L. Canada).
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington Territory.
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Assault
slander,
&c.
Years.
I
I
I
I
3
2
Open
Accts.
Notes.
I
2
I
2
I
2
I
Years.
3
3
2
6
6
6
I
3
1
3
2
4
I
4
2
2
I
2
5
6
2
5
I
3
I
2
I
2
3
6
I
2
3
6
2
6
2
6
I
3
2
5
2
5
I
4
2
2
2
6
2
6
I
6
2
6
3
I
3
6
2
6
2
6
I
6
I
I
5
6
2
6
I
6
I
2
2
6
5
5
6
6
Years.
6
5
4
6
6
6
6
5
6
4
lo
20
lO
5
15
5
20
3
20
6
6
6
lO
lO
5
4
6
6
lo
6
3
IS
6
6
6
5
6
6
6
4
4
4
5
6
lO
6
IS
Judg-
ments.
Sealed and
witnessed
Instru-
ments.
Years.
20
lO
5
3
20
20
20
12
20
7
5
20
2o
20
5
IS
lO
20
12
20
6
lO
7
20
lO
S
5
20
20
lO
20
lO
15
20
10
20
30
20
20
10
10
S
8
10
6
10
20
15
Years.
10
10
5
3
17
20
20
12
20
20
5
10
20
10
15
15
20
20
12
20
10
6
7
10
10
10
4
20
16
10
20
10
15
20
20
20
30
20
20
6
5
7
8
20
6
10
20
15
PRODUCTIONS OF AGRICULTURE, STATE OF ILLINOIS, BY COUNTIES.— 1870.
;OUNTIES.
Total.
AUanib
Alexaiuler ...
liotul
IJooiie
ISrown
liureau
CaUiouii
Carroll
Cass
Champaign..
Christian
Clark
Clay
Clinton
Coles
Cook
Crawford
Cumberland.
DeKalb
DeWitt
Douglas
DuPage
Edgar
Edwards. ...
Effingham
Fayette
Ford
Franklin
Fulton
Gallatin
Greene
Grundy
Hamilton
Hancock
Hardin
Henderson. .
Henry
Iroquois
Jackson
Jasper .. ..
Jefferson
Jersey
JoDaviess. ..
Johnson . ..
Kane
Kankakee
Kendall. .
Knox
Lake
LaSalle
Lawrence ...
Lee.
Livingston
Logan
Macon
Macoupin
Madison
Marion
Marshall
Mason
Massac
McDonough...
McHenry
McLean
Menard
Mercer
^lonroe
Montgomery..
Morgan
Moultrie
Ogle
Peoria
Perrv
Piatt
Pike
Pope
Pulaski
Putnam
Randoliih
Richland
Rock Island.. .
.Saline
.Sangamon
Schuyler
Scott"
Shelby
.Stark..
St. Clair
Stephenson ...
TazeweH
Union
Vermilion
\Vab.ash
Warren
Washington...
Wayne
White
Whitesides
Will.
Improved
Land.
Woodl-Md
Number. Number. Number.
19..329.95B 5,061.578 1.491.3.S1
other un-
improved
Spring
Wheat.
Winter
Wheat.
Hushels.
10. 133.201
Rye.
Indian
Corn.
Hushels. Bushels, Hushels. Hushels
19 99.5.198 2 456.578 129.921.39." 42 780.85!
Oafs.
Williamson .
Winnebago..
V.'oodford ...
287.926
13.836
145,045
137,307
57,062
398,611
37,684
186,864
92.902
419,368
241,472
118,594
146,922
150.177
208,337
348,824
105,505
75,342
334,50-.'
168.531.
147,633
164,874
.^65,458
58,912
120,343
187,196
141,228
80,749
228.132
49,572
175,408
1,'^3,999
88,996
311,517
28,117
140,954
265,904
322,510
78,548
90,86
118,951
94,14
156,51^
57,820
240,120
312,181!
164.00J
330,829
207, 77;.
533,724
87,82b
322,21
377,505
321,70!'
205,259
231,059
257,032
173,081
166,057
209,453
25,151
261,635
230,566
494,978
134.173
222.80S*
92.81C
276,682
293,450
144,220
316,883
170,726
93,754
94.454
233.785
55,980
19.319
37,271
140,764
75,079
155,214
72,309
421,748
96,195
85,331
310,179
138,129
231,117
254,857
229,126
75,832
360,251
54.063
266.187
177.592
147.352
92,398
289,809
419,442
128,448
241.373
22.5,504
112,57ti
17.761
42,613
29,886
35,491
41,866
63.443
29,793
33,493
16,789
19,803
102,201
80,612
48,868
45,214
19,635
78,350
40,334
17,722
29.54t<
11,897
17,243
66,803
57,585
56.33(1
93,460
2,996
.3,994
123,823
68,750
93,242
6,256
93,878
43,385
44,771
34,705
12,620
22,478
87,642
67,023
94,88b
51,427
82,07t
3
34,646
10,978
14,244
41,566
21,072
48,in
72,738
12,071
12,462
17,394
18,153
81,224
89.450
61,579
28,261
31,73fe
33,39t
52,54-;
53.293
40,36f:
34.931
45,977
83,369
47.804
60,217
24,783
43,643
48,666
68,470
5,978
128,953
87,754
12,5U
17,184
162,274
50.618
31,239
70,393
51,085
62,477
44,633
74,908
12.375
76,591
43.167
45,268
83.606
53,078
37,558
27,294
55,852
146,794
78.167
21.823
24.261
116,949
37,238
25,217
19,370
1,915
2,658
25608
15.803
2,754
33,302
6,604
58, .502
19,173
5,420
5,225
8,722
3,274
17,337
27,185
5,604
6,551
17,633
7.316'
3.851
14,282
830 !
26,206,
16,7861
63,976
86,710
4,076
2,565
29,653
4,505
.3,343
18,480
107i
14,243
31,459
63,498
5.991
12,250
778
1,363
45,779
79,141
399
10,598
2,283
25,155
24,369
2,.% 6
3,273
7,409
41,788
408
9,115
7,343
13,675
4,142
2,976
31,013
30
14,035
57,998
49.087
13,952
22,588
666
8.495
1,376
13,112
14,913
2,516
220
13,897
9,302
16,191
4.174
1,170
2 025
20,755
809
19,932
21,294
1.610
9,314
2,783
2.016
13.701
14,846
5,300
31,122
509
14,583
1,931
10,486
869
37.310
6,3351
1.648
15.237 !
23,135|i
700
241,042
13,276
465,236
418,073
12,165
102.5
18,360
1,894
500
2,651
144,296
60
550
398,059
106,493
7,683
106,096
13,283
42,571
365
193,669
21,700
129
181,378
13
161,112
462,379
57,160
890
282,758
188,82e
103,466
90,681
267,764
168,914
271,181
450,793
120,206
198,056
55,239
160
550
106.129
73,261
"273,871
401,790
211,801
36,152
289,291
59
18,196
17,128
497,038
92,361
26.382
130
28,137
450
243,541
200
89,304
56,221
18
15,526
124,630
2.550
527,394
132,417
44,806
186; 290
266
457.455
195,286
176
408,606
178.139
947.616
42.658
368,625
599
117,502
724
221,298
260
127,054
123,091
504,041
195.118
85,737
610,888
154,485
4,904
212,924
84,697
190
11,695
65,461
693
247,360
122,703
195,716
351,310
1,008
111,324
223,930
83,093
577,400
150
92.34';
232,751
32,306
69,062
445
10,48(1
329,036
87.S08
100,55-^
558,367
55.'^
92.191
325
480
1,249
7,654
221
2.19:5
264,134
2.260
1,339
40,96a
196,613
861, 39h
1,207,181
173,652
90(1
125.628
72,316
36,146
270
10,955
45,793
13,20.3
651,767
744,891
357,523
196,43(i
5,580
31.843
350,44ti
39,762
1,057,497
70,457
44,922
79(i
1,031.022
150,268
2.279
83.011
247.65b'
165.724
266.105
452,015
1,562.621
2,118
72.410
180.231
249.558
202.201
5,712
672,486
164.689
184,321
264
1.996
170,787
2.468
108,307
20,989
30
6,240
35,871
4,742
43,811
186
25.721
2.772
45,752
10,722
7,308
3,221
1,619
8,825
20,171
15,497
14.798
21,018
11 540
9,017
7,53i
87,508
528
19.759
25.328
11,577
5,195
131,711
51-~
41£
4,93(
11,672
133,533
86,5
96,43ti
35.76(
23.25!-
524
9,16,=
5,93^
7,185
2,46!-
23,618
12,93."
5.16;-
113.547
5.87(
48,30b
1,121
14,82!.
26,16::
37,232
29,22::
2.404
3.68c
r4,517
36,135
49,182
54.!
52,401
29,26-;
39.824
4,28:;
40.77b
1.42c
3,29t
5,53.=
6,670
157,504
99, .502
1,01(
9.24b
25,30:?
2.306
222
7.707
3,235
3.401
20,00:3
56b
23,073
20,841
930
23.686
30,5:34
1.008
135.362
59.027
1,737
52,476
72,212
2,576
8,665
418
31.658
8.030
6,228
137,985
20.426
1,452,905
244,220
1,064,0,52
466,985
337,769
3,030.404
2:34,041
1,:367 965
1,146,980
:3, 924. 720
1,883,336
614,582
1,019,994
81.3.257
2,13:3,111
570,427
581,964
40:3,075
1,023,849
1,311,635
1.680,225
331,981
2,107.615
352,371
620,247
962,52.T
565,671
65:3,206
1,. 508, 763
509,491
1,051,313
295,971
735,25-
1,510,401
172.651
1,712.901
2,541, 68:i
799,81(
611,951
461,34,';
887,981
519,121
l,286,32t
34:3,29b
674,33::
637,39!
681,267
2.708,316
517,35:-
:3,077,02^
656,36:
1,6,56,97!-
1,182,69(
4,221,641
2,214,46!-
1,051,54-1
2,127,546
1.034,057
l,182,90:i
2,648.72(
13:3, 12(
1,362, 4 9(
1,145.00."
:3, 723,376
1,97:3.88'
2.054,96>
54:3,71b
1,527,89b
:3,198,835
1.75:3.141
1,787.066
969.224
384.446
1,029.725
1.399,18b
31.5,95b
195.735
3:34,256
510,08(1
482.594
1,459.65:;
531,516
4,388,763
440.975
752.771
2.082.578
1,149 878
1,423.121
1,615,679
2,062.053
679.753
2,818.027
421,361
2,982,853
836.115
1,179,291
870.521
2,162,943
1,131,458
655,710
1,237,406
2,154.185
759,074
21,627
461,097
579,127
70,852
987,426
26.231
775,100
168,784
721,375
38:3,821
212.628
269.945
446,324
315.954
1,584,225
136,!i55
171,880,
1,087,074
216,756
22.5,074
860,809
290,679
129,152
386,073
497,395
154,589
222.426
261,390
27,164
64.029
269.332
20:3.464
579,599
26,991
229,286
668.367
430,746
149,931
149,214
28,5.949
71.770
874,016
74,525
785,608
772,408
468.890
787,952
699,069
1.509,642
131,386
90:3,197
659,300
490,226
454.648
459,417
475,252
389,446
362,604
272,660
22.097
280,717
910.397
911,127
235,091
452,889
152.251
668,424
198,724
26:3,992
141,540
334.892
338,760
1:30,610
161,419
67,886
16,511
86.519
414,487
204.634
276,575
69.793
397,718
119.359
13,462
637,812
316,726
476,851
960.620
505.841
124,473
4:36051
110,793
601.054
53:3.398
404.482
119,653
880 8:38
1,868.682
180.986
86.S.903
744,5«l
(deceased)
METAMORA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Woodford County, lying in the central part of the State of Illinois, is
hounded on the north by Marshall and La Salle Counties ; on the east by
Livingston and McLean ; on the south by McLean and Tazewell ; and on the
west by the Illinois River. It is very irregular in its boundaries, and of
a shape rather difficult to compute its exact area, but it is estimated at about
five hundred and fifty square miles. At an early period in the history of
Illinois, a large tract of land in this section, lying east and south of the Illi-
nois River, was known as Tazewell County, and at a still more remote date, this
tract was included in the county of Sangamon, with the county seat at Spring-
field. From the original county of Tazewell, several of the adjacent counties
have been wholly, or in part created, viz.: Marshall, McLean, Livingston and
perhaps others. In the formation of Woodford County, Livingston, McLean
and Tazewell contributed to its territory. That portion lying west of the Third
Principal Meridian was taken from Tazewell County ; the present Townships of
Clayton, Minonk, Greene and Panola from Livingston, and the remainder from
McLean County. It embraces within its territorial limits seventeen civil town-
ships. The county is well drained by the Illinois River flowing along its western
boundary, and the Mackinaw, together with their tributaries — Walnut, Panther,
AVolf, Rock, Ten Mile, Snag, Partridge, Black Partridge and Richland Creeks,
which meander through it in all directions, watering and draining every portion
of it. Much of the land is broad rolling prairie, stretching away to the groves
of timber and bluffs rising from the banks of the rivers, and numerous water
courses, and as an agricultural region is unsurpassed in the State. The south-
ern and western portions of the county, supply timber in great abundance, and
many of the more valuable species are native to these sections. Black and
white walnut, wild cherry, sugar maple, red and white elm, cottonwood, syca-
more, mulberry, red bud, hackberry, the different kinds of oak, black and white
hickory, etc., flourish in these localities, while some of the more common shrubs,
such as hazel, willow, sumac, elder and prickly-ash, grow in profusion. No
extensive manufactories nor very large cities exist, but a number of thriving
towns and villages, together with two or three small cities, have grown up in the
county, equal in pi-osperity and enterprise to those in any other portion of the
224 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
State. Its chief source of wealth is its agricultural products, which have
increased to a voluminous extext, since the building of the different raib'oads
through the county. The time, however, is not far distant, when no doubt coal
mining will be carried on to a much greater extent than it is now. The geo-
logical deposits of Woodford County are extremely rich, combining many rare
specimens, and fossils common in other and distant sections of Illinois, and even
in other States. But as we shall allude to the subject again in this work,
together with the coal fields, we pass now to
THE EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Woodford County has drawn its population from many different sources.
Half the States in the- Union are here represented, while many of the countries
of the Old World have contributed their delegations to its settlements. The
courtly and dignified Englishman, the bonny Scot, the warm-hearted Irishman,
the genial Frenchman, the good-natured German, with many others from " be-
yond the seas," are here, and together furnish some of the prosperous and solid
men of the communitv. Of our own countrymen, we find the New Englander,
from his cold and sterile hills, and the chivalrous Southerner, from his palm-
tree groves and " sunny land," dwelling side by side and mingling together,,
with no sectional lines drawn between them on account of birthplace, or feelings
of political prejudices engendered by either against the section from which the
other came. And here, too, like way-marks along a lonely highway, we now
and then meet with a " wandering son of Ethiopia's fated race," who, since the
war, has straggled away from the " Sunny South " to the distant prairies to
find a new home. Many of the first settlers were from Indiana, Virginia and
Kentucky, with perhaps an occasional family from some other Southern State.
Coming, as they did, from a land of hills and vales, and creeks and rivers,
bordered with grand old forests, they very naturally shunned the prairies and
'• pitched their tents " by the rivers and the "purling brooks," under the broad,
sheltering branches of the trees. Hence Walnut Grove, as it is still called, and
what is now Spring Bay, together with kindred regions and localities, were
settled long before any hardy pioneer became imbued with sufiicient courage to
venture to rear his cabin far out on the vast prairie, which, to his inexperienced
eye, appeared at best but a "desert waste." Close in the wake of this early impor-
tation of " Hoosiers " * came the Yankees, as all Northern and Eastern people
were called by the Southerners, with their thrift and ingenuity, and both the
settlements and the population increased slowly at first, perhaps, but at least
surely.
From a work entitled " Old Settlers' History of Woodford County," written
by Prof. Radford, of Eureka College, we take the "historical table" of early
settlers, given below, who came to the county up to 1835, together with the date
* The name " Hoosier " was usually applied to everybody along the border, on both sides of the Ohio River, at
that early day.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
225
of their coming and the place of their location. The only change we have made
in the table is to so arrange the names as to bring the dates in regular rotation
Wm. (or Geo.) Blaylock, neai- Spring Bay, 1819
William Blanchard, near Spring Bay 1822
Dillon, near Spring Bay
Horace Crocker, near Spring Bay
William Philips, near Spring Bay 1828
William Sowards, Metamora 1823
Solomon Sowards, Metamora 182o
George Kingston, Spring Bay 182o
John Stephenson, Spring Bay 1824
Joseph Dillon, Walnut Grove 1824
Austin Crocker, Spring Bay 1824
George Kingston, Metamora 1825
Gershom Harvey, on Mackinaw 1825
Charles Moore, Walnut Grove 182G
Daniel Meek, Walnut Grove 1826
Jonathan Baker, Walnut Grove 1826
Charles Fielder, Spring Bay 1827
Benjamin Williams, Partridge Creek 1827
John Bird, Walnut Grove 1^<27
Wathen, Walnut Grove 1827
Rowland Crocker, Spring Bay 1828
Jacob Wilson, Spring Bay 1828
Amasa Stout, Panther Creek 1828
Adam Henthorne, Panther Creek
Bilberry, Panther Creek 1828
Robert Philips, White Oak Grove 1828
Samuel Philips, White Oak Grove 1828
John Harbert, White Oak Grove 1829
Jesse Dale, Spring Bay 1829
Richard Williams, Spring Bay 1829
David Matthews, Spring Bay 1829
"Widow" Donohue, Spring Bay 1829
George Hopkins, Spring Bay 1829
Hiram Curry, Spring Bay 1829
William Atteberry, Walnut Grove 1829
John Davidson, Walnut Grove 1829
John Dowdy, Walnut Grove 1829
Joseph Martin, Walnut Grove 1829
Matthew Bracken, Walnut Grove 1829
James Bird, Walnut Grove 1829
Robert Bird, AValnut Grove 1829
Nathan Owen, Walnut Grove 1829
Eli Patrick, Walnut Grove 1829
Allen Patrick, Walnut Grove 1829
John Harbert, White Oak Grove 1829
William Hoshor, Spring Bay 1830
John Sharp, Germantown 1830
John F. Smith, Germantown 1830
Joseph Meek, Walnut Grove 1830
Henry Meek, Walnut Grove 1830
William Bird, Walnut Grove 1830
Daniel Deweese, Walnut Grove 1830
Thomas Deweese, Walnut Grove 1830
Rev. John Oatman, Walnut Grove 1830
Lewis Stephens, White Oak Grove 1830
James V. Phillips, White Oak Grove
Josiah Moore, near Panther Creek 1830
Campbell Moore, near Panther Creek 1830
Rev. Amos Watkins, near Panther Creek. .1830
Warren AVatkins, near Panther Creek 1830
Thomas A. McCord, near Panther Creek. ..1830
James S. McCord, near Panther Creek 1830
Matthew Blair, Walnut Grove 1830
Joseph Belsley, Spring Bay..^ ...1831
Phineas Shottenkirk, Spring Bay 1831
Rev. Joshua AVoosley, Walnut Grove 1831
Francis Willis, AValnut Grove 1831
Daniel Travis, Walnut Grove 1831
Caleb Davidson, Walnut Grove 1831
John Butcher, AValnut Grove 1831
Cooley Curtis, Walnut Grove 1831
Daniel Allison, AValnut Grove 1831
Isaac Black, Walnut Grove 1831
Aaron Richardson, Panther Creek 1831
.James M. Richardson, Panther Creek 1831
Joseph Wilkerson, Panther Creek
William McCord, Panther Creek 1831
Samuel Kirkpatrick, White Oak Grove 1831
John Benson, White Oak Grove 1831
AVilliam Benson, AVhite Oak Grove 1831
James Benson, AVhite Oak Grove 1831
Daviil Banta, Metamora 1831
Cornelius Banta, Metamora 1831
Peter Muler, Germantown 1832
Thomas Deweese, Walnut Grove 1832
James Harlan, south of Walnut Grove 1832
Noel Meek, near Panther Creek 1832
Basil Meek, near Panther Creek 1832
John Armstrong, near Panther Creek
AVilliam C. Moore, near Panther Creek
Rev. Lewis Stover, White Oak Grove 1832
Louis Guibert, near Spring Bay 1833
Gingerich, near Spring Bay
Rev. Zadock Hall, Germantown 1833
James Mitchell, AValnut Grove 1833
Rev. Ben. Major, AValnut Grove 1833
Thomas Kincade, Walnut Grove 1833
Jonah Brown, AVhite Oak Grove 1833
Jacob Ellis, AVhite Oak Grove
Reubin'Carlock, AVhite Oak Grove 1833
AVinton Carlock, AVhite Oak Grove 1833
Peter Engle, Sr., Metamora 1833
226 HISTORV OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
John Yerkler, Metamora 1833 William Hunter, Spring Bay 1830
Christian Smitli, Partridge Point 1833 i Charles Molitor, Germantown 183.'j
Morgan Bvickingham, Low Point ] Solomon Tucker, Walnut Grove 183")
John Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 , Rev. Wm. Davenport, Walnut Grove 1834
Isaac Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Thomas Bullock, Walnut Grove 183')
Peter Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Elijah Dickinson, Walnut Grove 183-")
David Snyder, Spring Bay 1834 Rev. James Robeson, Panther Creek 183;")
Samuel Beck, Germantown 1834 James Rayburn, Panther Creek
Thomas Sunderland, Germantown 1834 James Vance, White Oak Grove 1835
William R. Willis, Walnut Grove 1834 Rev. Abner Peeler, White Oak Grove
M. R. Bullock, Walnut Grove 1834 Humphrey Leighton, Metamora 183")
Benj. J. Radford, Walnut Grove 1834 C. P. Mason, Metamora 183r)
John Page, Sr., Metamora 1834 F. Dixon, on Mackinaw 183r)
Thomas Jones, Low Point 1834 Isaac Moulton, Low Point 183r)
Rev. James Owens, Low Point 1835 Parker Morse, Low Point 1835
The foregoing dates are doubtless as correct as it is possible to get them,
after this long lapse of years.
" Away back in the by-gone time,
Lost 'mid the rubbish of forgotten things,"
are many dates and events pertaining to the early history of this county. The
information given above does not agree precisely, in all cases, with what we have
collected, but the discrepencies are few and of minor importance. From this table,
as well as from the information we have been able to gather, the first settlement
in Woodford County was made in what is now Spring Bay Township. The
man Blaylock, however, whose date is here given, 1819, it seems, never made
an actual settlement — never built a house or cabin, nor opened and cultivated a
farm. Neither can any of the old settlers now living give the exact date that
Blaylock came to the county. That he was "found here," living in "Indian
style," and "hunting and fishing," by tlie first settlers, is as definite as any-
thing now to be obtained in regard to him. William Blanchard, of Spring Bay
Township, while he did not settle in this county, or the territory now comprising
it, until 1830, yet he was living so near as to be familiar with all the settlers and
settlements made in this section. Blanchard came to Peoria (then called Fort
Clarke) in 1819, and stated to us that there was then but one white family in
sixty miles of that place, and to wander far from the fort was not only impru-
dent, but extremely hazardous. In the Summer of 1819, Blanchard raised a
crop of corn, potatoes and pumpkins, just across the river from Fort Clarke,
which he cultivated entirely with a hoe. In 1822, he made a little clearing,
on which he put up a cabin, on what is now known as the "Gibson place"
(which was also in Tazewell), but within a mile or two of the present line of
Woodford, and but a few miles from where he now lives. This was the first
cabin built between Peoria and Chicago, and likewise the
FIRST FARM OPENED.
As already stated, this was in Tazewell County, but so near to Woodford,
and the party who made the improvement has been for almost a half of a cen-
tury living in Woodford County, that to omit its mention would seem like leav-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 227
ing out an imporfant part of the county's history. Blanchard states that a
man named Darby, Avhose first name he had forgotten, and who came from Ver-
mont, made a clearing and built a cabin in the Spring of 18.23, on land now
embraced in the Crocker farm, in Spring Bay Township. This is supposed to
have been the first settlement in Woodford County, and, so far as it is possible
ro obtain reliable information of events which occurred more than fifty years
ago, the supposition is a correct one. Other hardy pioneers soon made their
way to the Spring Bay settlement, and in a few years we find here Austin,
Horace and Rowland Crocker ; Phineas and I. C. Shottenkirk ; John, Isaac,
Peter and David Snyder : Richard and Lewis Williams, William and Jefierson
Hoshor, C. A. Genoways, George Kingt^ton, Joseph Belsley, Louis Guibert,
George Sommers, Angus McQueen, Elzy and Sampson Bethard, Nicholas
Henfling, William Hunter, Jolm Stephenson, Jesse Dale, David Mathis, Jacob
Wilson, Donohue, George Hopkins, Hiram Curry, Charles Fielder, Isaac
and William Philips, "Red"' Joseph Belsley and Philip Bettelyune. The
Crockers and Shottenkirks came from the Empire State, and, with all the
energy and enterprise characteristic of the ''New York Yankees," at once
took hold and commenced work in earnest. Crockers mill, one of the first
water mills built in the county, still stands a monument to their enterprise, and
performs its allotted tasks with as much despatch as it did forty years ago.
Philip Betteyune and the Snyders were from Pennsylvania, and, like all the
old "Pennsylvania Dutch,"' of course became the most prosperous farmers.
They built good barns, on the principle that " barns will soon pay for dwelling
houses, but dwelling houses never pay for barns." The Williamses, from
Indiana ; the Hoshors and Genoways, from Ohio, have been active men in their
day, and those who still survive have lost none of their former energy. Elzy
and Sampson Bethard came from Maryland ; the Belsleys, George Sommers,
Louis Guibert, from the vine-clad hills of sunny France ; George Kingston,
from the "Gem of the Say;" Angus McQueen, from the "banks and braes
of Bonny Doon," and Nicholas Henfling, from the "Faderland," and from
Them developed some of the worthy and solid old farmers of the country. Of
the rest, William Hunter, John Stephenson, Jesse Dale*, David Mathis, Jacob
Wilson, Donohue, George Hopkins, Hiram Curry, the Philipses and
Charles Fielder, but little information could be obtained. Although this was
termed the Spring Bay settlement, many of the parties whose names are given
above settled in Worth and Partridge Townships. Bettelyune, "Red" Jo
Belsley, as he was called, the Snyders and Louis Guibert — perhaps others —
settled in what is now Partridge Township ; while quite a number, of which
were the Williamses, who first settled there with their father, 'S(iuire Benjamin
Williams, were in the present town of Worth. The Illinois River, with its
" Broadening sweep and surge sublime,"
the thick forests on the adjacent hills, and the hundreds of springs of pure
* Dale lived here but a short time, when he removed into the Metamora settlement.
228 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
water bursting from the ground in " crystal floods," were some of the attrac-
tions that brought the early settlers to this spot. Plenty of timber for building
and fuel, and water in unlimited quantities, were objects not to be passed by
in the search for future homes. These unfailing springs they soon utilized by
building mills to which they supplied the power. Crocker's mill, one of the
first of its kind in the county ; Hoshor's, built a few years later, and to which
was added a distillery, in Spring Bay Township, and Guibert's mill, in Part-
ridge, Avere operated principally by them. If it w^as not
" A land of corn and wine, or milk and honey,"
it was at least highly productive of the first, and we have the evidence of an old
settlers, that they " used to raise 100 bushels of corn to the acre,"' in the bottom
lands. Of course so much corn must be disposed of in some way, and this sug-
gested the distillery, which became an institution of the settlement at an early
day, and supplied the "invigorating cordial "' for many a backv/oods frolic.
Another of the early settlements was made at Walnut Grove — the very
paradise of Woodford County. • The gentle slopes and sweeping valleys, througli
which winds Walnut Creek, like a "tangled ribbon," crowned with groves of
giant trees that had stood the storms and tempests for liundreds of years, ap-
peared to the new comers a haven of rest. On the confines of this mighty
forest or within its borders, "whose deep, dark shades" they almost feared to
enter, soon developed a prosperous settlement, and the petition — " woodman,
spare that tree " — was forgotten or disregarded, as the huge " monarchs of the
wood " began to fall.
" The century living crow.
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died
Among their branches."
and still they had flourished in all their transcendental glory for ages, until the
coming tide of immigration rolled in that direction, and its Avaves were checked
against " these fair ranks of trees."
As early as 1824, it is said that a few bold and daring spirits, more venture-
some than their kind, wandered this way and erected their cabins in Walnut
Grove. But the precise date of their settlement is involved in some uncertainty,
and there are now none left who can give their history with correctness.
Joseph Dillon, whose coming dates back to the year mentioned above, 1824,
or thereabouts, Avas probably the first to make a clearing. He opened a little
place and built a cabin where " Uncle " Jo Meek now lives.
About 1826, Chas. Moore and Daniel Meek located in Walnut Grove, and in
a few years more were joined by James and Robert Bird, Matthew Bracken, the
Davidsons, William P. Attebery and Nathan Owen. This Avas the beginning
of the settlement of Walnut Grove, Avhich Avas for years, if not still, one of the
most prosperous communities in the county. In less than ten years from the
time the germ of a settlement was planted here, in addition to those already
noticed, it numbered among its inhabitants Joseph and Henry B. Meek ; Fran-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 229
cis and William R. Willis, James Harlan, Thomas and M. R. Bullock, Ben.
Major, Bonj. J. Radford, Rev. Wm. Davenport, Joseph Martin, Rev. John
Lindsey, David and Thomas Deweese and several others, who came from Old
Kentucky, "the dark and bloody ground," and have furnished us ^vith men
of genius and ability, and many of the leading citizens of the county.
John Darst, Matthew Bracken and A. S. Fisher are Ohioians, and have
been enterprising men of their neighborhood. Bracken is noted as having been
one of the first Justices of the Peace, and Fisher, for having taught the first
Hio-h School in the county.
Charles Campbell and John A. Moore were from Tennessee, and the last
two named have the credit of putting up the first mill, with a water power, in
Woodford County, which was built some two or three years before Crocker's.
John Dowdy, John and William Bird, brothers of those already mentioned,
Rev. Joshua Woosley, Jonathan Baker, James Mitchell, Daniel Travis, Solomon
Tucker, Rev. John Oatman, Thomas Kincade, Isaac Black, Daniel Allison, John
Butcher, Matthew Blair, Cooley Curtis and Elijah Dickinson were all our own
countrymen, but from what States they came we are not able to say.
The names above given constituted the settlement up to about 1835. These
" worthy scions of a noble stock " have given to the country soldiers who fought
•on many a fierce-contested field, and never turned their back upon an enemy :
and lawyers, doctors and ministers of the Gospel of no mean repute may claim
the same origin.
The settlers of Walnut Grove were mostly in what is now Olio and Cruger
Townships, though the Grove extended from the south edge of Metamora down
into Montgomery Tow^nship, and those living at '• the head of the Grove," if
not in Metamora Township, were very near the limits, while others perhaps lived
in ISIontgomery.
A settlement was made in Metamora Township at a period almost, if not
quite, as far back as that of Walnut Grove. It is held by many that some of
the Sowards family settled here as early as 1823. That they were here at an
early date there can be no doubt, but whether as early as 1823, is a point that
cannot now be determined. The old ones are all gone, and the younger mem-
bers of the family, Avhich was a large one scattered to the four corners of the
earth, so that to fix the exact date of their settlement is attended with some dif-
ficulty. They were of New England origin and claimed to have descended from
the genuine old Puritan stock, and to be a branch of the same family of the late
Wm. H. Seward, notwithstanding the difference in the manner of spelling the
names. We have no record of any member of this branch of the family holding
so important a position as that of Secretary of State, or otherwise distin-
guishing himself by rising above the station of flirmer. It is pretty generally
conceded, however, that they were the first to erect their wigwams in this
immediate vicinity. The next after the Sowards, perhaps, was old 'S(|uire Ben
Williams, as he was called, who settled about half a mile from the present vil-
230 HISTORY OF WOOUFOIID COUNTY.
lage of Metamora, where he remained but a short time, when he removed intO'
what is now Worth Township. Next we have an importation from La Belle
France, in the families of Peter Engle, Sr., John Brickler, Joseph and John
Verkler, Francis Bregeard, Pichereau, Rev. Christian Engle and Michael
loerger. In the " land of the free and the home of the brave," they became
good and worthy citizens, distinguished alike for their integrity and business
energy. Some of them still live on their original settlements, and those who
have gone to rest have left behind them representatives to fill their places.
Robert T. Cassell, Jacob Banta and his sons, David, Albert J. and Cornelius
D. Banta, and Wm. H. Delph, came from Kentucky, the land of blue grass,
pretty women and good whisky, and were of a good old stock. C. D. Banta
informed us that he went to school, in Kentucky, more than fifty years ago, in
a little log cabin 10x12 feet, with ex-Governor Beriah Magoffin, who was Gov-
ernor of Kentucky when the war commenced in 1861, and, it was said, resigned
the office because Kentucky would not secede with the other Southern States.
Other members of this delegation will receive further notice in another page.
The first account we have of anything like a regular New England colony
were John Page, Sr., and his brother, Ebenezer Page, Nathaniel Wilson,
Stephen Dudley, John Mason, and their families, who settled in Woodford
County in 1835. Most of the settlers at that day were from Kentucky and
other Southern States, and cherished the strongest prejudices against all Yankees.
They would have welcomed as freely a colony of Hottentots or cannibals, and
to have these " Yankees " settle in their midst, they say, seemed at the time
like a judgment sent against them for some mighty transgression. They had
never before seen the genuine Yankee. They had seen a skinning, trafficking
and tricky race of peddlers, from New England, who much infested the West
and South in those early times, with tinware, " wooden nutmegs," clocks and
other small assortments of goods, and supposed all New England people to be
like these specimens. They formed the opinion that the genuine Yankee was
a close, miserly, dishonest, selfish getter of money, void of generosity, hospitality
or any of the kinder feelings of human nature. But with that sympathetic
feeling born of the privations endured in a wilderness home, where few of the
comforts and none of the luxuries of more civilized life are attainable, and the
polite dignity, and broad and liberal views of these old New England Quakers,
their antipathy melted away like " frost in the morning sun," and with all the
chivalrous courtesy, so strongly characteristic of the Southern people, they buried
their former prejudices, and cultivated a friendship with this hitherto detested
race, which grew brighter and stronger with advancing years, and which
" Wanes only within the grave."
Jacob Reeder was from Virginia, the home of statesmen and the birthplace
of Presidents, and receives further notice in the history of Metamora Township.
Joseph Morley came from Maryland, and Thomas Warren from Tennessee.
Ohio furnished to the settlement Dr. J. S. Whitmire, one of the oldest physi-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 231
cians now in it, and George Ray, who has raised a family of stalwart sons, who
have become worthy men of the county. The old Keystone State contributed
the first Circuit Court Clerk of Woodford County, in the person of Samuel J.
Cross, who has held several other important offices, among them that of the first
Master in Chancery, after the organization of that branch of the courts, and
James Boys, one of the first Postmasters. From Indiana we have Benjamin
Williams, and from Connecticut, Amos A. Brown, two of the early Justices of
the Peace in this section of the county, and whose courts furnished many an
amusing incident of the backwoods. The great State of New York gave us
that old Jackson Democrat, Judge W. P. Brown, the first Judge of the Wood-
ford County Court. "Learned in the law" and the compeer of Douglas and
Lincoln, and David Davis in the dawning period of Illinois' greatness, the
Judge's mind is well stored with anecdotes of these great men, some of which
will be given to embellish the pages of this history. Of Wilson Tucker, Hum-
phrey Leighton, C. P. Mason and Jesse Dale, not much is known. The latter,
however, was once known to be Treasurer of Woodford County, and it is said
tried to bury the funds in the ground for safe-keeping, and that upon one par-
ticular time he buried them so securely that he had a long search before he
could find them.
The Panther Creek settlement was commenced at an early day. As early
as 1828, there was a cabin or two scattered throu2;h the timber that skirted its
banks. Amasa Stout and a man named Bilbery Avere among the first to settle
in this section, but concerning them we could obtain but little information. In
1829, the Patricks, and in 1830, the Watkinses and the McCords, who were
followed the next year by the Richardsons and Joseph Wilkerson. Noel and
Basil Meek settled here in 1832, and Rev. James Robeson and James Rayburn,
in 1835. Like the other settlements already mentioned, many of these pioneers
came from Kentucky and Tennessee, and have done their part in building up
the good old county. Thomas A. McCord is one of the old veterans of this
little flock, and is verging on to his three score and ten years, but is still vigor-
ous and hearty for his time of life. This settlement extended into Panola, El
Paso, Roanoke and Greene Townships, and has furnished some of the live busi-
ness men of those towns.
The first settlement at White Oak Grove was made about the time of that
on Panther Creek, by Robert and Samuel Philips, in 1828. John Harbert
settled here in 1829, and Lewis Stephens the year following. In 1831, the
Bensons and Samuel Kirkpatrick arrived, and Jonah Brown, James Vance,
Rev. Abner Peeler and the Carlocks in 1833. These and their descendants
have spread over "the Lowlands,' otherwise Montgomery and Kansas Town-
ships, and on the Mackinaw, in the southern part of the county. Another small
settlement was made at Low Point, in Cazenovia Township, in 1834-5. The
Buckinghams, Thomas Jones, James Owen, Isaac Moulton, James G. Bayne
and Parker Morse and his sons were the first to settle in this place. Some of
232 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
these were men of more or less celebrity in their day. Morgan Buckingham
was one of the first Justices of the Peace in this section : James G. Bavne as an
orator and politician of the day, and a delegate to the Convention that framed
the Constitution of the State. The Morses, who first settled here, but soon
removed into what is now Metamora Township, Avere New England Abolition-
ists, and if they did not plant the germ of that party in Woodford County, they
at least were among the first to nurture the tender plant. Being on the direct
line of the "Underground Railway "' from St. Louis to Detroit, via Chicago,
they became conductors on this '"line," so much patronized by the "darkies"
when making a break for freedom. They were, no doubt, sincere in the part
they enacted, and believed they were discharging a solemn duty in relieving the
citizen of his legitimate property, recognized by the laws of the land, Avhen they
thus aided the negro to escape from slavery. Many are the exciting stories
they tell, as they "fight their battles o'er again,'" of their long and lonely trips
by night, and through cold and storms of rain and snow, in assisting the fleeing
fugitives on their way to freedom. But, like Othello, "their occupation is
gone ; " and one of the results of the war was the accomplishment of the end
which was the principal dogma of their political creed.
In 1830, a small settlement was made near what is now Germantown, in
Worth Township, and in 1885 numbered several families, of which we find
John Sharpe, Samuel Beck, Thomas Sunderland, Peter Muler, Rev. Zadock
Hall, Charles Molitor, .John F. Smith, Andrew Cress and Joseph Shertz.
Many of these are fi'om France and Germany, and rank in thrift and prosperity
with any citizens in the county. Old " Father"' Hall, as everybody calls him,
is one of the first Methodist preachers in this section of the country. Thus we
have endeavored to notice briefly the first permanent settlements made in Wood-
ford County, and with a short retrospective view of some events connected with
this early settlement, we will resume our work.
XOTED CHARACTERS.
Like every other portion of this great and glorious country of ours. Wood-
ford County can boast of some rather distinguished people, past and present.
Of these we Avill mention William H. Delph, an old settler, who came to Illinois
from Lexington, Kentucky, in 1830, and first located at Jacksonville. He had
learned the trade of engineer in Kentucky, which vocation he followed after
coming west, and was the first engineer to run a train of cars on an Illinois
railroad — a road that extended from Jacksonville to Meredosia on the Illinois
River, and was known as the " Great Western Railroad." It is quite interest-
ing to hear Mr. Delph describe this primitive engine, as well as the running of
the trains on the road. Our descriptive powers are not sufiicient to transfer the
picture to these pages. He relates how, on a certain occasion, the train over-
took a man walking on the tack, whom he recognized as a deaf mute living near
by, and without stopping or checking up his train, he walked round on the
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 233
^' deck " to the front of the engine, and, putting out his hand, pushed the man
out of the way. Mr. Delph, while living at Lexington, Kentucky, remembers
very distinctly the visit of General La Fayette to that place, during his tour of
LTnited States in 1825. He states that he had an introduction to the General,
and in the evenino- sat in a Masonic Lodge with him. He claims to he one of
the oldest Masons living in the State of Illinois, having belonged to the Frater-
nity nearly sixty years. He was made Postmaster at Metamora by Abraham
Lincoln, an office he held until the inauguration of President Hayes, when he
resio'ned.
John Brickler, a native of Lorraine, France, and one of the early settlers
near the present town of Metamora, and who died a few years ago, on the place
whore his daughter, Mrs. Farver, now lives, was a soldier in the Grand Army of
France in its ill-fated expedition into Russia, under the First Napoleon, and
shared in the privations and miseries of the disastrous retreat from Moscow — an
event in which there is probably embodied more of "glory and of gloom " than
anything of its kind in the annals of man. Many of his old acquaintances are
yet familiar with the stories he used to tell, of that awful retreat and its accom-
paniment of horrors, when his starving, freezing comrades, after struggling
through the storm all the long dreary day, sunk down at niglit, many to rise no
more, while the blinding storm rapidly wove its winding sheet, and the tall
pines, swaying and roaring in the wind, howled their mournful requiem.
Louis Guibert, an old pioneer of the Spring Bay settlement, was born in
France, and was a soldier of the Republic and of the First Empire, sharing in
many of the great battles of Napoleon. At the battle of Austerlitz, he beheld
one-half of his company shot down by a single discharge of an enemy's battery ;
and in another engagement, was one of eight out of a company of seventy-one
men who survived the battle. He received the grai^e of Captain from Napoleon
himself, on the field of Austerlitz, in acknowledgment of his bravery. He
came to America in 1833, and settled near Spring Bay, in that portion of the
settlement now in Partridge Township, where he peacefully spent the re-
mainder of his life, in striking contrast to the stormy scenes of his earlier
years.
Jacob Banta, the old patriarch of the Banta family, many of whom are still
living in Woodford County, was born in the State of New Jersey, almost in
sight of the Empire City, and emigrated to Kentucky, with his father, Avhen
but fifteen years old. In 1832, he came to Illinois, and stopped in Tazewell
County, but in 1835, settled within a mile of the village of Metamora, where
he died February 26, 1861, in his 90th year. Born on the eve of the mighty
struggle that resulted finally in the independence of his country, and with a
vivid remembrance of the roar of its battles, he died on the eve of another and
mightier revolution, that f »r a time bade fair to crumble it into ruins, and it
seems an act of mercy, that he was taken hence before the storm of civil war
burst upon the land he loved so well.
234 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
John Page, Sr., already mentioned in this history, came from New Hamp-
shire. He was a man of sterling honesty and noble aspirations, who would
have sacrificed his right arm rather than to stoop to a mean act. Often favored
with public trusts — having once been sent to the Legislature from this district,
and three times from his old district, in New Hampshire — he took no delight in
these honors, but always preferred the proud title of an honest farmer. In
1834. he made a trip through this Western country, with a view of seeking a
new home. He traveled on horseback over this vast and wonderful countrv —
wonderful in many respects to the quiet citizens of the "'■ Old Granite Hill " —
and in the latter part of the Summer returned home, well pleased with his trip
to the West. As he was the first from the mountains of Gilmanton (his na_
tive town) to visit the " Prairie Land," his neighbors gathered at his house, on
his return, and listened, with deep interest, to his description of the country he
had seen.
In May, 1835, with the little colony we alluded to in connection with the
Metamora settlement, he started again for the Great West. They came, by
wagons, to Troy, N. Y,, thence, by canal, to Buffalo. Here they took a
steamer to Cleveland, 0., thence, by canal, to Portsmouth, on the Ohio River,
and by steamboat down the Ohio, and up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers
to Pekin, 111., and finally to the settlement near the present town of Meta-
mora.
In proof of the estimation in which Mr. Page was held among those who
knew him. we give the following, copied from the original :
Marshal's Office of the United States, fok the^
District of New Hampshibe, J-
At Gilmanton, April Iti, 183.5. '
To WHOM it may Concern :
This is to Certify, That I am well acquainted with the bearer, John Page, Escj., of said Gil-
rnanton : that \Te were both born, bred and brought up in paid town together, and have there
resided up to this time. And as he is about to leave his native land, to settle in a sister State,
I do most cheerfully and respectfully recommend him to the good people of the United States,
wherever he may be, as a gentleman of the highest sense of honor, honesty and integrity, and
whose character is unimpeachable ; and who is as much beloved and respected by his friends and
acquaintances (which are numerous) as any other gentleman of his age in the ■' Granite State."
And may God, in His infinite mercy, prosper and protect him and his beloved family, in the great
enterprise they have undertaken.
PEARSON COGSWELL,
Marshal of the United States for the District of New Hampihire.
New Hampshire District.
By request, I hereby certify that I am well acquainted with Hon. Pearson Cogswell. Mar-
shal of New Hampshire DistricJ, and know that the foregoing certificate is in his proper hand-
writing.
In verification whereof, I have hereto subscribed my name and
affixed the seal of the District Court of the United States,
[l. s.] for New Hampshire District.
CHARLES W. CUTTER, aerk.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 23r)
That Mr. Page was all that was represented in the foregoing, can be attested
by hundreds still living in Woodford County. He was of the Society of
Friends, or Quakers, of the broadest benevolence, and a man of peace.
" Peace folds her snowy pinions o'er his grave,
And soft winds sigh the requiem of his soul,
As he sleeps 'neath flowers fair."
He died October ], 1855, and the affection of his surviving sons, on whose
shoulders the father's mantle worthily rests, have placed a noble monument in
the village cemetery to his memory.
Further mention of the Pages is made in the history of Metamora Town-
ship.
Thomas Bullock, familiarly known as " Uncle Tom " Bullock, and the very
father of Woodford County, is a scion of the old Bullock stock of Kentucky,
than whom none better exists in that proud old Commonwealth, so prolific of
great men. To him, it may be said, the county owes its existence ; he it was
that took the initiative steps toward its formation, and he, after the preliminary
steps were taken, engineered the project safely through all the forms of " red
tape " in the General Assembly, until it came forth from the '" Governmental
furnace " a full-fledged county. He has always been an active and enterprising
man — foremost in every enterprise intended to promote the welfare of the
county in which he takes such a lively interest.
Count Clopiska, a native of Poland, who, for some state or political offense,
was expatriated from his native land, came to the United States, and to Illinois,
and for several years lived in the city of El Paso. He was a fine type of the
polished gentleman, and his misfortunes were a key to the warm hearts of the
American people. The citizens of El Paso took a strong interest in his Avelfare,
and when he died, "a stranger in a strange land," with no loved one nigh to
smooth his dying pillow or wipe the cold, damp dews from his paling brow,
Mr. W. M. Jenkins, an old and honored citizen of El Paso, had him neatly
interred in his own lot in the city cemetery, where the distinguished old for-
eigner sleeps as peacefully, perhaps, as if he slumbered in the marble vaults of
his ancestors.
There are many others of more or less prominence in the county, who will
be particularized in the history of their respective townships, and the sections
where their talents have been employed.
ORGANIZATION OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
We have already given the names of settlers, so far as can be obtained up
to the year 1835, with the date of their settlements, and showing their increase
in numbers every year from the time Blanchard built the first cabin on this side
of the Illinois River, in 1822. By the year 1840, the population had become
so numerous that the organization of the new county seemed an actual necessity.
The counties in which these settlements were embraced were large, and many
236 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
of the inhabitants at an inconvenient distance from the places of holding the
courts. A few men of Walnut Grove, and in the vicinity of Versailles, then the
principal town, made an effort, in 1840, to secure a new county, and a petition
to the Legislature was prepared and, after receiving the requisite number of
signers, was presented to that august body, then in session, by Mr. Thomas
Bullock, who has been mentioned as the prime mover in the affair from the first
inception of the project until its final accomplishment. As a relic of interest
in the history of the county, we copy the entire act from the original docu-
ment, noAY before us, with all the official names and signatures appended required
in the premises to render it valid :
An Act for the Formation of the Countij of Woodford.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General
Assembly., That all that section of country situated in the following boundry, to wit : beginning
at the southwest corner of Livingston County, thence on a straight line to the northwest corner
of the southwest quarter of Section Twenty. Township Twenty-five North. Range One, east of
the Third Principal ^leridau ; thence south to the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of
Section Twenty-nine, Township and Range aforesaid, thence west to the Tazewell County line,
thence north one and a-half miles, thence west to the center of Township Twenty-five North,
Range Two. West of the Third Principal Meridian, thence north to the line between Townships
Twenty-six and Twenty-seven, thence west to the Illinois River, thence with said river to the
northwest corner of Tazewell County, thence with the northern boundary of Tazewell and McLean
counties to Livingston County, thence sottth to the beginning ; which shall constitute a county to
be called Woodford.
Sec. 2. There shall be an election held on the second Monday in April next, at the town
of Versailles, and at each of the places of voting for Justices of the Peace and Constables in the
limits of the said County of Woodford. The election shall be conducted by the present Judges
of Elections in said county, who have been appointed by the counties of Tazewell and McLean, in
accordance with the election laws of the State, at which election the legal voters of the said county
of IFoorf/brrfshall elect all county officers fcr said county, who shall be qualified and commissioned as
similar officers are of other counties of this State. Said officers so elected and qualified shall hold their
offices until the next ensuing general election for such officers now provided l)y law. and shall
have the same jurisdiction, and discharge all the duties within the limits of the said county of
Woodford that are required by law of similar officers of other counties of this State.
Sec. 3. Within five days after said election, the Jtidges of Election at the different places
of voting shall return the poll books of said election to the town of Versailles, in said county,
directed to Matthew Bracken. John W. Brown and Morgan Buckingham, three acting Justices
of the Peace within the limits of said county, and the said Justices shall meet in the said town
of Versailles within seven days after said election and proceed to open said election returns, and
do and perform all the duties in relation to said returns that now are required of Clerks of
County Coinmissioners' Courts by law in relation to similar returns.
Sec. 4. As soon as the county officers shall have been elected and qualified as provided for
in this act. the county shall be considered organized, and the Clerk of the County Commissioners'
Court shall give notice of the same to the Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, who shall appoint
a Clerk of the Circuit Court, and hold courts in said county, at the town of Versailles, until the
county seat of said county shall be located as hereinafter provided for. Said county of Woodford
shall form a part of tlie Eighth Judicial Circuit until otherwise provided by law.
Sec. 5. Suits and indictments that have been commenced, or may hereafter be commenced,
in the Circuit Court of Tazewell or McLean Counties, by any of the citizens living in the county
of Woodford, before the organization thereof,shall not be affected by this act, but all suits so com-
menced shall be decided in the Circuit Courts of the Counties of Tazewell and McLean, where
they originated.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 237
Sec. 6. All .Justices of the Peace and Constables elected in the counties of Tazewell or
lyicLean, who reside in the limits of the county of AVoodford, shall hold their offices and have
jurisdiction in the said county of Woodford, as though they had been originally elected in said
county.
Sec. 7. The school funds belonging to the several townships in said county, and all notes
and mortgages pertaining to the same, shall be paid and delivered over to the School Commis-
sioner of the county of Woodford by the School Commissioners of the counties of Tazewell and
McLean so soon as said county shall be organized and the Commissioner of School Lands ap-
pointed and qualified according to law, together with all interest arising out of said money that
has not been heretofore expended for school purposes in those parts of Tazewell and McLean
Counties now included in the county of Woodford.
Sec. 8. The seat of justice of said county shall be temporarily located in the town of Ver-
sailles for the term of two years from and after the organization of said county, Provided the
inhabitants of said town furnish a good and suitable house for holding courts and for other
public business, free of charge to said county, ])ut. on their failing to comply with said condi-
tion, the County Commissioners may remove the same to such place where a suitable building
can be procured. It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court to issue
writs of election to the .Judges of Election in the several precincts of said county to hold an
election, to be governed in all respects by the laws of this State in relation to the election of
Members of the General Assembly, within thirty days from and after the expiration of the
above said two years, to locate and establish the seat of justice. The place receiving a majority
of all the votes polled shall be the permanent seat of justice of Woodford County. But if more
than one place shall have been voted for and no one having received a majority of all the legal
votes polled, the Clerk aforesaid shall issue writs of election, as in the iirst case, for a second
election within twenty days from the tirst election, but no place or places shall be voted for but
the two having received the greatest number of votes at the first election ; nor shall any place
be voted for in either case unless the proprietor or proprietors shall have first deposited a bond
or bonds for at least fifteen hundred dollars, with good and sufficient security, in the office of the
Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, for the payment and discharge of such donations as
may be offered, which shall be collected by the County Commissioners and applied to the erection
of public buildings.
Sec. 9. The County Commissioners of the County of Woodford shall, at their December
term in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and at their December term annually
thereafter, pay out of the County Treasury the sum of ninety-five dollars, which sum shall be-
paid as their portion of the interest due by the county of McLean on the county house debt ;
and the County Commissioners shall also pay, after the year one thousand eight hundred and
forty-four, in two equal annual installments, the sum of twelve hundred dollars, as their respect-
ive portion of the principal of the aforesaid debt; and when the provisions of this section are
fully complied with, the said county of Woodford shall be exempt from all furtiier liabilities to
the county of ^IcLean, provided, however, that the revenue necessary to pay the above principal
and interest shall be collected from the inhabitants within that part of Woodford County which
is set off from the county of McLean.
Sec. 10. The legal voters residing within the boundaries of the county of Woodford shall
continue to vote for Senators and Representatives with the counties of McLean and Tazewell,
the same as if no division of said counties had taken place, and the returns of said elections
shall be made to the Clerks of the County Commissioners' Courts of Tazewell and McLean respect-
ively ; the Circuit shall be held in said county, at such times as the Judge of the Eighth Judicial
Circuit may hereafter appoint, until otherwise provided by law.
W. L. D. EWING,
\ Speaker of the House of Representatives.
S. H. ANDERSON,
Approved February 17, 1841. Speaker of the Senate.
THO. CARLIN, Governor.
238 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
STATE OF ILLINOIS, \
Office of Secretary of State, j
I, Stephen A. Douglas, Secretary of State, do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true and
perfect copy of the enrolled law on file in my office.
Witness my hand and the seal of State.
[Seal of the State.] Springfield, February 27, 1841.
S. A. DOUGLAS, Sec. of State.
About the time the movement was made for the organization of Woodford
County, a similar one was inaugurated at Washington, a village of Tazewell,
for a new county, with the county seat at that place. On learning, however, of
Bullock's project, and the start he had of them in the matter, the Washington
people changed their petition into the form of a remonstrance to the Legislature
against the new county of Woodford. TRe contest of the two parties became
close and warm, and each found in the other
" Foemen worthy of their steel."
For some time the excitement ran pretty high, and considerable doubt existed aa
to which would be the successful party. But the untiring energy and persever-
ance of Mr. Bullock finally won the day, and after a stormy and tedious contest
in the General Assembly, it passed both houses and received the signature of
the Governor as noted above. Thus sprang into existence the county of Wood-
ford, with its seat of justice at the village of Versailles. The names — Wood-
ford and Versailles — were both given by Mr. Bullock in honor of his old county
and its capital in Kentucky, which are the same.
THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT.
The first session of the Circuit Court was held on the 24th day of Septem-
ber, 1841, by Hon. Samuel H. Treat, presiding in the Eighth Judicial Circuit,
to which circuit Woodford County was assigned. Judge Treat had previously
appointed the Fridays before the fourth Monday in April and September in each
year, as the time for holding the Circuit Court, and had also appointed Samuel
J. Cross Clerk. The following extract is taken from the records of the first
session of the court :
"Present, Hon. Saml. H. Treat, one of the Justices of the Supreme
Court, presiding and holding court in the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the State
of Illinois; Saml. J. Cross, Clerk, and William S. Magarity, Sheriff." The
following were the Grand Jurors at this session, as copied from the court records :
"John Page, Sr., Foreman, Thos. A. McCord, John Mohr, S.Y.Barnard,
Reubin Carlock, H. J. Clark, James Findley, David Travis, Elijah Dickinson,
Caleb Davidson, Ellis Parker, Parker Morse, Sr., William Dodd, James Owens,
John C. Coons, Joseph Wilkerson, George Bennett and Jesse Hammers," who
were " elected, charged and sworn to inquire for the body of the County of
Woodford." But two indictments were made by this jury — one against Nathaniel
Wilson for larceny, who gave bail for his appearance at the next term of court,
:^
EL PASO
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 241
and the other against Alfred Moore for arson, who petitioned for a change of
venue to Tazewell County, Avhich was granted, and he gave the necessary bail.
Samuel J. Cross presented his bond for two thousand dollars, with Thos. H.
Baker, Reubin Carlock and Henry J. Clarke as securities, which was approved
by the court, when he was sworn in by M. L. Covell, Clerk of McLean County.
The Sheriff's bond for one thousand dollars, with James Magarity, Daniel
Travis and David Deweese as securities, also the bond for two thousand dollars
of William Hoshor as Coroner, with Robert M. Clarke as security, were pre-
sented and approved. The oath to "• support the Constitution of the United
States and the State of Illinois," was then administered, and the new officers
entered upon their duties. The first case on the docket was :
George Cage. Appellee, \
vs y In Appeal.
Isaac W. Lowe, Appellant, j
" It is ordered by the Court that this suit be dismissed, as per agreement on file. It is, there-
fore, considered that the plaintitf recover of the defendant his costs, etc., and that he have execu-
tion." The Court lasted two days, and in addition to the business already noticed, several suits
for debt were tried, in which judgment was given for default. Among the lawyers present were
Abraham Lincoln, David Davis, A. Gridley, Col. E. D. Baker and several others of some promi-
nence in this section of the State. David R. Campbell, of Springfield, was present as State's
Attorney.
The first case tried by the jury was at the April Term, in 1842, and was :
" The People of the State of Illinois ]
vs. V Indictment for intent to injiict bodily iiijui'y."
.James L. Gardiner. J
The following were the jurors' in the case: George M. Arnold, Chas. T.
