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Si'. 


,a,NO.S  HISTORlCAt  SURVEY 


STORIES  OF 

HISTORICAL 
DAYS 

In  Vermilion  County,  Illinois 

By 
GRAMMAR  GRADE  PUPILS 

of  Villages  and  Rural  Schools 
Vermilion  County,  Illinois 

1934-1935 


Compiled  for  the  School  Libraries 

By  L.  A.  TOGGLE 

County   Superintendent   of   Schools 


iLLiWOlS  HISTORICAL  SllRVEV 


L.  A.  TUGGLE 

Qounty  e)?<'perJHtenc/en^  of  S^^-^^ools 
Since  August  3rd,  1925 


PREFACE 

The  historical  notes  written  by  pupils  of  the  7th  and  8th 
grades  of  the  Vermilion  County,  Illinois,  schools  in  1932-1933 
were  so  successful  that  scores  and  scores  of  the  same  type  of  com- 
positions were  written  in  1934-1935  and  submitted  to  our  office. 
They  were  not  published  because  of  the  lack  of  the  necessary 
money. 

However,  we  believe  that  they  are  so  valuable  for  future 
reference  that  the  publication  of  these  notes  is  for  your  perusal. 
Although  these  stories  have  been  gathered  by  pupils  from  the 
dimmed  memories  of  older  people,  we  have  faith  that  they  are 
reasonably  authentic. 

The  formation  of  Vermilion  County,  the  extinct  towns,  the 
duties  of  County  Officers  and  how  towns  got  their  names  will  be 
valuable  information  one  hundred  years  hence. 

L.  A.  TUGGLE 

County  Superintendent  of  Schools 

Danville,  Illinois 
December  21,  1940. 


VERMILION  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS 

By  Larkin  a.  Tuggle  (1940) 

Vermilion  County  was  originally  a  part  of  New  France  from 
1682  to  1763.  New  France  was  divided  into  two  immense  dis- 
tricts—CANADA  and  LOUISIANA.  Prior  to  1745  the  division 
line  of  the  "Illinois  country"  began  on  the  Wabash  River  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Vermilion  River,  thence  northwest  to  a  few 
miles  above  Ottawa.  North  of  this  line  was  CANADA.  South  of 
it  and  west  of  the  Wabash  River  was  LOUISIANA.  The  County 
Seat  for  Vermilion  County  south  of  that  line  was  Fort  Chartes 
and  north  of  that  line  was  "Post  of  Detroit."  If  a  French  trader 
living  on  the  Big  Vermilion  River  wished  to  get  married  to  an 
Indian  girl  legally  (in  the  absence  of  a  parish  priest)  he  would 
have  to  go  either  to  Detroit  or  Fort  Chartes.  He  seldom  went 
to  this  trouble,  however. 

In  1763,  the  country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Al- 
leghenies  was  ceded  to  Great  Britain.  Through  the  conquest  of 
Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark  in  1778,  Vermilion  County  became  a 
part  of  "Illinois  County"  in  the  State  of  Virginia.  In  1787,  it 
became  known  as:  "The  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest 
of  the  River  Ohio."  In  1800,  this  territory  was  divided  and  Ver- 
milion County  became  part  of  "The  Indiana  Territory."  In  1801, 
counties  were  formed  and  part  of  Vermilion  county  lay  in  the 
county  of  Knox,  and  the  other  part  in  St.  Clair  county. 

In  1809,  the  "Illinois  Territory"  was  formed  off  the  "Indiana 
Territory"  by  a  line  running  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  River 
up  the  Wabash  River  to  Vincennes;  thence  north  to  the  British 
Possessions.  By  proclamation  of  the  acting  governor  on  April  28th, 
1809,  Vermilion  County  fell  wholly  in  St.  Clair  county.  The 
county  seat  was  at  Cahokia  opposite  St.  Louis. 

Then  in  1816,  Crawford  county  was  formed  and  Vermilion 
county  became  a  part  of  that  county  with  the  county  seat  at 
Palestine  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash  River.  Clark  county  was 
formed  off  the  northern  part  of  Crawford  in  1819  with  the  County 
seat  many  miles  up  the  Wabash  River  at  a  place  called  AURORA. 
About  this  time  several  Indian  treaties  were  made  which  appar- 
ently gave  clear  title  to  lands  drained  by  the  Vermilion  River 
and  its  tributaries.  Clark  county  was  soon  thereafter  explored 
and  settlements  began  on  the  Big  Vermilion  River  near  old 
"Kickapoo  town"  (Danville)  and  the  "Vermilion  Salines." 

Edgar  county  was  formed  off  Clark  county  January  3rd, 
1823,  and  the  "seat  of  justice"  was  established  at  Paris,  April  21, 
1823.  The  northern  boundary  line  of  Edgar  county  was  a  line 
running  East  and  West  between  Townships  16  and  17  (about  one 
mile  south  of  Ridgefarm). 

[3] 


VERMILION  COUNTY  WAS  MADE  A  SEPARATE 
COUNTY  JANUARY  18TH,  1826,  DESCRIBED  AS  FOL- 
LOWS: 

"Beginning  on  the  state  line  between  Illinois  and 
Indiana,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Edgar  county,  thence 
West  with  line  dividing  Townships  16  and  17  to  the 
southwest  corner  of  Township  17  North,  of  Range  10 
East  of  the  3rd  Principal  Meridian;  thence  North  to 
the  northwest  corner  of  Township  22  North :  thence  East 
to  the  Indiana  state  line;  thence  south  with  the  state 
line  to  the  place  of  beginning." 
This  original  territory  did  not  include  six  miles  of  the  north  end 
of  the  present  county,  but  extended  about  10  miles  into  the 
present  Champaign  county. 

For  judicial  purposes,  many  present  counties  were  attached 
to  Vermilion  county  in  1826  which  embraced  Champaign,  Iro- 
quois, and  Ford  counties,  2  tiers  of  Townships  on  the  East  side 
of  Livingston,  2/3  of  the  width  of  Grundy  county  south  of  the 
Kankakee  River,  and  nearly  1-1/2  congressional  Townships  in 
the  southwest  corner  of  Will  county. 

Iroquois  county  was  formed  in  1833,  and  by  the  terms  of  the 
Act  of  the  Legislature,  VERMILION  COUNTY  WAS  EX- 
TENDED 6  miles  farther  North;  making  the  line  where  it  NOW 
is— making  Hoopeston,  East  Lynn  and  Rankin  in  Vermilion 
county. 

Champaign  county  was  also  formed  by  an  ACT  in  February, 
1833,  by  the  terms  of  which  VERMILION  COUNTY  LOST 
half  of  Range  14  West  of  the  2nd  Principal  Meridian,  fractional 
Range  11  East  and  all  of  Range  10  East  of  the  3rd  Principal 
Meridian;  thus  reducing  the  Western  limits  of  Vermilion  county 
by  10  miles  in  its  entire  length.  Thus  Allerton  is  on  the  western 
border  line  of  the  county  in  the  southwest  corner. 

Livingston  county  was  organized  in  1837  by  which  10  full 
Townships  and  a  half  of  two  others  were  taken  from  Vermilion 
county  of  the  attached  judicial  territory. 

Grundy   county   was   established   in    1841    and    Vermilion 

county  lost  that  attached  territory  south  of  the  Kankakee  River. 

Will  county  was  formed  in  January,  1836,  and  Vermilion 

county  lost  the  attached  judicial  territory.     Ford  county  took 

what  was  left  of  the  attached  judicial  territory  in  1859. 

CIVIL  TOWNSHIPS  were  adopted  in  1851  in  Vermilion 
county  as  follows:  DANVILLE,  GEORGETOWN,  ELWOOD, 
CARROLL,  ROSS,  MIDDLEFORK,  NEWELL  (first  called 
Richland)  and  PILOT;  BLOUNT  in  1856;  CATLIN  in  1858; 
GRANT  in  1862;  BUTLER  in  1864;  VANCE  in  1866;  SIDELL 
in  1867;  OAK  WOOD  in  1868;  JAMAICA  July  10,  1899;  LOVE 
June  10,  1902;  McKENDREE  Dec.  10,  1912;  and  SOUTH 
ROSS  June  13,  1927.  At  the  second  meeting  of  the  County  Com- 
missioners' court  ever  held  in  the  county,  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1826,  the  county  was  divided  into  two  civil  townships.    All  ter- 

[4] 


ritory  south  of  the  center  of  Township  18  was  called  CARROLL 
and  all  north  of  that  line,  RIPLEY.  This  was  25  years  before 
civil  townships  were  adopted.  Why  these  names  no  one  knows. 
Since  1833,  Vermilion  county  has  remained  unchanged  in 
area.  It  has  28  Congressional  Townships  six  miles  square,  com- 
monly known  as  School  Townships.  These  28  Congressional 
Townships  are  divided  into  19  Civil  Townships.  It  operates 
under  the  Civil  Township  form  of  government  instead  of  the 
commission  plan  still  followed  by  17  of  the  counties  in  Illinois. 
Its  business  is  conducted  by  a  Board  of  Supervisors  instead  of  by 
3  commissioners  elected  "at  large." 


VERMILION  COUNTY,  ILLINOIS,  SUPERIN 
TENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS 

By  L.  A.  TUGGLE  (1940) 

The  first  law  providing  for  a  free  school  in  Illinois  was  passed 
January  15th,  1825.  The  first  school  taught  in  Illinois  was  a 
subscription  school  established  in  1783  in  Monroe  county  taught 
by  Samuel  J.  Seeley.  In  1829,  the  Duncan  Free  School  Law  was 
repealed  and  a  new  one  passed  which  provided  for  the  sale  of 
lands  which  had  been  donated  by  Congress  for  the  benefit  of  the 
public  schools. 

School  Commissioners  were  elected  to  take  charge  of  the  sale 
of  this  land  and  keep  the  funds  for  use  of  the  schools.  In  1855,  a 
law  was  passed  which  is  the  basis  of  our  present  school  system. 
In  1857,  a  law  was  passed  which  permitted  the  people  of  any 
school  district  to  vote  a  tax  for  school  purposes  not  to  exceed  two 
per  cent,  in  addition  to  the  tax  authorized  by  the  law  of  1855. 

Vermilion  county  elected  Daniel  W.  Beckwith  as  its  "FIRST" 
School  Commissioner  in  1832.   Thereafter,  these  School  Commis- 
sioners were  "Ex-Officio  Superintendents  of  Common  Schools." 
They  were  as  follows: 

Daniel  W.  Beckwith  1832-1834 

John  H.  Murphy  1834-1843 

N.  D.  Palmer  1843  1850 

William  Allin  1850-1852 

W.  A.  Murphy  1852-1854 

Norman  D.  Palmer  1854-1858 

Levi  W.  Sanders  1858-1862 

Ebon  H.  Palmer  1862-1863 

M.  D.  Hawes  1863-1864 

The  title  of  "School  Commissioner"  was  changed  to  that  of 
County  Superintendent  of  Schools"  in  1864. 
They  were  as  follows: 

M.  D.  Hawes 1864-1865 

P.  D.  Hammond 1865-1869 

John  W.  Parker 1869  1873 

Charles  Victor  Guy  (Died  Feb.  23,  1904)   ..     1873-1881 


ti 


[5] 


John  D.  Benedict  (In  1940  Muskogee,  Okla.).  1881-1889 

Lin  H.  Griffith,  Danville,  111 1889-1899 

Ralph  B.  Holmes,  Indianapolis,  Ind 1899-1906 

Wm.  Y.  Ludwig  (Died  Feb.  18,  1936) 1906-1910 

Otis  P.  Haworth  (Died  Oct.  26,  1928) 1910-1923 

Larkin  A.  Tuggle,  Danville,  111 1923- 


COUNTY  GOVERNMENT  IN  ILLINOIS  IN  1940 

By  L.  A.  Tuggle 

Part  of  the  work  of  the  county  is  done  by  the  "Board  of 
Supervisors,"  but  the  greater  portion  of  it  is  done  by  elective 
officers  all  of  whom  serve  FOUR  YEARS. 

COUNTY  CLERK.— Naturally  the  first  officer  needed  in  a 
county  is  the  County  Clerk.  He  is  the  Clerk  to  the  "Board  of 
Supervisors."  He  keeps  a  record  of  all  their  proceedings.  He 
is  Clerk  of  the  County  Court,  has  charge  of  all  county  records 
and  issues  marriage  licenses.  He  canvasses  the  votes  of  every 
general  election,  computes  the  amount  of  taxes  to  be  paid  by 
every  person,  and  must  keep  a  complete  record  of  all  orders  drawn 
upon  the  County  Treasurer.  He  keeps  record  of  all  births  and 
deaths.  Dan  Miller  of  Hoopeston  is  the  present  County  Clerk. 
(1940) 

COUNTY  TREASURER.— He  has  charge  of  all  the  county's 
money  from  whatever  source.  The  office  of  township  collector 
was  abolished  in  1917  in  counties  having  less  than  100,000  in- 
habitants, and  the  County  Treasurer  was  made  Tax  Collector. 
He  must  give  a  large  bond  guaranteeing  the  safe-keeping  of  county 
funds,  and  properly  paying  out  same  according  to  law.  In  coun- 
ties having  less  than  125,000  inhabitants,  he  is  ex-officio  Super- 
visor of  Assessments. 

An  amendment  to  the  State  Constitution  was  adopted  in 
1880,  providing  that  the  Treasurer  cannot  serve  two  consecutive 
terms;  he  is  ineligible  to  re-election  till  four  years  after  his  term 
expires.  Wm.  E.  Wayland  of  Danville  is  the  present  County 
Treasurer.    (1940) 

COUNTY  SHERIFF.— The  Sheriff  must  attend  all  sessions  of 
the  County  and  Circuit  Courts  and  obey  their  lawful  orders.  He 
is  the  chief  police  officer  of  the  county  and  has  several  deputy 
sheriffs  to  assist  him.  He  serves  all  writs  and  other  legal  papers 
of  the  court,  makes  arrests  and  enforces  the  laws.  He  has  charge 
of  the  court  house  and  the  jail.  The  Sheriff  is  not  eligible  for 
re-election  till  four  years  after  his  term  expires.  F.  W.  Ward  of 
Indianola  is  the  present  Sheriff.    (1940) 

COUNTY  JUDGE.— He  presides  over  the  County  Court 
and  has  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  many  cases  of  tax  matters, 
special  assessments,  elections,  etc.  He  has  charge  of  criminal 
cases  where  the  punishment  is  not  imprisonment  in  the  peni- 
tentiary or  death,  and  all  juvenile  cases.  Harlin  M.  Steely,  Jr. 
of  Danville  is  the  present  County  Judge.    (1940) 

[6] 


PROBATE  JUDCxE.^In  counties  having  over  70,000  in- 
habitants, a  Probate  Judge  must  be  elected.  He  settles  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  estates  of  deceased  persons,  appointment  of 
guardians  of  minors,  and  conservators  of  the  insane  and  feeble- 
minded and  settlement  of  their  accounts. 

The  first  Probate  Judge  of  Vermilion  county  was  Clinton 
Abernathy  of  Danville,  elected  in  1910,  who  served  one  term. 
He  was  followed  by  Walter  J.  Bookwalter  of  Danville  who  served 
for  16  j^ears,  or  until  December,  1930.  Ralph  M.  Jinkins  of 
Dan\alle  was  elected  Probate  Judge  in  1930  and  served  till  Decem- 
ber, 1938.  Arthur  Hall  of  Danville  was  elected  in  1938  for  a 
4-year  term. 

PROBATE  CLERK.^The  Probate  Clerk  looks  after  the 
clerical  duties  pertaining  to  the  Probate  Court.  Miss  Mabel 
Redden,  whose  term  expired  in  1934,  from  Danville,  has  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  first  woman  in  Vermilion  County  elected  to 
a  county  office.  Robert  Edwards  is  the  present  Probate  Clerk. 
(1940) 

COUNTY  RECORDER.— His  duties  are  to  keep  a  record 
of  all  deeds,  mortgages  and  other  papers  pertaining  to  the  title 
of  lands.  Chattel  mortgages  on  personal  property  are  recorded 
by  him.  William  H.  Carter  from  Indianola  was  the  Recorder 
since  its  separation  from  the  Circuit  Clerk's  office  in  1900.  His 
term  expired  in  1932.  Josephine  Ray  from  Rossville  is  the  pres- 
ent Recorder.  She  was  re-elected  in  November,  1940,  for  a  third 
term  of  4  years. 

COUNTY  SURVEYOR.^He  makes  surveys  within  the 
county  and  must  keep  a  record  of  all  such  surveys.  Such  surveys 
are  very  important  in  case  of  disputes  concerning  property  lines, 
boundaries  for  streets,  alleys,  and  roads  and  in  laying  out  new 
roads.  Counties  maintaining  "state  aid"  roads  have  a  "County 
Superintendent  of  Highways"  appointed  by  the  "Board  of  Super- 
visors." He  serves  for  a  term  of  six  years  and  his  salary  is  fixed 
by  the  County  Board.  He  acts  for  the  county  in  all  matters  re- 
lating to  the  supervision  of  the  construction  and  maintenance  of 
roads  and  bridges  in  which  the  county  is  financially  interested, 
either  alone  or  in  conjunction  with  the  state  or  with  any  town  or 
road  district  of  Vermilion  county.  William  S.  Dillon  of  Danville 
was  "County  Superintendent  of  Highways"  from  1913  till  1932. 
Walter  C.  Dye  of  Danville  was  appointed  County  Superintendent 
of  Highways  in  1932  and  has  been  repeatedly  reappointed.   (1940) 

COUNTY  CORONER.— He  must  investigate  the  causes  of 
all  accidental  deaths,  or  any  unusual  cases  other  than  natural 
causes.  He  selects  to  aid  him  a  Coroner's  Jury  and  their  investi- 
gation is  known  as  the  Coroner's  inquest.  He  makes  a  report  of 
his  findings  to  the  County  Clerk.  He  often  causes  the  arrest  of 
persons  suspected  of  violence  or  carelessness  leading  to  such  death. 
He  has  the  power  to  make  arrests.  He  is  the  only  person  who 
can  arrest  a  Sheriff.  John  D.  Cole  of  Danville  is  the  present 
Coroner.    (1940) 

[7] 


CIRCUIT  CLERK.— Although  elected  by  the  county,  and 
termed  a  county  officer,  the  Circuit  Clerk  is  really  an  office  of 
the  Circuit  Court.  He  must  attend  all  sessions  of  the  Circuit 
Court  and  keep  a  record  of  its  proceedings.  He  keeps  accounts 
of  the  costs  of  all  suits  of  the  court.  These  costs  are  made  up  of 
the  fees  of  the  Sheriff,  Jury,  Clerk,  Witnesses,  and  others.  He 
issues  subpoenas,  executions,  and  other  processes  of  the  Court. 
Albert  D.  Alkire  of  Danville  is  the  present  Circuit  Clerk.    (1940) 

STATE'S  ATTORNEY.— He  sees  that  offenders  against  the 
law  are  indicted,  arrested  and  brought  into  court  for  trial.  He 
is  the  legal  adviser  of  the  County  Officers  and  Justices  of  the 
Peace.  He  represents  the  county  in  any  law  suit  brought  against 
it,  or  against  any  County  Officers  as  such.  Judge  William  T. 
Henderson  of  Danville  is  the  present  State's  Attorney.     (1940) 

COUNTY  AUDITOR.— The  office  of  the  County  Auditor 
was  established  in  Illinois  in  1911  in  all  counties  (not  including 
Cook  county)  having  a  population  of  75,000  or  more.  Vermilion 
county  is  one  of  the  14  counties  coming  under  this  law.  The  first 
County  Auditor  was  Chauncey  E,  Lewis  who  served  from  Decem- 
ber 1st,  1912  till  his  death  March  19,  1918. 

L.  H.  Griffith  who  was  serving  as  assistant  under  Auditor 
Lewis  was  then  appointed  by  the  "Board  of  Supervisors"  to  fill 
the  vacancy  and  continued  by  re-elections  each  four  years  to 
serve  as  County  Auditor.  His  term  expired  in  1932.  Ray  C. 
Wait  of  Danville  succeeded  Mr.  Griffith  in  1932  and  he  served 
till  December  2,  1940. 

Briefly  stated,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office  are:  To 
preserve  statistical  information  with  respect  to  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance of  the  county  institutions;  to  audit  all  claims  of  whatso- 
ever character  against  the  county,  recommending  to  the  County 
Board  their  payment  or  rejection;  to  approve  all  orders  for  sup- 
plies issued  by  the  various  County  Officers  before  the  orders  are 
placed  with  the  parties  to  whom  the  same  are  to  be  given;  to 
keep  a  record  of  all  contracts  entered  into  by  the  County  Board 
and  all  authorized  County  Officers  for  or  on  behalf  of  the  county; 
to  make  reports  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  county  at  cer- 
tain periods.  Lawrence  E.  Newtson  of  Danville  was  elected 
Auditor  in  1940  for  a  4-year  term. 

COUNTY    SUPERINTENDENT     OF     SCHOOLS.— He 

supervises  the  schools  of  the  county,  confining  himself  largely  to 
the  rural  schools  and  village  or  town  schools  who  elect  to  come 
under  his  Course  of  Study.  He  is  the  adviser  for  the  local  school 
officers,  passes  upon  the  bonds  of  township  treasurers  and  audits 
their  books  once  a  year.  Every  "Order"  issued  by  any  school 
official  of  the  county  is  audited  through  his  office.  He  holds 
examinations  for  teachers'  certificates  under  the  State  Examin- 
ing Board,  but  he  does  not  make  the  questions,  neither  does  he 
grade  the  papers.  He  holds  an  Annual  County  Institute  for  the 
instruction  of  teachers  in  methods  of  instruction.  He  supervises 
the  Period  and  Final  Examinations  for  the  7th  and  8th  grade 

[8] 


pupils.  He  issues  all  certificates  of  promotion  to  the  7th  grade, 
and  all  8th  grade  Diplomas  of  Graduation.  He  supervises  the 
work  of  the  County  Truant  Officer. 

He  has  charge  of  the  State  School  Fund  and  distributes  it 
according  to  law  to  the  schools  of  each  Township  in  the  county. 
This  is  done  by  "Claims  for  State  Aid"  based  upon  Average 
Daily  Attendance  of  each  pupil.  The  District  gets  $11.00  from 
the  State  Fund  for  each  pupil's  perfect  attendance  for  the  year. 
He  makes  a  financial  and  statistical  report  of  each  District  and 
Township  each  year  to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction. This  report  alone  in  Vermilion  county  requires  the 
work  of  one  person  continuously  for  three  months. 

He  has  charge  of  signing  all  State  Limited  Certificates  and 
their  Registration  each  year.  He  must  visit  each  school  at  least 
once  each  year,  and  one-half  of  his  visiting  period  must  be  given 
to  rural  schools.  In  1939-1940  there  were  782  rooms  in  Vermilion 
county  and  about  100  days  in  which  to  visit  schools.  Can  you 
figure  the  number  of  rooms  which  must  be  visited  each  day  to 
comply  with  his  duties?  He  furnishes  a  bond  fixed  by  law.  He 
is  the  official  clerk  to  the  Non-High  School  Board  of  Education 
and  must  take  care  of  all  their  clerical  duties,  such  as  keeping 
records  of  non-high  school  pupils,  paying  their  tuition,  and  other 
duties.  He  is  supposed  to  attend  all  state  and  national  educa- 
tional meetings  and  bring  to  his  county  the  best  modern  system 
and  thought  of  the  leading  educators  of  the  nation. 

Each  session  of  the  Legislature  adds  many  more  clerical 
duties,  and  he  is  not  given  any  additional  help  for  these  new 
duties.  The  recent  "MUNICIPAL  BUDGET"  law  and  the 
"TRANSPORTATION  of  PUPILS"  law  add  weeks  and  weeks 
of  new  clerical  duties  (and  no  money  to  pay  for  them).  The  office 
of  County  Superintendent  of  Schools  has  become  a  "clearing 
house"  for  clerical  and  statistical  duties  for  the  Township  Treas- 
urers and  to  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  instead  of 
being  permitted  to  be  an  educational  leader. 

The  present  County  Superintendent  of  Schools  is  L.  A.  Tuggle 
of  Danville,  who  took  office  in  August  1923.  His  term  will  expire 
in  August,  1943.  Miss  Hazel  Dodd,  Sidell,  is  Assistant  County 
Superintendent  of  Schools;  and  Miss  Ruth  Tuggle,  Danville, 
niece  of  L.  A.  Tuggle,  is  Secretary  to  the  County  Superintendent 
of  Schools. 

SALARIES  OF  COUNTY  OFFICERS 
Each  County  Officer  in  Vermilion  county  is  allowed  deputies 
or  assistants  to  help  perform  the  duties  of  the  office  by  the 
"Board  of  Supervisors."  The  Salaries  of  the  County  Judge, 
Probate  Judge,  State's  Attorney  and  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  are  fixed  by  law.  The  County  Superintendent  of  Schools 
receives  his  salary  from  State  Funds.  The  salaries  of  the  other 
County  Officers  are  paid  out  of  the  County  Funds.  The  salaries 
of  County  Officers  not  named  above  are  fixed  by  the  "Board  of 
Supervisors." 

[9] 


HOW  TOWNS  AND  CITIES  IN  VERMILION 
COUNTY,  ILLINOIS,  GOT  THEIR  NAMES 

By  L.  A.  TUGGLE,  Co.  Supt.  of  Schools— 1940 

ALLERTON  received  its  name  from  a  large  land  owner, 
Samuel  W.  Allerton.  The  town  was  planned  by  Mr.  Allerton. 
Every  deed  contained  this  clause:  "It  is  understood  that  no 
gambling  house,  pool  room,  or  saloon  should  be  permitted  for 
the  sale  of  wine,  beer  or  any  intoxicating  liquor,  unless  with  the 
consent  of  the  owner." 

ALVIN  was  first  called  Gilbert  for  Hon.  Alvan  Gilbert,  an 
early  settler  and  prominent  in  Township  affairs.  Later  it  was 
changed  to  Mr.  Gilbert's  given  name  Alvan.  The  spelling  was 
changed  when  the  name  of  the  town  was  recorded.  In  1903 
momentary  oil  boom  was  started  at  Alvin. 

ARMSTRONG  was  named  for  Thomas  and  Henry  Arm- 
strong.  This  town  was  started  in  1877. 

BELGIUM  is  east  of  Kellyville  and  was  named  Belgium 
because  most  of  the  early  residents  came  from  Belgium. 

BISMARK  was  built  in  1872  and  evidently  must  have  been 
given  its  name  by  the  C.  &  E.  I.  Railroad. 

CATLIN  was  first  called  "Butler's  Point"  in  1920  for  James 
Butler  who  was  the  first  settler.  It  was  so  called  until  the  railroad 
officials  called  the  name  of  their  station  Catlin  after  one  of  their 
men  in  1856  at  which  time  Guy  Merrill  and  Josiah  Hunt  laid 
out  the  village  of  Catlin. 

CHENEYVILLE  was  laid  out  by  Jake  McFerren  in  1878. 
It  was  named  after  J.  H.  Cheney,  Vice-President  of  the  Lake 
Erie  and  Western  Railroad.  It  is  said  that  the  land  was  donated 
by  Abe  Swisher,  J.  L.  Starr  and  John  Dunkalbarger. 

DANVILLE  was  first  settled  by  Dan  Beckwith  in  1824.  At 
that  time  the  site  was  occupied  by  a  village  of  Piankeshaw 
Indians  whose  trading  post  was  situated  within  the  limits  of  the 
present  Ellsworth  Park.  The  Legislature  passed  an  act  on  Decem- 
ber 26,  1826,  to  appoint  a  new  set  of  three  Commissioners,  Wm. 
Morgan,  Zachariah  Peter  and  John  Kirkpatrick  of  Sangamon 
county,  to  select  a  "County  Seat"  for  Vermilion  county.  These 
three  men  selected  the  lands  donated  by  Guy  W.  Smith  and  Dan 
W.  Beckwith.  This  land  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  North  Fork 
of  the  Vermilion  River. 

The  Board  of  County  Commissioners,  Asa  Elliott,  Achilles 
Morgan  (Mrs.  L.  A.  Tuggle's  great-great-grandfather)  and  James 
McClewer,  accepted  the  report  of  the  Sangamon  County  Com- 
missioners. Dan  W.  Beckwith  surveyed  the  land  into  100  lots. 
The  above  Board  of  County  Commissioners  decided  to  honor 
Dan  W.  Beckwith  as  the  earliest  settler  on  the  site  and  named 
the  County  Seat  "DANVILLE." 

Danville  has  an  impressive  group  of  civic  buildings:  Elk's 
Club,  Carnegie  Library,  Federal  Court  and  Post  Office,  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Wolford  Hotel,  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  and  a  large  State  Armory  in  one  compact 

[10] 


center.  Other  noted  places  are  "Uncle  Joe"  Cannon's  Home, 
Court  House,  Masonic  Temple,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  City- 
Hall,  Salvation  Army  Barracks,  Danville  Township  Hall,  and  a 
Veterans  Facility  consisting  of  27  buildings  built  in  1897  (and 
recently  remodeled)  for  housing  1800  ex-service  men  who  need 
domiciliary  care. 

EAST  LYNN  was  laid  out  in  1872  and  was  named  after  the 
charming  novel  of  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Stephens. 

ELLIS.  Ellis  was  established  in  1902.  Ellis  was  named 
after  Albert  Ellis  of  Penfield,  Illinois.  The  Post  Office  was  estab- 
lished at  Ellis  in  1908.  The  Post  Office  was  discontinued  in  1935, 
and  this  promising  village  will  soon  be  classed  as  one  of  the 
"extinct"  towns. 

FAIRMOUNT  was  first  spoken  of  as  the  "Queen  of  the 
Prairies"  of  Vermilion  county,  being  known  as  a  noted  grain 
market  in  an  early  day,  shipping  in  larger  quantities  of  corn, 
wheat,  and  oats  than  other  towns  in  Vermilion  county.  Fair- 
mount  was  first  called  Salina.  It  was  changed  to  Fairmount  in 
1863,  by  the  suggestion  of  an  early  settler,  Francis  Dougherty. 
It  was  here  that  one  of  the  first  churches  in  the  county  was  organ- 
ized, the  Goshen  Baptist,  in  1832. 

FITHIAN  was  named  after  Dr.  William  Fithian  who  owned 
vast  acres  of  land  in  this  part  of  the  county. 

GEORGETOWN  village  was  named  after  the  township  of 
that  name.  It  was  established  in  the  year  1827,  two  months 
after  Danville  was  laid  out.  The  naming  seems  to  be  in  doubt. 
Some  say  Mr.  Haworth  named  it  for  his  son  George  who  was  a 
cripple.  Others  say  that  Danville  having  been  named  for  Dan  W. 
Beckwith,  that  Mr.  Haworth  believed  it  was  a  good  stroke  of 
policy  to  try  to  divide  the  sympathies  of  the  Beckwith  family 
for  the  two  towns  by  naming  his  place  in  honor  of  George  Beck- 
with. The  probability  is  that  both  statements  are  true.  This 
son,  George,  died  of  Cholera  in  1854. 

In  making  the  survey  of  lots  in  Georgetown,  it  is  told  that 
for  want  of  more  convenient  implements  the  North  Star  was 
used  for  a  compass  and  a  grape  vine  for  a  chain. 

GRAPE  CREEK  began  its  existence  with  the  opening  up 
of  the  coal  mine  in  1866.  It  was  named  after  a  small  creek  named 
"Grape  Creek"  which  flows  through  the  village. 

HENNING.  When  the  H.  R.  &  E.  railroad,  now  the  Illinois 
Central,  was  built  in  1878,  a  gentleman  from  Pontiac,  Illinois 
bought  ten  acres  of  land  from  the  E.  S.  Pope  estate  for  the  town- 
site  and  named  it  Henning,  in  honor  of  his  wife's  maiden  name, 
which  was  Henning.  The  town  was  incorporated  in  1905  and  the 
first  Mayor  was  Charles  Mason.  J.  W.  White  was  the  first  Clerk 
and  J.  M.  Dusenberry  was  the  first  Treasurer. 

HOOPESTON  was  started  in  1871  and  was  named  for 
Thomas  Hoopes,  who  owned  a  farm,  which  the  railroad  forced 
its  way  through,  and  hence  a  city  was  built. 

INDIANOLA  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  in  the  county.  It 
was  first  known  as  old  Chillicothe,  which  was  recorded  Sept.  6, 

[11] 


1836.  When  Chillicothe  demanded  a  post  office  it  was  found  there 
was  a  town  on  the  IlHnois  River  by  the  same  name,  so  it  was 
changed  to  Dallas  in  1844.  It  was  soon  discovered  that  another 
post  office  in  Illinois  was  named  Dallas  City.  The  postmaster 
asked  the  post  office  department  to  change  the  name  to  Indianola 
which  was  done.  For  a  long  time  the  people  of  the  village  would 
not  accept  the  name  "Indianola"  which  caused  much  confusion 
in  sending  of  mail,  but  finally  the  name  became  a  fixture. 

JAMAICA  was  first  platted  as  "Kingsley"  because  a  village 
had  grown  "up  around"  the  church  by  that  name  which  had  been 
erected  in  1873.  The  people  petitioned  the  government  to  name 
the  village  and  post  office  "Kingsley,"  but  it  was  refused  because 
there  was  another  post  office  by  that  name  in  Illinois.  It  was 
finally  called  "Jamaica." 

JAMESBURG— In  1894,  the  C.  &  E.  I.  railroad  was  built 
from  Rossville  to  Sidell.  A  station  and  depot  was  established  a 
few  miles  west  of  Henning.  Several  of  the  people  living  at  Hig- 
ginsville  left  that  community  and  moved  to  this  new  station.  A 
name  had  to  be  chosen,  therefore  the  station  was  named  "James- 
burg"  in  honor  of  James  Goodwin. 

MUNCIE  was  platted  and  recorded  in  1875,  and  evidently 
named  by  the  surveyors,  Alexander  Bowman  and  Edward  Corbley. 

OAKWOOD  was  established  in  1870  and  naturally  named 
after  Henry  Oakwood  because  the  township  had  previously  been 
named  after  him. 

OLIVET  was  named  after  Olivet  University  which  was  located 
in  that  village.  The  beginning  of  this  village  was  in  1908,  three 
miles  south  of  Georgetown. 

POTOMAC  (Marysville)  was  first  settled  as  a  farm  by  John 
Smith  (plain)  in  1845.  Isaac  Meneley  and  others  soon  came  to  help 
Smith  make  a  town.  Both  Smith  and  Meneley  had  wives  named 
Mary,  so  they  hit  upon  the  plan  of  calling  the  town  Marysville, 
after  the  two  best  Marys  then  living  in  town.  The  post  office  of 
Marysville  was  suspended  for  awhile,  and  when  it  was  reinstated, 
the  postoffice  department  changed  the  name  to  Potomac  because 
of  the  near  proximity  to  Myersville  which  seemed  to  confuse  the 
mail  carriers  with  the  name  Marysville.  Marysville  was  incor- 
porated into  a  village  in  1876  but  soon  lost  its  identity  as  a  name 
and  is  known  as  Potomac.  The  artesian  wells  have  made  Potomac 
famous  in  the  county. 

RANKIN  was  laid  out  in  June,  1872  and  named  after  Hon. 
David  Rankin,  the  proprietor  of  a  portion  of  the  town  and  of  a 
large  amount  of  land  in  their  neighborhood. 