Boggs, James Bracken, John Barnes, Samuel Arnold, Ephraim Potter, Sr,,
Samuel Kirkpatrick, Allen Hart, George Bennett, Lewis Stevens, David
Deweese and Samuel Mundell, who returned a verdict of "Guilty," and he was
" fined thirty dollars and costs." The first prisoner sent to State's Prison from
the county was one William Hopkins, for larceny, on a change of venue from
Tazewell County. The case was tried at the September Term in 1850, and the
prisoner having withdrawn his plea of "Not Guilty" and pleaded " Guilty,"
was sentenced to the " State Penitentiary, at Alton, for the period of eighteen
months, twenty days of which shall be in solitary confinement, and the residue of
said term at hard labor," by Hon. David Davis, the presiding Judge at the time.
THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT.
In accordance with the act forming Woodford County, an election was held
in April, 184 L, for county officers, which resulted as follows: John J. Perry,
Clerk ; Joseph Meek, James Boys and Josiah Moore, County Commissioners •
Wm. S. Magarity, Sheriff. At the first term of the County Commissioners'
Court, held in June, 1841, the term of service of the Commissioners was decided
by lot, Joseph Meeks receiving the shortest term, which expired August, 1841,
James Boys, 1842, and Josiah Moore, 1843. The county was laid off into four
election precincts, viz.: First Precinct, Bowling Green, with Eli Patrick,
242 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY
Samuel Arnold and Samuel Kirkpatrick as Judges of Election ; Second Pre-
cinct, Versailles, with Henry J. Clark, Warren C. Watkins and Ben Major,
Judges of Election ; Third Precinct, Partridge, Jefferson Iloshor, John Page,
Sr., and Joel Raney, Judges of Elections ; Fourth Precinct, Richland, Benj. D.
Perry, Jessie Hammers and Jefferson Sonards, Judges of Elections. Reubin
Carlock, of Bowling Green ; Benj. J. Radford, of Versailles ; John Page, of
Partridge, and J. Foster, of Richland, were appointed Overseers of the Poor ;
Ben. Major, County Commissioner of Schools. The Court elected the Grand
and Petit Jurors for the Circuit Court Term, to be held in the following Sep-
tember. The names of the Grand Jurors have already been given in connec-
tion with the Circuit Court, and the following are the Petit Jurors for the same
term : Wesley Arnold, Jacob Stevenson, William Long, William Willis, James
A. Whorton, Thos. H Baker, John P. Beaty, Thos. Bullock, Benj. J. Rad-
ford, M. R. Bullock, David Deweese, Jas. Wells, James Brown, Cooley Curtis,
Francis Boggs, Andrew Galbraith, Solomon Tucker, Aaron Richardson, Samuel
Arnold, Wm. S. Pratt, Norman Dutton, George Kingston, C. D. Banta and
A. A. Brown. The following entry appears upon the records at this session of
the County Commissioners' Court : "• Ordered that Samuel J. Cross, Clerk of
the Circuit Court, and John J. Perry, Clerk of the County Commissioners'
Court, are hereby authorized to procure two official seals, one for the Circuit
Court, with a ' Balance ' for a design, and one for the County Commissioners'
Court, and for a design, the likeness of a sheaf of wheat ; when procured, to be
paid for out of the County Treasury." William Rockwell Avas the first Col-
lector of Revenue for Woodford County, and filed a bond for four thousand
dollars, with David Travis, Wm. Dodd and Isaac J. Sunderland as security,
which was accepted by the Court. The following is the first report :
AVm. Rockwell, Collector of Revenue for IS4I, Woodford County.
To Treasurer's receipts $1,034 60
By Treasurer's receipts $891 18
By comiuission on first S500, at ten per cent 50 00
By commission on $491.17, at six per cent 28 15
By delinquent list, as above 3 80
By lands and town lots advertised 61 47
$1,034 60
James S. McCord was the first County Treasurer, and gave a bond for
$3,000, with Joseph Brown and James V. Philips as securities. The following
is his first report :
James S. McCord, Treasurer,
In Account with W^oodford County.
To Collector's receipts ' $1,034 60
By county orders paid $613 61
By jury certificates 24 00
By commissions, at two per cent 12 75
By amount allowed Collector 78 15
By delimiuent list 3 80
By lands and town lots advertised 67 41
$793 78
Balance in my hands $240 82
March 7, 1842.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 243
In contrast to this diminutive beginning of the financial affairs of a pros-
perous county, "Nve would state just here that the County Collector and Treas-
urer for 1878, Ayers M. Whitaker, as Collector, gave bond for ^115,000 ; and
as Treasurer, gave bond for $150,000, with ample security, which was received
and approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The Chancery Court was organized in 1842, and held its first term on the
22d day of April, under Hon. Samuel H. Treat. There were but a few cases
on the docket, and none of any great importance. Samuel J. Cross was ap-
pointed the first Master in Chancery, an office he held for a number of years.
The first deed on record in the Clerk's Office of Woodford County is the
conveyance of a parcel of land from " Isaac Williams and his Avife, Eliza L.
Williams, of the county of Tazewell, and State of Illinois, to James Ross, of
Todd County, Ky., and John H. Baker, of Montgomery County, Tenn., for
and in consideration of the sum of $673.60, to them in hand paid, the receipt
whereof, etc.; they, by these presents, etc.; the east half of Section numbered
50, of Township 26 north, of Range 1, west of the Third Principal Meridian,
containing, by government survey, 320 acres," etc. This deed was acknowl-
edged before Matthew Bracken, Justice of the Peace, of Woodford County,
under date of May 14, 1841, and recorded June 28, 1841.
The first mortgage was given by George Roderkin and Elizabeth, his wife,
to John H. Robbins, on Lot No. 4, in Block No. 11, and east half of Lot No.
1, in Block No. 12, of the town of Versailles, and "for and in consideration of
the sum of $86.41," dated August 3, 1841, and recorded August 4, 1841.
The first sale of land for delinquent taxes was at the Court House in Ver-
sailles, on the 2d day of May, 1842, for the unpaid taxes of 1841, and con-
sisted of twenty-three tracts of land sold, most of which was soon after re-
deemed.
The first "letters of administration " were issued to Henry J. Clark, on the
estate of Jacob Stevenson, deceased, under the date of December 20, 1841.
The first marriage license on record after the organization of the county
was issued to Peter Hininger and Margaret Hern, May 22, 1841, who were
married by Matthew Bracken, Justice of the Peace, June 8, 1841 ; and during
this first year of the new county, twenty-seven marriage licenses were issued.
With a commendable desire to obey the command, " Go ye and multiply and fill
the earth," there were issued from the County Clerk's office, for the year 1877,
171 licenses to those eager to fulfill the scriptural injunction.
FINAL LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
As will be noticed in the original act for the formation of Woodford County,
the seat of justice was to remain for two years at the town of Versailles, when
the final question as to the place of its location was to be submitted to a vote
of the people. As is usual in new counties, many towns and villages of Woodford
aspired to the dignity of becoming the county seat, of which the most formidable
244 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
contestant Avas tlie village of Metamora, then called Hanover. The act had been
prepared* — giving the people the right to decide the county seat question by
vote — under the impression that with the seat of justice at Versailles for two
years, it would so increase the importance of the place and the population in its
vicinity, as to render the result of a vote favorable to it, but falling somewhat
short in their expectations, Mr. Bullock still determined to retain the " court at
Versailles" if at all possible, and at the next session of the Legislature, went
to Springfield, where he succeeded in getting a bill before the body to locate the
seat of justice by three Commissioners — named in the bill — who were supposed
to have been selected because of their partiality for the town of Versailles.
Woodford was not yet entitled to a Representative in the General Assembly,
but had continued to vote as heretofore, with Tazewell County, whose Represen-
tative was Mr. Tackerberry, of Pekin. On learning of the new movement on
foot to locate the county seat by Commissioners, instead of by vote of the peo-
ple, and which had been represented as being the wish of the latter, Tackerberry
wrote to John Page, Sr., of Hanover, and was informed by Mr. Page of the
true state of aifairs, that the people had expected to vote upon the question,
and was ready at any time to settle it in that way. Page and S. S. Parks
hastened to Springfield, when they found the bill had passed to its second read-
ing, and with all their "lobbying," and "log rolling," could only succeed in
getting a " supplemental act " to the original, giving them two additional Com-
missioners, we believe, of their own selection. A meeting of these Commis-
sioners was called at Versailles, in June, 1843, for the purpose of settling the
mooted question. The five Commissioners were J. L. Sharp, of Fulton
County; L. A. Hanaford, of Peoria; John H. Harris, of Tazewell; James K.
Scott, of De Witt and John H. Bryant, of Bureau, a brother of Wm. Cullen
Bryant, the poet. There still seems to have been wire pulling, even after the
passage of the acts, and the appointment of the Commissioners, together with
time which was to settle the question. Sharp, the Commissioner from Fulton
County, started for the place of meeting according to appointment, but at Pekin
received information that the Commissioners had already met at Versailles, and
there not being a quorum present, had left for their homes, without accomplish-
ing anything, when he, too, turned homeward. Upon the assembling of all
interested in the exciting question, and the Hanover faction learning of the
trick played upon them in sending Sharp — who, if not favorable to them, was
at least, they believed, unbiased — about his business, started John W. Page
after him post haste, to bring him back in time for the meeting which was to
take place the next day. Page, after a long and tedious chase, finally came up
with Sharp at Centerville, in Fulton County, and inquired, " Are you Mr.
Sharp? " and being answered in the afiirmative, replied, " then I "am after you
sharp." Upon receiving a full explanation of how matters stood, Sharp agreed
to return, and they immediately set out, but his horse gave out by the time
* Under the aupervisiou of Mr. Bullock aud the Veraailles party.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 245
they reached Washington, where they were forced to remain over night. The
next morning they came on to Versailles and the Commissioners held their
meeting. After visiting the different points contesting for the honor of the
position, it was finally settled, and possibly for all time, accorning to the follow-
ing report on file in the County Clerk's office :
We. the undersigned, Commissioners, appointed by an aet of the Legislature of the State of
Illinois to locate the seat of justice of the county of Woodford, approved February 28,1843.
and an act supplemental to said act, approved March 6, 1843, having met at the town of Ver-
sailles, and been duly sworn according to the provisions of said act, have proceedel to examine
said county and the different sites proposed for said seat of justice with respect to the present
and future population of said county, and after mature deliberation have agreed to locate the
said seat of justice in the town of Hanover, on Sections 17 and 20, in Township 27 north of the
base line. Range 2 west of the Third Principal Meridan, and that the public buildings for said
county be built on such blocks or lots as the County Commissionei'S of said county shall think best.
Done at Versailles, this 17th day of .Tune. 1843.
.1. L. SHARP,
L. A. HANAFORD.
JOHN H. BRYANT.
Commissioners.
THE COURT HOUSE.
The present Court House of Woodford County Avas built in 1845, by David
Irving. The contract was taken by Rockwell and Parks, two prominent citizens
of Hanover, and the former a stockholder in the Hanover Company, which com-
pany owned some 12,000 acres of land near the town. Its members had taken
an active i)art in getting the county seat removed to Hanover, and made, it is
said, liberal donations toward the erection of the public buildings. Neither
Rockwell nor Parks being mechanics, they sub-let the contract for building the
Court House to Mr. Irving, who at once proceeded to work preparing timbers and
material for it. Building facilities Avere not s^ good nor so complete then as at
the present day, and such a contract was looked upon as an undertaking of
stupendous magnitude. Railroads in Illinois, as w^ell as in the United States,
were in their infancy, and such a transaction as going to Chicago, buying the
material for a large building and receiving it on the spot in a day or two after
purchase, was an event beyond the wildest imagination of the most visionary
individual of the time.
Irving burned his OAvn brick, got out the timbers in the neighboring forest,
cut logs and hauled them to Parks' saw-mill, at what was then called Partridge
Point, from which the lumber was sawed for the joists and the floors. The
finishing lumber was white walnut, from Johnson's mill, near Spring Bay, where
the log-s were cut and sawed. It was covered with shingles made of black wal-
nut, in the woods near town, and the lime, with the'exception of a small quan-
tity burned near the work, was hauled in wagons from the Kickapoo bluffs,
beyond Peoria. The contract for building was taken by Irving for f4,400 and
was paid for with the lots donated by the Hanover Company for the purpose,
and with the surplus revenues of the county for two years. It is a substantial
two story brick, of much better material and workmanship than is usually put
246 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
into a building at the present day, at that modest price, and is a type of the old
court houses of forty years ago, still numerous in Illinois. The house used in
A^ersailles, for the sessions of the Ponorable Court, has, it is said by some, passed
away Avitti other relics, and, by others, that it has fallen from its exalted position
and been converted into a stock barn.
After the removal of the county seat to Hanover (now Metamora), and until
the Court Couse was completed, court was held in a little house which stood at
the southeast corner of the square, where Plank's law office now stands. The
September session, in 1843, was the first Circuit Court held in the new
metropolis. In those days there seem to have been no blue or red ribbon
societies as now, as the records of the court for several years show that most of
the indictments were for selling liquors, with a few variations occasionally, for
" harboring slaves."
In 1849, the Legislature changed the mode of holding Countv Court, from
-o'"""'"*"^ "^ — ^^n — o
Commissioners to a Countv Judge and two Associate Justices. Jud^-e Welcome
P. Brown was the first County Judge under this law, with William C. Pointer
and W. E, Buckinoham Associates, and Edgar Babcock the first Clerk. Their
commissions were signed bv Augustus C. French, Governor of Illinois, and H.
S. Cooler, Secretary of State. The first business on the records of this new
court was the granting of a license to one David A. Couch to keep a "grocery"
at Spring Bay, he to pay the enormous sum of $6.25 license, after giving bond.
When the county was re-organized under Government survey, in 1850, the
list of townships and their Supervisors was as follows, viz. :
Metamora, Simon P. Shope ; Montgomery, James Vance ; Olio, Joseph Meek ;
Panola and Minonk, Robert M. McCleland ; Greene, John R. Gaston ; Roanoke,
David S. Brown ; Linn and Clayton, Isaac Fisher; Cazenovia, John W. Acres;
Worth, Jacob Shook ; Spring Bay, Geo. W. Schrubley ; Partridge, Jeflerson
Hoshor ; Palestine, Allen Hart.
Simon P. Shope was elected Chairman for the ensuing year, at their first
meeting, and Edgar Babcock Clerk ; but no business was done other than
organization. According to the statutes, it became necessary for the Clerk to
record the abstract of taxable property, which, for 1854, the first year the act
was in force, was as follows :
Personal property of Woodford County ? 640,303.00
Real estate of Woodford County 1.589,926.00
Total personal and real §2,230,229.00
Total tax levied 19,051.44
As showing the county's increase in wealth and in taxes, we append the
assessed valuation of property for 1877 and the amount of taxes levied:
Total real and personal \ S7,901,lfi0.00
Total tax levied 174,7;-i2.00
The expenditures for the year ending September 1,1877 24,528.73
At the Presidential election in 1844, the first after the organization of
Woodford County, the vote stood as follows: Polk Electors (Democratic),
3 :2 ; Clay Electors (Whig), 159.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 247
Presidential election in 1876: Tilden Electors (Democratic), 2,105;
Hayes Electors (Republican), 1,733: Peter Cooper Electors (Independent),
237.
At present, Hon. J. M. McCulloch is Judge of the Woodford County Court;
Y. M. Bassett, Clerk ; John Leys and Jacob Ray, Deputies, and L. H. Bul-
lock, Sheriff. George Thode is Clerk of the Circuit Court, and N. P. Baker
Deputy. Hon. John Burns, of Lacon, is the Presiding Judge of this the
Eio-hth Judicial Circuit. David Irving, mentioned as building the present
Court House, was the third Sheriff of the county after its organization, and
Deputy for the term previous to his election as Sheriff.
THE " ANCIENT CAPITAL."
Versailles, the first capital of Woodford County, was once a beautiful and
thriving little village, with the brightest prospects of a prosperous future, and a
location favorably adapted (geographically) to warrant the fulfillment of its expec-
tations. It had been laid out with much care, upon the most eligible site,
equaling, if not even surpassing, "-Rome upon her Seven Hills," commanding
a view of the surrounding country, its towering forests and vast prairies stretch-
ing away beyond the power of vision, and combining a picture of beauty that
w^ould have enraptured the heart of a poet or painter. Near the center of the
•county, and easy of access from all directions, Avere qualifications that seemed
to point it out as the proper place for the seat of justice over all contestants.
But with the removal of the county seat to Hanover, the star of its destiny
Tjegan to wane, and the remembrance of its glory has almost faded from the
minds of men. Its decaying buildings show the " ivy clinging to their mould-
ering towers," or "hoary lichen springing from the disjointed stones," and,
mocked by its own desolation,
" The bat, shrill shrieking, woos its flickering mate,
The serpent hisses and the wild birds scream."
Versailles is no more ; its business is gone, and the place that once knew it
as a flourishing village Avill soon know it no more forever. It is always a mel-
ancholy duty to write of death or decay, and we would have fain avoided it in
this case, but a faithful historian can be no " respecter of persons " or events of
a public character. Taking a disinterested view of the organization of the
county and all the attendant circumstances, the originators of the scheme, the
name of both county and capital, and the source from which they were derived,
it seems a fact to be regretted that Versailles could not have remained perma-
nently the seat of justice.
Bowling Green, said to be the first point in Woodford County where goods
were sold, like Versailles, was once a flourishing little village, with stores, a
post office and a good mill. Business was good, the citizens energetic and
industrious, and it bade fair at one time to be a leading town of the county, but
248 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
the building of railroads carried the tide in another direction, and Bowling Green,
too, is rapidly passing away and will soon be numbered with " things that were."
The village of Spring Bay was another of the early business points of the
county, before the era of railroads, and was almost an equal of Peoria or Pekin
in energy and industry and the amount of business it did. A shipping point of
importance, Avith one of the best steamboat landings on the Illinois River, the
business done yearly was truly wonderful. But times with it have likewise
changed ; its store and business houses are closed up, its business is dead, and
everything around it speaks of decay. New towns and cities have sprung in
sections of the county which were "wilderness wastes" when these villao;es were
flourishing in all their pristine glory. The last quarter of a century has
reversed the order of things, and these early towns, after enjoying the honor of their
day. have given place to others of greater pretentions — the glory of the one has
departed, while other is gilded with the bright rays of their morning's prosperity.
Metamora, formerly called Hanover, and at present the county seat, is the
only village laying claims to antiquity which has survived the decay of its less
fortunate sisters and grown and improved until it has become a place of consid-
erable distinction. The village of Hanover dates back almost, if not quite, to
the dawning period of those already mentioned, but seems to have not quite so
early as they attained to a business prominence and influence.
OLD settlers" association.
Having alluded briefly to the principal settlements made in AVoodford County
at an early day, and followed it through its organization from its first formation,
contrasting its present prosperity with the feeble beginning of its existence as a
county, we return to the old settlers, and some of the events pertaining to the
early settlement. In the latter part of 1874, the idea was conceived of form-
ing an association of the old settlers still surviving, for the purpose of keeping
up the old associations of the pioneer days, and preserving the reminiscences
of the wilderness, where they planted their homes so long ago among the
Indians and wild beasts. With this end in view, a few of the veterans met in
Eureka, in December. 1874, and made the preliminary arrangements for the
organization of a permanent society. After appointing an Executive Com-
mittee, also a Committee to draft a Constitution and By-laws, they adjourned to
meet again in one month. On the 12th day of January, 1875, the Association
met in Eureka, and proceeded to perfect their organization by the adoption of
a Constitution and the election of ofiicers. As we have been wholly unable to
get sight of the books of the Association, we are indebted to the Eureka
Journal for the proceedings of this meeting. The Executive Committee re-
ported the order of business to be :
1st. Reading of the Minutes of last meeting.
"Jd. Adoption of a Constitution.
3d. The Election of Officers lor the ensuing year.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 249
The following is the Constitution and By-laws, as reported by the Com-
mittee appointed to draft them, and unanimously adopted by the Association at
this meeting :
Article 1. This Association sha]l be called the Old Settlers' Association of Woodford
County.
Art. 2. The objects of this Association shall be the collection and preservation of the
history of Woodford County, the renewal of old associations, and such other business as the
Association may see tit to adopt.
Art. 8. Any person may become a member of this Association who was a resident of
Woodford County, or any adjoining county, when Woodford was organized, in September, 1841,
subscribing to this Constitution, and paying one dollar initiation fee.
Art. 4. The Officers of this Association shall consist of one President, one Vice President,
one additional Vice President from each township in the county, one Secretary, one Corre-
sponding Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot and hold their offices one
year, or until their successors are elected.
Art. 5. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings of the Association.
and to perform such other duties as may devolve upan him as such officer.
Art. C). It shall be the duty of the Vice President to assist the President in keeping order,
and, in case of the absence or death of the President, to act as President.
Art. 7. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a faithful record of the proceedings
of the Association, in a book to be furnished by the Association for that purpose. The
Corresponding Secretary shall attend to all correspondence of the Association and preserve the
same.
Art. 8. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of all moneys belonging to
the Association, to receive and pay out the same upon the order of the President and Secretary.
Art. 9. This Association shall have power at any regular meeting to assess a sum, not to
exceed one dollar, upon each member, which shall be used to defray the expenses of the
Association.
Art. U). This Association shall meet at the place designated by the previous meeting, on the
last Tuesday in September of each year; the first meeting to be held in Eureka, on Tuesday,
September 28, 1875.
Art. 11. Any person may become a member of this association, who sustains a good moral
character, and who was born in the county, or who has been a citizen of the same since 1852.
Art. 12. The election of officers of this association shall be held at the meeting in Septem-
ber, 1875, and at each annual meeting thereafter.
Art. 13. This Constitution may be altered or amended at any regular meeting by a vote of
two-thirds of the members present.
The following officers were elected for the first term of the association :
John Summers, President ; W. R. Willis, Vice President ; R. N. Radford, Secretary ; B. D.
Meek, Corresponding Secretary ; P. H. Vance, Treasurer.
The following additional Vice Presidents were elected for their respective
townships :
Montgomery Township, H. A. Robinson, Cazenovia Township, Jesse Hfimmers,
Metamora " John W. Page, Linn " George Hallenback,
Cruger " M. E. Davidson, Clayton '• Harvey Davidson,
Palestine " L. P. Hereford, El Paso " H. W. Bullock,
Pancda " M. R. Bullock, Kansas '• A. W. Carlock,
Greene " Thomas A. McCord, Roanoke " Jacob Banta,
Olio " Thomas Bullock, Sr., Spring Bay " Dr. J. G. Zeller,
Worth " Charles Molitor, Minonk " E. D. Davidson.
Partridge " Isaac Snyder,
'250 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
On motion, the President, Secretaries and Treasurer were appointed an Ex-
ecutive Committee, to prepare a programme for the Fall meeting, at which time
it was decided to have a grand picnic. The county papers were requested to
publish the proceedings of the meeting. As the books are non est inventus, we
are unable to give the names of the oricrinal members of the association, further
than is given in the above list of oflBcers.
At the Fall meeting, the time of holding the next annual meeting was set
for July instead of September, and on the 4th of July, of the Centennial year
of American Independence, they met in Eureka, as pre-arranged. Extensive
preparations were made for a general good time and the celebration of the one
hundredth anniversary of the nations existence, by these old veterans of Wood-
ford County, seemed peculiarly appropriate.
At this meeting, the old officers were all re-elected, and the next meeting
appointed to take place at Metamora, on the second Tuesday in September,
1877. On this occasion, the orator of the dav was Prof. B. J. Radford, who
entertained the audience with an eloquent speech, in which he vividly portrayed
the development and resources of our great country, and followed it through its
eventful historv. from the Revolution down to the one hundredth anniversary
of its independence.
After the regular address, the following toasts were given :
"Our Country:" Responded to hy Rev. M. P. Ormsby.
"The Day we Celebrate: " Responded to by .T. A Briggs.
'• Army and Navy : " Responded to by W. Bennett.
" Woodford County : " Responded to by Col. B. D. Meek.
"The Heroes of '76 : " Responded to by J. L. Ferris.
Accoitling to programme, the Old Settlers' Association met in Metamora on
the 11th of September, 1877. Says the Woodford Sentinel : " The band sum-
moned them to the beautiful park at the appointed hour, when the President
called the meeting to order, and Adino Page, Esq., took the stand and invited
all the old settlers to come forward and take the seats prepared for them. Judge
W. P. Brown, the orator of the day, was introduced and delivered an interesting
address." The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows :
CD »
President — Adino Page, Metoniora.
Vice President— \\ . R. Willis, YA Paso.
Sccmary — R. N. Radford, Eureka.
Corresp nding Secretory — B. D Meek, Eureka.
Treasurer — P. H. Vance. Montgomery.
The following additional old settlers registered as members of the Association :
W. C. Watkins, Rev. Zadock Hall, B. Kendig, A. Page, D. Kendig, W. Lamson,
Geo. Arrowsmith, Thos. Clark. AVm. H. Delph, Benj. Grove, John Warren,
Abner Mundell, Simeon Mundell. Jesse Hammers. Sam'l Mundell. W. Dremen,
John Tanton, Richard Tanton. Jno. W. Page, Thaddeus Page, X. Dutton. W.
P. Brown, D. D. Fairchild, L. P. Mor.se, J. G. Bavne, Jos. Morlev and Dr. J.
S. TVhitmire.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 251
The Sentinel continues: "And just here we would say, it was the finest
lookinor crowd we ever saw, the best behaved and the most intellio;ent. A great
deal of credit is due to Dr. J. S. Whitmire, A. Page and Henry Martin, for the
success of the meeting. Taken all in all, it was one of the most pleasant affaii-s
we ever attended, and we take leave of the subject and the old settlers' with
regret, and hope to meet them again next year."
The Association are making extensive preparations for their annual re-union
this year, and anticipate a meeting of much interest. Indeed, it seems to be
growing and increasing in interest and importance, and will no doubt exist as
long as the old settlers themselves.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE.
The first post oflSce establislie<l in Woodford County was in 1836, and was
kept by James Boys at his own house, about three miles north of the village of
Hanover. It was called Black Partridge, after the old Indian chief of that
name, whose wigwam, at one time, was not far from the place. The ofiice did
not last long. Rev. William Davenport petitioned for another office to be
called Hanover, but there being already a Hanover office in the State, he had
to suggest some other name, annd finally settled on Partridge Point instead of
Black Partridge, as Boys" office had been called. The office was kept
at Parks' mill, about a mile from the present village of Metamora, and its
affairs administered by Mr. Parks, though the Rev. Mr. Davenport, it is said,
was the commissioned Postmaster. The office was called Hanover, and after R.
T. Cassell came to the place, in 1838, he Avas prevailed on by Parks to take the
post office. Upon his consenting to take it, he informed us that Mr. Parks
brought the entire office over to the village,* tied up in his pocket handker-
chief. The mail was carried by the four-horse stage-coach running between
Bloomington and Ottawa. The mail for this point, with the exeption of an
occasional letter, was three newspa])ers and one magazine. Rev. Mr. Daven-
port took the Louisville Journal and the Illinois State Register ; John Page,
Sr., the Netv Hampshire Patriot, and a Mrs. Dutton took a little blue-back
pamphlet; called the Mothers Magazine. John Brotherhood drove the stage,
and passed the Hanover post office between midnight and daybreak. Mr. Cas-
sell remembers an occasion, when, one very dark night, John got lost on the
prairie, and, after driving hours and hours, at daylight, found himself but a mile
from Hanover. This stage route was probably the first road through Woodford
County, and the trail was originally marked out, as Mr. Thomas McCord
informed us, by dragging a log through the tall prairie grass.
Daniel Meek, who settled in Walnut Grove in 1827, in what is now Cruger
Township, was commissioned a Justice of the Peace in 1827, and was the first
of which we have any record in Woodford County. The first water-mill, as
There was no village but the site of tlio future village of Hanover, now Metamora.
252 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
already stated, was built by the Moores at or near Bowling Green, on Panther
Creek, in 1830. Previous to this, there had been some "little corn crackers/'
as the settlers called them, operated by horse-power, but they were hardly
deserving of the name of mill, and the procuring of meal and flour was a far
more serious affair than at the present day.
Peter Engle, Sr., kept a tavern where his son, Peter Engle, Jr., now lives,
which was the first place of "'•refreshment for man and beast " in the county.
It was on the stage route above alluded to, and was one of the regular stands
where they changed horses. Mr. Engle commenced the business in 1833.
and as it was on the direct route from Chicago to Springfield, he was often
called upon to entertain the official magnates of the land in their jour-
neyings to and from the State Capital. Peter Engle, Jr., remembers, on
one occasion, the Governor and his staff remaining over night in this humble
hostelry.
The first account we have of mercantile traffic dates back to 1836, and gives
the honor to the village of Hanover. Wilson Tucker, a son of the Solomon
Tucker mentione 1 in the early settlement of Walnut Grove, and who was
termed by his intimate friends the " South Carolina Yankee,'"* owing to his
rather close dealings, opened a store at Hanover in 1836, and was folloAved in a
short time by Israel & Weeks, whose store was near where the Congregational
Church now stands. Tucker did not continue long in business, when he sold
out, and with the intention, it seemed, to carry out the title of •' Yankee " given
him by his Southern friends, went to Massachusetts, where he still lived at the
last account had of him. In 1837, J. & A. Richardson opened a store at Bowl-
ing Green, and soon after, James Robinson commenced the same business.
Durritt lii Calloway also opened goods at Versailles about the same time. Pre-
vious to this, the settlers had traded mostly at Washington, in Tazewell County,
going occasionally to Peoria to make their simple purchases.
The first school is supposed to have been taught by William Hoshor. in 1831.
in a small log cabin built for the purpose at the head of Walnut Grove, within
the limits of the present township of Cruger. There are some, however, who
claim that a Mr. Ellmore taught a school in 'Squire Benjamin Williams" barn,
in 1830-31, and previous to the one taught by Hoshor : but from all the infor-
mation to be obtained, we are disposed to give the credit to Hoshor. The first
high school was taught by A. S. Fisher, and commenced in 1850, with Miss
Susan Jones as Assistant. After passing through many changes and grades of
promotion, it finally, in 1855, became Eureka College, a full history of
which is given in connection with Olio Township and the village of Eureka.
The first school taught in Northern Illinois, paid for out of the public fund,
is said to have been taught bv Miss Love K. Morse, in the AVinter of
1836-37, a daughter of Parker Morse, one of the early settlers in this
section.
*S<juth Carolina was his native State.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 253
BIRTHS, DEATH.S AND MARRIAGES.
A true record of these events is impossible to obtain at this distant day.
There have been " marriages and giving in marriage;" many have crossed the
"dark river " and received their reward, while many more have been born, to
take up their trials and troubles in the world.
" Angels weep when a babe is born,
And sing when an old man dies."
But to get the exact date of the first birth, death and marriage is a difficult
task. Caroline, a daughter of Daniel Meek, born January 15, 1828, is the first
birth of which we have any reliable account. It is altogether probable, how-
ever, with settlements extending back several years prior to this date, there may
also have been births previous to the one above recorded. William Blanchard,
of Spring Bay Township, is of the opinion that the first death, occurred in the
Darby family (alluded to in another page, as making the first settlement in the
county), as one or two members of the family died during their first or second
Summer in the wilderness, which was that of 1823-24. A marriage also oc-
curred in this family in a few years after their settlement here. A d&ughter of
Darby's married a young man named Henry Race, who had worked with Mr.
Blanchard, and is the first wedding of which we have been able to obtain any
definite record. Jacob Wilson and Emily Donohue were married about 1826-27,
and William Blanchard and Elizabeth Donohue soon after. Mr. Donohue, the
father of these girls, died, it is said, in 1824, which was probably very nearly
as early as those mentioned in the Darby family. But with more than half a
century standing between then and now, many dates of those early events must
be left to conjecture.
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
The sound of the Gospel in Woodford County is almost coeval with the first
settlement, and the voice of the preacher, as one " crying in the wilderness,"
was heard long before the war-whoop of the savage had died away. Says Prof.
Radford, in his Old Settlers' History : " If the people of Woodford are not,
like the ancient Athenians, exceedingly religious, they are by no means to be
reckoned as heathens. The voice of the preacher of the Gospel was heard in
the cabins of the early settlers, and in the groves which were lately the haunts
of the red man and the panther." Among the early pioneer preachers were
Rev. Mr. Lattey, or Lattcy ; Rev. Zadock Hall, familiarly known as Uncle Zadock
Hall, the pioneer Methodist, who has proclaimed the word of God throughout
Central Illinois for more than forty years; Rev. W. T. Adams, Presbyterian;
Revs. J. D. Newell and A. M. Root, Baptists ; Revs. John Oatman, Abner
Peeler, H. D. Palmer, James Robeson, William Davenport, John Lindsey and
James Owens, Christian, are a few of veterans, who came to the county in its
days of hardships, and have spent the flower of their lives in teaching '' the
254 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
way of salvation. " The first churches organized in the county were the Bap-
tist Church in the southeastern part of the county in 1837 ; the Christian
Church at Eureka and the Episcopal Church at Metamora soon after. The
Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the present township of
Worth, Avas organized in 1838, and the Methodist Churcli of Metamora, and
Mount Zion at the head of Walnut Grove, was organized at a very early day.
Although these are the first organized church societies, of which we have any
authentic information, yet religious services were held in the cabins of the set-
tlers, and in the groves,
" Amidst the cool .incl silence, they knelt down
And oifered to the Mightiest solemn thanks \
And supplication."
Great revivals were enjoyed, in Avhich many were brought to a realization of
the " error of their ways," long before a regular temple of worship had been
erected in the county. But as the settlements expanded in might and pros-
perity, and numbers increased, tabernacles of worship arose on every hand^
until every town, village and hamlet is supplied and adorned with elegant
church edifices. To use a Bible metaphor, " the wilderness has rejoiced and
blossomed like a rose." The first Sunday school was organized by Parker
Morse, in 1837, at his own house, in the Low Point settlement. Now, perhaps,
there is not a church society in the county but what maintains a flourishing
Sabbath school. A more complete history of churches and church organiza-
tions is given in the chapters devoted to the townships, cities and villages in
which they are situated.
AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION.
In 1858, a movement was made by some of the leading citizens of the
county, for the formation of a society tending to the promotion of the interests
of agriculture. For this purpose, a meeting was called, and held at the Court
House in Metamora, on the 29th of May, 1858. The meeting was organized
by electing Jesse Hammers President and I. J. Marsh, Secretary. Shares
were fixed at one dollar, and the following are the original stockholders : Jesse
Hammers, A. C. Rouse, H. L. S. Haskell, Charles Rich, David Watson, B.
W. Kendig, G. F. Hay, George Ray, W. H. Delph, John J. Perry, Melvin
Newton, Sylvanus Stoddard, Joseph H. Hammers, Horace Hazen, M. W. Wil-
son, Geo. H. Painter, R. B. Hanna, Wm, Minor, J. B. Hayer, R. H. Fair-
child, J. M. Morse, David Banta, A. Minor, John Lyons, Oren Chudle, John
W. Page, Stephen Skinner, B. Siemens, Ed. Nichols, C. D. Banta, Peter Doty,
Samuel L. Kirby, A. J. Kirby, John Kirby, Jolm Bayne, Jas. G. Bayne, Wm.
Buckingham, 0. P. Shaw, Samuel Mundell, Simeon Mundell, S. D. Cushing,
Abraham Masters, E. N. Farnsworth, Wm. Lamson, T. B. Spears, P. F.
Kellogg, Doc. Fairchild, I. J. Marsh, John L. Causey, Evan Tunnel, John
Parminter, C. A. Nesmith, S. G. Smith, J. S. Whitmire, James Scott, Thos.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 255
Walden, Dennis Noirot, George Kingston, B. D. Perry, Wm. Carpenter, G. A.
Marsh, F. Cornell, David Irving, T. C. S. Page, J. G. Walker, Lewis Hall,
Levi P. Morse, J. A. Ranney, R. T. Cassell and W. G. Wood. Having secured
the requisite amount of stock, they proceeded, under the statute of Illinois, to
organize a society, to be called " The Woodford County Agricultural and Hor-
ticultural Association," and adopted rules and regulations for its government.
The following officers were elected, viz.:
President — Jesse Hammers.
Vice President — Charles Rich.
Secretary— B. L. S. Haskell.
TreasHnr — John W. Page.
Directors — Horace Hazen, George Ray, John J. Perry.
The Directors were recommended to apply the money on hand and the
amount received from the State, for the purchase of fair grounds. The
grounds were duly purchased and laid out, buildings erected and the first Fair
held the 13th, 14th and 15th of October, 1858. The following is the report of
the Committee to purchase and improve the grounds :
To amount received on subscriptions $952 50
To amount of Treasurer of Society 200 00
To gate fees 299 00
To entrance fees 8 55
To license 25 00
To entrance, Denham, Jennings 1 50
$1,486 55
By part of above in hands of Treasurer $9 00
By amount paid for land, improvements, etc 1,332 10
1,341 10
Balance in hands of J. J. Perry, Ch. Committee f 145 45
An amusing incident occurred at one of the annual fairs while the Associa-
tion was in the zenith of its prosperity. As a joke, or burlesque, or a little
flash of sarcasm, Adino Page was appointed Superintendent ; Jesse Hammers,
Judge Buckingham and George C. Painter, four little gentlemen whose avoir-
dupois averaged near three hundred pounds per head, were placed on the list as
judges of poultry. After discussing the matter among themselves, they agreed
to turn the joke upon the officers of the society who had placed them on the
judges' list. Attending the fair was a long six-footer, who followed as a busi-
ness the raising of chickens, and had on exhibition some very fine specimens of
the best breeds in the country, which he valued highly. The committee, or
judges rather, had arranged, with the assistance of their wives, whom they had
let into their secret, that in order to competently test the quality of the poultry,
on which they were to report, they would get up a kind of make-believe that
they were killing and cooking them, with the intention of being able to report
on the subject understandingly. That they might successfully carry the joke
through, Page had several pair of the finest fowls his own poultry yard could
-256 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
produce nicely cooked and secretly conveyed to the grounds, and placed as
though intended for exhibition. When the time came for their plan to be car-
ried into eflFect, thoy dug a pit in which a fire was built in regular barbecue
style, and on being asked the meaning of the proceeding by some curious ones,
told them that they wei*e judges of poultry, and in order to report understand-
ingly, had determined to test its quality. Reaching up the " six footer's "
wagon. Page took down his coop (which he had himself sent there, but which
was supposed to belong to some exhibitor). Seeing what course affairs were
taking, Mr. Six-footer began to grow excited, and the judges, in order to carry
out their joke successfully, let him partially into the secret. He entered
heartily into the sport, and at their request, went stalking through the grounds
apparently in a high state of excitement, inquiring with a nasal twang?
" Whar's the President, whar's the President ? " and upon finding that official,
told him what the judges were doing, and demanded payment for his chickens.
It was soon noised over the grounds what was going on in the poultry depart-
ment, and it at once became the chief point of attraction. The President, a
man fond of making money and of taking care of it after it was made, came on
the scene of action raging like a wounded lion. Finding several chickens with
their heads wrung off, and the good ladies industriously preparing them for
cooking, his wrath bubbled over furiously. He asked them what in the
they meant. They repeated that they wished to be able to report understand-
ingly upon the quality of the poultry, and in order to do so, had concluded to
thoroughly test it. The long six-footer excitedly demanded five dollars a pair
for his chickens. Said the President to the judges, " We will have to pay for
these chickens." "Certainly," said the judges, "pay for them, of course."
With all sorts of angry arguments on the part of the officers, and the defense
of their actions by the judges, the chickens were finally ready for being tested,
when the judges politely invited the officers to dine with them, but they in their
anger abruptly refused. The joke finally leaked out before they succeeded in
getting the officers to pay the man five dollars a pair for his chickens, but not
till they had quieted him by promising to do so. When the joke did explode
upon their devoted heads, they grew madder still. The judges awarded Adino
Page a premium on his chickens, which paid for their sacrifice in carrying out
a joke. The association flourished, and for a number of years was a popular
institution, but never became self-sustaining. After losing money, and drag-
ging along for a time, the property was sold for debt March 12, 1877, for
^1,400. The society still exists, -but is without " house or home." The officers
elected Jan. 1, 1877, being the twentieth annual meeting of the society, were
J. A. Ranney, President ; Isaac Boys, Vice President ; John L. McGuire,
Secretary ; John W\ Page, Treasurer ; Adino Page, L. P. Morse and John
Kirby, Directors.
a-loii^c ^c^/jL
METAMORA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 259
A CHAPTER OF TRAGEDIES.
We come now to scenes in the history of Woodford County over which
we would gladly draw a veil. Within the last dozen years, three distress-
ing tragedies have been committed within its borders, and none of the parties
engaged in them have received the slightest punishment beyond the pang of
their own remorse. About the year 1868, a man by the name of Hedges was
murdered on his farm in Panola Township by a man named Kingston, in a fit
of passion. Kingston was tried, and acquitted without difficulty. It may be
that there were extenuating circumstances. At least, the man Kingston had
borne a good character, and it is believed by many who knew him well that he
had not the slightest idea of killing Hedges. In a mad fit of passion, he struck
him a blow on the head with a spade, from the effects of which Hedges died in
a short time.
The next in the vocabulary was a murder which for some time created the
most intense excitement, and the final acquittal of the prisoner seriously threat-
ened lynch law. This was the alleged murder of Christian Shertz by Daniel
Goldsmith, in 1871, and had attendant circumstances of a most distressinor
character. Shertz was a stepson of Mr. Joseph Shertz, an old settler of Worth
Township, and a highly respected citizen. He had taken the name of his step-
father, upon assuming that relationship, and when he married, the old people
set him up on a farm six miles east of Metamora, on the Panola road. It was
while sitting at home in the bosom of his family, spending a quiet Sunday
evening, listening to the reading of the Bible, that a shot came through the
window and killed him. It was on the 3d of December, and one of the storm-
iest nights of the Winter season, Avhen the howling of the wind without and the
driving of the snow against the sides of the house would stifle the sound of a
a murderer's footsteps. The evidence was wholly circumstantial, but of a very
strong character of that kind. Goldsmith was indicted by the Grand Jury, and
the fact that he had lived with Shertz, that they had had trouble and disagree-
ments, and Goldsmith had left him but a few days previous to the murder,
coupled with other points of a strong circumstantial character, everything
seemed to indicate beyond a doubt that he was the assassin. His trial lasted
from Monday afternoon until about the same time on Saturday, when the jury,
who had received the case at 7 o'clock on Friday evening, returned a verdict of
"Not guilty." The counsel for the people were Smith M. Garratt, Dis-
trict Attorney, and Hon. W. W. O'Brien, now of Chicago. For the defense,
Messrs. Burns (now Circuit Judge), Ray, Feilitzsch and Barnes, all able law-
yers. As we have said, the points in the case were all circumstantial, and
therefore left room for doubt. The assassin of Christian Shertz may never be
positively known until the last day, when all things shall be revealed. The
following extract from the Woodford Sentinel shows the prevailing sentiment
at the result of the trial : " We are now, and always have been, opposgd to
260 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
mob violence of any character whatever, and we trust we tnay never be compelled
to chronicle a case in Woodford County, but if we are to have such farces enacted
as the last two murder trials spoken of, we want to ask, Where are the people
going to get justice, and how ? "
The third and last scene in this chapter of melancholy events was the most
pitiable and, at the same time, the most horrible of all — the alleged murder
of a woman by a woman. Like the Shertz murder, the testimony was circum-
stantial, but e(|ually as strong as in that case. By a strange fatality of circum-
stances, the victim in this case was the widow of the man Hedges, murdered by
Kingston, as already detailed in this chapter. It has been said that, " in all
events, whether for good or ill," there is a woman in the case. In this, how-
ever, the principal participants were women, with a man figuring in it rather
conspicuously, and he a preacher. The tragedy occurred in the village of
Eureka, in 1873, and the alleged murderess, Mrs. Workman, wife of Rev. Mr.
Workman, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From newspaper publications
of that period, and other information gathered in regard to the affair, it seems-
that the reverend gentleman had conceived a passion for the murdered woman
(who was a member of his flock), which, if she did not reciprocate, she did not,
at least, very strongly condemn. Yrbm a publication of letters, said to have
passed between Workman and Mrs. Hedges, their love for each other would
appear to any one to be of a character rather warmer than should exist between
a pastor (with a wife and children) and a sister of his congregation. It was the
discovery of this correspondence that rendered his wife insane with jealousy.
Mrs. Workman, according to the most of the testimony given before the Grand
Jury, was a woman of very violent temper, and the most probable theory in
regard to the matter seems to be that, in a fit of insane jealousy, she mur-
dered the woman who had roused within her the green-eyed monster. She had
forced her husband, who, it appears, stood somewhat in awe of her, to write a
letter to Mrs. Hedges, at her dictation, demanding the return of his letters,
which she set out to deliver in person. She and Mrs. Hedges were seen, or
supposed to have been seen, about dark, in earnest conversation, and a while
after, Mrs. Workman returned home, with her face badly bruised and scratched
and her dress muddy and in some disorder, which she explained by saying she
had fallen on the sidewalk in a dizzy fit. Mrs. Hedges was never seen alive
again, but was found early the next morning, with a bruise on her head, as if
from the blow of a club, and her throat cut, lying near where she and Mrs.
Workman were supposed to have been seen the evening before. This was the
gist of the testimony before the Grand Jury, and with which they even failed to
find an indictment against Mrs. Workman.
An incident, related to us by an old settler, who was familiar with the cir-
cumstances at the time they transpired, is not inappropriate in this connection.
In 1830, there came to Woodford County an English portrait painter, the first
in t'le county, by the name of James W^ilkins, and an Irishman named Canaday.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 261
The latter, apparently, was of a good family, and seemed to have plenty of
money. He bought considerable land and accumulated other property around
him. Quite an intimacy seemed to exist between him and the Englishman, and
for a time they worked and lived together in a kind of rude, easy way ; but
after a while they broke up, and Canaday went to board with Rev. Mr. Daven-
port. Among other property, he owned a couple of ponies and a light wagon.
One day he went to Peoria, riding one of the ponies, and leaving his wagon and
the other pony at Davenport's. From that day to this he has never been seen
or heard of by any one from this section. After waiting several days for his
return, Mr. Davenport went to Peoria in search of him, and found where he had
stabled his pony, but further no trace could be had. Inquiries were made and
search instituted everywhere ; letters written to Ireland were never answered,
and all efforts to learn his fate utterly failed. Finally, a party appeared, who
showed deeds to Canaday 's lands, but were here pronounced forgeries and excited
suspicion as to their validity, which have involved litigation not yet settled.
Later, parties came from Ireland, c|aiming to be relatives and heirs, thus adding
further complications. What the man's fate was will probably remain forever
one of the unrevealed mysteries. The locality where he had put up his pony,
it is said, was of rather bad repute at that day, and as he was known to have
had a considerable sum of money with him, the most plausible theory is that he
was there made way with. Wilkins finally went to California, making the trip
overland, and painted a kind of panoramic sketch of the journey. He is said
to be still living, and at present in St. Louis.
THE PRESS.
The art preservative of all arts is represented in Woodford County by five
sprightly newspapers, viz.: The Woodford Sentinel, the El Paso Journal, the
Minonk Blade, the Eureka Journal and the Washburn News, all weekly issues;
and the Eureka College Messenger, a little sheet published monthly, devoted
chiefly to the interests of Eureka College. The Woodford Sentinel is the old-
est paper, and the first established in the county. Its first issue was presented
to the public in 1854, and was printed in Peoria, It was thought to be such a
stupendous enterprise that when brought over to Metamora, a copy was hoisted
on a pole, like a flag, the streets paraded, and a regular "war dance" held
around it. A man by the name of Shepherd was the first proprietor. After
experiencing many changes and vicissitudes, it has passed into the hands of that
red-hot old Democrat, George L. Hart, Avho has been connected with it for
eighteen years — its senior editor and one of the proprietors for the last twelve
years, and since June, 1877, its sole proprietor. The Sentinel is the only "true
blue " Democratic paper in the county, and the Minonk Blade the only Repub-
lican paper. The El Paso Journal, the Eureka Journal and the Washburn
Neivs are Independent, and take no particular side in political issues. They
262 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
are all live newspapers, well up to the average standard of merit, and are lib-
orallv supported in their respective towns.
The school facilities of Woodford are second to no county in the State.
With good school houses, able teachers, well-conducted schools and an ample
fund for their support, they cannot be otherwise than in a flourishing condition.
From Prof. J. E. Lamb. County Superintendent of Schools, we receive the fol-
lowing statistical information :
Numbei- of ungraded schools in county 117
Number of graded schools in county '. 10
Number of children entitled to school privileges 11,813
Number of male teachers employed 89
Number of female teachers employed 127
Highest monthly wages paid to male teachers $122 22
Highest monthly wages paid to female teachers 52 80
Estimated value of school property 109. 375 (K)
Estimated value of school libraries 450 00
Estimated value of school apparatus 1,403 00
School fund, principal and interest 7,945 25
In addition to the excellent system of common schools, the county enjoys
the advantages of a first-class college, admirably located, in the village of Eu-
reka, and in charge of an accomplished faculty. In Eureka College, students
receive a classical education, under the very shadow of their own homes, and
in the long list of graduates of the institution stand some of the foremost
men of the country.
RAILROAD FACILITIE.S.
Woodford County has about seventy miles of railroad in successful opera-
tion, and telegraph lines stretching across it in all directions. Four roads
intersect it, and the snort of the iron horse is heard in almost every village.
The Illinois Central crosses from north to south through the eastern tier of
townships — Minonk, Panola and El Paso — with about nineteen miles of road
in the county. The Toledo. Peoria & Warsaw crosses from east to west, pass-
ing through Cruger, Olio. Palestine and El Paso Townships, and has about
eighteen miles of road in the county. The Western Division of the Chicago k
Alton and the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern cross diagonallv from the north-
east to southwest, the former through the townships of Cazenovia and Meta-
mora, and the latter tbrough Minonk, Clayton. Greene, Roanoke, Olio and
Cruger, with a combined distance of road in the county of thirty-three miles.
The following table more clearly shows the importance and value of its railroads :
Assessed value, includ-
Miles of Road ing Rolling Stock,
in the County. Buildings, Side-tracks, etc.
Chicago & Alton 18 $110,895.00
Chicago, Pekin .S: South-Western 20 44,829.00
Toledo, Peoria \- Warsaw 18 (57,420.00
Illinois Central* ly
Total 70 $228 144.00
* The TlltDois Central pays no county tax. ^
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 263
POLITICAL AND WAR RECORD.
Through all the changing scenes of political strife, the revolution and
reversal of political parties and questions, Woodford has ever stood a Demo-
cratic county. In the days of Jackson, long before its formation as a county,
Avhen the scanty settlements boasted of but a few dozen voters, a majority of
those few were Democratic ; and when a new party arose, destined to shake
almost the entire world with its broad political views, the old county — no longer
a feeble few, but a host — still retained its principles of Democracy, and on all
important occasions piled up a Democratic majority. There are those living
to-day, in Woodford County, who voted for Gen. Jackson, and who desire no
higher political distinction than that of being called a Jackson Democrat.
When the old hero of New Orleans passed away, and the star of the " Little
Giant" rose in the West, they beheld in him one worthy to wear the old man's
mantle, and adopted him as their leader. The name of Douglas is enshrined in
their hearts with all the veneration bestowed on " Old Hickorv." Althousrh
styled a "Copperhead" county, no county, perhaps, in Illinois turned out more
soldiers, according to its population, than did Woodford. When the old flag
was lowered from the battlements of 'Fort Sumter and the " Palmetto" hoisted
in its place, they quietly left their daily pursuits and offered themselves to their
country. Many went to Peoria and Bloomington and enlisted, and were
accredited to those cities, while, with a carelessness almost reprehensible, the
county failed to get credit for the recruits she furnished. From the most reli-
able information, it is believed that at least fifteen hundred men volunteered
from Woodford County, many of whom were registered from other places. The
Eleventh and Fourth Cavalry Regiments ; the Seventy-seventh, Eighty-fifth
and One Hundred and Eighth Regiments of Volunteer Infantry, contained many
of the brave fellows of Woodford, and the fields of Vicksburg, Stone River, Gettys-
burg, and a score of others, attest their valor. Many a far-off grave, beneath
the pines and palm trees, records the fate of those who never retunred, while
" The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo."
They went forth strong in the virtue of their cause, and it was no reproach to
their valor that they fell by those brave as themselves. Col, Meek, Major Sid-
well, Capts. Bullock and McCulloch, Lieuts. Briggs and Davidson are some of
the officers of Woodford, and the Drs, Whitmire and Kinnear, of Metamora ;
Dr. Conover, Eureka ; Drs, Stockwell and Cole, of El Paso, were of the medi-
cal denartment, while the rank and file were of the best and sturdiest men of
the county. To those who fought the battle through, and returned in safety to
home and friends, you have your reward in the knowledge that the old flag still
floats over all the States. Of those who fell in the storm of strife and sleep far
away, perchance in neglected graves, we say, Requiescat in pace.
"Give them the meed they have won in the past,
Give them the honors their merits forecast :
Give them the chaplets they won in the strife :
Give them the laurels they lost with their life."
264 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
THE INDIANS.
In the early settlement of Woodford County, Indians were <|uite numerous
in the western part, along the Illinois River and in the heavy timbered sections.
They were apparently harmless and good natured, rather lazy, and a little dis-
posed sometimes to indulge in petty thieveries. The 'chief, Black Partridge,
had his wigwam not far from the present village of Metaraora at one time,
though no one now living remembers anything about him but Avhat has been
detailed from other parties. The Indians found here by the first settlers were
mostly Pottawatomies, with a few Sacs, Ottawas and Foxes. During the
Winter of the "deep snow," they were, as we were informed, of considerable
benefit to the settlers in furnishing them provisions. They donned their snow-
shoes, and with the aid of this convenience were enabled to get over the vast
fields of snow with comparative ease. There are still old pioneers to be occa-
sionally met with who participated in the Blackhawk war, and from them we
received some of the particulars of those exciting times. But the tide of battle
raged far north of this, and the frights of the war rarely extended to this sec-
tion. As the advancing tide of immigration rolled in this direction, the red
man was pressed on toward the setting sun. The glare of his council fire paled
in the brighter light of civilization, and then went out forever. There is much
in the history of the Indian to loathe, and to inspire within us the bitterest
feelings ; and there is much, too, of mournful grandeur and sublimity. A
paragraph from Sprague's History of the American Indians seems not inap-
propriate in this connection : " As a race, they have withered from the land.
Their arrows are broken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust.
Their council fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war cry is
fast dying away in the untrodden west. Slowly and sadly they climb the dis-
tant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrinking
before the mighty tide which is pressing them away ; they must soon hear the
roar of the last wave which will settle over them forever." The theory con-
cerning the Mound Builders, that strange race of people of whom so many con-
jectures exist, that they occupied this country centuries and centuries ago, and
were subdued by the Indiajis, is borne out by investigation of the mounde
which abound in Woodford County. These mounds are confined mostly to
Spring Bay and Partridge Townships, and the relics found in and about them
go far to confirm this theory — that they were a diiferent race of people, far
superior and more advanced in civilization than their savage conquerors. Some
men of the Peoria Scientific Association surveved a number of these mounds a
short time ago, but whether they have ever made a report of their investiga-
tions, or advanced a theory other than those which have already been publishe<l,
we have been unable to learn. One of the mounds surveyed by these gentlemen
is situated a half mile southwest of the village of Spring Bay, and is one of
the largest in the State. There is a prevailing tradition of a great battle hav-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 265
ing been at some time fought at or near this mound by the Indians, and the
large number of human bones found throughout its neighborhood seems to cor-
roborate the historian's statement. Further notice of these mounds is made in
the history of Spring Bay and Partridge Townships.
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES.
Woodford County geologically lies in the northern limit of the great coal
fields. In the vicinity of the Illinois River, the coal deposit runs very near to
the surface, but further back and on the prairies, it extends deeper into the
earth, varying from 300 to 600 feet. In sinking a shaft for coal near the vil-
lage of Metamora, at about fifty feet below the surface, a vein of coal was struck
of one foot in thickness. At 125 feet, a seam three feet in thickness was reached,
in the middle of Avhich was good coal. In the Minonk mines, a seam of coal,
four feet thick, was found at a depth of 314 feet, and at about 550 feet, another
seam of very superior coal was reached. The soil near Metamora — and this
applies to all the prairies land of the county — is from two and a half to four
feet in thickness, deep black or dark brown in color, and very rich and product-
ive. Beneath this soil is ten or twelve feet of yellow, loamy clay, which also
produces well with proper cultivation. Usually underlying this clay, is a
stratum of sand, gravel and small boulders, when the blue clay is reached.
This diluvium or deposit of blue clay is deep, extending to more than a hun-
dred feet below the surface, and in it are found many rich specimens of minerals,
fossil remains, etc. In sinking a well on the County Farm, at a depth of sixty
feet, large pieces of wood was found in a perfect state of preservation, specimens
of which we have examined. At the coal shaft near Metamora, before alluded
to, at almost 200 feet below the surface, was found a bed of lime rock, the top
of which is worn in grooves, and much ground in places, as if by the constant
exposure to drift passing over it. In this rock are found numbers of fossil shells,
corals and numerous other rich and rare specimens. The drift along the brakes
of Partridge Creek and its branches contains many of the richest specimens
known to the student of geology and mineralogy. Many of these are recog-
nized by scientific research as native to other sections of the State and to dis-
tant regions of the country. This formation of diluvium, and the variety of
substances contained in it, has puzzled the most erudite scholars. The more
probable theory seems to be, that these vast prairies, now a succession of culti-
vated and productive farms, were, ages ago, the bed of the great lakes of the
north ; that their ever restless waves and the rolling billows of their storm-lashed
waters, casting up the sands and drifts, in time changed their beds to other
localities. Another theory has been advanced, and is alluded to by Prof. Rad-
ford in his History of Woodford County : " That this deposit was made by a
great sea of ice, or glacier, which gradually crept down from the north, bringing
with it these vast amounts of matter, and extending as far south as the Ohio
266 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
River." This theory, however, is pretty generally discarded in favor of the other,
and with reason, according to our view of the matter. But leaving the subject to
the scientific, we subjoin a list of some of the specimens collected in the county, and
contained in the collection of Adino Page, Esq. , one of the largest and richest private
collections we have ever examined. Minerals: granite, basalt, amygdaloid, por-
phyry, jasper, iron ore, syenite, copper ore, greenstone, tourmaline, actinotite, trap,
feldspar, mica, bog iron ore, coloid marbles, pudding stones ( various), gneiss, quartz,
galena, chrystal, zinc, fossil corals, marine shells, etc., and nuggets of pure cop-
per have been found weighing twelve pounds. It is also claimed that silver ore
has been found along the creek drifts. The following conchological specimens
have been found in the creeks, and in the Illinois River along the border of
Woodford County : Unio Plicatus, Unio Multiplicatus, Unio Gibbosa, Unio
Trigonus, Unio Teres, Unio Abruptus, Unio Lincolatus, Unio Implicatus, Unio
Cornutus, Unio Pustulosa, Unio Complinatus, Unio Lutiolus, Unio Tuberculatus,
Unio Radiatus, and the following of the land snail family : Helix Profunda,
Helix Multilinuta, Helix Albolabris, Helix Clausa.
It is said that about sixty different specimens of shells have been found in
the Illinois River and the creeks that flow into it through this county ; a great
many other specimens of geology and mineralogy have likewise been found here,
in addition to those already enumerated.
THE DEEP SNOW
which occurred in the Winter of 1830-1 is an event of so much interest to the
few old settlers who were here at that distant period, and are still living, that
we cannot close our general history without some notice of it. It is an epoch
from which all important events are dated. It began in December and fell to
the depth of four feet, and lay on the ground until early Spring. Many wild
animals of the forest and prairie perished, and others became so gentle and tame
that they seemed not to fear their natural enemy, man, and the settlers then in
this section suffered the most extreme hardships. We have no account of any
loss of human life from its effects, but much of the privations and sufferings
experienced during the Winter.
The Winter of 1836-7 is another chronological event in the county's his-
tory, and is memorable for one of the coldest days ever experienced in the State
of Illinois. A sad story is given in the history of Partridge Township, of a man
and his daughter freezing to death under very distressing circumstances. In
contradistinction to these seasons of such unusual severity, we would mention,
as a matter of history, the Winter of 1877—8, as one remarkable on account of
its exceptional meteorological character, and have no doubt but that it will pass
down to future generations, as the Winter of the " deep mud," just as the other
has come down to us as the Winter of the " deep snow. '
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 267
METAMORA TOWNSHIP.
This township is pretty well diversified between woodland and prairie, and
contains but few tracts of the latter which are not under a fine state of cultiva-
tion, while the former furnishes the best of timber in abundance. In
agricultural resources it is second to no township in the county, and the comple-
tion of the Western Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, which crosses it
diagonally, has added materially to its commercial importance and prosperity.
It occupies a position just touching the northeast corner of Tazewell County,
and east of Worth Township, south of Cazenovia, west of Roanoke and north of
Cruger, and is known as Township 27 north. Range 2 west of the Third Principal
Meridian, with an assessed valuation of taxable property for 1877 of
$781,226.00.
SETTLEMENT.
The facts pertaining to the early settlement of Metamora Township are of
historical interest, and comprise as much of importance as any of the early set-
tlements of Woodford County. As early, it is said, as 1823-4, white men had
begun to wander this way, and to erect their cabins in the great forests bordering
Walnut and Partridge Creeks, which have their sources in this township ; but
whether so far back as the date above given, is a point subject to some doubt
and conjecture. It is, however, pretty generally admitted, that a half a century
or more has passed since settlements were first made in this section, and within
less than a mile of the present village of Metamora. Daniel, William and Sol-
omon Sowards are supposed to have been the first to settle in this neighborhood,
and believed by some to have been here as early as the date mentioned. Daniel,
who was the oldest of the three boys, perhaps was the first to come to this wil-
derness. He built a block house but a short distance from the present residence
of Mr. Yoereger, as a protection against the Indians, who were numerous at that
time, but apparently harmless and peaceably disposed. The old block house
stood for many years as a relic of the pioneer days.
As we have already said, the Sowardses are supposed to have been the first
settlers here, and with none living to contest the point, and the oldest agreeing
that they were, we, too, give them the honor, subject to any doubts that may
exist in regard to it. They were Eastern people, and claimed descent from
tlie genuine old Puritan stock ; also, to be a branch of the family of Sewards,
and remotely connected with the late William H. Seward, Secretary of State
under President Lincoln. Although the names differ slightly in orthography,
sucli things often occur in families through a descent of several generations, and
we will not withhold from their memory the honor bestowed on the name by the
able statesman. The history of Metamora Township records no instance of any
member of the Sowards family attaining to an office of '' trust or profit," or dis-
tinguishing himself other than as a common farmer.
" Their history is written
In their race, and, like the stars,
They quietly fulfill their destiny.
268 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
They were simple-minded, unpretending people, serving out their day and
generation, and, Avith the other relics of other days, have passed away.
George Kingston, Avho first settled in Spring Bay Township, and in 1(S28
settled in Metamora, on the place now occupied by Jerry Ray, came from the
County of Cork, Ireland, with his father in 1816. They stopped in Pittsburgh,
Avhere they remained until 1818, when they removed to Illinois, and settled in
St. Clair County, ne^r Shiloh Church. After attaining to manhood, George
Kingston settled in Sangamon County, where he married Susan Miller, a niece,
it is said, of General Whiteside, who was famed as a great Indian fighter-.
While Mr. Kingston does not seem to have been of a warlike disposition, nor
any of his children strongly predisposed that way, yet he, as well as his wife,
came of a somewhat warlike race. His grandfather, he states, was a soldier,
and served for some time in the ;irmy of Oliver Cromwell. He settled, as already
stated, in ^letamora Township in 1828, on a claim which he purchased from
one Connor. Who Connor was or whence he came, nothing definite can be
ascertained. In coming to Woodford County, Kingston crossed the Illinois
River above Peoria, probably at "the Narrows," and having with him, in addi-
tion to other property, a small drove of hogs, they were immediately stolen from
him after crossing the river by the Indians, or men disguised as such. Mr.
Kingston has always maintained that the thieves were "white Indians." No doubt
they were, as there seems to have been a regular organized band of thieves in
this part of the State at that time, and many of their depredations were charged
to the much persecuted red men. He Avas wont to mention with pride the fact
that he voted for the admission of Illinois into the Union as a " free State," and
also for her to pay her debt. An anecdote is told of his idea of politics and of
voting in a republican country, in which his Irish eccentricity was amusingly
displayed. He liad always claimed to be a strong Democrat, and had voted with
that party. During the great excitement of the Presidential campaign of 1840, it
was reported in the Democratic camp that George Kingston was going to vote
for Harrison. Being remonstrated with and reproached for his apostacy, he
innocently replied that he was " in favor of the majority ruling,- and as he
believed Harrison would be elected, he thought it his duty to vote for him."
That " he believed in a republican government, and unless the majority ruled,
a republican government was a failure and a fraud. ' His idea of true Democ-
racy seemed to be to vote with the majority, regardless of particular dogmas,
and no argument from his Democratic friends could shake his opinion of right,
and vote for Harrison he did. Mr. Kingston is at present living in Livingsion
County, a feeble old man, both mentally and physically.
In a few years, the little settlement was augmented by several families from
France — that land of beauty and refinement. Peter Engle, Sr., the Verklers,
who were step-sons, and John Brickler came from the province of Lorraine in
1831. John -Engle, a half brother to Peter, had come out a year or two pre-
vious, < 'hristian Smith in 1833, and about the same time Francis Bregeard,
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 269
Pichere.au and Rev. Christian Engle, the father of Peter and John Engle.
Joseph Bachman and Michael Yoereger, from Alsace, France, in 1839. Some
of these old settlers are still living upon their original homesteads, and within
sound of the church bells of Metamora village. A son of Yoereger lives on the
old place, and within a few rods of where Sowards built the blockhouse. John
Encrle still lives within a mile or two of the village. He was a teamster for the
Cj CD
government during the Black Hawk war. John Brickler settled where Farver,
his son-in law, now lives, and died in 1852. He had been a soldier in Bona-
parte's army in the department of artillery ; was in the expedition of the Grand
Army to Russia, and in its famous retreat from Moscow. When he came to
America, he brought with him one of the short artillerv swords used in the
French army in that branch of the service, and which in this republican coun-
try was degraded from the glory of " noble war " by being used as a knife for
" cutting up corn." There are those still living in this immediate vicinity wlio
have used the old sword in that capacity. Marcelin Farver came from Switzer-
land to Woodford County in 1837. He married Mary, a daughter of John
Brickler, and now lives where Brickler originally settled. He was her second
husband, her first having died soon after their marriage.
Peter Engle, Sr., and his father, Rev. Christian Engle, are both dead; tlie
latter was a minister of the Mennonite Church, and preached to his congregation
the Sunday before his death. Peter Engle, Sr., was a man of the broadest
benevolence ; and the poor in his own country, as well as the unfortunate in
this settlement, had many a cause to shower blessings upon his head. Peter
Engle, Jr., his son, who was but 9 years old when his father came to this coun-
try, lives still upon the old homestead. From him we learned many of the par-
ticulars of the privations of these early days, and some of the incidents of their
voyage to the land of liberty. They landed in Baltimore on the 21st of May,
and proceeded to Lancaster County, Penn., crossing the mountains of the Old
Quaker State with a cart, drawn by one horse, in which rode Mrs. Engle and
an aunt, who had a young baby, while the rest of the party trudged along on
foot.
After a tedious journey, they arrived in Pittsburgh, where they embarked on
an Ohio River boat and came down to Louisville. Here they changed boats,
and passed over the falls at low water, and could feel their vessel bump on the
rocks, but got over in safety. They passed down the Ohio and up the Missis-
sippi River to St. Louis, where they were transferred to another boat for the
Illinois River. This was an old, rickety affair, and sunk on its next trip, after land-
ing the Engles safely at th'eir destination, Fort Clarke (now Peoria), from whence
they came to the Metamora settlement, sometimes called at that day the settle-
ment of Partridge Point. Mr. Engle bought a claim from Benjamin Williams,
who then removed into what is now Worth Township. Upon tfliis claim there
was a little log hut, 10x12 feet, without loft or window, which stood near the
present residence, and into this the family moved. Their bread, for some time
270 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
after their arrival, was made of frost-bitten corn, which had been dried in the
,sun, then pounded into a kind of meal in skillets, and baked on a board before
the fire. i
"Old Kaintuck" gave to this settlement the Bantas, Kobert T. Cassell,
Joseph AVilkerson, William H. Delph, Jesse Dale and perhaps other families.
Of the Bantas, there were Jacob Banta, and three sons, David, Albert J. and
CorneliTis D. Banta, who came in 1832, except Albert, who came the next yeai-.
Jacob Banta was born in New Jersey, but in sight of the church spires of the
Empire City. He emigrated to Kentucky with his father when a small boy,
and settled in Mercer County near Harrodsburg, where they lived until they
removed to Illinois in 1832. There seems to have been a singular coincidence
in the birth and death of this old patriot — born in 1771, on the eve of the tei-
i-ible struggle that finally, through a succession of miracles as it were, ended in
his country's glory, he passed away just as another great revolution was ready
to burst upon the country he so dearly loved. He died February 26, 1861, in
the 90th year of his age, and was kindly spared the witnessing of the horrors of
a civil war. Cornelius and David Banta* came to Illinois with their father, as
stated, in 1832. '• Niel " Banta, as he is familiarly called, entered land a mile
north of Metamora village, in 1833, where he still lives. For several years
after entering his land, he " bached " it, while opening up improvements, on
the principle of having a "cage ready for the bird." When the Bantas came,
they remember among those living in the settlement, Peter Engle, Sr., the
Sowardses, John Brickler, George Kingston, but a number of empty cabins,
which had been deserted by their occupants in anticipation of the horrors of the
Black Hawk war, few of whom ever returned. The first meal they procured
after arriving here Avas from a little horse mill in the neighborhood, and was a
highly esteemed luxury in the family, as they had been living principally on
potatoes for several days. Mr. Banta sometimes worked at wagon making and
repairing, and as that class of mechanics were scarce, his ingenuity was often
brought to the test. He relates an amusing anecdote of his first lesson in Ger-
man. Being called on to repair some damages to a neighbor's wagon one day,
and not having all the tools needed, went to Mr. Engle's for the purpose of bor-
rowing an iron S(}uare. Mr. Engle kindly told him he Avas welcome to the
article, but that " old man so and so " had it, and that he would have to go there
for it. This old neighbor was a German who could not speak a word of English.
Mr. Banta inquired what iron square was in German, and was informed by
Engle that it was weinkel-izer (our German friends will pardon us if the word
is spelled wrong, we spell it as it sounds to our English ears), and he started for
the German's place, repeating the word to himself. He found the old man at
home and inquired, "you got Engle's weinkel-izer?" " Yaw," he replied, and
forthwith produced the said "weinkel-izer," and Banta went on his way rejoicing.
Albert J. Banta came out to this county in 1833, and settled a mile or two west
* David Banta has always lived in Tazewell County.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 271
of the village of Metaraora, where his widow, Mrs. Rachel Banta, still lives.
They drove through from Mercer County, Kentucky, their native place, with a
team, and when in the vicinity of where Bloomington now is, Mr. Banta, in
stepping out on the wagon tongue for the purpose of getting on one of the
horses, fell, and in so doing, stuck the end of his whip-handle in his right eye,
totally destroying the sight. Before leaving Kentucky, he had seriously injured
the other in "burning tobacco beds," and was now almost blind. The next
Summer, his wife took him to a noted physician, who, to a considerable extent,
restored sight to the eye injured while yet in Kentucky. They remained with
Mr. Banta's father, at Holland's Grove, where the old gentleman first settled,
until Spring, when they came to the place already mentioned, and bought 160
acres of land, with a couple of little log-cabins on it, into one of which they
removed. It had a puncheon floor, a very poor stick fire-place and chimney,
and a door made from puncheons split out of logs, four inches thick,, so as to be
bullet proof, an object looked to by the early settlers in building their cabins.
They did not get settled in time to raise anything the first year, and Mr. Banta
went over to the Walnut Grove settlement, where he succeeded in buying a few
bushels of corn on credit, and brought it home. This they "hulled " by soaking
it in lye, thus making what was called " lye-hominy," and ate it without the
luxury of either milk or salt. At that time there was a horse mill about seven-
teen miles from Washington, near the present town of Groveland, owned by one
McKingston. To this mill farmers came with their grain from Bloomington,
and other places quite as far away. Mr. Banta's father used to go there to mill,
and on one occasion left his horses three days in order to secure his turn. They
had to go to Fort Clarke (now Peoria) to procure their meager housekeeping out-
fit, which in those early days were very limited. ^Ir. Banta died in 1850, and
his widow is still living on the place of their original settlement, surrounded
with all the comforts of life. After passing through the hardships of the pioneei"
times, they succeeded in accumulating a good share of worldh' goods. Mrs.
Banta remembers many of those early hardships with all the vividness of yes-
terday's occurrence ; how they used three-legged stools of their own man-
ufacture for chairs, a large "cut " from a tree split open and a puncheon hewed
out, with holes bored in it, and legs put in, made their table; holes bored in the
wall, pins driven in, and a pole laid across, filled in with straw, was their
bed. Looking at her well furnished residence of to-day, it is hard to realize the
changes of forty-five years. Mr. Niel Banta relates an amusing anecdote illus-
trative of the backwoods in those early times : He was at Spring Bay one day,
at some kind of a public gathering — perhaps a political outpouring of the
" sturdy yeomanry " of the land — and many of the multitude were exceedingly
jubilant and merry (there was a still house near by, and it is supposed that the
close proximity of it had some influence on them), when a man was taken sud-
denly very ill. A young man, nicknamed " Cabe " Brown, who was pretty full
of Avhisky, and just in the condition to be officious, appointed himself to take
272 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
care of the sick man, and called in Dr. Hazard, an old fogy kind of a doctor,
about as drunk as himself. The Doctor put on an appearance of owl-like wis-
dom, shook his head and ahemed, to imply that the case was a critical one,
Cabe could not endure the suspense, but impatiently inquired : " Doctor what
is the matter with him ? " The Doctor scratching his head, and looking wise,
solemnly replied : " He has got nondescript.'' " My God I " said Cabe, "■ if he
has got nondescript, he will die."
Robert T. Cassell was born in Lexington, Ky., and came to Jacksonville,
111., in 1830, where he lived until the Fall of 1838, when the death of his
father, who owned considerable land in this vicinity, caused him to remove to
Metamora Township. There was no village here then ; Hanover had not yet
risen out of the prairie grass. Mr. Cassell first occupied a little house on the
corner where Plank's law office now stands, and afterward became memorable
as the house in which the first session of Court was held after the removal of the
seat of justice faom Versailles to Hanover. Nor were there any settlements on
the prairie. Far as the eye could reach, away over the boundless plains, not a
cabin broke the dreary monotony of the scene, not a tree met the vision, except
the forests which bound the prairies as the beach limits the sea. When Mr.
Cassell made the remark, one day, that in fifty years those broad prairies would
be flourishing farms, the very idea, he states, was ridiculed, and he pronounced
a lunatic for suggesting such impossibilities. Ere half of the fifty years had
passed, it Avas one long lane from Metamora to El Paso, with fine, productive
farms on either side.
Another of the Kentucky delegation was William H. Delph, who is still
living in the village of Metamora, but growing old and slowly tottering down
the wintry slope of life. He came to Illinois in 1830, and stopped first at Jack-
sonville, where he remained some years. Being a practical engineer, he was a
man of much importance and value in the new country, and was the first rail-
road engineer to move a train of cars in the State. The road was Illinois' first
effbrt in that direction, and extended from Jacksonville to Meredosia on the
Illinois River. It was called the Great Western Railroad, and this high-sound-
ing name was adopted, perhaps, in consideration of the magnitude of the enter-
prise of that day. The propelling engine was like almost anything the imagi-
nation can conceive of, except the perfect locomotive now in use. It would some-
times break down or give out, and the train be detained on the road several
days, until it was finally thrown aside as a failure, and mules substituted in its
place. Mr. Delph 's description of this unique railroad and its equipments
is highly entertaining, but they are matters of State history, and we leave them
with this passing notice. Mr. Delph was induced to come to Woodford County
to take the position of engineer of a steam saw-mill, built by the Parks Brothers
for the Hanover Company. He finally bought the mill and operated it for about
three years, when he sold the machinery to a firm in Peoria. The machinery,
it is said, was sufficiently powerful for the largest steamboats on the Western
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 273
rivers, and took more wood to operate it than to run the heaviest vessel. All
the slabs from saw-logs were used as fuel, with an extra cord of wood throAvn in
daily to keep the old thing going. Mr. Delph served as Postmaster of Meta-
mora for sixteen years, receiving the appointment from President Lincoln and
resigning the position upon the inauguration of Mr. Hayes. His daughter,
Mrs. Mary E. Gaynor, is at present Postmistress.
Joseph Wilkerson settled first in Jennings County, Indiana, but after some
years came to Illinois, first settling at Panther Creek. About 1834-5, he
removed to Metamora Township, where he bought a claim and settled perma-
nently. He was a brother-in-law of the Meekses of Walnut Grove settlement,
and a man of sterling worth, energy and industry. He died iu' this neighbor-
hood several years ago, but his widow is still living and enjoying good health for
one of her years.
Jesse Dale came to Illinois at an early day. He first settled at Spring Bay
about 1829, but a few years after came to this township. Little is remembered
of him, further than that he served for a time as Treasurer of the county, and
faithfully discharged the duty. It is related of him that he used to bury the
funds of the County for safe keeping in the ground, and that upon one occasion
he buried them so deep that he had a long and exciting search before he himself
could find them.
From the State that gave us our first President came the Reeder family.
Jacob Reeder, Sr., was from Louden County, Va., and came West with his
father's ftimily in 1791, then but four years old. They first located in Ohio,
near the old town of Chillicothe, when all the Western country was included in
the Territory of the Northwest. They remained there but a short time, then
removed to a place called Crawfish, near the present site of Cincinnati, which
was then an unbroken wilderness. His brother built the first frame house in the
Queen City.
In 1836, Jacob Reeder came to Illinois, and settled in Lacon, then called
Columbia, where he remained about one year, when he removed to the present
county of Woodford, and settled near the town of Washburn. He removed into
Metamora Township in 1847, where he died June 11, 1876.
The following extract from a journal kept by Mr. Reeder, and in possession
of his son Jacob Reeder, Jr., will be read with interest by his surviving rela-
tives and numerous friends in this section :
"My father removed to Ohio, in the Fall of 1791, which was the Fall of
St. Clair's defeat by the Indians, on the 3d of November, 1791. My brother,
Nathaniel, volunteered with about 170 militia, partly from Kentucky, under
Maj. Gano, and as many of the regulars as could be spared, the whole under
the command of Col. Wilkinson, went out to the battle ground and buried the
dead, amounting to 593, at least one-third of the army. They found them
mostly just as they fell, and having buried them, returned to Cincinnati with-
out being molested or seeing an Indian. From that time until 1793, the Indi-
274 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
ans had almost full liberty to do all the mischief to the inhabitants they chose.
Many of them were killed, others wounded; men, women and children taken
prisoners, their horses stolen, their cattle killed. The men were almost con-
tinually under arms. When they went out to work, their guns were their com-
panions. In cultivating their crops they did it in companies — one standing
sentinel while the others worked ; and if a man went to church without his gun he
forfeited one dollar in fine."
This journal was commenced with the intention of embracing the principal
events of his whole life, and he was writing it from memory,* but death came and
he was forced to lay by his pen before he had completed the task.
The old Quaker State of William Penn furnished the township with James
Boys, the first Postmaster, and that pattern of old fidelity. Judge Samuel J.
Crass, who came to Bloomington in 1839, and was appointed Deputy Clerk
under Lew Cole, a position he held until the organization of Woodford County,
in 1841, when he was appointed Circuit Clerk, by Hon. Samuel H. Treat, the
presiding Judge of the District, and swore in the first set of officers of the new
county. He held the office for twelve years, and was a member of the Consti-
tutional Convention in 1847 ; has held successively the office of Probate Judge,
Justice of the Peace, Commissioner in Bankruptcy, Master in Chancery, and
thus *i leading man of the town until the infirmities of age came upon him and
forced him to retire from active business life.
James Boys settled in this township in 1833, where he lived an honored and
respected citizen until his death, July 24, 1856. He kept the post office of
Black Partridge, at his own house, which was the first in the town and county.
THE YANKEES.
The first installment of Yankees came to Metamora Towniship in 1835, if we ex-
cept the Sowardses, who claimed New England origin. A kind of colony, consist-
ing of John Page, Sr., his brother, Ebenezer Page, Nathaniel Wilson, John Mason,
Stephen Dudley and their families, came from the granite hills of New Hamp-
shire, and settled in the vicinity of Hanover, as this place was then called. The
colony was made up by John Page, who had visited the Western country the
previous Summer, and his report of the Great West, their confidence in his
judgment and the influence he exerted, induced them to immigrate with him to
this country. After a tedious journey of five weeks; in wagons by land for a
considerable distance, then by canal and steamboat, they arrived in the settle-
ment in July, 1835. At the time of their arrival, most of the settlers in this
neighborhood were from Indiana and the States south of the Ohio River, and
knew as little of the pure, unadulterated Yankee as they did of the Feejee
Islanders. They, therefore, cherished the strongest prejudices, and looked upon
them as a set of penurious, miserly people, whose grand aim was to get money,
and to cling to it with deathlike tenacity after they had got it. But a back-
* He was said to possess a most remarkable memory.
^ f^/^a^i^
METAMORA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 277
woods wilderness is not the place to indulge in hostile feelings and prejudices,
and upon acquaintance being thoroughly established between them, the South-
ern people, finding the New Englanders to be men like themselves, capable of
as broad and charitable sentiments, with all their characteristic warmhearted-
ness gave them the right hand of fellowship, and a bond of reciprocal affection
was formed which still remains unbroken among their descendants.
This commingling of the two extremes of the country, however, sometimes
gave rise to ludicrous scenes in the settlement. As we have said, the South-
erners looked upon the Yankees as close, dishonest, selfish money getters, void
of all the warmer feelings of human nature, while the latter viewed the South-
ern people, or Hoosiers, as they were called by those from the North and East,
as long, lank, lazy, ignorant animals, and hence each were at first disposed to
criticize the other Avhen opportunity offered.
On one occasion, soon after their arrival, the Pages, or some of the families
that came with them, were trying to wash their clothes, and, not being accus-
tomed to the hard water of the West, or acquainted with the process of soften-
ing it, were making slow headway. After laborious efforts, and without success
in their work of laundrying, they finally sought advice of the "Hoosiers."
"Yes," said one of the latter, "I seed yer didn't know nothing. Ef yer'd
axed me, I'd tolled ver all about it."
From little scenes like this, friendship soon sprang up between the two ele-
ments. As an example of the causes of prejudice against Eastern people, a
Yankee clock peddler came through the settlement, and one of his tricks was
the selling to an old German settler a clock, which had probably cost him ^5.00
at wholesale, for a horse valued at $35 and $30 in cash. Such little episodes
as this caused the people to look on all Yankees with suspicion.
Of this colony, Stephen Dudley was a man of wealth, but, his family being
very much dissatisfied with the wild West, he returned in the Fall to New
England. He made several trips afterward to the new settlement of his friends,
and bought considerable lands here, John Page, Sr., acting as his agent.
John Mason removed to Bureau County, where he died a few years ago. Na-
thaniel Wilson died near Metamora, but his widow is still living, a vigorous old
lady of 83 years. Ebenezer Page lived a respected citizen of the town for
years, and then passed away to his reward.
The Pages — that proud old family of genuine New Englanders — trace their
genealogy back to John Page, who was born in Dedham, England, in 1586, and
came to America in 1630, with Gov. Winthrop. The branches of their gene-
alogical tree are as follows :
The family of John Page, above mentioned, were John, Roger, Ebenezer,
Robert and Samuel. The latter was born in 1633, and lived in Salisbury,
Mass., and his family were Joseph and others. Joseph Page was born in 1667,
and his children were John, Joseph, Mary and Judith. Of this family, John
Page,* born June 17, 1696, married Mary Winslow, May 16, 1720, and their
* One of the proprietors of Gilmanton, N. H. D
278 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
children consisted of Ebenezer, Samuel, Betsey, Moses and others. MoseS'
Page, born September -3, 1726, lived in Gilmanton, N. H., and married Ju-
dith French. Andrew Page, their son, was born July 30, 1751, and married
Elizabeth, a daughter of John Page, of the town of Hawke, November 29^
1774. Their children were Anna, Andrew, Betsey, Hannah, Mary, Sarah,
John, Moses, Benjamin, Samuel and Ebenezer. John Page, the getter-up of
the colony already alluded to, was born October 28, 1787, in Gilmanton, N,
H., and married Betsey Wilson, a daughter of Nathaniel Wilson, April 15,
1811. Their family consisted of Elizabeth True, John W^ilson, Elvira, Andrew-
Nathaniel, Adino, Samuel True, Moses Penn, Thaddeus, Mary Malvina and
Benjamin Edwin. The latter, the youngest of the family, and a man of much
strength of character and of fine intelligence, after passing through the late
war and participating in some of its severest battles, Avas killed in a slight skir-
mish at Old Spanish Fort, March 28, 1865. John Page, Sr., or "Uncle
Johnny" Page, as he was familiarly called, was of the Society of Friends or
Quakers, and was one of nature's noblemen. He died in Metamora, October 1_
1855. His wife died December 16. 1872. Their children were all born in
Gilmanton, N. H., and are all still living, except Elizabeth True, who died
April 15, 1868 ; Mary Malvina, who died March 8, 1833, before the family
left Gilmanton ; and Benjamin Edwin, as above noticed.
John Page was often forced into public offices, though his highest ambition
seemed to be in deserving of the title of '• honest farmer."' He was sent twice to-
the Legislature from his old district, in New Hampshire, and once from thi&
Legislative district. It is related of him, that in his canvas here he was opposed
by one Lynch, who had before served in the Legislature, and, from his always
wearing a smile, had received the soubriquet of the '•smiling member." Lynch,
who was a fine speaker, had thought to lay the old Quaker in the shade by his
fine speeches, which were more in the style of a Congressional candidate, or
State Elector, than adapted to the humble office of State Representative. On
one occasion, after indulging in his usual philippic, " Uncle Johnny " Page rose
and commenced his reply. Looking at Lynch, he said, '" I am a candidate for
the Legislature ; perhaps thee is running for Congress, from the way thee
branches out."
Of this large fiimily, none are now living in Metamora Township, except
John W^. and Adino Page, merchants and bankers of Metamora village, and
their brother, Samuel True Page, and two or three of the children of other
brothers, among whom we may mention Hon. S. S. Page, County Attorney,
and a young lawyer of much promise. Samuel True Page, a survivor of
two wars, lives in the village of Metamora, in a quiet, unostentatious way. He
was in the Mexican war, and took part in several of the hardest battles ; was
one of the soldiers who carried Gen. Shields off the field, when wounded at
the battle of Cerro Gordo. He served in the late Avar, participating in many
of the severe battles, and came out without a Avound. John W. and Adino Page
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUxMTY. 279
have always been prominent men of the community, but have never aspired to
any of the high offices nf the hmd.
John W. Page was tlie first School Trustee of this township ; has held the
office of School Commissioner of the County, School Director, until he would
have the office no longer ; was the first Treasurer of the village corporation
after its organization, twice held the office of Supervisor of the Township, and
is at present School Treasurer and Treasurer of the Metamora Library. He
was a soldier in the Mexican war, but was discharged, on account of ill health,
before his term of service had expired. He built the first house within the
present corporate limits of the village of Metamora, in 1835, when the place
was still called Hanover, and before the village was laid out. This was the first
frame house in Metamora Township. This old relic is still standing, though,
with some changes and additions, it has been turned into a stable.
Adino Page, who Avas but a boy when his father immigrated to the West,
after attaining his majority, returned to New England, and, in 1843, went into
the business of brick making, in Summerville, Mass. In 1847, having married
and settled in his native town of Gilraanton, N. H., he was appointed Super-
intendent of the Alms House, and, soon after. Superintendent of the Poor of
Danvers. Mass., an office he held for about seventeen years. He was one of the
Marshals of the Day at the reception of George Peabody in his native town of
Danvers. In ISAG, he returned to the West and to Metamora Township, where,
for eight years, he had charge of the County Farm ; and the excellence of his
system of management was highly approved by the authorities. For about
eighteen years he has bean a Justice of the Peace; and for years past, his
brother, John W. Page, and himself have been engaged as merchants and
bankers.
George Ray and Dr. J. S. Whitmire were from the old Buckeye State. Mr.
Ray came to Illinois in 1836, and after a spending a short time at Island Grove,
between Springfield and Jacksonville, came to Woodford County and settled
upon the place where he still lives, in December of that year. Being a young
man and single, he made his home most of the time until 1840 a mile north of
town, in the Banta neighborhood. He bought his present place from John
Mason. The claim had a small log cabin on it, and a little patch of plowed
ground, when purchased by him. Mr, Ray for a time engaged extensively in
the cattle trade, buying up cattle and driving them north to supply the settlers
in Wisconsin and that section of country, often driving for miles along the old
Indian trails, sometimes through the dismal forests, and sometimes across the
trackless and unbroken prairies, exposed to the war of the elements, the danger
of wild beasts, and not unfrequently to his own kind, but little less savage than
the wild beasts themselves. He mentioned to us a circumstance which happened
to him once away up on the Kishwaukee, some fifty miles north of Ottawa.
Returning after having disposed of a drove of cattle, lie was forced to stay over
night at the cabin of an old man of a rather bad reputation, and who had sev-
280 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
eral grown up sons with no better record than that of the father. They had
been accused of many crimes of robbery, and even of murder. Parties had
been traced to their cabin but never heard of more, and yet there was no posi-
tive evidence against them. Mr. Ray was conducted to his apartment, after get-
ting some supper, which was up in the "loft," and reached by a ladder. He
slept but little during the night, and several times heard them start up the lad-
der, when he would rise from his bed, and they would stop, warned by the noise
that he was awake. Finally morning dawned and released him from his tor-
ture. He arose and left the place without molestation. A few months later
and the old man was killed for some of his alleged crimes. A company of men
went to his cabin ostensibly to arrest him, but he refused to be taken. He
attempted to escape ; the first platoon was ordered to fire on him, and he fell
pierced by nine rifle balls. His sons escaped and were never more heard of in
that section, and thus the den was broken up. Dr. Whitmire came to Illinois
in 1846, and was one of the first regular, located physicians in the township.
He is a man of fine intelligence, a physician of extensive knowledge and prac-
tice, and has writte* some able articles for the medical journals of the day. He
was a surgeon in the army during the late war.
Judge W. P. Brown is from New York, near the city of Utica. In 1833,
he came to Pittsburgh on a raft, where it was stove ; he then took a boat to Cin-
cinijati, intending to go into the law school just opened at that time, but find-
ing it of little consequence as an institution, he bought a law library pretty
cheap, which he says he put in a ^'meal-bag," took boat to St. Louis, then
came up the Illinois River to Pekin and from there went over to Jacksonville.
His first acquaintance in the State of Illinois was Stephen A. Douglas, whom
he met at Jacksonville. He was boarding at the "tavern" where Brown
stopped, and. after dinner, invited him over to what he termed his office, a little
shanty 10x12 feet, without ceiling, and roughly weather-boarded. In the center
stood a square table and upon it laid a copy of Illinois State Laws, which com-
prised Douglas' library. A friendship was begun in that little unpretending
law office, which continued until the death of "Little Duo;," as the Judsre
affectionately terms him. Brown first settled in Bloomington, when there were
but two stores and a half dozen houses in that city. He was elected Probate
Judge, when the disposal of that oflSce was vested in the Legislature, and was
elected through the influence of Douglas, then a member of that august body.
He was afterward elected by the people, and after removing to Woodford County
was again elected to the office, and Avas also the fii'st County Judge of Woodford.
The Judge's excellent memory is well stored with the early history of the county,
especially that pertaining to the laAv, and numerous anecdotes, in which Lincoln,
Douglas, David Davis, Jones of Pekin, Gridley of Bloomington, and his old
friend, Simon P. Shope, figured.
In 1837, a Democratic Convention was held at Vandalia, then the State
capital, for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the office of Governor.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 281
Hon. George Henshaw and Judge Brown were appointed Delegates from Bloom-
ington, and went down on horseback. On the way, they fell in with Ex-Gov.
Sample and a Judge Brown from the northern part of the State, perhaps from
Galena, and bound, like themselves, to Vandalia, and also on horseback. Late
in the day, their stomachs began to warn them that their usual dinner hour had
long since passed. A council of war was held and Judge Brown, of Galena, was
appointed a committee of one to make inquiries at the next house for something
to eat. Accordingly the dignified old Judge rode up and asked for biscuit
and coffee, in his polite and pleasant way, but was informed that they had noth-
ing of the kind. He then asked for milk and corn bread, and received the
reply that they had neither ; when he asked what they did have to eat, was in-
formed "nothing," the Judge lost his good humor and impatiently retorted —
" Well, for God Almighty's sake put us in the stable and give us some hay."
The holding of this convention was just after the inauguration of President
Van Buren, and all were anxious to see his first message. Vandalia was on the
mail route from Vincennes to St. Louis and a regular mail was carried on horseback
between those places. Judge Brown went to the post oflSce on the arrival of
the mail from the East, and bought a newspaper containing the message, for
which he paid a silver dollar. He took the paper back to Bloomington with
him and had the President's Message there a week before it came in the regular
mail.
Amos A. Brown, another member of the Brown family, but no relation to
the Judge, came from Connecticut. When but a boy, he ran away from home
and went to sea, on account of the ill treatment of his stepmother. He followed
the sea ft^r many years and when he left it wandered West, and for several
years followed the' rivers, when they Avere infested with men little better than
pirates. He settled in Woodford County, near Metamora, in 1835. He was
made a Justice of the Peace, one of the first in the county, and was noted for
his honest and upright decisions of justice. Of rough exterior, he knew how to
mingle with any society of the backwoods — was at home on the race course or
at the card table, but withal honest and honorable in his dealings In the
evening of his life, he became an exemplary member of the Christian Church.
Like Daniel Boone, he could not stand too much crowding, and, as the country
settled up, became discontented, until finally, he
" Folded his tent like the Arab,
And as silently stole away."
He removed to Iowa, where he died a few years ago. Judge Brown relates
an instance of a suit he once had before him. A noted lawyer came out from
Peoria to defend the case, and, although he had much the best side of it, the
Judge, by some hocus pocus or sleight of hand performance with 'Squire Brown,
tlie latter decided the case in favor of Brown's client, and against the Peoria
lawyer. Very much surprised at the decision, the Peoria lawyer said, " Your
Honor, I appeal this case from your decision." " Don't allow an appeal.
282 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY
whispered Judge Brown to the Justice. Drawing himself up with much dig-
nity, 'Squire Brown replied: ''There is no appeal, sir. I allow no appeal
from this Court, sir."
William Rockwell, one of the stockholders of the Hanover Company, came
from Massachusetts, and settled in Metamora Township in 1835. He took the
contract for building the Court House, but afterward sub-let it to David Irving,
by whom it was built, as noted in another chapter. Mr. Rockwell also took the
contract for building the Episcopal Church, the first church erected in Meta-
mora, but died before it was finished. His residence in the village of Meta-
mora is noted for the material having been mostlv brought from Cincinnati, and
as an example of the substantial manner in which buildings were put up in
those days, the timbers, many of them, are sufficiently strong for a railroad
bridge across the Illinois River.
Levi P. Morse came with his father, Parker Morse, from Vermont, in 1835.
They settled near Low Point, but in a short time removed within the present
limits of Metamora Township. L. P. Morse, though but a boy fifteen years of
age, drove one of the wagons through by land, a distance of nearly 1,000 miles,
and did not sleep in a house during the journey. The Morses were the first
Abolitionists known in Woodford County, and still take pleasure in narrating
the assistance they lent to the fugitive slaves, when fleeing across the State
toward the land of freedom. In those early days Abolitionism, was very
unpopular, even in Illinois, and time and again, those holding to its principles
were indicted by the Grand Jury, for aiding slaves to escape from their owners.
The Morses came in for their share in the persecutions, as they were among the
most daring conductors on the underground railway. Joseph Morse, an elder
brother of L. P. Morse, had been indicted, and, it was said, tried very hard to
get himself martyrized by being put in jail. He was arrested and refused to
give bail, although several old citizens offered to go on his bond, and there was
no other resource left but to take him to jail. Woodford County had no jail
then, and the Sheriff started with him to Tazewell County. Not having the
requisite papers, the jailer of Tazewell refused to receive him, and so he was
left like '■ a stranger in a strange land," without home or friends, and not even
a prison that would receive him within its somber walls. They were very con-
scientious men, had been born and bred to look upon slavery as a sin, and,
doubtless, deemed it their duty to assist all slaves to escape from bondage so far
as they were able to do so, though slavery was acknowledged and upheld by the
laws of the land.
Thomas Warren, from Tennessee; David Irving, from New Jersey; James
Mitchell, from Indiana; Hon. Joel A. Ranney, from Vermont ; Joseph Morley,
from Maryland ; Rev. E. B. Kellogg, from New York ; .Judge Painter and
Humphrey Leighton are all old settlers of this township. Joseph Morley set-
tled here in 1834, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He is an old man
now, and feeble both in mind and bodv. His mother died about two years ago,
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 288
at the age of 104 years, retaining her energies to the last. Judge Painter, as
he is usually called, is an old settler, and the hero of an interesting "cow
case," as Solon Shingle would say, which is often humorously told at his
expense. Painter had a cow that was disposed to be a little "roguish,"' and
annoyed his neighbors a good deal by breaking into and destroying their gar-
dens, until, as a relief, he finally decided to convert the unruly beast into beef.
Some time afterward, he met Dr. Leainon, an early practitioner of the town,
and a little high tempered sometimes. " That cow of yours," said the Doctor
to Painter, "was in my garden yesterday, and has totally ruined it."
" I guess you are mistaken, aren't you. Doctor," inquired Painter in his
•easy, good natured way.
"No, I am not mistaken," said the Doctor, boiling over in his wrath,
" and the next time she gets in my garden, I'll shoot her. She has been the
plague of the toAvn long enough."
"All right," said Painter, "but you are sure it's my cow. Doctor? "
"Of course I am sure of it; do you think I am a fool'?" bawled out the
Doctor.
"Well," returned Painter, "I butchered that cow about two months ago,
and sold half of her for beef; have eaten the other half myself, and I'll
be if I didn't think she would cease annoying my neighbors, but it
seems I was mistaken."
Hon. Joel A. Ranney is one of the "Green Mountain boys," and came
with his fether's family to this township in 1837-8, where he still lives. Mr.
Ranney was elected to the State Legislature in 1876. Rev. E. B. Kellogg
was the first Episcopal preacher in the town, and was instrumental in building
the first church.
L. F. Feilitzsch was born in Hungary, and, at the age of 18, volunteered
under the Emperor Maximilian. He was on the staif of the unfortunate
monarch in Mexico, and after participating in many of the battles of that
stormy period, was captured by Gen. Diaz, the present President of the
Mexican Republic, but escaped, and finally made his way to Havana. He was
wounded eight times during the war, and at its close took the remnant of the
ill-fated army back to Vienna. Broken down in health, he went to Lake
Geneva, in Switzerland, where he spent some time. In 1868, he came to the
LTnited States ; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1871, and at
present is Master in Chancery for Woodford County.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE.
Black Partridge Post Office, mentioned as the first in Woodford County,
was the first in Metamora Township. It was kept by James Boys, at his own
house, about three miles north of the present village of Metamora. It did not
last very long, and, after its discontinuance. Rev. Wm. Davenport petitioned
the Government for an office to be called Hanover. But there being another
284 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Hanover in the State, he was requested to find some other name, and Partrido-e
Point was adopted. Davenport was the first Postmaster, although Parks
kept the office at his saw-mill, and attended to the business of it. But being
more trou!)le than profit, Parks soon gave it up, and R. T. Cassell, at the vil-
lage of Hanover, as Metamora was then called, became Postmaster. The mail
was carried by the Chicago and Bloomington stage coach, and all of the mail
along the entire route in one four-bushel bag together. The stage passed
Hanover in the latter part of the night, and, when it was very cold and very
dark, the stage would hold up and the driver throw out the bag. Mr. Cassell
says there were but three newspapers and one magazine taken at the oflSce, and
as he knew on what days to look for them, when they were not expected, he
would drag in the mail bag and shut the door, and in a moment or two pitch it
out again without opening it, so as to keep the driver from waiting long in the
cold. If anything was in the mail, it was stopped at Belle Plain, the next post
office, twelve miles distant, and returned next trip, under the supposition that
it had been sent on through mistake. There were but two mails a week, and the
papers and magazine above mentioned, with an occasional letter, were the usual
amount of mail for this place. The postage on letters then was twenty-five
cents, and, in a newly-settled country like this was at that period, twenty-five-
cent pieces were about as scarce as letters.
The church history of Metamora Township is given under the head of
Metamora Village. There are no churches outside of the village in the town-
ship, but several near the line, which draw considerable support from this town-
ship. Mount Zion Church, near the head of Walnut Grove, but situated just
over the line in Cruger Township, and the Ormish Church, near the line
between Worth and Metamora. are both liberally patronized from this town-
ship, as well as from those in which they are located.
THE FIRST DEATH, MARRIAGE, ETC.
The first death, of which we have any account in the township, occurred in
the family of Daniel Sowards. Two daughters of his died in the Winter of
1833-34, in the old block house, already referred to in these pages. His wife
also died soon after. The first marriage is supposed to have been Joseph Verk-
ler, a step-brother of Peter Engle, Jr., who was married about 1832. A sister
of Verkler's Avas married soon after, and Mary Brickler was also married a short
time after the Verklers. The latter's first marriage was with a man named
Aubier, who went to New Orleans soon after their marriage and was drowned,
and a few years later his widow married Marcelin Farver. This last marriage
ceremony was performed by a Presbyterian minister, but as neither the bride
nor the bridegroom could speak English, the Rev. Christian Engle acted as
interpreter. The first child born in the township, Mrs. Farver thinks, was
George Kingston, and was born in 1832. This is the first of which we have
any definite information. Dr. Hazard is supposed to have been the first doctor-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 285
in the township, but, being a man of very dissipated habits, did not amount to
much as a physician, and was thrown from his horse one day and killed. Dr.
J. S. Whitmire was probably the first resident physician in the township, and
has been a regular practitioner here since 184G, with the exception of his period
of service as Surgeon in the United States army during the late war.
When Mr. Ray came to Metamora Township, the settlers were doing their
milling at Crocker's and Hoshor's, down on the river, in the present township of
Spring Bay. Previously, they had gone sometimes to a little horse mill near
Groveland, in Tazewell County. The first road through the township Avas the
State road from Chicago to Bloomington and Springfield. It run through
Ray's farm, by the old block house and by Peter Engle's, who kept a tavern and
the stage stand. This was the first tavern in the township, and mentioned in
the general history as the first in Woodford County. The stage changed horses
at Engle's, it also carried the mail, and was probably Uncle Sam's first travels
across the prairies of Woodford, The first saw-mill was built by the Park's
Brothers for the Hanover Company in 1837, one mile north of the village of
Metamora, and was purchased some years later by Wm. H Delph, as already
stated.
At the time of the early settlement of Metamora Township, there were
quite a number of Indians in this section of the country, though no hostilities
were ever committed by them against the whites. Even during the excitement
of the Black Hawk war, the Indians in this county remained friendly to the
settlers. But the influx of immigration finally crowded them out of the coun-
try, and like the Star of Empire, they wended their way westward. Where
their wigwams stood are now to be seen the elegant abodes of the white man,
and their hunting grounds are flourishing farms.
THE SCHOOLS.
The first school in this township is supposed to have been taught by Miss
Betsey Page, about 1836, in a little house that stood on Brickler's place. There
are some, however, who believe there was a school taught previous to this, in a
little- log cabin, on the fivrm of Peter Engle, Jr., but of the history of these
early schools but little can now be learned. The first school taught in Meta-
mora Township, for which public money was paid, was taught by Miss L. K.
Morse, a daughter of Parker Morse. The Trustees of the district, James
Owens, Thomas Jones and Mr. Morse, made applicatioa for a portion of the
public money for this school, and after many delays, and a vast amount of " red
tape," succeeded in getting it. This was in 1836-37. From John W. Page,
School Treasurer of Metamora Township, we obtain the following items taken
from his last report to the County Superintendent of Schools :
No. males under 21 years, in township 457
" females under 21 years, in township 407
Total 864
2S6 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
No. males between 6 and 'Jl years 809
" females between 6 and 21 year.s 290
Total 599
No. males attending schools 277
'• females '• " 272
Total 549
No. School Districts in township 10
" schools taught '■ 10
" of graded schools " 1
" ungraded •■ • 9
'■ male teachers employed 7
" female " ' • 14
Total 21
No. brick school houses 2
" frame '• " 8
Estimated value of school property of township $ 16,170
' • •' apparatus 220
Township fund for support of schools 8,127
Highest monthly wages paid male teachers 122.22
" " " female " 52.80
Lowest " •• male " 35.00
female •' 25.00
Whole amount paid male teachers 2,065 94
" female •' 2,115.78
Total $4,181.72
Like many of the townships in Woodford County, the early records are not
oome-at-able. The Treasurer, Mr. Page, has a cash book extending back to
1843, but it contains nothing that would be of special interest here.
In this township, the deep snow is a thing of the past, and there are none
living to-day, who remember it through personal experience. The cold Winter
of 1836-37, however, is vividly remembered by many. C. D. Banta related to
us his remembrance of the '•'■ cold day," as it is still called. He and his bi-other
had been to Washington, and after starting home, soon discovered how cold it
was growing. Banta had on an overcoat with several capes, a fashion much
worn in those days. It had been raining and his clothes were a little wet, when
the wind blew one of the capes of his coat over his head ; it froze in that posi-
tion, and so remained until he got home and "thawed out." He states that in
a moment of time, as it were, the water seemed to congeal and cease running in
the wagon ruts. No one froze to death in this immediate neighborhood, but the
suffering for a while was pretty intense. He remembers on another occasion of
seeing the juice which had boiled out of the hickory logs burning in the large
fire places, freeze and hang in icicles, notwithstanding the close proximity of the
fire, and his testimony is corroborated by others who witnessed similar events.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 287
THE RAILROAD.
Metainora Township enjoyed railroad agitation at least twenty-five years
ago. In ISAG, a route was surveyed for a road, known as the Tonica & Peters-
burg Railroad. The next year it was graded through the township, when the
work on it ceased. This constituted the township railroad facilities until 1870,
when it was completed to the village of Metamora, under the title of the St.
Louis, Jacksonville & Chicago Railroad. When completed thus far, it became
the property of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad Company, who put on
the rolling stock, equipped it in good style, and changed its name to the West-
ern Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. With a subscription
of stock from Metamora Township of $50,000, the road was completed through
to Washington, where it taps the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad and makes
connection for the East and West. The following extract from the Woodford
/Sentinel of that day pretty clearly evinces the interest the people felt in their
railroad :
Thursday, October liTth, A. D. 1870, will be long remembered by our citizens, for on thi.s
day was it that the first train of cars entered our town. During the day, groups of people
might be seen here and there along the grade, their eyes turned toward the north, watching the
approach of the locomotive as she moved along in the wake of the track layers. Four o'clock
was given as the time when the cars would reach the depot grounds at the foot of Mt. Vernon
street, but long before this hour, an immense concourse of citizens had assembled, and by hilf
past 8 both sides of the railroad grade from Chatham to Partridge streets were completely
packed with human beings. On came the track layers, the spike drivers in close proximity, and
the engine with its train taking up the rear. As the track layers were spanning Chatham street
with the iron, the old sis-pounder belched forth its fire and smoke, and the quick report that
followed announced to the outside world that Metamora wis a railroad town, ready to take her
place among the great business marts of the country I Then followed an appropriate air from
the brass band, and, amid cannonading and music ind cheering, the track layers worked on until
darkness set in, they seeming to partake of the general excitement.
A lunch had been prepared for the workmen, consisting of crackers, cheese, bread and
cake, to which ample justice was done. At the conclusion of the feast, cheer after cheer went
up for Metamora and her citizens, followed by cheers and "tiger-" for the St. Louis, .Jackson-
ville & Chicago Railroad.
The day following, the ladies of Metamora gave the workingmen a grand public dinner in
the open air, and never did men enjoy a meal better than they. At the conclusion of the dinner,
we almost wished that we had been a woman instead of an editor, so long and loud were the
cheers that went up from the throats of these hard-working men, and so earnest were the " God
bless yous"' and pra,yers for the happiness and prosperity of the lailies of Metamora.
WAR RECORDS.
Metamora Township has one old soldier of the war of 1812, Joseph Morley,
now over 80 years of age, and three survivors of the soldiers of the Mexican
war. viz.: John W. and Samuel T. Page, and James Rickets, connected with
the County Farm. In the late war, Metamora did more than her share, but for
a failure to get credit for all she furnished, was finally subjected to a draft. The
following officers were from this township : Major R. L. Si<lwell, One Hundred
and Eighth Illinois Volunteers ; Capts. 0. A. Burgess, Co. G, Seventeenth
«
288 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Illinois Volunteers, and Wm. Magaritj, Co. — , Eighty-sixth Illinois Volun-
teers ; Lieuts. F. F. Briggs, Co. E (the color company of the regiment), One
Hundred and Eighth Illinois Volunteers, and Benj. E. Page, Second Sergeant
of sanie regiment and company. Drs. J. S. Whitmire and A. H. Kinnear were
in the medical department, the latter as Surgeon of the One Hundred and
Eighth Illinois Volunteers, and the former as Assistant Surgeon of the Sixth
Cavalry, but afteward promoted to Surgeon of the Fifty-sixth "N^olunteer Infan-
try. Dr. Z. H. "Whitmire was Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment of Eighth
District of Illinois, from 1863 to 1865. There were so many private soldiers
went from the township that it is rather difficult to get the names of all, their
companies and regiments, but so far as can be obtained, their names will be
given in the general war record in another department of this work. A recep-
tion was given in the Summer of 1864, by Metamora, to some of the returned
soldiers, and was an interesting affiiir. Adino Page, Esq., delivered the wel-
coming address, and the toasts of the day were responded to by Rev. I. A.
Cornelison, Judge Chitty, Capt. Rowell and Elijah Plank, Esq.
Politically, the township has always been Democratic, though the Republi-
cans poll a strong vote. An organization called the Good Fellows was formed
during the war, which, while it was apparently simple and absurd in its organ-
ization, was productive of much good. Edward Kipp, an old resident of the
town, was the Grand High Mogul of the institution ; the membership embraced
the very best citizens, and one of the leading principles inculcated was, that
everybody should say what they pleased upon all war and political questions,
and no one of opposite opinion should take offense. The faith was pretty
strictly kept, and thus much hard and bitter feelings avoided, and the opposing
political parties got along in comparative peace.
The township received its name from the village of Metamora, which bore
the name long before township organization.
METAMORA VILLAGE.
Metamora, the county seat of Woodford County, is situated on the western
division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, about one hundred and
thirty-six miles southwest of Chicago. It was originally called Hanover, and
was surveyed and laid out by the County Surveyor of Tazewell County for the
Hanover Company in 1836, who owned the greater portion of the land. The
Hanover Company was composed of the following gentlemen, viz.: Dr. Warner,
of Bloomington, Rev. Wm. Davenport (agent), Dennis* and William Rockwell,
William Major, Jacob Cassell, John T. Jones, D. P. Henderson, J. L. James,
Joseph Taggert, Israel, and owned 12,000 acres of land in the
immediate neighborhood. The village retained the name of Hanover until
a year or two after the removal of the county seat to this place in
1843. It having been ascertained, when getting the post oflBce, that
* Dennis Rockwell livod in Jacksonville.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNT!. 289
there was another Hanover in the State, the ([uestion finally came up for a
change of name. After much discussion, and the proposal of several names,
Peter H. Willard, then a prominent merchant of the place, proposed the name
of Metamora, accompanied with the information that the name had been sug-
gested by his wife, and as a compliment to her it Avas unanimously adopted.
The first post office established in the village was called Partridge Point, on
account of there being another office in the State called Hanover. After the
name of the village was changed to Metamora, that of the post office was also
changed to harmonize with that of the village. As already stated, John W.
Page built the first house within the village corporation in 1836, the year the
village was laid out. The first house erected purposely for a tavern was built
by Samuel S. Parks in 1843,* who had it opened in time to accommodate visit-
ors to the first session of Circuit Court held after the removal to this place of
the county seat from Versailles. This tavern is still standing, and, with some
changes and additions, is known as the Metamora House. Alfred Baker opened
a blacksmith shop in 1837, which was the first in the township.
•' Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You could hear his bellows roar ;
You could hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow."
THE FIRST STORE.
As stated in another chapter, the first store in the village was opened by
Wilson Tucker, who was soon followed by Israel & Weeks. Both of tliese
establishments were of short duration. The first permanent store was that of
Parks', who brought a stock of goods from Philadelphia and opened where Dr.
Z. H. Whitmire's office now stands. In 1843, Peter H. Willard opened a
store in the village of Metamora. He Avas a partner of Munn & Scott, of Spring
Bay, and for years the two houses were operated by these parties, Willard attend-
ing to the house in Metamora, while Munn & Scott managed that at Spring
Bay, and superintended the shipping of grain, a branch of business they carried
on very extensively. After amassing a considerable fortune, Mr. Willard
sold out and removed to St. Louis, but in a short time went to Chicago, where
he noAv lives and is a prosperous merchant on Wabash avenue. To his wife,
a woman of fine literary tastes, belongs the honor of bestoAving on the village
the beautiful Indian name of Metamora.
In 1851, a foundry Avas built in the village by L. C. Blakesley & Co., and
flourished for some three or four years. They made mill work a specialty, but
through bad management, a lack of means to carry on such an establishment,
they became involved and finally failed, pulled up and remoA^ed their traps to
another fiehl.
The Woodford Seyitinel Avas established in 1854, by a man named Shep-
herd. After passing through the hands of several parties, PoAver & Harl
* Parker Morse, Sr., had kept a tavern in the village several years previous to this.
290 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
became the proprietors in 1866, and in June, 1877, Mr. Harl bought out his
partner, and now owns the entire paper. He has bpen connected with the Sen-
tinel for the past eighteen years. Tlie paper is Democratic in politics, and is
the only one of a like political faith in the county. Its local department is pre-
sided over bv that brijrht and facetious writer, Cass Irving.
VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.
The village of Metamora was incorporated as a town, under the statute of
Illinois, on the 8th of January, 1859. A meeting of the legal voters was held
at the Court House, in Metamora, and sixty-one votes in fav.or of incorporating
and three against it were polled. On the 15th, a Board of Town Trustees was
elected as follows : Samuel J. Cross, James S. Whitmire, William Lamson, F. F.
Briggs and H. L. S. Haskell. The Board organized on the 22d of February,
by electing Samuel J. Cross, President, and Edgar Babcock, Clerk, who were
duly sworn and qualified before Elijah Plank, Justice of the Peace. On the
25th of April, 1875, it was re-organized as a village, and the first Board was
A. H. Kinnear, N. Portman, Garman Gish, J. B. Knoblauch, F. F. Hirsch and
A. E. Nesmith. The present Board is composed of the following gentlemen,
viz. : A. H. Kinnear, President ; John Leys, W. J. Cassell, Garman Gish,
Peter Schertz, A. H. Wilson and Chas. D. Delph, Clerk.
The village is in a flourishing condition, and has a population of about 1,000.
It is ornamented with one of the handsomest parks, or public squares, Ave have
ever seen in a country town. Its rows of beautiful trees, forest and ornamental,
when clothed in all the glory of Summer luxuriance, render it a place almost
enchanting. Somers' Hall and Phoenix Hall, the latter in Portman's elegant
brick block, are large and commodious, and supply all the wants of the village
for public gatherings, meetings, etc. The Court House is of the old style of
architecture, and does not present a very ornamental or attractive appearance.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS. ETC.
The first church edifice erected in the village of Metamora was the Episco-
pal Church, in 1847. Rev. Ezra B. Kellogg was the first Pastor, and it was
through his energies and activity in collecting and raising funds that the church
was built. William Rockwell took the contract for the work, but died before
the building was completed. The society was organized as soon as the church
was finished, and consisted of about twenty-five members. It has dwindled
down to a few survivors ; they have no regular preacher, but the society still
exists. The church is a frame building, and cost about $2,000. Rev. Mr.