RIDGEFARM  was  platted  for  record  in  1853  and  was 
named  for  the  name  given  to  the  farm  of  Abraham  Smith.  In 
1849,  when  he  commenced  to  bring  his  farm  under  cultivation 
he  named  it  Ridgefarm. 

ROSSVILLE  was  first  known  as  "Liggett's  Grove"  in  1829. 
Later  on  it  was  called  "Bicknell's  Point"  and  then  it  became 
known  far  and  wide  as  "Henpeck."  Just  why  it  was  called 
"Henpeck"  no  one  seems  to  know.  The  original  town  of  Rossville 

[12] 


was  laid  out  about  1857  and  was  incorporated  in  July,  1872. 
Alvan  Gilbert  was  the  "father"  of  Rossville. 

SI  DELL  was  named  in  honor  of  John  Sidell  at  the  suggestion 
of  John  C.  Short.  John  Sidell  owned  3000  acres  along  both  sides 
of  the  Little  Vermilion  River.    It  was  incorporated  in  1886. 

TILTON.  Tilton  was  originally  laid  out  in  1854  and  was 
called  "Bryant."  It  was  named  "Bryant"  after  the  Assistant 
Surveyor  Bryant,  working  under  Mr.  Catlin,  who  surveyed  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad.  Mr.  L.  Tilton  of  New  York  was 
Manager  of  the  Northern  Cross  Railroad  from  1861  until  the 
name  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Wabash  Railroad  about  1875. 
The  name  of  the  town  "Bryant"  was  then  changed  to  that  of 
Tilton  in  honor  of  L.  Tilton. 

VERMILION  GROVE  history  dates  back  to  1820.  It  is 
here  where  stands  the  "successor"  of  the  first  church  built  in 
Vermilion  county.  Also  the  first  school  established.  The  first 
plat  was  made  by  Elvin  Haworth  in  1876,  and  he  called  it  "Ver- 
milion" which  name  continued  until  the  railroad  was  built 
through  the  village.  When  the  post  office  was  established  in  1873, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  change  the  name  to  "Vermilion  Grove" 
because  of  another  post  office  named  "Vermilion"  in  Illinois. 

Peanuts  were  kept  in  stores  instead  of  tobacco,  and  hence 
men  who  couldn't  purchase  "tobacco"  in  Vermilion  Grove  nick- 
named the  village  "Peanut."  This  nickname  is  still  known  to 
the  older  generation. 

WESTVILLE  was  laid  out  by  William  P.  West  and  E.  A. 
West  in  May,  1873.  "Brook's  Point"  near  Westville  was  one 
of  the  first  settlements  in  Vermilion  county  and  the  first  white 
boy,  James  O'Neal,  was  born  there  in  1822. 


EXTINCT  VILLAGES  OF  VERMILION  COUNTY, 

ILLINOIS,  IN  1940 

B}j  L.  A.  TUGGLE,  Co.  Supt.  of  Schools 

ARCHIE.  Once  upon  a  time  Archie,  located  one  mile  south 
of  Sidell,  was  an  interesting  little  village.  Today  only  nine  or 
ten  small  residences  remain,  and  the  old  school  house  is  used  as 
a  barn.     The  railroad  was  abandoned  about  1936. 

BLUE  GRASS  CITY.  A  post  office  was  established  at  Blue 
Grass  in  1843.  A  town  was  platted  in  1859.  A  large  general 
store  and  Masonic  hall  were  built.  A  flax  warehouse  was  oper- 
ated and  did  a  thriving  business  for  several  years.  "Killed  by 
railroads"  is  the  epitaph  that  might  be  written  over  Blue  Grass 
because  not  a  single  landmark  remains  today  except  the  Blue 
Grass  school.    It  was  northwest  of  Potomac  about  five  miles. 

BRONSON  two  miles  west  of  Oakwood  was  one  time 
"looked  upon"  as  a  promising  village.  A  lot  of  money  was  in- 
vested in  buildings.  Modern  roads  put  it  out  of  business  and 
business  is  silent  as  the  grave  at  that  place. 

BROOKVILLE  was  a  thriving  little  incorporated  village 

[13] 


just  west  of  Grape  Creek  during  the  heighth  of  the  mining  in- 
dustry in  that  coal  field.  All  that  remains  today  to  locate  the 
place  are  a  few  houses  and  the  dilapidated  Town  Hall. 

BUSEY  was  a  little  village  one  mile  north  of  the  McKendree 
church  about  6  miles  northeast  of  Georgetown.  It  was  the  center 
of  politics  for  several  years.  When  the  writer  (L.  A.  Tuggle) 
was  a  green  young  neophyte,  he  was  a  candidate  for  Township 
Collector  of  Georgetown  Township.  Busey  was  a  voting  precinct. 
He  canvassed  every  farmer  in  their  own  homes.  His  wife  had 
two  uncles  living  in  the  Busey  precinct — a  total  of  4  votes  amongst 
the  relatives.  Every  farmer  and  all  4  relatives  promised  to  vote 
for  him.  He  was  gullible  enough  to  believe  every  one  of  them 
in  their  fine  (?)  promises.  When  the  votes  were  counted,  he  (L.  A. 
Tuggle)  got  exactly  "TWO"  (2)  votes. 

Right  then,  he  made  a  solemn  oath  never  to  be  so  "GUL- 
LIBLE" again  in  politics.  He  waited  and  learned  "human 
nature"  for  20  years  before  regaining  confidence  in  promises. 
Busey  has  all  disappeared  and  all  the  promises  "Have  Gone  With 
The  Wind." 

CHARITY.  Charity  was  located  at  the  crossroads  %  mile 
west  of  the  present  (1940)  Craig  school.  The  fine  rolling  prairie 
and  the  establishment  of  a  Post  Oflfice  at  Charity  indicated  a 
future  city.  Only  beautiful  farm  houses  remain  of  a  once  promis- 
ing town. 

CONKEYTOWN  75  years  ago  was  quite  a  cluster  of  houses 
and  a  lively  business  was  done.  It  was  established  in  1851.  It 
had  a  postoffice.  Today  the  town  site  is  grown  up  in  weeds.  It 
was  about  one  mile  south  of  the  Cass  school  house,  or  two  miles 
south  of  Muncie. 

DENMARK.  This  ancient  town  was  settled  in  1826  by 
Seymour  Treat.  Denmark  was  located  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on 
the  road  that  now  goes  across  Lake  Vermilion  northwest  of  Dan- 
ville. By  1835,  Denmark  was  important  enough  to  have  an  in- 
dependent rifle  team.  Its  greatest  prosperity  was  from  1835  to 
1842.  Denmark  became  a  noted  place.  It  had  a  bad  name  and 
whisky  is  alleged  to  have  brought  about  its  ruin.  Brawls  and 
street  fights  were  alleged  to  be  an  everyday  occurrence.  Anyway, 
Denmark  received  a  wet  and  watery  grave  because  today  nearly 
all  the  village  lies  at  the  bottom  of  Lake  Vermilion. 

ELLIS.  Ellis  was  started  in  1902  and  was  named  in  honor 
of  Albert  Ellis  who  owned  the  land  on  which  the  village  was 
located.  The  Post  Office  was  established  in  June,  1908,  and  was 
discontinued  in  May,  1935.  Mr.  E.  R.  Philabaum  was  the  Post- 
master during  the  entire  operation  of  the  Ellis  Post  Office. 

One  of  the  first  real  rural  Township  High  Schools  established 
in  Illinois  was  started  at  EUis  in  1914.  The  first  year  of  this 
high  school  was  held  in  the  Ellis  rural  school  house.  One  teacher, 
Hattie  Diemer,  was  employed  with  10  pupils  in  attendance.  The 
second  year  (1915)  of  school  was  held  in  a  vacant  store  building 
which  was  torn  down  about  1938.  One  teacher  only,  Hattie 
Diemer  Monson,  was  employed. 

[14] 


In  1916,  H.  W.  Wierman  and  Esther  Johnson,  were  the 
teachers.  In  1917,  Principal  Wm.  Birdzell,  Jennie  Freeman  and 
Marguerite  Funk  were  the  teachers.  Principal  Wm.  Birdzell, 
Clara  Stiegemeyer  and  Ruth  Patton  were  employed  for  1918-1919, 
but  plans  for  a  new  school  building  failed  to  materialize  and  school 
was  discontinued.  Clark  Morris,  Guy  Judy  and  Ephriam  Driskell 
were  called  to  the  ''World  War"  from  the  Ellis  high  school  in 
1917. 

The  "FIRST"  and  "ONLY"  graduating  class  were  Lucile 
Duncan,  Jack  Morris,  Rose  Auth,  Gertrude  Weimken  and  Leone 
Goetchius  in  May,  1918. 

The  district  was  divided  in  December,  1918,  and  pupils  went 
to  other  high  schools.  The  Board  of  Education  refused  to  order 
an  election  for  Board  members  in  April,  1919,  and  by  February 
21st,  1920,  the  Ellis  Township  High  School  District  No.  224  passed 
into  oblivion.  Thus  began  and  ended  a  great  rural  city  and  a 
gallant  high  school. 

FRANKLIN  was  once  a  thriving  village  located  just  north 
of  North  Fork  river  near  Seaton  Hill  on  the  old  Dixie  highway. 
It  was  laid  out  in  1837  for  Jacob  Fisher  and  Hezekiah  Rogers. 
Only  a  filling  station  is  left  near  the  site. 

GERMANTOWN  was  organized  July  6,  1874.  The  residents 
at  that  time  were  principally  Germans  so  the  village  was  called 
"Germantown."  It  remained  a  thriving  and  expanding  village 
for  many  years,  and  became  a  part  of  the  City  of  Danville  Sep- 
tember 28,  1905. 

GILBERT  was  named  after  Alvan  Gilbert,  a  pioneer  resident 
of  Rossville  and  who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  for  many  years.  Gilbert  was  just  west  of  the  C.  & 
E.  I.  Railroad  halfway  between  Alvin  and  Bismarck.  When  the 
Illinois  Central  narrow  gauge  railroad  was  built  from  West 
Lebanon,  Indiana,  to  Leroy,  Illinois,  Gilbert  began  to  die,  and 
Alvin  started  on  its  journey  to  grow  into  a  fine  village. 

GLENBURN  was  platted  a  long  time  ago  in  1885  but  no 
important  village  seemed  to  be  very  promising.  It  was  named 
after  a  town  in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  one-half  mile  north  of  the 
Webster  school  northeast  of  Oakwood.  There  are  several  fine 
farm  houses  clustered  together  today  at  Glenburn. 

GREENVILLE  was  platted  in  1836.  It  was  in  Pilot  Town- 
ship southwest  of  Charity.  Do  you  know  where  it  was  located? 
I  don't. 

GRIFFITH  was  in  the  extreme  northwest  corner  of  Pilot 
Township.  There  were  5  streets — Main,  Vermilion,  Griffith, 
Miller  and  Strickland.  There  was  a  post  office  but  long  since  re- 
called. It  was  later  named  Gerald  when  the  C.  &  E.  I.  Railroad 
passed  through  it. 

HIGGINSVILLE.  In  January,  1837,  Amando  D.  Higgins 
laid  out  some  town  lots  on  both  sides  of  the  Middlefork  river  on 
section  36,  Twp.  21  N.  Range  13  W.  and  called  it  "Vermilion 
Rapids."  This  town  was  beautifully  platted  and  taken  to  New 
York  to  find  purchasers.    It  was  too  late.    The  panic  of  1837  had 

[15] 


struck  the  East.  The  village  had  a  store,  post  office,  blacksmith 
shop,  and  a  doctor  in  1851  and  was  called  Higginsville.  For  a 
long  time  Higginsville  was  a  center  of  considerable  population, 
but  today  only  the  school  house  by  that  name  is  left  and  the 
usual  farm  houses. 

HIMROD.  Several  years  ago  Himrod  was  a  thriving  mmmg 
village  of  300  people.  The  village  was  one  of  the  first  mining 
towns,  out  on  the  prairie,  in  the  county.  All  kinds  of  stores  were 
flourishing,  but  today  only  the  dilapidated  brick  village  hall  which 
was  built  in  1904  remains.  Also  the  cemetery  is  a  silent  monu- 
ment.    Himrod  was  two  miles  east  and  one-half  mile  south  of 

Westville.  .    i     ,    , 

HOPE.  Hope  was  not  a  regular  village  but  it  had  the  usual 
country  stores  and  the  village  blacksmith  shop.  The  post  office 
was  established  in  1873.  Hope  will  aways  be  renowned  as  the 
birthplace  of  Carl  Van  Doren  who  wrote  an  American  classic  of 
biography,  "Benjamin  Franklin,"  which  was  a  Pulitzer  prize  win- 
ner. Mark  Van  Doren,  a  brother  of  Carl's  was  also  born  at  Hope. 
Mark  Van  Doren  is  a  great  writer  and  his  poems  are  excellent. 
Carl  Van  Doren's  book,  "AN  ILLINOIS  BOYHOOD,"  is  a 
classic  story  of  rural  life  at  HOPE,  VERMILION  COUNTY, 
ILLINOIS.  All  that  remains  of  Hope  in  1940  is  a  church,  school 
house,  filling  station,  a  village  hall,  a  few  farm  houses,  and  a 
long  line  of  majestic  maple  trees  on  each  side  of  route  No.  49  in 

Pilot  Township. 

LICKSKILLET.  Dr.  A.  M.  Hawes  came  to  Georgetown  m 
1836  and  built  up  a  very  successful  practice  throughout  the 
southern  part  of  the  county.  In  an  early  day,  a  store  was  estab- 
lished 2  miles  northeast  of  Georgetown.  Dr.  Hawes,  m  making 
his  rounds,  saw  how  poor  the  land  was  around  this  store  and  told 
the  folks  in  Georgetown  that  the  soil  was  so  poor  that  not  enough 
food  could  be  raised  to  "lick  a  skillet."  Thereafter,  whenever 
Dr.  Hawes  was  called  to  that  territory,  he  would  leave  word  that 
he  was  going  out  to  "Lickskillet."  That  name  has  "stuck"  to 
this  day  (1940),  although  the  village  has  disappeared. 

MUNROE.  Munroe  was  laid  out  in  1836  by  Mayfield  and 
J.  C.  Haworth  on  section  36  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  county. 
They  made  a  sale  of  lots  and  sold  a  few.  Isaac  T.  Hunt  opened 
up  a  store  there  in  April,  1879,  and  did  a  fine  business  for  a  long 
time.  He  was  deputy  postmaster  and  the  post  office  was  called 
"LONG."  Today,  Bethel  school  and  a  church  across  the  road 
are  all  that  are  left  of  MUNROE. 

MYERSVILLE.  This  thriving  village  had  first  for  its  start 
the  Chrisman  mill.  People  came  as  far  as  70  miles  away  to  Myers- 
ville  to  trade  and  get  milling  done.  Myersville  lost  the  post  office 
to  Bismarck  in  1872.  The  last  earmarks  of  Myersville— that  of 
an  old  grist  mill— were  removed  in  1929.  It  was  located  2  miles 
west  of  Bismarck. 

NEW  TOWN.  This  village  was  platted  in  1838  and  was 
once  a  thriving  little  town,  one  time  having  a  post  office  and  a 
flourishing  Masonic  lodge  and  building.   Only  a  store,  blacksmith 

[16] 


shop,  filling  station,  school  and  church  remain  today.    It  is  about 
four  miles  north  of  Oakwood. 

O'CONNELLSVILLE  was  established  by  O'Connell 
Brothers  when  they  had  a  flourishing  coal  mine  in  the  valley 
near  Lafferty  Hill.  Lafferty  Hill  is  due  east  of  the  Big  Four 
Lyons  railroad  yards.   Only  a  few  homes  remain, 

PELLSVILLE.  This  village  was  platted  in  1872.  A  post 
office,  stores,  Odd  Fellows  lodge,  church  and  school  all  prospered. 
They  even  had  a  depot.  Spirited  rivalry  existed  between  Rankin 
and  Pellsville  for  over  ten  years,  but  at  last  Pellsville  succumbed 
to  Rankin  and  only  the  school  house,  one  residence  and  a  ceme- 
tery remain  today.  Pellsville  was  one  and  one-half  miles  west  of 
Rankin. 

PROSPECT  CITY  gave  early  promise  of  a  good  town.  It 
was  east  of  Hoopeston.  It  was  laid  out  for  Jane  Taft  in  1857  by 
A.  D.  Southworth,  surveyor.  When  Hoopeston  came  into  ex- 
istence Prospect  City  passed  on  to  an  unknown  grave. 

RIOLA.  Riola  was  first  called  Sandusky  Station.  Levi  L. 
Dunnihoo  built  a  store  at  Sandusky  Station  in  1888  and  a  post 
office  was  added  in  the  spring  of  1889.  The  post  office  was  called 
Riola  and  hence,  Sandusky  Station  became  known  as  Riola.  An 
ice  house  was  built  in  1888  which  furnished  ice  to  the  farmers  of 
the  surrounding  country.  In  1889  a  picture  gallery  was  set  up 
in  a  tent,  which  attracted  many  people  to  this  little  community. 

M.  L.  Hill  purchased  the  store  and  secured  the  post  office 
in  1891.  Mr.  Hill  also  had  a  grain  elevator  built.  For  many, 
many  years,  Riola  was  the  center  of  community  attractions,  but 
like  many  other  small  communities  faded  out  of  the  picture 
when  Mr.  M.  L.  Hill  moved  to  Danville.  Today,  Riola  is  only  a 
memory. 

SALEM.  Salem  was  laid  out  in  1840  one  mile  east  of  Hig- 
ginsville.  A  store  had  been  kept  there  as  early  as  1837.  It  is  all 
gone. 

SOUTH  DANVILLE  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1874. 
The  territory  being  immediately  across  the  river  south  of  Dan- 
ville it  was  named  "South  Danville."  The  oflicials  of  this  village 
carried  on  a  good  government  for  many,  many  years  till  it  was 
annexed  to  the  City  of  Danville  September  28,  1905.  As  one 
passes  through  South  Danville  today,  the  old  "Public  Square"  is 
easily  recognized. 

STEELTON.  When  a  new  coal  shaft  was  opened  up  out 
on  the  prairie  on  the  C.  &  E.  I.  R.  R.  about  five  miles  southwest 
of  Westville  a  depot  was  built  and  a  thriving  village  soon  dotted 
the  prairie.  A  two-room  school  was  built.  Stores  and  a  post  office 
were  established.  For  years  this  mining  village  prospered  but 
just  as  soon  as  the  coal  was  gone,  the  village  fell  into  decay. 
Today  only  one  house  remains,  but  no  depot;  no  stores;  no  post 
office  and  only  a  one-room  district  school  is  maintained  in  the 
two-room  building.    (1940) 

WATKINS  GLEN  west  of  Woodbury  Hill  on  both  sides  of 
Happy  Branch.    It  was  platted  by  W.  J.  Watkins.    Stores  and 

[17] 


mines  were  the  sources  of  a  livelihood.  The  new  "Hungry  Hol- 
low" pavement  runs  through  the  once  happy  village.  All  gone 
now. 

WEAVER  CITY  was  laid  out  and  platted  for  George  Weaver 
on  his  own  farm  in  1872.  It  laid  on  both  sides  of  the  "Nickel  Plate" 
railroad,  east  of  Cheney ville  near  the  Illinois-Indiana  state  line. 
Nothing  marks  its  grave  today. 

THE  HARRISON  PURCHASE 

By  L.  A.  TUGGLE 

Any  map  of  Vermilion  county  shows  a  small  triangular  piece 
of  land  on  the  south  side  very  near  the  Indiana  State  line,  which 
seems  as  though  it  had  been  driven,  like  a  wedge,  up  into  the 
county,  and  because  of  its  apparent  bluntness  could  not  be  forced 
in  with  the  amount  of  power  applied.  This  irregular  piece  of  land 
is  called  "Harrison's  Purchase."  The  lines  of  the  point  of  the 
wedge  are  found  to  meet  a  short  distance  east  of  Ridgefarm. 

The  Superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  of  the  Indiana  Territory, 
William  Henry  Harrison,  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Kickapoos, 
Delawares,  Pottowatomies,  Miamis  and  the  Eel  River  Indians 
at  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  September  30,  1809.  He  came  to  locate 
the  new  possession  and  met  the  selected  Indians  at  a  certain  rock 
in  a  grove  east  of  Ridgefarm.  The  Indians  did  not  know  how  to 
use  a  compass,  so  they  stipulated  that  the  line  bounding  the  east 
side  of  the  land  should  run  in  the  direction  of  the  sun  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  that  the  boundary  of  the  western  line  should 
run  in  the  direction  of  the  sun  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

It  was  agreed  between  General  Harrison  and  the  Indians 
that  all  of  the  land  which  fell  within  the  boundary  of  the  extent 
of  a  man  riding  horseback  for  two  and  one-half  days  would  be 
included  in  this  purchase.  The  grove  from  which  the  riders 
started  was  used  as  a  pilot  on  their  return  trip.  It  was  the  only 
grove  of  trees  in  that  part  of  the  country  and  it  safely  piloted 
them  back  and  for  that  reason  was  called  Pilot  Grove. 

The  west  line  of  "Harrison's  Purchase"  extends  south  and 
west,  passing  through  Marshall,  Illinois.  The  east  line  crosses 
the  Wabash  River  at  the  mouth  of  Raccoon  Creek,  below  New- 
port, Indiana,  and  continues  south  and  east  of  Terre  Haute, 
Indiana.  The  easterly  line  of  this  survey  has  always  been  called 
the  "ten  o'clock  line"  by  early  settlers  and  surveyors.  On  ac- 
count of  the  difference  in  the  later  United  States  survey  and  in 
the  "Harrison  Purchase  survey"  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile,  the 
boundary  lines  of  Edgar  and  Vermilion  counties  on  the  south, 
and  Edgar  and  Clark  counties  on  the  north,  have  always  been 
irregular.  The  small  part  (about  two  sections)  of  "Harrison's 
Purchase"  in  Vermilion  county  was  the  only  part  of  this  territory 
which  was  surveyed  up  to  1821. 


[18] 


A  HUNDRED  TWELVE  YEAR  OLD  LOG  HOUSE 

IN  1940 

Michael  Weaver  came  from  Brown  county,  Ohio  in  1828  and 
built  a  log  house  near  Indianola  close  by  the  Weaver  cemetery. 
He  died  in  1875  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  years.  He  had  nine 
children  seven  of  whom  were  daughters.  Three  became  Baums 
by  marriage,  two  Fishers,  one  the  wife  of  James  Gains,  and  one 
the  wife  of  John  Cole. 

Al.  J.  McMillan  who  was  born  in  1855  at  Indianola  and  who 
was  school  township  treasurer  for  over  40  years  and  was  Carroll 
Township  Supervisor  for  40  years  "off  and  on,"  came  into  posses- 
sion of  the  old  Weaver  log  cabin  several  years  ago.  He  concluded 
to  preserve  it  as  a  historical  relic  of  Vermilion  county.  Have  you 
ever  noticed  a  nicely  painted  lonely  barn  all  by  itself  on  the  north 
side  of  the  road  (on  Indianola- Vermilion  Grove  road)  about  two 
and  one-half  miles  northeast  of  Indianola?  This  is  not  a  barn. 
Mr.  McMillan  put  a  shed  and  roof  all  around  this  112  year  old 
log  house  in  order  to  protect  the  logs  from  the  elements  and 
weather.  The  logs  are  24  feet  long  and  were  hewed  smooth  by 
Adz.  Certainly  this  is  mighty  grand  of  Mr.  McMillan  to  preserve 
this  pioneer  relic. 

ONLY  ONE  WOODEN  COVERED  BRIDGE  LEFT 
IN  VERMILION  COUNTY  IN  1940 

One  half  mile  east  of  Conkeytown  is  the  only  wooden  covered 
bridge  left  in  Vermilion  county.  It  is  across  the  Salt  Fork  river. 
It  was  built  before  the  Civil  War  and  crosses  the  river  immediately 
north  of  one  of  the  first  mills  built  in  the  county  in  1826.  Aaron 
Dalbey  built  a  new  mill  here  in  1837.  CM.  Berkley  bought  this 
mill  in  1873  and  ran  it  for  many  years.  Only  the  runway  is  in 
evidence  in  1940.  Some  Sunday  afternoon  pupils  should  take  their 
parents  directly  south  of  Munice  two  miles  and  see  this  old  land- 
mark and  beautiful  scenery  surrounding  it. 


ANOTHER  HISTORICAL  NOTE 

The  following  citizens  have  served  as  Postmasters  of  the 
City  of  Danville  since  it  was  organized: 

POSTMASTER  DATE  APPOINTED 

Amos  Williams  May  3,  1827  (Estab.) 

James  C.  Cravens  May  22,  1840 

Amos  Williams  June  25,  1841 

Isaac  R.  Moores  July  31,  1845 

Othniel  Gilbert  June  8,  1849 

Samuel  Frazier  June  10,  1850 

Alexander  P.  Chesley  December  12,  1850 

Charles  G.  Draper  July  14,  1853 

[19] 


Josiah  Alexander  December  7,  1853 

John  M.  Lesley  March  28,  1856 

Henry  G.  Boyce  June  23,  1856 

Enoch  Kingsbury  March  16,  1861 

William  Morgan  September  28,  1866 

Thomas  McKibben  April  6,  1869 

Samuel  H.  Fairchild  January  17,  1871 

Charles  W.  Gregory  January  22,  1875 

William  R.  Jewell  February  5,  1883 

John  P.  Norvell  July  20,  1885 

William  R.  Jewell  April  16,  1889 

John  Beard  October  27,  1894 

William  R.  Jewell  March  10,  1897 

Clint  C.  Tilton  October  30,  1913 

George  R.  Tilton  January  18,  1915 
Lawrence  M.  Birch  (Acting)     October  1,  1923 

Lawrence  M.  Birch  January  7,  1924 
William  C.  Lewman  (Acting)    June  15,  1927 

William  C.  Lewman  December  15,  1927 
Charles  W.  Collings  (Acting)    December  7,  1934 

James  H.  Elliott  July  26,  1935 

OLD  CEMETERIES  IN  VERMILION  COUNTY 

By  L.  A.  TUGGLE 

"GOD'S  ACRE"  was  the  first  cemetery  in  Vermilion  county. 
It  was  known,  aside  from  its  title  of  *'God's  Acre,"  as  the  Butler 
Burying  Ground.  Its  title  was  vested  by  the  donor,  James  D. 
Butler,  in  the  "bones  of  those  who  may  find  rest  here,"  and 
especially  he  wanted  to  make  sure  that  his  bones,  and  those  of 
his  good  wife,  and  those  of  his  good  friend,  Major  John  Vance 
and  his  helpmate,  and  others  whom  he  loved,  might  forever  rest 
undisturbed.  . 

"God's  Acre"  was  set  aside  for  a  burymg  ground  m  1822 
and  is  located  south  of  the  Wabash  railroad  about  a  half  mile 
west  of  Catlin.  Today  the  title  to  this  acre  is  vested  in  the  Ver- 
milion county  board  of  supervisors  by  virtue  of  a  deed  made  and 
recorded  some  70  years  ago  by  Josiah  and  Elizabeth  Sandusky. 

James  D.  Butler  and  wife,  John  W.  Vance  and  wife,  Noah 
Guymon  and  "Grandma"  Guymon  are  buried  in  the  northeast 
quarter  of  "God's  Acre."  Marcus  Snow  and  Annis  Douglas  are 
sleeping  side  by  side  in  the  west  half  of  God's  Acre." 

Every  person  in  Vermilion  county  should  make  a  visit  to 
this  sacred  spot  where  these  hardy  men  and  women  who  lived 
and  died  as  we  live  and  die.  who  labored  and  loved,  who  sacrificed 
and  suffered,  whose  hearts  beat  to  the  same  rhythm  of  hope  and 
ambition  that  human  hearts  beat  to  in  this  modern  age  yet  who 
lie  unfrequently  visited  in  "God's  Acre."  ,         ^ 

The  board  of  supervisors  three  years  ago  repaired  God  s 
Acre"  and  rededicated  it  to  the  sacred  memory  of  these  noble 
patriots. 

[20] 


MT.  PISGAH  three  miles  west  of  Georgetown  was  one  of 
the  early  cemeteries  plotted.  It  lies  on  a  gentle  sloping  hill  back 
of  which  is  a  creek  which  makes  good  drainage.  Jotham  Lyons 
first  wife  was  buried  here  on  Christmas  Day,  1827.  He  was  buried 
August  2,  1843.  Absalom  Starr  was  buried  in  this  cemetery  on 
October  14,  1829.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  were  buried  at 
Mt.  Pisgah.  The  writer  went  to  church  and  Sunday  school  sev- 
eral years  at  Mt.  Pisgah  church  and  many  Sunday  afternoons 
were  spent  in  contemplating  the  past  activities  of  the  Longs, 
Jones,  Hewitts,  Gepharts,  Swanks  and  other  pioneers  who  lie 
buried  in  this  beautiful  cemetery. 

The  beautiful  and  well  kept  CEMETERY  AT  VERMILION 
GROVE  speaks  the  story  of  unselfish  devotion  of  home  ties  of 
the  early  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  county.  The  first  person 
buried  in  the  Vermilion  Grove  cemetery  was  Hannah  Mills  who 
died  in  the  summer  of  1823.  The  Haworths,  the  Mills,  the  Hesters, 
and  Holadays,  the  Mendenhalls,  the  Rees,  the  Elliotts,  the  Cana- 
days,  the  Judds,  the  Smiths  and  many  others  are  buried  in  the 
Vermilion  Grove  cemetery. 

The  AMOS  WILLIAMS  BURYING  GROUND  of  Danville 
has  long  since  answered  the  call  of  modern  progress  and  where 
once  lay  the  bones  of  many  pioneers  on  Washington  Avenue 
between  east  Madison  and  Seminary  streets,  are  modern  cottages 
and  industrial  plants.  Dan  Beckwith  was  buried  in  the  Williams 
cemetery  in  December,  1835,  but  his  body  was  later  removed  to 
Springhill  cemetery. 

THE  LAMB  CEMETERY  is  located  on  a  beautiful  knoll 
five  miles  northeast  of  Danville  near  the  Lamb  schoolhouse.  The 
oldest  marked  grave  is  that  of  James  Duncan  who  died  October  1, 
1819.  The  next  is  that  of  Mary  Lamb,  daughter  of  John  and 
Phebe  Lamb,  who  died  September  26,  1826. 

There  are  about  75  graves  in  the  Lamb  cemetery  and  are 
arranged  in  family  groups.  This  family  burying  ground  contains 
the  families  of  the  Lambs,  Brewers,  Campbells,  Makemsons, 
Elders,  Martins,  Delays,  Woods,  and  many  others.  The  Makem- 
son  family  first  used  this  cemetery  in  1881,  the  Campbell  family 
in  1835,  the  Brewer  family  in  1851,  the  Martin  family  in  1860, 
etc.  The  Lamb  cemetery  continued  being  used  as  a  neighborhood 
burying  place  until  in  the  eighties.  The  last  person  buried  there 
was  an  infant  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Henson  in  1914. 

THE  OLD  KICKAPOO  BURYING  GROUND  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River  four  miles 
west  of  Danville  bears  the  appearance  of  having  been  used  by 
the  Indians  for  many  years  prior  to  the  time  of  the  cession  of  the 
territory  along  the  Vermilion  by  the  Pottawatomies  and  Kicka- 
poos.  It  is  a  level  plateau  of  several  acres,  at  an  elevation  that 
commands  a  fine  view  of  both  streams,  and  overlooking  the  bluffs 
beyond.  The  plateau  is  terminated  at  the  westward  by  a  preci- 
pitous cliff,  the  foot  of  which,  nearly  a  hundred  feet  below,  is 
washed  by  the  Middle  Fork.     The  stream  has  gradually  en- 

[21] 


crouched  upon  the  bluff  at  the  water-hne  causing  the  earth  to 
slide  down  from  above. 

Two  young  men,  John  Ecard  and  Hiram  Chester,  living  upon 
a  farm  nearby,  were  passing  along  the  water's  edge  in  April,  1855, 
and  found  a  skull  and  some  other  parts  of  a  human  skeleton  that 
had  fallen  out  of  a  grave  above  and  rolled  down  the  hill.  The 
skull  was  well  preserved  and  had  clinging  to  it  the  remains  of  a 
rotted  band  filled  with  plain  brooches.  The  young  men  being 
curious  proceeded  to  the  top  of  the  hill  to  the  grave  out  of  which 
the  remains  had  fallen  and  found  a  part  of  the  grave  still  intact. 
Ecard  took  a  stick  and  digging  around  in  that  portion  of  the 
grave  that  yet  remained  unearthed,  two  medals  were  found  which 
are  believed  to  be  none  other  than  the  silver  medals  attached  to 
the  "two  large  white  wampum  belts  of  peace,  with  a  silver  medal 
suspended  to  each  bearing  the  arms  of  the  United  States"  and 
which  were  given  to  the  Wabash  Indian  tribes  at  their  signing 
of  the  peace  treaty  with  General  Putnam  September  27,  1792. 
Ecard  sold  these  historic  medals  to  Samuel  Chester  and  the  latter 
disposed  of  them  to  Josephus  Collett  of  Terre  Haute,  Indiana. 

THE  GUNDY  CEMETERY  is  one  of  the  prettiest  places 
in  Vermilion  county  and  was  the  burying  ground  for  the  pioneers 
of  Myersville.  It  is  located  north  of  the  bridge  on  the  Bismarck- 
" Moore's  Corner"  road.  Joseph  Gundy  settled  that  part  of  the 
county  about  1827.  As  years  rolled  along,  new  parts  were  added 
to  this  cemetery  and  today  the  utmost  care  is  taken  with  this 
"city  of  the  dead." 

A  Revolutionary  War  soldier,  Jacob  Gundy,  is  buried  here. 
He  died  in  September,  1845.  Ruth  Davison  was  buried  in  Gundy 
cemetery  in  1835,  Andrew  Davison  is  1842  and  Elizabeth  Davison 
in  1845.  Many  Davisons,  Gundys,  Keers,  Carters,  Woods  and 
Wiles  of  early  days  are  buried  here. 

THE  DALBEY  CEMETERY  is  east  of  the  main  highway 
between  Muncie  and  Salt  Fork  River  about  two  miles  south  of 
Muncie.  This  cemetery  was  laid  out  in  1838.  It  was  on  the 
property  of  Aaron  Dalbey  and  James  Cass.  Because  it  was  such 
a  dreary  spot  when  it  was  donated  for  common  burial  ground, 
Richard  Cass,  Jr.  exclaimed,  "I  would  not  be  buried  in  such  a 
place,"  but  he  was  the  first  to  be  buried  there.  The  second  grave 
was  for  Elizabeth  Cass,  mother  of  Richard,  Jr.  Richard  Cass, 
Sr.  was  buried  in  1843  and  Aaron  Dalbey  in  1855.  The  Casses 
Radcliffs,  Dalbeys,  Meades,  Boyles,  McFarlands,  Drapers,  and 
many  other  families  were  buried  in  the  Dalbey  cemetery  in  the 
forties,  fifties  and  sixties.  This  place  was  used  extensively  up  to 
the  sixties  but  today  it  is  a  tract  of  weeds  and  grass.  Grave  stones 
and  markers  are  no  longer  reliable. 

THE  SHARON  CEMETERY  is  a  small  pioneer  burying 
ground  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  northeast  of  the  Sharon  school 
near  Olivet.  The  writer  (January,  1931)  saw  markers  of  Smiths 
buried  there  in  1815  and  1819.  His  eyes  could  scarcely  believe 
the  dates,  but  there  they  were.  A  great  many  of  the  Smith  family 
were  buried  here  between  1840  and  1849,  and  different  Smiths 

[22] 


have  been  buried  in  the  Sharon  cemetery  each  decade  down  to 
the  present  time. 