Kellogg, the original founder of the church, died a few years ago, in San Fran-
cisco.
The Congregational Church was built shortly after the Episcopal, and is of
about the same style, cost and dimensions. Rev. Mr. Miles was the first minis-
ter, and preached in the Court House until the completion of the church. The
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 291
society now numbers forty or fifty members, and is under the pastoral care of
Rev. Mr. Sloat.
The Christian Church was built about 1849-50, and dedicated by Rev. 0.
A. Burgess. The society was organized in 1845, and Rev. Henry Palmer was
the first minister. The lot was donated to the society by the Hanover Com-
pany, and deeded to it tlirough its Trustee, Wm. H. Delph, who still holds the
trust. It is a substantial frame edifice, 40x60 feet, and cost between $2,000
and $3,000. For several years past, it has been under the pastoral charge of
Rev. R. H. Johnson, who recently removed to Iowa, since which time the soci-
ety has been without a regular Pastor. It numbers at present about eighty
members.
The Baptist Society was organized December 26, 1850, under the minis-
terial care of Rev. A. B. Cramb. The church was built and opened for
worship in 1854, and dedicated in November of same year. Rev. C. D. Mer-
ritt was then Pastor. The building is of brick, is 34x44 feet in size, and cost
$2,000. It was used for a short time by the Reformed Presb^^terians ; who,
however, seem to have early left the field to other denominations. The Baptist
Society at present has about fifty members, and its Pastor is Rev. James
Reed,
The Methodist Church was built in 1855, is a substantial brick, 36x48 feet,
and cost about $2,300 without furniture. What time the society was organized
we are unable to learn, but find from the records that it was " set off from the
Washington Circuit in September, 1855; that Rev. John Luccock Avas the Pre-
' siding Elder, and Rev. S. R. Ilardman (said to be as hard as his name). Pas-
tor. It was dedicated in the early part of the Winter of 1855, by Rev. Mr.
Bowles, of Chicago, and Rev. P. T. Rhodes, who succeeded Hardman as Pastor,
upon the resignation of the latter gentleman. Rev. Father Hall, the veteran
preacher, still living in Worth Township, was several years Pastor and Presid-
ing Elder.
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church was organized in the viUage of Meta-
mora in 1863. Father Wm. Deiters was the first regular Priest- in-charge. The
church was built in 1864, and until the time of Father Dieters was supplied by
one of the Redemptionist Fathers, from Chicago, who came out once a month
and officiated. The order of Capuchin Monks, Avith Father Anthony Schur-
mann, Superior, took charge of the church in the Summer of 1877, and at once
commenced its enlargement, and the building of a monastery, in which a first-
class school will be sustained. When the church is completed, it will be, by far,
the finest in the county, and will cost not less than $25,000. A chime of three
bells, in addition to the monastery bell, a large clock in the steeple are some of
the ornaments. An organ has just been placed in the church, which cost
$1,500, and is one of the best in the State. The edifice is to be finished, in
every department, in the highest style of art, and should be a source of pride
to the entire county.
292 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The first school house was built in the village of Metainora, some time pre-
vious to 1850, but the exact date we have been unable to ascertain. It waa
paid for by private subscription, and hence there is no record of it, except in
the minds of the old residents of the place. The first schools were taught in
the houses of the citizens for years before any school buildings were erected.
The school house above alluded to, after being used for a number of years, was
sold, and a substantial two-story brick erected in 1850. About ten years later,
an addition was built to it. In 1872-3, it was destroyed by fire, when the
present large and elegant brick was erected, at a cost of $8,000. It is one of
the best adapted buildings in the county belonging to the common schools.
The village supports a graded school, which is in the charge of Prof. J. E.
Lamb, Principal, with a full corps of teachers, viz.: Misses Charlotte C. Blake,
N. B. Sloan and Mary H. Bangs.
Metamora Lodge, No. 82, A., F. & A. M., was chartered October 8, 1850.
The charter members were John L. Miller, William H. Delph, Evan Trunnei,
J. Sickler, Amos A. Brown, ISTathan Brown, J. Sherman and Parker Morse,
Sr., with John L. Miller as first Master. Their original charter was signed by
Wm. C. Hobbs, Grand Master, and W. B. Warren, Grand Secretary. In 1872,
the hall was burned, and the Lodge lost their furniture, jewels, records and
even their charter. Their charter was re-issued by the Grand Lodge of Illinois,
under date of January 23, 1873, and is signed by James A. Hawley, Grand
Master, and 0. H. Miner, Grand Secretary. John L. McGwire is at present
Master, and J. B. Stitt, Secretary.
Woodford Chapter, No. 110, R. A. M., was organized in 1867, with Jas.
D. Perry, the first High Priest. The present High Priest is Adino Page, and
John L. McGwire, Secretary.
Metamora Council, No. 38, R. & S. M., was established in 1868, and
Edward Kipp was the first T.-.I.-.G.".M. Of late years, this branch of Ancient
Craft Masonry has, in the State of Illinois, been merged into the Royal Arch
Chapter, and nc longer exists as a separate and distinct body.
STEAM MILLS.
The large steam flouring-mill is owned and was built by M. Tool, in 1868,
and is a two-story frame building, with two run of burrs. It was built just after
the war, when material was high, and cost about $10,000. It is the only mill
in the township, and is constantly employed up to its full capacity.
The grain elevator now owned by Peter Schertz, was built in 1870. It is a
strong frame building, 30x80 feet, cost $3,500, and holds 25,000 bushels of
grain. Mr. Schertz handles grain extensively, mostly corn, and also deals largely
in lumber.
BANKS.
The Metamora Bank was established in 1873, by James F. Earl. In 1875,
it was purchased by John W. and Adino Page, who still own the institution and
do a general banking business.
'^,^M
METAMORA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 295
Isaac Wikoff is likewise engaged in banking in addition to his business as
druggist.
The village boasts of no large foundries, manufactories, wholesale houses, or
machine shops, but the business is confined entirely to the retail branches of
trade. There are three general stores, two drug stores, two liardware stores,
tAvo harness shops. Agricultural implements, grain, lumber, etc., etc., are
fully represented.
The practicing physicians are Drs. J. S. k Z. 11. Whitmire, and A. H.
Kinnear.
The legal fraternity is w^ell and ably represented in the following gentlemen
"learned in the law:" Judge W. P. Brown, S. S. Page, L. F. Feilitzsch,
Judge C. H. Chitty, Elijah Plank, W. L. Ellwood and Albert Rich.
OAKWOOD CEMETERY.
Of this beautiful little city of the dead, we have no language to adequately
describe it. Situated on the high table land above Partridge Creek, and points
of ground extending out fan-like in a large bend of the creek, with proper orna-
mentation may be rendered beautiful beyond description. F. F. Briggs, the
Superintendent, is beautifying the cemetery grounds as fast as the funds allotted
to the purpose will allow, while many of the owners of lots are improving and
ornamenting them in the most lovely manner. There are several very fine and
costly monuments in the place, and lots, which are already handsomely improved.
" Here doth the yew her sable branches spread,
And mournful cypress rear her fringed head."
We have not space to particularize this lovely spot, but may add, that Avitli
the fine location, and the adaptability of the ground for a cemetery, with suffi-
cient work and beautifying, it would not be surpassed in loveliness by even the
more pretentious Graceland, Cave Hill or Greenwood.
The geological collection of Adino Page is one of the largest private collec-
tions we have seen, and is mostly composed of specimens of geology, mineralogy
and conchology found in this immediate vicinity. Mr. Page also has a number
of ancient relics which are memorable, and of considerable historical interest.
Among them we will mention only one old fife used in the Patriot army at the
battle of Bunker Hill. At the celebration in Metamora on the Centennial 4th
of July, the old fife was bought out by Mr. Page, and in the hands of William
Lamson, the tunes of Yankee Doodle, Hail Columbia and the Star Spangled
Banner rang out as clear from the old centennial instrument as when it squeaked
its shrill notes after the retreating squadrons of King George. John W. Page
has also quite an elegant geological collection, but is more of a general character,
and contains but few specimens common in Woodford County.
THE METAMORA LIBRARY
was estOvblished in 1857, and is larger than is usually found in a countiy town.
It contains about 1,200 volumes of the standard works of the day, and is con-
296 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
ducted on such a liberal scale as to give those in the most indigent circumstances
a full share of its benefits. A share of four dollars, with one dollar a year dues,
constitutes a membership, and with the revenue thus obtained, the society is con-
stantly adding the most valuable books to their library.
SPRING BAY TOWNSHIP.
This little fragmentary scope of country, known as Township 27 north,
Range 4 west, of the Third Principal Meridian, with a small corner of Town-
ship 28 and with an area of scarcely a dozen miles, contains a history equal to
any portion of Woodford County. These slopes and bluffs and ravines and
belts of timber, where erst the lordly savage built his wigwam and his camp-
fire, and roamed at will as the undisputed master, are rich in historical interest,
and are entwined in legendary lore that will live in story after
" the damp of death shall blight
The cheek's deep glow of red and white.'"
Long ere the white man dreamed of the beautiful lands stretching away
toward the "golden sunset," the wild Indian viewed this wilderness as his own
natural birthright and the hunting grounds of his kindred. For years and
decades — aye, for centuries, indeed — his war whoop was the only music, save
the song of the wild birds- and the sighing of the winds that broke upon the
quietude of the forest.
As the polishing hand of civilization sweeps OA^er these towering hills, effacing
the last lingering trace of the savage, it brings to light relics of an entirely dif-
ferent race of people. The "Mound Builders," of whom so much has been
conjectured and so little is definitely known, have left unmistakable traces here
of a superior state of civilization to that of any of the tribes of North Ameri-
can Indians found by the whites in possession of the country. In this, as well
as in Partridge Township, many traces of tJie Mound Builders have been dis-
covered, and those who have devoted much time and study to the investigation
of the relics they have left behind them are confirmed in the opinion that they
had reached quite an advanced state of civilization when conqured by the
Indians, and were of a far less war-like character. More is said of this, how-
ever, in another chapter.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
There is but little doubt that one of the first settlements made in Woodford
County was in what is now known as Spring Bay Township. Among the first
people who came here were the following : William Blanchard, George Kings-
ton, John Stephenson, William Hoslior; Austin, Horace and Rowland Crocker;
Charles Fielder, Jesse Day, Angus McQueen, Lewis and Richard Williams, a
Mr, Donohtle and his two sons, Allen and Thomas : Isaac Phillips, where Belsley
now lives ; Jacob Wilson, Jefferson Hoslior, Joseph Belsley, Elzy and Sampson
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 297
Bethard, Phineas and J. C. Shottenkirk, Darby, Cyrus A. Genoways,
Oeorge Sommers, William Barker ; David Matliis, Avho kej)t the ferry at the
*' Narrows," near the present line between Woodford and Tazewell Counties.
The history of many of these early pioneers has faded from the memory of those
who still survive them, save the fact that they once knew them and that they
■once lived in this section.
William Blanchard, born in the town of Peru, Vt., came to Illinois in 1819.
He was in the war of 1812, in the command of Gen. Brown, and was discharged
from the United States Army at Detroit early in the year 1819, and, together
with three others,* crossed over the country to Fort Wayne, Ind., where they
purchased a canoe and hired it hauled nine miles to the extreme head waters
of the Waba.sh River. In this frail bark they floated down the river to. Vin-
cennes, and from there went on foot over the old trail to St. Louis, where alone
they could see a map of the lands given them by the Government, for services
in the army, and which were embraced in the military tract lying between the
Illinois and the Mississippi Rivers. Upon looking up the location of their lands,
they found that they could not go on to them, owing to the hostility of the Indi-
ans in that section at the time ; and arriving at Peoria (Fort Clarke), soon dis-
covered that, for safety and protection, it was highly necessary that they should
remain together. There was but one white family within sixty miles of Peoria,
and to stray away from the protection of the fort would be highly imprudent, to
say the least ; and so, for the time their lands must remain to them useless and
valueless property. The land allotted to Blanchard was on Crooked Creek,
down toward the south end of the military tract. That of one of the Sargents
was near Farmington, and is partly embraced in that town, while that of the
other Sargent was eighteen miles east of Burlington, Iowa, in Illinois. Barnes'
was located near Canton. As there seemed little probability then that they
could open up their grants at an early day, Blanchard finally succeeded in sell-
ing his, " for better or for worse," without ever seeing it.
On their arrival at Peoria, and learning the unsettled state of the country,
Blanchard crossed over the river, and raised a crop, consisting of corn, potatoes
and pumpkins, which he cultivated with hoes alone. This was in the Summer
of 1819, and opposite the present city of Peoria. In 1822, he built a cabin
on what is called the Gibson place, now in Tazewell County, near the Wood-
ford County line. This, he informed us, was the first cabin put up between
here and Chicago; and, during the year, opened the first farm, with Henry
Race, a young man he had engaged to help him. On this place — the oldest
between Peoria and Chicago — he raised several crops, and which, like the one
just noticed, he cultivated mostly with hoes, as horses had not yet been
imported. In 1830, he settled on his present farm, in Spring Bay Township,
where he has ever since resided. Like all the old settlers, the dreary picture of
the "deep snow" is as vivid in his memory as if it had occurred within the
David Barnes, Theodore and Charlss Sargents.
298 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
last dozen years, and the sufferings and privations of the few scattered families-
will last as long as memory itself. It was full four feet deep, and the Indians,
who were then plenty in the neighborhood, donned their snow-shoes as an aid tO'
locomotion, and were of considerable help and assistance to the snowed-up settlers.
THE FIRST CABIN.
In the Fall of 1822, a man named Darby, with his wife and three children,
came from Vermont, and arriving here just upon the verge of Winter, Mr.
Bhinchard took them in and kept them until Spring, at his cabin ah-eady men-
tioned, when they went up and made a settlement and built a cabin on a part
of what is now Crocker's farm, in Spring Bay Township. This was probably
the first house built in this township, and is alluded to in another chapter as
the first in Woodford County. This section of the county was deemed an
unhealthy place at that early day, and many fell victims to the " grim mon-
ster" before becoming accustomed to the climate. This family all sickened
and died in a few years, but the youngest child, and she did not live to reach
womanhood. Henry Race, the companion of Blanchard in his lonely settle-
ment, married a grown daughter of Darby's, but she died in a few months after
her bridal, and her husband followed soon after. Just here we may mention
the fact, in connection with the first settlement of the township, the probable
commencement of marriage and death. From the most reliable information to
be obtained, it is believed that this unfortunate family had the first marriage, as
well as the first death. The latter point, however, is questioned by some, who-
maintain that " old man Donohue," who died in the early part of 1824, or the
latter part of the preceding year, was the first death in this section. Be that
as it may, they all died within a short time of each other.
To trace the history of all these early settlers, after the lapse of so many
years, would be to undertake a task impossible to accomplish. Of the many
alluded to in the beginning of this chapter, some few are now living in other
parts of the county, and are noticed in other pages of this work. A few are
still living in the township, viz. : William Blanchard, Rowland Crocker, the
AVilliamses, Joseph Belsley, Phineas Shottenkirk, C. A. Genoways and George
Sommers. Of the others, except those who died here, if any are still living,
all trace of them is lost.
The Crockers were from Columbia County, New York, and Austin, the
eldest of the three brothers, came West as early as 1819-20. His first stop-
ping place was in St. Louis, but he soon crossed over into Illinois, into what was
then called the ''American Bottom," where he remained some time, and for a
while acted in the capacity of Deputy Sheriff. Afterward, followed the river
for a time, boating between St. Louis and Fort Clarke (Peoria), and finally set-
tled opposite the latter place. Sn what is noAV Tazewell County, and where he
was living when his brother, Horace Crocker, came out, in 1824. In this year,
they came up and settled on the present Crocker farm, in Spring Bay Town-
ship, where Rowland, the youngest of the three brothers, and who came in the
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 299
T'all of 1828, is now living. All that remained of the family came out with
Rowland Crocker, and this farm, the opening of which commenced more than
fifty years ago, has ever remained in possession of the family. Rowland and,
perhaps, one sister, are all of the elder ones now living.
William Hoshor, one of the early settlers, and mentioned in the general
county history, as well as in Worth Township, has always been a man of enter-
prise in the community where he lived. He and his brother, Jefferson
Hoshor, came from Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1830, and located at first in
Missouri, opposite Warsaw, 111., where they remained but a few months, when
William came to this section and settled in what is now tlie township of Spring
Bay. His first settlement was up near the Iduff, but in a short time removed
into the bottom and opened the splendid Hoshor farm, where one of his sons is
now living. Mr. Hoshor, as before stated, has been a man of enterprise and
amassed a considerable property, but, through his generosity toward others, has
met some heavy losses. For several years past, he has been living in Worth
Township, wdiere exists more than one mark of improvement due to his energy
and enterprise. Jeff. Hoshor, as he w^as familiarly called, settled in Spring
Bay Township a few years after William, and died in 1872. His wife was a
daughter of Esquire Benj. Williams, of Worth Township, and was noted far and
near for her benevolent disposition and her kindness to the poor.
Joseph Belsley came from Nantes, France, in 1831, and settled in this
township, where Isaac Phillips lived, a few miles below the village of Spring
Bay. He began a poor man, and for years had many hard struggles with
Dame Fortune, but in the end triumphed, and is to-day one of the wealthy men
of the county. George Sommers, likewise, was from France. He came from
the province of Lorraine, and settled in this township in 1836, where he still
lives, an old man of 77 years of age, but vigorous and healthy, and labors on his
farm every day.
Nicholas Heufling, another of the early settlers, was from Germany, and
settled in Spring Bay Township in 1833, and where he lived until his death, a
few years ago. His two sons, Henry and Frederick, together with five hired
hands, enlisted from the harvest field in one day, during the late war, in Com-
pany F, Eighty-fifth Illinois Volunteers, and the old man gave them up to the
service of his adopted country without one murmuring word.
Richard, Lewis and Jackson Williams, sons of Benj. Williams, of Worth
Township, and mentioned in that chapter, were from Shelbyville, Ind., and
came to Illinois with their father in 1829. For many years, the boys have
heen identified with this township. Richard owns a farm near Spring Bay
village, and Lewis has made a fortune in the village, in merchandise, grain and
pork packing. He and his brother Jackson own considerable landed property
in Nebraska, where the latter resides.
C. A. Genoways, another of the old settlers still living, came from Cincin-
nati, Ohio, in 1838, with his mother's family, his fjxther having died in 1835.
300 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Mrs. Genoways entered forty acres of land in this township, near the village of
Spring Bay, and, in the Fall of 1838, returned to Cincinnati. C. A. Genoways
came back to their claim in 1840, and, after improving it, brought out his mother
in 1842. She remained with him until her death, in 1856. Mr. Genoways is
the present Supervisor of Spring Bay Township, an ofiBce he has filled for
several terms, and was Constable for twenty-four years in succession. He is
now living in the village, and has been in mercantile business for several years,
but still owns the original homestead.
The Shottenkirks were from New York City. J. C. Shottenkirk came to
Illinois in 1835, and entered 160 acres of land in this township, upon which he
lived until a few years before his death, when he moved into Spring Bay village.
He died in the Spring of 1872. Phineas Shottenkirk came West in 1831, and
stopped first at Rome, in Peoria County, 111., but, at the instance of an old
acquaintance, came over here and entered 160 acres of land, now embraced in
the farm of Richard Williams. He afterward bought other lands in the river
bottom, where he still lives, surrounded with all the comforts his years of toil
have procured him. With fifty cents in his pocket when he arrived in this
township, he went to work, and, to use his own words " had hard scratching
for several years to provide for his family and pay for his land."' His first
season here, he cultivated corn and potatoes on the land upon which the village
of Spring Bay now stands. He is in good circumstances, but his rapidly
failing health proclaims the price he has paid for his possessions.
Angus McQueen came from the Highlands of Scotland in 1818, to New
York City, where he remained until the Fall of 1835. Leaving his family in
the Empire City, he made several trips back and forth to the great West,
and finally, in 1837, brought them with him and located permanently in what
is now Spring Bay Township, and on the place where Hawkins now lives. He
bought his claim from one Elkana Husted (of whom nothing further could be
obtained), which consisted of a quarter section, with a pre-emption right to two
otlier *• eighties," and to one of which he gave the right to a man named Hig-
genbottom, whom he had induced to come West. But Higgenbottom soon sold
it for $50, and went to Oregon. A daughter of Mr. McQueen's, Mrs. Harriet
Hurlburt, now living in Spring Bay village, and a lady of fine intelligence,
still retains many interesting reminiscences of her early life in this section.
She states that her first ride in Illinois was on a sled drawn by a pair of oxen :
and that never in the great metropolis and in an elegant carriage did she enjoy
a ride so much as this. The tall prairie grass and the wild flowers abounding
in plentiful profusion, as the oxen tramj^led them down and the sled crushed
over them, yielded a perfume sweeter far than was ever borne on the balmy
gales of the tropics. The wild crab apple and the wild plum added their
fragrance, until one could almost imagine himself, without extravagance of feel-
ing in the very fields of Eden. Often had she gathered blackberries, she in-
formed us, and wild fruits on the land now occupied by the village of Spring
HISTORY OF WOODFOED COUNTY. 301
Bay. The track made by the surveyors when laying out the village made a path
along which the children and young people used to stray in search of wild flowers
and wild berries.
There were other old settlers here in these early times, whose history would
be given more fully could we obtain it. John Stephenson, Charles Fielder,
Jesse Day, the Donohues, Isaac Philips, Curry, the Bethards, and perhaps
others, were all sturdy old pioneers, who bore the brunt and hardships of the
times equally with those whose histories. are given, but there are none who can
tell much about them, and few even remember them. They served out their
day and generation, and have gone' to their reward.
EARLY PRIVATIONS.
At the time of these early settlements, the people who made them were
ignorant of what are at the present day termed the comforts and luxuries of life,
and, it may be said, didn't require them. Tlien there were nothing better than
rough log houses ; and many, Mr. Blanchard informed us, built their cabins
of saplings and covered them with bark, with chimneys made of sticks and clay.
These had the ground for a floor, and were devoid of furniture of any kind,
save such rude articles as could be hewed out with an axe. Blocks of wood
did duty as chairs, and a slab split out of a tree seryed as a table. Men wore
buckskin breeches and hunting shirts. If one chanced to get a pair of more
civilized material, when they began to wear out, Mr. Blanchard says, they would
patch the knees and "seat " with buckskin. On one occasion, Avhen out sur-
veying, he patched his moccasins with bacon skin from the side meat
they had taken with them for food, audit lasted better than the buckskin itself.
They made hominy by pounding the corn in what they called a " hominy
block," and for the lack of lard seasoned it with deer tallow. In these early
times they lived mostly on wild meats, except when some hardy pioneer Avould
go to St. Louis and bring up something in the way of pork and "bacon.
Blanchard himself went down to St. Louis from Peoria in a canoe, and brought
back for the settlement a cargo of bacon and flour — rarities at that time. Flax
was raised to a considerable extent, and from it tlie women made most of their
own garments, and after the introduction of sheep extended their business to
the manufacture of nearly all the clothes worn by their entire families. Thus
the buckskin apparel finally became obsolete. Wild plums and berrifs, and nearly
all of the wild fruits, were plentiful, together Avithwild honey, and afforded a
pleasing addition to the often limited larders of the settlers. For several years
horses were scarce in tlie settlement, and oxen were used for hauling, ploAving,
and, in lieu of horses, were often ridden about the neighborhood. Farm im-
plements Avere few in number, and consisted chiefly of hoes and rude wooden
plows with iron points, or "iron noses," as an old settler informed us. Weeds
were not troublesome nor much in the way of growing crops ; nettles, however,
were rather annoying to the people themselves, and often created a severe
smarting and itching.
302 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
As the countrv settled up and farms opened, liorses were brought in by new
comers, and many improvements made in the manner and mode of farming.
But for one or two seasons there was one span of liorses alone in the settlement,
and the owner of them Avas offered as much as four dollars a day for " break-
ing ground." He made an effort at it, plowing a round or two, and his horses
being unruly, he cursed them, the land, and everybody else, and quit in dis-
gust. A settler would occasionally trade with an Indian for a pony for horse-
back riding, which Avas considered quite an addition to his primitive establish-
ment ; but it often turned out that the Indian became dissatisfied Avith his
bargain, and if the pale face refused to trade back again, he would make it all
right and square by stealing his pony.
Crops were good then, and rareh' failed to yield Avell. We have Mr.
Blanchard's testimony to raising forty bushels of wheat to the acre ; and the
year 1819, when he cultivated his corn Avholly with a hoe, he raised one
hundred bushels to the acre. In the course of progress, log rollings, house
raisings, corn "bees" among the men, and quiltings, wool pickings, etc.,
among the Avomen became numerous, ahvays Avinding up Avith a dance at night,
Avhich Avere events of the most intense interest and amusement. An occasional
horse race enlivened the scene, at which times Avhisky flowed livel}", and a
bloody nose and broken head Avas sometimes the result of this innocent pastime.
A wedding Avas a grand gala time, and the neighbors Avere all invited for miles
around. The word "neighbor" then admitted of almost as broad a meaning
as the Biblical acceptation of it, and included everybody within at least a half
a day's journey. Trade was dull, and was done mostly at Chicago, Avhile some
went down the river in flat-boats to St. Louis with the extra products of the
country, and in return brought back supplies.
THE FIRST MILL.
A man named Winston Barton built a little horse mill in 1827 — called in
those days a corn-cracker — near Avhere Crocker's mill now stands, and was the
first mill in this section, and probably the first in the county. It Avas a small
affair, and never amounted to much, but Avas an improvement, however, to
pounding corn in Avooden blocks into hominy.
Crocker's mill Avas built in 1833-4, and Avas the first mill* in this tOAvnship,
or in this section, run by Avater poAver. It Avas commenced in the Full of 1833,
by Austin Crocker and his brother Horace, and Avas completed in 1834, and
has continued in running operation ever since. They had the assistance, in
building it, of Allen and Thomas Donohue, Avho Avere partners in the enter-
prise for a Avhile : but the AA'hole of it finally passed into the hands of the
Crockers, and is noAv oAvned by RoAvland Crocker. It is still standing, is in
good condition, and is run by Avater from several large springs in tlie immediate
neighborhood. Avhich burst out of the ground and Aoav toA\ ard the Illinois River,
but a sliort distance UAvay.
* Mentioned in the generil history as one of the first water mills in the county.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 303
William Hoshor built a mill, for grinding corn, near Crocker's mill, in
1835, which drew custom from a large scope of country for man^f years. It is
still in operation, and under the management of Mr. Hoslior's son, but, with
the present competition in the mill business, is not crowded to its utmost
capacity, as in the days of yore. Hoshor built a distillery in connection with
the mill, which did a large business for a number of years, but ceased opera-
tion about 1866-7.
The first physician who practiced in this section was Dr. Langworthy, of
Peoria, whose large practice extended over on this side of the river, and he is
spoken of as a good physician for that early day.
In the Fall of 1824, the first experiment was made in fruit growing, by
Austin Crocker, who planted an orchard on Section 25 of Spring Bay Town-
ship. ,This is alluded to in the general history as one of the first orchards in
what is now Woodford County. Charles Fielder planted an orchard, in 1826,
on Section 24, in this township. Many of these trees are standing at the
present day. Most of them were ''seedlings," and are still sound, healthy
trees, and bear heavily, with few exceptions, every year. In this, as in most
of the townships on this side of the county, the culture of the grape has proved
quite successful, and many farmers devote considerable attention to it.
THE INDIANS.
There were plenty of Indians in this section at the time of the first settle-
ments and for several years after settlements had been made. This Avas one of
the early Indian settlements — had been their home and hunting grounds in all
probability for centuries before the coming of the white man. Owing to the
sheltering timber and the almost innumerable springs of pure water, bursting
out in nearly every part of the township, presented many attractions and ren-
dered it a desirable spot to the roving bands of Indians. Mr. Blanchard says
the Indians here, when he came, were mostly Ottawas and Pottawatomies, with
a few Sacs and Foxes, and, when kindly treated, were far more of a help than
a drawback to the whites; during the Winter of the "Deep Snow," were of
considerable benefit to the settlers in furnishing them with venison and other
wild game, without which their boards, scanty at best, would have been utterly
exhausted before the Winter passed. But, as the whites came in, the Indians
were crowded out, and are now almost forgotten by the generation who have
converted their hunting grounds into farms and prosperous villages. Their
camp-fires, which onced blazed on every hill in Spring -Bay Township, have
long since faded away in the sunlight of civilization, and the persecuted Indian
is remembered bv few now living in Woodford Countv.
CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.
The first religious services in this township were held perhaps by the Meth-
odists, who sent their ministers here at a very early day. But who preached
the first sei'mon, no one now living can tell. A Methodist minister — a Rev.
304 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Mr. Lattcy — was among the first, but of him very little information could be
obtained. There are no churches in the township, and religious services have
always been held at farm houses and in the school houses. Interesting revivals,
then as now, often occurred, aand many turned from the error of their ways
and united with the church.
Of the early schools of this township, not much information can be obtained,
and the question as to who taught the first one is wholly unanswerable. They
consisted of a few children collected together at some of the larger and more
pretentious cabins, Avhere they were instructed in "reading, writing and cipher-
ing."
Mrs. McQueen, whose husband is mentioned in this chapter, as one of the
early settlers, taught a school at her own house, in 1840. But it is altogether
probable that similar schools were taught long before the one just mentioned.
For years after the organization of public schools, no records exist. Mr.
John Ege, the present Treasurer, and who has held the office for ten years past,
has no records previous to 1862, and he informed us that they had all been
destroyed previous to that date. From his last report to the County Superin-
tendent of Schools we extract the following information :
Number of males, iimler 21 year?, in the township 142
Number of females, under 21 years, in the township 147
Total , 289
Number of males between 6 and 21 years 89
Number of females between 6 and 21 years 88
Total 172
Number of males attending school 56
Number of females 49
Total 105
Average number of months taught 8
Number of public schools in the township 2
Number of male teachers employed 2
Highest monthly wages paid teachers ?60 00
Lowest monthly wages paid teachers 40 00
Township fund for support of. schools 2,973 00
Estimated value of school property in township 4,500 00
Tax levy to support schools 400 00
Whole amount of teachers' salary for 1877 820 00
This is a fractional township and has but two school districts, both of which
have good, comfortable school houses. The one in the village is an ornament
to the place, and will be appropriately mentioned under that head.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
When Woodford County was laid off into townships, this fractional part was
called Spring Bay from the village of that name situated at the north end of its
limits. The first election for township officers resulted as follows :
For Superisor, G. W. Snibley ; Assessor, Dr. John Hazard ; Collector, C.
A. Genowavs ; Town Clerk, C. S. Shults.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 305
The following gentlemen comprise the present Board :
Supervisor, C. A. Genoways ; Town Clerk, E. Fredricks ; Assessor, John
Ege ; Collector, Abraham Loveless ; Justices of Peace, Dr. J. G. Zeller and
John Ege : Constable, Oliver Davis.
Politically this township has always been largely Democratic, even from the
very earliest period of voting. As it commenced in the early days of Whigs
and Democrats, so it still remains, and the Republican candidate finds it a poor
field in which to inaugurate political issues.
THE WAR RECORD.
This township, though small, was no laggard in furnishing soldiers in the late
war. Among the volunteers were the following : John McQueen, Augustus
Brandon, Willis and Abraham Burt, Alexander, George and John Hodge, W.
D. Long, Frederick and Henry Heniiing, David Stratford, Wm. Spillman,
Joseph and Herman Ahrens, Isaac and Thomas Phillips, Eighty-fifth Dlinois
Volunteer Infantry. Thaddeus Shottenkirk, Frank Myers, Thomas and Robt.
Blanchard, James Vantine and Silas Staples, Seventy-seventh Regiment Illi-
nois Volunteer Infimtry.
Several of these were among the killed, wounded and missing, viz. : The
two Henfling boys, Augustus Brandon, Alexander and George Hodge were
killed, and some others who never returned were doubtless killed, or captured
and died in prisons.
The land of Spring Bay Township is mostly river bottom, but in some local-
ities rises gradually to the bluffs a little distance from the river, which is the
western boundary. There are some low, marshy lands next to the river, which
are valueless at present. It affords plenty of timber for all building and farm
purposes, though the best of it, such as walnut, is being rapidly thinned out.
SPRING BAY VILLAGE.
This little village is situated on the Illinois River, about ten miles above
Peoria. It was surveyed and laid out in 1838 for Day, Matson & Brush, who
owned the land, and had purchased it from one Jacob Woodcock, an old settler,
of whom but little deffinite information could be obtained.
The first kouse in the village of Spring Bay was built by a man'named Ben-
jamin Merithew, who, it seems, had once owned the land or had pre-empted it,
or something of that kind, and was built befor^ the village was laid out. It
was a small log cabin, and stood Avhere Genoways' store-house now stands. The
first store-house put up was the one noAV occupied by Lewis Williams, and was
built in the early part of 1838, and only Aveather-boarded and covered when
Genoways came to the neighborhood. When he returned from Ohio to this
place, in 1840, nothing further had been done, nor did the village begin to im-
prove to any great extent until about the year 1843. A man named Rice had a
little store up in the brush, just witliin the present limits of the town, which
consisted chiefly of whisky and tobacco — articles that have remained staple in
306 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
this section down to the present day. This was not only the first store in the
village, but the first in what is now Spring Bay Township. In 1848, Ira Y.
Munn came to the place and opened a store in the building above alluded to, as
belonging now to Williams, which was finished up for the pur))ose Munn,
Peter Willard and William Scott had a store in Fremont,* which place was
rather overdone in mercantile business. Mr. Genoways chanced to meet Munn
and Scott in Washington, some ten miles distant from Spring Bay, and they
told him they were looking for a good location for a store. He at once set to
work to try to induce them to go to Spring Bay, and, obtaining their consent,
conducted them in a roundabout way to the village, that they might be favora-
bly im})ressed with the populous neighborhood. After taking a look they
decided to locate, and engaged Genoways to go immediately to Fremont for a
load of good>. Munn & Scott conducted the business at Spring Bay, while
AVillard remained at Fremont to close up and settle affairs there, after Avhich he
opened a branch of the Spring Bay house in Metamora, of Avhich further notice
is made in that part of this work. Scott was soon taken sick antl returned to
Fremont, where he died, and his brother, George Scott, came to Spring Bay
and took his place in the store. This firm continued in the mercantile business
here and at Metamora, and also handled grain extensively for a number of years.
After amassing quite a fortune, Munn and Scott went to Chicago, and there
embarked in grain ; but in attempting to make "a corner" in wheat, got beyond
their depth and sunk disastrously. Rising again, they went to Denver and
started a quartz mill, where, it is said, they failed again, Peter Willard lives
in Chicago, a prosperous and enterprising merchant.
Just after Munn commenced business, a man by the name of Thornton built
a residence, which was the first one erected in Spring Bay Village. C. A.
Genoways and Samuel S. Burt built the first grain warehouse in 1844, and after
finishing it sold it to Munn & Scott for $400. It was a frame building, 30x60
feet, with a capacity of 8,000 or 10,000 bushels. Richard Dement built a
grain warehouse soon after ; also, Lewis and Jackson Williams, and for many
years did a large business in grain, pork packing and general merchandise, and
in which they made a small fortune. Lewis Williams owns, in addition to his
other property, the old homestead in Worth Township. Hoshor and Dement
built the warehouse now standing on the river bank. The one now owned by
Genoways and used as a storehouse was built by Moses McManus. None of
these warehouses are standing at the present day, except the last two mentioned ;
the others have not survived the day of their usefulness. For about twenty
years, beginning at 1844, the grain trade at this place equaled any point on the
Illinois River. In its most prosperous day, Munn & Scott, Dement, McManus,
William Hefelbower, were all handling grain, and all doing a heavy business.
Nearly the whole county hauled grain to this place, and a hundred wagons on
the streets in one day was a common occurrence. The amount of grain shipped
A village in Tazewell County.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 307
from this point, before the era of railroads, was truly wonderful, and more than
one handsome little fortune was made in this unpretending village.
A POST OFFICE
was established in 1844, and is the only one in the township. C. S. Shults
was appointed the first Postmaster. The mail was carried between this place
and Peoria, and after the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, a weekly
mail was established with Kappa. It was some time after the establishment of
the post office, before the Government would allow a contract for carrying the
mail, and whoever chanced to go to Peoria brought it back, tied up in his hand-
kerchief. With many changes in the administrations of the aifairs of the olfice,
it has passed into the hands of Charles Keolcher, who is the present Postmaster,
with a semi-weekly mail to and from Peoria.
David Couch built a hotel here in 1850, the first ever erected in the village.
In the days of its prosperity, the town boasted of three hotels at one time, but
they are all gone now. C. A. Genoways entertains the few travelers who
chance to stray this way.
Dr. John G. Zeller, one of the prominent men of the village and township,
came from Bavaria, Germany, in 1847. Two years later, went back to the old
country, and attended school for four years, where he graduated and returned
to America. He studied medicine, and commenced the practice of the profes-
sion in this place, in 1854, where he has remained ever since, with the excep-
tion of five months, when attending his last session at the St. Louis Medical
College, where he graduated as a physician in 1856. A man of intelligence
and education, he has always taken an active part in everything calculated to
promote the advancement of his town. He has a large collection of Indian
relics, gathered in this immediate vicinity, in which he takes considerable inter-
est ; also bones and large portions of human skeletons, likewise found here.
From these bones he recognizes two distinct races of people, and very unlike
each other. Hence, his theory, that the Mound Builders occupied this country
previous to the Indians. Among his Indian relics are many of their rude im-
plements and tools of domestic use and of war : such as axes, hatchets, toma-
hawks, spear and arrow heads, pipes, etc. They are of many kinds of material,
some of them rare specimens, and others of wonderful workmanship. We
noticed an arrow-head of the most beautiful agate, and a pipe made of a material
found only in the Missouri River country. But neither our space nor our
geological information will admit of a particularization of all these specimens
and relics. From relics and bones in his possession, believed to be of the Mound
Builders, he holds to the opinion that they were a much larger race than the
Indians, and further advanced in civilization.
Dr. Zeller has devoted considerable attention to grape culture, and was the
first to introduce the Concord, Delaware, Hartford and the Virginia Seedling in
this section ; for which, he says, the Concord is the only serviceable one for
this climate.
308 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Another of the solid men of Spring Bay is Mr. Gottfried Jung, who came
from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1852, and commenced business as a mer-
chant and lumber dealer. Having made quite a fortune, he has retired from the
turmoils of business, to spend the remainder of his days in quietude, in his ele-
gant home, one of the finest in the village.
SPRING BAY MILLS.
This mill was built, first as a steam saw-mill only, by Jo Hilenbrand in 1862.
About a year after, William Burt bought an interest, and put in burrs and
machiner}'^ for a grist-mill, when its value was estimated at $1,000. It is small,
has but one run of burrs, and is devoted chiefly to custom work. After chang-
ing owners several times, Ernest Fredericks has become the proprietor.
The brewery of Peter Eichhorn is a large establishment, and was built in
1851. It was built by Mr. Eichhorn, and is a frame structure of a capacity to
make about 2,000 barrels a year, most of which is shipped to Peoria, and the
remainder sold in this county. It cost, including cellars, fixtures, machinery,
etc., about $25,000, and is still owned by Mr. Eichhorn.
The Town Hall was built in 1853 by a special tax levy for the purpose, and
cost $700, but stiortly after its completion, was blown from its foundations by a
gale of wind, and cost $200 more to restore it to its former grandeur. It is the
most serviceable building in the place, and devoted to a variety of uses. Almost
every religious denomination in the calendar, at some time or other, has used
it as a tabernacle of worship, while upon its floor the stump orator rises in his
majesty to harangue the people on the political questions of the day. And
thus, for all meetings, public or private, sacred or profane, the Town Hall is
called into reijuisition.
The first school house in the village was built in 1846 — a frame structure of
very rough workmanship, and cost $300. This did service for more than
twenty years, and in 1868 was replaced by the elegant brick school house " up
on the hill," which is an ornament to the village. It cost about $3,000, is two
stories high, and thirty by forty feet in size. 0. L. Tucker is the present
teacher, and has a daily attendance of about fifty pupils.
During the ordinary Winter stage of water, steamboats land daily at the
wharf, which is sa^d to be one of the best steamboat landings on the Illinois
River. In 1851-2, a levee was built extending out five hundred yards into the
river, or rather through " the bay," to the river proper, and where boats land
during the low stage of water. Mr. Wm. H. Delph, of Metamora, was the
engineer in chai'ge of the work, and the expense of the improvement was borne
by the county, the total cost of which was about $4,000. The dirt and gravel
for this levee was taken from the ridge or bluff rising some hundred or two
yards from the river. It was in this work that so many human bones and
almost entire skeletons were exhumed, alluded to in connection with Dr. Zeller's
collection, of bones and Indian relics on another page.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 809
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
In the days of Spring Bay's pristine glory, the magnates of the place put
their heads together, and decided on a certain occasion to appropriately celebrate
the anniversary of the day on which " our fathers threw off the rotten yoke of
Britain." An old-fashioned, backwoods barbecue was inaugurated, with all its
attending accompaniments of "fatted calves," young porkers and delicious
muttons, and a good supply of liquor was procured from a neighboring still-
house to "season it." All the surroundino- towns and villao'es were bidden to
the feast, and many accepted the invitation. A man named Curry had been
appointed orator of the day, and mounting an ox cart, which had been drawn
up and improvised into a " speaker's stand," he entertained the audience for an
hour with the repetition of a speech (copied verbatim, and prepared for the pur-
pose) delivered in the United States Congress by a member from Massachusetts
during the bitter debates in that body, referring to " the Embargo," previous to
the war of 1812. With all the fiery eloquence of Patrick Henry, this back-
woods orator hurled the old embargo tirade at the " corrupted government," and
pictured the imminent danger of the " old ship of state being engulfed in the
threatening billows," unless a "most rigorous (rigid) reform was enforced."
The first session of the Circuit Court of Woodford County, held after
organization, was noted for having a little suit tried in it, in which two witnesses
from this township were called to testify, viz. : C. A. Genoways and Austin
Crocker. The origin and nature of this suit our informant had forgotten.
It is always sad to write of decay. This little village, once a busy place,
and equal in importance as a shipping point to any place on the river, has long
since passed the zenith of its prosperity. Its former prosperity has dwindled
down to a few small stores, and a few' other lines of trade equally limited. At
present, the business is distributed • as follows : Three general stores, three
saloons, two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops, one harness shop, two shoe
shops. Lewis Williams and John Ege both handle grain still, but in a small
way. There is one physician in the place, but neither a preacher nor a lawyer,
nor even a church, except the Town Hall.
ORIGIN OF NAME.
The name of Spring Bay is derived from the beautiful little bay in the river
at this place, and the numerous springs within its compass that supply the water
when the river is too low to run over the "bar " between it and the outward
limits of the bay. It is estimated that the waters from these springs, if it could
be utilized, would be equal to 100 horse-power. Springs abound throughout the
township, and are the operating force of several mills. These springs, with the
little bay, as stated above, when taken together formed a name, which was
bestowed on the settlement at an early day, then on the village when laid out,
and afterward given to the township.
310 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The beautiful little cemetery upon the hillside, a mile or two from the \'illafye^
ha^ become the resting place of many of the early pioneers mentioned in these
pages. Peace to their ashes.
CRUGER TOWNSHIP.
Cruger is known as Fractional Township 26 north, Range 2 west, and ad-
joins the northeast township of Tazewell County. From the date of township
organization until 1870, Cruger was included in Olio ToAvnship ; and, like Olio,
contains much of interest connected with the early history of Woodford County.
A large portion of the section of Walnut Grove lies in this township. Through
this vast forest the savages roamed at will, "monarchs of all thev surveyed,"
for centuries, perhaps, before the foot of the " pale face '" trod the soil ; and in
the shelter of this grove some of the first pioneers built their rude cabins.
In 1830, there were but a fcAv families in that part of Walnut Grove now
embraced in Cruger Township, of whom Daniel Meek, James Martin, Robert
and James Bird, Joseph Dillon, the Moores, Nathan Owen, Thomas Deweese,
James Rayburn and John Stevenson were about all living here at the period
above mentioned. Of these, Deweese, Martin and Rayburn were from Indiana,
while most of the others were from Kentucky. As to the time of their coming,
there are none now living Avho can give the precise dates. Daniel Meek, one of
those already alluded to, came fi'om Kentucky, in 1827 ; but whether or not he
was the first we are unable to say. He settled in Walnut Grove, and in 1836,
removed to Knox County, near Abingdon, where he died, in March, 1874.
Henry B. Meek, a younger brother of Daniel Meek, came from Pulaski
County. Ky., with his father, when but 12 years old. The family settled in
Jennings County, Ind., where they remained some years. In 1828, Mr. Henry
Meek made a visit to this section — a kind of tour of inspection — and states that
his brother Daniel, the Moores, and perhaps one or two other families, were
about all the settlers then in Walnut Grove, and but very few others in what is
now Woodford County. Mr. Meek returned to his home in Indiana : and in
1830, came back and made a permanent settlement in Walnut Grove, and in
what is now^ Cruger Township, in the Spring of that year. He built his first
cabin on the site of his present elegant residence. When Mr. Meek brought
his young wife to Illinois, they came through on horseback. She carried her
baby on her horse, while he carried a pack, made up of sufiicient clothing for
their first Summer's use, and other housekeeping articles. In the Fall, he went
back to Indiana, and brought with him, on his return, some live stock — hogs
and sheep. His hogs fattened on the "mast,"' which was abundant that Win-
ter, and the next year he sold 100 pounds of bacon for §9.00, which he says
wa.s then considered a large sum of money. His eldest brother, Joseph Meek,,
with his family, came Avith him on his return from Indiana.
MINONK
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 313
The land in this section, at the period of which we write, was not in market,
nor did it come in until in 1832. When the land was put on sale, Meek went
to Springfield, and, with $oOO which he had laid up for the purpose, bought
three " eiofhties," or 240 acres. This was a nucleus, to which he continued to
add, until he owned 1,600 acres of choice lands. As his children grew up, and
went out into the world to battle for themselves, he gave them farms, and thereby
reduced his own to 700 acres.
Joseph Meek, an older brother of Henry's, came to Illinois, as already
stated, in the Fall of 1830. On his arrival here, he bought a claim from one
Joseph Dillon, upon which he still lives. And though he is an old man of four
score years, his physical and mental activity is almost wonderful. "• Uncle "
Joseph Meek, as he is familiarly called, has set up his children with good farms,
and still owns a large one himself, which he superintends, and upon which he
labors every day. He stands high among his fellow men, and his word is his bond.
In 1835, the following additions had been made to the Walnut Grove
settlement : Rev. John Oatman, Matthew Blair, Joshua Woosley, Daniel Travis,
Cooley Curtis, Daniel Allison, Isaac Black, James Mitchell, Ben. Major, Wm.
R. Willis, Rev. W"m. Davenport, Thomas Bullock, Elijah Dickinson, Benj. J.
Radford, and it may be a few others now. forgotten. The majority settled in
what is now Cruger Township, and many of them came from Kentucky, a few
from Indiana, and a few others from Tennessee. There were men of influence
among them, who were active in their day, in every enterprise inaugurated to
promote the interests of their country. Some of them have been noticed in
other chapters of this work, in connection with the formation of Woodford
County, the organization of Eureka College, and other undertakings requiring
time, money and influence to successfully carry through.
Benjamin J. Radford came from Christian County, Kentucky, in 1834, to
Illinois, where he settled in what is now Cruger Township, and lived a respected
citizen until his death in September, 1857. He planted the first grove of
locust trees in what is now Woodford County, a work that has since been fol-
lowed by thousands. One of his sons is now President of Eureka College ;
another is editor and proprietor of the Eureka Journal.
In the Winter of 1830-31, was the " deep snow," an event remembered by
many old settlers, and an epoch from which their history all dates. So many
years before, or so many years since the "• deep snow," is their mode of designat-
ing any particular event. The deer and other wild game became so tame that
human beings were no longer objects of fear to them. A gang of half a dozen
deer came to Henry Meek's, and he turned them in the lot with his sheep and
calves, where they remained quite a while becoming so tame they would eat
corn out of his hand.
When Mr. Meek settled in Walnut Grove, there was a ferry at Peoria, then
called Fort Clarke, kept by a man named Gardis. Fort Clarke had one little
store of general merchandise, which supplied the scattered settlers along the river
314 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
■with Store goods. One Vorris or Voorhees also kept a little store filled with
housekeeping articles, much in demand as the country settled up. A man by
the name of Matthews kept a ferry then at " The Narrows," a short distance
above Fort Clarke.
The exact time of the first settlement in this township, like that of Olio, can-
not, at this date, be correctly ascertained. There is no definite record now
existing previous to the settlement of Daniel Meek, in 1827. His brothers
think, however, that there were a few families in the Grove before the date of
his coming there, but whom, or at what time they settled there, they are unable
to tell.
THE FIRST JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.
Daniel Meek was the first Justice of the Peace in what is now called Cruger
Township, and was appointed to the office in 1829. He was one of the first
Justices in the territory now embraced in Woodford County, and exercised the
functions of the office for twelve years or more before the formation of the county.
Dr. James Mitchell, a kind of steam doctor, as they were called in those days,
was the first physician in this Township, and came as early as the year 1835.
Previous to his advent into the neighborhood, the healing art Avas practiced
mostly by the good housewives with herbs and barks.
The first sermon in the tow^n was preached by Rev. Peyton Mitchell, at the
residence of Robert Bird. He was a Presbyterian and preached for some time
in the neighborhood, about 1833-4. There were no churches here at this
earlv period, and all religious services were held in the peoples cabins.
Caroline, a daughter of Daniel Meek, was the first birth in Cruger Township.
She was born January 15, 1828. The first death was that of James Bird, who
died in 1832.
The first marriage celebration was that of Hardin Oatman and Wilmorth
Bird, in 1835. They were married by Rev. Wm. Davenport, who had recently
settled in the neighborhood.
THE FIRST MILLS, ROADS, SCHOOLS, ETC.
In the early days of the settlement of this toAvn. the people did their milling
at a little horse mill, in what is now Olio Township, and alluded to in that
pai't of this history. There was also a mill on Panther Creek, near the corner
of what is now Palestine Township, which was extensively patronized by the
Walnut Grove people.
The first public road through this section was laid out in 1836. The
Viewers were Daniel Travis and James McClure. It commenced at what was
known as Cruger's Bridge, on Walnut Creek, and extended to Washington, in
Tazewell County. Four years later, the State road from Lexington to Wash-
ington and Peoria, mention of which is made in the history of Olio Township,
was opened through this township. These roads afforded the principal outlets
of the settlers in removing their grain, until the era of railroads.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 315
William Hosbor, mentioned in the general history of Woodford County as
one of the pioneer school teachers, taught the first school in what now com-
prises Cruger Township. It was taught in 1831, in an old cabin, which stood
up near the head of AValnut Grove. His school lasted but a short time, and
soon after its suspension Joshua Woosley opened a school near the place where
Hosbor bad taught. The first bouse built in the neighborhood for school pur-
poses was in 1834, and was near the spot where these schools were taught.
Children were scarcer here then than now, the schools were not very largely
attended, and the house Avas changed into a dwelling after a few years' service
as a school house.
When the first settlements were made in the territory of Cruger and Olio
Townships, Indians were quite plenty along the Illinois River^ and even about
Walnut Grove, but were friendly and apparently harmless. When the Meekses
came, in 1830, there still were many in this neighborhood. During the Winter of
the " deep snow," they supplied the few settlers then scattered along the Grove
with much of the meat used through the long period the snow lasted. Old Shab-
bona came down the next Summer, with his "little family," and camped in
Walnut Grove. But the people, fearing some treachery, drove him away, which
made the old chief very angry.
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
At the time of the Black Hawk war, Henry B. Meek was a Captain of the
militia. When the news was brought to him that this noted warrior was at
Pawpaw Grove, on Rock River, with his army, he was in the field planting corn.
The order was delivered to him from the authorities for a certain number of
men, and, like Gen. Putnam, when he received the ncAvs of the battle of
Lexington,
" The plow was in the mid-furrow staid,"
and, removing his horse from the plow, and the harness from the horse, " he
sped forth the fiery cross" to summon his "clans " to the council. They lost
no time in obeying the call, and soon he was able to muster the number required
(which, Ave believe, Avas tAvelve men), Avho Avere eager for the fray. He took
them to Pekin, turned them OA^er to the army going to "the front." and returned
to his corn planting. His squad Avas put under command of Major Stillman,
and had the honor of participating in the battle of PaAvpaw Grove, where the
" pale faces " were defeated. They Avere only enlisted for thirty days, and
soon after this battle their term of service expired, when they returned to their
homes. None of the squad from the Walnut Grove settlement Avere either killed
or Avounded. A ludicrous story is told of this little campaign, in Avhich the
men from the Grove Avere engaged. The first night after the troops left Peoria,
or Fort Clarke, for the seat of Avar, they encamped but a short distance from
the place. Sentinels Avere posted and pickets throAvn out in true military style.
During the night an alarm, which finally proved to be false, Avas given, and
316 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
for a time considerable confusion prevailed. A Dr. Langwortliy. of Peoria,
who was attached to the armv as a kind of suroreon, had tethered his horse with
a long rope, that he might graze during the night. When the alarm was
sounded, the valiant doctor mounted his horse, which in his fright he forgot to
unloose, laid whip for dear life, and ran round and round in a circle, under the
imj)ression that he was rapidly placing danger behind him. It was soon discovered
to be a false alarm, when some of the boys, taking in the absurdity of the
doctor's maneuvers, cut the rope, and, taking a ''bee line," he came into
Peoria under whip and spur and in a high state of excitement, with the horrible
news that " the troops had been surprised and butchered," while he alone, by a
miracle, had escaped to tell the tale. When the truth came out and the true
state of the case known, the brave doctor was unable to endure the jeers of his
friends, and sought a field undisturbed bv the "horrors of war" and ''war's
alaiTQS.'
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The schools of this township are well supported, and are in a very flourish-
ing condition. As a school township, Cruger embraces an equal portion in
Tazewell County.
The total school fund of the entire township, including the part
not in this county, is $1,448 41
Valuation of school property (half of town) 5,300 00
Amount paid male teachers (half of town) 573 00
Amount paid female teachers (half of town) 923 00
Tax levy for support of schools (half of town) 1,550 00
Number of males under '21 years fhalf of town) 308
Number of females under 21 years (half of town) 234
Total under 21 years 592
Number of males attending school (half of townl 175
Number of females attending school (half of town) 163
Total attending school (half of town) 338
Estimated value of school apparatus $205 00
There are four school districts in the Cruger half of the township, with seven
good, comfortable school houses. One of the districts is in union with Eureka Dis-
trict, in the township of Olio, and is noticed under that head. The school house
in Cruger Village is a substantial frame building, and cost $700. The early
record of schools, and the history of their first formation in the township, belongs
to Olio, of which this was, until late years, a part. M. E. Davidson is School
Treasurer, Supervisor of the Township and Justice of the Peace, and a man of
considerable prominence in his neighborhood. F. J. Schreiber is Tax Collector,
and furnishes the following :
Cruger Township — Personal tax $1,900 00
Cruger Township — Real tax 3,207 92
Total Personal and Real $5,107 92
Town lots 65 65
Total lax township and village $5,173 57
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 317
Cruger Township's political and war record are so nearly identical with
that of Olio Township that in the one we have the other, and a recapitulation
here would be little else than to repeat that history.
Cruger has but one church within its limits, and it is on the line between
this and Metamora Township, or within twenty or thirty yards of the line. It
is one of the old churches of the county, and known as Mount Zion, of the
Christian denomination, and is noticed in the general history.
ORGANIZATION OF CRUGER TOWNSHIP.
Cruger was detached from Olio Township, in the Fall of 1860, by a peti-
tion to the Board of Supervisors, and the first election resulted as follows :
George Boys, Supervisor ; R. N. Radford, Collector ; Jesse Meek, Assessor ;
Peter Moyemont, Town Clerk ; A. P. Meek, R. C. Stewart and Thomas Ellis,
Commissioners of Highways ; John McPeak and John Kaufman, Justices of
the Peace ; John Trimmer and Lewis Myers, Constables ; and on the 5th of
April, 1870, the township was organized under these officers. The petition for
this new township was gotten up through Messrs. Charles Kinnear, Hiram Par-
ker, A. P. Leonard, George Boys, Jesse Meek and others ; and grew out of the
fact that, in 1869, when the expediency of building the Chicago, Pekin &
Southwestern Railroad was being pretty warmly discussed, this part of the town-
ship bitterly opposed the measure, while the other section (now Olio) as strongly
advocated it. The climax was reached by the township voting $100,000 stock to
the proposed road ; which, however, through some technical illegality, finally fell
through, and the township afterward voted $50,000 to the new road. But the
carrying of the first vote afforded the pretext for petitioning for a separation ;
the final result of which was, as above stated, the organization of Cruger Town-
ship. The town took its name from the village of that name, and of the post
office, which likewise bears the same name.
The railroads through this township are the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw,
crossing it from east to west, and the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad,
which crosses it diagonally. A large lot of grain and stock is shipped from
this town over these roads, the most of which, however, goes over the Toledo,
Peoria & Warsaw Railroad.
CRUGER VILLAGE.
This little village is situated on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad, two
miles west of Eureka. When this village sprang into existence, it was at the
terminus of the railroad then known under the name and title of the Eastern
Extension of the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad. It was completed to this point in
the Fall of 1854, Avhen the work ceased until some time the next year, and it was
during this period that the idea of a village here was conceived by the people of
the vicinity. The village was laid out by a man named Akers, who bought the
land of Hiram Parker, and was from Peoria. E. P. Pratt, also from Peoria,
318 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
brought the first stock of goods to the phice. which he opened in one end of a
grain warehouse just built by one KeHogg. A Mr. King also built a grain ware-
house. A post office was established. an<l William Flager. who was then depot
and station agent, was made the first Postmaster. After the opening of the
store by Pratt, Charles Kinnear brought on a stock of goods, and after a year's
business sold out to S. P. & B. X. Beels, and thev afterward sold to Marshall
Davidson. David Kinnear also had a store here at one time, and two stores at
one time has been the zenith of its mercantile trade. It has now one general
store, owned by F. J. Schreiber, who is also Postmaster. The grain trade is
represented by J. N. Harlan and John Metzer, both of whom do a large business.