THE  LEBANON  CEMETERY  two  miles  southwest  of 
Indianola  was  started  in  1829.  David  Beard,  age  70,  was  buried 
there  in  February,  1837  and  David  Beard,  age  40,  was  buried 
in  September,  1838.    John  N.  McDonald  was  buried  in  August, 

1837,  William  B.  Dickson  in  September,  1839,  the  Dormans  in 

1838,  the  Willisons  in  1849.  This  cemetery  was  the  last  resting 
places  for  a  great  many  early  pioneer  families:  Barnetts,  Beards, 
Williams,  Gaines,  Pattisons,  Swanks,  Hiestands  and  Reeds. 

THE  WEAVER  CEMETERY  near  the  Snyder  school  near 
Indianola  was  laid  out  in  1836.  This  pioneer  cemetery  has  a 
great  many  graves  in  family  groups  such  as  the  Weavers,  Gaines, 
Baums,  Alexanders,  Bairds,  Coles,  Donovans  and  Gilkeys.  The 
last  person  buried  in  the  Weaver  cemetery  was  25  years  ago. 
Some  of  the  writer's  relatives  are  buried  in  this  cemetery.  For 
several  years  this  cemetery  was  neglected  and  allowed  to  grow 
up  in  wood.  In  1924,  one  of  the  trustees,  Al  J.  McMillan  of 
Indianola,  took  up  a  subscription  of  a  thousand  dollars  and  put 
every  marker  and  monument  in  concrete  and  otherwise  beauti- 
fied the  grounds.  Trees  were  planted  and  the  grass  has  been 
kept  cut  each  year  since  1924  so  that  today  the  old  Weaver  bury- 
ing ground  is  good  to  look  at.  There  is  only  one  granite  marker 
in  this  cemetery.  All  of  the  other  markers  and  monuments  are 
marble. 

There  are  a  lot  of  private  cemeteries  in  the  County.  The 
early  pioneers  had  not  laid  out  burying  grounds  close  enough  to 
their  homes  on  account  of  lack  of  transportation,  so  they  were 
compelled  to  bury  their  loved  ones,  when  they  died,  on  the  family 
lot.  A  splendid  example  of  this  is  Sandusky  family  cemetery  on 
the  William  (his  father  was  Josiah)  Sandusky  farm,  northeast  of 
Indianola. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  CHENEYVH^LE 

By  Mary  Elizabeth  Young.  Dist.  2 
Teacher,  Rosaline  Guingrich 

Vermilion  County  History  would  be  incomplete  without  the 
story  of  Cheneyville. 

Years  and  years  ago  when  Cheneyville  was  an  unsettled 
prairie,  the  "Burr  Oak  Grove,"  where  William  Regan  now  lives, 
was  an  old  Indian  trail  mark.  Indians  used  to  camp  under  these 
very  trees.  Travelers  on  the  Williamsport  and  Chicago  road 
could  see  these  trees  as  they  came  over  the  prairie  and  knew  they 
were  going  in  the  right  direction. 

From  Mr.  M.  A.  Harbart,  freight  agent  for  the  Nickel  Plate 
Railroad  at  Hoopeston,  Illinois,  I  learned  that  the  LaFayette, 
Bloomington  and  Western  Railroad,  later  called  the  Lake  Erie 
and  Western  and  which  is  now  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad,  was 
built  between  1872-73. 

[23] 


Wood-burning  engines  were  in  vogue.  The  locomotives  had 
funnel-shaped  stacks  which  made  a  great  roar  and  the  insides 
were  painted  red.  The  hand  rail  was  of  brass.  The  steam  pipes 
were  copper.  The  bands  around  the  cylinder  head  and  the  boilers 
were  of  brass.    The  fireman  was  required  to  keep  these  shiny. 

The  farmers  were  so  anxious  to  have  the  railroad  put  through 
that  they  donated  their  labor. 

Mr.  James  F.  Swarner  told  me  he  helped  haul  ties.  Mr. 
Tade  Layden  said  he  donated  two  days'  labor  and  graded  off 
the  land  where  the  depot  now  stands.  Of  course  all  the  farmers 
helped  but  I  do  not  know  their  names. 

Some  children  born  along  this  right-of-way  and  still  living 
in  Cheney ville  are  Charles  Reed,  A.  A.  Carl  and  Jennie  Odle 
(Mrs.  William  Regan).  The  latter  two  are  grandparents.  There 
are  three  generations  of  Carl's  and  Regan's  living  in  the  village 
at  the  present  time. 

After  reading  the  following  item,  (in  an  old  Hoopeston  Chron- 
icle) I  found  that  the  boys  of  long  ago  differ  very  little  from  the 
boys  of  today.  "March  25,  1884.  One  day  last  week  as  the  after- 
noon freight  train  was  running  through  the  place,  three  boys 
from  Hoopeston  were  seen  to  jump  from  the  train  and  two  of 
them  got  tumbled,  but  fortunately  without  injury.  They  were 
taking  their  daily  ride  to  the  Hoopeston  hill  and  the  train  gamed 
too  much  speed  for  them  to  get  off.    This  should  be  stopped." 

Mr.  Harlin  M.  Steely,  now  an  attorney  of  Danville,  Illinois, 
taught  the  Ziegler  School  in  1876-77  which  stood  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  farm  now  owned  by  Mr.  Steely  and  where  I 
have  always  lived.  He  said  that  at  that  time  there  was  a  string 
of  grain  cribs  along  the  railroad  where  Cheneyville  is  now.  I 
supposed  these  cribs  belonged  to  William  Moore  and  he  bought 
and  stored  grain,  for  I  read  in  an  old  newspaper  a  notice  to  the 
farmers  that  a  car  of  seed  flax  was  on  the  track.  The  flax  was 
sowed  on  virgin  soil.  It  was  customary  to  do  this  in  order  to 
prepare  a  good  seed-bed  for  the  next  crop. 

Benjamin  Ziegler,  though  not  a  resident  of  Cheneyville,  was 
a  pioneer  of  the  community.  His  home  was  one  half  mile  south 
of  the  village.  He  had  purchased  his  land  from  the  government 
at  $1.25  an  acre.  The  deed  recorded  on  buckskin  is  still  in  posses- 
sion of  his  heirs. 

Not  long  after  the  railroad  was  built,  Jake  McFerren  and 
William  Moore  built  an  elevator.  When  it  was  completed  a  big 
dance  was  given.  Some  of  the  men  got  drunk  and  it  ended  in  a 
fight.  Shelba  Starr  was  hired  by  Moore  and  McFerren  to  operate 
this  elevator.  The  elevator  was  run  by  horse  power,  for  I  read 
the  following  in  an  old  Hoopeston  Chronicle:  "William  Moore 
is  building  a  fence  around  his  property  which  is  to  be  used  as  a 
pasture  for  his  elevator  horse."  This  elevator  was  later  purchased 
by  the  farmers  of  this  community  and  operated  by  Miles  Odle 
assisted  by  his  daughter,  Hattie  (now  Mrs.  Reason  Alkire). 

The  village  of  Cheneyville  was  laid  out  by  Jake  McFerren 
in  1878.    Mr.  Tade  Layden  said  that  the  land  was  donated  by 

[24] 


the  following:  Abe  Swisher,  2}4,  acres;  J.  L.  Starr,  5  acres;  and 
John  Dunkalbarger,  10  acres.  It  was  named  after  J.  H.  Cheney, 
vice-president  of  the  Lake  Erie  and  Western  Railroad.  At  first 
the  village  was  named  Cheneyville,  but  the  post  office  was  called 
Cheneysville.  Later  this  was  changed  to  Cheneyville.  There  is 
only  one  other  Cheneyville  in  the  United  States.  It  is  in  Louisiana. 

The  first  station  agent  was  Jessie  E.  Marvin.  His  wife, 
Ollie  Marvin,  told  me  she  remembered  well  when  they  came  to 
Cheneyville.  Their  oldest  child,  Ida  (now  Mrs.  Chad  Smith), 
was  one  year  old.  They  lived  in  the  first  house  built  in  Cheney- 
ville. It  was  built  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Youngblood.  It 
had  three  rooms.  It  was  later  bought  and  enlarged  by  Miles 
Odle  before  he  with  his  family  moved  into  Cheneyville  from  the 
farm.  This  house  is  still  known  as  the  Odle  House.  Marvins 
built  a  cottage  where  John  Gregory's  house  now  stands.  Mrs. 
Marvin  also  showed  me  the  original  platt  of  Cheneyville  and  I 
noticed  the  town  had  changed  very  little.  From  an  old  news- 
paper I  quote  the  following:  "March  27,  1883.  Our  general 
operator,  J.  E.  Marvin,  felt  very  well  remunerated  for  his  services 
when  he  found  he  was  over  paid  $20.  But  like  the  honest  boy  he 
is,  he  made  it  all  right  on  the  return  of  the  pay  car." 

Mr.  Ben  Guest  kept  a  boarding  house  which  is  now  the 
parsonage.   He  also  sold  tile  to  the  farmers  for  draining  purposes. 

When  I  interviewed  Mr.  Ben  Guest  he  laughingly  told  me 
about  Zachariah  Fetters,  the  first  blacksmith.  His  shop  stood 
where  A.  A.  Carl's  garage  now  stands.  He  also  had  a  hotel. 
A.  A.  Carl's  house  is  part  of  this  hotel.  To  get  to  bedrooms  a 
ladder  was  used  instead  of  a  stairway.  The  young  men  who 
boarded  there  had  good  times,  but  when  the  pillow  fights  became 
too  noisy,  Zachariah  Fetters  called  the  noisy  ones  to  come  down 
the  ladder  until  the  others  had  gone  to  sleep.  There  was  no  argu- 
ment for  they  all  feared  Zachariah's  brawny  muscles.  But  they 
liked  him  I  know,  for  while  looking  through  an  old  scrap  book 
made  by  Elta  Swarner,  now  Mrs.  John  Parson,  I  found  this 
little  verse: 

There's  Zachariah  Fetters, 
A  man  of  great  renown 
Who  runs  a  little  blacksmith  shop 
In  the  northern  part  of  town. 
He  also  keeps  a  boarding  house 
And  his  meals  are  all  in  style, 
And  while  he  has  his  troubles 
He  greets  you  with  a  smile. 

The  young  men  had  other  good  times,  too,  as  I  found  in  an 
old  Hoopeston  Chronicle;  "April  19,  1883.  The  Cheneyville  Band 
consisting  of  a  fife  and  drum  are  preparing  for  the  4th  of  July." 

Mrs.  Reason  Alkire  (Hattie  Odle)  said  she  would  never  forget 
when  her  father  (Miles  Odle)  came  home  one  day  from  the  ele- 
vator and  said  there  was  going  to  be  a  post  office  in  Cheneyville. 
He  could  now  get  daily  market  reports  and  a  daily  newspaper. 

[25] 


He  told  the  children  they  could  go  for  the  mail  each  day.    They 
lived  a  mile  and  one  half  from  Cheneyville. 

The  first  postmaster  was  John  Beaver.  The  next  was  J.  W. 
Underwood.  He  lived  in  the  property  now  owned  by  Charles 
Reed.  The  next  was  John  Leach.  Mrs.  Leach  said  they  moved 
to  Cheneyville  from  Talbot,  Indiana  in  April,  1888.  Mr.  Leach 
had  a  drug,  paint  and  hardware  store  in  Cheneyville.  Mr.  Leach 
was  postmaster  from  1892  until  his  death  in  May,  1923,  when 
his  wife,  Tillie  Leach,  who  had  served  as  assistant  to  her  husband, 
became  postmistress.  She  has  served  eleven  years.  Mrs.  Leach  is 
78  years  old  and  is  one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  oldest,  postmistress 
in  the  United  States.  The  Cheneyville  post  office  is  fourth  class 
and  Mrs.  Leach  is  under  civil  service,  so  she  will  serve  indefinitely. 

Besides  operating  the  elevator,  Shelba  Starr  and  his  brother, 
Leece,  owned  and  kept  the  first  general  store.  Mr.  Flowers  bought 
them  out.  Miles  Odle  later  bought  the  general  store  from  Mr. 
Flowers  and  his  daughter,  Hattie,  clerked  for  him. 

As  I  read  the  old  newspapers  furnished  by  the  Hoopeston 
Library,  I  found  that  the  old  town  pump  was  mentioned  quite 
often.  It  seemed  that  water  was  scarce  in  Cheneyville.  "February 
19,  1883.  Our  town  pump  is  laid  out  for  repairs  and  our  citizens 
are  compelled  to  use  rain  water."  Another  time,  "The  old  town 
pump  is  out  of  whack  again,"  and  still  again,  "The  old  town 
pump  is  taking  a  rest  and  a  new  one  has  taken  its  place." 

Perhaps  this  scarcity  of  water  was  why  a  man  by  the  name 
of  John  Bridges  thought  a  saloon  would  be  profitable  in  Cheney- 
ville. His  saloon  was  located  where  John  Prickett's  garage  now 
stands.  He  later  sold  it  to  two  brothers,  Joe  and  Douglas  Cooper. 
As  they  had  no  license  the  good  people  reported  them  and  they 
landed  in  the  Danville  jail. 

Some  other  items  of  interest  are: 

"March  6,  1884.  Cheneyville  voted  at  home  and  don't  you 
forget  it."  Mr.  William  Cooper  said  the  first  election  was  held 
in  the  elevator  grain  office. 

"May  29,  1884.  An  umbrella  repairer,  a  scissors  grinder  and 
a  jewelry  peddler  were  among  our  visitors  this  week." 

I  laughed  when  I  read  this  item,  but  after  talking  to  some 
of  the  old  settlers  I  felt  ashamed  of  myself.  These  peddlers  were 
very  welcome.  They  brought  the  news  and  gossip  from  other 
localities,  which  they  related  while  they  were  selling  their  ware. 

A  tile  factory  was  operated  by  Mr.  Flowers.  It  stood  where 
John  Prickett's  house  now  stands.  It  didn't  last  very  long  ac- 
cording to  an  old  newspaper  item.  "February  27,  1884.  The 
tile  factory  is  defunct.  Parties  from  Bismarck  have  bought  the 
mill  and  will  take  it  to  that  place." 

The  first  child  born  in  Cheneyville  belonged  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Flowers. 

In  1885  a  schoolhouse  was  built  on  the  same  lot  where  our 
schoolhouse  now  stands.  William  Moore  dug  a  well  and  donated 
the  land  for  school  purposes.  The  objectors  were  Ziegler  and 
Dixon.     Of  course  the  Ziegler  School  was  more  convenient  for 

[26] 


them.  Jessie  E.  Marvin  and  James  Smiley  were  two  of  the  first 
directors.  Carrie  Owen  of  Hoopeston  was  the  first  teacher.  This 
schoolhouse  burned  in  1900.  Our  present  schoolhouse  was  built 
in  1901. 

Church  was  held  in  the  schoolhouse  but  the  people  of  Cheney- 
ville  felt  they  needed  a  church  in  their  little  village.  Carrie 
Starr,  wife  of  Shelba  Starr,  and  Mollie  Butt,  wife  of  John  Butt, 
circulated  a  subscription  paper  to  raise  money  to  build  a  church. 
The  Christian  Church  was  built  in  1891.  Mrs.  William  Gamble 
said  that  the  land  was  purchased  from  Mrs.  Emma  Harris 
(now  Mrs.  Tomamichael  of  Chicago)  for  $50.  The  first  deacons 
were  James  F.  Swarner,  Holmes  Duffin  and  George  Hoof.  There 
were  100  members  and  most  all  of  them  married.  The  first  minister 
was  James  N.  Lester.  He  helped  organize  the  church.  He  was 
well  acquainted  as  he  had  held  church  services  many  times  at 
the  Ziegler  School  House.  Mrs.  Tillie  Leach  and  Ina  Duley  Ogden 
at  one  time  were  getting  up  a  Children's  Day  Program  and  they 
lacked  songs.  Mrs.  Ina  Duley  Ogden  said  they  must  have  some. 
So  she  wrote  some.  Later  she  wrote,  "Brighten  The  Corner 
Where  You  Are,"  which  has  been  sung  in  Sunday  Schools  all 
over  the  United  States. 

The  Odd  Fellow  Lodge  of  Cheneyville  was  organized  in  1891. 
William  Cooper,  W.  E.  Alkire  and  David  Stevens  are  the  only 
living  charter  members.     They  are  not  living  in  Cheneyville. 

The  first  and  only  doctor  in  Cheneyville  was  O.  P.  Klotz. 
He  also  had  the  first  automobile  in  Cheneyville.  It  was  a  two- 
cylinder  chain  drive.    Dr.  Klotz  is  not  living  in  Cheneyville. 

I  wish  I  could  tell  all  the  interesting  things  that  have  been 
told  to  me  and  all  the  news  items  from  the  old  Hoopeston  Chron- 
icle I  read.  There  surely  was  not  a  more  interesting  community 
in  Vermilion  county. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  HOOPESTON 

B7J  Mary  Martin,  Dist.  2 
Teacher,  Rosaline  Guingrich 

Hoopeston  had  its  beginning  with  the  building  of  the  two 
railroads  which  intersect  at  that  point.  The  LaFayette,  Bloom- 
ington  and  Western  (now  the  Nickel  Plate)  reached  the  point 
first  in  1871  and  in  May,  1872,  the  Chicago,  Danville  and  Vin- 
cennes  (now  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois)  was  built  to  what 
is  now  Hoopeston. 

Adjacent  to  the  railroads  were  forty  acres  of  land  known  as 
"The  Lost  Forty,"  because  of  the  difficulty  in  finding  the  previous 
owner.  It  was  then  owned  by  Joseph  M.  Satterwhaite,  who  with 
Thomas  Hoopes,  in  1871  laid  out  a  part  of  this  tract  and  on  land 
owned  by  the  latter;  the  original  town  of  Hoopeston,  This  con- 
sisted of  only  lots  facing  West  Main  Street  and  a  section  facing 
what  is  now  Penn  Street. 

[27] 


At  this  time  land  was  selling  for  six  dollars  or  less  an  acre. 
Mr.  Alba  Honeywell,  an  agent  for  the  Hoopes  land,  had  at- 
tempted to  buy  forty  acres  at  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre,  but 
a  misunderstanding  arose  which  prevented  this.  Mr.  Honeywell 
then  secured  an  interest  in  the  Thompson  land,  adjoining  the 
above  mentioned  tracts,  and  proceeded  to  survey  and  plat  north 
Hoopeston.  Adjoining  the  tract  on  the  east  at  about  this  time, 
William  Moore  and  Noah  Brown  laid  out  Moore  and  Brown's 
addition  to  the  city  of  Hoopeston. 

Snell,  Taylor  and  Mix  of  Chicago  Railway  Construction 
Company  bought  1000  acres  of  land  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Chicago  Railway  and  in  November,  1871,  laid  out  the  lots  and 
called  their  town,  Leeds.  Strife  broke  out  between  the  two  rival 
sections  of  the  city,  in  an  effort  to  name  the  entire  city.  Leeds 
scored  the  first  victory  in  this  battle  when  they  obtained  the 
Post  Office  and  named  it  Leeds. 

The  first  post  office  was  established  in  1871,  and  Mr.  Spin- 
ning was  appointed  postmaster.    He  held  that  office  until  1878. 

The  first  store  building  was  built  and  occupied  on  lot  sixty- 
nine,  Main  Street,  by  David  Bedell,  who  stocked  it  with  mer- 
chandise in  1871.  This  soon  was  followed  by  the  first  hardware 
store  of  Moore  and  Brillhart. 

In  October,  1871,  religious  services  were  first  held  in  Hoopes- 
ton in  the  store  of  Mr.  McCracken.  The  Methodist  Society  was 
organized  in  1872  by  Reverend  Hyde  of  Rossville  and  presiding 
Elder,  Reverend  Preston  Wood.  The  United  Presbyterian  and 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  were  established  in  May,  1872. 
The  Baptist  Church  was  established  in  1873.  The  First  Church 
Of  Christ  was  established  in  1873  by  Elder  Rawley  Martin  and 
12  members. 

In  1874,  Hoopeston  had  a  population  of  one  thousand  in- 
habitants. 

Some  of  the  early  pioneers  were:  Alba  Honeywell;  William 
Moore;  Dale  Wallace;  Peter  Levin  and  James  A.  Cunningham. 

The  first  newspaper  was  issued  November  11th,  1872,  by 
Dale  Wallace  and  Gideon  W.  Seavey.  The  paper  was  called 
"The  North  Vermilion  Chronicle."  It  was  published  under  this 
name  for  a  year  and  then  changed  to  "Hoopeston  Chronicle." 

Hoopeston  was  incorporated  as  a  village  in  1874  and  as  a 
city  in  1877. 

In  the  summer  of  1880,  Stephen  McCall,  an  experienced 
canner  from  the  State  of  New  York,  came  west  to  find  a  place 
where  sweet  corn  would  grow  sufficiently.  A  factory  known  as 
"Illinois  Canning  Co."  was  estabhshed. 

Influenced  by  the  success  of  the  canning  factory  established 
by  Mr.  McCall,  in  1882  J.  S.  McFerren,  A.  H.  Trego  and  A.  T. 
Catherwood  incorporated  Hoopeston  Canning  Company. 

Attracted  by  the  large  quantities  of  tin  cans  needed  by  the 
two  factories,  the  Union  Can  Manufacturing  Company  was  es- 
tablished and  later  became  a  branch  of  the  American  Can  Com- 
pany. 

[28] 


The  First  National  Bank  was  incorporated  in  1882  by  Mr. 
McFerren,  a  pioneer  who  had  come  to  Hoopeston  as  a  settler. 
It  was  the  city's  first  financial  institution. 

In  1905,  Mr.  Wakeman  was  granted  the  privilege  to  manu- 
facture and  furnish  the  city  with  illuminating  gas. 

Then,  the  McFerren  Park  was  laid  out. 

Mary  Hartwell  Catherwood  Club,  Masonic  Lodge,  Ira  Owen 
Kreager  Post  of  American  Legion,  also  Hoopeston  Business  Men's 
Association,  were  organized. 

Later,  schools,  library,  stores,  churches,  and  residences  were 
added  to  Hoopeston. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CHENEYVILLE  TELE- 
PHONE COMPANY 

By  Lyle  Pricket,  District  No.  2 
Teacher,  Rosaline  Gingrich 

J.  E.  Leach  moved  from  Talbot,  Indiana  where  he  had  been 
Railroad  Station  Agent  for  six  years,  to  Cheneyville,  Illinois  in 
April,  1888. 

He  put  a  small  stock  of  hardware  and  drugs  in  a  small 
building  at  the  site  of  the  present  Post  Office. 

During  his  residence  in  Talbot,  he  had  a  short  telegraph 
line  from  his  house  to  the  Depot,  and  brought  the  wire  and  in- 
struments with  him  to  Cheneyville  to  connect  his  store  and  resi- 
dence. J.  E.  Marvin  was  Station  Agent  at  that  time,  and  soon 
decided  he  would  like  telegraph  instruments  at  his  home  and  the 
depot.  Later  other  residents  of  the  town  and  a  few  farmers  caught 
the  telegraph  fever  and  there  were  eight  or  nine  instruments  in 
use  here. 

There  was  no  Doctor  in  Cheneyville  and  no  way  of  getting 
one  quickly  at  night,  as  the  Western  Union  office  at  Hoopeston 
did  not  keep  open  nights. 

The  two  banks.  First  National  and  Hoopeston  National, 
each  had  a  former  telegraph  operator  among  their  employees  as 
did  also  the  two  newspapers.  The  banks  offered  if  the  Cheneyville 
people  would  secure  a  franchise  to  run  their  wires  into  Hoopeston 
and  put  a  telegraph  instrument  into  each  bank,  they  would  de- 
liver calls  for  Doctors  during  the  daytime  and  the  newspaper 
offices  made  the  same  offer  for  night  calls. 

The  offers  were  thankfully  accepted,  the  instruments  in- 
stalled, and  Cheneyville  people  were  able  to  get  a  Doctor  with- 
out driving  to  Hoopeston  over  muddy  roads.  That  was  before 
we  had  any  knowledge  of  telephones. 

The  first  telephones  we  had  were  installed  by  J.  E.  Leach 
to  connect  his  residence  with  that  of  John  Baker  several  years 
later.  Those  phones  were  not  much  like  the  ones  we  now  have. 
We  talked  through  the  receivers  and  did  not  find  it  very  con- 
venient. 

A  few  years  later  there  had  been  improvements  in  phones, 
and  a  telephone  system  was  established  in  Hoopeston,  so  it  was 

[29] 


decided  to  substitute  them  for  our  telegraph  instruments.    Mr. 
Leach  made  a  switch  board  and  connected  the  hnes. 

Josiah  Rusk  of  Hoopeston,  had  several  farms  near  Cheney- 
ville,  each  one  occupied  by  one  of  his  children.  He  offered  to 
pay  for  phones  and  wire  to  connect  with  Cheneyville.  Next, 
J.  D.  Brown,  E.  A.  Strader,  N.  E.  Ross,  and  some  others  bought 
phones  and  wire  to  connect  their  farm  with  Cheneyville,  finally 
extending  a  line  to  Rossville.  Others  followed  at  intervals  of  a 
year  or  more  until  after  awhile  a  Company  was  formed  and  stock 
sold.  J.  E.  Leach  was  Manager  until  his  death  in  May,  1923. 
After  that  the  switch  board  was  moved  to  its  present  location 
and  other  arrangements  made. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  DISTRICT  NO.  22 

By  George  Myers,  Dist.  22 
Teacher,  Minnie  Burt  Foster 

As  early  as  1852  some  of  the  land  near  the  present  site  of 
Bristle  Ridge  School  was  purchased  from  the  government  for 
only  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre.  This  land  had 
never  been  cultivated.  There  was  not  a  tree  or  shrub  upon  the 
whole  area.  Wild  game  was  plentiful.  Deer,  elk,  and  wolves 
roamed  the  district.  The  only  wagon  road  through  these  parts 
was  the  Chicago  Road,  now  known  as  the  Dixie  Highway.  By 
1862,  there  was  a  field  here  and  there  enclosed  by  a  hedge  or 

Sometime  before  1860,  a  subscription  school  was  started  in 
a  lean-to  of  the  farmhouse  on  the  farm  which  is  now  the  McFar- 
land  farm.  This  school  house  was  one-fourth  mile  north  of  the 
present  site  of  Bristle  Ridge. 

One  of  the  first  teachers  was  Lizzie  Brazier,  who  was  a  New 
York  orphan  girl.  She  could  read  and  write  and  do  a  few  sums  in 
arithmetic. 

The  school  benches  were  made  of  boards  with  four  or  five 
bricks  under  each  end,  to  hold  them  up.  The  furniture  was  com- 
pleted by  a  rude  home-made  desk  for  the  teacher.  The  walls 
were  roughly  plastered,  not  having  the  finish  coat.  No  grades 
were  organized,  and  the  books  generally  used  were  McGuffey's 
Reader  and  Speller.  School  terms  were  very  short  in  those  days. 
They  were  only  about  two  to  three  month  terms. 

The  school  was  moved  to  its  second  site  in  about  1862. 
This  was  about  one-fourth  mile  north  of  the  subscription  school 
and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road.  Here  it  was  called  the 
Tilton  School.  The  first  blackboard  in  this  school  was  made  of 
floor  boards  nailed  over  the  plaster.  This  was  painted  with  black 
paint.  In  writing  on  these  crude  boards  the  writer  had  to  be 
careful  to  keep  the  chalk  from  sliding  down  a  groove  between 
the  boards.    They  used  dampened  woolen  rags  for  erasers. 

One  teacher  had   the  plaster  coated   with  paint,   making 

[30] 


blackboards  all  around  the  room.  This  was  thought  to  be  a 
modern  improvement. 

In  this  school  the  benches  or  desks  were  not  fastened  to 
the  floor  and  so  could  be  moved  about.  The  main  recreation  for 
the  community,  it  seems,  was  dancing.  The  desks  would  be 
pushed  up  against  the  wall  to  make  room.  Music  was  usually 
furnished  by  a  violin — better  known  as  the  fiddle. 

In  about  1884,  many  disagreements  arose  over  a  proposed 
plan  of  moving  the  school  house  one-half  mile  south  to  the  center 
of  the  district  at  the  cross  roads.  People  living  at  the  north  side 
of  the  district  objected.  Many  heated  arguments  commenced 
and  grew  to  hostility.  They  decided  to  vote  to  settle  the  dis- 
pute. The  "Southsiders"  had  the  most  votes  and  so  won.  The 
election  was  declared  illegal,  but  the  "Northsiders"  finally  gave 
in  and  the  building  was  built  on  the  present  site. 

One  dark  night,  before  much  progress  was  made  on  the 
building,  some  boys  spiked  two  twenty-five  foot  floor  sills  to- 
gether, and  a  barrel  painted  to  resemble  a  beer  keg  was  nailed 
to  one  end.  This  was  raised  to  a  standing  position  and  then 
stones  were  piled  around  its  base  to  make  it  solid. 

The  next  morning  the  country  folks  came  to  see  the  insult 
to  civic  pride.  The  keg,  high  in  the  air,  had  written  on  it,  "Beer 
Corner,"  "Beer  will  buy  votes,"  etc.  No  one  at  that  time  sus- 
pected the  culprits.  The  insult  was  torn  down  but  "Beer  Corner" 
threatened  to  be  the  permanent  name  of  School  District  No.  22. 

Tradition  says  that  the  school  got  its  name  from  William 
Shively,  an  early  settler,  known  as  "Bill  Bristle."  He  was  called 
that  because  of  his  shock  of  black  bristly  hair. 


HISTORY  OF  SCHWARTZ  SCHOOL 

Bij  Lillian  Word,  Dist.  25 
Teacher,  ViVA  Vaught 

Schwartz  School  was  built  in  1861  on  the  farm  where  Mr 
H.  N.  Seymour  now  lives — northeast  quarter  (14)  of  section  29 
in  township  23  North,  range  13  West  of  2nd  Prime  Meridian. 
The  school  house  was  23  feet  long  and  17  feet  wide.  The  water 
was  obtained  for  the  school  out  of  a  dug  well  seventy  feet  deep. 
It  was  lined  with  those  big  round  stones  called  "Nigger  Heads." 
The  well  has  been  filled  up  recently.  Some  of  the  early  directors 
of  Schwartz  School  in  1862  were  James  H.  Meharry,  0.  S.  Height, 
and  Mr.  Rigles.  0.  E.  Gilbert  started  teaching  school  October  16, 
1861.  He  had  seven  pupils  to  teach.  He  also  taught  school  three 
months  for  $45.  It  was  then  in  district  No.  1,  but  in  1875  they 
changed  it  to  district  No.  9.  April  17,  1875,  three  women  were 
elected  directors,  but  one  refused  to  serve  her  term.  The  books 
that  they  used  were  Wilson's  Reader  and  Spellers,  Ray's  Arith- 
metic, Pinnco's  Grammar,  Electer's  Geography  and  Harper's 
history  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

March  19,  1877,  an  order  was  signed  to  H.  Frankeberger 

[31] 


for  $60  for  moving  the  school  house  where  it  now  stands.  The 
school  house  was  moved  in  1877  to  where  it  now  stands  in  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  32.  The  ground  that  the  school 
house  stands  on  was  given  to  the  school  for  school  purposes.  As 
long  as  the  school  house  is  left  where  it  is  the  ground  will  be  for 
the  school.  But  if  it  is  torn  down  or  moved  away,  it  will  go  back 
to  the  owner. 

The  land  was  managed  by  John  Campbell.  "He  was  the 
first  man  to  act  as  land  agent  in  this  neighborhood."  The  people 
that  owned  the  place  did  not  live  here  at  that  time. 

Mollie  Wright  was  hired  to  teach  in  the  new  location  at 
$30  a  month.  In  1880  Emma  Allen  taught  for  $25  a  month. 
She  had  54  pupils,  and  3  pupils  had  to  sit  in  each  seat.  July  1, 
1901,  from  district  No.  9  it  was  changed  to  district  No.  25. 
January,  1911,  the  district  paid  $25  for  a  stove.  The  following 
year,  January,  1912,  a  No.  One  furnace  was  bought  for  $117.00. 
Later,  after  the  school  house  was  moved  over  where  it  now  stands, 
there  were  10  feet  added  on  the  west  end  of  the  school  house. 

The  reason  that  the  school  house  was  named  Schwartz  was 
because  Mr.  Schwartz  was  the  first  settler  in  this  neighborhood. 
His  son,  Mr.  Danny  Schwartz,  was  one  of  the  early  teachers. 
Some  other  early  teachers  were  Lorinday  McCune,  Lodema  A. 
Brown,  Mary  Burch,  Lizzie  Jones,  Mary  Anne  Jones,  and  John 
S.  Hewins. 

The  children  used  slate  and  pencil  then,  and  the  black- 
board also. 

The  subjects  that  they  taught  were  reading,  spelling,  arith- 
metic, geography  and  history. 

The  games  that  the  children  played  were  Tom  Ball,  Ante 
Over,  and  Blackman. 

At  the  end  of  the  term  of  1934,  there  were  19  pupils  enrolled 
in  the  Schwartz  School. 

The  directors  now  are  Mr.  Joe  Schaeffer,  Mr.  Clarence 
Eighner,  and  Mr.  H.  N.  Seymour.    (1934) 


HISTORY  OF  SQUANKUM 

Bij  Lloyd  Smith,  Dist.  31 
Teacher,  EvA  Mansfield 

When  Squankum  School  was  first  built  in  1850,  the  land 
was  open  prairie,  treeless  and  fenceless.  The  first  building  was 
made  of  logs  with  a  fireplace.  For  desks  they  had  benches  to 
sit  on  and  do  their  work.  The  first  building  was  built  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  south  of  where  it  now  stands.  It  was  built  on  Mr. 
Bloomfield's  land.  It  went  by  the  name  of  Bloomfield  School. 
There  were  about  sixty  pupils  enrolled  when  it  was  first  built. 

Church  and  Sunday  School  services  were  held  in  the  school 
house  before  the  building  of  Prairie  Chapel  in  1862. 

In  1858  the  present  school  building  was  built.     The  old 

[32] 


school  was  sold  for  a  granary  and  the  new  school  house  was 
built  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther  north. 

In  1875  Mr.  Jimmy  Sharp  taught  one  year  at  Squankum 
school.  He  received  sixty-seven  dollars  for  teaching  one  term. 
He  received  twenty-seven  dollars  for  teaching  the  first  two  months 
of  school.  For  the  last  six  months  of  school,  he  received  forty 
dollars. 

Squankum  school  had  a  Literary  and  Debating  Club.  The 
club  had  very  good  debators.  John  Donning  Benedict,  one  of 
Squankum's  best  debators,  became  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools.  The  club  would  meet  in  the  evenings.  They  would 
hold  their  Literary  meeting  first,  and  then  they  held  their  debates. 
They  were  very  important  events. 

Squankum  is  an  Indian  name.  Mr.  Sharp  said  that  he  was 
told  that  the  school  got  its  name  from  one  of  its  debators.  A 
debator's  voice  was  changing;  it  was  squeaky  and  squaw ky. 
The  people  called  him  "Squawkum,"  and  then  changed  it  to 
"Squankum,"  which  came  to  be  known  as  the  name  of  the  school. 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  ROSS  TOWNSHIP 

Bij  Mary  Mackenzie,  Dist.  32 
Principal,  Helen  Burgess 

This  township  got  its  name  from  Jacob  Ross  who  once 
owned  a  water  mill  on  East  Fork,  which  was  a  kind  of  center 
where  the  people  met  on  business  errands  and  for  an  interchange 
of  ideas.  Thus  "Ross's  Mill"  became  the  prominent  locality  in 
the  surrounding  communities,  and  when  the  township  was  or- 
ganized, Jacob  Ross's  name  was  given  it.  About  1829,  Andrew 
Davidson,  James  Davidson,  Joseph  and  Thomas  Gundy,  Joseph 
Kerr,  Daniel  Liggitt,  John  Bean,  John  Demorist  and  Thomas 
McKibbean,  his  father  and  family,  arrived  from  Ohio,  and  took 
locations  within  the  limits  of  this  township.  Most  of  these  set- 
tled a  little  north  of  Myersville,  Liggitt  and  Bean  within  the 
present  town  limits  of  Rossville,  and  the  McKibbean  family 
about  3  miles  east  of  Mann's  Chapel,  Robert  Horr  lived  near 
where  this  chapel  was  afterward  built  in  1830.  John  Ray,  Abram 
Woods,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Wills,  an  old  bachelor,  settled 
southeast  of  Rossville  about  2  miles  in  1831.  Wills  boarded  with 
Woods,  opened  a  farm,  and  for  a  year  or  two  pretended  to  be  a 
cripple  from  frozen  feet  and  hobbled  around,  creating  for  him- 
self a  large  amount  of  sympathy.  He  had  James  Newell  and 
James  Cunningham  be  his  securities  for  $1500  which  he  borrowed. 
The  way  he  got  out  of  Vermilion  county  was  a  wonder.  He 
proved  himself  to  be  one  of  the  most  limber-jointed  and  sure- 
footed men  of  his  age.  Supposing  him  to  have  been  murdered 
for  his  money,  which  seemed  to  be  confirmed  by  his  horse  re- 
turning riderless,  and  the  discovery  of  the  saddle  hidden  away 
under  a  log,  nearly  all  of  the  entire  male  population  of  the  coun- 
ty turned  out  and  spent  about  a  week  in  search,  dragging  the 

[33] 


mill  pounds  and  "deep  holes"  in  the  creeks.    He  was  never  dis- 
covered until  after  the  Civil  War  when  a  settler  found  him  in 

In  1832,  Alvin  Gilbert  bought  out  Robert  Horr,  where  he 
made  a  settlement  which  was  named  Henpeck  and  later  changed 
to  Rossville. 

In  1834,  George  and  William  Bicknell,  of  Massachusetts, 
settled  2  miles  north  of  this  town.  Abram  Mann,  from  England, 
settled  in  1835  near  Mann's  Chapel,  after  whom  it  received  its 
name  and  who  was  largely  instrumental  in  its  erection.  Dr. 
Richard  Brickwell  come  to  Rossville  in  1836  and  practiced  medi- 
cine here.  Clark  Grean,  who  resided  near  Mann's  Chapel,  came 
in  1835,  and  Albert  Comstock  came  about  1837.  Lyman  Kings- 
bury, Lewis  Thompson,  Matthew  Bailey,  Henry  Kite,  John 
Windsor,  Joel  Helmick,  and  Noah  Messic  were  all  in  this  town- 
ship before  1840.  The  Methodists  had  "circuit  preaching"  as 
early  as  1831,  and  they  erected  Mann's  Chapel  in  1858.  Rev. 
Enoch  Kingsbury  organized  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Rossville,  at  the  residence  of  Alvin  Gilbert  about  1840  and 
preached  until  about  1869.  The  first  school  house  was  erected 
near  Mann's  Chapel  about  1856,  and  Mr.  Lyman  Kingsbury  was 
the  first  school  teacher.  He  was  succeeded  by  Lewis  Thompson. 
Samuel  Gilbert,  the  father  of  Alvin  Gilbert,  was  the  first  post- 
master and  also  the  first  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

This  township  is  principally  prairie.  It  has  a  sufficient 
amount  of  timber.  In  the  opinion  of  the  state  geologist,  coal 
underlies  the  surface  everywhere  at  a  depth  of  from  150  to  200 
feet.  There  were  plenty  of  good  schools,  and  three  Methodist 
and  one  Presbyterian  Churches  in  this  township  in  1875.  The 
soil  of  the  township  is  rich  and  deep,  with  good  drainage.  Here 
is  an  abundance  of  stock,  water,  and  many  large  farms. 

This  township  was  originally  called  North  Fork,  and  was 
changed  to  Ross  in  1857. 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  ROSSVILLE 

By  Ora  Lee  Borders,  Dist.  32 
Princvpal,  Helen  Burgess 

In  1824,  Colonel  Hubbard  came  west  from  Montreal  to  en- 
gage in  business  for  the  American  Fur  Company.  He  abandoned 
the  water  route,  and  by  following  an  Indian  trail  leading  from 
Chicago  to  Vincennes,  Indiana,  established  what  was  known  as 
Hubbard's  Trace.  He  introduced  pack  horses  instead  of  boats 
for  transportation  of  goods.  This  trail  passes  through  Rossville 
and  was  used  mostly  by  the  pioneer  settlers.  It  has  been  marked 
by  a  stone  monument  which  now  stands  in  the  yard  of  Mr. 
Harve  Brackin.  This  trail  gave  place  to  the  old  Chicago  road 
or  the  present  Dixie  Highway.  Along  the  timber  that  skirts  the 
North  Fork  and  its  branches,  and  near  the  state  road,  the  settle- 
ments were  made.   Very  soon  after  the  organization  of  Vermilion 

[34] 


county,  the  village  of  Rossville  sprang  into  existence.  The 
corporation  limits  include  what  was  known  as  Liggitt's  Grove 
on  the  south  and  Bicknell's  Point  on  the  north.  The  North 
Fork  ran  through  its  western  border  and  the  beautiful  rolling 
lands  were  unusually  attractive.  For  awhile  the  place  was  called 
Bicknell's  Point,  then  it  was  changed  to  Henpeck. 

In  1829,  John  Liggitt  came  to  this  vicinity,  entered  land, 
and  lived  and  died  on  the  place  where  Mr.  Harve  Brackin  now 
lives.  His  place  was  on  the  Chicago  road  and  was  a  place  for 
the  travelers  to  stop,  although  he  did  not  call  it  a  hotel.  Alvin 
Gilbert  had  moved  from  near  Mann's  Chapel  to  a  farm  with- 
in the  northern  limits  of  the  town,  and  which  is  now  the  home 
of  Galyens  on  Chicago  Street.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Liggitt  in 
1838  he  bought  his  farm  in  the  southern  limits  of  the  town. 

The  post  office  was  called  North  Fork  and  was  established 
near  Gilbert's  in  1839.  Once,  the  mail,  which  was  brought  by 
stage  coach  from  Danville,  was  delayed  for  six  weeks  on  account 
of  high  water.  The  post  master,  Mr.  Gilbert,  called  in  some  men 
to  help  him  sort  and  distribute  the  mail  which  proved  to  be  one 
letter.  In  1853.  the  post  office  was  moved  to  the  village  and 
was  located  in  a  north  room  adjoining  the  home  of  Joseph  Sat- 
terthwait,  who  was  the  third  post  master.  He  lived  on  the  farm 
he  had  bought  of  Mr.  Gilbert  in  the  northern  limits  of  town. 
This  farm  was  sold  to  Dr.  Michail  T.  Livingood  in  1866. 

About  1857,  Alvin  Gilbert  and  Joseph  Satterthwait  laid  out 
the  town  of  Rossville,  and  the  name  of  the  post  office  was  then 
changed.  They  named  the  town  after  Jacob  T.  Ross,  who  owned 
a  tract  of  land  from  which  the  timbers  for  the  old  mill  were  cut 
and  hewn.  He  afterward  became  owner  of  the  mill.  For  a  long 
time  it  was  known  as  Ross  Mill.  The  original  town  contained 
two  blocks  at  the  crossing  of  Chicago  and  Attica  roads.  The 
two  streets  were  named  from  this  fact. 

In  1872  W.  J.  Henderson  came  to  Rossville  and  immediately 
became  identified  with  its  business  interests,  being  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  and  grain  business.  He  also  farmed  a  large  place 
partly  within  the  northern  limits  of  the  town,  which  had  been 
the  home  of  James  R.  Stewart,  It  was  known  as  the  Townsend 
House  and  had  been  built  in  1847.  This  house  is  the  home  of 
Mrs.  Susie  Smith. 

The  building  of  the  railroad  in  1851  and  1855  filled  the 
prairies  around  the  groves  with  hardy  settlers.  It  became  evi- 
dent that  someone  must  keep  a  store  at  Henpeck;  and  so,  Samuel 
Frazier  of  Danville  put  in  a  stock  of  goods  in  1856,  and  continued 
in  business  for  four  years.  In  1857  the  two-story  frame  build- 
ing, which  stood  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  crossroads,  be- 
fore the  fire  of  1866,  which  destroyed  all  that  part  of  the  village, 
was  built.  The  lower  floor  was  used  as  a  storeroom,  and  the 
upper  floor  was  used  by  the  I.  0.  0.  F.  and  Masonic  lodges  as  a 
lodge  room,  and  also  a  public  hall.  Here,  for  years,  church  serv- 
ices were  held. 

In  1859  Gidern  Davis  built  the  south  part  of  the  old  hotel 

[35] 


property  that  stood  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  crossroads. 
It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1910.  Alva  Cronkite's  residence  is  on 
the  spot  now. 

In  1872,  Garret  J.  Pendergrast  and  his  brother,  Patrick,  the 
husband  of  Mrs.  Laura  Pendergrast  who  now  fives  with  Mrs. 
Susie  Smith,  built  all  the  brick  business  houses  in  Rossville  at 
that  time.  They  were  Deamude's,  Henderson's,  Putnam's  and 
Albright's. 

The  Putnam  and  Albright  building  which  was  bufit  m  1873 
was  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Attica  and  Chicago  Streets.  This 
building  was  replaced  by  the  new  bank  in  1920. 

In  1875,  W.  J.  Henderson  had  the  brick  buildmg  built 
where  the  A.  &  P.  and  Bailey's  Meat  Market  are  located.  The 
lower  floor  was  a  storeroom  and  the  upper  an  opera  house  or 

public  hall.  .  . 

In  1876,  Mr.  Deamude  had  the  building  adjoining  the 
Henderson  block  on  the  south.   It  is  now  occupied  by  C.  E.  Ross. 

The  first  school  house  was  on  the  site  where  Postmaster 
Young  now  lives.  I  think  Miss  Campbell,  who  was  later  Mrs. 
Wolvertine,  was  one  of  the  first  teachers.  Phillip  Reynolds  at- 
tended his  first  school  days  there.    The  building  was  one  large 

room. 

In  1868,  a  two-story  brick  school  building  was  built  on  the 
east  side  of  North  Chicago  Street,  the  place  where  the  present 
Grade  Building  now  stands.  In  1874,  the  building  was  too  small, 
so  a  two-story  addition  was  built.  The  land  had  been  given  for 
the  school  by  Dr.  Livingood,  one  of  Rossville's  first  physicians. 
In  1879,  this  building  burned  and  v/as  replaced  in  1889.  In 
1889,  it  was  again  burned  to  the  ground.  The  building  we  now 
have  was  built  in  1889.  In  1898,  the  need  for  more  room  called 
for  another  building  which  was  built  on  the  eastern  part  of  the 
ground,  and  which  is  now  used  for  the  High  School. 

Rev.  Enoch  Kingsbury  was  the  pioneer  Presbyterian  preacher 
in  Vermilion  county.  They  had  church  once  or  twice  every  two 
or  three  months.  He  preached  at  Rossville  from  the  time  of  its 
settlement  until  he  died.  When  Mr.  Gilbert  left  Danville,  he 
carried  the  devotion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Presby- 
terian Church  was  organized  at  his  house  in  1850  by  Rev.  Kings- 
bury. There  were  six  members  who  united  to  form  the  church. 
Church  services  were  held  in  Mr.  Gilbert's  house  until  the  Odd 
Fellows  built  their  hall.  The  building  was  neat.  This  ground  was 
given  by  Mr.  Gilbert  and  cannot  be  used  for  any  other  purpose 
except  religion. 

The  Methodist  Church  was  built  in  1869.  It  was  made  of 
brick  and  was  dedicated  in  July,  1870,  by  Elder  Moody,  the 
fighting  parson  who  got  his  name  by  praying  by  night  and  fight- 
ing by  day  with  the  same  spirit  and  faith.  This  church  and  the 
Presbyterian  have  been  replaced  by  modern  buildings. 

The  Christians  built  a  church  which  they  afterward  sold  to 
the  U.  B.  people.  This  building  was  just  north  of  the  beautiful 
church  the  United  Brethren  have  now. 

[36] 


The  building  of  the  Chicago,  Danville  and  Vincennes  rail- 
road boomed  Rossville.  It  ran  through  the  eastern  part  of  the 
town  and  is  called  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois.  The  old 
depot  stood  at  the  foot  of  Gilbert  Street  for  a  number  of  years. 
Then  a  new  brick  building  was  built  where  the  depot  now  stands. 

In  1873,  the  first  newspaper  was  published  in  the  town.  It 
was  a  six-column  folio  which  was  published  once  a  week.  Mr. 
J.  H.  Moore  established  the  Rossville  Observer.  John  C.  Cromer, 
almost  immediately  after  Mr.  Moore  left  in  1876,  started  the 
Enterprise.  For  three  years  he  published  this  paper,  then  moved 
to  Homer. 

In  1879  the  Rossville  Press  was  established.  It  is  still  pub- 
lished for  the  town's  demand,  a  home  paper  and  one  of  the 
best.     It  is  now  published  by  Mr.  Reinhardt. 

The  land  where  I  live  and  all  west  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  all  fenced  in  and  fixed  as  feeding  pens.  At  one  time 
Mr.  Henderson  had  1000  hogs  in  the  pens  to  take  to  market. 
The  trees  which  have  been  cut  down  in  this  vicinity  had  many 
nails  in  them  where  the  early  settlers  had  nailed  the  pens  and 
feed  boxes  to  them. 

The  hogs  were  kept  until  they  were  fat  enough  not  to  run 
away,  but  not  fat  enough  to  butcher  because  they  could  not 
stand  the  trip  to  Chicago  and  elsewhere. 

Turkeys  were  also  driven  to  market.  The  turkeys  would  go 
to  roost  in  the  trees  at  night  and  the  men  would  have  to  wait 
until  morning  so  as  they  could  go  on  their  way. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  hardships  of  the  settlers.  Mr.  Alvin 
Gilbert  with  his  men  were  crossing  the  prairie  from  Bicknell's 
Point  to  Sugar  Creek  with  a  large  drove  of  hogs.  Before  the 
storm  arrived,  the  hogs  and  horses  were  uneasy.  The  hogs,  at 
last,  refused  to  go  farther.  They  piled  themselves  up  in  one  heap 
in  order  to  protect  themselves  from  the  storm.  During  the  night 
six  of  them  died  and  the  outside  ones  were  so  frozen  they  had  to 
be  cut  loose. 

Mr.  Gilbert  and  his  men  rode  five  miles  farther.  All  had 
their  fingers,  toes  and  ears  frozen  and  the  harness  was  so  frozen 
that  they  could  scarcely  be  taken  from  the  horses. 

Two  men  were  coming  from  Chicago  during  the  same  storm. 
They  tried  every  way  to  keep  warm  but  could  not,  so  they 
killed  one  horse,  removed  the  entrials,  rolled  his  back  to  the  wind 
and  put  their  hands  and  feet  inside  while  they  lay  on  the  warm 
body.  Before  morning  one  man  was  frozen  to  death.  The  oiher, 
although  badly  frozen,  rode  the  other  horse  to  the  nearest  house 
five  miles  away. 

There  is  an  odd  legend  which  tells  the  death  of  an  Indian 
woman,  near  the  Indian  settlement  north  of  Barlow  Mill.  The 
woman  had  come  frcm  the  place  which  is  now  Rossville  to  visit 
the  members  of  the  tribe.  She  had  a  little  baby  with  her,  and  a 
horse  in  switching  flies  accidentally  kicked  and  killed  the  baby. 
It's  cries  excited  the  Indians  and  one  struck  the  woman  and 

[37] 


killed  her.     He  ran  away  but  the  Indians  found  him  and  said 
they  made  a  real  Indian  out  of  him. 

Many,  many  a  hardship  and  many  a  trial  was  endured  in 
order  to  give  us  our  beautiful  little  city  of  Rossville. 

ROSSVILLE  Y.M.C.A. 

By  WiLMA  Foster,  Dist.  32 
Principal,  HELEN  BURGESS 

In  March,  1913,  the  E.  J.  E.  Railroad  Company  moved 
their  terminal  from  the  intersection  of  Railroad  and  McKibben 
Street  at  the  south  edge  of  Rossville  to  the  new  terminal,  one  and 
one-half  miles  south,  near  Rossville  junction.  At  that  time,  there 
were  about  135  men  employed  in  all  departments  who  were 
permanently  located  here,  and  about  100  men  in  trains  and 
engineers  who  came  into  the  terminal  from  Joliet  and  Gary  and 
laid  over  for  a  rest  period.  On  account  of  the  terminal  being  so 
far  from  town,  it  was  decided  to  build  a  building  so  the  men  could 
be  fed,  and  a  place  to  sleep.  In  the  spring  of  1914,  one  year 
after  the  opening  of  the  terminal,  the  E.J.  E.  railroad  decided  to 
build  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Three  acres  of  ground  was  purchased  from 
the  Thompson  real  estate  and  the  building  was  erected  thereon, 
at  a  cost  of  approximately  $40,000.  It  was  opened  for  business 
in  December  ,  1914.  The  first  secretary  was  Mr.  Harold  Stevens 
who  was  a  trained  secretary  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work,  and  he  served 
in  that  capacity  about  two  years.  During  the  period  from  1914 
to  1931  there  was  a  number  of  secretaries  in  charge  of  the  build- 
ing, the  last  of  whom  was  J.  W.  White  and  wife,  who  served  the 
longest  in  this  capacity. 

During  the  spring  of  1931,  business  fell  off  and  on  account 
of  so  few  men  using  the  building  and  the  excess  cost  of  hold- 
ing it  open,  the  Railroad  Company  decided  to  close  it  indefinitely. 
On  July  11,  1931,  it  was  closed  and  all  furnishings  removed. 

The  building  was  owned  by  the  E.  J.  E.  Railroad  Cornpany 
and  was  operated  under  the  auspices  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  general  secretary  being  located  at  Gary  where 
the  E.  J.  E.  Railroad  Company  own  and  operate  another  Y.  M. 
C.  A. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  DISTRICT  THIRTY-EIGHT 

By  Bessie  Hanson,  Dist.  38 
Teacher,  Louie  Jimerson 

Albright  School  was  named  for  the  Albright  family  headed 
by  Alanson  and  Samuel,  brothers,  who  came  here  from  Ohio  in 
1844  to  herd  cattle  on  the  eight  mile  prairie.  They  both  entered 
homesteads  in  1852. 

The  school  house  was  built  in  1858,  but  burned  in  1888. 
Then  the  present  building  was  built. 

[38] 


All  of  the  Homesteaders'  children  went  to  this  school.  Among 
them  were  Albright's,  Coon's,  Cork's,  Haas's,  Smith's  and 
Chamber's.  Two  families  have  sent  three  generations:  Mrs. 
Sue  Albright,  her  daughters,  Edna  and  Jennie  Braden,  and  grand- 
daughters, Margaret  and  Bonnie  Braden;  also  Mrs.  Ella  Coon 
Hillard,  her  daughter,  Florence  Hillard  Reynolds,  and  the  three 
Reynolds  children,  Helen,  Leona  and  Raymond,  who  are  attend- 
ing the  school  at  the  present  time. 

Many  years  ago,  Mrs.  David  Albright  taught  the  school. 
Then  her  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Orrie  Cunningham,  taught  this 
same  school  twenty  years  later. 

Tom  Campbell  and  his  sister  Lizzie  taught  the  school  for 
four  years.    She  taught  the  time  he  had  to  work  on  the  farm. 

One  year  on  account  of  sickness,  we  had  three  different 
teachers,  Blanche  Borders,  Helen  Bennett  and  Boyce  Borders. 

As  there  was  but  one  pupil  of  school  age  living  in  the  district 
in  1920,  there  wasn't  any  school  and  this  one  pupil  attended 
Bean  Creek  School.  There  are  nine  children  attending  school 
this  year. 

Some  of  the  teachers  besides  the  ones  I  have  already  men- 
tioned were  Elmer  Moreland,  Sherman  Littler,  Carrier  Littler, 
Nellie  Stepp,  Carrie  Foster,  Georgia  Stepp,  Ada  Runyon,  Etta 
Smith,  Sarah  Galloway,  Celesta  Barr,  Ira  Evans,?and  Margaret 
Linfoot  Lane. 

Our  present  teacher,  Mrs.  Louie  Jimerson,  has  taught  here 
eleven  years. 


EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  VERMILION  COUNTY 

By  Geneva  Goodwin,  Dist.  52 
Teacher,  ROBERTA  LANE 

The  early  schools  of  Vermilion  county  were  much  different 
than  they  are  now.  But  the  schools  we  have  now  are  much  better 
than  they  were  then. 

The  first  school  built  in  Vermilion  county  was  in  Elmwood 
Township  in  the  year  of  1824  and  1825.  It  was  a  Log  school 
house  one  mile  west  of  Vermilion  Station.  Reuden  Black,  eighteen 
years  old,  came  from  Ohio  and  secured  enough  subscriptions  to 
make  it  worth  while  to  open  a  school.  John  Mills  sent  four  chil- 
dren, Joseph  Jackson  sent  two  children,  Ezekial  Hollingsworth 
sent  four  children,  Henry  Canaday  sent  one,  and  John  Haworth 
sent  three;  making  fourteen  in  all.  They  were  taught  reading, 
writing,  spelling,  and  some  were  taught  arithmetic. 

Few  more  schools  were  built  until  1827  when  one  was  begun 
at  Butler's  Point.  It  was  south  of  the  well-known  Thonias 
Keeney  home.     Then,  a  school  was  built  in  Newell  Township. 

The  schools  of  1824  and  '25  were  made  of  round  logs.  The 
floors  were  covered  with  sawed  puncheons.  Their  windows  were 
made  of  logs  sawed  out  over  which  the  piece  of  greased  paper 
was  put,  through  which  the  light  had  a  hard  time  to  come.    For 

[39] 


their  desks  they  used  slabs,  and  they  had  no  seats.  A  rude  fire- 
place at  one  end  reached  from  one  corner  to  the  opposite  one. 
In  the  other  end  of  the  room  an  opening  had  been  made  by  leav- 
ing out  a  log,  and  in  this,  upright  pieces  were  placed  at  intervals, 
and  on  these,  oiled  paper  was  pasted  to  admit  the  light.  Under 
this  improvised  window,  a  long  board  was  put  up  with  proper 
pitch,  and  along  it  a  long  bench  was  put.  Here  in  this  "flood  of 
light"  the  children  practiced  their  copies,  using  a  quill  pen  which 
the  teacher  made. 

The  lessons  they  had  were  ''Readin',  Ritin',  and  Rithmetic." 
Later  they  took  up  Grammar,  History,  Geography  and  Physio- 
logy. 

The  first  school  house  was  destroyed  by  fire.  Mr.  Henry 
Hunt  had  collected  some  two  hundred  venison  hams  and  stored 
them  in  Haworth's  smokehouse  where  he  was  smoking  and  drying 
them  to  ship  to  New  Orleans  by  a  flat  boat.  For  a  joke  (a  sorry 
joke  it  appears)  some  men  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Hunt 
while  others  fired  the  building.  The  market  was  gutted  with 
venison  partially  cooked,  since  the  fire  was  discovered  too  late 
to  save  the  meat. 

The  High  Schools  of  Danville  were  not  legally  incorporated 
into  the  system  of  schools  until  1887. 

The  schools  now-a-days  have  stoves  or  furnaces.  The 
windows  they  now  have  are  much  better.  We  also  have  a  good 
system  of  ventilation. 


SOUTH  ROSS  TOWNSHIP 

By  Robert  Gore,  Dist.  52 
Teacher,  Roberta  Lane 

At  first  there  was  only  Ross  Township.  The  North  Fork 
of  the  Vermilion  River  runs  through  the  center  of  it.  There  are 
the  Jordan  and  Bean  Creeks,  making  Ross  a  well-watered  region. 
Most  of  the  timber  is  cut  off. 

The  first  people  were  Gundy's,  Green's,  Dorison's  and 
Mann's.  The  first  man  to  enter  Bicknell's  Point  was  Joseph 
Lockart,  about  1874. 

Ross  was  named  after  Jacob  T.  Ross,  who  owned  a  tract  of 
land  and  also  a  timber  mill. 

The  early  people  kept  close  to  the  timber  line  and  had  plenty 
of  wild  game.  Wild  deer  and  prairie  chickens  were  plenty.  The 
hogs  were  kept  in  the  timber  till  time  to  market  them,  then  they 
were  driven  out,  and  then  to  market.    They  were  very  wild. 

Rossville  was  on  the  dividing  line  of  Ross  and  Grant.  The 
village  was  at  a  point  on  the  state  road  from  Danville  to  Chicago. 
The  hmits  of  Rossville  were  Liggitt's  Grove,  Bicknell's  Point. 
It  is  eighteen  miles  from  Danville  and  six  from  Hoopeston.  The 
North  Fork  runs  about  1  mile  west  of  it.  It  is  on  rolling  land 
and  makes  the  village  unusually  attractive. 

Another  town,  Alvan,  sprang  up  from  the  village  of  Gilbert. 

[40] 


Later,  it  was  spelled  Alvin  by  the  post  office  department,  but 
it  is  named  in  honor  of  Alvan  Gilbert,  an  early  settler. 

Henning  was  built  later  due  to  the  putting  through  of  two 
railroads,  the  I.  C.  and  C.  &  E.  I.  branch  lines. 

In  1927,  due  to  continual  opposition  between  the  towns  of 
Henning  and  Alvin  on  one  side,  and  Rossville  on  the  other,  the 
township  was  divided.  The  south  half  containing  Henning  and 
Alvin  became  South  Ross,  while  the  northern  part  remained  Ross. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  MIDDLEFORK  SCHOOL 

By  Junior  Brown,  Dist.  58 
Teacher,  Freeman  McConnell 

In  1882  the  Middlefork  School,  District  58,  was  built  in 
Middlefork  Township,  near  Potomac,  Illinois.  There  was  no 
porch  in  front  then,  but  there  were  two  steps  in  front  of  the 
door. 

The  school  house  was  used  as  a  Baptist  Church  two  years. 
Meetings  were  held  every  Sunday  with  people  attending  from 
several  miles  around.  The  building  was  small,  and  people  found 
conditions  very  crowded.  They  had  five  oil  lamps  in  the  build- 
ing, and  two  still  are  in  the  school  house.  In  the  front  there  was 
one  big  seat  that  reached  across  the  room  and  several  smaller 
ones  behind  it.  Mrs.  William  Nixon,  who  still  resides  in  the 
district,  was  Secretary  and  had  one  class.  Some  of  the  early 
ministers  were:  Mr.  Silas  Rayls,  Mr.  William  Dodson,  Mr. 
Bucklew,  Mr.  Finer,  Mr.  Edwards,  Mr.  Snyder,  and  Mr.  Beedles. 

This  school  was  formerly  spoken  of  as  "Hawbuck"  and  still 
is  referred  to  by  that  name.  During  early  years  of  the  school's 
existence,  the  enrollment  was  quite  large,  but  attendance  was 
irregular  because  the  older  boys  would  stay  out  to  help  at  home 
during  corn  husking  time  and  when  the  spring  work  began. 

Two  of  the  early  teachers  were  Shelby  Starr  (1899-1900) 
and  Charles  Wyman  (1900-1901).  The  school  board  in  1899-1900 
was  as  follows:  Mr.  M.  W.  Haskett,  Mr.  William  Simpson,  and 
C.  B.  Alexander.  Mr.  Alexander  was  clerk.  The  scholars  enrolled 
in  1899  were:  Algie,  Harley,  Jess,  NelHe,  Flora,  Sam,  Homer, 
and  Lemuel  Alexander;  Grace,  Everett,  and  Harrison  Chapman; 
Blanche  and  Clifford  Simpson;  Anna  and  Mattie  Haskett;  Dora, 
Nellie,  and  Ethel  Wallace;  and  Jess,  John,  Gertie,  Edna,  and 
David  Nixon. 

The  school  board  of  today  consists  of  Jess  Alexander,  Wil 
Ham  Nixon,  and  Bert  Perry.  A  porch  has  been  added  to  the 
school  since  its  early  days  and  a  good  ventilating  system ;  a  garage 
has  been  built  adjacent  to  the  coal  house  and  cob  house.  The 
present  teacher  is  Freeman  McConnell,  and  thirteen  pupils  at- 
tend the  school. 

Middlefork  School,  or  "Hawbuck,"  though  small  and  un- 
pretentious in  its  picturesque  setting  on  a  hill  among  the  woods, 
still  holds  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  many. 

[41  ] 


PIONEER  DAYS  OF  CENTRAL  SCHOOL 

By  Thelma  Elliot,  Dist.  67 
Teacher,  Daisy  Tillotson 

The  first  schoolhouse  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  road. 
It  was  called  the  Stipp  schoolhouse  because  it  was  on  Stipp's 
land.  It  was  later  moved  to  the  west  side  of  the  road,  but  closer 
to  the  south  fence  than  the  one  standing  now. 

In  this  schoolhouse  there  were  long  seats,  and  a  hand-made 
recitation  bench  with  no  back.  Sometimes  the  pupils  would  often 
take  a  tumble.  It  burned  January  3rd,  1882,  because  of  bad 
flue.  Alford  Holoway  was  teaching  then.  He  wore  his  boots  to 
school  because  of  muddy  roads,  and  then  put  on  his  shoes.  His 
boots  burned  in  the  schoolhouse. 

It  was  later  named  the  Central  school  because  it  was  in  the 
central  part  of  the  congressional  district. 
Some  who  attended  this  school  are: 

Billy  Wyman  Riley  Hoskins 

Billy  Baber  Linda  Fairchild 

Christopher  Baber  Pheba  Fairchild 

Malissa  Baber  Nellie  Fairchild 

David  Clem  Ed  Fairchild 

George  Albert  Emely  Cosatt 

Maggie  Albert  Martin  Cosatt 

Alice  Albert  Dora  Cosatt 

Theodore  Stipp  Julie  Cosatt 

Union  Stipp  Nellie  Cosatt 

Annie  Stipp  Don  Stipp 

Rell  Stipp  Sarn  Stipp 

Sarah  Hoskins        ,         Lillie  Wyman 

Harriet  Hoskins  Austin  Wyman 

Some  who  attended  and  are  living  near  the  schoolhouse  now 
are:  Riley  Hoskins,  Austin  Wyman,  Julie  Cosatt,  Emely  Cosatt 
and  Dora  Cosatt. 

They  held  Church  in  the  old  schoolhouse  before  it  burned. 
The  preacher  was  Rev.  Stipp. 

THE  PUMPKIN  VINE  RAILROAD 

By  Howard  Leland  Smith,  Dist.  73 
Teacher,  Kenneth  Wilson 

In  the  year  of  1869  when  the  Chicago,  Evansville  and  Terre 
Haute  (now  the  C.  «&  E.  I.)  railroad  was  running  full  force,  there 
was  a  cut  off  on  the  railroad.  It  ran  from  Bismarck  southeast  to 
Covington,  then  south  to  what  is  now  Stringtown,  Indiana,  and 
north  to  a  coal  mine  along  Coke  Creek.  Here  coal  was  loaded 
into  the  little  cars,  which  were  about  ten  feet  long  and  four  feet 
wide.  The  coal  was  hauled  to  Bismarck  and  put  on  the  Chicago, 
Evansville  and  Terre  Haute  railway  and  hauled  on  to  Chicago. 

When  the  railroad  was  being  built,  my  Grandmother  lived 

[42] 


one-fourth  mile  east  of  where  the  Price  school  house  now  stands. 
At  the  time  the  railroad  was  being  built,  Grandmother's  folks 
kept  eight  of  the  men.  The  men  were  Swedes.  Grandmother 
said  the  Swedes  had  wooden  spoons  for  their  silverware.  One 
night  Grandmother's  folks  had  rice  for  supper.  The  folks  passed 
the  rice  to  the  Swedes,  but  they  did  not  want  any,  so  they  passed 
it  on.  Grandmother  took  some  rice  and  put  sugar  on  it.  The 
Swedes  wanted  to  do  like  the  rest.  One  of  them  had  an  onion 
and  a  potato  on  his  plate,  so  he  covered  it  with  sugar  because 
he  thought  Grandmother  did  this.   But  he  got  fooled. 

On  Saturday  afternoons  and  on  Sundays,  other  men  who  were 
boarding  in  the  neighborhood  came  to  my  Grandmother's  home, 
and  waltzed  in  the  yard  to  music  made  by  an  accordion  which 
one  of  the  men  played.  Sunday  morning,  they  held  religious 
services  in  their  rooms  upstairs  in  Grandmother's  home. 

My  Grandmother,  who  was  at  that  time  just  a  little  girl, 
now  lives  in  Bismarck,  Illinois.  It  is  very  interesting  to  hear 
her  tell  of  this  old  railroad. 

The  old  road  bed  can  still  be  traced  clear  across  the  country. 
A  deep  cut,  which  is  near  the  school  house  of  District  73,  furnishes 
a  skating  place  for  the  school  children  during  the  winter  months. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  SANDBAR  SCHOOL 

Bij  IRMA  Bloomer,  Dist.  88 
Teacher,  DoRis  Howell 

Sandbar  school,  district  88,  was  built  in  about  1865.  It  was 
named  Sandbar  because  it  had  a  roof  of  sand  and  tar.  It  was 
about  the  only  schoolhouse  in  the  country.  Children  for  several 
miles  around  came  there  for  a  few  months  in  the  winter.  They 
walked  through  the  cold. 

After  several  years  the  first  schoolhouse  was  torn  down. 
Another  was  built  in  its  place.  This  one  stands  where  ours  does 
now.  It  faced  the  east  and  had  a  large  porch  on  that  side.  Some 
of  the  most  common  residents  were  the  Scott,  Kirkpatrick,  Rice, 
Vinson,  and  the  Ludwig  families.  Of  these,  Kirkpatricks,  Vinsons 
and  Ludwigs  still  live  near  here. 

They  would  have  old  fashioned  spelling  matches  at  the 
schoolhouse.  Many  people  would  come  there  to  the  spelling 
matches.  They  would  have  literary  debates.  They  would  debate 
with  other  schools  such  as  No.  9  (Fowler  School)  and  among 
themselves.    The  young  men  liked  these  debates  very  well. 

The  old  school  building  was  torn  down  in  the  eighteen 
nineties.  It  was  again  rebuilt.  The  schoolhouse  built  then  still  stands, 
although  the  country  around  it  is  changed.  It  stands  about  one- 
half  mile  east  of  where  the  old  town  of  Charity  stood,  on  Charity 
corner. 


[43] 


SYDNEY  ROUTE  CORNER 

By  Curtis  Montgomery,  Dist.  90 
Teacher,  Maude  Juvinall 

One  mile  and  a  quarter  south  of  Red  Oak  School,  where  I 
now  attend,  is  one  of  the  early  landmarks  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Pilot  Township. 