Harlin was originally from Washington, and lives now in Eureka, but handles
grain at this point. He owns a large grain elevator, which has been made from
one of the warehouses alluded to, which he bought for $700, and the improve-
ments he made to it and the construction into an elevator, cost him, additionally,
$2,500. Its capacity is about 30,000 bushels. The railroad station house here
was built by the people, en masse, in 1854, Mr. Charles Kinnear giving 3-00
toward its erection. A blacksmith shop, kept by one Frank Schamberg, and
one whisky saloon, together with what has been already mentioned, comprise the
present village. The village took its name from William H. Cruger, Superinten-
dent at that time of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw, or, as then called, Extension
of the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad. He was a man of some prominence and took
an active part in getting the road through. When it stopped at this point, and,
for the convenience of the neighborhood a station was made here, the name of
Cruger was given to it. Later, when this township was detached from Olio,
the name was bestowed on the township, as already mentioned in this chapter.
OLIO TOWNSHIP.
Until within the last decade of years. Olio comprised in its territorial limits
Cruger Township, and their histories are so closely identified with each other
as to render it a somewhat difficult task to trace them separately. Much that
is of interest pertaining to the early history of Woodford County occurred in
this section. Walnut Grove — through which meanders the little creek of the
same name — is embraced in these townships, and here tradition informs us some
of the first settlements in the county were made. '' The Grove," as it is still
called, was a grand old forest, mostly walnut, whose friendly shelter seemed to
lure the pioneers to the spot. Many of them were from Kentucky, where mighty
forests, springs and streams of running water Avere so abundant that in the
locating of their new homes, avoiding the great prairies, they sought the timber
and water courses. To them the boundless prairies were but a dreary waste,
afi'ording no means of subsistence, nor any of the requisites of comfortable
homes, and thus it was that the timbered sections were settled long before a
pioneer's hut marked the prairies. Of the particular circumstances attending
HISTORV OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 319
tli€ separation from Olio, of Cruger Township, a more detailed account is given
in the history of the latter.
Among the earliest settlers of Olio Township are William P. Atteberi-y,
Charles, John A. and Campbell Moore, Caleb and William Davidson, John
Dowdy, John Summers and Matthew Bracken. Of these, Atteberry, the
Moores and Davidsons came from Kentucky, and Bracken from Ohio. Not one
of them is now living.
Caleb Davidson was born in Barren County, Kentucky, and afterward
removed to Graves County, in what is known in that State as "• Jackson's Pur-
chase," where he became the owner of considerable lands. In the Spring of
1831, he arrived in this portion of Woodford County. He was laid up at
Macoupin's Point four weeks, on account of the " deep snow," already mentioned
in these pages, as occurring in 1830-31, as a period from which the old settlers
■date many events of the county's early history, and was forced to go into
camp again on this side of Springfield, where he remained six weeks, on account
of the mud, resulting from the melting away of the snow, which rendered the
country (roads there were none) almost impassable, so that he did not arrive at
liis future home until in May. He settled in Walnut Grove, near the present
line between Olio and Cruger Townships, where he bought a claim of one Robert
Bird. As already stated, he owned lands in Kentucky, and made several trips
back to his old home, for the purpose of looking after his interests there. On
one of his last visits, he sold 200 acres of his Kentucky land. He was an
honored and respected citizen, and lived to a ripe old age, passing away in
August, 1870. His wife is still living, but growing very feeble in health, and
doubtless will soon join the companion of her earthly pilgrimage on the other
shore.
William Davidson, the father of Caleb Davidson, was also a native of Barren
County, Kentucky, but removed with the family to Graves County, where he
lived till he came to Illinois in the Fall of 1831. He too, settled in Walnut
Grove, and in what is now Olio Township. He bought land and made a per-
manent settlement, upon which the remainder of his life was passed. His
widow, who was a second wife, is now living in Missouri.
John Summers settled where he now lives in 183d. He is one of the few
remaining old settlers of Olio Township. He was first President of the Old Set-
tlers' Society, an office he held from its organization until the annual meeting
of 1877, when he declined serving longer. He pointed out to us, on an adjoining
farm, the house in which the first Court of Woodford County was held. He
states that Hon. James A. McDougal was the first regular Commonwealth's
Attorney, and afterward removed to California, from which State he was sent
to the United States Senate.
Thomas Bullock, Sr., came from Woodford County, Kentucky, to Illinois,
in 1835, and settled in Walnut Grove, where all the first settlements were made
in this township. Sprung from an intellectual family, a family productive of
320 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Statesmen and men of ability, he has ever been a man of weight and influence
in the county, and one of its leaders in politics, and in enterprise and improve-
ment. He it was, who was instrumental in getting up the project which finally
resulted in the formation of Woodford County, of which event full particulars
are given in the general history of the county. ]Mr. Bullock is still living near
Versailles, the original capital of Woodford, to some extent reconciled to the
greater power, or pressure, which wrested from his own little village of Ver-
sailles, the seat of justice. Of all the early settlers in Walnut Grove, Mr. Bul-
lock is probably the oldest one now living in what is known as Olio Township.
These old landmarks are rapidly passing away. The few still left are fluttering
over the'dividinfl: line between two worlds, and ere long will be gone from our sight.
Isaac Black came to Walnut Grove and settled in what is now in Olio Town-
ship, in 1830, where he has resided until a few years back, when he moved into
Eureka, where he still lives.
Who built the first cabin in this township, and the precise spot upon which
it w^as located, are among the things past. Mr. Henry B. Meek, living just
over the border in Cruger Township, where he has spent the last forty-eight
years, and who made a trip through this section in 1828, states that there were
a few families then living in Walnut Grove, of whom the Moores, and perhaps
one or two others, were in Olio Township. This is as near and as definite as
it is possible now to come at the first settlement of this township.
The first mill in Olio Township was a little horse mill, put up by John A.
Moore, and was built in 1828-9. For some time it was the only mill in the
neighborhood where the settlers could get meal. Flour was a luxury almost, if
not wholly, unattainable.
The first store was opened at Versailles, about 1838. by Durritt & Calloway,
and did quite an extensive business for a sparsely settled country. Other stores
were opened, and other branches of business inaugurated which go to make up a
town. A post oflfice was established, and a Mr. King became the first Post-
master. He was soon succeeded by Benjamin Kelley, who kept it for several
years. Versailles was now quite a flourishing place, and when, in 1841, Wood-
ford County was organized, she became the seat of justice, and thus attained
the zenith of her prosperity. Other towns sprung up, and, in 1843, the county
seat was removed to Metamora. Business men left for better locations, the
town was almost deserted and its glory departed forever.
There is a church in the village belonging to the Christian denomination, a
handsome little edifice, and is in a prosperous condition. There was a Metho-
dist church here at one time, but it has been moved over on Panther Creek,
and is mentioned in the history of Palestine Township. There is also a good
comfortable school house. These, Avith a blacksmith shop, and two or three
families, who live within the original corporation, are all that remains of Versailles.
The post office has long ago been discontinued, and the last vestige of Ver-
sailles is lost in her own ruins, while her place on the map is blotted out.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 321
Matthew Bracken was the first Justice of the Peace in what is now Olio
Township, and was appointed to the office in 1835. Ben. Majoi", who insisted
on being called Ben, and who always wrote his name Ben instead of Benjamin,
was a sort of doctor, and practiced the healing art to some extent. He is sup-
posed to be the first physician in the township. Doctors were not so plentiful
in those days as at the present, and all who possessed medical skill were often
called on to exercise it.
Rev. John Oatman, of the denomination of Christians, who came to the
township in 1830, was the first preacher of the Gospel , and preached the first
sermon in what is now Olio Township. There were no churches here at thaf
day ; and until the churches were built in Eureka, religious services were held
at the residences of the neighbors, and at the school houses.
The first child born in the township was Jefterson Dowdy, a son of John
and Eliza Dowdy, and was born in 1829.
The first death was this child's mother, who died a few months after his
birth.
Joseph Oatman was the first in the toAvnship to take to himself a helpmeet.
He went to Dry Grove, in McLean County for his bride, whose name is
now forgotten, and they were married in 1833.
At that early period, the settlers were not, it seems, thoroughly versed in
the manner of putting up and preserving corn, so that it would make good seed
the next year, and, as a consequence, good "seed corn" was often an object
much sought after. Oatman, when courting his bride, and in order to secure
his acceptance by his lady love, circulated the stor}^ broadcast that his father
had a thousand bushels of " prime seed corn."
In the days when Versailles was a flourishing village, there was a few miles
distant, in what is now Palestine Township, a village called Bowling Green,
that was quite a flourishing place, and did as good a business as the former. As
is usual in such cases, there existed, of course, considerable jealousy between
the two places, and neither lost an opportunity to play a prank on the other, or
to indulge in any petty annoyance that might suggest itself. There was a doctor
in Versailles at the time who was rather active in all the proceedings. One day
a young man from Bowling Gi'een was at Versailles, when several of the latter's
people caught him, and insisted that he had the toothache and that the doctor
must take out the tooth. Notwithstanding his protestations to the contrary, the
doctor, while the others held him, extracted the boy's tooth. When this came
to the ears of the Bowling Greenites, it excited their indignation to the highest
pitch. They swore big oaths, and a great many of them, and that dire ven-
geance they would have. They came up, and a pitched battle was the result.
The offending doctor was knocked down and nearly killed, but escaping from
the clutches of the infuriated mob, he fled from the place and never returned.
The fight closed with several bloody noses and broken heads, but without any
very serious damage.
322 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
In 1840, the State road from Lexington to Peoria, by way of Washington,
which was th^ first public road through this township, was laid out, and for
years it was a great thoroughfjire of travel, before it was superseded by rail-
roads. In 1854-5, the Toledo. Peoria k Warsaw Railroad was put through
the township, and the road wagons, transporting wheat, oats and corn to Peoria
and Chicago, over country roads, ceased forever. A few years ago, the Chicago.
Pekin & Southwestern Railroad was built. Avhich touches one coi-ner of Olio
Township, and thus gives her people another outlet to the great cities, and the
benefit of competing lines of road and a reduction of rates. This subject,
"however, is noticed more fully in the general county history.
The school facilities of Olio are equal, perhaps, to any in the State. The
first school taught in the township was about 1837, by M. Bullock, and was
taught in a little cabin near the present limits of Eureka. The cabin, like
many other of the old landmarks, has long since disappeared, and a number of
elegant frame school houses, of modern style, serve the town for educational
purposes. The early records oT schools have either been destroyed or mislaid.
The present Treasurer, Mr. M Pifer, has no records in his possession beyond
I860, and those are chiefly of the financial transactions of the town, and con-
tain nothing of any special interest. From the last report to the County
Superintendent of Schools, for 1877, we glean the following :
Number of males in township under 21 399
Number of females in township under 21 382
Total 781
Number of males in township between 6 and 21 291
Number of females in township between 6 and 21 253
Total 544
Number of males attending school 272
Number of females attemling school 232
Total 504
Number of male teachers employed 10
Number of female teachers employed 8
Total 18
Number of graded schools in township 1
Number of ungraded schools in township 8
Total number of public schools sustained in Township 9
Principal of township fund $3,456.66
Amount of tax levy for support of schools 4,360.00
Amount paid male teachers 32,535.05
Amount paid female teachers 1,696.65
Total amount paid teachers §4 231.70
Estimated value of school property 85,175.00
Estimated value of school apparatus 100.00
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 328
The public schools will be noticed further in connection with the schools of
Eureka Village.
Politically, Olio Township is pretty well and e([ually divided, with a major-
ity of, perhaps, a dozen or two Democratic. So evenly are they divided, that
strongly-contested races are doubtful, and usually result in favor of the best
wire-puller.
J. M. Murray, of Eureka, is Supervisor of Olio Township, and has held the
office for three years past. T. A. Dunn is Tax Collector, and furnishes us the
following; from the tax book of 1877 :
Personal tax for 1877 $ 5,431.11
Real tax for 1877 10.948.22
Total personal and real $16,379. ;^8
Of which amount the railroad tax is ' 4,106.54
Olio, as a political township, is known as Township 26 north, Range 1 we.st.
The war record of the township is highly honorable, and the zeal exercised in
furnishing troops relieved her of drafts, with one exception, when some half dozen
were drafted. Further reference will be made to the war record of the town in
the history of
THE CITY OF EUREKA.
Though still under village organization. Eureka is usually termed a city,
and its population estimated at about two thousand inhabitants, exclusive of
college students. It is beautifully situated on high, rolling ground, at the
crossing of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw and the Chicago, Pekin k South-
western Railroads, about twenty miles east of the city of Peoria. It was sur-
veyed and laid out in 1855-6 for Mr. John Darst, one of its most enterprising
citizens. The survey was commerced by A. S. Fisher, but finished by a Mr.
Perry, whose name alone appears in the records as the surveyor. The present
corporate limits of Eureka are two miles north and south, and one mile east and
west. It is Avell shaded by grand old forest trees, whose hoary appearance
would indicate that they had withstood the storms and tempests of centuries,
while many of the more ornamental trees and shrubs emborder the streets and
dooryards. There are many elegant residences, with finely ornamented grounds
and gardens, well laid out streets and handsome churches in the town, and the
business houses are rather better than in the average towns of its size. No whisky
saloons, nor even a billiard hall, with their attendant evils, disturb the quiet of
the ])lace. The public square is a beautiful little park of about one acre of
ground in the business center, and enclosed by a substantial fence. It is well
set in grass, with a number of young maples and other handsome shade trees,
and a few giant oaks towering- above them in their mightv grandeur. The first
houses in the village were built in the vicinity of the college, which is near the
southern limits.
About the year 1854, a Mr. Sterritt opened a store near " the academy"
(now Eureka College), where the school boys used to congregate and vie with
324 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
each other in eating candy and fruits. Dr. J. L. Springate opened a drug
store about the same time, and was the first in the village, which at that date
was called Walnut Grove, after the academy, which bore the same name. He
was the first regularly located physician, and practiced his profession in the
village and vicinity for years. Dr. J. M. Allen commenced the practice of
medicine a short time before Springate, but soon became a minister of the
Gospel, when he gave up medicine. He is now a professor of Latin and En
glish literatui'e in Eureka College. Dr. Springate, after many years' labor,
sold out and removed to Louisville, Ky., where he at present resides.
The first post office in AValnut Grove village was established in 1850, and
A. M. Fisher, then Principal of the academy, Avas appointed the first Post-
master. The mail was carried on horseback to Metamora once a week. After-
ward, a daily mail was established between this place and Kappa, on the
Illinois Central Railroad, but was very irregular, and mail facilities somewhat
uncertain, until the completion of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad to this
j)oint, when the office was moved over in the vicinity of its present location. A
Mr. Myers was commissioned Postmaster in 1861 by Mr. Lincoln, but subse-
({uently removed by Andrew Johnson. He Avas re-appointed b}^ Gen. Grant,
and held the office until his death, in 1874. It was then transferred to his
widow, who is the present Postmistress.
The first blacksmith shop in the old village of Walnut Grove Avas opened by
one Wilson HathaAvay, about the year 1854, and a wagon shop, by Z. Stock,
about the same time. A boarding house was built in 1851, capable of accom-
modating forty or fifty students, other business came, and Walnut Grove was
quite a flourishing little place. But when the Toledo, Peoria & WarsaAv Rail-
road Avas put through, in 1856, and the citizens succeeded in getting a station
here, Avhich Avas finally accomplished ■ over a strong opposition from Cruger
Station, a fcAv miles Avest, the old village Avas moA^ed over nearer the railroad.
The place rapidly increased in population and business, and the inhabitants,
bearing in mind their late struggle for a railroad station, and in remembrance
of the exclamation of their ancient philosopher, christened their ncAv village
Eureka, a name it still bears.
The first storehouse in Eureka proper Avas built in 1855, by R. M. Clark,
on the northAvest corner of College and First streets, where T. A Dunn's brick
store now stands. The first tavern Avas built by A. M. Myers, and is still the
leading hotel of Eureka, and stands near the corner of the public sijuare. It is
noAv owned by John W. Karr, of Peoria, and is leased and run by Alexander
Blair.
The Eureka Mills Avere built in 1856, by a stock company consisting of
John Darst, John Major, E. B. Myers, George Callender and W. S. Bullock,
at a cost of about $18,000. Originally a saAv mill Avas operated in connection
Avith the flouring-mill, but this branch of the business has long since been
discontinued. The mill building is a large and substantial frame, and has in it
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 825
most excellent machinery, together with three run of burrs. Mr. J. A. Davis, a
banker of Eureka, bought one-half of the mill in 1861, and was for matiy years
its general manager. He made considerable improvements and put in additional
machinery, which, added to the original cost, raised its value to about $25,000.
Mr. Davis finally bought the remaining half, and in December, 1877, sold it to
R. B. Chi'itton, who is the present owner and proprietor.
The Orient Mills were built by Adams & Vandyke, about 1867-8, at a cost
of $18,000. It is a large frame building with three runs of burrs, and is doing
a good business. The present owners are Vandyke & Gift.
The large grain elevator of J. M. Murray Avas built in 1863, and cost about
^5,000. Additions were made to it in 1877, which cost |1,000 more. It is a
strong frame 54x30 feet, and has a capacity of 30,000 bushels. Mr. Murray
deals extensively in grain, and handles annually something near a half million
bushels of corn, oats and rye, but mostly of corn and oats. Wheat is not raised
to a great extent, and what is produced is bought chiefly by the mills. He is
the only grain dealer of any note in the place. There are two warehouses,
originally built for grain purposes, but the owners of them have gone out of the
business, and Mr. Murray has the grain trade mostly to himself.
The Bank of Eureka commenced business under the firm name of J. A.
Davis & Co., in June, 1868, and their first banking house was in the Eureka
Mills. In 1871, Mr. Davis" partner left rather abruptly and unceremoniously,
since which time it has been oAvned by J. A. Davis alone. It is the only bank
in Eureka, and occupies commodious rooms in one of the elegant brick blocks in
the business center of the town.
The Eureka Journal issued its first sheet on the lOth of December, 1867,
and was called the Woodford Journal. It was established l)y John W. Karr,
and has, since its first organization, passed through several hands. In April,
1874, it was purchased by R. W. Radford, who has owned it ever since. It has
entered upon the eleventh volume, and is one of the flourishing papers of Wood-
ford County.
The Eureka College Messenger is a monthly, four-page paper, edited and
published by Prof. A. S. Fisher, who for many years was connected with
the Eureka College. The Messenger is devoted chiefly to the interests of the
college ; is ably conducted and has reached its second volume.
Eureka was organized as a village in 1859. An election was held on the
4th day of April of that year, for the purpose of electing a Board of Village
Trustees, with the following result : C. L. Wellman, J. R. Burton, R. M. Clark,
Sam'l Stitt and A. S. Fisher. A. M. Myers was elected Police Magistrate,
and Z. Stock, Constable. The Board organized for business by electing R. M.
Clark, President, and A. S. Fisher, Clerk. Eureka is still under this mode of
government ; although it has sufiicient population to admit of its being incorpo-
rated as a city, no move has been made to that effect. The present Board of
Trustees is as follows : C. T. Coleson, L. C. Darst, J. M. Saddler, G. W.
326 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Lewis, and W. S. Allen. The President of the Board is G. W. Lewis, and C.
T. Coleson, Clerk ; A. S. Fisher is Police Magistrate, and J. G. Woods,
Constable.
The religious denominations are represented in Eureka by the Christian,
Methodist and Presbyterian societies, who have each good, comfortable church
buildings. The oldest of these organizations, and wdiich is the oldest church
organization in the Township, and one of the oldest in Woodford County, is
The Christian Church. — This society was organized in 1832, and the origi-
nal members were : Elder John Oatman and wife, Daniel Travis and wife.
James Bird and wife and Joshua Woosley. The first Pastor was Elder John
Oatman, already mentioned as the first preacher of Olio Township. Their first
house ^ of worship was a frame building, 32x45 feet, and was erected by the
members, in 1847. "Uncle" Joseph Meek, as he is familiarly called by
everybody, furnished nearly all of the timbers himself; others contributed lum-
ber and such material as was required in the building, while others still added
their labor. The officers, in addition to the Pastor, Elder John Oatman. were
Daniel Travis and Joshua Woosley, Deacons. Until the building of this church,
religious services Avere held at the residences of the neighbors, in the groves
and the school houses. In 1834-5, many families came from Kentucky and
settled in Walnut Grove. Among them, Rev. William Davenport, Ben.
Major and Elijah Dickinson, who united with the society, and it became the
strong church of this section of the country. Elder Davenport was for a time
the principal preacher, and was a man of much power and influence. Elders J.
H. Lindsay and Alexander Reynolds held a protracted meeting in the Summer
of 1836, in which sixty additions were made to the church. The revival ex-
tended to Little Mackinaw, and no such religious awakening had ever before
been knoAvn in this primitive settlement.
To follow this pioneer church through all the changing scenes of its event-
ful history would occupy more space than we can devote to it in this volume.
Suffice it to say, that the almost '"howling wilderness," 'mid which she planted
the banner of the Cross, has " blossomed as the rose," and the generation which
greeted her at her organization lives not to greet her to-day. A few, it may be,
still remain, but they are standing, as it were, on the brink of the grave. Some
years ago, the society erected a handsome brick church, the size and cost of
which we were unable to learn. It is, however, one of the most elegant
churches in the county, and numbers upon its records nearly 500 members.
The Methodist Episcopal Church Society was first organized in 1858,
under the spiritual ministrations of Rev. Zedick Hall, mentioned in the general
history of the county as one of the pioneer preachers. The church was built in
1862, at a cost of $4,000, and is a substantial frame building, 36x50 feet, with
a vestibule fifteen feet in width. The church has a membership of 125, and
the Rev. E. McClish is Pastor. The present Board of Trustees are Messrs. M.
T. Hedges, H. S. Reynolds, S. Wright, David Perrine and Dr. J. T. Rosenburg.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 327
The Presbyterian Church organized their society iii Eureka, in 1868, and
Rev. Mr. Hart became the first Pastor. They built their church edifice in
1875, which is a very elegant frame building, 30x60 feet, and a vestibule of
twelve feet at front entrance. It cost |4,000, and was dedicated on the 9th
day of October, 1875. The society now numbers some eighty members, and is
under the spiritual charge of Rev. M. P. Ormsby. The present Elders are
Messrs. J. M. Murray, A. B. Holferty, John Shaw and John Summers.
W. C. Hobbs Lodge, No. 306, A., F. & A. M., was organized under dis-
pensation, January 15, 1859. John PI. Anthony was the first Master, and
John F. Lightcap the first Secretary. It was chartered October 5, 1859, and
their charter is signed by A. W. Buck, Grand Master, and H. G. Reynolds,
Grand Secretary. At present, the Lodge has forty- eight members; E. W.
Dickinson is Master, and T. A. Dunn, Secretary.
The society of Odd Fellows is represented by Olio Lodge, No. 311, but
we were unable to learn any particulars in regard to its organization. R. H.
McCorkle is the present N. G., and J. J. Hamilton, Secretary. The Order
had an Encampment here at one time, but it has been discontinued.
In the late war Eureka was well represented, both in officers and private
soldiers, and their record will bear favorable comparison with that of any of the
brave men who went forth from the State of Illinois, at their country's call. The
history of the Eleventh Cavalry, the Seventeenth and One Hundred and Eighth
Regts. of Vol. Infantry, chronicle their deeds upon many hard-fought fields. CoL
B. D. Meek went into the field as Lieutenant Colonel of the Eleventh Cavalry,
under the brave Ingersoll, of Peoria. When Col. Ingersoll was captured and
sent home on parole, Col.' Meek succeeded to the command of the regiment until
September, 1863, when he resigned and returned home.
On the roll of Company G, Seventeenth Volunteer Infantry, we find the
names 0. A. Burgess, Captain, and Harvey J. Rowell, First Lieutenant. The
latter is now an eminent lawyer at Bloomington, 111.
Dr. R. A. Conover was First Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and
Eighth Regiment of Volunteers ; W. A. Davidson, Second Lieutenant, and R.
0. Lough, Orderly Sergeant. The last two mentioned belonged to Company
E, the Color Company of the regiment, which was recruited by Major Sidwell,
of Metamora.
Many of the rank and file of these regiments went from Eureka, and,
would space permit, we might portray many stirring scenes in which the brave
boys participated. But their battles have been fought, victory has crowned
their arms, and the history of their valiant deeds are engraved upon the hearts
of their countrymen.
The Eureka Guards, Captain Hedge, is a military organization of which the
village is quite proud.
The medical fraternity of Eureka is represented by Doctors N. B. Craw-
ford, F. J. Rosenburg and Litchtenberger, who are able and experienced
328 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. *
physicians. Drs. Lakin and Messier are first-class dentists ; and the leading
law firm is Messrs. Briggs & Meek.
An interesting feature in connection with the history of Eureka is the nur-
sery of Mr. A. S. Fisher ; every species of fruit trees adapted to this climate,
evergreens, ornamental trees of various kinds, hedge plants, grapes, strawber-
ries, etc., etc., are cultivated in abundance. Mr. Fisher has a large nursery
and devotes considerable time to the selection and growing of his trees and
plants.
As a mercantile town, Eureka makes no pretensions beyond a retail busi-
ness. All departments of the retail trade are well represented, and the town
can boast of many energetic, honorable and enterprising business men, of whom
any place might well be proud, and we leave the subject with this tribute to
their merit.
A. S. Fisher, who taught the first permanent school within the present
boundaries of the village of Eureka, and who is one of the village's earliest
citizens, came from Ohio with his father, in 1828, Avhen a boy but five years of
age. His father settled in Tazewell County, near the present line of Woodford.
The site of this village and the country known as Walnut Grove was then
but one great hunting ground, with here and there a cabin of some hardy pio-
neer, who, like Daniel Boone, has wearied of the more thickly inhabited States,
and sought solitude in the western wilderness.
In the Fall of 1848, Mr. Fisher opened a school near the southern limits of
the present town of Eureka, of a higher grade than the common schools. A
similar enterprise had been commenced the pervious year by Miss Susan Jones,
a daughter of Elder John T. Jones, but was short lived, and this school begun
by Prof. Fisher, in 1848, was really the germ from which finally originated
EUREKA COLLEGE.
This college was chartered in 1855, and has been in uninterrupted operation
for nearly twenty-three years. It is under the auspices of the Christian Dis.
ciples of Illinois, more familiarly known as the Christian Church. Before
obtaining the charter, the institution had been known for several years as Wal-
nut Grove Academy, and this itself had originated from the seminary of Prof.
Fisher above alluded to. At a convention of the Christian Disciples, held at
xAbingdon, in September, 1852, the following was adopted :
Whereas, The Walnut Grove Academy, now under the control of a Board of Trustees, organ-
ized under the general law of Illinois, which has been in successful operation for the last four years,
taught by Prof. A. S. Fisher, Principal of Department of Mathematics, and John Lindsey, A. B.,
Principal of the Department of Languages, and which is the only regularly organized institution
of learning among our brethren in the State ; and
Whereas, said institution proposes to educate young men for the ministry, free of tuition
fees, therefore,
Resolved. That we commend to the brethren in Illinois this institution, and urge upon them
to foster it by sending their sons and daughters, and donating to its library, apparatus, and rais-
ing such means as may enable the Trustees to place it upon a sure and permanent basis, and be
recognized as the institution for the brethren of the State.
ATTYAT LAW EUREKA ^ //
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 331
As pertinent to tliis part of the subject, we take the following extract from
the Eureka College Messenger, a paper published by Prof. Fisher. Referring
to the resolution adopted at Abingdon, the editor says: " The authorities of
Walnut Grove Academy at once commenced work under that Abingdon reso-
lution, and pushed forward their work with some degree of energy. The result
was the securing a liberal college charter, the organization of Eureka College,
the erection of a more substantial and commodious college edifice, and a con-
tinued series of regular college sessions, from the first organization in the Fall
of 1856, to the present time, passing, without suspension, the terrible financial
convulsion of 1857, the still more terrible shock of revolution in 1861 and 1862,
the ever memorable crisis of 1873, and the gradual increasing depression of
business all over the country, even down to the present time. Thousands of
students, young men and young women, have been received within these walls,
have received liberal training for good, and have gone forth into the wide world
to do battle for themselves and humanity."
"This enterprise," concludes the editor, "that first began to assume form
and shape in an humble log cabin, standing near the eastern terminus of what
is now called Conover avenue, as early as the year 1847, under the care of the
venerable John T. Jones, that was revived in the small frame house, nestled
among the under!)rush and brambles, at the roadside, near the present cemetery
of Eureka, in the Fall of 1848, has an unwritten history, which none but its
founders, who have stood by it through evil report and good report, can ever
appreciate. Its career has been one of success, but not of that flattering kind
which the world regards as a grand success."
When the school was organized under the college charter. Elder William
Brown, of Springfield, became the first President. Upon his resignation, Prof.
C. L. Loos was chosen, who administered affairs for one year, and returned to
Bethany. The Presidents in order from time have been : George Callender,
B. W. Johnson, H. W. Everest, A. M. Weston and B. J. Radford.
The following are at present members of the Faculty : B. J. Radford, A.
M., President, and Professor of Philosophy and Sacred Literature ; J. M.
Allen, A. M., Professor of Latin and English Literature; D. M. Blair, A. M.,
Professor of Greek ; James Kirk, A. M., Professor of Natural Sciences ; E.
W. Dickinson, A. M., Professor of Mathematics ; Charles Johann, Professor of
Modern Languages ; J. W. Metcalf, Professor of Vocal and Instrumental
Music ; G. W. Reynolds, Principal of Commercial Department ; C. W. Camp-
bell, Teacher of Painting and Drawing; D. M. Blair, Librarian and Curator
of Museum. These gentlemen are of large experience, and their reputation as
teachers is a guarantee that the work will be kept up to the high standard which
has given Eureka College an enviable reputation among the temples of learn-
ing and of the Christian brotherhood everywhere.
The institution numbers among her Alumni many of the foi'emost men of
the country in all the walks of life, filling some of the highest stations in " the
332 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
camp, the court and the holy churcli,'" and she points to her children, in all
pursuits, with pride, as samples of her work.
The collegiate year is divided into the Fall, Winter and Spring terms, and
the enumeration of classes for the Fall term are : Arithmetic, English Gram-
mar, History of the United States, Geography, Latin Grammar, Greek Gram-
mar and Lessons, Higher Algebra, Physiology, Caesar, Memorabilia and Greek
Composition, Geometry, Natural Philosophy, Virgil, Demosthenes de Corona^
Analytical Geometry, Mental Philosophy, Latin Composition, Mechanics, Polit-
ical Economy, Rhetoric, German Reader, Goethe's Faust, French Grammar^
Telemac^ue, Bookkeeping, Bible Studies, Music, Lectures on Constitutional and
International Law.
Winter term : Arithmetic, Algebra, Grammar and Rhetoric, Elocution,.
Latin Grammar and Reader, Greek Grammar and Anabasis, Higher Algebra,
Cffisar, Plato's Apology and Crito, Trigonometry, Virgil, Homer's Iliad, Dif-
ferential Calculus, History of Civilization, Horace, Mechanics, Chemistry,
Moral Philosophy, Penmanship, Bookkeeping, German Grammar, Schiller's
Thirty Years" War, French Grammar, Corinne, Bible Studies, Music, Lectures^
on Philology, Style and English Authors.
Spring term : Arithmetic, Algebra, Elocution, General History, Latin
Grammar and Reader, Anabasis, Higher Algebra, Modern History, Sallust^
Thucydides, Surveying, Botany and Zoology, Tacitus, Sophocles or Eusebius,
Integral Calculus, Logic, Cicero de Officus, Astronomy, Geology, Bookkeepings
German Grammar, William Tell, French Reader, French Poetry, Normal Studies,
Bible Studies, Music, Lectures on the Antiquities of the Greeks and Romans-
and Mythology.
There are four permanent societies connected with the college, which have
comfortable rooms assigned them by the Trustees. The halls have been taste-
fully and elegantly furnished, and are among the most attractive features of the
institution. A^aluable libraries have been collected by these associations, and
they aiford excellent oppotunities and facilities for the acquirement of rhetorical
accomplishments.
The Excelsior Society is composed of ladies exclusively ; and the exer-
cises consist of essays, addresses, recitations, discussions, conversations, etc.
The two oldest societies in the college are the Edmund Burke and the Pericle-
sian, each having had a prosperous existence for more than twenty years. The
exercises are similar to those already enumerated, and they both have a large mem-
bership. The Mathesian is a religious society, and consists chiefly of young men
preparing for the ministry. The exercises are prayer, scripture readings and
recitations, essays, discourses and discussions, and are admirably adapted to the
training of the young preachers.
The following gentlemen constitute the present Board of Trustees : John
Darst, R. D. Smith, A. M. Weston, W. G. Anderson, John T. Jones, E. W
Dickinson, W. R. Adams, J. M. Allen, N. B. Crawford, H. C. Baird, J. L.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 333
Myers, John Lindsey, W. S. Allen, B. F. Maui)in, John W. Arnold, B. J.
Radford, of Eureka ; J. M. Kirkbridge, of Peoria ; J. H. Rowell, Peter Whit-
mer, M. Swann. of Bloomington ; and J. G. Willard, of Harristown.
The officers of the Board are : John Darst, President ; R, D. Smith, Sec-
retary ; J. P. Darst, Treasurer ; and W. G. Anderson, Financial Agent.
The college buildings stand in a beautiful and spacious grove of grand old
forest trees, a little way removed from the business part of town, and consist of
two large and substantial bricks, containing in all sixteen commodious rooms,
including chapel, recitation rooms, society halls, library and musuem, all fur-
nished in the most comfortable style.
We would deem the history of this enterprise incomplete without a parting
notice to the founders and early and earnest workers, wlio toiled manfully in
the cause they loved so well. The names of Elder Ben. Major, Elder Wm.
Davenport, Elder John T. Jones, Elder John Lindsey, David Deweese, E. B.
Myers, B. J. Radford, A. S. Fisher and others will ever be remembered and
cherished among the friends of Eureka College. Many of them lie mouldering
in the churchyard, but they have left a monument to their own memory more
lasting than crumbling marble.
In addition to this eminent temple of learning, the village has three public
schools and three comfortable school houses. As a school district. Eureka is a
union district with Cruger Township, though included bodily in Olio Township ;
it has one brick and two substantial frame school buildings. The brick was
purchased from the college for $1,000, and was the building first of Walnut
Grove Academy before the organization of the college. The frame buildings
cost, respectively, $1,000 and $700. The schools are graded and employ five
teachers, viz. : J. W. Hyatt, A. P. Felter, Mr. Rogers, Miss Emma Ward
and Miss Ella Myers, with an average attendance of about two hundred
scholars.
In conclusion of this chapter devoted to the history of Eureka, we notice,
briefly, the villages beautiful little " city of the dead." It is handsomely laid
out, on a sunny slope, in the southern extremity of the town, and like all other
portions of Eureka is shaded by huge forest trees, while loving hands have added
to its beauty by planting shrubs and flowers over their sleeping friends. The
myriads of snow white stones denote that many have gone to their last rest. The
cemetery is enclosed by a neat but substantial fence, and the clean kept grounds
reflect credit upon Mr. M. Pifer. the Superintendent.
ROANOKE TOWNSHIP.
The history of this township, though reaching back to comparatively an early
date, is by no means obscure, as the parties with good memories who were on
the ground during the period of its earliest history are yet alive, and from them
the facts concerning the earliest settlement have been obtained.
334 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Until about the year 1850, the broad prairie, from the head of Panther
Grove to within a mile of Metamora, was literally a "desert waste." Not a
house, fence or tree could be seen north, west or south. There were five or six
cabins only in the whole toAvnship, and they were in the edge of the timber. A
few families had wandered oif from their native States, and, attracted to this
point of timber, as much, perhaps, on account of the abundance of game as for the
purpose of opening farms, had built them habitations which barely protected them
from the inclemencies of the weather and the hunger of wild animals. Doubt-
less this explains why, in most instances, the best lands in this part of the
country have been left for later settlers. Going back from this date eighteen
years, which brings us to the year 1832, we learn of the first actual settler.
Jacob Stephenson, formerly of Christian County, Kentucky, with a view to
bettering his condition, and securing to himself and family a home and indepen-
dence which his limited means would not permit in his native State, made his
way to this part of the county and settled in the Grove, southeast of where the
village of Roanoke now stands. He built the first cabin in the township. He
was a blacksmith as Avell as a farmer, but worked at the trade, after coming to
this country, only for the accommodation of himself and his neighbors. Next
came J. W. Ewing. He was also from Kentucky, and from the same county
with Stephenson. Joseph Wilkinson came next. He moved from Indiana to
this township the next year, 1833, and lived for two years on Jacob Stephenson's
farm, after which he entered land of his own and became a permanent settler.
About this time Joseph Wilson emigrated from Tennessee, and located three-
fourths of a mile east (^f the village.
Joseph H. Causey was also an early settler. He left his native State, Ken-
tucky, in 1836, and found his way to this county, stopping for a season in the
south edge of the Grove, on the western line of Greene Township. He then
removed to Versailles, where he i'emained four years, when he returned to the
Grove and settled permanently on Sec. 27 of Roanoke Township, where he
continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1861). He was a black-
smith, and built the first shop. He continued to ply the hammer and bellows
until within a few years of his death ; and the old shop still stands — a relic of
the early industry of the townsliip. His widow, at the age of 74, still lives on
the old homestead, being the oldest living resident. She enjoys good health
for one of her years and experiences, and takes great pleasure in recounting
the incidents of the olden time.
The above, with their families, were literally the pioneers of Roanoke Town-
ship. They were hardy, brave and honest men and women. Doubtless, they
were easy, free and simple in their manners, and their immediate wants were
few and easily supplied. There were no carpets on their puncheon floors ; no
expensive mirrors or pictures on the walls, or tapestry at their windows. Their
houses contained usually a single room, which was their parlor, dining-room,
chamber and kitchen. Their tables were spread with plenty of venison, turkey,
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 335
corn and such other game and vegetables as could be easily obtained by the use
of the rifle and the hoe. Luxuries were neither obtainable nor desired. The
little marketing that was done required long journeys to the nearest stores ; and
goods of every kind, owing to slow and expensive transportation, were very
dear, and, by these people, almost wholly dispensed with. Most of them have
long since passed away. Some lie in the soil, near the scenes of their pioneer
life. Some of them, when the country began to be more densely populated,
began to feel the want of more freedom, and, to some extent, their cramped condi-
tion ; and, again taking up their line of march, journeyed off to the Far West.
A few still remain to tell the stories of the early past ; waiting only for a short
period, to follow on to the newer and better country in the ''great hereafter."
PROGRESS.
• From the pioneer period up to 1850, the settlement of the country was very
slow. Occasionally a family, guided by letters of friends who had preceded,
came in ; and others, as if by chance, lit upon the place. They came from
almost all parts of the Union ; but most who made this their permanent home
were natives of Virginia or Kentucky. After awhile, the timber and adjoining
prairies were all taken up, and shanties here and there — north, south and west
— began to make their appearance. This was the condition in 1855, when, at
the first election held under township organization, there were just thirty votes
polled ; which probably indicated a population at that time of 150, some then,
as at present, on account of peculiar religious views, not desiring to take any
part in politics. From that time to the present, the increase in population has
been steady, being. now about 1,500, judging from the last vote and the last
enumeration of children.
The first laid out road was the section line road, from Metamora east, to in-
tersect the State road, on the Third Principal Meridian. Since then, roads and
bridges have followed from time to time, as the growing country demanded,
until the township justly lays claim to as good a system of thoroughfares as any
in the county.
The land at a distance from the timber, which by the first settlers was
looked upon as worthless, and which as supposed by them would not be occu-
pied in a century, now sells for from $50 to $60 per acre. The assessed valua-
tion of real and personal property is, at this time. $671,000, which doubtlest
represents, as property is usually assessed, a cash value of real estate of not less
than a million of dollars.
' The township was organized April 3d, 1855, by the election of the follow-
ing officers : David S. Brown, Supervisor : James Stephenson, Clerk ; John
H. Gish, Assessor ; Benjamin Sanborn, Collector ; Samuel Stitt, Emerald
Fisher and Joseph Brubaker, Highway Commissioners ; Charles Stoller and
Joseph Gish, Constables ; and Gannon Gish and John Franz, Magistrates.
There were at the election tliat day thirty voters, with eleven offices to be
filled. Had there been as many applicants for office as at some subsequent
-S36 HI8T0RY OF WOODFORD OOUNTY
elections, every man must have been a candidate. Since that time, tlie vote has
doubled every eight years until the present. The duties of the officers were not
arduous, nor the perquisites great, but they were filled with dignity and honesty.
Surely tlie temptations for plunder were comparatively small. Be it said to the
credit of the Clerk and his successors, the records have been kept intact.
The name Roanoke was given by John Gish, who happened to be present
when the County Commissioners were in session and naming the townships,
and, being called on by them for a name for his township, called it Roanoke, in
honor of his native county in Virginia. The present officers are : Gideon
Jeter, Supervisor ; M. L. Mock, Clerk ; Daniel Brubaker, Assessor ; B. F.
Lantz, Collector ; A. C. Wheeler and M. L. Mock. Magistrates ; and T. W.
Gish and R. W. Ratcliff, Constables.
SCHOOLS.
This township has not been behind in the attention given to the education
of the youth. Though the facilities for obtaining an education in the early times
of the county were meager, and in this locality especially so, and many of the
fathers of later years had been deprived of the privilege of a common school
education, yet they fully realized their loss, and were determined that the future
generations should enjoy its benefits. Accordingly, at a very early day, when
the number of inhabitants about the Grove had increased to a few dozen, they
at once set about to put in operation the means whereby this desirable end
might be accomplished.
The first school was opened in 1855, in a little shanty, located on Section
14. There were less than a score of boys and girls altogether. Some had
books and some had none ; and the variety of books brought was as great
as the number of children who brought them. Some of the children had been
taught a little at home ; a few had recently moved into the neighborhood, from
more thickly settled places, and had received some school instruction there,
and some of the older ones had ridden on horseback to schools in other portions
of the county, but by far the greater number were totally ignorant of books or
school. The school, however, was a pronounced success ; and many of the
middle aged men and women, who still reside in the neighborhood, look back
to the first days spent in the Bunch school as among the happiest of their lives.
The Bunch school still exists, though the old cabin has given place to the more
pretentious edifice.
From this small beginning, the educational interests have developed with
the other improvements, until we now find nine good school houses, and a school
population of five liundred, between the ages of six and twenty-one. The ex-
penses of running the Bunch that year did not exceed a hundred dollars; now,
seven thousand dollars per year are collected and paid out on account of the
schools. The value of school property, including township fund, is but little
less than fifteen thousand dollars.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 337
Gideon Jeter was the first Treasurer. He held tlie office four years. D. T.
Fauber is the present Treasurer, and has held the office continuously, since his
first appointment in 1862.
CHURCHES.
The organization of the Christian (or. as known by some, the Campbellite)
Church dates back to 1846. Rev. Abner Peeler, Avho was literally a pioneer
in religious work, had been preaching in the school houses, in the eastern part
■of the grove and in private houses or in the open air in the grove, as the place
and season seemed to indicate, had gathered into the congregation of his own
faith sixteen persons, and with this numl)er the organization took place. The
Rev. John Oatman afterward became the Pastor of the church. The success
of the society has been varied, sometimes having its seasons of refreshing, and
at others a corresponding depression. On the whole, the enterprise has been
quite satisfactory, as is indicated by its j)resent status. The membership, at
this time, is more than eighty. They have, in the eastern part of the village,
a commodious and substantial house of worship, which they completed in 1873.
The building is sixty feet long and thirty-six feet wide, and will seat, comfort-
ably, two hundred and eighty persons. It cost $2,950.
The present officers are James Kirk, Pastor ; B. G. Kindig, J. R. Wilson
and Joseph Wilson, Elders; and I. H. Fisher, C. L. Stephenson and C. K-
Snyder, Deacons.
The Apostolic Christian Church is a society of Christian German people,
who came to this township originally from Germany, Switzerland and France.
Their location is in the south part of the township. Twenty-eight years ago,
B. Wyaneth, a minister of this denomination, came to this place, 'and began
preaching to the few of this faith Avho had preceded him. He soon succeeded
in gathering about him quite a little band of his people ; and, from that time to
the present, the society has been receiving additions, mostly, however, from immi-
gration, until now it numbers, including the branch churches in Livingston,
McLean, Tazewell and Peoria Counties, more than four hundred. Rev. B.
Wyaneth was the first Pastor, and has continued to minister to the congregation
€ver since. They have a very large and substantial building — the largest, indeed,
in this part of the county. The main building is forty feet by eighty. The
seating capacity, including the two galleries, is about seven hundred. The
building was completed in 1873, and cost the society four thousand dollars. The
eating hall and Sunday school room is an additional building, which was for-
merly used as the house of worship. It is twenty-eight feet by fifty-four, and
<;ost, when built in 1865, eighteen hundred dollars.
The people who worship here are very simple in their customs, dress and
religious views. They take the Bible for their only rule and guide of faith.
Indeed, they substantially make it their only book of education, law and science,
not being desirous that their children should receive any other education, except
barely enough to enable them to transact business. They will not sue nor
338 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
enforce a claim either against their brethren or an outsider. Neither will thej
vote or hold office, or take any. part in politics whatever.
The German Baptists, by many denominated Dunkards, organized their
society in 1852, having, at the time, a membership of eighteen. J. R. Gish
and George W. Gish were appointed to the ministry, and have remained in
charge to the present time. For five years they were without a house of wor-
ship, and then, in 1857, erected their present building, which stands near the
line of Greene ToAvnship. It was built at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars ; is
thirty feet by forty, and will seat three hundred persons. The membership at
this time, is about two hundred, besides congregations which have been organ-
ized since, and which were formerly a part of this. The present eldership con-
sists of J. R. Gish, George W. Gish, P.- A. Moore, Thomas Keiser and Jacob
J. Kindig.
The Methodists have held services in this vicinity from the year 1856, and,
as in the casei of other churches, services were held in school houses and dwell-
ing houses until within three years of the present date. They now have a neat
little house of worship, in the western part of the village, which they completed
in 1875. Its length is forty-five and width thirty-two feet. It seats comfort-
ably two hundred persons. The membership is about fifty persons. The
present Pastor is L. V. Webber. Services are held every Sabbath ; in connec-
tion with the church is a flourishing Sunday school.
The Ornish have a church building in the extreme southern part of the
township. Its size is thirty by fifty feet. It was built in 1875, at a cost of
$1,500. Divine services, however, had been held in this vicinity for more than
twenty years previous. Services are held twice each month, and are conducted
by Christian Roop and Jacob Sear.
The Baptist Church was organized in 1865, with thirty-two members, and
the next year the society proceeded to build. Rev. Sumner Robinson was the
Pastor at that time. Subscriptions were taken, and the building completed the
same year. It is the latest organized church in the township. The mem-
bership live mostly in the northwestern part, and number at this time fifty-
five, with a Sabbath school of seventy. The Pastor in charge is M. L. Fuller.
To recapitulate, we find within the limits of Roanoke six organized churches,
each with a house of worship. The value of the buildings and other church
property is about twenty thousand dollars. The membership exceeds five hun-
dred, though some reside outside of the township, and none of the organizations
are a dollar in debt.
INCIDENTS.
The events of a startling character which take place in a new and thinly-
settled place, like this, must necessarily be few. And yet, this town is not with-
out its incendiarism and tragedy.
The only fire that has ever occurred, that was generally believed to have
been maliciously kindled, was that of the burning the house of Joseph Reift",
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 331>
about a mile porthwest of the village. The fire occurred on the night of the
4th of March, 1858. It was supposed to have been set on fire by one Jacob
Hilderbridle", who lived in an adjoining township. There was a slight snoAv on
the ground at the time ; and, in the morning, the fresh tracks of horses' feet
were discovered in the road. A peculiar conformation of the track of one of
the feet led some parties to follow. The tracks led directly to Hilderbridle's
house. He was arrested and taken to jail, but tlie evidence was not strong
enough to convict, and he was released.
In the Winter of 1870-71, occurred, in the western part of the township, a
horrible murder. Mr. Christian Schertz, while sitting by his fireside and play-
ing with his children, was most brutally murdered, by a shot from without, by
some unknown person. Certain suspicious circumstances led to the arrest of
Daniel Goldsmith, a resident of the western part of the county. It appeared
in evidence, that he had been out hunting the day before ; that one barrel of his
gun had been discharged ; and that the ball found in Mr. Shertz's body corre-
sponded to those used by Goldsmith. The evidence, though considered by many
as convincing, failed to convict, and he was set at liberty.
In the Fall of 1875, this township was visited by one of the most violent
tornadoes that has ever been known in this section of country. Though confined
tc a narrow belt — in some places not exceeding fifty yards in width — the de-
struction of all within its compass was complete. Houses, barns, trees, cattle
and horses were literally swept out of existence.
The whirlwind struck in the southwestern part, demolishing the school house,
that stood a mile from the west and three miles from the south line. It was^
just before 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the teacher of the school, seeing the
storm approaching, and being desirous that the children should reach their
homes before the storm broke, dismissed them. They had not all passed a
dozen yards outside the track of the tornado, before the house Avas crushed into
fragments. Only for the precaution of the teacher, a score of human beings
would have lost their lives. From this point it passed across the road and com-
pletely obliterated the house occupied by E. E. Bingham and family. There
were four persons in the house at the time. They barely escaped with their
lives by taking refuge in the cellar, one old lady being badly injured, and ren-
dered a cripple for life. From thence, in its course lay A. C. Bullington's
house, which shared a similar fate. After leaving this point, a second school
house was destroyed. Gideon Jeter's barn was the next object of its fury. It
finally left the town after the destruction of C. H. Waldron's house. Fortu-
nately, no human lives were lost, though a number of persons were more or less
seriously injured.
The freaks of the wind were extremely curious, and, in many instances,
almost incredible. Large stones, partly imbedded in the earth, were scooped
up and carried long distances from their beds. Horses were carried through
the air. Fence posts were drawn from the ground. A child was blown from
340 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
its mother's arras, and deposited safely in a straw stack, and wa3 only found
afterward by some person hearing its cries.
In the late war, Roanoke was not an idle spectator. A large number of her
young men not (mly volunteered their services to the government they loved, but
sacrificed their lives for its preservation. A singular fatality seemed to attend
the soldiers from this part of the county. Of some twenty who volunteered to
fight their country's battles, only nine returned alive. From the Gardner family
went out Daniel, Levi, David and John. Before their terms of service expired,
their bones were moldering in the ground, and their spirits had gone to the land
where war's alarms are never heard.. In the same manner likewise pas.sed away
the two brothers Henry and Aaron Brubaker. Also, Joseph and Henry Causey,
sons of the j)ioneer mentioned in these pages. The war is of the past. Peace
again reigns ; and as many Confederate and Federal soldiers make this township
their home, they have "• shaken hands across the bloody chasm.'' They tell to
each other the anecdotes of their soldier lives ; and peace and harmony prevail.
In 1872, occurred an event in the history of Roanoke Township, that has
had a marked effect on its prosperity. In that year, the C, P. & S. W. R. R-
was projected and built. A number of townships along the proposed line had
voted bonds for aiding the company, and thereby securing its location through
this part of the county. Though tliis township voted no bonds, yet subscrip-
tions were taken from private individuals to the amount of five thousand dollars^
which amount was required to pay for the right of way. This was done by the
citizens in consideration of the locating by the company of switch within half
ii mile of its present crossing of Panther Creek, and the present site of the
village of Roanoke. Thus was secured to this community an outlet for the large
products of grain and stock, which formerly had to be hauled from eight to
fifteen miles to the nearest railroad points.
VILLAGE OF ROANOKE.
The next Fall after the completion of the railroad, December, 1872, the vil-
lage of Roanoke was laid out. It was surveyed and platted for Hiram Barney,
Benjamin G. Kindig and D. T. Fauber, who were the original proprietors of
the village. Lots were offered for sale, and imniediately improvements began to
be made. The first house built in the limits of the town was erected by Henry
J. Franz. The same is now occupied by John Franz as a store. The second
house was built by Jacob Engle. son of Peter Engle, one of the pioneers of
Metamora Townshij). A store building had, at some time previous, been erected
on the east side of the crtek, but after the village was laid out, was moved into
town. The first residence was l)uilt by Chris. Gozinger, in 1873. The town
has steadily increased in size and population, until it now contains over a hun-
dred buildings, and three hundred and fifty inhabitants.
The post office was established in 1872. with Frank Pifer as Postmaster.
Pifer was succeeded by F. M. Wheelwright, the present incumbent.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 841
In the Spring of 1873, a grain elevator was built by William and Peter
Crow. The same is now OAvned and operated by Messrs. Hollenback & Rickey.
The building is twenty by forty feet, and has a capacity of ten thousand bushels.
In the same year, C. K. Snyder built the elevator owned and operated by him
at present. Its capacity is about ten thousand bushels. There is handled, by
the two elevators, per year, an amount of grain exceeding four hundred tliou-
sand bushels. There is also shipped from this place, each year, fifty cars of
stock, mostly hogs.
In 1877, a flouring-mill was erected by Isaac Snyder, at a cost of thi'ee
thousand dollars. It has two runs of burrs, which are run to their full capacity.
At present, business of almost every kind is well represented by the follow-
ing persons and firms :
Dry Croods and Gr^eenes, John Franz, Jacob Engle, Trainer & Kindig
and Robinson & Leonard ; Clothing, Isaac Moore ; Drugs, J. F. Wheelwright
and D. B, Zimmerman ; Hardtvare, Hatcher & Jeter ; Hotel, L. D. Schwender ;
Flour-mill, Isaac Snyder ; Elevators, Hollenback & Rickey and C. K. Snyder :
Harness, Thos. A. Brown and F. Marti ; Furniture, Godfried Harseim ; Boots
and Shoes, C. Grozinger; Wagon Makers, I. H. Fisher and Ulrich Beer; Phy-
sicians, Z. H. Taylor, J. M. Wilkerson and J. M. John (Coroner) ; Insurance
and Real Estate, M. L. Mock.
In the Fall of 1873, an event of much importance occurred in Woodford
County, of which Roanoke was the central figure. The citizens of the village
and vicinity, fully realizing that this was the most central point in the county,
and with other natural and artificial advantages in view, moved for the location
of the county seat at this place. A petition, with the requisite number of
names, was accordingly presented to the County Judge, Meek, and an election
was ordered to determine the question. The election was closely contested, at
every polling place in the county, and a heavy vote polled. The returns, as
canvassed by the County Board, showed a decided majority for Roanoke. In
the meantime, injunctions had been served on the county ofiicers, restraining
them from removing the county records from Metamora ; and, on a contest of elec-
tion, before Judge Burns, a majority of six votes was declared against removal.
PRESENT DESCRIPTION OF TOWNSHIP.
Roanoke is geometrically the center township of the county. It is bounded
on the north by Linn, on the east by Greene, on the south by Olio and on the
west by Metamora, and is known as Congressional Town 27 N., Range 1 W.
It contains thirty-six sections of as fine land as can be found, being mostly high
and rolling, with soil rich and productive. Panther Creek flows from near the
middle of the western part, east, crossing the line into Green Township. The
creek is fringed with a fine grove of timber, extending from the village to the
township line, and embracing about one thousand acres. The C, P. & S. W.
R. R. passes diagonally through, from the northeast to the southwest, crossing
Panther Creek near the southern boundary of the village of Roanoke.
342 HISTOEY OF AVOODFORT) COUNTY.
GREENE TOWNSHIP.
DESCRIPTION.
This township is situated east of the center of Woodford County. It is
bounded on the north by Clavton. on the east by Panola, on the south by Pales-
tine, and on the west by Roanoke. It is known as Congressional Town 27 N..
Range 1 E. of the Third Principal Meridian. It is six miles square, and con-
tains about twenty-three thousand acres of very fine land, about seven-eighths
of wliich is prairie and the balance timber. The surface is undulating, but not
t(t(» much so for easy cultivation. The soil is deep and very rich, and well
adapted to the raising of corn. Some wheat is raised near the timber. The
timber lies on both sides of Panther Creek. One branch of the creek flow.s
from the east and the other from the west, forming a junction near the south-
west corner, and leaving the township at a point near the village of Secor. The
C. P. k S. W. R. R. passes through the northwest corner, cutting oif about a
section.
EARLY HISTORY.
In the year 1826, an adventurer in the then far Northwest had returned to
his home in Overton Co., Tenn. He had been traveling in the newly made State
of Illinois, and had broucrht back glowincr account of the richness of its soil, the
abundance of game and the many other real and fiincied advantages to the emi-
grant bold enough to face the dangers and privations of a pioneer life. He was
listened to by his hearers with wonder and admiration, and by some, who doubt-
less thought the pictures somewhat overdrawn, with a mixture of doubt. Among
those who heard the tempting description was William McCord. The idea of
going to the new country immediately took possession of him, and he soon set
about making arrangements for his departure. He had a large family of boys,
and the prospect of providing them with homes seemed better in a new country
than in the older, settled State of Tennessee. Accordingly, the Spring of 1827
found him, with five other neighbor families, ready for the journey. It will be
readily conceived that an undertaking of such a nature was a different thing from
what it would be at present. It would compare more properly with the embark-
ation of the hundred Pilgrims who left their native shore two hundred years
earlier to make their way across the boundless deep to find a home in the New
AVorld.
Indeed the liardships of the wilderness road were greater than those expe-
rienced by the emigrants of the Mayflower. The length of time required to
accomplish the undertaking, too, was almost as great. The 7th of June was
the day fixed upon to commence the weary march. The wagons were packed
with a few household effects and some of the simpler farming implements. The
cattle were turned into the road, and all were ready to start. Numerous friends
were gathered around to bid them good-by, looking on them meanwhile with
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 343
feelings mingled with sorrow and wonder. The women and younger children
rode in the wagons, while the men and boys trudged along behind to attend to
the cattle. It would be interesting to listen to all of the accounts of their long
and tedious journey ; but time and space forbid more than a few brief allusions
When a few days out, it commenced raining, and continued almost incessantly
all the way. There were but few bridges then, especially after crossing the
Ohio ; and the streams, being swollen by constant rains, were difficult to cross.