This  corner  has  been  known  as  the  Sidney  Route  Corner 
for  over  a  half  a  century. 

The  old  house  on  this  corner  was  built  about  eighty  years 
ago.  The  frame  was  built  of  walnut  timber  hewed  and  cut  to 
the  proper  size  with  an  adz.  It  was  put  together  with  wooden 
pins  and  braces  of  the  same  material,  and  even  the  weather- 
boarding  was  made  of  walnut  also. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Rout,  pioneer  settler  of  this  part  of  Pilot  town- 
ship from  whom  the  corner  was  named,  came  to  Vermilion  county 
when  she  was  about  ten  years  old  with  her  parents,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Zacharia  Connell. 

About  58  years  ago,  Mr.  Rout  left  with  a  neighbor  m  a 
covered  wagon  to  go  to  Kansas  to  take  up  claims.  Mr.  Rout 
owned  the  team  and  wagon  that  they  took.  He  also  had  two 
hundred  dollars  in  cash  with  him.  He  left  his  wife  and  two  baby 
daughters,  intending  to  stake  a  claim  in  Kansas  and  return  for 

l^fipin  1/^I^PT* 

Months  after  months  passed  and  Mrs.  Rout  failed  to  hear 
from  him.  Finally  the  man  with  whom  he  had  gone  came  back 
telling  Mrs.  Rout  many  stories  which  later  proved  untrue.  For, 
not  long  after  his  return,  authorities  in  Kansas  sent  part  of  the 
clothing  from  the  body  of  an  unknown  murdered  man.  Mrs. 
Rout  identified  the  clothing  from  the  patches  she  had  put  on 
it,  and  from  the  wrist  bands  that  she  had  knitted. 

People  became  suspicious,  and  finally  the  man  that  had  gone 
with  Mr.  Rout  was  arrested  for  his  murder.  On  the  way  to 
town  with  the  officers,  he  took  his  own  life  by  taking  poison. 

Mrs.  Rout  lived  on  in  this  house  until  her  daughters  were 
married.  Her  struggles  living  alone  and  keeping  the  place  were 
known  for  miles  around. 

During  all  these  years  the  corner  on  which  her  house  stood 
was  known  as  the  Sydney  Route  Corner. 

HISTORY  OF  RED  OAK  SCHOOL 

By  John  Chesnut,  Dist.  90 
Teacher,  Maude  Juvinall 

Years  ago.  Red  Oak  School  was  known  as  the  Brush  School. 
This  school  house  stood  across  the  road  and  south  about  a  mile 
from  the  present  site. 

The  Brush  School  was  typical  old-fashioned  school  building, 
with  benches  which  were  made  by  boring  holes  in  the  floor,  stakes 
were  driven  into  the  holes,  and  planks  were  fastened  to  the  stakes. 

[44] 


A  wide  shelf  built  around  the  sides  of  the  room  held  books,  papers, 
slates,  etc.    A  fireplace  furnished  the  heat. 

This  school  was  built  in  1852,  and  the  first  teacher  was 
Miss  Cooper.  There  were  between  50  and  65  pupils  attending 
all  the  time. 

In  1884  a  new  school  house  was  built  where  the  present 
school  building  stands. 

This  new  school  was  named  Red  Oak  because  of  the  numerous 
red  oak  trees  growing  near.  A  few  of  the  teachers  during  this 
time  were  as  follows:  J.  C.  Trout,  Lester  D.  Harrison,  Mabel 
Bailey,  Willie  Steinbough,  Sam  Richardson  and  J.  F.  Dodson, 

In  December,  1914,  while  Mr.  J.  F.  Dodson  was  teaching, 
the  building  caught  fire  from  a  defective  chimney  and  burned. 

A  new  building  was  built  by  Brown  Bros,  of  Bismarck  as 
soon  as  possible. 

This  is  the  present  building  of  Red  Oak  School,  District 
No.  90,  where  I  have  attended  school  for  the  past  eight  years. 

HISTORY  OF  DANVILLE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

By  Jimmy  Drollinger,  Dist.  101 
Teacher,  B.  C.  Beck 

Before  Danville  had  a  High  School  they  had  two  Seminaries, 
one  located  where  Washington  School  is  now,  and  the  other  on 
the  corner  of  Vermilion  and  Seminary. 

Then  after  a  few  years,  the  first  High  School  was  started 
in  the  space  above  Yeoman  Shedd's  Hardware  on  Main  Street, 
in  1869. 

After  two  years  the  High  School  was  moved  to  the  third 
floor  of  Washington  school. 

In  1872  the  school  used  but  four  teachers  and  the  principal 
of  Washington.     Before  1890  they  had  only  six  teachers. 

The  High  School  was  not  legal  till  after  the  people  had  a 
special  election  in  1880.  After  the  election,  the  school  expenses 
were  paid  by  taxes. 

The  school  library  at  this  time  had  obtained  about  1000 
books,  and  when  they  moved  into  the  new  building  they  had  no 
library  and  the  books  were  partly  lost. 

When  the  new  school  was  entered  in  1890,  athletics  were 
not  neglected.  The  first  football  team  was  organized  in  1890, 
and  the  first  game  was  played  at  Terre  Haute.  Baseball  and 
cross  country  was  also  a  part  of  the  activity. 

In  1895  Adarian  and  Athenaeum  literane  societies  were 
organized  which  gave  other  students  active  work. 

When  the  new  school  was  rebuilt  in  1899  more  room  was 
added  to  the  Washington  school.  Then  in  1921  the  annex  was 
built  to  the  Washington  building.  The  demand  for  High  school 
education  by  the  boys  and  girls  became  so  great  that  the  old 
building  was  not  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  demand.  A 
new  building  was  completed  in  1924. 

[45] 


In  1890  there  were  six  teachers,  and  in  1910  there  were  14. 
In  1920  there  were  30,  then  in  the  present  High  School  there 
are  69  teachers  and  1700  students  enrolled. 

HISTORY  OF  BURR  OAK  SCHOOL 

By  Annabelle  Johnson,  Dist.  100 
Teacher,  Margaret  Beck 

According  to  an  old-time  resident  and  one-time  pupil  of  Burr 
Oak  School,  the  first  school  building  was  and  still  is  located 
about  one-half  mile  north  of  the  present  site. 

Later  this  building  proved  to  be  too  small  for  the  number 
of  pupils,  so  another  building  was  built  on  the  present  school 
grounds.  For  several  years,  the  first  school  building  was  used  as 
a  residence.    However,  it  has  been  vacant  in  recent  years. 

The  second  building  was  also  a  wood  building.  It  too  was 
small  but  larger  then  the  first  one.  It  was  later  enlarged.  At 
this  time  the  district  was  called  District  No.  3.  Even  then  there 
were  too  many  pupils  for  the  size  of  the  building.  They  divided 
the  southern  part  of  the  District  into  another  school  District. 
The  number  of  the  District  was  changed  from  District  3  to 
District  100.  The  new  District  was  called  District  101.  This 
new  school  was  called  Liberty  School.  It  is  located  on  the  S 
curve  of  the  Dixie  Highway  about  one-half  mile  south  of  the 
Poland  Road. 

This  last  year,  the  Liberty  school  building  was  enlarged,  hav- 
ing at  present  a  larger  enrollment  than  Burr  Oak.  It  now  is 
brick  and  has  two  rooms.    It  is  all  modern. 

In  this  second  Burr  Oak  school  the  ages  ranged  from  6  to  18. 

In  some  of  the  remarks  of  the  teachers,  they  said  that  the 
pupils  didn't  all  have  the  same  kind  of  books.  Others  mentioned 
that  the  directors  didn't  visit  School  very  often  to  see  if  school 
was  being  kept.  This  implies  that  teachers  might  not  show  up 
at  school  at  all  times. 

In  1918,  a  modern  brick  building  was  erected  on  the  same 
site  as  the  second  building.  The  second  building  was  moved 
across  the  road.  This  third  school  had  more  modern  equipment 
than  the  other  two. 

Some  of  the  first  pupils  that  have  sent  children  to  the  same 
school  and  still  remain  in  the  district  are:  Mae  Campbell,  Lloyd 
Olmstead,  Ruth  Blair,  Clara  Scieter,  Orville  Prather  and  Pauline 
Zorns. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  LIBERTY  SCHOOL 

By  Forrest  Sloan,  Dist.  101 
Teacher,  B.  C.  Beck 

In  1886  Liberty  School  District  belonged  to  Burr  Oak. 
But  the  people  thought  that  they  should  have  a  school  district 
of  their  own.    So  in  1886,  W.  Story  and  W.  Bowman,  who  was 

[46] 


then  Justice  of  Peace,  went  out  at  night  with  a  lantern  to  get 
the  people  to  sign  a  petition  that  they  would  have  a  school  dis- 
trict of  their  own.  After  they  had  everyone's  name  on  the  peti- 
tion they  filed  it. 

After  the  petition  was  filed,  Mr.  Bowman  offered  a  site  for 
the  school  which  is  now  the  Belle  property.  Mr.  Story  offered 
the  original  site.  They  then  called  a  meeting  and  voted  on  which 
site  they  wished  to  choose.  The  Story  site  was  chosen  by  the 
most  votes. 

In  1887  they  started  to  build  the  school.  It  was  built  where 
the  Chicago  Trail  and  the  Salt  Works  to  Lafayette  Trail  crossed. 

After  the  school  was  built,  they  could  not  decide  what  they 
were  going  to  name  the  school.  After  several  names  had  been 
suggested  they  decided  to  call  the  new  school,  Liberty.  They 
wanted  to  call  it  this  because  it  had  received  its  liberty  from 
Burr  Oak  District.  They  then  called  it  Liberty  and  it  still  bears 
that  name. 

About  three-quarters  of  a  mile  south  on  the  Hubbard  Trail 
from  where  the  school  was  being  erected,  there  was  a  village 
which  was  known  as  String  Town.  The  closest  school  at  that 
time  was  the  old  Tincher  Town  School.  The  people  now  had  a 
new  school  to  send  their  children  to  where  they  would  not  have 
so  far  to  go. 

The  Liberty  School  District  then  extended  as  far  south  as 
the  Willow  Tree  on  the  Kimbrow  property,  east  to  the  C.  &  E.  I. 
railroad,  north  to  the  Boiling  Spring  Road,  west  to  the  North 
Fork  River.  The  children  coming  from  the  west  to  school  had 
to  cross  the  river  on  a  little  foot  bridge. 

There  are  three  very  interesting  land  marks  in  the  Liberty 
School  District.  One  is  a  Hitching  Barn  owned  by  Mr.  Meyers. 
It  was  located  north  of  where  Hegeler's  Barn  is  now  located. 
Mr.  Meyers  charged  the  people  twenty-five  cents  to  leave  their 
horses  and  wagons  in  his  care  while  they  went  to  the  city  to 
shop.  They  would  leave  their  horse  and  wagons  in  his  care  be- 
cause they  were  afraid  that  the  horse  would  become  afraid  of  the 
street  cars  and  run  away  with  them. 

The  second  land  mark  was  the  Pinkeshaw  Indians'  camp, 
which  was  located  west  of  the  school  on  the  property  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Jake  Miller.  The  Indians  had  a  camp  here  because  there 
was  an  abundance  of  water  coming  from  a  spring  for  their  horses. 
The  land  was  very  fertile  for  them  to  grow  their  crops.  The  white 
settlers  also  stopped  on  the  Miller  property  to  water  and  feed 
their  live  stock.  This  stop  was  on  the  Chicago  Trail  which  went 
north  to  Chicago.  The  settlers  sometimes  camped  here  many 
weeks  and  months.  Here  the  settlers  had  a  burial  ground.  Many 
skeletons  have  been  dug  up  by  Mr.  Miller  in  his  gravel  pit. 
Each  time  he  reburies  the  skeletons.  The  Indians  also  had  a 
grave  yard  on  the  Miller  property.  Many  of  their  belongings 
have  been  found  including  arrows,  a  tomahawk  and  a  war  club. 

The  first  teacher  that  taught  at  Liberty  School  was  Miss 
Ada  Cunningham.    There  have  been  sixteen  teachers  who  have 

[47] 


taught  at  Liberty  School.  Mr.  Charles  Keesler,  who  is  now 
Secretary  of  the  School  Board,  taught  at  Liberty  School  forty- 
two  years  ago. 

One  of  the  amusements  they  had  m  those  days  was  the 
forming  of  Debating  Societies.  These  Societies  would  go  to 
different  schools  to  debate.  The  Liberty  School  Debating  Society 
won  many  honors.  These  Societies  were  made  up  of  the  students 
and  people  of  the  community.  They  also  had  the  old-fashioned 
spelling  bee  contests.  They  would  meet  two  or  three  times  a 
year  and  have  the  contests.  Other  times  they  would  go  to  a 
different  school  to  have  the  contests. 

There  have  been  three  buildings  built  on  the  original  site. 
The  third  building  was  built  in  1933.  It  has  two  rooms.  The 
teachers  are  Mr.  B.  C.  Beck  and  Miss  Alta  Tyler.  The  Liberty 
School  today  is  considered  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  modern 
schools  of  Vermilion  County. 

OLD  TIME  GRADUATION 

By  Leone  Liggett,  Dist.  107 
Teacher,  Maxine  Payne 

In  May,  1908  the  graduation  of  the  eighth  grade  pupils  of 
Newtown  School  was  held  in  the  Newtown  M.E.  Church.  This 
school  is  a  little  white  school  building  situated  a  few  miles  north 
of  Oakwood  and  almost  in  the  noted  old  village  of  Newtown, 
which  I  think  everyone  has  heard  of,  for  though  very  small,  it 
is  over  a  century  old. 

In  these  days  many  schools  did  not  have  graduating  exer- 
cises, but  this  teacher,  having  a  large  class  and  being  very  good, 
arranged  for  her  pupils  to  graduate. 

The  seven  members  of  the  class  were:  Bertha  Joiner,  Nellie 
Burton,  Marie  Clem,  Julia  Corbin,  Birdie  Osborne,  Nellie  Graham 
and  Glen  Doney. 

Special  music  was  furnished  by  the  Muncie  orchestra. 

During  the  exercises  the  graduates  presented  their  teacher 
with  a  gold  locket  and  chain  to  remember  them  by. 

After  the  diplomas  were  distributed  and  the  exercises  were 
over,  the  class  adjourned  to  the  teacher's  home  where  delicious 
refreshments  were  served.  They  were  entertained  here  also  by 
the  orchestra.  The  teacher,  Miss  Bertha  Michaels,  was  enter- 
taining her  pupils  for  the  last  time. 

BARLOW  MILL 

By  Vivian  Frederickson,  Dist.  116 
Teacher,  Zola  Dye 

The  mill  at  Barlow  Park  is  the  oldest  mill  in  Vermilion 
county.     It  is  located  on  the  North  Fork  River  west  of  Alvin. 

It  is  a  two-story  mill  and  was  first  built  in  1832  by  Mr. 
Clawson,  as  a  saw  mill.    Later  it  was  turned  into  a  grist  mill. 

[48] 


It  was  first  run  by  a  time  wheel  and  later  by  the  old  water  wheel. 
It  is  over  100  years  old  and  the  only  water  power  mill  left  in 
this  part  of  the  country  still  in  use.  Farmers  still  take  their 
corn  there  to  be  ground  and  some  of  this  is  sold  to  local  and 
Danville  stores.  This  mill  was  used  to  grind  flour,  corn  meal  and 
buckwheat  flour. 

The  burrs  used  in  it  came  from  France,  and  were  brought 
down  the  Wabash  River  to  Attica,  Indiana,  and  hence  over  land. 
These  burrs  are  still  used. 

Around  this  mill  has  been  placed  a  park  with  cabins  along 
the  river.  This  land  is  now  owned  by  the  Barlow  Estate,  and 
some  of  the  family  still  live  in  the  home  by  the  mill. 

This  mill  with  the  water  wheel  turning  and  the  trees  around 
it  in  their  hues  of  autumn  would  make  a  beautiful  picture. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  PLEASANT  GROVE  HALL 

By  Mary  Foley,  Dist.  122 
Teacher,  Jessie  Gossett 

Nearly  fifty-five  years  ago,  about  1878,  the  Pleasant  Grove 
Hall  was  built.  It  was  at  a  funeral  in  the  cemetery  nearby  that 
the  people  first  got  the  idea  of  building  it. 

A  burial  was  in  progress  when  rain  started  to  fall.  When 
the  people  tried  to  get  inside  the  old  Baptist  church  that  is  still 
standing,  they  found  all  the  doors  locked.  After  investigating 
they  found  one  window  unlocked.  A  man  from  the  crowd  then 
opened  the  window,  climbed  in  and  opened  the  door  for  the  rest. 

This  made  the  Baptist  people  of  the  crowd  angry,  and  the 
others  decided  to  build  what  is  now  the  Pleasant  Grove  Hall. 

Before  this,  people  had  held  their  meetings  in  the  Pleasant 
Grove  School  close  by,  but  now  that  the  Hall  was  built  they  held 
them  there.  Gradually  its  members  decreased  in  number,  some 
joining  the  churches  at  Oakwood,  south  of  it,  and  others  joined 
the  one  at  Newtown,  north  of  it.    Now  it  has  few  members  left. 

The  Hall  is  a  public  one  and  stands  open  to  every  kind  of 
meeting  except  dances. 

I  obtained  the  material  for  this  story  from  Mr.  George  P. 
Vinson,  north  of  Oakwood. 


THE  STORY  OF  GLENBURN 

By  Marion  R.  Van  Allen,  Dist.  122 
Teacher,  Jessie  Gossett 

Little  would  one  guess  that  the  small,  sparsely  settled  district 
commonly  referred  to  as  Glenburn  was  once  a  flourishing  village. 
The  region  first  came  into  existence  as  a  milling  town.  A  large 
grist  mill,  owned  by  John  Swift,  was  operated  by  power.  Then 
Samual  Swisher  opened  a  mine  near  Glenburn.  The  air  com- 
pressor was  run  by  steam.    Later,  the  mine  was  purchased  by 

[49] 


C.  M.  Swallow,  who  also  was  the  proprietor  of  a  creamery  nearby. 

An  amusing  story  is  linked  with  the  buttermilk  well  in  which 
buttermilk  was  kept.  An  ordinary  pump  was  placed  above  the 
well,  and  it  was  a  tired  stranger  who  stopped  to  quench  his 
thirst  with  the  supposedly  cool  and  tempting  water.  Imagine 
his  surprise  and  chagrin  when  a  gushing  stream  of  buttermilk 
came  forth! 

In  the  meantime,  Glenburn  had  grown  in  size  and  popula- 
tion that  extended  east  of  the  rock  cut,  a  passage  cut  through 
solid  stone  through  which  passed  a  railroad  to  the  mine.  There 
were  in  all  one  hundred  twenty-three  houses  within  its  limits. 
The  post  office  was  owned  and  managed  by  R.  M.  Rogers.  The 
St.  James  Hotel,  a  two-story  building  owned  by  the  coal  com- 
pany, was  located  just  across  the  road  from  the  post  office. 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  in  drilling  for  oil,  but 
salt  water  was  discovered,  and  salt  wells  were  sunk  in  1911. 
There  are  many  streams  nearby,  also  an  artesian  well,  probably 
supplied  by  the  underground  stream  supposed  to  run  between 
Danville  and  Potomac. 

In  1898  a  flood  occurred,  during  which  three  houses  were 
washed  away.  A  cyclone  about  thirty-three  years  ago  did  con- 
siderable damage. 

O.  M.  Van  Allen  runs  the  only  business  establishment  in 
Glenburn  now.  A  few  houses  remain,  but  the  mine  has  long 
ceased  operation.  Only  a  mere  skeleton  of  its  former  self,  Glen- 
burn stands  a  monument  of  its  former  prosperity. 


GLENBURN  IN  OAKWOOD  TOWNSHIP 

By  Maudeane  DeMoss,  Dist.  132 
Principal,  C.  F.  Huddelson 

C.  M.  Swallow  started  what  is  known  as  Glenburn  in  1885. 
Mr.  Swallow  named  the  village  Glenburn  from  a  small  town  in 
Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Swallow  first  started  a  creamery,  but  as  this  was  not 
a  paying  proposition,  Mr.  Swallow  converted  it  into  a  feed  mill. 
While  Mr.  Swallow  was  still  in  mill  business  he  bought  and 
operated  a  coal  mine  which  employed  several  men.  Both  C.  & 
E.  I.  and  Big  Four  railroads  had  tracks  leading  to  the  mine. 
This  was  a  successful  mine  until  the  tipple  burned  down  in  1896. 
Mr.  Swallow  later  moved  to  Mississippi  and  died  there. 

Mr.  0.  M.  Van  Allen  carries  on  Mr.  Swallow's  work,  having 
a  general  store  patronized  by  neighbors.  The  rural  route  has 
also  dispensed  with  the  post  office. 

The  scenery  around  Glenburn  is  very  grand.  The  stone  cut 
is  a  very  picturesque  place.  Also  there  are  flowing  springs  which 
are  very  unique,  one  furnishing  salt  water  and  another  pure, 
fresh  spring  water. 

There  are  two  churches  very  close  to  Glenburn,  also  the 
old  hall  known  as  Pleasant  Grove  Hall,  which  is  located  on  a 

[50] 


beautiful  spot.  In  the  yard  of  the  cemetery  is  what  is  known  as 
the  old  Primitive  Baptist  Church.  Later,  a  stucco  church  was 
built  below  the  hill. 

There  is  also  a  little  red  schoolhouse  near  Glenburn  con- 
taining one  room  and  an  ante-room.  This  schoolhouse  has  been 
attended  by  quite  a  few  pupils  in  the  past;  however,  there  are 
only  a  few  pupils  attending  there  now.  There  is  only  one  teacher 
teaching  there. 

Glenburn  is  situated  between  the  villages  of  Newtown  and 
Oakwood.  Glenburn  and  Newtown  are  not  quite  as  large  as  the 
village  of  Oakwood. 

THE  OLD  GLENBURN  MINE 

By  Dorothea  Arthelene  Lomax,  Dist.  122 
Teacher,  ARIZONA  MONTGOMERY 

Mr.  C.  M.  Swallow  started  this  mine  about  1885.  His  son» 
Howard  Swallow,  is  now  living  in  Danville.  It  was  located  about 
three  miles  northeast  of  Oakwood. 

Mr.  Swallow  intended  to  make  a  local  mine  and  sell  coal  to 
the  farmers,  who  would  haul  it  with  teams  for  miles,  even  as 
far  as  Armstrong  and  Potomac. 

The  coal  was  hoisted  with  a  gin.  This  is  a  drum  with  a 
long  sweep  and  a  horse  hitched  to  the  end  of  the  sweep,  pulling 
it  round  and  round. 

The  coal  was  dumped  in  large  sheds  where  thousands  of 
tons  were  stored,  then  sold  to  the  farmers  in  the  fall.  The  coal 
was  shot  or  blasted  out,  dug  by  the  miners  and  loaded  in  small 
cars  drawn  by  mules. 

Mr.  Swallow  later  converted  it  into  a  railroad  mine.  He 
had  a  track  laid  to  his  mine  by  means  of  a  switch  connecting 
with  the  Big  Four  at  Oakwood.  In  order  to  do  this  they  had  to 
cut  a  road  for  the  track  through  solid  rock  for  a  distance  of  about 
one  hundred  feet  and  to  a  height  of  about  thirty-five  feet.  He 
shipped  coal  to  markets  for  a  short  period. 

Finally  they  had  a  disagreement  with  the  Big  Four,  dis- 
connected the  switch  and  connected  with  the  C.  &  E.  I.  at 
Brothers  Station,  a  distance  of  five  miles  from  the  mine. 

During  a  keen  competition  in  the  90's,  Mr.  Swallow  was 
furnishing  the  Illinois  Steel  Mill  in  Chicago  its  coal.  In  1898, 
he  put  in  his  bid  to  the  Steel  Company  at  fifty-three  cents  a 
ton  and  the  Mike  Kelly  Coal  Company  bid  fifty-one  cents  and 
got  the  contract. 

Soon  afterward,  Mr.  Swallow  abandoned  the  mine,  took  up 
the  tracks  and  quit  business.  If  he  had  continued  for  two  months 
longer,  coal  would  have  been  a  better  price,  as  it  went  up  to 
two  dollars  a  ton. 

Most  of  the  miners  lived  in  the  houses  built  by  Mr.  Swallow. 
Many  of  them  were  near  the  mine.  Nothing  much  remains  now 
of  the  mine.  One  would  hardly  think  such  a  large  and  flourishing 
mine  ever  existed  there. 

[51] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  UNION  CORNER  SCHOOL 

By  Lois  Marjorie  Langley,  Dist.  140 
Teacher,  Pauline  Meade 

Over  one  hundred  years  ago,  there  was  a  schoolhouse  in  the 
woods  about  one-half  mile  east  of  the  present  school.  A  log 
schoolhouse  was  built  in  1848  on  the  present  lot.  It  had  a  clap- 
board roof.  In  1865,  a  one-room  schoolhouse  was  built  just  south 
of  the  present  one.  Church  and  Sunday  school  were  held  in 
this  building. 

The  name  of  the  school  was  Union.  About  1890,  the  en- 
rollment being  eighty-two,  another  room  was  built  on  the  east 
side  with  double  doors  between  the  two  rooms.  Daniel  Stipp 
was  the  first  principal,  and  Miss  Leona  Langley  the  first  primary 
teacher. 

In  1891,  a  church  was  built  across  the  road.  As  there  was 
a  church  by  the  name  of  Union  between  here  and  Danville  on 
the  Rileysburg  road,  the  new  church  was  named  Union  Corner, 
and  the  name  of  the  school  was  changed  to  Union  Corner. 

In  1911,  the  building  was  sold.  The  west  room  is  now  used 
as  a  barn  on  the  Peare  Dye  farm,  and  the  east  room  stands 
across  the  road  from  Butternut  School.  Mr.  Joiner  of  Newtown 
and  Miss  Lida  Fairchild  of  near  Snider  were  the  last  teachers. 

The  present  school  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1911.  Mrs. 
Minnie  Kemma  Martin  and  Miss  Lida  Fairchild  were  the  first 
teachers.  The  directors  at  that  time  were  J.  M.  Kerby,  W.  W. 
Raine,  and  J.  A.  Jones. 

Some  of  the  pupils  who  became  teachers  are  Frank  Hauser, 
Charles  Evans,  Oscar  Wilcoxen,  Tilman  Breezley,  the  Misses 
Sadie  Houser,  Margaret  Laura,  Nora  and  Leona  Langley,  Min- 
nia  and  Alice  Kemma,  Matilda  Breezley,  Claudia  Ashcraft, 
Edith  Lindley  and  Emelyn  Martin, 

Some  of  the  other  teachers  were  Rev.  Mathix  Coleman, 
William  Neal,  J.  F.  Geddles,  Augusta  Atherton,  Mr.  Campbell, 
Arthur  Allison,  Minnie  Kiyger,  Gertrude  Lyman,  Alice  Rigdon, 
Ida  Hay,  Northcatt  Thomas,  Wilber  Swem,  Bessie  Swank,  Elsie 
Elder  Breezely,  Joseph  Sailor,  Sam  Richardson,  J.  D.  Dove, 
Mr.  Robert  Henry  Brown,  Alice  Dukes,  Helen  Wait,  Mr.  Myers, 
John  Shank. 

The  present  teachers  are  Miss  Pauline  Meade  and  Miss 
Emelyn  Martin. 

GOD'S  ACRE 

By  Frances  Ellen  Rohour,  Dist.  144 
Teacher,  Dorothy  Gilkison 

One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  years  ago,  the  first  prairie 
land  in  what  is  now  Vermilion  county  was  cleared  and  planted. 
This  work  was  done  by  a  pioneer  farmer,  James  D.  Butler, 
native  of  Vermont.    He  came  here  in  1820. 

[52] 


In  the  fall  of  1822,  James  Butler's  oldest  daughter  died 
and  she  was  buried  at  God's  Acre,  the  first  cemetery  in  the 
county. 

The  land  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  Josiah  and  Elizabeth 
Sandusky.  On  August  6,  1850,  they  deeded  it  to  the  Vermilion 
County  Board  of  Supervisors.  This  was  not  recorded,  however, 
until  November  24,  1855.  It  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  C.  W.  Wherry 
of  Cathn. 

After  a  time,  the  old  cemetery  was  forgotten  and  became 
a  tangle  of  weeds  and  vines.  Tombstones  were  overturned  and 
some  were  broken  by  livestock. 

During  the  year  of  1926,  when  Vermilion  county  was  cele- 
brating her  centennial,  the  cemetery  was  repaired.  Mr.  Frank 
Carrigan,  Walter  Dysert  and  W.  F.  Baum  were  responsible  for 
much  of  this  work.  After  the  work  was  finished,  services  were 
held  and  a  public  road  built  to  the  cemetery. 

Tombstones  have  been  ordered  for  these  old  graves  such  as: 
Lura  Guyman;  Major  John  W.  Vance  and  his  wife;  Asa  Elliot 
and  his  wife;  Noah  Guyman;  and  several  others. 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  WESTVILLE 

By  Margaret  Petrus,  Dist.  No.  154 
Teacher,  Donald  J.  Williams 

The  first  settlers  named  the  present  town  of  Westville, 
Brook's  Point,  after  John  Brooks,  the  second  white  baby  born 
here.    James  O'Neil  was  the  first  baby  born. 

When  the  first  settlers  came  here  there  were  many  Indian 
tribes,  the  chief  one  being  the  Kickapoo  Indians.  These  Indians 
sometimes  went  on  the  warpath  and  to  keep  them  in  good  humor 
the  settlers  used  to  give  them  little  things.  One  day  one  of  the 
early  pioneer  women  had  baked  some  fresh  bread  and  placed  it 
on  the  side  board.  Some  had  raisins  and  some  was  plain.  One 
of  the  numerous  tribes  soon  came,  and  the  chief  said  he  wanted 
some  bread.  She  asked  which  kind  he  wanted.  He  replied,  "The 
one  with  the  flies  in  it."  This  shows  that  the  Indians  knew  very 
little  about  the  white  man's  ways. 

The  early  settlers  found  only  mud  roads  and  the  Dixie 
highway  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  Where  the  C.  &  E.  I. 
tracks  are  now  was  once  a  large  stream  crossed  by  a  log  bridge. 

Where  the  square  is  now  was  then  called  Scott's  Corners. 
Here  the  girls  and  boys  ran  races.  Scott's  Corners  was  named 
after  a  man  named  Scott,  who  came  from  Ohio  in  a  home  made 
wagon  pulled  by  an  ox  team.  Scott  built  the  first  building.  It 
was  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  square.  This  was  a  long,  low 
rambling  structure  with  a  large  veranda.  The  house  was  a  frame 
building. 

On  the  northwest  corner  of  the  square  was  a  blacksmith 
shop.  It  was  run  by  a  negro  named  Wright.  On  the  southeast 
corner  was  another  long  rambling  frame  building  built  by  Harry 
Cotton.    On  the  northeast  corner  was  a  large  pair  of  scales  set 

[53] 


up  by  a  man  named  Dukes.  These  were  called  Dukes'  Scales. 
The  farmers  weighed  hogs  before  hauling  them  to  Chicago  or 
Newport. 

Other  early  settlers  were  the  Brooks,  O'Neil,  Dukes,  Scott, 
Graves,  Sconce,  Blakney,  Ellsworth,  Black,  and  Stevens  families. 

Isaac  Taber  was  the  first  man  to  build  a  home  east  of  West- 
ville.  James  Ashbey  was  the  first  home  maker  south  of  Westville. 
West  of  Westville,  William  Stevens  built  the  first  home.  The 
first  home  in  North  Westville  was  built  by  George  Watson  about 
51  years  ago.  This  building  still  stands  today.  It  is  west  of  the 
Central  school. 

Some  of  the  early  settlers  started  the  early  stores  and  places 
of  business.  Where  the  C.  &  E.  I.  depot  is  now,  a  brick  and  tile 
factory  was  run  by  John  Dukes.  Elliot  Wade  had  a  shoe  cobbling 
shop  near  the  Big  Four  depot.  Mike  Kelley  ran  a  Company  store 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Kellyville  Square.  This  was  the 
first  store  in  that  vicinity.  Some  of  the  other  early  storekeepers 
were  Scott,  Rabern,  John  Lockes,  Jim  Scottin,  and  George 
Watson. 

The  first  mine.  No.  1,  was  sunk  60  years  ago,  the  second. 
No.  2,  around  50  years  ago,  and  40  years  past.  No.  3.  About 
1889  there  was  a  mine  strike.  The  State  Militia  was  called  out. 
In  the  fighting  Mrs.  Glennan  and  a  daughter  of  Jack  James 
were  killed  accidentally  by  the  militia.  This  strike  occurred  in 
Grape  Creek. 

Around  60  years  ago,  the  Big  Four  Railroad  came  to  West- 
ville, and  nearly  8  years  later  the  C.  &  E.  I.  was  put  in.  More 
recently — 35  years  ago — the  street  cars  came. 

The  earliest  Doctor  was  Dr.  Balch,  followed  by  his  son, 
Samuel  Balch.    Then  came  Dr.  Taylor  and  Dr.  Hickman. 

Nearly  forty  five  years  ago,  the  first  saloon  came.  It  was 
combined  with  the  first  hotel.  Mrs.  Haggardy  ran  this  saloon. 
Soon  Riggles,  Tuvuada,  Highnol,  Warnakey,  Minnecoes,  and 
Boswell  came.  In  Kellyville  came  Raye  and  Moyer.  These  are 
only  a  few  because  there  were  nearly  67  saloons  in  Westville. 

The  first  school  was  a  log  cabin  east  of  Westville.  John 
Myers  was  the  teacher.  In  this  schoolhouse,  Rawley  Martin 
preached  many  sermons.  The  second  school,  a  brick  building, 
was  built  in  1870.  Billy  Brinkley  was  the  first  teacher,  followed 
by  Eva  Wells.  The  first  school  in  town  was  a  building  rented 
from  Isaac  Taber.  Neb  Hartley  was  the  teacher.  Where  Central 
school  now  stands  was  a  frame  school  taught  by  Charley  Morlin. 
John  Olmstead  was  the  second  teacher. 

Some  of  the  early  churches.  The  Christian  was  where  the 
frame  building  in  Edison  school  yard.  This  was  built  in  1874. 
In  1875,  a  Presbyterian  Church  was  built  where  the  St.  Procopius 
church  is  now. 

The  old  Lodges  were  the  Temperence — a  lodge  for  young 
people,  and  the  Odd  Fellows  for  men. 

This  story  was  given  through  the  courtesy  of  Mrs.  Neis  of 
South  Westville. 

[54] 


HISTORY  OF  WILLOW  SPRINGS  SCHOOL 

By  Marguerite  Reffett,  Dist.  157 
Teacher,  Merle  Houston 

A  school,  among  the  first  things  of  real  importance  in  the 
early  settlements,  always  has  been  given  about  first  considera- 
tion. Many  have  interesting  and  unique  histories  in  the  beginning. 

After  many  conferences  and  a  careful  survey  of  the  general 
situation,  a  location  for  a  schoolhouse  was  finally  decided  upon 
in  the  valley,  a  place  rather  ideal,  having  plenty  of  good  water, 
shade  and  play  grounds. 

A  small  tract  of  land  was  purchased  from  Lewis  Stevens  and 
the  school  grounds  cut  off  from  the  Stevens  estate.  The  school- 
house  was  erected  in  the  summer  of  1877.  A  man  by  the  name 
of  Bishop  built  it  by  contract. 

A  big  willow  tree,  at  the  time  and  for  many  years  after, 
stood  near  the  present  home  of  Erie  Huffman,  and  there  was  a 
very  fine  spring  of  water  near  the  tree.  After  many  ideas  were 
advanced,  it  was  finally  decided  to  name  the  place  "Willow 
Springs,"  in  honor  of  the  big  willow  tree  and  a  number  of  fine 
springs  in  the  vicinity.  The  school  got  drinking  water  at  the 
spring  for  many  years. 

A  school  district  was  marked  out  and  it  was  known  for  a 
number  of  years  as  No.  10.  After  several  years,  the  districts  were 
renumbered  and  district  No.  10  given  No.  157. 

W.  J.  Boone,  Hugh  Blakeney  and  Uriah  McArdle  were  the 
first  school  directors,  elected  in  district  No.  10.  They  were  re- 
elected from  time  to  time,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  many 
years,  as  the  School  Board.  David  Smith  taught  the  first  term 
of  school  and  gave  general  satisfaction.  Some  of  the  pupils  that 
went  the  first  year  were— Mary  Boone,  Lily  Trosper,  Janey 
Bishop,  Dill  Bishop,  Sarah  Ellen  Shoman,  Nancy  Reffett,  Lettie 
Reflfett,  Haile  Bishop,  Lisa  Trosper,  Hattie  Galbreth,  Mollie 
Galbreth,  Clara  Boone,  Cora  Boone,  Mary  Bishop,  Nancy  Ellen 
Stevens,  Elva  Nier,  Ed  Trosper,  Jeneral  Trosper,  Joe  Snyder,  Bob 
Snyder,  Lee  Stevens,  Harve  Blakney,  and  Frank  Collins.  The 
schoolhouse  for  about  twenty-five  years  was  used  for  various 
educational  purposes,  the  headquarters  and  meeting  place  for 
the  community,  and  a  civic  center. 

The  house  served  for  school,  church,  elections,  literary  meet- 
ings, spelling  bees,  shows,  exhibitions,  Christmas  programs,  box 
socials,  ice  cream  festivals,  political  and  temperance  meetings. 
It  was  a  public  place  for  all. 

Many  terms  of  school  have  been  taught  there,  and  they 
have  always  graded  fairly  well  in  efficiency. 

John  H.  Martin,  a  resident  preacher,  conducted  many  stir- 
ring revival  meetings  in  the  original  edifice. 

Several  National  Elections  were  held  there,  one  in  Fall  of 
1888  a  very  memorable  event.  A  number  of  old-time  literaries 
have  been  organized  there.  Various  questions  were  argued  at 
length,  and  many  hot  debates  have  been  staged. 

[55] 


Occasionally,  a  magic  lantern  show  of  the  old-time  pattern 
would  drop  in.  They  were  very  wonderful  a  few  years  ago,  and 
always  showed  to  a  full  house.  Many  good  exhibitions  of  home 
talent  have  been  staged  in  the  old  schoolhouse.  A  number  of 
Christmas  celebrations  have  taken  place  there  with  a  big  Christ- 
mas tree  and  program.  Box  socials  and  ice  cream  festivals  were 
always  well  attended.  Several  political  and  temperance  meetings, 
of  varied  significance  however,  have  been  held  there.  Some 
celebrated  orators  of  the  day  made  speeches,  all  usually  very 
interesting. 

After  a  time,  population  increased  and  it  became  necessary 
to  build  an  addition  to  the  old  schoolhouse.  Two  rooms  were 
needed  and  two  teachers.  In  due  time,  two  rooms  were  provided 
and  two  teachers  employed.  The  whole  structure,  old  and  new, 
was  overhauled  in  the  summer  of  1931.  The  building  was  placed 
on  a  good  concrete  foundation,  cleaned  up  and  re-painted.  The 
grounds  were  given  a  good  going  over,  and  the  trees  trimmed. 
It  all  helped  wonderfully  and  the  place  presented  an  up-to-date 
appearance  in  general.  There  are  about  forty  pupils  going  there 
now. 


CENTER  POINT  CHURCH 

By  WiLINORE  MOREMAN,  Dist.  170 

Teacher,  Edna  White 

I  have  chosen  this  subject  because  I  am  one  of  the  fourth 
generation  of  my  family  to  attend  the  Center  Point  Church. 

This  church  is  located  about  six  miles  southwest  of  Fair- 
mount  and  three  miles  of  Jamaica.  In  the  year  of  1891  this 
church  was  dedicated  by  Reverend  Brooks  of  Paris,  Illinois. 

Prior  to  this  time,  the  people  worshipped  in  the  Center 
Pomt  schoolhouse.  It  was  in  the  year  of  1891,  while  a  revival 
meeting  was  being  held,  that  a  young  lady.  Miss  Ada  Hedges, 
now  Mrs.  Ada  Smith  of  Homer,  Illinois,  desired  to  enlist  in  the 
services  and  work  of  her  Lord.  Her  parents,  being  members  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  sought  to  start  their  daughter  in  the 
Gospel  training  and  their  own  faith.  A  preacher  of  the  New 
Testament  was  then  called.  This  minister  was  the  Reverend 
B.  N.  Anderson,  who  held  a  three  weeks'  meeting  in  the  Center 
Point  Schoolhouse,  and  in  which  building  Sunday  School  and 
Church  were  held  until  February  14,  1891.  Sunday  School  and 
Church  had  been  held  in  the  schoolhouse  in  former  years  oc- 
casionally, but  there  was  no  organization  until  1891. 

Then  the  disciples  named  below  met  and  organized  them- 
selves into  a  congregation  of  the  New  Testament  teaching: 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  A.  Hedges,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard 
Elliott,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  McKee,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David 
Sconce,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Greer,  Mrs.  Matilda  Hitchcock, 
Mrs.  Jennie  Hopper,  Mrs.  Lucy  Hedges,  Mrs.  Anna  Elliott  Sul- 
livan all  now  deceased. 

[56] 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ed.  Ellis  of  Macy,  Indiana 

Mrs.  Emma  Elliott  Carrington  of  Georgetown 

Mrs.  Ada  Hedges  Smith  of  Homer 

Mr.  Harvey  Elliott  of  Sidell,  Illinois. 

Elders  of  the  church  chosen  at  the  time  the  church  was 
organized  were:  Richard  Elliott,  James  A.  Hedges.  Deacons  of 
the  Church  when  organized:  Ed.  Ellis,  Harvey  Elliott. 

Thirty-two  members  were  received  in  the  first  revival  meet- 
ing, many  of  whom  have  "crossed  the  bar"  but  whose  children 
and  grandchildren  are  still  carrying  on  the  work. 

The  Sunday  School  attendance  on  each  Sunday  is  from  35 
to  50.  There  is  one  man  attending  who  has  not  missed  Sunday 
School  in  five  years.  This  man  is  George  Hedges  of  Fairmount, 
Illinois.    Many  have  a  one  year  record. 

Reverend  I.  L.  Cummins  of  Danville  has  been  the  minister 
of  the  Church  the  last  five  years,  and  it  is  thought  that  his  good 
work  has  kept  the  Church  thriving  and  growing. 


THE  OLD  UNDERWOOD  SCHOOL 

By  IMOGENE  Onley,  Dist.  180 
Teacher,  Dale  Robinett 

In  the  year  1850,  there  was  built  an  old  school  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  east  of  Meeks  named  the  Underwood  schoolhouse. 
It  was  made  of  thick  logs  and  wasn't  very  big.  All  of  the  floor 
was  made  of  hand  hewed  timber.  It  didn't  have  very  many 
windows,  and  had  old-fashioned  seats  in  it.  It  was  heated  by 
a  fireplace. 

Martha  Sigler  was  teacher  during  the  Civil  War.  She  was 
the  mother  of  0.  C.  Robinett,  superintendent  of  the  George- 
town schools. 

About  1875,  Doc  Richardson  was  the  teacher.  Some  of  the 
children  who  went  to  school  during  this  time  are:  T.  J.  Smith 
(Deceased),  Phillip  Dickerson,  Silas  Underwood  (Deceased), 
Alfred  Calhoun,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Smith. 

When  Silas  Underwood  went  to  school  he  wore  a  beard  and 
always  chewed  tobacco.  Doc  Richardson  would  not  let  him  chew 
tobacco  on  the  school  ground.  Every  evening  after  school,  he 
would  chew  his  tobacco  after  he  got  ofi"  of  the  school  ground. 
All  of  them  lived  around  here  at  this  time. 

In  1915,  this  schoolhouse  was  rebuilt  and  made  into  a  nice 
big  one.  This  one  had  a  coal  house  in  it,  and  had  a  nice  library 
in  it  which  contained  about  450  books.  It  was  a  modern  school- 
house.  In  1934,  this  schoolhouse  burned  down.  Mr.  Sanks  was 
the  teacher  at  this  time.  Some  of  the  children  that  went  to  this 
school  when  it  burned  are:  Mary  DeLattre,  Celestine  DeLattre, 
Alberta  Hartman. 

After  this  schoolhouse  burned  down,  they  built  a  small  shed, 
and  had  school  in  it.    At  the  present  time,  they  are  building  a 

[57] 


new  one.  It  is  going  to  look  like  the  other  one  only  it  is  not  go- 
ing to  have  a  coal  house  in  it.  They  have  the  frame  and  all  but 
one  side  finished. 

THE  "OLD  LINCOLN  HOUSE" 

Bij  Stephen  W.  Coate,  Dist.  183 
Principal,  Bessie  Grose 

The  house  that  bears  this  name  is  located  in  the  small  town 
of  Olivet,  which  is  on  the  Dixie  Highway  about  fourteen  miles 
south  of  Danville. 

This  house  was  built  in  1870.  It  stood  where  Mr.  Luther 
Allen  has  his  house  and  where  the  Olivet  College  Inn  is  located. 
It  was  a  one-room  house,  and  was  moved  to  where  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Joe  Anderson  live  at  the  present  time.  Some  people  moved  in 
this  room  and  built  more  rooms  around  it.  It  is  situated  between 
the  kitchen  and  the  dining  room.  The  log  floor  that  was  in  the 
house  was  not  removed  when  the  one-room  house  was  moved, 
but  a  better  floor  was  laid  over  it. 

At  the  time  this  one  room  was  moved,  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
holding  court  in  Danville  and  Paris.  He  walked  or  rode  horse- 
back from  one  city  to  the  other.  In  making  this  circuit,  he  would 
nearly  always  stop  over  night  at  this  house.  This  is  why  they 
named  it  the  "Old  Lincoln  House."  And  to  the  people  of  Olivet 
and  near  vicinity,  it  still  goes  by  this  name.  And,  as  I  have  stated 
above,  it  is  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joe  Anderson. 

HISTORY  OF  CONKEY  TOWN 

By  Ransom  Beers.  Dist.  187 
Teacher,  HELEN  H.  BENNETT 

My  great-great-grandfather  (John  Shephard)  built  the  first 
grist  mill  at  Conkey  Town  about  1826,  bringing  the  burrs  by 
ox  team  from  Ohio. 

He  died  soon  after  the  building  of  the  mill,  and  the  place 
of  his  burial  is  unknown. 

The  mill  was  located  about  two  hundred  feet  south  of  the 
covered  bridge.  A  large  cut  was  made  through  the  solid  rock, 
a  large  well  inserted  in  the  cut,  and  a  dam  farther  north  forced 
the  water  that  ran  the  mill.  The  mill  changed  hands  several 
times,  but  was  last  owned  by  the  Berkley  Brothers.  The  mill  was 
torn  down  about  1900. 

The  village,  at  one  time,  consisted  of  several  dwelling  houses, 
one  distillery,  a  blacksmith  shop.  Doctor's  office,  one  saw  mill, 
and  a  store,  all  of  which  moved  to  Ogden  when  the  Big  Four 
Railroad  came  through. 

My  Grandfather  Beers  lived  near  Conkey  Town,  living 
when  a  child  in  the  village.  He  helped  build  the  covered  bridge 
about  1867,  and  is  probably  the  only  man  living  who  helped 
build  the  bridge. 

[58] 


THE  ALLERTON  RANCH 

Bij  Melba  Craddock,  Dist.  192 
Teacher,  Oma  Patterson 

In  the  extreme  southwest  part  of  Vermilion  county  lies  a 
large  tract  of  land  known  as  the  "Allerton  Ranch."  This  unusual 
name  in  the  heart  of  Illinois  corn  belt  applies  to  almost  3800 
acres  of  highly  cultivated  land  belonging  to  the  Samuel  W. 
Allerton  heirs.  Mr.  Allerton  purchased  this  land  in  1880  from 
J.  H.  Clark  of  the  Singer  Sewing  Machine  Company,  who  fore- 
closed the  mortgage  on  the  celebrated  Joseph  Sullivan  farm. 

In  earlier  days  this  was  called  by  settlers,  "Twin  Grove 
Farm,"  because  of  two  groves  of  about  one  hundred  acres  each 
on  this  tract  of  land,  that  looked  so  much  alike.  Mr.  Michael 
Sullivan  was  appointed  a  trustee  of  a  large  estate  in  Kentucky 
and  Ohio  since  his  son  was  an  heir.  He  invested  this  inheritance 
in  lands  purchased  from  Robert  H.  Ives,  who  emigrated  to  this 
country  in  1853.  Mr.  Ives  purchased  this  land  at  government 
prices,  later  giving  a  quit  claim  to  Michael  Sullivan. 

In  1881  Mr.  Allerton  placed  Mr.  W.  G.  Herron  in  the  en- 
tire management  of  this  farm.  The  firm  of  Allerton  and  Herron 
was  a  successful  business  venture.  They  induced  the  Chicago 
and  Eastern  Railroad  to  forward  its  work,  and  Mr.  Allerton 
donated  the  right-of-way  through  his  land  and  laid  out  the  town 
of  Allerton.  Because  of  its  location  Allerton  became  a  good 
point  for  shipping  grain,  cattle  and  horses.  Later,  Mr.  Allerton 
caused  a  large  steam  elevator  to  be  erected  which  was  operated 
by  Mr.  John  Herron.  He  built  all  of  the  business  buildings.  He 
gave  ten  lots  and  $5000  besides  for  a  school  to  be  built. 

After  the  school  was  built,  Mrs.  Allerton  gave  a  library, 
carefully  chosen,  to  meet  the  school  needs.  She  also  gave  a 
Domestic  Science  room  to  the  school,  and  bought  all  the  equip- 
ment that  was  needed,  and  paid  the  teacher's  salary.  In  January, 
1892,  the  Allertons  dedicated  the  M.  E.  Church  to  Allerton, 
Illinois.  Mrs.  Allerton  purchased  many  song  books  for  the  church. 
Mr.  Allerton  established  the  bank  at  Allerton,  Illinois,  which 
was  known  as  Allerton  State  Bank.  Mr.  John  Herron  was  the 
first  cashier.  The  Allerton  Estate  also  donated  a  park  to  Allerton. 
The  people  paid  a  park  tax  each  year  for  the  upkeep  of  it.  Mr. 
Allerton  put  in  the  water  system  of  Allerton,  mainly  to  give 
fire  protection  to  his  buildings.  He  made  it  possible  to  have  gravel 
placed  on  the  main  street  in  Allerton. 

Mr.  Herron,  who  was  the  first  manager,  was  an  outstanding 
cattle  man  and  farmer.  He  managed  the  farm  from  1880  to  1897. 
In  1897  Mr.  John  Phalen  became  manager.  In  1898,  Mr.  Michael 
Phalen  became  manager.  Under  his  management  it  became  one 
of  the  finest  farms  for  fertility,  and  well  kept  improvements, 
well  fenced  and  well  drained.  It  is  rented  in  large  tracts  and  is 
farmed  with  a  rotation  of  wheat,  beans,  corn  and  clover.  After 
the  death  of  Michael  Phalen,  in  1927,  his  son,  Joseph  Phalen, 
became  manager. 

[59] 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  GERLAUGH  DISTRICT 

NO.  192 

By  Billy  Walters,  Dist.  192 
Teacher,  Oma  Patterson 

The  Gerlaugh  District  is  located  in  the  southwestern  part 
of  Vermilion  county,  half-way  between  Sidell  and  Allerton.  It 
is  one  of  the  best  cultivated  and  improved  sections  of  the  county. 

This  region  was  not  always  so  highly  productive  or  well 
drained  as  it  is  today.  It  was  a  raw  prairie  without  trees  or 
shrubs.  The  early  pioneers  journeying  west  were  often  dis- 
couraged at  the  bleakness,  and  not  being  favorably  impressed, 
passed  on.  Many  cattle  men  who  had  traveled  on  horseback 
over  this  land,  expressed  their  opinion  that  this  land  "would 
never  be  worth  a  dime."  But  other  men,  being  far-sighted  and 
thrifty,  settled  here,  buying  up  large  tracts  of  land  for  only  a 
few  dollars  an  acre. 

Among  these  far-sighted  men  was  Mr.  John  Sidell,  who 
became  owner  of  almost  7000  acres.  This  tract  was  admirably 
suited  to  stock  raising,  and  many  horses  were  raised.  Later 
about  1872,  Mr.  Sidell  decided  to  open  up  a  portion  of  this  land 
to  settlers  who  would  come  and  take  up  homes.  He  chartered  a 
train  from  Columbus,  Ohio,  for  the  benefit  of  those  deciding  to 
make  homes  in  the  west. 

This  offer  attracted  Mr.  Jacob  Gerlaugh  of  Dayton,  Ohio. 
He  purchased  about  1100  acres  of  land.  In  the  same  year,  1873, 
Mr.  Jacob  Black  came  also  to  make  his  home.  Mr.  Lyman  Terry 
of  Chicago,  catching  a  vision  of  the  future,  decided  to  trade  his 
holdings  in  valuable  city  lots  for  a  homestead.  Later  he  invested 
in  more  land. 

Another  pioneer,  who  saw  possibilities  in  this  land,  was  Mr. 
Isaac  Rowand.  Believing  that  proper  draining  would  reclaim 
it  into  valuable  corn  land,  he  purchased  an  extensive  tract  known 
as  the  "Rowand  Homestead."  These  men  have  labored  early 
and  late  in  the  improvement  of  their  homes.  They  watched  the 
development  and  aided  the  growth  of  this  section.  There  was 
abundance  of  wild  game,  a  great  many  snakes,  and  in  the  spring- 
time the  horizon  was  darkened  by  smoke  of  prairie  fires. 

The  Gerlaugh  farm  was  operated  in  two  divisions  by  Mr. 
Hanes  Gerlaugh  and  Mr.  Taylor  Gerlaugh,  sons  of  Mr.  Jacob 
Gerlaugh.  They  made  many  improvements,  built  comfortable 
homes  and  commodious  barns  and  sheds.  Mr.  Hanes  Gerlaugh 
was  the  first  farmer  to  install  a  windmill.  Mr.  Jacob  Black  was 
the  first  person  in  the  community  to  possess  a  spring  wagon, 
and  it  was  often  pressed  into  service  as  a  hearse. 

The  children  of  these  early  settlers  were  compelled  to  walk 
almost  three  miles  to  attend  the  Highland  School.  In  1888, 
Mr.  Hanes  Gerlaugh  gave  a  site  for  a  school  called  Gerlaugh 
District  No.  192.  A  neat  schoolhouse  was  erected,  and  Miss 
Ida  Ames  of  Sidell  was  secured  as  teacher.  At  that  time  there 
were  about  25  pupils.     Some  other  teachers  who  have  taught 

[60] 


were  Mr.  Asa  Gulp,  Catlin;  Mr.  J.  A.  Heaton,  Hoopeston;  Dr. 
A.  G.  Gillogly,  Newman;  and  Mr.  A.  B.  Quick,  Danville. 

The  roads  were  made  of  dirt  and  in  the  winter  were  very 
hard  to  travel;  yet,  Dr.  Martinie  of  Palermo  always  managed  to 
reach  his  patients.  Mail  was  obtained  either  at  Homer  or  Hume, 
whenever  the  people  happened  to  visit  either  town. 

These  public  spirited  men  and  women  have  made  it  possible 
that  I  might  travel  with  ease  and  comfort,  receiving  benefits 
from  well  drained,  highly  cultivated  lands,  and  to  obtain  an 
education  that  will  enable  me  to  carry  on  the  task  they  have  set 
before  me. 


A  PIONEER  PHYSICIAN 

(DR.  HENRY  C.  HOLTON) 

By  AiLEEN  Erickson,  Dist.  194 

Superintendent,  B.  H.  Spicer 

As  we  look  over  the  annals  of  Vermilion  county  and  look 
over  all  the  professions,  there  is  none  which  surpasses  the  medical 
profession.  No  profession  comes  more  into  contact  with  the 
daily  lives  of  the  country's  people  and  no  greater  good  can  be 
accomplished  than  by  the  medical  profession.  In  the  early  days 
of  our  country,  physicians  suffered  great  hardships.  Their  work 
was  not  commercialized  and  all  people  rich  and  poor  alike  were 
served  by  our  early  physicians. 

In  our  own  community  we  find  the  life  of  a  physician  who 
filled  the  needs  of  the  community.  Dr.  Henry  G.  Holton. 

Dr.  Henry  G.  Holton  was  a  son  of  Leonard  G.  Holton  and 
Helen  Dudley.  He  was  born  on  October  23,  1853,  at  Indianola, 
Illinois,  in  a  house  that  stood  just  west  of  where  the  Baptist 
Ghurch  now  stands.  When  he  was  eight  years  old  an  attack  of 
infantile  paralysis  left  him  a  cripple  for  life.  This  affliction  caused 
him  to  be  often  left  alone  by  his  companions  in  games  and  sports. 
Dr.  Holton  was  reared  at  home,  acquiring  his  education  in  the 
public  schools  of  Indianola.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  the 
University  of  Illinois,  but  for  lack  of  funds  he  attended  but  one 
year.  He  then  took  up  the  profession  of  teaching  which  he  fol- 
lowed ten  years.  In  1881  he  entered  the  JelTerson  Medical  Gol- 
lege  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  in 
1883.  He  first  opened  an  office  at  Homer,  Illinois,  practicing 
medicine  there  for  a  short  time,  but  not  finding  the  practice  he 
wanted,  he  later  came  to  Archie  which  was  a  thriving  \illage  at 
that  time,  remaining  there  about  four  years.  In  August  1887 
he  opened  an  office  in  Sidell  where  he  practiced  medicine  44  years. 

In  1883  Dr.  Holton  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Ura 
Ames  of  Palermo,  Illinois.  They  had  six  children.  Three  died 
in  infancy,  and  three  are  living,  Max  C,  Wade  A.,  and  Garyl  A. 
They  reared  three  adopted  daughters,  Frankie  L.  Holton,  Garnet 
L.  Dickinson,  and  Ruth  M.  Dickinson. 

[61] 


Dr.  Holton  was  affiliated  with  several  fraternal  organiza- 
tions: I.  0.  0.  F.  lodge,  I.  0.  O.  F.  encampment.  Patriarch  Mili- 
tant, Rebekah  Lodge,  Knights  of  Pythias,  Modern  Woodmen, 
Elks,  Illinois  Society,  and  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Dr.  Holton  passed  away  Thursday,  March  5,  1931,  in  St. 
Louis,  Missouri.  His  funeral  services  were  held  on  Sunday  after- 
noon, March  8,  1931,  at  the  Christian  Church  of  Sidell.  He  was 
laid  to  rest  in  Woodlawn  Cemetery  near  Indianola. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  SIDELL  JOURNAL 

By  Helen  Jane  Hooker,  Dist.  194 
Superintendent,  B.  H.  Spicer 

No  doubt  the  early  settlers  thought  the  building  of  a  rail- 
road from  Danville  to  Villa  Grove  would  be  inevitable,  and  that 
what  is  now  Sidell,  a  point  on  the  old  Danville,  Olney,  and  Ohio 
River  Railroad,  would  be  a  logical  point  for  the  extension  of 
such  a  road  westward.  This  doubtless  was  one  of  the  factors 
which  caused  John  Sidell  to  lay  out  the  town  in  1884.  The  rail- 
road mentioned  was  built  some  four  or  five  years  later,  and  in 
1888  a  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Morgan,  a  school  teacher, 
started  a  publication  which  was  known  as  the  "Sidell  Reporter." 

Sidell  at  the  time  of  the  first  issue  was  a  town  of  two  or 
three  hundred  people.  At  this  time  there  were  few  publications 
in  this  section.  Fairmount  no  doubt  had  one  and  so  did  George- 
town. But  there  was  no  paper  in  either  Indianola  or  Allerton. 
The  "Reporter"  therefore  served  southeastern  Vermilion  county 
as  a  source  of  news. 

The  print  shop  was  first  housed  in  a  frame  building  located 
across  from  the  C.  &  E.  I.  depot.  The  building,  owned  by  G.  W. 
Gulp,  has  been  torn  down  in  recent  years.  After  a  period  of  about 
fourteen  weeks  under  the  first  management  the  publication  was 
bought  by  Charles  Allen  Wright. 

Charles  A.  Wright  was  born  at  the  old  homestead  one  mile 
north  of  this  place,  April  15,  1860.  In  1888  he  took  over  the 
management  and  published  the  paper  for  seven  years.  A  hand- 
some residence  on  North  Gray  Street  and  a  new  business  building 
now  occupied  by  the  Sidell  Hatchery  were  but  a  part  of  the 
material  improvements  which  he  added  to  our  city.  The  "Re- 
porter" flourished  under  his  care  from  an  uncertain  venture  in 
a  very  small  village  to  a  successful  local  paper  on  a  paying  basis. 

Wright  was  a  stalwart  Democrat.  He  was  recognized  as  one 
of  the  leaders  of  his  party  and  had  the  confidence  of  a  large 
number  of  politicians  of  his  party  throughout  this  section  of  the 
state. 

Charles  Wright  died  in  1895  and  following  his  death  his 
wife,  the  present  Carrie  E.  Jenkins  of  Sidell,  edited  the  paper  for 
a  short  time  and  then  it  was  given  over  to  H.  R.  Rogers. 

At  the  time  of  Charles  Wright's  death,  the  building  now 
occupied  by  the  Sidell  Hatchery  was  being  built  by  him  but  was 

[62] 


unfinished.  Pending  its  completion  his  presses  and  office  equip- 
ment had  been  moved  to  temporary  quarters  above  J.  M.  Miller's 
implement  store.  (Now  F.  M.  McCauley's  undertaking  parlors). 

In  1898  the  paper,  still  the  Sidell  Reporter,  was  edited  for 
one  year  by  Fielding  and  Lester  Coggeshell.  The  print  shop 
during  this  time  was  located  in  the  brick  building  in  what  is 
now  the  M.  W.  A.  hall.  In  1899  it  was  sold  to  Al  Smith  who 
gave  a  chattel  mortgage  on  it  to  John  Herron  and  Nick  Keller. 
They  closed  the  mortgage  and  stored  the  presses  and  other  equip- 
ment in  the  building  where  Frank  Gilroy  now  has  his  blacksmith 

shop.  ^         „  „ 

In  1900  T.  B.  Williams  bought  the  equipment  from  Keller 
and  Herron  and  moved  it  to  what  is  now  the  Woodmen's  Hall. 
It  was  here  that  Williams  published  the  first  issue  of  what  has 
since  been  known  as  the  Sidell  Journal,  December  8,  1900.  He 
maintained  his  print  shop  in  this  location  until  the  summer  of 
1909.  At  this  time  Williams  became  postmaster.  The  post  office 
was  then  where  Lowell  Myers  now  has  his  poultry  and  feed  store. 
Early  1910  the  pest  office  and  "Journal"  were  moved  to  the  pres- 
ent post  office  building  on  Gray  street  just  south  of  the  C.  &  E.  I. 
Railroad.  Here  Williams  published  his  last  issue  September  1, 
1932. 

When  Williams  took  over  the  paper  in  1900,  there  was  a 
great  deal  of  competition  in  this  and  surrounding  towns.  The 
greatest  circulation  during  his  management  was  about  nme  hun- 
dred. The  circulation  area  was  some  two  hundred  square  miles. 
Early  in  1932  Williams  sold  the  newspaper  to  Charles  Lane,  an 
experienced  newspaper  man,  wlo  came  from  French  Lick, 
Indiana.  The  paper  is  now  flourishing  under  his  care  and  the 
present  circulation  is  about  five  hundred.  The  shop  is  now 
housed  in  the  Sawyer  building  just  north  of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  Rail- 
road. Some  new  equipment,  including  a  linotype  machine,  has 
been  added.  These  additions  make  it  an  entirely  modern  news- 
paper plant. 

THE  STUNKARD  GRAVEYARD 

By  Janice  Weaver.  District  No.  194 
Superintendent,  B.  H.  Spicer 

The  Stunkard  Grave  yard,  which  lies  about  two  miles  east 
of  Sidell  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Vermilion  river,  was  started 
over  one  hundred  years  ago.  The  only  reason  that  can  be  found 
why  this  cemetery  was  called  the  Stunkard  Cemetery  is  because 
a  large  family  by  the  name  of  Stunkard  lived  near  there  when 
it  was  laid  out. 

One  half  of  the  land  occupied  at  the  present  by  the  Cemetery 
belonged  to  Mr.  James  Spicer,  and  the  other  half  was  owned 
by  Mr.  Koonrod  Zeltener.  Mr.  Zeltener  came  from  Germany 
to  the  United  States  in  a  sailboat.  He  settled  down  in  a  little 
log  cabin  just  a  short  distance  west  of  the  present  Cemetery, 

[63] 


and  when  the  cemetery  was  to  be  laid  out  he  gave  one  half  an 
acre  of  land  for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Zeltener  was  the  grandfather 
of  Mr.  Fred  Lucas,  one  of  the  rural  mail  carriers  of  Sidell,  Illinois. 

One  of  the  oldest  graves  that  can  be  found  in  this  cemetery- 
is  the  grave  of  Miss  Mildria  Hutt,  who  died  July  12,  1842.  Corbin 
Hutt,  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812,  was  buried  here  in  1846. 
The  latest  inscribed  monument  that  can  be  found  there  is  the 
one  of  James  Pendred  who  died  May  26,  1917.  There  are  many 
other  monuments  in  this  cemetery.  Some  were  inscribed  in  1846, 
1847,  1849,  1851,  1853,  1854,  1855,  1856,  1859,  1860,  1861,  1862, 
1863,  1864,  1866,  1868,  1869,  1870,  1872,  1873,  1875,  1877,  1878, 
1879,  1880,  1881,  1882,  1887,  1888,  1889,  1890,  1892,  1895,  1896, 
1904,  1910,  1914,  and  1917.  There  are  many  other  graves  in  this 
cemetery  that  are  not  marked  by  monuments.  Some  of  the 
people  who  were  buried  here  have  since  been  removed  to  other 
cemeteries. 

This  cemetery  has  not  been  properly  cared  for  the  past 
several  years,  and  many  of  the  monuments  have  been  broken  or 
have  fallen  over  from  lack  of  care. 


AN  OLD  VERMILION  COUNTY  HOMESTEAD 

Bij  Charles  Carter,  Dist.  194 
Superiyitendent ,  B.  H.  Spicer 

Mr.  John  Sidell  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Maryland, 
on  the  27th  of  June,  1816.  His  father  died  when  he  was  eighteen 
years  old.  He  remained  in  his  native  county  until  he  was  nine- 
teen years  old.  He  worked  on  a  farm  for  twelve  dollars  a  month, 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  saved  enough  money  he  came  west  on 
horseback,  passing  through  Illinois  and  on  into  Iowa.  Not  find- 
ing a  location  at  that  time  he  went  to  Ohio,  this  time  taking  a 
contract  to  cut  cord  wood  for  thirty  three  and  one-third  cents 
per  cord.    This  was  his  starting  point  of  success. 

He  came  to  Illinois  and  bought  a  farm  in  Vermilion  county 
in  1860.  The  farm  contained  three  thousand  acres  on  both  sides 
of  the  Little  Vermilion  River.  He  added  to  this  about  six  thousand 
acres  more,  buying  some  of  this  land  from  the  government. 

He  first  built  a  log  cabin  which  burned  while  he  was  away. 
It  stood  in  the  orchard  just  south  of  the  brick  house  that  he 
built  after  the  log  cabin  burned. 

The  bricks  used  to  build  his  new  house  were  made  north- 
east of  the  house  in  the  little  grove  called  "The  Towhead"  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  creek  bottom.  The  house  has  a  basement 
with  eight  rooms  and  one  hall  in  it.  The  first  floor  has  six  rooms 
and  three  halls.  The  second  floor  has  seven  rooms  and  two  halls. 
It  has  a  large  attic  and  an  observation  tower.  The  house  had 
nine  fireplaces.  The  house  is  still  standing  about  one  mile  north- 
west of  Sidell. 

The  southeast  room  of  the  first  floor  was  the  post  office 
and  Mr.  Sidell's  office.     The  house  was  surrounded  by  a  large 

[64] 


grassy  yard  which  had  a  high  fence  around  it.    All  around  the 
fence  were  tall  poplar  trees  at  an  equal  distance  apart. 

There  was  a  cow  barn,  horse  barn,  a  machine  shed,  a  corn 
crib,  and  other  buildings  on  the  farm. 

The  land  was  very  fertile.  Mr.  Sidell  raised  wheat,  corn, 
rye,  barley,  oats,  tobacco,  broom  corn,  flax,  and  hemp  in  great 
abundance.  For  clover,  timothy,  and  all  the  hays  the  land  was 
unsurpassed,  and  produced  blue  grass  equal  to  that  of  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky.  Mr.  Sidell  also  had  many  cattle.  One  time 
he  bought  some  Texas  longhorn  cattle.  The  cattle  had  some 
disease  but  they  did  not  get  sick  and  die.  When  any  other  cat- 
tle came  near  them  or  walked  over  the  ground  that  the  Texas 
longhorn  cattle  had  walked  over  they  would  take  the  disease 
and  die.  There  were  not  very  many  fences  and  everyone's  cattle 
roamed  together.  Cattle  belonging  to  many  different  people 
took  the  disease  and  died.  The  owners  of  the  cattle  that  had  died 
sent  bills  to  Mr.  Sidell  for  the  damage  his  cattle  had  done.  Mr. 
Sidell  always  paid  these  bills.  The  land  was  a  rolling  prairie  with 
many  groves,  the  soil  being  a  deep,  rich  black  alluvium. 

Mr.  Sidell  decided  to  sell  off  a  portion  of  his  land.  The  sale 
began  at  10  o'clock,  August  21,  1873.  John  Loucke  and  D.  B. 
Stockton  were  the  auctioneers.    A  free  lunch  was  served  for  all. 

Mr.  Sidell  was  a  Whig  in  politics  until  that  party  died  out. 
Then  he  became  an  ardent  Republican,  standing  firmly  with 
Lincoln  during  the  Civil  War,  and  being  elected  a  member  of 
the  Lower  House  of  Illinois  for  one  term,  1874  to  1876.  He 
remained  a  steadfast  Republican,  but  took  little  part  in  later 
demonstrations.  He  was  a  shrewd  business  man,  careful  in  mak- 
ing contracts.  When  once  made,  however,  he  took  pride  in 
promptly  fulfilling  them.  Mr.  Sidell  was  a  busy  man.  So  many 
people  came  to  go  with  him  over  his  farm  that  he  built  a  carriage 
with  a  seat  just  large  enough  for  himself  to  sit  in,  so  he  would 
not  have  anyone  bothering  him.  He  had  a  favorite  riding  horse 
that  he  would  not  let  anyone  else  ride.  The  sire  of  this  horse 
was  a  wild  horse  that  Mr.  Sidell  had  caught  and  tamed  on  the 
prairies. 