At the crossing of the Wabash, Avhere there was a ferry, the cattle would not
stay on the boat, but, jumping oif, returned to the bank ; and the men were
obliged to take off their clothing, take the cattle by their tails, and, guiding
them in this manner, swim them across. Thomas McCord, then a young man,
thus swam the Wabash eleven times. Over many of the streams, they were
compelled to carry their wagons and goods on rafts, made of timber cut,
and prepared on the spot, and lashed together with bed cords. Such cross-
ings often required a whole day to accomplish. The crossing of the Sangamon
was effected in this manner. After traveling in this toilsome way for fifty-three
da^^s, they at length, on the oOth day of July, arrived at Twin Grove, near
where the city of Bloomington now stands. Here they lived until the Spring
of 1831, when Mr. McCord, with his family, consisting of himself, wife, five
sons and three daughters, removed to Panther Grove, arriving at this place on
the last day of March. They at once set about providing themselves with a
shelter. In a short time, they had completed a log cabin, twenty feet square
and one and a half stories high, the lower and upper portions consisting each
of a single room. It was built of small, round logs, "chinked" with smaller
pieces of wood, and daubed with mortar. There were two doors and two win-
dows, the latter consisting of four panes of eight by ten glass each. The chim-
ney was built of sods, piled one on top of another to the proper height. The
old cabin is still standing in the midst of the old orchard planted by Mr.
McCord's hands, and is an object that will engage the attention of any one
interested in relics of the early days of the county.
The McCords found that they had been preceded by only three families.
Amasa Stout and wife had come to the grove but two years before, and
located on the south side and near the west line of the township, on what is now
Section 19. The land had not then been surveyed, and he, with all others for
several years, wei'e simply squatters. Stout lived, for the first year including
the Winter, in a rail pen, protected on three sides and top with corn fodder. He
scarcely became a permanent settler, as he removed a few years subsequently
to Dry Grove.
William, Allen, Winslow and Almira Patrick, cousins of the McCords, moved
from Overton Co., Tennessee, in 1829, and settled on Section 29. They built a
house, using the same plans and specifications as those used by Stout previously.
In this they lived until the boys had cleared ten acres of ground. It will doubt-
less sound strangely to some to hear of clearing land, while just adjoining
344 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
the timber were tliousands of acres better adapted for agricultural purposes, on
which was not a stick nor a stone. But then, it must be remembered that these
people were from a thickly w^ooded country, and naturally concluded that where
trees would not grow corn would not thrive.
The next Spring, while engaged in preparing to build a better house, an accident
occurred, which resulted in the first death within the limits of the township, or
even in the Grove. WinsloAv Patrick was hauling logs for the new house, when,
on returning from the woods with a load, he was caught by the head between
the butt of the wagon and a tree, and his skull was literally crushed. In this
condition he was found soon after, dead. William Patrick died two years after.
They both lie in the public burial ground near the old saw-mill. There was no
pageantry or hearse, or robed priest or hired livery at those funerals ; neither
was there a long train of mourners, though all the inhabitants for miles around
were there, and their death was mourned deeply and earnestly. There was no
eulogy pronounced, but their friends spoke kindly of them for many a long year
afterward.
Allen Patrick continued to reside in the neighborhood, until the year 1842,
when he removed to Tazewell County.
Almira Patrick married Joseph More, and with him also removed to Tazewell
County. This constituted the first wedding. Joseph had courted Almira for
more thana year, and being desirous of setting up housekeeping, on his own
account, propounded to her the one important question, she replying ever/zwrc,
he mounted his horse and galloped off to Bloomington, a distance of thirty miles^
to procure the necessary documents to "make two one " and one More.
Young Bilberry, brother-in law of the Patricks, came, with his wife, from
Overton County, Tennessee, in 1830, and settled on the east fork of the creek.
To them, in 1831, was born the first white child in this part of the county.
They lived here several years, but finally removed to McLean County. In
1833, Abram Hahn and Jacob Kindelsbryer. two Germans from Ohio, made
their appearance in the neighborhood. They were the first additions to the
settlement after the arrival of the McCords. About this time, or perhaps a few
months later, S. Y. Barnard, of Overton County, Tennessee, through the
influence of the McCords, also came on. He was subsequently, from 1836 to
1840, Postmaster of the office known as Josephine. It was the only post office
for miles around. It was situated at the intersection of the old Bloomington and
Ottawa road and the laid out road running east from Metamora.
Thus, one family after another continued to arrive, until in 1840 there were
about twelve fiimilies all told. When we take into consideration that at this
time they wore without schools, or churches, or newspapers, or other means of
communication with the outer world, it is easy to imagine tliat the state of
society must have been quite difterent from what we now find. The Indians
were amongst their nearest neighbors, until the Government caused their removal
to reservations further west. Tiiere were residing, until 1832, at the head of
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 345-
the Mackinaw, a tribe of the Kickapoos and a tribe of the Delawares, of about
eighty warriors each, together with numberless squaws, papooses, ponies and
dogs. There was also living at Joliet Chief Shabbona, Avith a small tribe of
Pottawatomies. These all came, from time to time, to Panther Grove to hunt
and trap. They were quite friendly and whites and redskins hunted and drank
and visited together in the most kindly manner.
But the* time was near when the wild man must give place to the less
romantic pale face. The Government had made arrangements for their removal
from the State to reservations beyond the Mississippi. Some went willingly,
some submitted stubbornly and others resisted the Government. Of the latter
were Black IJawk and his followers, the Sacs and Foxes, who lived on the Rock
River. At the call of Gov. Reynolds, among the companies being formed for
the purpose of enforcing the designs of the Government, was a company at
Bloomington, to which Robert McClure was afterward elected Captain. Thos.
McCord and Allen Patrick left their homes, in Greene Township, on the 5th
day of May, 1832, and, proceeding to Bloomington, joined this company. They
immediately set out for Pekin, on the Illinois River, to the appointed rendez-
vous, where they met several other companies. They marched from this point
directly to Dixon, where they joined the regiment commanded by Col. Stillman,
who had, the day before their arrival, been defeated by the Indians in an
engagement at a point about thirty miles further up Rock River. The next
day they marched back to the scene of battle. In the meantime, the Indians
had retreated, carrying all their dead and wounded with them, with the excep-
tion of one old man, whom they had left bound in a sitting posture, doubtless
for the purpose of indicating to their enemies that this had been the small result
of their hard-fought battle. They also found on the field eleven white soldiers,
some of whom had been shockingly mutilated. After taking care of the dead,
they returned to Dixon, where they stayed a few days, when they were ordered
to march to Ottawa. When within fifteen miles of Ottawa, they came to a set-
tlement where sixteen persons — men, women and children — had been massacred
but the night before. After burying the dead and taking care of the property
of the murdered families, they continued their march to Ottawa. A few days
later, they were discharged, and McCord and Patrick returned to their homes.
An incident, illustrating the insecure feeling that must have pervaded the
white settlement at that time, is here given. Reports of massacres had been
common for some time, when one day, when the danger from an attack by the
Indians seemed imminent, a sudden discharge of what seemed to be many rifles
was heard by all of the inhabitants of the neighborhood. The greatest excite-
ment at once prevailed, and, doubting not that the savages were upon them, they
fled as hastily as possible to Walnut Grove, leaving everything behind to the
plunder of the Indians. Young Bilberi-y, whose name has already been men-
tioned, in great haste assisted his wife to mount a horse, and, advising her not
to spare the whip, took to his heels and fled on foot. Thus he ran for a couple
346 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
of miles, when he became so exhausted that he could run no further, and seeing
a pond of water just ahead, waded in and concealed himself by sitting down in
the water, allowing only his head to remain above the surface. In this position
he remained for some hours, when he caught sight of some of the returning
fucfitives, of whom he cautiously inquired about the massacre. When informed
that the fright had been occasioned by a company of white soldiers on their way
from Bloomington to Ottawa, and that they had, on their approach to the tim-
ber, discharged their muskets, he was glad to come out of his forced bath and
return to his home. This pond was, for many years, knoAvn ;is •• Bilberry's
Defeat."
In those times, deer, wolves, wild turkeys and other wild animals and fowl
were almost as plenty as domestic animals are at present. It was no unusual
thing for the hunter to return after a single day with a half dozen deer. In-
deed, we may believe that the original settlers could scarcely be deemed farmers,
but supported themselves and families, in a great part, by the use of the rifle
and trap. Mr. Thomas McCord, though fearing that some may not believe the
story, says that he has killed four deer at one shot, with a single barreled shot-
gun. Mr. Simpson McCord has had in his possession a gun for fifty-nine years,
which he believes has killed over two hundred deer, and a proportionate amount
of other game. Times have changed. The deer and wolf have gone, and their
places are filled by the more practical ox, dog and pig. A few nimble squirrels
and timid rabbits are all that still remain.
PROGRESS.
From 1840, to the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, the country
settled but slowly, but after that event a new era seemed to dawn, and the town-
ship rapidly filled up, so that in 1855, there were in the township not less than
two hundred inhabitants. Schools began to spring up, roads and bridges were
built, and a better class of buildings were taking the place of the old log cabins.
Lumber and agricultural implements were shipped to within a dozep miles, and
fences and houses began to relieve the barren look of the praii-ie.
SCHOOLS.
As early as 1840, a cabin was built on Section 28, for the purpose of estab-
lishing a school. The first term taught in it was by Wm. Armstrong. Whoever
he was or is, for his name is all that is remembered, he is entitled to the honor
of being the pioneer educator of the Grove. This continued to be the only
school until 1856, when the wants of the township, in this regard, had so in-
creased, that a second one was established, on the north side of the timber, on
Section 20, and known from that time till now as the Willow Tree School. At
the present time, there are six good schools. The first School Treasurer was
Samuel Arnold, who was appointed in 1850. The school section was sold in
1851, for the sum of ^3,400. This, with the addition of swamp land funds,
constitutes the township school fund. Tlie total amount at present is §3,768.34.
-^— • Ti'fiv^!
CHICAGO
FORMERLY OP METAMORA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 349
The estimated value of school property, including township funds and schoo
houses, is about $9,000.
There are in all 348 children, of school age, that is, between the ages of six
and twenty-one, 290 of whom attended school last year.
The above items have been taken from Mr. C. M. Stephenson's books. Mr.
S. is present Treasurer, and has held the office since his appointment in 1869.
RELIGION.
That there is some of this article in the township cannot be doubted, but it
is not indicated by church spires, there not being a church building within its
limits. However, the people are not without church privileges, as there are
churches on all sides. The German Baptist Church, mentioned in Roanoke,
being only across the line, accommodates a large community in the western part,
while churches at Secor and Benson accommodate those in the northern and
southern portions. Religious services have been held in the township almost
from the date of its first settling; but churches, unlike schools, not being con-
fined by law to a particular location, have been built outside, while some of their
firmest pillars are inhabitants of Greene.
TOWN HOUSE.
This is, in one sense of the word, a "memorial building," as it was erected
in the year 1876. It is a neat frame building, erected by a tax levied on the
property of the citizens of the township. It is located in the center of the
township. It is thirty-two feet in length and twenty-four feet in width. It is
used for the purpose of holding meetings of a public character and as a voting
place.
ORGANIZATION.
The township was organized April 3, 1855, by the election of the following
officers : Supervisor, J. R. Gaston ; Town Clerk, G. S. Woods ; Assessor, 0.
D. Hanna; Collector, D. T. Patterson ; Magistrates, Benjamin Sample and Will-
iam Harper ; Constables, J. F. Stephenson and J. F. Mohr.
The present officers are: Aaron Brubaker, Supervisor; V. Houseworth,
Clerk; Bryant Cawley, Assessor; Joseph Tool, Collector; M. B. Hammers
and C. L. Pleasants, Magistrates; Stephen Armstrong, C. H. Tool and James
Jeter, Highway Commissioners.
The number of voters at the organization was forty-nine, which has increased
to one hundred and ninety. The first assessed valuation of property was
$211,531. The assessment last year footed $484,609. The population was
then about two hundred. It has at the present date a population of about one
thousand.
WAR OF THE REBELLION.
We would not forget that, when the life of the country was in peril, Greene
Township ofiered her sacrifice, and the following brave men laid down their lives
that the Union might continue : George Srasbaugh, Henry Trowbridge, Corey
H
350 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Harvey, Lott Haiina, Lewis Hanna, Ansel Bunting, Andrew Betz, Simon
Betz, Francis I. McCord and Edward Fifield.
" Requiem eternam dona ei^ Domine."
OTHER MATTER.
There being no village in this township, it has not been a natural abiding
place for lawyers or doctors. There are no stores, mills or factories, the people
supplying themselves with articles produced by these, as well as with law,
physic and theology, from the neighboring villages. As hinted in a former
part of this article, there was at one time a post office located here. There
was, too, a small store, kept by Isaac Hammers and William Crossley ; but,
upon the completion of the railroad, the former was abandoned by the Govern-
ment, and the latter removed to Panola.
ROADS.
Not until comparatively a late date was much attention paid to the build-
ing of roads ; but after the township organization act went into effect, and each
township w^as dependent on itself for its highways, the inhabitants of this,
township went to work right earnestly ; and year after year has seen some im-
provements in that direction, until at this writing nearly one hundred miles of
graded I'oad is the result of a vast amount of labor.
THE ROANOKE FIRE INSURANCE.
This institution was organized April 2, 1875. This is an association of
farmers in this and other townships of Woodford County, for the protection of
farmers' property against fire. It is a mutual company, without charter or
capital, and relies entirely on the honor of the members for the payment of
assessments, in case of the destruction, by fire, of any of the buildings of
the insured.
The membership fee is fifty cents, and the policy fee twenty-five cents.
There is also charged, on taking out the policy, ten cents on the hundred dol-
lars, for two-thirds of the cash value of the property. There are six Director*
of the Association, one of whom, C W. Stephenson, is Treasurer and Secretary.
There have been, to date, one hundred and ninety-five policies issued, rep-
resenting property to the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. It is
claimed that this Association saves the township two thousand dollars per year.
RETROSPECTIVE.
Though the growth of this township has not been so rapid, numerically and
financially, as some others, yet it will be seen, by a casual observer, that its
growth has been solid. The population is mainly made up of thrifty, industri-
ous and honest Virginians and natives of adjoining States, who came to this
country, not for political or other ambitious designs, but to procure for them-
selves and children comfortable homes. As a result of their zeal and industry,
we find here a township dotted all over with elegant houses and barns, and well
cultivated fields ; and prosperity and thrift are everywhere visible.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 351
CAZENOVIA TOWNSHIP.
Cazenovia lies in the northern tier of townships of Woodford County, and is
bounded on the west by Partridge, south by Metamora, east by Linn and north
by Marshall County. About two-thirds of the township is prairie land, while
the remainder is pretty well supplied with timber of an excellent quality. The
prairie is among the finest farming lands of the county, and is of a generally
level surfice, but the timbered land, especially along Richland Creek, which has
its source in the township and flows westward through Partridge into the Illi-
nois River, is broken and uneven, sometimes rising almost into bluffs. It is
known as Township 28 north. Range 2 west, and in 1877 had an assessed val-
uation of taxable property, personal and real, of $601,372.00.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT.
Many of the early settlers of Cazenovia were from Pennsylvania, the old
Keystone of the American Union, although the i^ery first settlement of which
we have any definite information, was made by a man named Hubbard, and his
son-in-law, who came from Virginia, and made a settlement on what is now
known as the Dodd's place, near Low Point village. Hubbard and his son-in-law
built a cabin here in the Spring of 1832, which is supposed to have been the
first in the township. This was the commencement of the Low Point settle-
ment, and attained its name from being a kind of point, or grove of timber,
several feet lower than the general level of the surrounding prairie. From this
date on to 1835, there were added to the settlement the Buckingliams, the
Mundells, the Joneses and the Hammerses, who all came from the same section
of Pennsylvania. Isaac Buckingham and his son Morgan Buckingham came
in the Summer of 1832, and settled first at Lacon, then called Columbia, where
they remained but a short time, when they removed to this township, and perma-
nently settled a little south of the present village of Washburn, and not far from
Low Point. Judge Wm. E. Buckingham, now living within half a mile of the
village of Washburn, was originally from the Pennsylvania settlement, but had
resided in Ohio several years previous to his settlement in Cazenovia Township.
This old family trace their lineage back in an unbroken line to Thomas Buck-
ingham, the Puritan preacher, who came to America in the Mayflower, and
through him direct to the Dukes of Buckingham. We make the following
extract from their genealogical record published some years ago, and a copy of
which is in possession of Judge W. E. Buckingham : " Thomas Buckingham,
the Puritan settler and ancestor of all the American Buckinghams, was one of
the congregation to which Eaton and Hopkins, the London merchants, and two
ministers, Davenports and Prudden, belonged. They sailed from London on the
26th of June, 1637, and settled originally in Connecticut." Judge Bucking-
ham is a nephew of Isaac Buckingham, and came to the town several year*
352 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
later, and is the only one of the old stock now living, Isaac Buckingham
entered a great deal of land on the prairie in the vicinity of the Low Point set-
tlement, and it was told by Jesse Dale, that James Boys an old settler of
Metamora Township, inquired one day, soon after his arrival in the country, if
that land was entered, glancing across the prairie. He was informed that it had
been entered by Isaac Buckingham. "Well," said Boys, " he is a fool
to enter such land as that." " The next time I saw him," said Dale, "lie had
married the fool's daughter."
Isaac Buckinorham died in 1836-7. and his was one of the first deaths to
CD
occur in the township. Indeed, the Buckinghams seemed to have been a short-
lived race, none of the old set surviving much beyond 50, and few reaching that
half-way station. We were shown the little log cabin — quite a pretentious
dwelling in its day — in which Morgan Buckingham died. It is on the place
where G. W. Newell now lives, and is a mile or two west of Low Point village.
Mr. Buckingham was among the first Justices of the Peace in Woodford County,
an enercretic man and a leading citizen of the neighborhood.
Jesse Dale, mentioned in other chapters of this work, seems to have been a
kind of migratory character, who was not satisfied long in one place. We find
him in the Spring Bay settlement among the first ; a few years later in the set-
tlement at Partridge Point, or Metamora, as it was afterward called, and in the
Low Point Settlement with the very earliest. Some of the survivors of this
settlement are of opinion that Dale built the first cabin in Cazenovia Township ;
but from other and more definite information, we are inclined to accredit the
building of the first house to Hubbard, as already noted.
The Mundells, three brothers named x\.bner, Simeon and Samuel, came in
1835. Abner came early in the season and the other two about six months
later. As stated, they were from Pennsylvania, and entered land in the vicinity
of the Low Point settlement. Abner Mundell lived for many years in this
township, but in 1861 removed into Metamora Township, where he at present
resides, a prosperous farmer and much respected citizen. He was in Chicago
four years before he removed to the State, and related to us that they were then
building the first brick house ever erected in the Garden City. It was down by
the river, a little west of the barracks, and near Hubbard's old trading post.
Simeon Mundell went to California in the Spring of 1849, during the gold fever
of that period, where he remained until April, 1852. While in California, he
staid some time with a couple who kept an eating house, and. leaving a thousand
dollars in gold dust with them, one day, for safe keeping, they suddenly
decamped while he was absent, and, through some trifling oversight on their
part, carried off his gold dust — probably by mistake. Suffice it, he never
heard of them or his lucre afterward. More fortunate than thousands of others
who went to California to seek their fortunes on its gold-washed shores, notwith-
standing the loss above narrated, he succeeded in accumulating considerable
gold, with which he returned to Illmois, intending to go back to the Golden
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 353
State in the Fall ; but a younger brother, who had gone to California with him,
and vvhom he had left there in cliarge of their affairs, had become dist'-usted with
the place, sold out and came home before he had completed his arrangements to
go back. His brother lives now in Texas, and Simeon still remains on his old
homestead, in Cazenovia Township. Samuel Mundell lives upon the site of his
original settlement. When the Mundells came to the settlement, they found the
Buckinghams, Jesse Hammers, James Owen, Thomas Jones and Isaac Black,
and perhaps a few others, settled around the grove of timber called Low Point.
Jesse Hammers, another old Pennsylvanian, settled in this township in 1885,
and within half a mile of the present village of Cazenovia, where he still resides.
His first cabin is still standing, though it has long since given place to his ele-
gant frame residence, and has been torn down and removed on to a neighbor-
ing farm. It was built of large logs, twenty feet long, and was a substantial
building. Mr. Hammers bought some of his land, entered some, and also
received some from his father-in-law, Isaac Buckingham. He was the first
President of the Woodford County Agricultural Society, an office he held for
several years. He took an active interest in getting the present railroad through
the township, and was Vice President of the first association formed for the old
Tonica & Petersburg Road, so much talked of years ago, and when at one time
they commenced to grade it, the President being absent, it devolved on Mr.
Hammers, as Vice President, to throw the first shovel of dirt, which he did
with all due solemnity.
Thomas Jones, still another Pennsylvanian, and related to the Buckinghams,
settled in this town in 1832-8, near the present village of Low Point. They,
through their relationship with the Buckingham family, traced their descent
back to the same noble source. Isaac Moulton and the Morses settled near Low
Point very early, Moulton in 1832-3, and the Morses in 1885. As the latter
in a short time removed into Metamora Township, where the survivors of the
family still live, their history is given in the chapter devoted to that township.
Isaac Moulton first settled in the present town of Worth, but soon came to
Cazenovia, where he settled permanently.
Rev. James Owen was born in Fairfax County, Va., in 1801, and removed with
his father's family to Kentucky, where they remained three years. They came to
Illinois, and settled in Wayne County in the Spring of 1819. They crossed the
river, on their trip to this State, at Shawneetown, when there was but one store
m that city, and but few other houses. In his trips back and forth, Mr. Owen
has crossed the Mississippi at Shawneet_own seven times. He remained in
Wayne County with his fiither's family until 1835, when he removed to Wood-
ford County, and settled in Cazenovia, near the line between it and Partridge
Township. He made a trip to this county the year previous to his removal to
visit his brother, who had settled at Walnut Grove in 1829. While he yet lived
in Wayne County, he had a horse stolen, and followed the thief over five hundred
miles, and finally succeeded in recovering his horse in a distant part of Indiana,
354 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
but failed to bag the thief, who, when he found he was getting into close quar-
ters, abandoned the nag and made his escape. When Mr. Owen settled on his
present place in 1835, on the bluff overlooking one of the branches of Rich-
land Creek, there were but a few large trees scattered over the plain, which
Kentuckians and Virginians call '"barrens." The beautiful young forest sur-
rounding him now has grown up since. He. brought with him a lot of scions,
or roots of apple, peach, pear and cherry trees, in a box of dirt, which he
planted in the moist earth near a fine spring of water, and though it was in the
month of May they grew and flourished. The next year he planted his young
trees in an orchard prepared for the purpose, Avhere he soon had a variety of
fruit. This was the first orchard in the township ; some of the trees are still
standino;, and, unlike the barren fig tree, are brinorino- forth good fruit. Previous
to his effort at fruit, there had been nothing of the kind in the neighborhood
but wild plums and crab apples. Mr. Owen entered land as he needed it, and
could pay for it, and at one time owned several farms, which he let out to ten-
ants. But finding that only what he himself superintended was a paying invest-
ment, he sold off all of his superfluous lands, and retained only a suflSciency for
the wants of himself and family. His house was the voting place when there
were but three precincts and three voting places in the county, and many are
the lively times and stirring scenes enacted on the old bluff, when the Partridge
and Spring Bay Hills poured out their hardy yeomanry and naturalized voters
to exercise their rights of franchise at the ballot box. All little neighborhood
disputes were settled at this annual assembling of the clans, and with Avhisky at
twenty cents a gallon,* the crowd never lacked for the exhilarating beverage,
which generally aided them very materially to cancel their slight differences.
Mr. Owen has been a great hunter in his day, and has probably killed more
deer than he has seen years, although he is verging on to his four score. He
informed us that in 1848 he killed fifty-two foxes, and that " it was not a very
good year either for foxes." He had the first pack of hounds ever introduced
into the township, and thus waged a bitter warfare against the whole fox tribe —
those arrant foes to young pigs and lambs. He was intimately acquainted with
Abraham Lincoln, and, though a life-long Democrat, quite a strong friendship
existed between them : and he, to use his own words, " used to have lots of fun
with Honest Old Abe." As a relic of the past, Mr. Owen has a bill of the gen-
uine old Continental money, dated in 1779, of the denomination of forty dol-
lars, and signed by "John Graff" and "J. C. Masoner." It looks as little
like the present United States notes as a counterfeit nickel resembles a twenty -
dollar gold piece.
James G. Bayne came from Brown County, Ohio, and is a Buckeye of the
genuine stamp. Though scarcely ranking as an old settler, according to the
common acceptation of the term in Woodford County, he having settled here in
* We have the word of old settlers for the fact, that a good coonskin would, ia those primitive days, buy a galloa
of liquor.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 355
1846, yet he has always been a prominent character, and foremost in every
work of enterprise calculated to promote the interests of his town and county.
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1869-70, and the record
of that august body shows that he was no idle "looker on in Venice," but a
zealous worker. He was the first Township Clerk, and for twenty years School
Treasurer. He states that when Treasurer, away back in the old days of hard
money, he used to have a great deal of the funds in silver, and often put it in
an old oven and buried it in his garden, " under the raspberry bushes," as a place
of safety. A few years ago, he made a canvass for Congress, and while he had,
perhaps, as good friends as any man in like circumstances, yet he did not have
quite enough of them, and consequently was defeated. He took an active part
in getting the railroad through his township, and its final accomplishment is
due as much to him as any man who favored the movementj Upon his arrival
here, he settled at the present village of Low Point, though just outside of the
<3orporate limits of the village, and where he still resides.
THE FIRST PO=?T OFFICE.
In 1849, a post ofiice was established in the Low Point settlement, which
was the first in the township. Wm. Dodds was the first Postmaster, and the
■office was kept in that neighborhood until the village was laid out, in 1871,
when it was removed into the corporation. With many changes in the admin-
istration of its affairs, the office has passed into the hands of John E. Dodds,
who is at present Postmaster.
The first blacksmith in the township was Morgan Buckingham, Sr., who
kept a shop on his place soon after his settlement. He was probably the first
Justice of the Peace also, as we have no information of one prior to him in the
town. At all events, he was the first after the county was organized.
The first store of which we have any definite record was a little grocery
store kept by James Owen, at his own house, at a very early day of the settle-
ment of the town. He kept sugar, coffee, molasses and such things as were
actual necessities in the neighborhood. Mr. Owen likewise built the first barn
in the township,' which, like its founder and builder, is showing the eff"ects of
age. It was considered an enterprise of such magnitude that he climbed to
the " ridge pole " — whatever that was — to take a look at his surroundings, and
those present, who had helped him " raise it," called for a speech, and " Uncle
Jimmy," from his lofty rostrum, entertained his hearers for some time upon the
events of the day. His residence was the first house with a brick chimney.
Previously chimneys were built of wood, sticks and mud. His house was of
loss, and built in 1835, but since " weather-boarded " with lumber from Jenkins'
circular saw-mill, the first of the kind in' the township ; was put in operation in
1847, and operated by horse power. His barn was built of material from the
same mill. The brick used in his chimney was made by Heddrick Brothers,
who burnt a kiln near the north line of the town in 1835, of excellent brick.
35 6 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
BIRTH. DEATH. MARRIAGE.
From the best information to be obtained, James Boys and Miss Jane Buck-
ino-ham, a daughter of Isaac Buckingham, was the first marriage in Cazenovia
ToAvnship. Their nuptials were celebrated in 1833, and the hymenial knot
was tied by Daniel Meek, Justice of the Peace. Since that date, many others
have gone and done likewise. Their daughter, Mary, is supposed to have been
the first child born in the town. Just when the '• fantastic rider of the pale
hoi-se "' first entered the settlement, or who was his first victim, we do not
definitely know. But the several graveyards, with their white tombstones
standing here and there like sentinel soldiers, show that he has been here, and
that old and young have fallen in his track.
" Our birth is but a starting place :
Life is the running of the race.
And death the goal ;
There all our glittering toys are brought —
That path alone, of all unsought,
Is found of all."
Isaac Buckingham and a man named Key were among the first deaths, and
are recorded in 1836-7. Thomas Jones' Avife also died about the same time.
An old man named Heddrick died also at an early period of the settlement.
But after the lapse of so many years, it is difiicult to fix the precise dates of
these events.
The first road throuofh Cazenovia was the State road from Chicago to
Bloomington and Springfield, and was the stage route between those cities.
The stage carried the mail, and was the first presentation of Uncle Sam's com-
pliments to the .settlers here, and was made through the Low Point post office.
Parker Morse, Sr., kept a tavern on this road at Low Point, in 1886-7, and
was the first in the settlement.
CHURCHES AND SHOOLS.
The first church in Cazenoria Township was built in 1849-50, by the Bap-
tists, near where Simeon Mundell now lives. The lumber was sawed by Jen-
kins' saw-mill already alluded to. and the building has been converted into a
barn by Mr. Mundell, since the erection of the elegant church at Cazenovia vil-
lage. Rev. .James Owen, who was a Baptist, but afterward joined the Chris-
tians, preached the first sermon in the township in 1835. and previous to the
buildins of churches, religious services were held at neighbors' residences, and
in the school houses. Rev. Mr, Root, who lived across the Illinois River, came
over occasionally and preached, about the same time.
The United Presbyterian Church, one mile from the village of Low Point,
was built in 1857. Rev. P. H. Drennan was Pastor at the time of its building.
Rev. Mr. McClenahan was the first Presbyterian preacher in the town, and the
society organized during his ministerial labors in 1853. The church is an ele-
gant brick edifice. 40x56 feet, and cost ^3,000. The present Pastor is Rev. R.
B. Nesbeth, and the records number eighty members.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 357
•
The Old School Presbyterians, as they are called, have a church 1^ miles
from Low Point, which was buit a few years after that of the United Presbyte-
rians. It is a good frame building of modern style, well finished and furnished.
The society was formed by Rev. I. A. Corneilson ; the present membership is
about seventy, and Rev. Mr. Keeling is Pastor. Other churches of the town-
ship will be noticed in the history of villages in which they are located.
The first school house was built near Mr. O^ven's place, in 1838, was of
unhewn logs, and had a wood chinmey. It was afterward moved a mile or two
east, into a settlement knoAvn as Bricktown, and which was more convenient to
a large number of its patrons. The people seemed to have adopted a line of the
Southern negro's camp-meeting song, to
" Keep de ark a moven,"
for a few years later we find the little old log school house moved again, this
time "across the hollow." This last move offended Bricktown, and in a fit of
pique, or independence perhaps, buil^ a small frame school house in their neigh-
borhood, and which was the first of the kind in the township. It is still stand-
ing, a monument to their enterprise, and doing duty as a temple of learning.
The first schools taught in the log school house after it was erected were by
George W, Taylor and Joseph Perry, but it cannot be decided now who had the
precedence as pedagogue. The first school, however, taught in Cazenovia Town-
ship, and which was probably the first free school in the State of Illinois, was
taught by Miss Love K. Morse, as noticed in another chapter of this history.
The present School Treasurer. Frank N. Ireland, has none of the early
school records in his possession. From his last annual report to the County
Superintendent, we extract the following :
No. of males under 21 years 364
No of females under 21 years 317
Total 681
No. males between G and 21 years 205
No. females between 6 and 21 years : 197
Total 402
No. males attending school 159
No. females attending school 154
Total 313
No. School Districts in township 8
No. schools in township * 8
No. graded schools in township .' 1
No. ungraded schools in township 7
No. brick school houses 1
No. frame school houses 7
No. male teachers employed 4
No. female teachers employed 10
Total 14
358 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Estimated value of school property $ 1^,600.00
Estimated value of school libraries 10.00
Estimated value of school apparatus 18.00
Township fund for support of schools 2,242.60
Highest monthly wages paid teachers 80.00
Lowest monthly wages paid teachers 30.00
Total amount paid teachers 3.063.16
The township is well supplied with good substantial school houses, thorough
teachers, and every facility for first-class common school education.
THE RAILROAD.
The Western Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad crosses the township
diagonally. It was completed in 1870, and the township, as an organization,
holds $50,000 stock in the road. The route was first surveyed under the title
of the Tonica & Petersburg Railroad many years ago, but little except the sur-
vey was done toward a completion of the enterprise at that time. The first
intention seems to have been to build this road south to Lincoln and north to
Peru, and after the survey was made it was chaiiged to Petersburg south and
Tonica north. But. under a later dispensation, it was changed to its present
route and built principally by subscriptions received along the line. As a local
road, it is doing a large business, and has been of material benefit to the section
through which it passes. It belongs to the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad
Company, and is known as the Western Division of that road.
THE MORMONS.
At an early day there was a Moriuon Settlement in the northwest corner of
Cazenovia Township, Avhich was a source of considerable excitement, and at one
time threatened trouble. Two brothers, Orson and Parley P. Pratt, were the
chief prophets and elders of the saints of this settlement, and exercised all the
functions, on a smaller scale, of Jo. Smith or Brigham Young. But the low,
deep mutterings of the gathering tempest warned these "Latter-Day Saints " that
a collision was rapidly approaching, and convinced them, too, of the truth in
that faithful saying, " A prophet is not without honor, except in his own coun-
try." In order to avoid "the Avrath to come." they suddenly changed their
base of operations, pulled up stakes and removed to Salt Lake, where they be-
came big guns and elders of the first water under Brigham. There we will
leave them. With their departure, fizzled out ^Nlormonism in this section.
The settlement alluded to a little space ago, called Bricktown. was, at an
early period of the settling up of the tOAvnship, a rather interesting neighbor-
hood. It was on the plain, northwest of " Uncle Jimmy " Owens', and received
its name from the fact that there was a brick yard there many years ago, where
considerable brick was manufactured. A little store and grocery was once kept
in their midst, and was quite a place of resort on Saturday evenings, and, per-
haps, Sundays. It was in this settlement that the first frame school house was
built in Cazenovia Township ; and in the grand march of civilization and
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 359
refinement, its "old-time pleasantries" have passed away, and it has settled
down into a most excellent neighborhood, noted for its energy, and enterprise.
ORIGIN OF NAME.
Cazenovia Township received its name from Oazenovia Lake, in the State of
New York. There were four brothers-in-law living near Low Point, viz.: Jeter
Foster, Eli Rich, Thomas Clark and John SaflFord, who came from the neighbor-
hood of the lake above alluded to, and talked so much about its beauties that
they finally received the name of " Old Cazenovia " among their neighbors.
The name was bestowed on them in good humor, and received in the same spirit,
and clung to them until it became almost as common as their true names.
When the county was laid off and organized into townships, in 1852, the matter
of a name for this one evoked considerable discussion, until some one, as a joke
on their good-natured neighbors, proposed Cazenovia, which was unanimously
adopted without debate.
John W. Acres was the first Supervisor, under township organization, and
James G. Bayne, first Clerk. At present, P. Coen is Supervisoror, and C. F.
McCuUoch, Town Clerk.
Politically, Cazenovia was Democratic in the days of Whigs and Democrats,
but from 1860 until within the past few years it was Republican. At present,
it is a difficult matter to designate the color of its political faith or to decide
which of the four political parties extant has the ascendancy. Of the old line
Democrats, the Republicans, National Greenbackers, and Independents, it is
not easy to tell just which way the town would now go, in a national contest.
WAR RECORD.
During the late war, Cazenovia did her whole duty in furnishing troops, but,
like other portions of Woodford County, failed to get the proper credits for all
her men, and, as a consequence, was subjected to a draft before the final wind-up
of the unpleasantness.
Among the officers whose names are inscribed on the roll of fame are Capt.
McCuUoch, who is reported from Metaraora Township ; Lieut. Philip Jenkins,
Co. C, Seventy-seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteers ; C. F. McCuUoch, Second
Lieutenant of the same company and regiment, and Lieut. Anderson Wright,
who was promoted to the place of Jenkins, when his failing health forced him
to resign his office. Of the brave boys who filled up the ranks and bore the
brunt of the strife, their record is written on many a Southern battle field, and
many lonely graves bear silent witness to their deeds.
" Not forever have they left us,
Those for whom we shed our tears ;
Not forever shall our niouniiiig
Darken long and weary years."
When Mr. Owen settled in the township, there were traces of an Indian
camp plainly visible about one and a half miles from where he settled. But
360 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
the Indians themselves had "gone West to grow up with the country," and
their hunting grounds had been appropriated by the pale faces.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
The old town of Washburn, as it is still called, was laid out in 1851, by
Hiram Echols, who owned the land on which it was situated. The old town
was mostly in ^Nlai'shall County, but on the line between it and Woodford. The
first lots, which were 50x150 feet, were sold at public auction, and brought the
rousing figures of from $3.00 to $15.00 apiece. The place was first called
Uniontown ; but upon ascertaining that there was another Uniontown in the
State it was changed to Mantua, which was likewise a duplicate name, when
Washburn was finally decided upon, which name it still retains, and which was
that of the first post office established here.
William Maxwell, now of Lacon, was the first Postmaster, and the office
was established several years before the town was laid out. The first store was
kept by Americus Pogue, who is now a wealthy man and is living at Richmond,
Ind.
Jesse Hammers built the first large stone building ; and Dr. Thomas, now
living at Lacon, and who bought a whole block at the sale of lots, put up the
first residence.
August Younker, who came from Germany, in 1854, stopping in New-
Orleans two years, came here in 1856, where he has since remained. In 1869,
he built a large steam grist-mill, the only one in the township. It is a two-story
frame structure, has two runs of burs, cost $9,000, and has a capacity of about
150 bushels of grain per day.
Peleg Sweet, another of the enterprising men of the old town of Washburn,
was from New York. He settled first in Morgan County, and came to Wash-
burn in 1847, where he took an active part in building up the town.
The magnificent brick school house of Washburn is in the old town, and
consequently in the county of Marshall.
The new village of Washburn was laid out in 1870, when the certainty of a
railroad became apparent, and is wholly in Woodford County, but just across
the line from the old town, and is on the Western Division of the C. & A. Rail-
road, about nine miles north of Metamora. It was incorporated as a village in
July, 1873, and the following Board of Trustees elected, viz.: Geo. C. Butler,
F. Bennecke, S. W. McCullough, Samuel Patrick, Henry Sangbush and J. G.
Harris. The Board organized for business by electing S. W. McCullough, Pres-
ident, and M. S. Fulton, Clerk. F. N. Ireland was elected Treasurer, R. H.
Richards, Constable, and William Cotton, Street Commissioner.
The Washburn JVetvs, a live, seven-column newspaper, was established in
December, 1877, by S. C. Bruce, a practical printer, and who is editor and
proprietor. It is Independent on all political issues, and is noted for being the
only paper in the county that uses no patent side.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 361
The Washburn Bank was established in 1870, by Frank N. Ireland, who is
sole owner of it, and who carries on the banking business in all its depart-
ments.
The village has two general stores, three grocery stores, two lumber yards,
two furniture stores, two drug stores, three saloons, two shoe stores, two harness
shops, four wagon and blacksmith shops, three hotels, one livery stable, and all
branches of general business are well represented.
The legal fraternity is represented by Messrs. S. B. Jones and George P.
(rill ; and the medical bureau is composed of Drs. N. V. Maloney, Jas. Tweed-
dale and Garrett Newkirk.
The grain elevator was built by S. W. McCullough, in 1870, and cost, in-
cluding its steam power, about $7,000. It has a capacity of 12,000 bushels
is still owned by its builder, Mr. McCullough, who handles annually about
200,000 bushels of grain, mostly corn and oats, with a few car loads of rye, by
way of variety.
THE CHURCHES.
The Baptist Society was formed in 1852, under the pastoral charge of Rev.
Mr. Freeman. The church was built in 1855-6, and Rev. C. D. Merritt was
the first Pastor. It is a frame building, 36x50 feet in size, cost $1,800, and
has about fifty members. There is no Pastor in charge of it at present. Rev.
J. B. Brown, late Pastor, having recently resigned his position.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was built about 1863, and dedicated by
Revs. Mr. Munsell and Mr. Evans ; the former, at the time, was President of
the University at Bloomington, and the latter is now President of Abingdon
College. The society was organized in 1857. Rev. Mr. Suedaker was Pastor
when the church was built, and Rev. Mr. Applebee is present Pastor. The
edifice is 30x48 feet, cost about $2,000, and has a membership of about forty.
The German Evangelical Church was built in 1877, and is an elegjint little
frame edifice, furnished in the highest style of modern architecture, and cost
$1,500. They have no Pastor at present. Rev. H. Eller having lately left the
charge.
In addition to these churches, there are, in the old town, the Christian, Pres-
byterian and German Luthei'an. Rev. W. Keeling is Pastor of the Presbyte-
rian ; Rev. F. Ledebur, of the German Lutheran, while the Christian Church
has no settled Pastor.
Washburn Lodge, No. 421, A., F. & A. M., was organized in 1861, with
James Freeman as Master. It has about thirty members at present, but at one
time had upward of eighty. Many of them have dimitted to form other Lodges,
and some to remove to other sections of the country. G. Burson is the present
Master, and Charles Cutler, Secretary.
The order of Odd Fellows is represented by Washburn Lodge, No. 546,
I. 0. 0. F. N. V. Maloney is Noble Grand, and H. Gill, Secretary.
362 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
There is a cemetery adjacent to the Baptist Church, and another on the
Sweet place, where slumber many of the early citizens of the old town. About
1869-70, a cemetery was laid out one mile southeast of the new village, and
which is quite a handsome little city of the dead.
LOW POINT,
The town of Low Point is on the railroad, about four miles south of Wash-
burn, and is located on Section 22 of the township. It was surveyed and laid
out by D. H. Davison, County Surveyor, in 1871, foi- James G. Bayne, who
owned the land. The first house was built by Piper, Bayne & Co., just after
the town was laid out, and was a store house. The school house was built in
1848, long before the village of Low Point was dreamed of, and the first school
was taught in it by Orson Cheedle. The present teacher is Miss Ella Dodds,
who has a large attendance of pupils, and is represented as an excellent teacher.
An association was formed in 1874 for the purpose of opening an academy.
Tlie next year an elegant academy building was erected, and a school of higher
grade than the public schools conducted in it by Prof J. E. Lamb, until De-
cember, 1876, when the edifice was burned to the ground. It had an average
of about forty pupils, and was an institution in which the citizens felt consider-
able pride. It is a fact to be regretted that the funds of the association do not
.permit them to rebuild at present.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, the only one in the village, was built in
1851, but the society organized several years anterior to that period. The build-
ing is a frame structure, 30x40 feet, and cost about $1,500. It was dedicated
by Rev. Mr. Cummins, who was Presiding Elder of the district. The present
preacher in charge is Rev. Mr. Applebee, land the church is in a flourishing
condition. A very pretty little cemetery is attached to the church, and hand-
somely adorned with shrubbery and evergreens. The first burial in it was in
the Summer of 1851, and were two brothers named Pogue,* who died of cholera
on the same day, and were both buried in the same grave. They had gone down
to the timber for a load of wood, and while absent ate some red plums, took
cholera and died before they could get home.
Low Point boasts of having the best adapted grain elevator outside of Chi-
cago. It was built during the Summer of 1873, by Piper, Bayne & Co., at a
cost of $7,000. It is 24x40 feet in size, 70 feet in height, and has a capacity
of 20,000 bushels. A good steam engine is attached. They handle, princi-
pally, corn and oats, and about 200,000 bushels annually.
The tile factory of Oscar Pinkerton is quite an object of interest, and
deserves a special notice in connection with the business of the place. Hitherto,
farmers could not get tiling for drainage purposes nearer than Joliet. This
establishment turns out about 4,000 feet daily, and makes six different sizes, viz. :
2J, 3, 3J, 4, 5 and 6 inches. About $4,000 is invested in the business, and it
is the first enterprise of the kind in this section of the country.
*TheT were brothers of Americus Pogue, mentioned in the history of Washburn.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 36S
The first store in Low Point was kept by John E. Dodds, who is still in the
mercantile business. There is one other store, kept by Hornish Brothers ; one
blacksmith and wagon shop, by Ellsworth, which, with what has already been
noticed, constitutes the business of the town. The name of Low Point was
taken from the oldest settlement in the township, which was long known by the
same title.
CAZENOVIA TOWN.
The town of Cazenovia is situated on the Western Division of the C. & A.
Railroad, about four miles north of Metaraora, and occupies twenty acres of the
southeast corner of Section 28, and nineteen acres of the northeast corner of
Section 33, together with about eight acres belonging to the railroad. It was
surveyed by D. H. Davison, in September, 1870, for E. N. Farnsworth and W.
0. Hammers, who owned the land and who laid out the town.
The first store was opened by Wikoif & Bowen, in March, 1871. The post
office was established in 1870, with W. 0. Hammers, Postmaster. He was suc-
ceeded by William Forbes, and he by B. F. Bowen. In August, 1877, Paul
J. Perry, the present incumbent, received the office.
The grain elevator was built in 1871, by W. 0. Hammers & Co., and is
24x40 feet, thirty-two feet from the ground to the eaves, and cost $4,000. It
has a capacity for 15,000 bushels, and has horse power attachment, good drive-
way, etc.
The first house put up after the town was laid out was the stone house now
occupied by Amsler.
The present business of the place is one general store, kept by Samuel
Amsler ; wagon and blacksmith shop, by G. W. Clingman ; harness shop, by
Jesse Hammers ; and shoe shop, by G. W. Baden.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
was built in 1873, during the pastoral service of Rev. W. B. James. It is an ele-
gant frame, of modern style, 28x36 feet, cost $3,600, and has about 115 mem-
bers, but is at present without a shepherd. The ground occupied by it was do-
nated by Mrs. Mary Farnsworth, for church purposes, as long as thus used.
Upon these conditions she gave five lots to the church society.
A school house was built here in 1858, long before the birth of the village.
It is a good frame building. The average attendance is thirty pupils, and Miss
Edith Bayne is teacher.
The name of Cazenovia was bcstoAved on the village in honor of that borne
by the township.
WORTH TOWNSHIP.
The Faderland, as Worth Township is sometimes called, has for its southern
boundary the line of Tazewell County, with Spring Bay Township on the west,
Partridge on the north, and Metamora on the east. About one-half of Worth
364 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
is prairie and excellent timbered land for farming purposes, while the other
half is broken and hilly, with high bluffs and brakes along the creeks of Black
Partridge, Ten Mile and their numerous branches. The bluffs and creek bot-
toms produce timber in abundance, and that of a good quality. The soil is
well watered by the creeks noted above, and their tributaries, and at the same
time well drained through these outlets. When we take a survey of this sec-
tion, of its rugged bluffs and timbered slopes, with their poverty-stricken soil,
and reflect upon its general inferior quality, we are ready to conclude that,
with all the disadvantages resulting from these sources taken into considera-
tion, Worth Township is one of the most flourishing in the county. No
railroads cross its boundaries, nor any villages dot its surface ; but it is a
thoroughly farming community, and is devoted almost exclusively to farming
interests. It is known as Township 27 north. Range 3 west of the Third
Principal Meridian, and, in 1877, had an assessed valuation of taxable prop-
erty, personal and real, of $231,473.
SETTLEMENT.
Notwithstanding a large majority of the present population of Worth Town-
ship is from countries beyond the sea, yet the first settlements were made by
our own people As early as 1831, we find the hardy pioneer erecting his
cabin in this section. The first cabin in the township is supposed to have been
built by one of the Sowardses, of whom mention has several times been made
in these pages.
Rev. Zadock Hall, the old pioneer Methodist preacher — the co-laborer in
the wilds of Illinois with the famous Peter Cartwright, and who was born in the
far-off State of Delaware — came to Worth Township in November, 1831, aud
pre-empted a claim to land where he at present resides. He informs us that
when he made his claim he remembers but two cabins standing upon the terri-
tory now embraced in Worth, and that neither were then occupied. One of
them was near the present site of Germantown, and the other in the western
part, near the Metamora line. The latter had been built by Sowards, some
years before, but was deserted. Both of these cabins were so small that, Mr.
Hall said, to use a backwoods phrase of the times, "there was not room enough
to sling a cat around in them." Mr. Hall came first to Ohio, and settled near
Zanesville, in 1816, where he remained until he came to this county, as already
recorded. His was, probably, the first permanent settlement in what is now
Worth Township. He built his house of one room, which is embraced in the
present elegant residence of his son, Lewis Hall, in the early part of the year
1832 ; and if it was not the first house, it was at least the first frame house in
the town. He employed Albert J. Banta to assist him in building it, and they
went on Congress land to get the timbers for it, without asking, of course, Uncle
Sam's permission. The old gentleman still tells it, as a joke, that Mr. Banta
remarked at the time that everybody in Illinois would steal, even to the preach-
«^
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 367
ers. The house he then built has never been out of possession of the family.
Additions have been made to it, and modern improvements, until it is a hand-
some and capacious residence ; but Mr. Hall still retains as his study the old
original room. He first entered a quarter section of land, and, like all the
early settlers, he sought the timber, avoiding the prairies as uninhabitable
deserts. When his only son grew to manhood, and desired to settle in life, Mr.
Hall gave him half of his land, and a few years ago sold him the remainder of
it, while he makes his home with him, in comparative rest and quiet, after his
long life of service as a minister of the Gospel. He stated to us that, a few-
years after he came to the neighborhood, a man settled a mile or two from him,
just out on the prairie, and said that he did so because he would always have
the range beyond him for the benefit of his own stock. A decade or two con-
vinced him of his error on that point. V
Benjamin Williams came from Shelbyville, Ind., and settled first in the
vicinity of Metamora, in those early times known as Partridge Point. It was
about the year 1829 that he settled where Peter Engle now lives, and sold the
claim to the elder Engle, upon his arrival in the settlement. He then removed
into Worth Township, and settled near the line between it and Spring Bay.
He lived upon this place until his death, which occurred in September, 1846.
His wife died in 1864. She was said to have been a noble Christian woman —
kind to the poor, and a ministering angel among the sick and distressed. Mr.
Williams was one of the first Justices of the Peace in the county, and held the
office so long ago that none now living can tell the date of his appointment.
There are some amusing incidents related as having occurred in his early courts,
and connected with his official acts. It is said that he once united a couple in
the bonds of matrimony, whose married life disclosed the thorns, without reveal-
ing any of the roses which are supposed to bloom along life's pathway ; and
their unhappiness so troubled the good old man that he sought the advice of a
brother Justice, to know if he could not unmarry them, arguing that, as he had
married them, he certainly had the power to undo his own work.
A case once came before him, and when his son-in-law, Jeffisrson Hoshor,
was Constable, wherein a Mr. Brown had sued one of the Sowardses, and Sow-
ards, in true backwoodsman style, swore he would " whip him on sight." The
first time he saw him was on the day of trial, in the Justice's office, and, with-
out words, " pitched " into him. " Set back the chairs," said the 'Squire, de-
scending from his dignified seat of justice, "and give 'em room; " nor would
he allow any one to interfere until one of them " hollered nuff." And thus the
case was decided.
His house used to be the voting place, when the county was divided into
election districts, before township organization ; and, with Hoshor's still-house
but a few miles distant, the effect of such an institution on the native sons of the
soil can be imagined. Stirring scenes were often enacted at these political
gatherings.
368 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
His house was often, too, the stopping place of some wandering minister of
God, who always received a hearty welcome from the old pioneer. He extended
to them a liberal hospitality, in obedience to the scriptural injunction, " Be kind
to the wayfaring man, for many have so entertained angels unawares." These
servants of Christ were always invited to hold religious services at his house, or
rather in his barn, which was often converted into a sanctuary of worship, long
before a house dedicated to religious purposes was built in this section.
From " Sunny France," and the bank of the Rhine, came Peter "Webber^
Christian Smith, Chas. Molitor, Joseph Schertz, Christian Belsley, Jacob
loerger, Martin Sommers, Peter Naffziger, •' Red " Jo. Belsley, M. Wagner,
and many others who rank as old settlers. They were from the Provinces of
Lorraine and Alsace, France, near the frontier, and which now belong to Ger-
many, and from Bavaria and other places in Germany proper.
Joseph Schertz came to America about 1833—4, and first stopped in Chicago,,
where he remained about seven weeks. While there, says that he wit-
nessed the paying of the Indians for their lands, and saw them depart for their
new hunting grounds beyond the Great Father of Waters. He came next to
Peoria County, where he worked by the month for several years, when he came
to Woodford County, bought land, and settled in Worth Township about one and
a half miles from where he now lives. In 1864, he moved on to his present
farm, which is one among the excellent farms of the township. Christian Smith
came to the United States in 1829, and, after spending four years in Pennsyl-
vania, came to Worth, where he settled permanently in 1833, and was one of
the prosperous farmers of the times. Peter Webber settled near Germantown,
in this township, in 1838, where he resided until 1866, when he removed to-
Linn, and in 1871 removed to Metamora, and settled two miles east of the vil-
lage. Chas. Molitor, though born in France, lived in Germany from the time
he was six years old until he came to America, in 1835, and two years after
settled in Worth Township, where he still lives. His father-in-law, Andrew
Burcky, came the year before and settled near where Mr. Molitor at present
resides. Burcky died several years ago. Peter NafTziger came to Woodford
County in 1833, and first settled in the township of Olio, but about five years
afterward settled in Worth, where he lives at present. Martin Sommers»
an eccentric old German, settled in this township so long ago that he has for-
gotten the date, but insists that he has been living in his present cabin for
over forty years. It stands on a high bluff overlooking Wolf Creek, a tributary
of Ten Mile, and looks sufficiently dilapidated and weather-beaten to have been
built immediately after the flood *' decayed and dried up." His first claim wa.s.
made on the State road, near Germantown, where Geo. Noe now lives, but when
the lands came into market he entered his present firm. Jacob loerger settled
in Worth in 1839, on the place where he has ever since lived. The
Belsleys came here at an early day. "Red" Jo Belsley, as he was
called, to distinguish him from his cousin, "Black" Jo Belsley, was among
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
369
the first from La Belle France to settle in this township. Mr. Belsley settled
near the line of Partridge, where he lived and died a respected citizen,
and a man of considerable wealth. Christian Belsley, the youngest brother
of " Black " Jo Belsley, sons of Michael Belsley, came to this country in
1836. He settled in Worth, while his brother Jo, who had come out several
years before, settled in Spring Bay Township. Christian Belsley has in his
possession his father's old family Bible, which bears the date of 1560 as that of
its publication. It is written in what is called High Dutch, embellished Avith
all the patois, dialects, etc., as used by the diiferent classes in that early day,
and is almost as difficult for the modern German scholar to master as it would
be in Sanscrit or Arabic. The following is a true copy of the title page between
the Old and New Testaments :
It is profusely illustrated with colored engavings of Bible scenes, and
descriptive of events in the antediluvian period, as well as down to and embrac-
ing the Christian dispensation. Among them may be noticed Lot's wife
turned into the pillar of salt, for looking back to gratify her curiosity as to the
fate of their wicked city. Another is the offering up of Isaac by Abraham,
with a view of the ram caught in the thicket by his horns ; and another of
Isaac, where his son Jacob receives his blessing, after imposing on his father in
370 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
blindness, while the other son is just appearing on the scene with his offering of
genuine venison. And still another of
&
Jacob, the Pilgrim, when wearied by day,
With his head on a stone for a pillow he lay,
with his ladder extending from earth to heaven, upon which angels were ascend-
ing and descending. Mrs. Potiphar tempting Joseph is given as a warning to
those disposed to toy with the forbidden fruit, and so on, ad infinitum. It is quite
a literary curiosity, and a relic that Mr. Belsley prizes very highly. The book
is more than six inches in thickness, with heavy board lids covered in leather,
and has heavy brass tips. There are probably few similar relics in the country.
Virginia, the grand old mother of Presidents and the original stamping
ground of John Smith and Powhatan, gave to this township Andrew Cress,
David Kendig, Simon Grove, James West, the Brownfields, John J. Tool and
Rev. John Boen. The latter was from Virginia, originally, but had lived some
time in Indiana before he came here. He settled in Worth about 1833-4,
and was a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He spent the
remainder of his life in this section, and died in 1876.
Andrew Cress, one of the model farmers of Worth Township, settled here
about 1833. He had made a trip of inspection a year or two before his per-
manent settlement, and when he moved hither, his mother's family came with
him. It consisted of six brothers and their mother,* and their settlement was
made near the Tazewell County line. None are living in Woodford at present,
except Andrew, and he is on his original homestead.
David Kendig came to the town with his father in 1832. His present farm
adjoins Tazewell, and is another of the productive farms of this splendid section
of country.
The Brownfields also settled here in 1832. There were three brothers —
John, Christian and Thomas, and all are now dead. John was the eldest, and
the most remarkable fact connected with him was that of having nineteen
children. He removed to Missouri in 1838, where he died sometime afterward.
Christian removed into Peoria County, and Thomas died in Worth Township.
John J. Tool settled in this township in the Fall of 1833. When Woodford
County was laid off, in 1841, the line ran through his house, but his land,
excepting a small lot, was in Woodford. He made his claim by pre-emption,
as the land was not then in the market. A small body of land in this section,
lying mostly in Worth and Metamora Townships and extending, perhaps, into
Tazewell County, of a kind of triangular shape, was by some means overlooked,
and did not come into the market for several years after the surrounding lands.
He remained upon his original settlement until 1849, when he removed into
Metamora, about two miles from the village, where he died in May, 1871, at
the age of four score and six years. He has left several sons — good citizens —
* Their father liieil before the family left Virginia.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 371
some of Avhom live in Greene Township, and one, M. Tool, lives in the village
of Metamora. Mr. Tool was a cooper, and the first mechanic of that branch of
industry in the town. He was also somewhat of a carpefiter, and assisted many
of the first settlers to build their first cabins. Most of the houses were at that
time built of logs in their natural state, and he would put up a scaffold and
" hew them down " after the houses had been erected.
James West settled in this township in 1834, near the Tazewell line. He
was a plasterer by trade, and the first of that class in the neighborhood. His
calling was one not much in demand in those early times. He died several
years ago.
Simon Grove canfe to Woodford County in 1833, and settled in Worth
Township, on the place where Joseph Schertz now lives. He had four stalwart
sons, two of whom still live in this county. Benjamin Grove is one of the
prosperous farmers of Worth Township, where he has lived ever since his father
came here in 1833. Henry lives over in the eastern part of the county, near
Panola, Abraham in La Salle County, and Jacob in Missouri.