Mr.  Sidell  laid  out  the  town  of  Sidell.  He  planned  the  town 
to  be  built  around  the  park,  but  it  was  not. 

Mr.  Sidell  gave  the  C.  &  E.  I.  Railroad  the  right  to  come 
through  his  land.  In  return  the  railroad  company  offered  him 
passes  for  himself  and  his  family.  He  would  not  accept  passes 
for  his  children  because  he  thought  they  would  travel  too  much. 

Mr.  Sidell  gave  the  land  for  the  Methodist  Church,  and  he 
also  gave  $500  for  the  church  building  fund.  Mr.  Sidell  died 
January  29,  1888  after  a  few  months  of  illness  due  to  Bright's 
disease.  He  was  taken  to  Danville  to  be  buried  in  Springhill 
Cemetery  by  the  C.  «&  E.  I.  railway  train  free  of  charge. 

The  remaining  one  thousand  five  hundred  acres  of  land  was 
divided  among  his  children.  Some  of  the  children  sold  part  or 
all  of  their  land  and  it  is  in  the  hands  of  other  people  today. 


[65] 


TRAILS  AND  EARLY  ROADS  OF  VERMILION 

COUNTY 

By  Marjorie  Mills,  Dist.  198 
Teacher,  Hazel  Dodd 

The  modern  road,  which  leads  from  place  to  place,  is  an 
evolution  of  the  trail  of  an  Indian  which,  in  turn,  was  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  track  made  by  some  wild  animal.  The  instinct  of 
all  animals  is  to  go  from  one  good  feeding  spot  to  another  and 
to  the  nearest  and  best  drinking  places. 

The  buffalo  made  the  first  roads,  and  they  left  these  paths 
as  a  guide  to  their  almost  equally  untamed  successor — the 
American  Indian. 

The  Danville  and  Fort  Clark  road  was  surveyed  and  laid 
out  as  a  legal  road  in  1834.  In  1828  Runnel  Feilder  had  been 
made  supervisor  of  the  construction  work.  This  road  is  referred 
to  in  the  following  description  written  by  a  traveler,  "After 
safely  crossing  the  state  of  Indiana  which  was  then  a  wilderness, 
I  entered  Illinois  where  Danville  now  is,  here  I  found  a  settle- 
ment of  friends.  I  made  a  short  stay  here,  then  I  continued  my 
journey,  with  only  a  map  and  compass  for  my  guide.  I  usually 
put  up  where  night  found  me.  Striking  a  light  with  my  flint  and 
steel,  I  wrapped  myself  in  my  blanket  and  slept  soundly.  My 
horse  became  very  cowardly,  so  that  he  would  scarcely  eat  the 
grass;  he  would  keep  close  to  me,  following  wherever  I  went 
and  sleeping  by  my  side  at  night.  With  no  well  defined  trail; 
only  a  faint  Indian  trail  through  high  grass  and  bushes  and  over 
the  limitless  prairie,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  lone  horse  and 
rider  should  be  lonely,  suspicious,  and  fearful." 

Later  the  "Ottawa  Road"  was  built  through  Vermilion 
county.  It  ran  north  of  the  present  site  of  Danville.  The  "Hub- 
bard Trace,"  a  pack  horse  trail  ran  a  short  distance  west  of 
Danville. 

These  three  roads,  the  Fort  Clark  road,  Ottawa  road,  and 
Hubbard  Trace,  filled  all  the  requirements  of  travel  in  those 
early  days. 


PILOT  TOWNSHIP 

By  Geoege  Gose,  Dist.  200 
Teacher,  Helen  Coggeskall 

No  section  of  the  country  in  this  part  of  Illinois  presents. 
more  attractive  view  than  that  occupied  by  Pilot  Township. 

Pilot  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Middle  Fork  township,  on 
the  east  by  Blount,  on  the  south  by  Oakwood,  and  on  the  west 
by  Champaign  county.  It  occupies  the  middle  of  the  western 
side  of  Vermilion  county. 

The  surface  of  this  land  is  gently  rolling  in  the  central 

[66] 


part.  In  the  south  and  southwest  portions  the  tendency  is  to 
flatten  out  and  become  too  level.  Along  the  eastern  side  there 
is  a  high  portion  of  the  township  which  is  known  as  California 
Ridge.  It  is  the  water  shed  between  the  waters  of  the  Salt  and 
Middle  Forks.  It  is  high  ground  for  this  country,  and  has  on 
it  some  of  the  most  desirable  farms  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 
Nearly  all  of  the  land  is  prairie.  There  is  some  timber  on  the 
eastern  side  along  the  Middle  Fork,  though  not  much  of  the 
Middle  Fork  timber  extends  into  Pilot  township,  and  there  is  a 
small  grove  near  the  center  of  the  township  known  as  Pilot 
Grove.  This  point  of  timber  away  out  in  the  prairie,  away 
from  any  stream,  and  on  the  highest  portions  of  land  in  the 
country,  attracted  the  attention  of  early  settlers.  It  was  called 
Pilot  on  account  of  its  peculiar  situation,  making  it  a  kind  of 
guide  as  a  beacon-light  to  explorers  of  the  prairie.  The  town- 
ship got  its  name  from  this  grove. 

There  is  no  village  within  the  borders  of  Pilot.  It  has  one 
post  office  and  store,  but  a  village  has  not  been  laid  out.  The 
soil  is  black,  deep  and  fertile.  Corn,  wheat,  oats,  flax  and  grass 
are  the  principal  products.  Cattle  and  hogs  are  grown  in  large 
numbers.  There  is  an  unusual  amount  of  grazing  and  cattle- 
growing.  Sheep  are  kept  quite  extensively  by  some  farmers. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  best  paying  business  that  can  be  followed  in 
this  country.  Very  little  of  the  vast  acres  of  corn  are  shipped. 
It  is  generally  bought  up  by  cattle-feeders  in  the  neighborhood. 

A  good  thing  in  Pilot  is  the  herd  law.  People  fence  in 
their  stock  instead  of  their  grain.  This  they  found  easier  and 
less  expensive.  Vast  areas  of  corn  and  other  grain  may  be 
seen  growing  by  the  roadside,  with  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a 
fence  anywhere  in  sight.  Pilot,  like  some  other  portions  of 
west  Vermilion,  suffers  socially  from  a  number  of  large  land- 
owners. When  this  country  began  to  be  settled,  men  who 
realized  the  importance  of  the  movement  strove  to  get  posses- 
sion of  large  areas,  that  they  might  have  the  advantage  of  rise 
in  value.  The  prairies  of  Pilot  offered  as  attractive  farms  as 
any  in  the  country,  and  accordingly  we  find  here  a  number  of 
farms,  each  of  which  includes  vast  areas.  These  would  not 
have  been  as  detrimental  to  the  best  interest  of  the  community, 
had  the  owners  been  able,  in  every  case,  to  improve  them  and 
keep  them  up  with  the  progress  of  the  times. 


THE  RIDGEFARM  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

By  Oma  Lucille  Smith,  Dist.  207 
Principal,  Clyde  Williams 

The  Christian  Church  was  organized  by  Rev.  Evans  and 
Hev.  S.  S.  Jones  in  1897  in  the  old  armory  hall.    It  was  moved 


[67] 


from  the  armory  to  the  Interurban  Station  while  the  church 
was  being  built,  which  was  completed  in  1900  and  dedicated  in 
November  of  the  same  year.  The  first  Trustees  were  Charles 
Clayton,  J.  J.  Smith,  Charles  Hathaway.  The  first  Elders  were 
Robert  Bratton,  Charles  Clayton  and  J.  J.  Smith.  In  1900 
after  the  church  was  completed,  Rev.  Hale  was  the  first  min- 
ister. 

The  debt  was  paid  off  and  the  mortgage  was  burned  by 
S.  S.  Jones,  who  was  always  considered  as  the  father  of  the 
church,  and  during  his  life  often  came  down  to  Ridgefarm  to 
give  advice  and  encouragement. 


THE  FIRST  AUTOMOBILE  OF  RIDGEFARM 

By  Bluford  Edmiston,  District  No.  207 
Teacher,  Clyde  Williams 

The  first  automobile  of  Ridgefarm  was  owned  by  Grand- 
father Bines.    It  was  a  Ford  made  in  1901. 

He  kept  the  car  for  twenty-seven  years. 

It  was  a  curiosity  of  the  countryside  to  see  Mr.  Bines  rid- 
ing down  the  road  in  the  car  sitting  under  the  steering  wheel 
as  straight  as  a  pin.  The  car  had  a  square  back,  a  square  radi- 
ator, and  the  hood  which  covered  the  engine  was  square.  It 
was  a  two-seated  car. 

When  the  people  of  Ridgefarm  first  saw  the  car  they 
flocked  out  like  sheep  to  take  a  ride  in  the  car. 

In  1928  his  son,  Robert  Bines,  of  Ridgefarm,  sold  the  auto- 
mobile. 


RIDGEFARM  CARNEGIE  LIBRARY 

By  Betty  Ann  Newby,  Dist.  207 
Principal,  CLYDE  Williams 

The  original  library  was  founded  early  in  the  century  by 
the  Chautauqua  Circle,  composed  of  Mrs.  H.  J.  Cole,  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Morton,  Mrs.  W.  R.  Julian  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Burgan.  It  was 
located  in  the  rear  of  W.  R.  Julian  store,  and  later  it  was  moved 
to  the  rear  of  Monroe's  jewelry  store.  At  first  there  were  only 
a  few  volumes,  assembled  by  donation,  but  the  collection  grew 
as  money  for  an  expense  fund  was  raised  through  entertain- 
ments and  socials. 

Finally  Mrs.  Cole  suggested  that  Mr.  Carnegie  be  asked 
for  a  $6,000  donation.  To  the  request,  Mr.  Carnegie's  secre- 
tary replied  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  provision  to  be 
made  through  taxation  for  the  support  of  the  library.  A  cam- 
paign was  started  and  that  same  year  a  two-mill  tax  was  voted 

[68] 


by  Elwood  township,  resulting  in  a  revenue  of  about  nine  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year.  Mr.  Carnegie  was  notified,  and  he  replied 
that  his  donation  would  be  $9,000  instead  of  $6,000. 

There  were  1,400  books  on  the  shelves  of  the  beautiful  new 
library  that  was  dedicated  January  14,  1911.  The  first  libra- 
rian was  Mrs.  Florence  Newlin  Carmack.  She  served  until 
April,  1934,  when  Mrs.  Esther  Ensor  succeeded  her  and  is  now 
serving.  The  library  is  supported  by  the  tax  rate  of  1.9  mills. 
There  are  now  7,083  books  in  the  hbrary. 

The  members  of  the  library  board  are:  President,  Mrs. 
Rosa  Woodyard;  vice-president.  Miss  Aurilena  Ellis  (de- 
ceased) ;  secretary,  Mrs.  Florence  Rees;  Miss  Clyde  Williams, 
Mrs.  Ola  Pierce,  and  J.  W.  Foster. 

A  PIONEER  SETTLER  OF  RIDGEFARM 

By  Martha  Mae  Larrance,  District  No.  207 
Teacher,  Clyde  Williams 

Miss  Mary  Jane  Baker  was  born  in  1844.  When  sixteen 
years  of  age  she  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  ChilHcothe,  Illi- 
nois, later  called  Dallas  and  now  Indianola,  in  a  covered  wagon 
pulled  by  oxen.  At  Indianola  she  went  to  school  and  they  only 
had  benches  to  sit  on  with  no  backs  or  desks.  They  also  wrote 
on  slates. 

Later  her  parents  bought  a  farm  south  of  Indianola  and 
lived  there  until  1875,  when  they  came  to  Ridgefarm. 

When  she  was  eighteen,  she  was  married  to  Perez  Barker. 
They  had  four  children.  Mr.  Barker  died  and  she  married  Mr. 
Smith,  this  family  consisting  of  two  children.  Of  Mrs.  Smith's 
seven  children,  five  still  survive,  three  of  whom  live  in  Ridge- 
farm. 

Mrs.  Smith  died  in  1932.    She  was  80  years  old. 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  RIDGEFARM'S 

LOCATION 

By  Virginia  Banta,  District  No.  207 
Teacher,  Clyde  W^illiams 

Ridgefarm  has  a  good  location.  She  has  a  bus  line  run- 
ning north  and  south.  This  line  is  a  branch  of  the  Greyhound 
bus  line,  which  is  one  of  the  best  bus  lines  in  the  United  States. 
This  branch  of  the  line  runs  from  Chicago  to  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky. It  furnishes  a  means  of  transportation  for  the  people 
at  a  low  fare. 

There  are  two  railroad  lines  on  the  outskirts  of  Ridge- 
farm.   The  Nickel  Plate  runs  east  and  west,  and  the  Big  Four 

[69] 


runs  north  and  south.  They  are  both  well  equipped  and  exten- 
sively traveled.  They  both  furnish  ways  for  the  transportation 
of  goods  and  raw  products. 

The  city  of  Ridgefarm  is  located  along  the  Dixie  Highway 
in  Illinois,  the  most  extensively  traveled  highway  in  Illinois. 
She  also  has  a  county  highway  which  is  used  quite  a  lot. 
Ridgefarm  draws  the  attention  and  trade  from  quite  a  number 
of  tourists  who  travel  these  roads. 

Ridgefarm  is  situated  about  midway  between  two  good- 
sized  cities.  They  are  Danville  and  Paris.  She  gets  all  the 
trade  of  people  traveling  between  these  two  cities  because  of 
being  midway  between  them.  Ridgefarm  is  also  on  the  direct 
route  to  Chicago.  The  city  of  Ridgefarm  is  located  close  to  the 
corn  belts,  the  greatest  corn  producing  section  in  the  world. 
The  land  around  Ridgefarm  is  very  rich  and  with  favorable 
seasons  she  produces  very  rich  crops.  Her  principal  occupa- 
tion is  agriculture,  in  which  she  thrives  very  well. 


HISTORY  OF  JAMAICA 

By  Cecil  Burton,  Dist.  211 
Principal,  J.  W.  NiswONGER 

The  fifteen  divisions  of  Vermilion  county  remained  the 
same  until  in  1893  when  Jamaica  township  was  formed.  This 
new  township  was  laid  out  from  the  corners  of  Catlin,  Sidell, 
Carroll,  and  Vance  townships  where  the  corners  came  together. 

Some  of  the  early  settlers  were  James  A.  Dickson,  Richard 
Miller,  Thomas  Hughs,  the  Stockers  and  others. 

The  first  church  was  in  a  small  log  schoolhouse  somewhere 
close  to  where  the  Ross  school  now  stands. 

They  decided  they  wanted  a  real  place  to  worship  so  they 
built  a  frame  church.    They  used  it  for  several  years. 

The  church  that  now  stands  is  a  large  brick  structure 
called  Kingsley  Chapel. 

The  two-room  schoolhouse  is  a  fine  frame  building.  It  is 
about  twenty-five  years  old. 

The  C.  &  E.  I.  railroad  was  built  through  Jamaica.  The 
first  telegraph  operator  was  W.  I.  Baird,  who  still  resides  in 
Jamaica. 

Carter  and  Lucas  ran  the  first  store  in  Jamaica.  Jamaica 
was  a  thriving  village  until  the  Fairmount  rock  quarry  shut 
down. 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  people  at  present  are  the 
Bairds,  Darrs,  Carters,  Moodys,  Williams,  and  Dicksons. 


[70] 


ALLERTON  FIFTY  YEARS  AGO 

Bu  Kathleen  Purdum,  Dist.  213 
Superintendent,  James  Talbott 

S.  W.  Allerton  owned  thousands  of  acres  of  fertile  land  in 
Illinois.  There  was  no  town  convenient  to  his  farm  from  which 
his  produce  might  be  shipped.  Mr.  Allerton,  thinking  the  situ- 
ation over,  decided  to  build  a  town  of  his  own. 

He  chose  for  the  spot  an  area  located  southwest  of  his 
ranch  between  Danville  and  Tuscola.  Mr.  Allerton  encouraged 
settlers  to  come  in.  They  came  till  the  town  had  a  population 
of  five  hundred.  The  town  was  carefully  planned  by  Mr.  Al- 
lerton. 

Mr.  Allerton,  having  in  mind  the  creation  of  an  ideal  town, 
had  this  clause  put  in  every  deed :  "It  is  understood  that  no 
gambling  house,  pool  room,  or  saloon  shall  be  permitted  for  the 
sale  of  wine,  beer  or  any  intoxicating  liquor,  unless  with  the 
consent  of  the  owner." 

Buildings  began  to  appear  on  Main  street.  These  build- 
ings consist  of  the  bank,  general  and  hardware  and  the  drug 
store.  All  of  these  were  situated  along  a  street  of  crushed  rock 
which  cost  Mr.  Allerton  $5,000. 

Mr.  Allerton,  to  protect  his  properties  from  fire,  installed 
a  private  water  system. 

Some  of  the  people  were  Methodists  and  others  were  Pres- 
byterians. They  were  united  until  1891.  Mr.  Allerton  donated 
several  lots  for  building  of  each  church. 

Mr.  Allerton  prepared  for  the  education  of  the  children. 
School  was  held  in  a  building  moved  from  one  mile  north  of 
town  until  a  new  brick  building  could  be  erected.  That  build- 
ing burned  in  1921. 

Mr.  Allerton  wanted  his  town  to  be  beautiful.  A  land- 
scape gardener  was  brought  in  from  Chicago.  Mr.  Allerton 
added  to  the  beauty  of  the  town  by  giving  a  little  park  in  the 
northern  part. 

I  think  everyone  in  Allerton  appreciates  Mr.  Allerton  very 
much  and  tries  to  keep  the  little  town  as  he  would  have  liked 
it  to  be  kept,  were  he  living  now. 


TRINITY  LUTHERAN  CHURCH 

Bi)  Eleanor  Mae  Ervin,  Trinity  Lutheran  School 
Principal  W.  C.  Poll 

Trinity  Lutheran  congregation  was  founded  on  February 
15,  1863.  A  constitution  was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  fourteen 
members.  The  official  name  adopted  by  them  was  "The  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Trinity  Congregation  U.  A.  C.  at  Danville, 

[71  ] 


Illinois."  Soon  after  the  founding,  a  lot  was  bought  on  Jack- 
son street  near  Harrison  for  $125.00.  At  the  same  time,  a  Bap- 
tist congregation  offered  its  church  building  for  sale  and  the 
Lutherans  bought  it  for  $185.00.  The  building  was  moved  and 
they  dedicated  it  to  the  service  of  the  Triune  God. 

Rev.  H.  Schoeneberg  of  Lafayette,  Indiana,  preached  once 
a  month.  Gottfried  Markworth  accepted  a  call  on  April  3, 
1864.  The  number  of  members  had  by  this  time  increased  to 
forty. 

Owing  to  the  rapid  growth  of  the  congregation,  the  build- 
ing soon  proved  too  small.  A  new  church  was  erected  on  the 
corner  of  Jackson  and  Harrison  streets.  The  old  building  was 
utilized  for  parochial  school  purposes.  Mr.  G.  Bernthal  was 
called  to  take  charge  of  the  school. 

The  following  year,  the  pastor  broke  down  and  the  congre- 
gation accepted  his  resignation.  Rev.  R.  Biedermann  was 
called  as  his  successor.  He  resigned  from  office  on  October  6, 
1872.  Rev.  G.  Reinsinger  was  then  installed.  The  old  church 
building  was  sold  and  a  new  two-story  school  building  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  $3,000.00 ;  likewise  a  parsonage  for 
$1600.00.  Mr.  Zachow  was  now  called  to  assist  Teacher  Bern- 
thai. 

Rev.  Ernest  Martens  was  now  called.  He  took  charge  on 
October  20th,  1878.  G.  Albers  and  A.  Theiss  were  called  as 
teachers.  In  the  early  eighties  a  large  number  of  immigrants 
from  Pommerania,  Germany,  were  gathered  in  by  Lutheran 
Church.  On  the  3rd  of  September,  1893,  Trinity  Congregation 
celebrated  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  dedication  of 
the  church. 

The  congregation  had  by  this  time  grown  wonderfully.  It 
was  deemed  advisable  to  divide  the  charge  and  to  erect  a  new 
church  building  at  Germantown.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  health 
of  the  Rev.  Ernest  Martens  began  to  fail.  He  resigned  in  June, 
1912.    Rev.  J.  E.  Elbert  was  called  as  his  successor. 

The  18th  of  May,  1913,  was  a  red  letter  day  in  the  history 
of  the  Lutheran  church  at  Danville.  All  the  Lutherans  of  this 
city  and  a  large  concourse  of  visiting  Lutherans  from  neigh- 
boring congregations  joined  hands  to  fittingly  celebrate  the 
golden  jubilee  of  the  Lutheran  church  at  Danville.  A  week 
later  Trinity  congregation  resolved  to  purchase  the  so-called 
Mayers  property  on  East  Main  street  as  a  building  site  for  the 
new  church  and  school. 

On  the  first  day  of  April,  1914,  ground  was  broken  for  the 
new  school.  The  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the  church  oc- 
curred August  2nd,  1914.  August  30th,  the  new  school  was 
dedicated,  and  April  25th,  1915,  the  church. 

[72] 


In  1924,  Rev.  Elbert  accepted  a  call  to  Oshkosh,  Wiscon- 
sin, and  Rev.  T.  J.  Mehl  was  called.  Rev.  Mehl  served  the  con- 
gregation until  1930,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  illness. 
Rev.  A.  C.  Bernthal  was  called  as  his  successor  and  is  now 
serving  the  congregation.  At  the  present  time,  the  three  up- 
per grades  of  Trinity  school  are  taught  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Poll,  the 
three  intermediate  grades  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Schroeder,  and  the  two 
lower  grades  by  Miss  Renate  Martens. 


THE  DANVILLE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

By  LaVerne  Dobels,  Trinity  Lutheran  School 
Teacher,  W.  C.  Poll 

The  first  location  of  the  public  library  was  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  McDonald  building  on  West  Main  street,  adjoin- 
ing the  First  National  Bank  building.  In  1883,  this  organiza- 
tion became  known  as  the  Danville  Public  Library,  which  title 
it  still  holds. 

More  room  being  needed,  the  library  moved  to  what  is 
now  known  as  the  Tobin  building,  at  132-34  Vermilion  street, 
occupying  the  entire  second  floor. 

It  remained  in  this  location  16  years,  when  it  was  moved 
to  the  Fera  building,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Walnut  and 
North  streets.  The  next  move  was  in  1904  to  the  present  build- 
ing, the  money  for  which  was  given  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  the 
lot  being  purchased  by  the  city. 

The  first  floor  of  the  building  contains  reading,  reference, 
stock  rooms,  off"ice  and  catalog  room,  also  a  small  room  hous- 
ing the  historical  collections  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

A  large  addition  to  the  stock  room  has  recently  been  com- 
pleted through  the  generosity  of  the  late  A.  L.  Webster,  who 
left  a  sum  of  money  for  this  purpose. 

The  children's  room  has  a  large  south  room  in  the  base- 
ment, across  from  which  is  a  lecture  or  assembly  room.  This 
is  used  by  various  clubs,  High  School  students,  etc. 

The  librarian's  report  for  1929  gives  the  total  number  of 
volumes  in  the  library  as  48,769,  11,190  of  which  are  in  the 
children's  room. 

The  library  does  a  great  deal  of  reference  work  for  clubs 
and  organizations  of  various  kinds,  the  most,  however,  being 
with  high  school  pupils. 

In  the  past  ten  years,  the  circulation  has  more  than  dou- 
bled, and  nine  are  on  the  staff"  in  place  of  four  in  1930. 


[78] 


VERMILION  COUNTY 

By  Harvey  Dettman,  Trinity  Lutheran  School 
Principal,  W.  C.  Poll 

That  part  of  Illinois  now  known  as  Vermilion  County  was 
orig-inally  a  portion  of  New  France.  It,  together  with  all  the 
immense  territory  lying  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  north  of 
the  Ohio,  belonged  by  right  of  discovery  and  occupation  to  the 
king  of  France.  New  France  was  divided  into  two  immense 
districts,  the  one  known  as  Canada  and  the  other  as  Louisiana. 

In  1819,  the  year  after  Illinois  was  made  a  state,  the 
county  of  Clark  was  formed  off  the  northern  part  of  Crawford, 
with  the  county  seat  established  some  miles  higher  up  the 
Wabash  at  a  place  called  Aurora,  which  in  turn  became  the 
county  seat  of  all  that  region  bordering  on  the  Indiana  line, 
and  extending  north  as  far  as  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee  Rivers. 
When  Vermilion  county  was  a  part  of  Clark  and  while  Aurora 
was  a  county  seat,  the  first  permanent  settlem'snt  was  begun 
within  the  present  limits  of  Vermilion  County.  In  less  than 
a  month  after  the  treaty  at  Fort  Harrison,  August,  1819,  the 
Vermilion  River  was  explored.  The  inducement  was  the  hope 
of  discovering  salt.  Captain  Blackman  set  two  or  three  men 
to  work  with  spades,  and  by  digging  two  or  three  feet  into 
the  saturated  soil,  saline  water  was  procured.  This  was  boiled 
down  in  a  kettle  brought  along  for  that  purpose. 

About  two  gallons  of  water  yielded  four  ounces  of  good, 
clear  salt.  An  experimental  well  was  dug  a  few  rods  from  the 
former  where  the  brine  was  much  stronger.  It  was  agreed  by 
Captain  Blackman  that  Treat,  Whitcomb,  and  Beckwith  should 
be  partners  in  the  discovery  of  the  salt  water  and  each  pay  his 
portion  of  the  expenses.  In  the  latter  part  of  November,  1819, 
Treat  returned,  coming  up  the  Wabash  and  Vermilion  Rivers 
in  a  pirogue  with  tools,  provisions,  his  wife  and  children.  With 
the  assistance  of  Beckwith  and  Whitcomb,  both  good  axemen, 
a  cabin  was  quickly  erected  and  Treat's  family  took  immediate 
possession.  In  this  way  and  at  this  place  began  the  first  per- 
manent settlement  within  the  present  limits  of  Vermilion 
County. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  RAILROADS  ON  THE 
EARLY  GROWTH  OF  VERMILION  COUNTY 

By  Kenneth  H.  Davis,  Dist.  9 
Teacher,  Jewel  Perry 

Some  of  the  fairest,  most  productive  countries  of  the  great 
Prairie  State  lie  upon  its  eastern  border,  and  among  the  chief- 
€st  of  these  is  Vermilion  county.     Although  settlers  came  in 

[74] 


here  at  an  early  day,  yet  the  commencement  of  its  rapid  growth 
was  not  until  many  years  later.  It  was  the  railroad  that  did  so 
much  toward  the  encouragement  of  sturdy  tillers  of  the  soil 
to  come  to  the  fair  and  fertile  prairies. 

Since  then  the  county  has  enjoyed  a  steady  growth ;  and 
today  it  stands  among  the  foremost  counties  of  the  great  North- 
west. In  the  growth  and  development  of  her  vast  resources 
in  her  agriculture  and  stock-raising,  in  all  departments  of 
labor,  in  her  churches  and  schools,  in  civilization  and  culture, 
Vermilion  county  has  taken  first  rank.  Within  a  half  century 
a  wilderness  has  been  converted  into  beautiful  farms  and  thriv- 
ing, populous  cities,  and  a  community  estabhshed,  commanding 
the  admiration  of  the  country. 

The  Wabash  Railway  was  the  pioneer  road  of  Vermilion 
County  and  contributed  most  to  the  development  in  the  early 
days  of  Danville  and  the  extensivz  coal  and  agricultural  in- 
terest of  the  county.  At  Danville,  connection  is  made  with  all 
the  main  roads.  Centering  there,  it  has  about  fifty  miles  of 
road,  including  side  tracks,  in  the  county. 

The  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Western,  including  side  tracks, 
has  about  twenty-eight  miles  of  road  in  Vermilion  county. 

The  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  road  has  more  miles  of 
track  than  any  other  line  in  the  county,  and  extends  through 
the  county  on  the  east  side  from  north  to  south.  This  is  the 
great  coal  road  of  the  county,  and  has  exercised  a  large  influ- 
ence in  the  development  of  that  industry  in  eastern  Illinois. 

The  most  important  station  is  Danville,  where  connection 
is  made  with  several  roads  centering  there. 

The  Toledo,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  railroad  has  about 
eleven  miles  of  road  in  the  extreme  southeast  corner  of  the 
county,  the  most  important  station  being  Ridgefarm. 

The  Lake  Erie  and  Western  traverses  the  extreme  north- 
ern part  of  the  county  from  east  to  west  and  has  contributed 
in  a  large  measure  to  the  building  up  of  the  thriving  town  of 
Hoopeston,  the  second  town  in  the  county.  At  that  point  it 
crosses  the  line  of  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois  railroad. 


DAN  BECKWITH 

By  Dorothy  Maxine  Liggett,  Dist.  132 
Principal,  C.  F.  HUDDELSON 

Dan  Beckwith  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Vermilion 
county.  Dan  was  a  native  of  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  born  there  in  1795.  He  had  six  brothers  and  two  sis- 
ters who  went  with  their  parents  into  New  York  State,  while 
Dan  was  yet  a  lad.  Three  brothers  came  west  and  settled  in 
Vermilion  county  for  a  time. 

[75] 


George  Beckwith  and  Dan  Beckwith  left  New  York  State 
together  and  came  to  Fort  Harrison  in  1816,  the  year  Dan  was 
twenty-one  years  old.  Two  years  later,  they  went  to  North 
Arm  Prairie  and  lived  with  Jonatha  Mayo's  family.  They 
stayed  here  until  1819,  and  then  they  went  to  the  Vermilion 
Salines. 

Dan  Beckwith  was  a  man  of  pleasing  appearance.  He 
was  six  feet,  two  inches  tall.  He  was  broad  shouldered,  was 
straight,  and  when  in  good  health  weighed  190  lbs.  He  was 
an  expert  axe  man  and  a  shrewd  Indian  trader.  After  two 
years,  he  had  everything  an  Indian  would  want.  He  had  a 
cabin  built  on  a  hill  at  Denmark,  to  trade  with  the  Indians. 

Later,  Danville  was  selected  county  seat.  Danville  was 
named  after  Dan  Beckwith.  He  built  a  cabin  near  the  end  of 
West  Main  street  and  continued  to  trade  with  the  Indians. 
Later,  he  built  a  cabin  farther  west  on  West  Main  street  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  James  Clymer. 

■  Dan  Beckwith  died  while  still  a  young  man.  He  did  not 
live  beyond  pioneer  days  of  Vermilion  county.  He  died  in  Dan- 
ville in  December,  1835.  He  was  buried  in  the  old  Williams 
burying  grounds.  The  city  bought  the  privilege  of  opening  a 
street  through  this  cemetery  of  the  heirs  of  Amos  Williams, 
and  Dan  Beckwith's  remains  were  moved  to  Springhill.  Both 
children  of  Dan  Beckwith  are  dead  now. 


THE  THOMPSON  FARM 

By  Lowell  Macy,  Dist.  128 

Teacher,  Gladyne  Boggess 

The  John  R.  Thompson  farm  was  owned  and  improved  by 
the  late  J.  R.  Thompson,  founder  of  the  famous  restaurants 
which  bear  his  name.  He  was  born  and  lived  to  manhood  on 
this  farm,  going  to  Chicago  during  the  World  Fair  in  1893  and 
operating  a  small  grocery  store  and  restaurant  which  was  the 
beginning  of  his  career. 

In  the  early  days  when  his  father  owned  this  farm,  it  was 
tended  by  oxen.  The  road  past  this  farm  was  the  way  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  traveled  when  he  served  on  the  circuit  of  the 
Eighth  Judicial  District,  1847-1857.  He  was  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Thompson,  and  spent  many  nights  with  him.  How  dear  their 
friendship  was  is  shown  by  the  erection  of  a  statue  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  Thompson  farm. 

At  the  death  of  his  father,  Mr.  J.  R.  Thompson  purchased 
the  shares  in  the  farm  owned  by  the  other  heirs,  which  gave 
him  possession  of  the  entire  farm,  which  was  at  that  time  three 
hundred  fifty  acres.  Later,  he  bought  other  land  adjoining 
the  old  homestead  and  there  is  now  seven  hundred  and  fifty 

[76] 


acres  in  the  farm.  When  he  first  possessed  this  farm,  there 
was  a  pleasure  resort  having  a  deer  park  and  race  track.  Later, 
he  built  a  large  cattle  barn  and  began  raising  pure  breed  cattle. 
In  1926,  the  noted  Shorthorn  Show  herd  was  started  which 
became  famous  over  the  United  States  and  Canada.  After 
death  of  Mr.  Thompson,  the  show  herd  was  sold  in  1930.  In 
the  summer  of  the  same  year,  a  fire  destroyed  all  the  buildings 
except  the  house.  During  the  next  few  months  the  buildings 
were  replaced.  Since  that  time  the  farm  has  been  used  for  the 
production  of  grain  and  livestock.  The  Thompson  farm  is  in 
the  Biddle  district  southeast  of  Fithian. 


THE  LONE  TREE  PRAIRIE 

Bij  Robert  Howard,  Dist.  51 
Teacher,  BURL  Foote 

The  country  I  am  writing  about  is  the  lone  tree  prairie, 
and  happenings  on  the  lone  tree  prairie. 

The  lone  tree  prairie  is  and  was  a  country  within  a  radius 
of  ten  miles  of  the  village  of  Alvin,  Illinois.  It  was  called  Lone 
Tree  Prairie  because  there  weren't  any  trees,  only  this  one.  It 
was  an  enormous  hackberry  tree,  about  four  feet  in  diameter 
and  about  sixty  feet  tall.  There  were  names  carved  on  it  as 
high  as  a  man  could  reach  on  horseback,  and  completely  around 
it.  Everyone  that  came  along  that  way  would  carve  his  name 
upon  the  tree.  The  tree  was  located  about  four  and  one-half 
miles  southeast  of  the  village  of  Alvin,  Illinois. 

The  children  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  neighborhood 
had  few  toys,  and  they  would  gather  the  tumbleweed.  It  was 
a  weed  that  grew  everywhere.  On  a  windy  day  they  would 
take  the  weeds  out  and  they  would  start  rolling,  and  roll  till 
they  could  not  be  seen,  for  in  those  days  there  were  no  fences 
on  the  prairie. 

In  those  days,  the  snakes  were  very  thick  on  the  prairie 
for  it  was  in  the  1860's  and  70's.  The  snakes  of  that  time 
weren't  the  common  garter  snakes  as  we  see  now.  They  were 
poisonous  snakes,  practically  all  of  them. 

The  country  of  the  Lone  Tree  Prairie  was  full  of  swamps 
and  marshes,  and  people  going  any  place  would  have  to  wan- 
der around  on  the  high  places  so  they  would  keep  out  of  the 
lowlands. 

The  people  would  turn  their  cattle  and  horses  out  on  the 
prairie.  Many  times  the  horses  or  cattle  would  get  in  the 
swamps  and  marshes  and  couldn't  get  out.  Everyone  in  the 
country  would  come  and  help  them  out. 

There  were  high  knolls  in  the  prairie  in  those  days  and  in 
these  knolls  were  dens  of  wolves  and  foxes.    The  country  was 

[77] 


full  of  wolves  but  not  so  many  foxes. 