The Sunderlands and Samuel Beck were from Ohio. John Sunderland
came from Fairfield County, Ohio, and settled a little north of Rev. Mr. Hall's,
in 1834, on the State road from Peoria to Chicago. He kept the first stag
stand on the road after coaches were put on. He sold out some years ago, and
started to remove to Missouri, but died before reaching his destination. When
Thomas Sunderland first came to the town he located in Mr. Hall's house, who
as a Methodist circuit rider was, at the time, stationed in Bloomington. Thomas
Sunderland, Jr., a son of John Sunderland, came to the township in 1835, and
settled in this section. Samuel Beck, the great hunter as he was called, came
from Zanesville, Ohio, in 1832, when but 18 years old. He was a nephew
of Father Hall, and made his home with the good old preacher for a number of
years. He was a great hunter, and has often been known to kill five deer in
one day. It is told of him, that he knew the woods and prairies like an Indian,
and all the signs in the great forest, which serve to guide the woodsman, was to
him as a printed book. Isaac Moulton came from Indiana, and settled in this
neighborhood in 1833, but soon after removed into Cazenovia Township.
THE FIRST BLACKSMITH.
Philip Klein settled here a few years after Rev. Mr. Hall, and was a black-
smith. He opened a shop on his place, which was the first iron foundry in
the township. The first regular tavern was built by William Hoslior, at Ger-
mantown, in 1850. He owned the land there, and put up this tavern, which is
called the Germantown House, to enhance the value of it. The house is still
used for hotel purposes. As already stated, Benjamin Williams was the first
Justice of the Peace in the township. Dr. Hazard, noticed in other chapters as
a physician, is supposed to have been the first disciple of Esculapius who practiced
in Worth. He was from Hamilton County, Ohio, and came to the settlement
m 1833.
372 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS,
The first church society organized in Worth Township was at the residence
of Mr. Hall, and he preached the first sermon in the neighborhood. This
society was organized soon after his settlement in the "wilderness. The first
Methodist preacher in this section, and perhaps in Woodford County, was Rev.
Stephen R. Biggs, who preached here during the Winter of the deep snow.
Mr. Hall has been identified with the ministry and with the Methodist Episco-
pal Church ever since he has been in the county, a period of nearly half a cen-
tury. He has preached all over Central and Northern Illinois, and is looked
upon as one of the pillars of that denomination in the State. He states that
the first quarterly meeting he attended after settling here was at Pekin, and
the famous old backwoods preacher^ Peter Cartwright, Avas present as Presiding
Elder. The bounds of his circuit extended from Pekin to Bloomington, includ-
ing all intervening country. It was afterw^ard divided, and bounded by the
Illinois, Mackinaw and Vermilion Rivers, with the great prairie on the east.
The first Presiding Elder in this section of the country was Rev. Jesse Walker,
who made his headquarters in Chicago, and was the second preacher stationed in
that citv. He is said to have organized the first Methodist Church in St. Louis.
EOMAN CATHOLIC.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception is among the oldest churches in
Woodford County, and is in nearly the center of Worth Township. The
society Avas organized in 1837, by eight families, who came from Bavaria,
Germany. The heads of these families — both male and female — are all dead ;
the last one, old mother Sauer, died March 22, 1878, at the age of eighty-foui"
years, and forty-one years after coming to America. Their first house of
worship was a little log structure, erected at the nortliAvest corner of the cemetery,
in 1840, by the people en masse. Before this church was built, they gathered
together in a barn near by for religious instruction and Avorship, and the ofiici-
ating priest came from Joliet. The first regular minister of this old pioneer
congregation Avas Rev. Father M. Gipperich, Avho came to it in 1854, and re-
mained Avith it for tAvo years. During that period, the elegant brick church, one
of the finest churches in the county, Avas commenced ; Avliich Avas completed and
opened for worship in 1858. In 1859, the roof A\as bloAvn off by a tornado,
carried several hundred yards and dropped near the cemetery. It Avas at once
replaced and the damages repaired. The edifice cost about $12,000, and 163
families Avorship in it, comprising about 850 members. For the past seven
years, it has been under the pastoral charge of Father George Mager, Avho, soon
after his call to the church, built the comfortable parsonage adjacent, Avhich is
quite convenient and Avell, but plainly, furnished. The cemetery is a neat and
extremely Avell kept burying ground, just across the road from the church.
These old pioneer founders of the church all rest there, aAvaiting their reward on
the last day. The Ormish Church on the State road, a short distance from the
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 373
line of Metamora Township, is another ohl church, but we have been unable to
obtain any particulars in regard to it. There was also a German Lutheran
Church on the west side of the township many years ago, but it is now " among
the things that were."
SCHOOLS, ETC.
The first school of which we can get any record, and it is somewhat indefi-
nite, was taught by a Mr. EUmore at a very early day, in 'Squire Williams'
barn. He stayed a good deal at Mr. Williams', making it a kind of home, and
while there, taught this school, which is supposed to be the first in the town-
ship, and among the first taught in the county. The first school house in the
town was built in the neighborhood of Mr. Hall's, years ago, so long that the
•date is forgotten. Hoshor built a school house at Germantown in 1851, which,
after being used many years, was replaced by the present frame building, the
■best school house in the township, in 1876, and cost |?1,000.
The following statistical facts are from the last annual report of Joseph
Vetter, School Treasurer :
No. of males under 21 years of age in township 42.5
No. of females ujider 21 years of age in tdwnship 323
Total 748
No. of males between 6 and 21 years in township 248
No. of females between 6 and 21 years in township 241
Total 48:t
No. of males attending school in township 176
No. of females attending school in township 148
Total , 324
No. of School Districts, 6, and 2 fractional, total 8
No. of male teachers employed...: 4
No. of female teachers employed 2
Total
No. of frame school houses in township 5
No. of log school houses in township 1
Total ti
No. of private schools in township 1
No. of male pupils in private school 43
No. of female pupils in private school 40
Total 83
Teacher employed in private school 1
Estimate value of school property $3,160 00
Estimate value of school apparatus 275 00
Amount of township fund for support of schools 2,647 00
Annual tax levy for support of schools 1,955 00
Amount paid male teachers 1,220 00
Amount paid female teachers 440 00
Total amount $1,660 00
374 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
When the county came under township organization, in 18o'2, this, in the
''eternal fitness of things,'" received the name of "Worth. Whether it was
given for Gen. Worth, of Mexican war fame, or simply because all things must
have a name, we know not. Jacob Shook was the first Supervisor, after the
township was organized, and the following are the present officers : John Klug,
Supervisor ; Joseph Vetter, Town Clerk ; John Wessel, Assessor ; M, Fandel,
Collector ; A. Fisher, Commissioner of Highways ; W. Reinhart, Justice of the
Peace: Zedde Hall. Constable; Geo. M. Noe, School Trustee; Joseph Vetter,
School Treasurer.
BRICK YARD.
An enterprise of considerable note in the township is the brick yard of Peter
Wiltz. near Hickory Point, on the east side of the town. It has been in oper-
ation some ten years or more, and is still owned by the originator of the scheme.
He manufactures about 800.000 brick annuallv, and the larore number of eleo^ant
brick houses in the neighborhood indicates that his business is well patronized.
There is no post office in the town, nor large store ; neither are there any
mills, except a saw-mill at Germantown. It is decidedly a farming community,
and but little devoted to other branches of industry.
POLITICAL AND WAR RECORD.
Worth, politically, is Democratic, fi'om the earliest record of political events
down to the present, though not as strongly so as some of the other townships
of Woodford County. But upon national tickets and in elections where party
lines are closely drawn, it is accustomed to give small Democratic majorities.
Like other portions of the county, it did a very good part during the war.
It did not. however, turn out quite so many soldiers as other sections of like
population. But that should not be a matter of surprise when we reflect that
so large a majority of its citizens are foreigners, who could not be expected ta
volunteer with the same alacrity as our own people. Under the circumstances,
they did well, and those
'• Who stood in the front of the fray for us.
And held the foemen at bay for us.'"
were just as brave and heroic soldiers as any in the field, and fully maintained
the honor so nobly won and so ricldy merited by all Illinois troops engaged in
the great rebellion.
HAMLETf
As already stated, Worth has no large towns or villages, but has two or
three little places of public resort that might, perhaps, without violence to the
name, be termed hamlets. Of these, Germantown is the more pretentious. It
consists of a tavern, a lager beer saloon and grocery store, a blacksmith shop
and saw-mill, and is on the State road, about six miles from Metamora. The
Germantown House was built in 1850 by W^illiam Hoshor, who owned the land
about the place. It is still used as a tavern, and has a little grocery store
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 375
attached, together with a lager beer saloon, and is kept by Frank Tropp.
Henry Schwing & Co. carry on (juite an extensive blacksmith shop. A steam
saw-mill was built in 1800 by parties to whom Hoshor furnished capital, and
took a lien on the mill. A few years ago it was sold, and he bought it. It is
still his property and he is operating it. This constitutes Germantown. Hoshor
also built the Union House, which is a tavern one mile east of Germantown,
and on the same road. It Avas originally built in 1855, and, after being in use
ten or twelve years, was burned, and, in 1870, the present Union House was
erected on the same site. At present, it is kept by Peter Alig, who, in addition
to a tavern, keeps a grocery store and lager beer saloon. It is the center of
the township, and the voting place, as well as the place for holding all town
meetings.
Hickory Point is a fair sample of the last-mentioned place, except the voting
and place for holding public meetings. It is a tavern and saloon, built by
Chris. Delabaugh about 1862, who died some years ago. It is now owned by a
man named John Slugy. These places are great resorts of the German popu-
lation, who meet here, during their leisure moments, to discuss the events of the
day and partake of their favorite beverage.
LINN AND CLAYTON.
When rapidly growing cities have become so compactly built that there no
hunger remains ground on which buildings may be placed, or when lots have
become so dear that the newer comers can find no suitable location correspond-
ing to their limited means, on which to erect them a habitation, they are, neces-
sarily, compelled to seek room at a distance from the occupied portions of the
city. In this way, addition after addition to the original plat of the city is
made, and suburb after suburb follows, until what was at first considered a long
way out into the country becomes the very heart of the city. Suburban towns
thus glow and thrive, from the simple overflow, until some of them even rival
the parent corporation, in wealth, population and power. By this means Brook-
lyn, which is truly a suburb of New York, has become the third city, in popu-
lation, in the United States, containing half the number of inhabitants as does
the city of New Y^ork. This is the history of the old world and the new. The
people are being perpetually pushed off, thrust out and led forward, as the human
race multiplies. It is the history of society and families. When the children
are grown, though their love for the paternal fireside is not less, their love for
independence and freedom is greater ; and, one by one, they build their own
tenements, and erect their own altars. Human beings, like some of the lower
orders of animals, love home, and, but for the hope of bettering their condition,
would be loth to change their habitations. There is no better illustration of
this idea than the settlement of the prairies of the West. The Eastern States
were full. There was no land there for the increasing population ; and young
376 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
men and women, with the constantly arriving emigrant from foreign shores,
must seek homes on the borders of civilization. So they came. The first ones
settled in the edges of the timber tracts, because, perhaps, it reminded them of
the well-reraembered scenes of their youth. But the later emigrant was not
permitted to rest his feet even here, but was obliged to locate at a greater or
less distance on the open prairie ; and now, the emigrant finds not a foothold
there, but is advised to continue his journey further toAvard the setting sun.
The groves along Panther and CroAv Creeks had been pretty well filled up,
in 1840 ; but, yet, at that time, from one grove to another, a distance of ten
miles, not a house nor a fence could anywhere be seen, nor had a farm been
opened. It was all an open plain, as far as the eye could reach. In all of
Linn and Clayton Townships, the hand of man and the hand of nature had not
come together in conflict.
The Indian troubles, which, for a time, had checked immigration to Illinois,
had been removed by the removal of the Indians from the State ; and the tide
was again setting in. Emigrants were arriving almost daily, and, as they
found the land along the creeks already occupied, shanties here and there on
the open prairie began to appear.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The first actual s ir -"ithin the bounds of Linn was Harrison Hollenback,
who moved to Section" 3 in 1840. He came here, with his family, from Ohio,
and built the first house on the prairie south of the timber. This house was
quite a mansion for those times, being a hewed log building, twenty-four feet
long and eighteen feet wide, and one and a half stories high. It is still in use,
but serves the ignoble purpose of sheltering cattle.
The next to locate in the township was George Hollenback, with his newly-
married wife. He was married to Jane Patton, in 1844, and immediately they
left the paternal roof — their parents living only a few miles north, in Marshall
County — and opened a farm and built them a home of their own. They set-
tled on the east side of Section 3, within a few rods of the Marshall County
line. Jacob Hollenback located a little further west, soon after. The Hollen-
back families were from Perry County, Ohio.
After these settlements were made, one family after another took up their
residences on what might be called the second tier of farms from the timber of
Crow Creek, in nearly the following chronological order : William and Simeon
Linn, after whom the township was named ; John P. Davison, Amos West,
Alfred Combs, Samuel Jackman, H. Simpson, John and Isaac Fisher, Joseph
Martin, Benjamin Wilson, William Parks, Lewis Wyanteer. These had all
settled, and made some improvements on their lands, before the organization of
the two townships, in 1855.
Pushing on further east, across the meridian line, but still hugging up close
to the timber, farms were now beginning to be opened in Clayton. In 1854,
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 377
early in the Spring, probably in February, John Linn, from the State of Ken-
tucky, commenced to build a house on Section 19. Following very soon after
(April), James Livingston began to build. Mr. Livingston had been in the
neighborhood, prospecting, the year before, but had gone back to New Hamp-
shire after his family. Milton Hicks and Jefferson Shepler, with their families,
came a little later in the same year, and began buildings. In the early Spring
of 1855, John M. Davison and family took iip their residences in the township.
By the end of this year, or early in the next, Jacob McChesney, Jacob
Robinson, Samuel Knowles, Henry Lohnes and Josiah Gardner had arrived
and began making improvements. In the meantime, the population of Linn
had increased to fully one hundred and fifty, and of Clayton to half as
many.
The social, religious, educational and commercial privileges were yet very
scanty: and these might all, with great propriety, be called pioneers. The
Illinois Central Railroad was but just completed ; and as there were at the
different stations along the line yet no stores or shops, trade was carried on
wholly with the river towns, most families in this part of the county doing their
marketing at Lacon, on the Illinois River.
ORGANIZATION.
The northeastern portion of Woodford County wae , .ast to be occupied,
and as the main cause of its development was the open..ig of communication
and trade with outer world by means of the Illinois Central Railroad, the inter-
ests of the whole section, latterly constituting the townships of Linn, Clayton and
Minonk, were almost identical, and continued so for many years. Peculiarly so
has it been Avith Linn and Clayton, which were, until 1859, four years after the
" Township Organization Act" was adopted by the county, embraced in a single
precinct. At the time of the adoption of the '"Act," there were barely a suffi-
cient number of inhabitants in the two towns for one organization, so it has been
impossible to write the history of one without including the other.
The precinct embracing the Congressional Towns 28 N., R. 1 W., and 28 N..
R. 1 E., was organized April 3, 1855, and, in anticipation of a future separa-
tion, was called " Linn and Clayton." The officers elected were: Isaac Fisher,
Supervisor ; John B. Fisher, Collector ; Harrison Simpson, Overseer of the
Poor ; William Jury, Assessor ; Jesse Pickard, Clerk ; James M. Martin and
Cyrus Acres, Commissioners of Highways ; and Angus Thom, Constable.
There could not have been a very great desire at that time to hold office, as
two of the elect, a Constable and a Commissioner of Highways, failed to qualify,
and, in consequence, their names are lost to history. The number of votes cast
at the election was sixty-five
During the four years that the two townships remained in one precinct, the
population increased very rapidly, so that, at the time the separation took place,
there were two hundred and seventy voters in Linn and Clayton, and the actual
378 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
population was not less than twelve hundred. This was an increase of about
three hundred per cent.
Other changes, (juite as marked as these, occurred. While the land was
rapidly settling, farms continually opening and houses and barns building,
public improvements, such as roads and bridges and school houses, were receiv-.
ing their share of attention, so that the union of the townships may with truth
be said to have been a season of great prosperity, such a season, indeed — taking
all the circumstances into account, increase of population, etc. — as never before
nor since has visited them.
HIGHWAYS.
Before the organization of the precinct, the wide prairie between Crow
Creek and Panther Grove was tracked in all directions by the teamster, wh<»
chose his own route to market and to mill, the road usually selected being the
shortest cut across the prairie, in the direction of the point pf his destination,
leaving to his right or left his only impediment, the sloughs. But. as the
prairies began to be improved, fences and fields began to present new obstacles
to his progress ; and by the time of the adoption of the " Township Organiza-
tion Act," by Woodford County, there was a demand for regularly laid out and
improved highways. The crossing of the sloughs could not, as formerly, be
selected at the pleasure of the traveler, and they must, necessarily, be bridged.
Therefore, ai soon as the townships Avere authorized to lay out and improve
thoroughfares, a great clamor immediately arose for them in all directions.
The precinct had but just been organized, when the Commissioners were
petitioned for a road, running from the south line of Clayton tothe north line
of the same, on the half section line dividing Sections o, 8, 17, 20, 29 and 32.
Owing, however, to some informality, the petition was rejected, and the road
was not granted. A petition was then circulated, and a survey made, for a road
six miles long, on the meridian line. The petition had been drawn with care,
all of the requirements of the law had been complied with, and, on the 10th of
October, the prayer of the petitioners was granted. This constituted the first
township highway, and is the present boundary between Linn and Clayton :
and, though it was in the midst of the precinct, was considered an improvement
on the eastern section.
The next year, 1856, petitions followed thick and fast, and twenty-two and
a half miles of new road were granted. The first was for a new road in the west-
ern section ; this was for five and a half miles, commencing at the southeast corner
of the northeast (juarter of Section 19, and running north to the county line.
Petitions were being circulated, at the same time, for a new road through the two
townships, beginning at the northwest corner of Section 18, in Linn Township,
and extending to the northeast corner of Section 13, in Clayton ; and for a new
road of five miles in length in Clayton, on the half section line, extending from
the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of Section 29 to the north line of
the township. The petitions were all granted, and this made, in all, twenty-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 379
eight miles of highway laid out in loss than two years. This was increased
during the next two years, to the time of separation, to over fifty miles.
In 1855, there were two road districts in Clayton and Linn. The first dis-
trict constituted all of the north two tiers of sections in both townships, the
balance of the territory, embracing sixty sections, constituting the other district.
To work these two districts, there reported for the first, forty-five men, and to
manage the sixty sections, there was a force of twenty-five men.
In 1858, the number of road districts had increased to six, and the number
of men liable for duty in all of the districts had increased to two hundred and
fifty-eight. In the meantime, quite a number of bridges had been built, a good
deal of grading had been done, and tlie highways were taking on an improved
appearance.
FENCES.
Perhaps no public measure has been adopted in this part of the country,
which has had so marked an effect on the appearance of the country, as resolu-
tions passed by these townships, in regard to the keeping up of stock. The
traveler notices, on coming into this vicinity, an almost entire absence of fences.
To early settlers, with limited means, this was a very important measure. After
buying their prairie farms, they found that to prevent stock of all kinds from
encroaching on their possessions and destroying their crops, it would be neces-
sary to expend an amount equal to the original cost of the land. Before the
completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, much of the lumber used for the
purpose of building fences was hauled by wagon from Chicago ; and, even with
lumber brought to within a dozen miles by rail, it was a very serious matter,
involving an expense which very many could illy afford, and which, it was
claimed, was greatly in excess of the accommodation to be derived from allow-
ing cattle and hogs to run at large. Accordingly the precinct had but barely
been organized, when a move was made looking toward the adoption of what is
known as the "Hog Law." A petition was presented to the Township Board,
and by them an election was ordered to be held, for the purpose of deciding the
question, and for voting for the location of the pound. The election took place
May 19th, 1855. There was but little opposition, and the measure was adopted.
Rules were laid down governing the building of such fences as were required to
turn cattle. An appropriation was made for building the pound ; a site was
selected for the same ; rules adopted for its government, and a Pound Master
was chosen.
Seeing the amount of money thus saved, and noticing the successful opera-
tion of the law, a further move for the abolition of all fences was made the fol-
lowing year. At an election called for this purpose, August 23, 1856, it was
resolved that " farmers be not required to build fences for the protection of their
crops, but that every person owning cattle be required to care for the same,
either by herding, or by securing them in such enclosures as would prevent them
from overrunning fields and injuring grain." This law was to be in force con-
380 HISTOEY OF U'OODFORD COUNTY.
tinuously, with the exception of the first two weeks in February, when stock
might run at large for the purpose of feeding upon the husks and waste corn of
the recently harvested fields. At first this plan met with some opposition from
adjoining townships, where fences had already been built, and where no such
law was in force, and the conflicts with the anti-no-fence-law people were some-
times sharp and decisive, as well as amusing. Hundreds of cattle were pas-
tured together in a single herd. They frequently, from fright, stampeded : and,
in their flight, they respected not the field of the supporters or opposers of the
cattle laws, but trampled corn, and turnips, and squashes, leaving behind a
waste as complete as that left in the track of the tornado. These outbreaks
and the impounding of stray cattle led to numerous quarrels and petty lawsuits,
but the law stood and still remains in force. It has doubtless been the means
of saving the farmers of these two townships many thousands of dollars. It
has also given those who desired to fence an opportunity of planting and culti-
vating hedges, without the necessity of building a fence for their protection.
And though, to one unused to it, the appearance of the country is quite novel,
yet it is by no means so unpleasing as field and lane separated by such ungainly
and tumble-down fences a& are to be found in many other neighborhoods.
PEACEABLE SECESSION.
The two townships of Linn and Clayton had thus lived in peace and pros-
perity for nearly four years ; and, for aught we know, and for aught that the
most enthusiastic had anticipated, might thus have dwelt, under a single organ-
ization, for ten or twenty more. It is true, there were some petty jealousies as
to improvements, in the respective ends of the precinct : and it is true that
some inconvenience was experienced in the matter of elections, and other pub-
lic meetings; and it may be true that some may have thought of the increase
of oflBces that would necessarily follow. At any rate, the population had in-
creased so rapidly that it was found that either township was now much stronger
than both had been at the first. Therefore, on the 27th of September, 1858,
the legal voters of that part of the precinct known as Linn formally presented
to the Board of Supervisors, then in session, a petition, setting forth their de-
sire to be separate and apart, an organization by themselves. There appearing
no good reason to the contrary, their request was granted, and separate elec-
tions were thereupon ordered for the next Spring.
ORGANIZATION OF CLAYTON.
After the order for the separation had been given, the voters of Clayton, to
the number of seventy-nine, assembled at the appointed time and place — at the
Jefi'erson sQhool house, April 5, 1859 — and proceeded to elect ofiicers, in com-
pliance with the law.
The officers of the newly organized township were : J. P. Robinson, Super-
visor ; Henry Lohnes, Clerk; James Livingston, JLssessor ; 3. Yornej, Collect-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 381
or ; Thomas Shreeves, Poor Master : F. P. Tuthill and F. H. Jjock^MooA^ Mag-
istrates ; Hiram Livingston, William Linn and C. N. Darling, Commissioners
of Highways^ C. H. Robinson and W. Cole, Constables.
At this time, there was a population in the township of 398, which has in-
creased to 1,120, in 1878.
The present officers are: P. H. Davison, Supervisor ; B. F. Zinser, Clerk;:
Philip Peterson, Assessor; John Uphoif, Collector; Henry Heneke, M. Koll>
and S. C. Frye, Commissioners of Highways ; F. D. Learned and J. B. Renne,
Magistrates ; F. W. LTphoff and Andrew Riifing, Csnstahles.
DESCRIPTION OF CLAYTON TOWNSHIP.
Clayton, or Congressional Township 28 north, Range 1 east of the Third
Principal Meridian, is bounded on the north by Marshall County, on the east by
Minonk Township, on the south by Greene, and on the west by Linn. It is
six miles square, and contains thirty-six full sections. It is crossed, almost
diagonally, from northeast to southwest, by the C, P. & S. W. R. R., and by a
branch of Crow Creek, from the southeast to the northwest. The land in the
eastern part is nearly level ; but in the western part, somewhat rolling. The
land is very rich, and the soil deep, and well adapted for the production of corn,
immense quantities of which are raised. Scarcely an acre in the township is
not tillable ; and almost all is either under cultivation or devoted to pasturage.
With the exception of groves, which have been set out by the owners of the
land, the township is devoid of timber. The sloughs and the branch of Crow-
Creek are the only natural supply of stock water ; but an abundance of good
water is obtained from wells, at from twenty to forty feet below the surface of
the ground — indeed, there are indications of artesian water, one flowing well
being found, on Section 3, on the farm of B. F. Winsteer. Doubtless coal un-
derlies the whole territory, and could be obtained at any point where a shaft
could be sunk.
THE LATE WAR.
The alarm of war, and the cry that the country's life was in danger, was not
unheeded by Clayton Township. Many of her bravest men tarried not, but,
rushing to the nearest recruiting office, enrolled their names "for three years
or during the war."
Most of those who went from this part of the county enlisted in the Seventy-
seventh Illinois Infimtry. Space will not permit, in this part of the history, a
repetition of the names of all who went out ; but among those who returned
not are remembered Joseph Stodiker, William Worthington, Freeman Wilson,
Isaac Grove, James Brooks, Milton Linn, H. Sampson, Edwin Sampson, An-
drew Sampson. The last three were the sons of Elder H. Sampson — all that
he had.
Let it not be supposed that those who stayed behind were uninterested specta-
tors. They gave their means, their encouragement, their prayers and their sons.
382 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
CHURCHES.
The churches of" Clayton are but two in number. The privileges of this
character are largely supplied at Minonk, and the Lutheran Cliurches in the
eastern part of Linn.
The church first built, and known as the Clayton Baptist Church, is situ-
ated on Section 34, a mile or so east of Benton. The organization of the soci-
ety took place February 14, 1859, with a membership of about twenty persons,
the Rev. M. L. Fuller being the first Pastor in charge. At this time and for
some time previous, services had been held, by this denomination, at private
houses in the neighborhood, and sometimes in the school house.
This part of the county was sparsely settled at that time ; most of the people
were struggling to pay for their lands and build themselves houses ; and, though
a permanent place of worship was greatly to be desired, it was an enterprise
that must necessarily be postponed for some years. However, seven yeai's after,
December, 1865, the society had grown in numbers and wealth, until the build-
ing of a house was not only a possibility and a necessity, but an accomplished
fact. The building is a neat frame structure, thirty feet wide and forty long,
and has a seating capacity of about two hundred. It cost the society eleven
hundred dollars. The Pastor in charge at the time was Rev. William Parker.
In 1872, feeling the necessity of having the continuous services of a Pastor,
a neat little parsonage was erected, at an expenditure of five hundred dollars.
The growth of the society, for a country place, has been quite satisfactory, both
in numbers and influence. It now has a membership of one hundred and
eighteen persons. The present Pastor is Rev. A. J. Colby.
In connection with the Church are two thriving Sunday schools, one of
which, with A. W. Forney as Superintendent, is held in the church ; the other,
with T. B. Coleman as Superintendent, is held in the village. The average
attendance at the two schools, last year, was ninety-three.
The Catholic Church, located in the southeastern part of the village of Ben-
son, is a very nice and substantial frame, forty feet wide and, including chancel,
sixty feet long, and nicely finished throughout. It was completed in 1875, and
cost the denomination seventeen hundred dollars. Services are conducted two
Sundays in each month, by a priest residing at Metamora.
RAILROADS.
The people of Clayton Township, though not without railroad facilities,
prior to 1872, were yet conscious that an additional line would be of much
advantage to this part of the county. At this time, new lines of road were
being projected in all directions, and the railroad excitement Avas running high.
The means of communication with the county seat were very bad. Freights
were high, consuming much of the profits of both merchant and farmer, and a
new line would make competition. These were some of the arguments used in
favor of the projected line, then designated the Chicago & Plainfield Railroad,
^lluyyi
METAMORATP
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 385
but now known as the Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad. A majority
of the voters of Clayton were not hard to persuade that they would be bene-
fitted at least |20,000 worth, and so, on the 6th day of March, 1869, voted
that amount, to induce the company to run its line through this township.
Whether or not their anticipations have been fully realized, it cannot be doubted
that much benefit has been derived therefrom.
SCHOOLS.
The first school in Clayton Township was taught in an upper room of the
dwelling house of John M. Davison. P. H. Davison is entitled to the honor of
being the pioneer educator, as he was the instructor of the fourteen youngsters
who presented themselves daily during the three Winter months of 1856-7.
Mr. Davison was not only a pioneer, but has continued to interest himself in
school aifairs in the township ever since, being at this time Township School
Treasurer.
The first school house was erected during the next Summer. It was a little
shanty, built on the southwest corner of Section 5. In this, James McChesney
taught the first term. This building has long since given place to one much
more commodious and substantial.
At a meeting of the School Trustees, John M. Davison, Samuel Shepler
and Jacob P. Robinson, on June 2, 1856, after electing Robert S. Hester,
Treasurer, they proceeded to lay out the township into nine distrtcis, consisting
of four sections each ; and, though at that time some of the districts did not
contain enough inhabitants to organize, yet, under the law as it existed at that
time, none were prohibited from attending those already organized, though
inhabitants of another district.
This left the first school in what is now known as District No. 3, or the
Jefierson District. Other organizations followed, and new school houses were
built, from time to time, as the increased settlements required, until every dis-
trict is now supplied with a convenient house, and the school privileges of this
are not excelled by any township in the county. The building recently erected
in the village deserves more than a general notice. The location of the site of
Benson left the school house of District No. 8 nearly a mile out of the limits.
As the village increased in population, a demand grew for a larger house and a
more accessible location. Accordingly, at an election held for this purpose, a
levy for a new house was made, and a new site, in the northwest part of the
village, was selected. The house is now nearly completed. It is a frame
building, twenty-eight by forty-six feet, two stories high, and contains
two rooms sufiiciently large to accommodate 150 pupils. There is, also, within
the limits of Benson, a private German school. The Germans of the com-
munity, in 1875, erected, for their own use, a building costing $400. In
this school is kept continuously. Instruction is given only in the German
language.
386 HISTORY OF WOODFORD OOUNTY
FUEL, WATER AND WIND.
Among the drawbacks to the rapid development of the prairies was the hick
of stock water and mill power. The sloughs, through the Summer, when water
for stock was re((uired in greater abundance, were liable to be dried up, and
pumping Avater from wells for this purpose was very laborious. Flour and feed-
mills were indispensable ; but, there being no streams of water, there were no
mill sites, and a lack of fuel left steam mills out of the question. Both of these
probhnns have since been successfully solved. A few feet " underneath the
ground "' has been found an exhaustless supply of fuel, greater in ((uantity than
the original forests of Ohio and Kentucky, all stored up out of the way and
ready for use. Wind-mills, on many of the farms, supply, by pumping from
wells, plenty of water without the loss of ground resulting from a running
stream.
In this connection, the wind-mill erected by the Schmidt Brothers, of Ben-
son, is worthy of more than a passing notice. The mill was erected by them in
1873 for the purpose of driving machinery. It is something of a liovelty in
this part of the country, being built on the Holland plan. The wings are four
in number ; they measure forty feet in length, or eighty in distance from oppo-
site ends. They present to the wind two thousand feet of surface, which pro-
duces a power, in a moderate breeze, equal to that of sixty horses. The tower
is fifty-six feet in height, and the highest point reached by the extremity of the
fan, in its revolution, is nearly one hundred feet. The mill, including machinery,
cost over $10,000. It was all, with the exception of buhrs, built on the spot-
It drives a corn sheller and three runs of buhrs for grinding wheat, rye and feed
for stock. These mills are' very simple in their construction, strong, and not
liable to get out of order. Mr. Schmidt says that a mill constructed on this
plan will last, with care, more than fifty years.
CHEESE FACTORY.
The establishment of Warren Coles, on Section 36, is the only one in the
county, and, indeed, the only one in this part of the State. It was started in
1864, and has proved a great success, market being found near home for all
produced. Cheese is made from the 1st of May till December, and butter the
balance of the year. The product is 2,000 pounds of butter and 20,000 pounds
of cheese, obtained from forty cows. The average price received for buttor is
25 cents, and for cheese, 12 cents per pound.
TORNADO.
The tornado mentioned in Roanoke, and Avhich struck there first, continued
its ravages in this township with unabated fury. It passed through the south-
east part of Linn, a distance of a couple of miles, and then, striking Clayton a
mile and a half north of the southwest corner, proceeded without hindrance
with its work of destruction. The first object of its wrath was the house of F.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 387
Duis, which it tore to atoms. From here it passed to Mrs. Charlotte Stimpert's
house, a fine residence a short distance to the northeast. The family, of six
persons, were inside, and, seeing the storm approaching, all, with the exception
of Mrs. Stimpert's son, Philip, who remained behind to bolt the doors, ran into
the cellar. Philip had not completed the fastening of the doors, when the house
was raised bodily from its foundation and carried through the air. When it had
been carried some rods from its original location, he, by some means unac-
countable to himself, tumbled out and fell to the ground, but neither the house
or any portion was ever afterward seen. It was as completely demolished as
if it had been consumed by fire. At this place two horses were killed by rails
being driven completely through their bodies. Three wagons were carried
away and crushed so that the largest piece that could be found was the hub of
one of the wheels. The next house in the track was the one occupied by Mrs.
Mary De Freese, There were two persons within, one of whom, Mrs. De Freese,
was very severely injured. The buildings here shared the fate of others that
had preceded. From here the course of the storm lay toward H. B. Mem-
men's place. His stabling and trees were blown away as though they had been
so many feathers.
The work of l"uin was completed in the annihilation of the residence of W.
W. Uphoff. The tornado seemed here to gather all of its strength for one last
grand stroke. It caught the house as a giant would an egg shell, and crushed
it as completely. Here it left the township and the county and the earth, to
exhaust its remaining force in contending with its own fury.
VILLAGE OF BENSON.
The C, P. & S. W. R. R. was completed in the Fall of 1872, and a switch
located within the present limits of the town of Benson. Besides the switch and
a small tenant house, some forty rods north, on the land of John Weast, there
were no indications of a town at this point. However, but a short time elapsed
until it began to be realized that this was to be a business point of no mean
])retensions ; and men of energy and means were soon found who interested
themselves lieartily in its development.
The original town, consisting of thirty-eight acres, on the west side of the
railroad, was laid out for John Weast, by County Surveyor D. II, Davidson,
Feb. 20, 1873. Since then — April 3, 1874 — an addition of twenty-seven
acres, on the east side of the railroad track, and known as Weast's Addition to
the Town of Benson, has been laid out. Mr. John Weast was, therefore, the
original proprietor of the town.
As soon as the first survey had been made, improvements began to spring
up at once. Indeed, before the town was platted, Jan. 2, 1873, 0. A. Cavan
moved a house from Greene Township into the limits — the same now serving as
dining room for his hotel. The first dwelling built in the village after it was
laid out was put up by F. D. Learned, and completed March 3, 1873. In
388 HLSTORV OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
this building, three days Liter, was opened the first mail ; Mr. Learned having
been appointed Postmaster. This house has since been removed to a back
street to make room for a more convenient store room. Mr. L. has continued
to hold the office of Postmaster continuously since his first installation.
At about the same time that Mr. Learned completed his dwelling, Messrs.
George Kirchner and Juergan Harms completed the first store building. An-
other store buildinw followed soon after, and was built by Messrs. Strawn &
Renne. The same year saw the completion of Samuel Peterson's grain elevator,
the business houses of Benjamin Mauer, E, Dunden, Barbara Weast, L^phoff
Bros., A. H. Ahrens and Henry Forney's hotel; and a proportionate number
of dwelling houses and other improvements of various kinds followed in rapid
succession. At the present writing, there are nearly one hundred buildings of
various kinds, and the town has a population of over three hundred.
The elevator built by Samuel Peterson, and already alluded to. has a capa-
city of about ten thousand bushels. It is operated at present by Messrs Cavan
Bros. The amount of grain handled bv them each vear. is about one hundred
thousand bushels. The next vear. 1874, Messrs. Miller, Brubaker & Learned
built a second elevator. This building was put up at a cost of §2,700, and has
a capacity of fifteen thousand bushels. It is operated by Messrs. Miller & Bru-
baker for Messrs. Bartlett & Co., of Peoria. Thev handle about two hundred
thousand bushels of grain per year. In addition to the grain business, Messrs.
Miller «fc Brubaker ship four thousand head of hogs per annum. The same
year, was also erected, by Messrs. George Fritze & Co., a third elevator, larger
than either of its predecessors. This warehouse is capable of storing, at one
time, twenty-four thousand bushels. It was built at a cost of $3,500. It is
run by Messrs. Fritze & Co., who buy, annually, one hundred and fifty thou-
sand bushels of grain.
The other leading business houses here are :
Dry Goods and Groceries. — Sauer & Holland, Peter Petri and Harms k
AValtzen.
Drugs. — F. D. Learned.
Hardware. — Abram Zinser.
Harness. — Joseph Bankler.
Lumber. — Cavan Bros, and George Fritze k Co.
Wagons. — Thomas Backer.
Physicians. — D. M. Slemmons and L. A. Austman.
Millinery. — Barbara Weast and Decker &; Harms.
Jewelry. — Charles Lawenstein.
Flouring Mill. — Schmidt Bros.
Agricultural Implements. — George Fritze «& Co.
Hotel. — 0. A. Cavan.
As indicating the amount of business done by these firms, the books of the
agent of the C, P. & S. W. R. R. at this place show a receipt on freights of
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 389
thirty thousand dollars per annum, and of express of twelve hundred, making a
total of receipts, at this station, of $31,200.
GOOD TEMPLARS.
The history of this society in this village, though quite brief, is nevertheless
quite deserving of notice. For some time, a want had been felt for an organi-
zation for the purpose of counteracting the evil influences exerted by the use
of intoxicating liquors. Accordingl3% in September, of 1877, Mrs. DeGeer, of
Chicago, organized at this place a branch of the above named order.
Meetings are held weekly on Saturday evenings. The membership of this
Lodge is thirty. The principal officers are : F. D. Learned, W. C. ; Mrs. C.
A. Coleman, Secretary ; D. M. Slemmons, Treasurer.
DESCRIPTION OF LINN.
Congressional Town 28 north, Range 1 west of the Third Principal Merid-
ian, otherwise known as Linn, is north of the center of the countv, and is
bounded north, east, south and west respectively, by the County of Marshall,
and the Townships of Clayton, Roanoke and Cazenovia.
The soil of this township is not excelled for productiveness in the county.
Especially in the southern part it is rich and deep, and produces immense crops
of corn, oats, rye and vegetables of various kinds. Corn is the principal crop,
which is largely consumed at home, in the fattening of hogs.
The only streams of water are branches of the Crow and Snag Creeks.
These supply stock water for quite a number of farms in the northern portion.
There is no timber worth mentioning. The ground is generally undulating,
and in the northern part quite so, but not so much so as to render successful
cultivation difficult. The land is now almost all improved, but little being in
its natural state. Many of the farms are very large, some of them being a
Avhole section in extent. Many of the buildings are of superior character.
ORGANIZATION.
As before stated, by mutual consent and on the petition of the voters of Linn,
the County Board had declared this a separate precinct. Therefore, on the
5th day of April, 1859, at an election held in accordance with this order, the
following persons were elected to the several township offices : Harrison Simp-
son, Supervisor; Benjamin Wilson, Jr., Clerk; Harrison. Simpson, Assessor;
R. S. Burnham, Collector ; James M. Martin and John M. Pinkerton, Magis-
trates ; William Bocock and John Ogle, Constables ; Alexander Thorn, Over-
seer of the Poor ; Henrv Newell and John Johnson, Pound jNIasters. There
were thirteen candidates for the office of Commissioner of Highways, and of
these, S. D. Wilson, William Jury and Seaman Linn were elected. Of these
persons, several were re-elected year after year for a number of years, Benja-
•3!MI HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
min Wilson having held the office of Clerk, with the exception of the three
years spent in the service of the United States as a soldier, continuously to
tlie present date.
Improvements of various kinds, public and private, followed ; and the pop-
ulation of the township has increased steadily to date, the number of inhabit-
ants at this time being about nine hundred and fifty.
EDUCATIOX.
The people of Linn have always taken a lively interest in everything that
pertained to the education of the youth. Good school houses, good teachers
and other facilities for obtaining an education have been subjects of first
importance. Consequently, we find here, in the few years since the organiza-
tion of the town, a very satisfactory progress in this direction. The nucleus
for the present efficient system of schools was no more than a dozen children,
instructed in a room of a private dwelling. This was in the Winter of 185o-t3.
The number of children of school age, at this time, is not less than 320. Nine
school houses now furnish accommodations for these pupils, some of the school
houses being of a character to reflect credit on the community.
In addition to the public schools, the Evangelical Lutheran Church main-
tains a private school in their church building. School is kept open ten months
in the year. The attendance is about twenty-five. Instruction is given only
in the German language.
RELIGION.
Though the number of buildings for religious purposes is small, yet it must
not be inferred that the people are, in any measure, destitute of church privi-
leges. The organizations at Pattonsburg. on the north ; of Cazenovia Town-
ship, on the west, and of the Baptist Church in Roanoke Township, are all
composed of and sustained, to a large extent, by members who reside in Linn.
CHURCH BUILDINGS.
The Lutheran Church, in the southeast part of the township, was erected
in 1862. It is a substantial frame, thirtv-six feet wide and fiftv-four feet long.
and cost the society ^2,000. In connection with this is a comfortable parson-
age, with forty acres of land. The membership of the church is eighty-five
families. The Pastor of the congrrecration is F. .Jelden. He has been in charge
since 1874.
The Evangelical Lutheran Society, in the Fall of 1871, erected for them-
selves a building fifteen by twenty feet, together with a parsonage, the two
costing §1,100. The society numbers 110 baptized persons, including children.
Rev. Carl Weber is the Pastor of this congregation, and also of the one (of this
denomination) at Minonk.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 891
WAR RECORD.
The township bore an honorable part in the struggle for preservation of the
Union. Though no public action was taken in the matter of hiring substitutes,
as was done by most other townships, a large number of the more wealthy
and liberal inhabi,tants gave of their means for this purpose.
On the 16th of May, 1863, public action was taken in regard to supplying
the wants of the families of volunteers, and a committee was appointed to act in
conjunction with the Supervisor for that purpose.
The promptness with which volunteers flocked to the standard of the country
was not surpassed by that of any other community, and many of them sacrificed
their lives in their efforts to protect it.
Among those who thus left their homes never to return were William Irwin,
Thomas Peabody, Joseph Bocock, B. M. Linn and Capt. Samuel Jackman.
These all died of disease, in hospitals or at home. Ira Hoflfnagle died of Avounds
received at charge at Vicksburg ; John Standiker was killed in battle at
Arkansas Post ; Freeman Wilson was killed in battle at Vicksburg.
FATAL ACCIDENTS.
The first death that occurred in the township was of a tragical nature.
Harrison Hollenback, Avho has been mentioned as the first settler, was destined
to be recorded as the first death. This occurred in 1847. Mr. Hollenback
had been to market, at Lacon, and was returning in his wagon, when another
party, driving up furiously behind him, frightened his horses, and, in his attempt
to check them and turn them to one side of the road, the wagon was upset.
The wagon box, in upsetting, struck on Mr. Hollenback's neck, injuring him so
that he died in a few hours.
Roland Davison, in 1865, met witli an equally mournful death. He was
in the field harrowing with a team of young horses, when he lit a match and set
fire to some dry grass and stubble, which, flashing up into a blaze, frightened the
horses, which immediately ran, dragging Mr. Davison under the harrow, and
by this means he Avas killed almost instantly.
The tornado, mentioned in Roanoke and Clayton, was the cause of a fatal
accident in this town. Chas. Schneider was sitting in his house when the storm
came up, and before he had time to fly to any other place for safety, the house
was whirled into the air and crushed in pieces, and Mr. Schneider was so
severely injured that he died in a few days.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
The officers elected at the last election are John Wallan, Supervisor; Benj.
Wilson, Jr., Clerk; R. S. Burnham, Assessor; John Johnson, Collector;
Moses N. Bixby, Jacob Tjaden and Jacob Hollenback, Highway Commissioners;
William Krater and G. A. Newton, Justices of the Peace ; Lion Held and John
392 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
McQuinney, Constables ; George Woodburn, Isaac Fisher and William Bocock,
School Trustees ; James M. Davison, School Treasurer.
As an example of what energy, determination and pluck will do, this town-
ship furnishes one that would prove to any one profitable study. Thirty years
have barely passed since the first plow exposed the soil to the rays of the sun
and the first crop rewarded the farmer for his industry. But little more than a
quarter of a century ago, what are now well cultivated fields and improved
thoroughfare was a desolate waste, literally a desert, which the immigrant was
loth to occupy on account of its very desolation. Now, how changed the scene!
Every foot of land has been for a number of years not only occupied, but under
successful cultivation. Good roads and comfortable houses are seen every-
where ; cattle, horses, sheep and hogs dot the prairies on all sides, and pros-
perity and comfort are evident on every hand.
PARTRIDGE TOWNSHIP.
This township lies in the northwest corner of Woodford County, and
borders on the Illinois River, which, together with Marshall County, forms its
western and northern boundaries, while Cazenovia Township lies on the east
and Worth on the south. Partridge is a fractional township, and contains, per-
haps, less good farming land than any town, with the exception of Spring Bay,
in the county. A considerable district along the river bottom is swampy and
marshy to an extent to render it almost, if not wholly, unfit for farming pur-
poses ; Avhile back beyond the river bottom proper rises a range of hills, brakes
and bluffs, as little adapted to agricultural experiments as the swamps them-
selves. The creeks of Richland, Snag and Black Partridge, with several
branches of smaller note, wind througli the numerous hills, and finally make
their way into the Illinois River. Along the water courses, and upon these
numberless bluffs, and brakes and hills, grow any quantity of excellent timber.
Within the swampy marsh above alluded to luxuriates a species of wild rice,
which used to be gathered as food, and highly relished by the Indians in their
day ; but at present, where it still grows, it meets no other demand than from
the wild birds, who feed on it to a considerable extent. Partridge Township,
while it does not compare with other portions of Woodford County in wealth
and agricultural resources, is not surpassed by any part of it in the richness of
its early history. These hills were once the favorite hunting grounds of the
red men ; on the banks of these rivulets, and around these bubbling springs,
he built his camp fire and erected his lodge. Through these brakes he chased
the panting deer, or pursued the bear and the panther through the dark forests.
Here, too, it may be, that his war whoop broke the stillness, and the sounds of
the bloody strife rolled over the bluffs, while his death-song wailed through the
lonely Avood a mournful finale of his barbarous customs. And here, also, tradi-
tion informs us, the Mound Builders once existed, and manv traces and relics
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 393
of this wonderful people are still to be found in this region. Hundreds of
these mounds, rising above the general surface- like old Virginia sweet potato
hills, are to be found all through the township, and some of them of a large
size. A number were surveyed, some time ago, by scientific men, but we do
not know what report they made of their investigations. It is not likt-ly that
anything will ever be known of this strange race, beyond mere conjectures or
vague theories. Oblivion, like the waves of the sea, has closed over them, and
there are none who can give their history with truth or certainty. Tliat they
were a different race of people from the Indians may be true, and that they
were farther advanced in civilization and domestic habits, as many scholars
believe, may also be true ; but, at the same time, the subject is wrapped some-
what in clouds and darkness, and to a degree defies historic scrutiny and
research. We will, therefore, leave the matter to those whose time and
circumstances permit them to study it thoroughly, and investigate the whole
thing to their entire satisfaction.
SETTLEMENT.
Among the early settlers in Partridge Township are Blaylock,
" Red " Jo. Belsley, Louis A. Guibert, Francis Ayers, Philip Bettelyune, John
M. Klingman, Daniel and Samuel Hedlock, Dan. Sowards, Jo. K. Juhnson,
Jeff. Hoshor, Benj. Younger, Barker, Chauncy Baker, John Sharp,
George Rucker and the Snyders. Of the man Blaylock, notwithstanding his
name is a kind of household word all over the county, we have found it exceed-
ingly difficult to obtain anything like definite information of him. From all
the extravagant statements and conflicting rumors in regard to him, we extract
the following, which seems to bear upon its face some evidence of reliability :
That he was the first white man in this section — probably in Woodford County
— there seems to be no doubt. No one, however, knows where he came from,
or at what time he came to the spot where others found him. Nor can it hard-
ly be said that he made a settlement, though he had a kind of thatched cabin,
hut or lodge, and lived in Indian style, by hunting and fishing. His lodge
was on what is now known as the Mullins Place, in the southern part of the
township. He seems to have possessed no more civilization than the Indians
themselves, but a greater amount of cunning rascality. His wife and children*
wore buckskin, and the latter did little else than hunt and fish, while the old
lady appears to have been a kind of doctress, and practiced obstetrics when the
sparsely settled neighborhood required her services in that capacity. Blaylock
is supposed to have been a regular counterfeiter. When the Indians left the
country, he went with them, and in his deserted hut were found moulds, spuri-
ous coin, and the entire kit of a manufacturer of " the queer." His oldest son
was said to have been quite a respectable boy, and would not go with his father
when he left with the Indians, but went East instead. What has been the
final fate of them, no one knows.
*He had about a half (iozen children, boys and girls.
394 HISTORV OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Francis Ayers, who perhaps made the first actual settlement in this town-
ship, came from Ohio, but had been born and reared in New Hampshire. He
came to Illinois in the Summer of 1830, and settled in what was then called
Partridge Point — now Metamora — on the place where Jacob Banta lived. He
made the settlement and built the cabin, when he sold it to George Kinorston.
Kingston sold it to Jesse Dale, and Dale to Banta, The next year after com-
ing to this settlement, he sold out, as stated, and removed into what is now
Partridge Townsliip, and settled in the Partridge Creek bottom, about three
miles from the Illinois River. This is said to be the first settlement after ,
Blaylock — if, indeed, the latter can be called a settlement. At the time Mr.
Ayers settled here, there ^was not another family (except Blaylock's) between
Spring Bay and Lacon. Moses Ayer.'j, his son, though a rather small boy at
the time, remembers very distinctly the privations of those early days. His
father settled at Partridge Point in Julv of 1830, and the foUowino; Winter
came the deep snow, an event he still remembers.
"Red" Jo. Belsley, alluded to in the history of Worth Township, settled in
Parti'idge next after Ayers, and sold out to Jo. K. Johnson, when he came to
the place. Mr. Belsley was from France, and came to this county among the
very first from that Empire. After selling out to Johnson, he settled in the
present limits of Worth Township, but very near the line of Partridge, where
he died in 1872.
Louis A. Guibert came from France to the United States in 1833, and set-
tled in Partridge Towhship. He was a soldier of the Republic and of the First
Empire, and participated in many of the terrific battles of those stirring times,
among them, Austerlitz, Nina and Wagram : and, as a reward for his bravery,
was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, on the battle field, by Napoleon
himself. Capt. Guibert was born in January, 1784. in the province of Maine,
and his childhood was passed in the stormy times of the Revolution, in which
he was later destined to bear so active a part. He was of noble family, and
during the political troubles of the time, his father escaped from France ; his
mother was thrown into prison, and, after her release, compelled to keep secreted
during the long and terrible civil war that devastated that unhappy country.
Before his father's return to France, he enlisted as a private soldier and serve<l
until Bonaparte's abdication, in 1814, when he had risen in rank to a Captain
of infantry. An only brother had died in Spain of a wound received in the
seige of Saragossa. His early years were marked with interest, having, in his
youth, passed through the French Revolution, with its accompanying reign of
terror, and had marched and fought over half of Europe. He had witnessed
the melting away of one-half of his company before a single discharge of artillesy
on the field of Austerlitz ; and at the close of another bloody engagement, was
one of eight survivors from a company of seventy-one men who Avent into action.
As stated, he came to America in 1833, where, in a pioneer settlement, he
bore all the trials and privations incident to a life on the frontier. He suifered
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 395
some reverses, by which he lost a portion of the wealth he brought to tliis coun-
try ; but, through energy and perseverance, retrieved his fortunes, and his last
years were spent in comparative affluence. The long life that was so stormy
and turbulent at its beginning was peaceful in its decline, and, finally, closed
in quietude in August, 1866. He was a man of excellent mind, of fine native
intelligence and gay humor, which lasted him to the end of his mortal career.
His son, Louis A. Guibert, Jr., is a worthy representative of the old French
Chevalier, but will, doubtless, never be called to endure similar experiences.
He stayed, the first night after his arrival in the neighborhood, at " Red " Jo.
Belsley's. who had settled here the year previous. He built a saw-mill in the
latter part of 18-33, and finished it off in 1834. He brought his workmen with
him from France, and it was long known as the old French Mill. He owned
and operated a large hemp and flax factory before coming to this country.
Jefferson Hoshor, noticed in the history of Spring Bay Township, was from
Ohio, and settled, first, near the line between Spring Bay and Worth, in April,
1833. He lived in that neighborhood until 1852, when he removed into Par-
tridge and settled near where his son, Talbot Hoshor, now lives, and where he
died August 12, 1872. He was a man of sterling worth, integrity and busi-
ness energy.
Jo. K. Johnson came from Ohio, but was originally from Pennsylvania. He
came here about the year 1833-4, and bought out " Red " Jo. Belsley and set-
tle<l permanently on the place Belsley had opened, and he (Belsley) removed
into Worth Township. Johnson seems to have been quite a prominent man in
the settlement, owning and operating a mill — both saw and grist-mill — and was,
also, a blacksmith.
Chauncey Baker likewise came from Pennsylvania and settled in the north-
ern part of the township, about 1835, where he still lives, a rather feeble old
man.
The Snyders were from Germany, and came to America very early ; stopped
a short time in New York, and settled in Partridge in 1834. There were four
of them, John, Isaac, David and Peter Snyder, but the last named is the only
one now living in the neighborhood of the original settlement. The others are
all dead or removed to other sections.
John Sharp was born in Columbus, Ohio, and first settled in Peoria County
in 1827, and about 1835 he removed to Woodford County and settled in the
Partridge Creek bottom, just within Worth Township, near the Partridge line,
where he died in 1875. His widow is still living on the old homestead, where
the flower of their years was passed.
John M. Clingman, Philip Bettelyune and George Ruckle came from Penn-
sylvania ; the two former are old Pennsylvania Dutch. Clingman 's father
removed with his family to Ohio, in 1805, and in 1835, John came to Illinois
and settled in Worth Township, where he remained until about two years ago,
when he removed into Cazenovia, and now resides in Cazenovia village. When
396 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
he settled in Partridge Township, he remembers only Francis Ay res, " Red "
Jo. Belsley, Louis A. Guibert, Jo. K. Johnson, Daniel Sowards, David and
Samuel Hedlock.
George Ruckle settled in Partridge about 1833-34, near where he died in
1863. His widow still survives at the age of 70 years, and is quite a sprightly
old lady, and rides on horseback with as much ease as she did forty years ago.
Philip Bettelyune came to Peoria in the Fall of 1835, and the next Spring
settled in Partridge Township. In about two years, they removed from their
first settlement, into what is known as Partridge Bottom. He died in 1867, and
his widow lives now in the village of Spring Bay. In those days, says Mrs.
Bettelyune, the people would cut down saplings, and build a cabin with a mud
fireplace and chimney, move into it and smoke their eyes out. Deer, wolves
and turkey were plenty. She used to board wood-choppers, and they Afould go
out and kill a turkey before breakfast, to be cooked for their dinners. Once,
she says, when she was engaged with her weekly washing, a deer came up to
the fence, she set the dogs on it and caught it, when she discovered it had been
shot sometime before. It seemed, in its pain to have come to her, and she felt
bad for the " poor thing " for several days after.
Benjamin Younger Avas from Ohio, and Wm. Hunter from Tennessee, and
settled in this township in 1835. Dan Sowards, we find here at an early day,
one of the early settlers of the Partridge Point, or Metamora settlement. He
removed to Partridge among the first settlers, and spent the remainder of his
life here. His widow is still living on the old place, on Richland Creek, above
Louis Guibert's.
In those primitive times, trading was done at Peoria, mostly. John Ham-
blin is said to have been the first man who paid money for pork, and paid either
money or goods as suited his customers. Wheat was generally hauled to Chi-
cago — and sometimes at 37 cents a bushel — while salt and lumber would be
brought back in exchange. Peoria was for years their post office, and frequently
the settler was put to his wits to raise 25 cents to pay the postage on his letters,
which was then the tax on a letter, and was paid at the office of delivery.
BIRTH, DEATH AND MARRIAGE.
Walter Cheeny is supposed to have been the first white child born in Part-
ridge Township, and was born in 1834. The first marriage was John Sharp
and ]Miss Phiebe Ayers, daughter of Francis Ayers. They were married in
1833, by Rev. Mr. Curtis, of Pleasant Grove. The first death was an old man
named Gingerich. He came from Germany, in 1831, the year before the
Black Hawk War, and died the second Summer after he came to the country. A
evry melancholy affair occurred in this township, in the Winter of 1836-7.
During the time known and still talked of among the old settlers as the cold
snap, a man by the name of Butler, and his daughter, a young lady, who it is
said, was engaged to be married, froze to death in the woods near to their own
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 397
home. There is a good deal of diversity of opinion as to the exact date of its
occurrence. Some hold that it was in December, a few days before Christmas,
while others are equally certain that it was about the same time in the month
of January. All, however, agree that it was in the Winter of '36-7. The
circumstances were briefly these: Butler and his daughter had gone after a
cow, or cows, that had strayed away, or that they had purchased. When they
left home, in the forenoon, it was warm and pleasant; and though there was
snow on the ground, it had rained some during the forenoon, and the snow
became very slushy. In the afternoon, seemingly, almost in the twinkling of
an eye, it turned cold as "Greenland's icy mountains," as many old settlers
still can testify. He and his daughter were en route for home with their cattle,
but abandoned them when the cold overtook them so intensely, and endeavored
to reach home. The most plausible theory seems to be, that the girl froze
first; her father seemed to have stayed with her, until she was entirely dead,
and had tied a handkerchief around her ftice. It is said that her clothes and
skirts and lower limbs were covered very thickly in ice, wliich had congealed
from the slush that had splashed up from the soft snow, until they had become
so heavy she could not carry them, and, no doubt, was the cause of her freezing
before reaching home. When her father found she was dead, it seemed he had
started to try to reach home, and succeeded in getting within a few hundred
yards, when he, too, succumbed. He seemed to have even crawled some distance,
after he got down on the ground and past walking. Many think that the large
amount of ice frozen to the girl caused her to give up first ; and that, had he
hurried home, instead of staying with her, as he seems to have done, and
returned with assistance, both might have been savei. But it is not easy to
say just what one would do, placed in similar circumstances. It was several
days before the corpses were found; and then, in condition as described,
doubled up, and froze so stifi", that all that could be done was to put them in
large boxes, and, when the weather would admit, to bury them decently. They
were interred but a few rods from where Talbot Hosher's present residence
stands. And doubtless there are many who remember them, when they read
this notice, who will indulge a melancholy sigh in memory of their mournful
and sad death.
STORE AND POST OFFICE.
There are no villages in Partridge ToAvnship, nor has there ever been a
regular post ofiice. Years ago, when the mail was carried on horseback from
Lacon to Spring Bay, they had a kind of accommodation post office at Chaun-
cey Baker's, where the mail for that neighborhood was left by the carrier, but,
so far as we could learn, there was no authorized or commissioned Postmaster.
There is a similar arrangement now existing between the town of Chillicothe
and Ramey's store, in Partridge. Whoever chances to go over to Chillicothe,
and there is some one every week, brings over all the Partridge mail and
leaves it at the store, where the neighbors get it as they come in. This little
398 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Store was opened in the township three years ago last Full, by a man named
Ramey, and after a year or so in the mercantile business, he was succeeded in
it by Willie Crank. He finally sold out to George Ramey. who keeps a gen-
eral assortment of goods adapted to the Avants of the surrounding community,
and which saves the people many a trip to town for small articles they chance
to need.
Jo. K. Johnson was the first blacksmith in the town. He kept a shop at
his mill, as soon as he settled in the community.
The township has never had a eliurch building within its limits, but this
fact does not imply that the people are opposed to religious institutions and
organizations. There are several churches just outside of the borders, and their
school houses serve the double purpose of religious as well as educational train-
ing. Among the first preachers to proclaim the Word of God in the town were
Revs. Davenport and Palmer, who used to come down from the Walnut Grove
settlement and hold religious services in Partridge Bottom. An old Baptist
preacher named Pigsley used to preach in the town sometimes, in the early
period of the settlement. Dr. Harlow Barney Avas the first to practice the
healing art in the settlement.
The first mill was built by Jefi" Tolafero, who came from Ohio, and was
among the first settlers. It was a saw-mill only, and he sold it to Jo. K. John-
son, who built a grist-mill in connection with it. Soon after this, Guibert and
Snyders built mills in the township.
SCHOOLS, SCHOOL HOUSES, ETC.
There is some question as to when and where the first school house was
erected. One story goes that the first in Partridge Township Avas built in 1845-
46. in the bottom, near where Johnson lived. Another, that it was built on
Richland Creek, up near where Dan Sowards lived then. Which has the pre-
cedence we are unable to say.
The first school is supposed to have been taught by an old man named Plum-
mer, who used to teach at the neighbors' houses, long before there was a school
house in the town. He taught awhile at Francis Ay res' and at other places in
the vicinity. The old man. after teaching several schools for nearlv nothino-,
finally became a county charge, the first case of the kind of which we have any
record in Woodford County.
Another of the pioneer school teachers of Partridge was an old man with
one leg, named Caldwell, who taught up on Richland Creek, in the neighbor-
hood of the little log school house built there so long ago.
Alexander Boulier, the present ToAvnship Treasurer, has the school records
back to the formation of public schools, and from them, through his courtesy,
we extract the following : The first meeting of the School Trustees was held
on the 27th of November, 1844, and the Board was composed of Harlow Bar-
ney, Samuel Hedlock and H. M. Curry.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 399
The county, at that time, was divided into four election districts, and at this
meeting of School Trustees, this election district, which was the fourth, was
divided into four school districts, viz.: Partridge District, No. 1 ; Upper Part-
ridge, No. 2; Richland, No. 3, and Dry Run, No. 4. Harlow Barney was
elected School Treasurer.
In 1847, we find Benjamin Younger, James Cannon, Harlow Barney com-
posing the School Board, and Abnor Mundell School Treasurer.
These old records, however, contain nothing of any particular importance,
and, with a few items from the Treasurer's last annual report to the County
Superintendent of Schools, we Avill pass over the matter :
Number of males in township under 21 128
Number of females in township under 21 134
Total 262
Number of males in township between 6 and 21 — 83
Number of females in township between 6 and 21 84
Total 167
Number of male teachers employed 1
Number of female teachers employed 2
Total 3
Number of school districts in township 3
Number of schools taught in township 3
Number of frame schools houses in township 3
Highest monthly wages paid teachers $42 OQ
Lowest monthly wages paid teachers 30 00
Total amount paid to teachers 718 00
Estimated value of school property 1,500 00
The township, although but little short in actual area of a full township, so
much of it is untillable in swamps, bluffs and brakes, that the habitable portion
has but three school districts. These have each a good comfortable frame
school house, and support a good school for the usual term yearly. Partridge
is known as Township 28 north. Range 3 west, with a total valuation of taxable
property, in 1877, of $210,312.00. When the county was formed into town
ships, under Government survey, in 1852, this town was called Partridge from
the old Indian Chief Black Partridge, who, it is said, used to have his wigwam
at one of the beautiful springs so common in this township. The first Super-
visor of Partridge, under township organization, was Jefferson Hoshor. At
present, W. Crank is the Supervisor, and is one of the solid business men of the
community where he lives.
^ POLITICAL AND WAR RECORD;
Partridge is another of Woodford County's Democratic strongholds. It is
said that in the old days when Whiggery was in the zenith of its glory, Benj.
Younger was the only man in this entire section who voted the Whig ticket.
400 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
It is still Democratic, but probably not as overwhelmingly so as it was then.
During the late war it did its duty, according to the number of its population, as
well as any section of the county. Many soldiers were sent into the field from
Partridge. Notwithstanding her patriotism, however, she was subjected to a
draft, but for only ten or a dozen men to fill out her quota.
The following are the names of soldiers from Partridge, so far as we could
obtain them : Thomas Tunis, Company I. One Hundred and Thirteenth Regi-
ment Illinois A'olunteers ; John and Lemuel Barnes, Company B, One Hun-
dred and Eighth Regiment of A'olunteer Infantry ; and Joseph Malone, Samuel
MuUin, Henry and Jeff Deford, and Jacob and Matthias Taggott, whose regi-
ments and companies we were unable to ascertain.
PANOLA TOWNSHIP.
EARLY HISTORY.
The completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1854, marks a new era
in the history of the eastern part of Woodford County. With truth, it may be
said that it marks the date of the very earliest settlements, for, at that period,
there were, within a territory consisting of more than a hundred square miles in
this section, not more than two families. John Brewer had removed to this
township from Ohio, and settled in the little grove, just north of where the vil-
lage now stands. The date of his settlement was as early as 1836. At that
time, his neisrhbors were a half dozen families, along Panther Creek, in the
townships of Greene and Roanoke. He had, however, died pre\aous to the time
when the actual history of the township began.
George W. Kingston had also settled here, in 1851, and Edward Waldron
and family, from England, in 1852. The location of a station, at the present
site of the village, immediately brought a few railroad employes, some of whom
became permanent settlers. Of these were Dennis Sharp, who has continued
to reside in the neighborhood until the present. B. Stockwell was the first sta-
tion agent. He stayed here but a year, when he was succeeded by N. L. Seever,
who resided here some years. Stockwell was promoted until he finally became
General Freight Agent of the road. William Grosley came here in the Fall of
1854. He moved a store building to the station, in the same year, and com-
menced, with Thomas Patterson, to sell goods, that same Fall and Winter. Pat-
terson was from Pennsylvania. This store building, besides the ones put up by
the railroad company, was the first in the village, and the third in the township.
The same Fall, F. I. Barnard, from the township of Greene, moved to the sta-
tion, bringing the post office of Josephine, which had formerly been located
there, and which was now changed, in name, to Panola.
The next year several additions were made to the village, and several farms
were opened.
'Mh.
&^^^ /^
KAf'PA
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 403
In the Spring of 1855, Robert McClelland, who was, that very Spring,,
elected Supervisor, arrived with his family. McClelland was from the northern
part of the State. He was an active man in politics, and all public measures
affecting the interests of the community. He resided here a number of years,
but finally removed to Chicago, where he still resides.
In the Fall of the same year, William Tompkins, father-in-law of McClel-
land, came in. He was a native of New York, but had lived for some time in
the north part of Illinois.
James Dye, from Virginia, came in the Spring of 1855, and opened a lumber
yard ; Mr. Dye still lives in the township.
The next to arrive were Henry Saltsman and family. Mr. Saltsman had
really been here the year before, but had gone back to New York after his wife
and children. They arrived here in the Fall. Mr. Saltsman built the seventh
house in the township. He was, as soon as he had gained his residence, elected
to the office of Magistrate, and continued to deal out justice to the community
until one year ago ; having held the office continuously for twenty years. About
the same time, Jacob C. Myers, a native of Pennsylvania, came with his family ;
and following soon after — early in the Spring of 1856 — his brother, 0. P. A.
Myers, and family came. They had resided, for some years previously, in
Greene Township, and were not only pioneers of both Panola and Greene, but
0. P. A. Myers was really the proposer of the name for Greene Township,
which was thus named in honor of his native county.
About the close of the year, Levi Hodgson, who had been living in Pekin,
111., arrived, with his family, and opened a farm on Section 28. Thus we find,
at the close of the year 1855, a little community of sixteen families. Most of
them were earnest, honest and industrious men and women. They filled their
places in their little society and in their various political positions with credit to
themselves and with advantage to the neighborhood, not only for the time being,
but for many years to come. Six of these heads of families still reside in the
township ; some are dead and some have moved to other fields of labor, and all
are remembered with feelings of that regard which naturally attaches to the
pioneer.
EARLY DEATHS.
As happens in almost all newly-settled places, many of the early deaths are
by violence or accidents ; so this was no exception. In the Fall of 1855, the
section boss, Horace Allen, died from the poison of the bite of a rattlesnake.
In pulling some weeds from the ground, near the track, he received from one
of these venomous reptiles, that lay concealed there, the poison which, in a few
days, terminated his life. At this time, there was no burial place in the town-
ship, and he was interred in a grave on the company's land, a little northwest
of the village. A plain marble slab marks the lonely resting place. This was
not the first death in the township, though it was the first burial. Two years
before, John Brewer and daughter had died of typhoid fever, and had been
404 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
buried ii\ Greene Township. Three years after Allen's death, another employe
of the road came to his death under very peculiar circumstances. A Mr. Bar-
low, it is said, had dreamed, on several nights, that some fatal accident would
occur to him ; and so impressed was he with what he believed to be an omen of
evil, that he took especial pains to avoid any contingency of the kind. On the
day that he met his death, instead of riding on the car, as was his custom, with
the omen in his mintl, he selected a hand-car, to which a rope was attached.
The rope he held in his hands, and, by some casualty, it became entangled in
the wheels and began drawing Mr. Barlow closer and closer. Though he might
have dropped the rope, some fatality seemed to compel him to hold on, and his
arms were drawn into the wheels and literally ground off. Though, at the time,
not considered fatal, the accident proved to be so, as he lived but a few days.
FIRST MARRIAGE.
The first wedding in this township took place in the Fall of 1856. The
contracting parties were John Tyler, nephew of Henry Saltsman, and John
Brewer's daughter, Sarah. It was quite an event in the history of Panola, and
was all the town talk for many weeks afterward. In one point, at least, it was
of great importance — it was the first wedding between La Salle and Blooming-
ton, on that line of road.
A NOTABLE PERSONAGE.
Apropos of the fact that the railroad system has had so much to do in the
development of this part of the country, Panola Township contains a resident
who was one of the three ladies who rode on the first railroad engine ever run
in the world. Mrs. Martha Wilkinson, who now resides with Mr. George
Thorpe, relates that, on the day before the engine was attached to the train that
drew the unfortunate Lord Huskingson and his party from Manchester to Liv-
erpool, she, with two other ladies, made the trip on the engine. This was in
1830. The following day, during the first regular trip, or, rather, the trial
trip. Lord Huskingson was killed.
Mrs. Wilkinson, though now 76 years of age, remembers the incident, and
relates the circumstance with much precision.
CHURCHES.
The preacher and the school teacher are the pioneers of civilization. In
almost every new country or town, the first on the ground is one or both of
these. Panola was not an exception. As early as 1854, religious services
were held here, sometimes in the station house and sometimes in private houses.
No regularly organized church existed here, however, until 1857.
Like a number of other public institutions of Greene Township, the Willow
Tree Baptist Church, which had been organized there the year before, was
removed to the village. At the outset, it consisted of sixteen members. This
number has gradually increased until the present. Its membership at this time
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 405
is seventy-five. In connection with the church was organized, in 1858, a Sun-
day school, which, since its first session to the present, has never missed a
meeting. The society, during the first ten years of its existence, was without a
place of worship that could be called its own. By this time, it had increased
very materially in numbers and wealth, and it was thought safe to undertake
the building of a house. So, in the year 1866, the enterprise was begun and
completed. The building is a neat, substantial and comjnodious frame, thirty-
two by fifty feet, and has a seating capacity of about three hundred. It cost
the society ^3,000. The first minister of the society was Rev. Mr. Branch.
His successors, in order, have been Frederick Ketcham, Stimpson, John
D. Cromwell, William Parker, R. C. Palmer and G. N. Drury, the last named
having been in charge since March, 1872.
The United Brethren, as early as 1862, held meetings, and organized a
class in the central part of the township. This, with two other classes, was in
charge of Rev. C. P. Hoy. The three classes, in 1868, united for the purpose
of organization ; and, Jn the same year, erected a small parsonage on the
southwest corner of Section 11. Services were held regularly in the school
house, until 1875, when they concluded to build their present house of wor-
ship. The building is a plain, but substantial and commodious one, being forty
feet in width and sixty in length, and nicely furnished throughout. It cost the
Brethren $1,920. The society now numbers seventy-eight members, with
Rev. S. W. Dixon as Pastor.
SCHOOLS.
The subject of education was one of the very first to receive attention from
the early inhabitants of Panola, and steps were taken to put in operation the
means for ensuring the youth of the village and township instruction in the
branches usually taught in the common schools.
The first school house in the township was built in the village of Panola,
in the year 1857, and Jane Nesmith was installed as teacher. The building
cost $600.00, and was paid for by subscription. This building, with an
addition in 1865, has been in use, for this purpose, ever since. During the
next year, two other school houses were erected ; and, in 1859, a fourth one
was built. The first four houses were built by the township, the board paying
back to the donors their subscriptions to Panola house. Other districts were
laid out and houses built, as the wants of the increasing population demanded,
until, at this time, the township contains ten school buildings, which furnish
educational accommodations for over 400 pupils.
The school land was sold, in parcels, between the years 1861 and 1864.
The sales aggregated the sum of $6,046.00, which, with a few small additions,
constitutes the tOAvnship school fund.
HIGHWAYS.
Much attention has been given to the improvement of roads and the build-
ing of bridges. The township is laid out into fifteen road districts, and at every
406 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
•
annual election a Road Master for each district is appointed. Road making in
this part of the county, though comparatively a small matter, is never com-
plete, as the keeping in order is an affair that requires constant attention and
labor — there being in this part of the State no materials for making a sold road.
Nearly one hundred miles of road have been surveyed and graded, and the
thoroughfares are in as good a condition as those of other townships in the
county.
ORGANIZATIOX.
At a previous general county election, on the petition of the requisite
number of voters, the question of '• township organization '" had received a
maioritv of votes in the countv : a commission of three residents of the county
had been appointed to divide it into precincts, and the County Board had
ordered the first election to take place April 3. I800. The Commissioners
were authorized by statute, in case a congressional town did not contain a suffi-
cient number of inhabitants for organization, to add it to some adjoining town.
This was the case with both Panola and Minonk. At the time of the adoption
of the act by the county, there were, in the two congressional towns, barely a
sufficient number of qualified persons to hold the offices. In the whole precinct
of seventy-two square miles there were but eleven legal voters ; and at the first
election, which was held April 3, 1855, there were but twelve votes cast, though
the number of voters had really increased to about fifteen.
The first election of the precinct was held at the passenger house, at Panola
Station. The following persons were elected to the various offices : Robert A.
McClellan, Supervisor ; William Tompkins, Assessor : Horace G-. Allen,
Clerk : William A. Grosley, Overseer of the Poor ; Francis I. Barnard, Joseph
Hanna and Thomas Patterson, Highway Commissioners ; William H. Brewer
and Charles Dobson, Constables ; Samuel G. Lewis and Samuel Work. Magis-
trates ; James Dve. Overseer of Roads.
Of these, Samuel Work and Charles Dobson were residents of the Minonk
portion of the precinct. The others lived in the vicinity of Panola Station.
Of the twelve officers elected at this election, six were re-elected the next
Spring. The two townships voted together but twice — in 1855 and 1856.
The County Board, seeing that the interests of the two townships were quite
different, and that the population in each had so increased as to make separate
organizations feasible, ordered separate elections to take place in the Spring of
1857. Thenceforth Panola and Minonk became separate organizations. By
this time, the voting population of Panola alone was fifty-one. and that number
of votes was cast. In 1860. the number of voters had increased to one hun-
dred and twenty, and that number, at this writing, is about doubled, the high-
est vote cast being two hundred and seventeen, in 1876. The present organi-
zation consists of 0. P. A. Myers, Supervisor ; Louis Raymann, Clerk ; P. S.
Bnsset, Assessor ; John Adams, Collector ; M. H. Ward, George Horner and
J. B. Swartz, Highway Commissioners ; J. B. Swartz, Thomas Park and F.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 407
T. Wait, School Trustees ; Adam AVeinheimer and Nicholas De Aeries, Magis-
trates ; George Tool and Philip Evans, Constables.
DESCRIPTION.
Panola Township is the middle of the eastern tier, and is bounded on the
north by ]Minonk, on the east by Livingston County, on the south by McLean
County and El Paso Township, and on the west by Greene. It is a full con-
gressional tOAvn of thirty-six sections, and is known by the survey as Town 27
north. Range 2 east of the Third Principal Meridian. The surface is for the
most part quite level, being barely sufficiently rolling to admit of good drain-
age. The only timber is a small grove a short distance north of the village of
Panola, on one of the branches of Panther Creek. The Illinois Central Rail-
road crosses the western part, cutting off about six sections. The productions
are corn, rye, oats and pork. The population consists chiefly of people from
the Eastern States and from Germany.
VILLAGE OF PANOLA.
The village, having been the starting point of the settlement in this town-
ship, necessarily embraces, in a great measure, the history of the township ; and
a full account of the development of the village would be simply a repetition
of what has already been written. However, as that which goes furthest, to
make up an appearance for a town, is the prospect of its buildings, the first ones
are here given, in nearly the order in which they were constructed. The first
building erected within the limits of the village was put up by the railroad
company, and was the station house — the same that is still in use. This was
built in l<So4, just after the completion of the road. During the next year, the
company built another house, for the accommodation of the employes of the
road. As soon as the road was completed, the plat of the town was made, on
land belonging to the company, the Illinois Central Railroad, therefore, being
the proprietor of the village. As before intimated, the first building in the
town, aside from those belonging to the company, was the store building brought
from Greene Township by William Grosley, but the first one actually erected
here Avas put up by F. I. Barnard, in the Fall of 1854, and completed during
the next Summer.
During the Summer and Fall of 1855, houses appeared about in the follow-
ing order : Edward Waldron's, William Grosley's, Henry Saltsman's. The
last named was the hotel, the same that has ever since been used for that pur-
pose. It was doubtless expected by the company that Panola would be one of
the principal places on this line of road. Indeed the prospect for a flourishing
city, for the first few years, seemed all that could be desired. Panola had the
start of all the stations on this part of the road. It began with a large trade,
which it received from the old settled country around the groves of Panther
Creek, and it was no uncommon thino; to see a hundred wagons loaded with
grain, in the village, in one day. It was the expectation that the Toledo, Peoria
408 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
& Warsaw Company would run a line of railroad through this place. Indeed
a line was surveyed through the town ; and, had the road been built thi'ough
here, instead of being a few miles further south, the fortunes of the Panola
people would have been made. However, through the influence of other parties,
the line was not located here, and the town of Panola stands a monument of
unrealized expectations.
The village improved a little during the next few years, and for a time con-
tended with El Paso for supremacy, but the advantage gained by the latter in
the matter of freights soon absorbed the trade in corn and other farm products,
and left Panola with only a local trade.
In 1867, the town was organized as an independent organization, by special
charter granted by the State Legislature. The charter, defining the limits of
the town to be one mile square, with the station house as its center, was granted
February 28, and the first election took place April 1, 1867. The ofiicers
elected were : J. C. Myers, J. L. Turner, T. L. Myers, Cyrus Dix and I. M.
Arnold, Board of Aldermen ; and A. J. Gardner, Police Justice. At the first
meeting of the Board, Thomas A. Barrell was appointed Clerk. In 1868, an
election was held, but in the four following years no elections took place, the
old oflBcers holding over. On the 10th of April, 1872, the General Assembly
of the State of Illinois passed a general act for the incorporation of towns and
cities. The last general election, under the special charter, was held April 20,
1875. The next day, a petition, signed by thirty-four of the legal voters of
the corporation, was presented to the Board, requesting a special election to be
called for the purpose of voting on the question of organizing under the new
law. Accordingly, such election took place May 10, 1875. The result was a
unanimous poll in favor of re-organization. The first election was held April
18, 1876, at which the following persons were elected to the respective offices :
George Saltsman, Gustavus Butler, Joseph Piper, John Adams, George Tool
and John Schweizer, Aldermen, and C. S. Adams, Clerk. The same persons,
with the exception of Saltsman, Piper and John Adams, hold the respective
offices at present, and the places of these are filled by Patrick Malone, John
Enriixht and Jacob Althouse.
The population of the village at the present time is about three hundred, of
whom about sixty are voters.
Though the merchants and other business men of the place labor under
some disadvantages, yet the amount of business transacted here is by no means
inconsiderable. As indicating what is done here, the books of the Station
Ao-ent show an average of about nine thousand dollars received on freight
forwarded, and of twelve hundred dollars on freight and express matter
received. During last year, two firms bought over two hundred and fifty
thousand bushels of grain ; and 0. P. A. Myers shipped about twentj'-five
hundred hogs and a considerable number of cattle. There is also shipped from
here (juite a large amount of poultry, butter and eggs.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 409
EL PASO TOWNSHIP.
El Paso is known as Township 26 north, Ranges 1 and 2, west of the Third
Principal Meridian. It is but two-thirds the size of the full congressional
township, lacking two tiers of sections of being complete in territorial limits.
The land embraced in El Paso Township is nearly all prairie, and of a very
superior quality of fanning lands. There is very little timber, and it is in the
■extreme southern part of the town, -where the Mackinaw just touches its ter-
ritory, and along Wolf Creek, perhaps, which has its source in this section,
and flows south, into the Mackinaw River. The Illinois Central and the
Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroads cross at right angles in the northern part
of the township, at the city of El Paso, and are of incalculable value to the
farmers and stock-raisers, in moving the vast amount of stock and grain pro-
duced in this flourishing region. The taxable property, in 1877, was $597,909.
This portion of Woodford County is comparatively of recent settlement.
In the western part of the county, along the Illinois River ; in the grand old
forests of Walnut Grove, on Panther Creek, around Metamora, settlements
were made many years before these broad prairies had other inhabitants than
the Avild beasts. The first settlement, in this section, was made in the southern
part of the town, near the village of Kappa. It is supposed that William,
John and David Hibbs were among the first to settle here. They came from
Ohio, in 1835, and settled in the southern part of El Paso Township. William
lived in a hut, near where the village of Kappa now stands. After some years,
John and David removed into Kansas Township, where John died within the last
year. William, at the last account of him, lived down on the Mackinaw River.
John Messer, another old settler, and also a Buckeye, came here, in 1836-7,
and settled about three miles northeast of Kappa, where he has ever since lived.
Mr. Messer is probably the oldest settler now living in El Paso ToAvnship, and
is an enterprising farmer and respected citizen. When he made his settlement,
the broad prairies around him' were barren wastes, and settlers' cabins nearly as
scarce as "hen's teeth."'
Thomas Dixon, another Ohioan — and it seems that El Paso Township was
mostly settled by Buckeyes — came to Illinois and settled, first, down in the
Mackinaw timber, about 1833, where he remained some two or three years.
He built a little mill there, which Avas called, in those days, corn crackers by
the early settlers, and Avhich was operated by the waters of Mackinaw River.
His mill was a valuable institution among the few settlers then scattered through
the neighborhood; but it is quite likely that it was not very remunerative to
him, owing to the sparsely settled community. He finally sold it, and removed
up in the neighborhood of Kappa village.
John Tucker, born in Mead County, Kentucky, came to Illinois, in 1834.
He stopped in Pekin, where he remained but a short time, when he settled in
410 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY,
Washington. He lived in Washington until 1852. In 1849, he went to Cal-
ifornia, at the breaking out of the gold fever, and was gone about two years,
then returned to Washington, and in 1852, settled near Kappa, in El Paso
Township. In 1858, he went to Colorado, where he followed mining for one
year, but then returned to his farm, in this township, where he still lives. He
seems to have been rather a restless man, and not satisfied long in one place.
When these first settlements were made, this section was a wild waste, filled
with deer, prairie wolves and all the smaller "varmints" common to this coun-
try. Even down to 1856-T, Maj. AVathen informed us that -wolves were thick
on the prairies of El Paso Township, and would gather sometimes in great
gangs and treat the scattered settlers to a vocal concert of " sweet discords."
But they have entirely disappeared, taking, perhaps, the advice of the old
philosopher, to "go west and grow up with the country." At all events, they
are gone.
THE RAILROADS.
El Paso Township has the benefit of two trunk-line railroads — the Illinois
Central and the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw — which cross each other at right
angles in the north part. The Illinois Central is probably the longest railroad,
controlled by a single company, in the world. It was built through this town-
ship in 1852, and the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw completed to the city of El
Paso in 1856. Before these roads were built through this section, the land, we
have been told, was not worth 50 cents an acre. But the opening of these
roads gave a fresh impetus to everything, the value of land soon doubled, the tida
of emigration rolled this Avay, and soon, not an acre of the prairies of El Paso
remained vacant. Mr. J. D. Gardner, now living in El Paso City, informed us
that he passed here in 1832, and one could travel hundreds of miles over the
prairies without seeing a hut or cabin. He was a Ranger in the Blackhawk
War, and passed through during the troubles incident to that Indian difficulty.
Pontiac, he says, contained but one hut, occupied by a French half-breed, and
the present site of the city was then an Indian burying ground.
FIRST STORE, POST OFFICE, SCHOOL, ETC.
The first post office in El Paso Township was kept by Caleb Horn, at his
own house, some two or three miles from the village of Kappa. The mail was
carried on horseback from Bloomington to Ottawa twice a week. The first
store in the township was opened in Kappa by a man who came from Canada,
about the time the Illinois Central Railroad was built through the town. The
first mill was built by Ives, at the city of El Paso, and mentioned in that part
of this history.
The first school house in the township was built in the village of Kappa, or
where that village now stands. Matilda Hassen, it is supposed, taught the first
school, though at what precise date we could not learn. The early school rec-
ords are not attainable, and are supposed to have been destroyed or thrown
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 411
aside as worthless. From the hist report of P. H. Tompkins, the School
Treasurer of the to'vvnship, to Prof. Lamb, Superintendent of Schools, we make
the following extracts :
No. males attending schools l27G
" females ' " 2G8
Total 544
No. School Districts in township 6
" public schools sustained in township 6
" male teachers employed 3
'• female " " 14
" graded schools in township 2
" ungraded " " •' 4
" frame school houses in township 5
" brick •' " " " 1
No. School Libraries 2
Estimated value of school property $31,000.00
School fund of township 3,259 00
Tax levy for support of schools 9,175.00
Highest monthly wages paid teachers 90.00
Lowest " " " " 25.00
Average " " " " 39 92
As a school township this is fractional, and is filled up from McLean County.
The Woodford part of it is supplied with school facilities second to no township
in the eountv.
The first sermon preached in this township was probably by Rev. Mr.
Gregg, who lived at Hudson, in McLean County, and was preached in the depot
building of the Illinois Central Railroad at Kappa. The township has no
churches but what are located in the city of El Paso and the village of Kappa,
where they are more fully noticed.
WAR AND POLITICAL RECORD.
El Paso Township is largely Democratic, as are nearly all the other town-
ships of the county. It likewise contains a great many solid old Republicans,
who still stand by the political faith of their martyred President and vote the
Republican ticket ; but in all elections Avhere national issues are involved and
strict party lines drawn, considerable majorities are piled up for the Democrats.
During the late war, it, for a fractional township, sent a large number of brave
soldiers to the front of the fight. Just how many did serve in the army from
El Paso we could not learn, nor do we know if there were any distinguished
oflBcers from the township. We believe Drs. Stockwell and Cole were surgeons
and Dr. Lamme connected with the hospital department^ With a tribute of
respect to the bravery of those who periled their lives to restore the Union,
and a tear to the memory of those who died in the cause, we pass from the
subject.
412 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The name of El Paso was given to the township by Maj. Wathen and for
El Paso, Texas. The present Supervisor of the township is John Tyler, who
represents the township alone, while the city of El Paso has a Supervisor of
its own.
CITY OF EL PASO.
El Paso, claimed to be the largest city in "Woodford County, is situated in
the northern part of the township bearing the same name, and at the crossing
of the Toledo, Peoria & "Warsaw and the Illinois Central Railroads. It is
about 125 miles southwest of Chicago, 36 miles east of Peoria, and 18 miles
north of Bloomington. With a great railroad leading out to the four points of
the compass, El Paso is not troubled as to her modes of egress and ingress, and
the amount of grain and stock she ships annually over these roads is enormous.
The city pays little or no attention to the wholesale trade, neither is it much of
a manufacturing town, though there are a few establishments, of this character,
deserving of special mention, which will be made on another page. The retail
trade, however, is well represented in every department, and the amount of
business transacted is increasing each year, as the wealth and importance of
the surrounding country demand it. The Illinois Central Railroad divides the
city into two wards, the First being on the east, and, the Second on the west
side of the road. The citv is beautifully shaded with trees, mostly soft maiile.
and contains a number of elegant churches and handsome residences. The
population is variously estimated at from 2.500 to 3.00U inhabitants, justly
noted for their energy, enterprise and intelligence.
SETTLEMENT.
Among the early settlers of the city of El Paso we may note William M.
•Jenkins, with two brothers, Isaac and Robert ; James H. Wathen. George L.
Gibson, "William R. Willis, C. Schafer, George H. Campbell. William H.
McClelan. Rev. William T. Adams, Thomas McClelan and Dr. S. 0. Kerr.
There were, perhaps, others identified with its early settlement, whose names
we have failed to obtain. The first house built within the space now embraced
in the corporate limits of the city of El Paso was erected by Thomas McClelan.
in the Fall of 1856 ; is still standing, and in a fair state of preservation. It
is, at present, owned and occupied by Mrs- Bain. The McClelans came from
the Old Bay State, and were among the first to settle in this immediate vicinity,
where, as already stated. Thomas built the first house in El Paso. Upon their
arrival from Massachusetts, in 1838, they settled in Northern Illinois, where
they remained until their removal to this section, in 1854. William H.
McClelan settled in the township of El Paso, and after farming for several
years, removed to the city, and embarked in the grain business.
The Jenkinses are from Pennsvlvania. and came to Illinois in 1837.
There were three brothers, Isaac. Robert and William M. Jenkins, and they
settled in Pekin, when they first came west, where they remained until 1856,
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 413
then removed to El Paso Township. William M. Jenkins built the first busi-
ness house in the city of El Paso, in 185(3. There were, then, but two houses
in the place,* and Jenkins had to Avait for the completion and occupancy of one
of them before building, in order to have some place for his workmen to board.
In the meantime, he had the timbers of his building framed in Peoria, and
shipped to El Paso over the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Road, on its completion
to this place, which was the first bill of freight to pass over the line. For four
years, Mr. Jenkins and his brother Isaac sold all the goodst and bought all the
grain handled here during that period. They were the first grain buyers in
this section, and wheat was then the main staple. Mr. Jenkins states that
when he first came to El Paso, he could drive over the prairie toward Pontiac,
and for a distance of twenty-six miles, not a residence, hut or cabin was to
be seen. Now this space is flourishing and productive farms.
George L. Gibson came from Pennsylvania, and was born in Fayette County.
His father's family settled in Tazewell County in 1831, where George remained
until the age of twenty-five years, when he commenced the business of flat-
boating and trading on the Lower Mississippi. He went to California in 1849,
when the gold fever broke out, making the trip overland, and remained there
until 1851, then returned to Illinois. In the Fall of that year, he entered 160
acres of land, embraced in the First Ward of the city of El Paso, and in 1857,
removed with his family to the destined city.
C. Schafer, one of the solid business men of El Paso, first settled in the
village of Kaq^pa, in the southern part of El Paso Township, when that was one
of the principal business points on the Illinois Central Railroad between Bloom-
ington and La Salle. In 1860, when the rapid growth of El Paso had some-
what obscured the glory of Kappa, he sold out at the latter place and removed
to the thriving young city. Not a business man at the date of his coming, he
says, is in business here now, but an entirely new set have taken the places of
those who commenced with him.
Wm. R. Willis came from Hopkins County, Ky., and settled in Cruger
Township in 1834. His history would properly belong to that township, per-
haps, but he has so long been identified with this place, we deem it best to give
it in this connection. He was connected, in some official capacity, with the
Illinois Central Railroad, wdiile it was building through this county. He kept
the first hotel in El Paso in 1856, continuing in that business for seven years.
He is at present a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, and was admitted to the
bar as a lawyer in 1870.
Geo. H. Campbell came from New York in 1858 and stopped first in Chi-
cago, but shortly after went to Mendota, where he entered the employ of the
Illinois Central Railroad. He built the Campbell House, the finest hotel in the
county, by odds, in 1862-3, commencing it in the Fall of 1862 and finishing it
the next Spring. Before the building of this hotel, in Avhich the ticket offices
* That built liy McClelan was one of those alluded to.
t Their firm was I. & W. M. Jenkins.
414 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
of both roads are kept, all trains stopped down at the old station house of the
Illinois Central, the T., P. & W. trains running down on the Y and then back-
ing up on to their road again. When Mr. Campbell decided to build, he sent
men out into Indiana to get out the needed timbers, which were shipped to El
Paso over the T., P. & W. Railroad. It was not believed to be possible, in those
days, to build a substantial house, except with the heaviest and most solid tim-
bers, and Mr. Campbell informed us that the sills and plates in his hotel wcfe
sufficiently strong for a pretty good railroad bridge. He built it at a cost of
^10,000, without furniture, and has given it all the modern improvements.
James H. Wathen is from Bardstown, Kv., and came to Illinois in 1835.
He stopped in Washington, Tazewell County, where he remained until the
Spring of 1857, when he came to El Paso, where he has since resided. He
owned 160 acres of land Avest of the Illinois Central Railroad, on which the
Second ward of the city has been built, and is one of the wealthiest citizens.
THE OLD POLISH COUXT.
Count Clopiski, a Polish Exile, and quite a distinguished character, was for
many years a resident of El Paso. He came to the United States in 1836,
stopped in Peoria, and remained in that city until 1856, when he came to this
place, where he spent the remainder of his days. He kept a kind of restaurant
or hotel, which was well patronized and much frequented by the best citizens.
Says Dr. Lamme, in an address prepared for the celebration of the Centennial
4th of July, in El Paso, of the distinguished old foreigner: " The early history
of El Paso would not be complete without the mention of Count Clopiski, a
Polish exile, who kept a hotel near the old station house. ^Nlany of the early
settlers of El Paso, no doubt, remember his state dinners, to which he was wont
to invite his friends." He died in 1867, far from his native place and in a
land of strangers ; but new-made friends administered to his last wants, and
kind hands closed his eyes when death had set him free. Wm. ^NI. Jenkins had
him decently buried in his own cemetery lot, where the noble old Count sleeps
his last, long, unbroken sleep.
CITY ORGANIZATION.
The city of El Paso was laid out in 1854, by George L. Gibson and James
H. Wathen, who owned the land. It Avas surveyed by the County Surveyor,
and the original town contained eight}^ acres on each side of the Illinois Central
Railroad. Several additions have been made to it since it was first laid out,
until a section or more is embraced within its corporate limits. It is divided
into four parts by the railroads, which cross at right angles, and into two wards
by the Illinois Central.
Just when El Paso was incorporated as a village we were unable to tind out
definitely. According to a special act of the Legislature, approved February
27, 1867, it became an incorporated city. The first Mayor was J. H. Moore,
the present Postmaster, and the first City Clerk, John T. Harper, with the fol-
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 415
lowing Board of Aldermen : William Neifing, D. B. Webster, M. T. Polhe-
mus, Geo. W. Fridley and W. T. Adams. The following gentlemen have been
Mayors since the city organization : Geo. L. Gibson, James H. Wathen, D. C.
Smith, W. R. Bigham and C. P. Shur, exclusive of the first and last incum-
bents. P. C. Ransom is at present Mayor, and the Board are Robert Robin-
son, Geo. M. Young, Jas. P. Ferrell and John R. Sweet. P. A. Simmons is
City Clerk; Walter S. Gibson, City Attorney; D. K. Tobias, City Super-
visor ; James Thompson, Treasurer ; 0. B. Webster, City Marshal. A Re-
corder's Court was established in March, 1869, under an act of the Legislature,
but has recently been abolished.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE.
In 1857, the first post office was established in El Paso, with Wm. M.
Jenkins Postmaster, and was a small aflfair for some time after it commenced
operation. Mr. Jenkins was commissioned a Postmaster by James Buchanan,
soon after his inauguration as President. He held the office for four years,
and was succeeded by a Mr. Buckley, Avho held the office but a few months,
and then resigned. Mrs. Robinson was next appointed to the office, and in
turn was succeeded by Mrs. Willis, who, after a while, resigned. Her father,
J. H. Moore, the present incumbent, was appointed during the Presidential
term of Andrew Johnson, and has held the office ever since. Mr. Jenkins
relates that, for several months after he received the post office, he carried the
whole establishment in his hat, as a matter of convenience, and when he met a
person for whom he had a letter, would take off his hat, sort over his letters,
and hand out the coveted epistle. This is the first account Ave have of the
penny post system in Illinois. Mr. Jenkins occupies his same old store house,
the first one built in the city, though he has made several changes since he
commenced business in it, twenty odd years ago. For several years, he occu-
pied a farm some distance from town, lost considerable money during the war,
made a trip to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains, and, after " swinging
'round the circle," returned to his original quarters and resumed his old busi-
ness of grain buying. The present firm is Jenkins & Evans, and they handle
annually about one hundred and fifty thousand bushels of grain, principally
corn and oats, with occasionally a car load of rye. Mr. Jenkins built a grain
elevator in 1871, at a cost of about fifteen hundred dollars, Avith a capacity of
12,000 bushels.
McClelan & Seery* built an elevator here in 1874, Avhich cost them $3,400,
and has a capacity of about twenty thousand bushels. They deal extensively
in grain, handling annually over three hundred thousand bushels, the larger
portion of Avhich is shipped East, though, in 1877, they shipped about one
hundred thousand bushels South, the first grain of any consequence shipped to
Southern markets from this section for a number of years.
* Geo. W. Rouse was a partner at that time, but was afterward bought out bj' Seery.
416 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The first grain elevator was built by Geo. W. Fridley, in 1860, which cost
about six thousand dollars, with a capacity of 20,000 bushels. It is at present
OAvned by Wra. Shur, a banker of this city. Graft & Webster also built an
elevator soon after Fridley 's, which was burned in 1863, when they built a
larger one upon the same site, at a cost of aljout seven thousand dollars, with
storage room for 25,000 bushels of grain. Thev built a laru;e planing-mill, in
1865, which Avas operated successfully until 1875, when it and their elevator
were both burned. Neither has since been rebuilt.
THE MILLS.
The first mill built in El Paso Avas by H. & E. Ives, a few years after the
town Avas laid out. It Avas a tAA-o-story frame, and did a good business until
1869, Avhen it was burned. The firm then built the present large mill on the
West Side, at a cost of §30,000, and Avhich proved to them a white elephant.
They became involved, and the "mill was sold, Avhich, after passing through
several hands, an unfortunate investment to all Avho touched it, the machinery
Avas finally taken out and removed to Iowa, Avliere there Avas a more remunera-
tive field for a mill of its capacity. The building still stands, an empty shell,
a monument of the unfortunate enterprise. '
Geo. L. Gibson built a magnificent mill on the East Side, in 1868, at a
• cost of $33,000, AA'hich, like that on the West Side, proved another losing in-
vestment. In the early settlement of this section, it was supposed to be a fine
wheat country, but the experience of late years seems to have reversed the order
of things, and the crop is decided to be a failure, and its cultivation, except for
family uses, is almost, if not entirely, discarded. Hence, the losses sustained in
these costly mills. Had the extensive groAving of Avheat continued, no doubt
they would have paid Avell on the investment. This splendid mill Avas sold,
finally, for the small sum of $5,000, and is in the hands of Wilson & Torres
of St. Louis, agents of parties in the East, Avho design moving it West, perhaps
to Kansas, where there is plenty of Avork for a mill of its caliber, which is four
runs of buhrs and complete in all its appointments.
The lumber business of El Paso is an extensive branch of trade. McKin-
ney & Co., handle yearly about 1,000,000 feet of lumber, and half as many
feet of shingles, Avith a considerable quantity of laths and lime. Cassell &
Harper have recently begun business in this line, and are Avorking up a trade.
As already stated, the Jenkinses kept the first store in El Paso. S. T.
Rogers opened the first drug store in 1859, and Dr. S. 0. Kerr was the first
regular physician, and still practices his profession in the city and vicinity,
MANUFACTURES.
J. P. & C. E. Piatt, carriage manufacturers, turn out betAveen sixty and
seventy carriages and buggies annually. They work half a dozen hands through
the Winter, and generally eight or ten during the Summer.
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 417
Christ & Brown manufacture wagons, carriages, etc., and, like the last men-
tioned firm, are doing a good and constantly increasing business.
The soda water establishment of Hay ward & Stoddard is quite an enterprise
in its way. During the Summer months, they average about 300 boxes of the
cooling beverage per week. They have at present a branch at Fairbury, which
does about two-thirds as much business as the factory here.
The El Paso Brewery is a flourishing institution of the kind, and manufac-
tures large quantities of the drink that does not intoxicate.
One of the most popular inventions of the times has the honor of being made
by an El Paso man — Harper's fly trap. The sales of this trap have reached the
enormous number of 100,000 yearly, and it has been shipped to every State in
the Union, the West Indies, South America and Europe.
CHURCH OUGANIZATIONS.
If the people of El Paso are not extremely religious, it must be their own
fault, for they are well supplied with houses of worship. The first church
formed seems to have been by the Presbyterians, who organized a society on the
11th of May, 1857, under the Rev. \\m. T. Adams, and who was installed as
the first regular Pastor in the Spring of 1864. That year the church was
built at a cost of $3,200 without furnishing. It was dedicated in December,
1864, by Rev. W. W. Harsha, D. D., then of Chicago. The edifice is a mod-
ern frame, 36x60 feet, was free of debt when dedicated, and, unlike the majority
of churches of the present day, has ever remained so. Rev. Mr. Adams re-
mained Pastor until 1867, when fixiling health compelled him to resign the
charge, since which time they have had no regular Pastor, until the engagement
of Rev. Geo. B. Black, recently. The present Board of Elders is as follows :
A. S. McKinney, Dr. D. W. Lamme, Philip H. Tompkins, Samuel Sturgeon
and M. T. Polhemus.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized about 1857, with Rev.
Rumsey Smithson as Pastor, and Rev. Z. Hall as Presiding Elder. Later,
Rev. Mr. Smithson was dismissed from this branch of the church for political
reasons — it is said, for sympathy with the South, during the late war — when he
united with that division, known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
The present church edifice was built in 1864 — is a frame building, and cost
$7,000. The Pastor is Rev. J. S. Millsap, and the society numbers 300
members.
The Baptist society was organized in January, 1858 with thirteen members,
under the pastoral administration of Rev. William Branch. The church was
built in 1864; is a frame edifice, 36x66 feet, with a recess of nine feet addi-
tional. It was dedicated by Rev. S. S. Strinson, in December, 1864, then
Pastor. The present membership is seventy-five, and Rev. S. B. Gilbert was the
last Pastor of the congregation ; no settled preacher is in charge at the present
time. The Deacons are David Evans, William Haynes and L. B. McOmber. The-
418 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Trustees are David Evans, D. A. Dix, D. C. Stoddard, diaries Clute, William R.
North and B. S. Roper. S. K. Hayward is Treasurer and D. C. Stoddard, Clerk.
St Mary's Roman Catholic Society was organized, in 1863, by Very Rev-
erend Father Terry, of Ottawa, who, with Father Toner, as assistant, adminis-
tered spiritual consolation to the society for one year. In November, 1864,
Rev. Francis A. Keenan became the first resident Pastor, remaining in charge
for nine years. Father Keenan roughed it for several years, there being no
regular pai'sonage. The church was commenced in the early part of his admin-
istration, and the original edifice finished sometime in 1865. The wings were
added to the building, in 1872, and recently the entire structure has been newly
painted and frescoed, which, added to the original expenditures, makes the
church cost, in round numbers, about ^4,500. Its seating capacity is about
500 ; the present membership is 140 families, with, perhaps, about 500 mem-
bers, all told. The church has a statue of the Virgin Mary, which cost §80 ;
and one of St. Joseph, §70, at Munich, Bavaria. The Father Matthew Society
is a temperance organization, under the charge of the church ; also an Orphans'
Society is in its charge, and a large and flourishing Sunday school. Rev.
Thomas S. Keating is the present Pastor, and succeeded Father Costa, in the
holy office, in 1874, since which time he has administered the affairs of the
church, and is much loved by his congregation. The Catholics have a very
handsome cemetery, north or east of town, well laid out and kept in nice order.
The Christian Church was built in 1865; is a modern frame, and cost
§2,000. The society was originally organized by Elder John Lindsey. July 4,
1864. Messrs. John Hibbs and D. P. Harber were appointed Elders, and F.
I. Barnard and Cyrus J. Gibson, Deacons. Elder R. B. Roberts was the first
regular Pastor ; Prof. Kirke is at present in charge, and has 60 members upon
the records. The church board is as follows : J. H. Moore and H. C. M.
Keefer, Trustees; J. H. Moore, John I. Lemon and H. C. M. Keefer, Elders;
John Williamson, C. D. Ogden and T. T. James, Deacons.
In 1868, the German Lutheran Church was built in El Paso. The society
removed to this place, from Kappa, in 1860, under the pastoral charge of Rev.
Mr. Young. The first Pastor, after the church was built, was Rev. Mr. John-
son. The building cost, originally, §1,500; but, in 1875, it was re-modeled
at an additional cost of §1,700, and a parsonage attached, which cost §900.
Rev. Mr. Burfriend is Pastor, with a membership of thirty-four. The services
of this church, from its first organization, at Kappa, down to the present, have
been conducted in the German languaoe.
The German Evangelical — sometimes called the Albrio-hts — an oflshoot of
the Methodists, after flourishing for several years, and becoming, to some extent,
Americanized, split up, and the modern wing bought the Congregational
Church,* while those still clinging to ancient customs kept the old edifice, and
continued to worship in the good old way.
* The Congregational Church has long ago ceased to exist in this city.
i
X. <
(oECEASEDJ
LINN TOWNSHIP
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 421
The Methodist Episcopal Church South, a number of years ago, made an
effort to establish a society in this city, but never succeeded. The Episcopal
Church has organized a society here, but no church edifice. The Bishop of
the Diocese visits them occasionally, and confirms those who wish to unite with
that branch of the church.
THE MASONS.
The Masonic Fraternity has one of the finest halls in El Paso, it is claimed,
that there is in the State outside of Chicago, and numbers among its member-
ship many of the very best men in the city. The order is represented as
follows :
El Paso Lodge, No. 246, was originally organized as Panola Lodge, in
October, 1857, but was removed to El Paso in October, 1862. John D. Park
was the first Master, and also held the office when the Lodge was removed as
noted above. Cyrus P. Shur is the present Master, and W. S. Gibson, Secre-
tary. When the Lodge was chartered, in 1857, J. H. Hibbard was Grand
Master, and H. G. Reynolds, Grand Secretary. A few years ago, some of the
members split off and formed a new body known as Woodford Lodge, No. 654,
but it was soon discontinued.
Mackey Chapter was organized under dispensation, August 31, 1868, by
Geo. W. Lininger, Grand High Priest of Illinois, and Daniel Lewis was ap-
pointed first High Priest ; P. H. Tompkins, Secretary. At the annual session
of the Grand Chapter of the State, held in October, 1868, a charter was granted,
and Mackey Chapter, No. 130, formally constituted. James Thompson was
elected first High Priest under the charter, an office he still holds, and the pres-
ent Secretary is S. M. Ferrell.
Coeur de Leon Comniandery was organized under dispensation, August 19,
1873; Sir LeAvis Keyon of Peoria was "borrowed " to serve as first Eminent
Commander, The dispensation was issued by Sir Daniel Dustin, Grand Com-
mander of Illinois, as was also the charter under date of December 4, 1873, and
the body legally instituted under the charter as Coeur de Leon Commandei'y, No.
43, Knights Templar. Sir James Thompson was first Commander after the
body was chartered, and Sir P. H. Tompkins, Recorder. At present. Sir S.
M. Ferrell is Commander and Sir W. G. Randall, Recorder.
Bavaria Lodge, No. 327, I. 0. 0. F., was organized October 7, 1866, and
worked for a wdiile ni the German language, but in late years has changed into
English. It is in a flourishing condition at present, and D. Dunn is Noble
Grand ; J. Batram, Secretary. There was an English lodge of this order some
years ago in the city, but it has ceased to exist.
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL HOUSES.
The city of El Paso is divided into two school districts by the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad. The West Side, or that portion of the city lying west of the rail-
road, is known as School District No. 5, and has a large frame school building
which cost, originally, $2,500. In the Summer of 1877, an addition, termed
M
422 HISTORY OF AVOODFORD COUNTY.
the High School Department, was made to the edifice at a cost of $1,700. It is
a graded school, and employs five teachers. Miss Lou M. Hager is Principal ;
and has for assistants Misses A. E. Painter, Clara Davidson, Mary D. Hoag-
land and Emma L. Worthington, with an average attendance of about 200.
The Directors are Messrs. J. J. Cassell, W. K. Hoagland and A. S. McKinney.
Pupils are regularly graduated, a full academical course given and diplomas
issued in the High School Department of this institution, and the following are
some of the branches required to be perfected before the pupils can receive a
graduate's diploma : Physical Geography, Botany, Zoology, Natural Philoso-
phy, Physiology, etc., etc., in addition to the ordinary common school
course. The West Side is justly proud of its school, and with good cause it
seems. It bears the name of beinor one of the best, if not the verv best of common
schools in the county.
The East Side, or District No. 4, has a large and elegant three-story and
basement brick school house erected in 1869 at a cost of $21,000. Previous to
its erection, the district had a very comfortable frame building. Miss Jennie
Fishburn is Principal. Teachers : Miss Emma C Waite, Miss Maggie Miller,
Mrs. Ida B. Duff, with an average attendance of 200 pupils. It is a graded
school, and first-class in all its branches and departments. The present Direct-
ors are Wm. Wheeler, Jas. P. Ferrell and Dr. D. W. Lamme.
THE BANK BLOCK.
The magnificent brick block, on the West Side, containing the banking
rooms of Shur, Tompkins k Co., with several elegant stores, is the finest block
of buildings in the place, and would be creditable to any city in the State. It
is three stories and basement, and the second is owned by the city, who uses it
as a city and public hall, while the third story is owned by the Masonic Order,
and the entire block was built a few years ago by the banking firm, at a cost
of $60,000.
The Bank of El Paso was organized in 1866, by John G. Ferguson and E.
T. Disonay, who acted as Cashier. They first commenced business in one cor-
ner of Aug. Strathman's furniture store, until a banking building could be
procured. In March, 1867, Messrs. W. & 0. A. Shur were admitted to an
interest, and the firm changed to Shur, Ferguson & Co. They moved into the
building erected on the East Side for them, by Geo. L. Gibson, and in the fol-
lowing June, P. A. Simmons Avas made bookkeeper, which position he still
holds. Mr. Ferguson withdrew his interest in 1868, on account of ill-health,
and his place was supplied by Philip H. Tompkins, under the firm name of Shur,
Tompkins & Co., which is the present style of tlie firm.
A newspaper was first established in El Paso in 1864. and a short time after,
John T. Harper and D. B. Fisk started the Journal^ which at one time had,
perhaps, the largest circulation ever reached by a country weekly newspaper.
After many changes in the ownership, it has passed into the hands of Carrier &
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 423
Coleman, who run it on the Independent plan, taking no particular side in the
politics of the day.
The El Paso Cemetery is handsomely laid off grounds, beautifully orna-
mented and well kept. It contains 40 acres of land, surrounded by a substan-
tial fence, and thickly set in grass. Many fine monuments and marble columns
show the love felt by surviving friends for the dear ones that are gone. The
first death in the city of El Paso is supposed to have been three little children
of Isaac Jenkins, who died with scarlet fever in the Winter of 1857-8, and so
near together that all three were buried in one grave. A child of Levi Darling
is said by some to have died during the Summer previous to the death of Jen-
kins' children, but we could not ascertain the facts definitely. The first mar.
riage in the citv is accredited to Eben Hotchkiss and Miss Celia Bano, about
CD *^ 7
1857.
GENERAL BUSINESS.
Referring to the general business of the City of El Paso, we make the fol-
lowing extracts from the address of Dr. Lamme already referred to : " The
amount of goods sold annually is about $400,000 ; agricultural implements sold
annually, $100,000 ; coal, about 1,000 tons, or 400 car loads. Goods, including
product^s of our own shops, not far short of $600,000, annually. * * * *
Grain is tlie chief export, and it is estimated that at least half a million bushels
of grain is handled at this point alone, to say nothing of what is bought at
neighboring points by our merchants."
The following is the railroad business at this place for the year 1875, taken
from same address :
Ticket sales of the I. C. R. R $ 10,165.15
•' T.. P. & AV. R. R 12,737.10
Freight received by I. C. R. R tons, 17,487 30,937.45
forwarded " " " 7,434 28,521.05
received by T., P. & W. R. R " 10,590 25.737.99
" forwarded " " " " 25,390 34,066.00
Total freight forwarded and received " 60,901 $142,154.74
LIBRARY.
Early in the history of El Paso, an attempt was made for a public library.
But with so many other demands upon her finances, little was done toward the
enterprise. About the year 1873, the subject was taken up by the ladies, and
a meeting called at the residence of Mrs. W. G. Randall, who had been most
active in infusing interest into the project. After considerable discussion, and
not without some opposition, a library association was finally formed, with the
following corps of ofiicers : President, Mrs. Dr. Stockwell ; A'^ice President,
Mrs. J. J. Cassell ; Secretary, Mrs. D. O'Brien ; Treasurer, Mrs. W. R.
Bigham ; Librarian, Mrs. S. H. Worthington.
The library contains about 800 volumes, is in good condition, out of debt,
and adding continually to the number of its volumes.
424 HISTORY OF AVOODFORD COUNTY.
The present officers are as follows: President, Mrs. S. T. Rogers; Vice
President, Mrs. A. 0. Shur ; Secretary, Mrs. S. H. Worthington ; Treasurer,
Mrs. W. G. Randall ; Librarian, Mrs. W. G. Johnson ; Executive Committee,
Mrs. George M. Young, Mrs. Dr. Cole, Mrs. J. Crawford.
The medical fraternity of the city compares favorably with any section of
the country. Their names are as follows : Drs. S. 0. Kerr, D. Lewis, A.
Stockwell, A. Reynolds, Frederick Cole, J. Q. Adams and D. W. Lamme.
Several of these gentlemen were in the medical department of the army during
the late war, where they acquitted themselves with honor and distinction.
The bar is represented by the following legal gentlemen : Judge J. J. Cas-
sell, Hon. A. M. Cavan, M. H. Cassell, W. S. Gibson, Walter Bennett, W. G.
Randall and W. H. Bullock. Of these, J. J. Cassell was for several terms
Judge of the Recorder's Court while in existence, and A. M. Cavan has served
in the State Legislature as a member from Woodford County.
The city of El Paso has two very handsome little parks, one in each ward,
and each park embraces one full block. They are enclosed by neat fences, are
elegantly laid out, filled with beautiful trees, and add materially to the beauty of
the city. The name of El Paso was given the city in honor of the township,
which bears the same name.
VILLAGE OF KAPPA.
The village of Kappa was laid out soon after the completion of the Illinois
Central Railroad through the township, and was at one time a place of consider-
able business. Long before El Paso appeared above the tall grass and the wild
flowers of the prairie. Kappa was a town of note, running two or three large stores
and dealing extensively in grain. The first store was opened by a Canadian,
when the town was first laid off. A Mr. Reed, formerly of Spring Bay, was the
second to go into the mercantile business in this little village. He kept the first
post office in the village, and which was several years after the one kept by Horn
in the township, some distance from Kappa. Reed afterward sold out to Asa
Sparks, who continued some time in the trade.
C. Schafer, one of the successful merchants of El Paso, settled at first in
Kappa. He says that it was then the best business point on the west side of
the county. He was looking for a place to locate, and made up his mind that
Kappa was the identical spot. He remembers seeing a hundred wagons at one
time in the village, all loaded with grain and waiting to get to the scales to weigh
their loads. He finally settled in Kappa, where he did a good business, until
the completion of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad to the Illinois Central,
which gave birth to the city of El Paso, and sealed the doom of Kappa. The
atter place dwindled down to a small business, and trade flowed into El Paso.
Mr. Schafer left Kappa and went