Another  occurrence  of  the  Lone  Tree  Prairie  was  in  the 
70's.  A  g-roup  of  men  brought  out  a  lot  of  Texas  longhorn  cat- 
tle. The  cattle  had  some  kind  of  a  disease.  It  didn't  hurt  or 
affect  the  western  cattle.  The  native  cattle  took  the  disease 
and  died.  Almost  all  of  the  cattle  died  from  this  disease.  The 
men  were  ordered  to  take  the  cattle  away,  then  the  disease 
faded  out. 


MY  GRANDFATHER'S  LIFE 

By  Allen  Larry  Fox,  Dist.  5 
Teacher,  Elsie  Cox 

My  grandfather,  George  W.  Fox,  was  born  in  Shoals,  In- 
diana, in  1846.  He  had  very  little  education.  In  1860  he  sold 
a  load  of  his  father's  wheat  and  enlisted  in  the  army. 

His  father,  who  had  already  enlisted  in  the  Civil  War, 
was  going  to  make  him  go  home.  But  the  other  soldiers  begged 
him  not  to,  so  my  grandfather  stayed  in  the  army.  His  father 
was  killed  in  a  battle.  He  was  wrapped  in  a  red  blanket  and 
buried  in  a  pine  box. 

In  1893  my  grandfather  moved  to  Davis  county,  Indiana. 
In  his  early  life  he  used  to  cut  logs  and  dump  them  into  the 
river,  where  they  were  chained  together.  Sometimes  many 
hundreds  of  logs  were  floated  down  the  river  at  a  time.  They 
were  floated  down  White  River  and  out  into  the  Wabash  river, 
down  to  Grayville,  where  they  were  sold. 

My  grandfather  and  his  friends  used  to  get  powerful  flash- 
lights and  go  out  coon  hunting.  When  they  had  spotted  a  coon, 
one  would  hold  the  flashlight,  and  grandfather  would  go  up  the 
tree  after  it. 

Grandfather  was  married  in  1867  to  Emiline  Zollars.  He 
was  the  father  of  sight  children,  five  boys  and  three  girls. 

In  1910  he  moved  to  Dexter,  Missouri,  where  he  is  still 
living  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight.  He  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  recent  years.  My  grandmother  died  February  20,  1930, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-one. 


THE  STORY  OF  MY  GREAT-GREAT  GRAND 

FATHER 

By  Josephine  Hughes,  District  No.  52 
Teacher,  Roberta  Lane 

My  great-great  grandfather  was  born  in  Russellville,  Ken- 
tucky on  a  southern  plantation,  which  he  owned  that  consisted 
of  a  thousand  acres.    He  ov^oied  at  one  time  a  hundred  slaves 

[78] 


and  was  considered  a  wealthy  man,  but  after  the  Civil  War  he 
lost  his  wealth  because  his  money,  the  Confederate,  was  put  off 
the  trade. 

The  family  consisted  of  him,  his  wife,  two  sons  and  a 
daughter.  My  great-grandfather,  of  whom  I'm  writing,  was 
youngest  of  the  three  children.    Richard  was  his  name. 

The  southern  people  were  very  cruel  to  the  slaves.  My 
great-grandfather  did  not  believe  in  such  treatment  to  the 
slaves.  One  day  he  was  asked  to  whip  a  woman  slave,  which 
he  steadfastly  refused  to  do.  This  angered  his  father,  who 
then  disinherited  him,  and  ordered  him  to  leave  his  family 

home. 

He  came  north  to  Vermilion  county  to  a  village  named 

Denmark,  before  Danville  was  a  city. 

In  1830  he  married  a  northern  girl  by  the  name  of  Eliza- 
beth Thrasher.  He  became  the  father  of  eleven  children,  of 
whom  there  are  now  four  living,  the  oldest  being  91  years.  My 
grandmother  is  the  youngest  at  62.  At  his  request,  he  was 
buried  at  Gordon  Cemetery,  in  1879,  on  the  banks  of  what  is 
now  Lake  Vermilion,  near  his  old  home. 

MY  FATHER'S  LIFE 

Bij  Lorraine  Moore,  Dist.  65 
Teacher,  Irma  Dodson 

My  father,  Albert  Moore,  was  born  in  Waverly,  Ohio,  in 
1893.  He  lived  there  among  the  hills  of  southern  Ohio  with 
his  father,  mother,  and  two  younger  sisters,  for  several  years. 
He  did  not  get  to  go  to  school  very  much,  as  the  schools  in  those 
days  were  not  like  they  are  now. 

Many  interesting  things  happened  while  my  father  lived 
there.  One  of  them  happened  one  time  when  my  father  was 
taking  a  wagon  and  team  of  horses  with  a  load  of  oats  to  the 
elevator.  He  was  going  down  one  of  the  steep  hills  when  some 
of  the  harness  broke.  The  tongue  came  down.  The  horses 
were  running  away  and,  as  my  father  feared  his  life  was  in 
great  danger,  he  leaped  to  safety.  No  serious  damage  was 
caused  by  the  runaway. 

Another  time,  my  father  and  a  friend  were  hunting.  The 
other  man  was  out  hunting  ahead  of  my  father,  when  my 
father  shot  at  a  rabbit.  Instead  of  hitting  the  habbit,  he  hit 
the  other  man  in  the  shoulder.  He  had  to  be  taken  to  a  doctor, 
but  he  recovered  from  the  wound  that  was  made. 

When  my  father  was  eighteen  years  old,  he  decided  he 
would  leave  Ohio  and  come  to  Illinois.  He  and  a  friend,  Mr. 
Triggs,  came  to  Illinois  together.  My  father  did  not  return  to 
his  home  again  until  five  years  later.     After  he  returned  to 

[79] 


Illinois  this  time,  he  went  back  only  once,  when  his  father  died. 
He  was  married  after  he  returned  to  Illinois,  and  began  farm- 
ing. 

A  few  years  later,  the  United  States  entered  the  World 
War.  My  father  enlisted  in  the  army  and  was  sent  to  work  at 
the  Rantoul  airport.  He  was  there  when  the  first  airplane 
landed  on  the  field.  An  American  flag  was  set  up  on  the  field 
and  the  pilot  tried  to  see  how  close  he  could  land  to  it.  He 
landed  within  twenty  feet  of  it. 

While  he  was  working  here,  there  was  a  cyclone  that 
swept  over  the  country,  destroying  buildings  and  tearing  up 
trees  by  the  roots.  After  a  storm  such  as  this,  or  when  it  was 
rainy,  the  men  had  to  stand  in  deep  water  to  do  their  work. 
When  they  ate,  they  stood  up  around  tables  to  eat  what  food 
was  given  them. 

At  night,  many  times  he  had  to  sleep  on  wet  ground.  I 
know  it  was  not  only  my  father  that  had  to  endure  S'lch  ex- 
posures, nor  the  men  at  Rantoul  during  such  times  of  war. 
The  war  ended  before  my  father  was  sent  to  any  other  place. 

Since  that  time,  my  father  has  been  a  farmer  living  near 
Potomac  or  Armstrong,  Illinois.  Now,  my  father,  one  sister, 
three  brothers  and  my  mother  are  living  on  the  Tillotson  farm, 
which  is  located  southeast  of  Potomac. 


MY  GRANDFATHER'S  LIFE 

By  Dorothy  Strong,  District  No.  73 
Teacher,  Kenneth  Wilson 

My  grandfather's  name  was  John  N.  Badewitz.  He  was 
born  in  Germany  in  the  year  of  1854.  He  crossed  the  ocean  in 
1870  and  came  to  the  United  States  when  he  was  sixteen  years 
of  age.  When  he  came  to  the  United  States  he  could  not  speak 
English.  It  took  him  five  weeks  to  get  across  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  and  he  landed  at  New  York.  He  took  the  train  and  went 
from  New  York  to  Chicago  in  1871.  When  he  first  came  over 
here  he  took  out  his  naturalization  papers  and  that  made  him 
an  American  citizen. 

During  the  time  he  was  in  Chicago  the  fire  broke  out, 
burned  all  of  his  clothes,  and  then  he  came  to  the  northern  part 
of  Illinois.  When  he  came  to  Illinois  he  stayed  at  the  home  of 
Mr.  Alph  Duncan.  It  was  while  he  was  there  that  he  learned 
to  speak  English.  He  made  that  place  his  home  for  about  three 
years.  During  this  time  he  worked  on  the  farm.  Then  he  got 
a  job  in  the  tile  factory  and  worked  there  for  about  two  years. 
He  boarded  at  the  home  of  Lester  Leonard,  who  at  that  time 
lived  in  State  Line,  Indiana.  Before  he  worked  in  the  tile  fac- 
tory he  stayed  with  Frank  Cunningham. 

[80] 


In  1885  he  went  back  to  Germany  to  see  his  mother.  He 
was  gone  about  one  year.  Then  he  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  1886.  When  he  came  back  he  started  farming.  On 
March  9,  1887,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Clara  J.  Andrews. 
After  they  were  married  they  went  to  housekeeping  on  the 
farm  of  her  mother.  After  her  mother's  death  they  bought 
the  home  place.  There  were  four  children  in  the  family.  In 
1893  he  was  elected  road  commissioner.  He  held  this  office 
for  three  years.  He  was  school  director  of  Price  school  for 
fifteen  years.    He  held  this  office  until  his  death. 

In  the  year  of  1905  he  built  a  new  home.  After  that  his 
health  began  to  fail  and  he  was  not  able  to  carry  on  with  active 
work.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Odd  Fellows  lodge  and  he  was 
a  member  of  the  German  Lutheran  church. 

My  grandfather  died  on  September  25,  1908.  He  was 
buried  in  Walnut  Corner  cemetery. 


MY  GRANDMOTHER'S  LIFE 

By  Sarah  Jane  Jackson,  Dist.  114 
Teacher,  Pearl  Rubottom 

About  63  years  ago  my  great-grandfather  and  his  family 
lived  in  England.  He  wanted  to  come  to  America  but  his  wife 
and  children  did  not  want  to  leave  England.  Without  their 
knowledge  he  boarded  a  ship  and  came  to  America. 

He  got  work  in  a  granite  mine  where  he  earned  more 
money  than  could  be  earned  in  England. 

After  he  was  here  a  month  or  two,  he  sent  his  family 
enough  money  to  come  to  him  in  New  York  State.  They  came 
as  soon  as  possible  in  a  sailing  vessel  on  a  steerage  ticket.  It 
took  three  weeks  for  them  to  come.  They  brought  all  they 
had  to  eat  in  a  carpet  bag. 

After  they  wiere  here  about  a  month,  a  slab  of  granite  fell 
on  him  and  killed  him.  This  left  his  wife  and  children  without 
anything  except  a  small  sum  of  money,  which  did  not  last  long. 

She  then  went  to  her  dead  husband's  brother's  home  in 
Fowlerton,  Indiana,  but  he  was  too  poor  to  keep  them.  The 
mother  was  then  forced  to  turn  her  children  out. 

Her  only  daughter,  Jane,  was  only  ten  years  old  when  she 
went  to  work  for  an  old  blacksmith,  where  she  remained  for 
eight  years.    She  later  went  to  work  in  a  hotel  in  Tilton. 

She  still  corresponds  with  her  relatives  in  England,  but 
none  of  them  ever  came  to  her  except  a  cousin  and  his  two  boys. 
They  came  in  a  steamship,  making  the  journey  in  three  days. 

Jane  later  married.  She  has  five  children,  one  of  whom  is 
my  father. 

[811 


MY  GREAT  GREAT-GRANDMOTHER 

By  Lucille  Mendenhall,  Dist.  122 
Teacher,  Arizona  Montgomery 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  women  of  her  day  was  Lura 
Guymon,  who  is  better  known  as  "Grandma"  Guymon.  Many 
people  will  remember  her  for  the  work  she  did  while  on  earth. 
She  was  a  woman  doctor,  or  midwife,  as  they  were  more  com- 
monly called.  She  spent  the  greater  part  of  her  life  in  the 
vicinity  of  Catlin.  Her  ashes  are  now  at  rest  in  "God's  Acre'* 
burial  ground,  the  pioneer  cemetery  west  of  Catlin, 

"Grandma"  Guymon  was  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  being 
born  in  Connecticut  in  1794  and  came  to  Ohio  about  1812, 
where  she  was  married  to  Noah  Guymon. 

Believing  there  was  a  future  for  them  in  Illinois,  she  and 
her  husband  came  to  Vermilion  county  about  1830.  He  came 
on  foot,  bringing  his  wife,  "Grandma"  Guymon,  on  horseback, 
which  conveyance  also  served  to  pack  what  earthly  possessions 
the  two  owned.  He  took  a  claim  on  Section  29,  which  is  north- 
west of  Catlin.  They  built  a  little  cabin,  which  served  the 
double  purpose  of  residence  and  a  place  of  shelter  for  the  faith- 
ful old  mare,  which  had  transported  his  plunder  from  Ohio. 

Butler's  Point  was  the  end  of  their  destination.  In  the 
place  of  the  old  log  cabin,  a  tidy  house  of  brick  was  built,  which 
for  nearly  half  a  century  stood  as  one  of  the  show  places  of 
Catlin  township.  This  house  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1928. 
It  was  and  still  is  owned  by  a  grandson,  Milton  Payne,  who  is 
my  grandfather,  residing  in  Catlin.  My  parents,  Carlos  and 
Gertrude  Payne  Mendenhall,  lived  in  this  house  15  years.  Five 
of  their  seven  children  were  born  there. 

There  were  several  hundred  Indians  in  this  county  when 
the  Guymons  came  here.  The  white  woman,  with  her  knowl- 
edge of  medicine  and  herbs  and  their  uses,  appealed  to  the 
redskins  and  she  soon  became  their  friend.  She  had  studied 
medicine  in  Ohio,  and  while  there  were  no  licensed  physicians 
at  that  time,  her  knowledge  of  medicine  placed  her  on  equal 
ranking  with  the  men  doctors  of  that  day. 

The  day  or  night  was  never  too  bad  or  stormy  for  the 
"white  medicine  woman"  to  answer  the  call  for  help.  She 
would  ride  horseback  over  the  trackless  prairie  or  thr^u^h  the 
forests  to  bring  a  new  babe  into  the  world.  It  is  said  that  she 
officiated  at  approximately  1,000  such  events. 

She  was  not  a  home  woman  in  the  sense  understood  by  the 
pioneers,  and  even  today  she  would  no  doubt  have  been  termed 
a  modern  woman.  She  was  much  criticized  by  her  neighbors 
for  going  out  and  doing  a  work  which  was  generally  conceded 
to  be  a  man's  work. 

"Grandma"  Guymon  came  from  a  fighting  family,  her 
father  having  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  American  army  under 

[82] 


General  Washington.  Washington  once  spent  the  night  in  the 
home  of  her  parents  in  Connecticut.  She  died  in  1884  at  the 
age  of  90  years. 

OUR  COUNTRY  IN  MY  GRANDMOTHER'S  TIME 

By  Doris  V.  Coffman,  District  No.  213 
Teacher,  Minnie  Davenport 

My  grandmother  was  born  in  Ohio.  When  she  was  a 
young  girl,  her  father  bought  a  piece  of  land  in  Illinois.  He 
had  it  for  several  years  before  they  got  ready  to  move.  They 
traveled  on  a  train  to  near  Homer,  where  they  were  met  by  a 
wagon  to  take  them  to  their  new  home.  They  traveled  a  long 
way,  and  finally  reached  their  farm,  only  about  four  miles 
southeast  of  what  is  now  Allerton.  They  then  moved  out  into 
a  log  cabin  which  had  already  been  built.  They  soon  set  out  to 
make  a  real  home  in  Illinois. 

It  was  time  to  plant  crops  so  they  set  about  doing  it. 
There  were  no  trees  or  fences  as  far  as  you  could  see.  They 
had  to  cut  the  hedge  balls  off  the  hedge  trees  and  plant  the 
seeds.  In  a  few  years  they  had  a  good  hedge  fence.  There 
were  no  shade  trees  so  a  few  trees  had  to  be  planted. 

In  the  summer  it  was  extremely  hot,  and  in  the  winter  it 
was  bitterly  cold. 

My  grandmother's  father  taught  school  in  the  winter  for 
a  few  months.  On  the  way  to  school,  the  children  would  see 
strange  animals.  The  prairie  chickens  would  get  under  the 
house ;  and,  if  at  night  you  heard  a  strange  bumping  sound,  it 
was  the  prairie  chickens  bumping  their  heads  on  the  bottom 
of  the  house. 

The  roads  were  extremely  bad.  In  winter  they  were  knee 
deep  in  mud  and  about  that  bad  in  dust  in  summer.  If  you 
wanted  to  make  a  long  trip,  you  went  to  Newman  or  Homer. 
The  whole  family  would  start  out  early  in  the  morning.  You 
would  eat  your  lunch  in  a  grove.  You  got  to  town  finally  and 
spent  about  an  hour ;  then  you  would  start  home. 

There  was  plenty  of  excitement  about  this  time.  The 
world's  champion  heavyweight  boxer  lived  in  Newman.  If  you 
wanted  to  move  to  Illinois  you  usually  bought  the  land  a 
couple  of  years  before.  It  took  brave  people  to  make  homes  in 
this  new  land. 

MY  GRANDFATHER'S  SCHOOL  DAYS 

By  Annabel  Miller,  Dist.  158 
Teacher,  Matilda  Breezely 

My  grandfather,  George  W.  Miller,  came  to  Vermilion 
county  from  Indiana  with  his  parents  in  1846.     He  was  five 

[  83  ] 


years  of  age.  The  family  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  East  Fork 
of  the  Vermilion  river,  three  miles  east  of  Rossville.  They 
lived  in  an  old  house  for  a  time,  but  a  few  years  later  built  a 
new  home,  hauling  the  lumber  for  it  from  Attica  with  ox  teams. 
This  house  still  stands  in  good  condition,  although  it  has  been 
built  for  more  than  80  years. 

The  first  school  which  grandfather  attended  was  con- 
ducted in  the  various  homes  of  the  community,  taking  turns. 
Later,  a  log  school  was  built,  such  as  was  used  in  most  parts  of 
the  state. 

For  the  first  school,  the  settlers  met  with  a  yoke  or  two 
of  oxen,  with  axes,  saws  and  an  auger.  Trees  were  cut,  rough- 
trimmed  and  unhewn,  and  they  were  put  together  to  make  a 
log  house  about  16  ft.  square.  A  hole  was  cut  on  one  side  for  a 
door  and  a  larger  hole  on  the  other  side  for  an  outdoor  chim- 
ney. The  roof  was  made  of  clapboards,  held  in  place  by  weight 
poles  laid  on  the  ends  of  the  clapboards  and  secured  by  pins. 

The  next  step  was  "chinking"  and  "daubing"  to  fill  the 
cracks.  On  one  side  the  space  between  two  logs  was  left  open 
to  admit  light,  but  covered  by  greased  paper  to  exclude  the  rain 
and  snow.  The  door  was  made  of  clapboards,  put  together 
with  wooden  pins  and  hung  on  wooden  hinges  which  creaked 
distressingly.    A  floor  of  puncheon  was  laid. 

A  ceiling  was  laid  under  the  roof,  clapboards  stretched 
from  joist  to  joist,  and  earth  spread  on  these  to  keep  out  the 
cold.  The  chimney  was  6  feet  in  width.  It  was  built  of  small 
poles  and  topped  with  sticks  split  to  the  size  of  two  inches 
square  laid  up  in  log  house  fashion ;  then  its  chinks  were  filled 
with  mud.  The  fire  was  kindled  by  the  aid  of  flint,  steel  and 
tinder  or  coals  must  be  brought  from  the  nearest  house.  Fire- 
wood was  cut  four  feet  in  length,  green  and  fresh  from  the 
woods. 

The  seats  were  made  of  puncheon  with  4  legs  set  into 
auger  holes.  There  were  no  desks  except  for  the  older  pupils 
who  took  writing  lessons.  Stout  pegs  were  driven  into  the  wall 
to  slope  downward.  On  these  supports  was  fastened  the 
smoothed  puncheon.  Thus  the  writing  pupils  sat  or  stood 
facing  the  wall.  A  pail  of  water  with  a  gourd  was  part  of  the 
furniture.  It  was  a  reward  of  merit  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  the 
spring  or  well  to  fill  the  bucket  or  piggin. 

Grandfather  received  no  other  education  except  that  pro- 
vided by  the  primitive  country  school  of  his  time,  but  was  a 
great  reader  all  of  his  life.  He  lived  the  rest  of  his  life  within 
a  distance  of  three  miles  from  his  childhood  home.  He  passed 
away  at  his  home  in  Rossville  on  October  18,  1927,  at  the  age 
of  86  years. 


[84] 


THE  FIRST  BRICK  HOUSE  IN  VERMILION 

COUNTY 

By  Beulah  Lingley,  District  2,  Cheneyville 
Teacher,  Rosaline  Gingrich 

The  First  Brick  House  in  Vermilion  county  is  located  on 
my  great-grandfather,  Isaac  Knox's  farm.  It  was  built  to  replace 
a  log  cabin  in  the  year  of  1853. 

The  farm,  on  which  the  house  is  placed,  is  located  6 3/^  miles 
northeast  of  Danville  or  1  mile  east  of  West  Newell. 

The  bricks  which  were  used  were  being  prepared  for  the 
State  House  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  but  because  they  were  soft, 
they  were  used  to  build  houses  in  Vermilion  county  and  for  other 
building  purposes.  The  brick  yard  was  known  as  the  Fairchild 
Brick  Yard  on  North  Oak  Street  in  Danville,  Illinois. 

The  house  was  a  two-story  structure  and  was  not  as  strong 
as  it  might  have  been  if  solid  bricks  had  been  used. 

During  the  years  past,  the  farm  was  inherited  by  my  grand- 
father from  my  great-grandfather. 

Because  of  the  soft  bricks  the  house  met  its  destruction  in 
a  windstorm  in  the  year  1927,  having  stood  for  seventy-five 
years. 

THE  COAL  INDUSTRY 

By  Herbert  L.  Frederickson,  District  No.  116 
Teacher,  Zola  Dye 

The  coal  industry  is  also  called  "The  Black  Diamond  In- 
dustry." Coal  is  of  a  plant  origin.  It  has  been  formed  by  slow 
changes  of  vegetation  which  grew  in  ancient  swamps  and  bogs 
changed  into  coal.     The  first  stage  is  a  spongy  material  called 

peat.  .  1     1  • 

By  continual  pressing  of  accumulated  material,  this  peat  was 

slowly  changed  to  lignite,  a  woody  coal.     The  pressing  out  of 

some  of  the  gas  and  moisture  caused  a  harder  material  called 

bituminous  coal.  . 

Coal  was  first  seen,  it  is  believed,  by  Father  Hennepin  along 
the  Illinois  river  near  the  present  site  of  Ottawa,  Illinois. 

The  use  of  coal  was  discovered  by  accident  by  an  iron  com- 
pany who  was  determined  to  make  it  burn.  They  bought  a  load, 
and  put  some  in  a  furnace,  and  kept  poking  it,  and  wasted  a 
whole  load  without  results.  They  bought  another  load  to  try 
again,  and  worked  all  night  without  making  it  burn.  The  work- 
men left  it  in  the  furnace  with  some  burning  wood  under  it. 
After  breakfast  they  came  back  and  were  astonished  to  find  an 
intense  fire  in  the  furnace.     This  proved  that  it  would  burn. 

Before  railroads  came,  transportation  was  the  biggest  prob- 
lem in  the  coal  industry. 

Although  coal  is  mostly  mined  with  shafts,  there  are  three 
other  popular  ways  in  use  in  this  country. 

[85] 


One  way  is  an  open  pit  called  a  strip  mine.  The  surface 
dirt  is  removed  by  small  team  scrapers  or  by  steam  shovels, 
thus  exposing  the  coal  bed.  This  is  the  simplest  type  of  mine. 
Another  way  is  by  drift  mining.  This  is  done  by  digging 
one  or  two  sloping  tunnels  until  the  coal  is  reached,  and  the 
coal  being  hauled  out  through  these  tunnels.  Slope  mining  is 
similar  to  this  method. 

Still  another,  which  is  used  mostly,  is  a  process  called, 
"shaft  mining."  This  shaft  mining  is  done  by  digging  a  large 
hole  straight  down  into  the  earth  from  the  surface  till  the  seams 
are  located.  Sometimes  three  or  four  seams  are  mined  at  the 
same  time. 

When  miners  are  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  they 
niust  be  supplied  with  plenty  of  good  air.  This  is  done  by  dig- 
ging another  hole  or  shaft  some  distance  away  from  the  hoisting 
shaft,  this  one  being  called  an,  "air  shaft,"  which  is  also  dug 
down  to  the  lowest  seam  being  mined.  At  the  bottom  of  this 
shaft  is  located  a  fan,  either  drawing  bad  air  out  or  forcing  good 
air  into  the  mine.  The  fan  is  run  generally  by  an  electric  engine. 
The  opening  used  for  forcing  the  fresh  air  into  the  mine  is  called 
the  "downcast."  The  opening  drawing  the  bad  air  out  is  called 
"up  cast."  A  tunnel  must  be  first  made  to  connect  these  two  shafts 
to  make  a  circulation  of  air  possible. 

The  hoisting  shaft  might  be  used  for  either  the  "upcast" 
or  "downcast." 

The  other  mines  are  "slope"  and  "drift"  mines  have  this 
same  system  of  ventilation. 

After  the  shafts  are  completed  and  properly  lined  to  prevent 
entrance  of  water,  the  actual  mining  is  started  mostly  in  "room" 
and  "pillar"  method.  One  or  more  tunnels  or  so  called,  "en- 
tries," about  six  or  seven  feet  wide  are  first  made  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shaft,  used  for  hoisting  the  coal.  These  are  the  main 
streets  of  a  mine  and  along  these  are  laid  steel  tracks  over  which 
the  coal  cars  travel.  Other  entries  branch  off  and  gradually  there 
is  built  an  underground  town  with  it's  blocks  and  streets. 

Pipe  lines  are  also  layed  to  remove  any  water  which  naturally 
accumulates  in  a  mine.  These  lines  lead  to  a  hole  in  form  of  a 
reservoir,  which  is  called  a  "sump."  Pumps  are  used  to  remove 
the  water  from  here  and  it  is  pumped  to  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
Fi'om  the  entries  other  tunnels  branch  off,  and  places  are 
opened  called  "rooms"  where  the  coal  is  mined  in  a  space  from 
eighteen  feet  to  thirty  feet  wide,  and  the  rooms  are  sometimes 
worked  from  one  hundred  feet  to  two  hundred  feet  long.  Be- 
tween each  room  there  is  a  pillar  of  coal  from  seven  to  ten  feet 
in  thickness  left  to  help  support  the  rock  and  other  overhead 
ground.  Timber  is  also  used  for  this  purpose  in  the  room  to 
support  the  overhead  earth.  The  track  is  then  made  into  the 
room  so  that  the  "loader  machine"  or  the  miners  can  load  the 
coal  into  cars  holding  from  one  to  five  tons  of  coal. 

The  coal  is  then  "shot  from  the  solid,"  that  is  to  say,  with- 
out being  cut  to  the  side  or  bottom  of  the  seam.    Cutting  under- 

[86] 


neath  before  blasting  is  popular  among  small  mines  to  get  bigger 
coal. 

The  cutting  is  often  done  with  machines  and  sometimes  by 
hand  "picks."  The  "cutting  of  the  coal"  is  making  a  groove  in 
the  coal  so  as  to  allow  the  coal  to  crowd  out  when  blasted. 

To  blast  a  small  hole  about  1^  inches  in  diameter,  is  drilled 
above  or  to  the  side  of  the  groove  with  a  machine,  and  this  hole 
is  charged  with  powder,  and  then  the  hole  is  plugged  up  with 
fire  clay  or  the  drill  dust.  The  charge  is  set  off  by  lighting  a 
fuse  inserted  into  the  powder  which  is  wrapped  with  tape.  The 
fuse  burns  about  two  feet  a  minute  allowing  about  three  minutes 
for  the  miner  to  get  to  safety  after  lighting  the  fuse.  This  blast- 
ing is  usually  done  at  night  just  before  quitting  time,  so  that  the 
powder  smoke  can  be  drawn  out  before  morning.  In  the  morn- 
ing, miners  are  loaded  in  the  cages  and  let  down  into  the  miners' 
working  places.  These  cages  are  elevators  used  to  hoist  coal, 
and  let  men  up  and  down  to  work. 

The  miner  and  his  helper,  or  "buddy,"  load  the  coal  into 
cars,  and  they  are  drawn  away  by  electric  engines  and  about 
ten  cars  already  loaded  form  a  trip  when  linked  together.  These 
are  drawn  to  the  bottom  of  the  hoisting  shaft  and  then  separated. 

The  loaded  cars  are  then  elevated  to  big  tipples  or  enclines 
which  are  a  net  work  of  screens.  It  is  there  weighed  and  the 
screen  called  "shaker"  screens,  shake  the  coal  through  the  screens 
is  either  loaded  on  railroad  cars  or  sold  to  men  operating  trucks 
which  haul  the  coal  to  its  destination.  After  the  coal  cars  are 
emptied,  they  are  let  down  the  shafts  and  drawn  to  the  miners 
to  reload. 

Besides  using  coal  for  heat  and  power,  many  more  things 
can  be  made  or  partly  made  from  coal.  From  the  tar  in  coal  comes 
baking  powder,  flavoring  for  cakes,  picric  acid  explosive,  radio 
parts,  cresoles,  photodeveloper,  paraffin,  T.N.T.  explosive,  ink 
solvent,  rubber  solvent,  naptha,  perfumes,  aniline  dye,  artificial 
silk,  benzol,  heavy  oil  for  wood  preservations,  pitch. 

From  the  coke  comes  graphite  lubricant,  i)riquets,  carbon 
electrodes,  lamp  black,  and  black  paint. 

From  the  gas  we  get  heat,  illumination  and  anesthetic. 

From  the  gas  liquor  comes  ammonium,  sulphate  fertilizer, 
nitrate  explosives  and  salammoniac  for  batteries,  soldering,  etc. 


SORGHUM 

By  Gail  Green,  Dist.  122 
Teacher,  Stella  Brothers 

In  order  to  make  Sorghum  you  have  to  have  seed  and  plant 
it  about  the  same  time  that  you  do  corn.  It  has  to  be  hoed 
about  two  times.  In  September,  the  cane  is  ready  to  be  made 
into  Sorghum. 

Some  people  say,  "Only  clay  ground  makes  good  Sorghum." 

[87] 


But  we  have  disproved  it  at  R.  E.  Green's,  i-i  of  a  mile  west 
and  ^  of  a  mile  north  of  Bronson,  on  black  ground. 

The  cane  is  stripped  which  means  taking  the  leaves  or  blades 
off  the  stock.  The  top  or  head  which  has  the  seed  in  it  is  cut 
off  about  12  inches  from  the  top.  It  is  cut  at  the  bottom  and  the 
cane  is  put  on  the  wagon  to  be  hauled  to  the  mill.  At  the  mill  it 
is  crushed  between  three  big  rollers  driven  by  an  engine.  The 
stock,  after  the  juice  is  squeezed  out  it,  goes  out  into  a  pile  to 
be  hauled  away.  The  juice  runs  into  a  tank  and  runs  over  into 
the  evaporator  after  it  is  settled,  then  it  is  cooked  and  skimmed 
constantly.  It  runs  between  fins  to  the  other  end  where  it  is 
taken  off  and  put  into  the  finishing  pan,  where  it  later  is  sorghum. 

This  year,  we  made  464  gallons  of  sorghum,  and  it  takes 
about  3  hours  to  make  a  15  gallon  batch. 


MY  OLD  HOME  IN  ALABAMA 

By  Deola  Clark,  Dist.  No.  90 
Teacher,  Maude  Juvinall 

Before  moving  to  Illinois  in  1929,  I  lived  in  the  Sunny 
South  in  the  state  of  Alabama.  My  home  was  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  state  about  one  hundred  miles  from  Birmingham. 

In  the  section  of  the  country  in  which  we  lived  most  people 
were  engaged  in  farming.  Near  our  home  was  some  timber  land 
the  most  of  which  was  pine  and  oak.  So  my  father's  work  con- 
sisted of  farming  and  running  a  saw  mill. 

My  father's  lumber  camp  was  situated  about  a  half  of  mile 
from  our  home.  The  logs  were  hauled  to  the  saw  mill  on  log 
wagons  which  were  pulled  by  teams.  My  father  used  a  seventy- 
five  horse  power  steam  engine.  There  were  about  eight  men 
employed  in  cutting  the  timber  into  lumber  and  ties.  And  about 
eight  or  ten  men  employed  in  cutting  and  hauling  the  logs  to 
the  saw  mill. 

The  ties  and  lumber  were  hauled  in  trucks  to  the  nearest 
railroad  at  Decatur.  Some  were  sold  for  use  in  this  city  and 
some  were  shipped  by  railway  to  other  towns.  Some  of  the 
best  lumber  after  being  sent  to  Decatur  to  the  planing  mill  was 
used  in  the  building  of  houses. 

On  the  farm  we  raised  cotton,  corn  and  vegetables.  We 
planted  cotton  about  the  last  of  April  or  the  first  of  May.  When 
the  cotton  plants  were  well  started,  Negroes  were  hired  who 
went  into  the  fields  and  thinned  the  plants  so  as  to  make  them 
grow  better.  When  that  was  over  the  cotton  was  left  for  about 
a  week,  then  Negroes  went  into  the  fields  with  hoes  to  destroy 
the  grass  and  weeds.  After  it  had  been  gone  over  two  or  three 
times  it  was  left  until  picking  time. 

By  July  4th  almost  every  one  had  gone  over  their  cotton 
the  third  time.  About  October  the  first  the  cotton  was  ready 
to  pick.  Then  more  Negroes  were  hired  who  went  into  the  fields 
with  long  sacks  and  picked  the  cotton.   From  October  to  Novem- 

[88] 


ber  the  twentieth  is  the  busiest  time  of  the  year.    By  Christmas 
almost  every  one  has  their  cotton  out  of  the  fields. 

After  the  cotton  was  picked  it  was  loaded  on  wagons  and 
trucks  and  taken  to  the  cotton  gin  where  the  seed  was  separated 
from  the  cotton.  The  cotton  was  then  pressed  into  bales  usually 
weighing  about  five  hundred  pounds.  After  it  was  made  mto 
bales  we  could  sell  it  there  or  take  it  home  and  wait  awhile  be- 
fore we  sold  it.  Some  people  took  their  cotton  home  and  held 
it  for  some  time  hoping  to  get  a  better  price  for  it.  The  seeds 
could  be  taken  home  for  seed  the  next  year  or  sold  to  be  fed  to 
cows  or  made  into  cotton  seed  oil. 

HOW  I  HAVE  LIKED  THE  DRAWING  THIS  YEAR 

By  Donald  Harry  Hosch,  Dist.  113 
Teacher,  Cecil  Lafferty 

I  have  liked  the  drawing  very  much  and  I  have  drawn  some 
nice  pictures.  We  traced  some  pictures  and  then  we  colored 
them  and  we  put  them  on  the  wall,  and  they  look  very  pretty. 
We  colored  the  pictures  with  crayons  and  made  them  look  very 
nice.  We  traced  little  boys  and  girls  from  foreign  countries  and 
a  good  many  birds,  and  we  colored  them  different  colors  and  made 
them  very  pretty.  Some  of  the  pupils  drew  their  favorite  pictures 
yesterday,  and  they  all  looked  very  nice.  The  pictures  were 
colored  different  colors  and  they  were  so  pretty  I  could  hardly 
stay  away  from  them.  Some  were  pictures  of  rivers  and  some 
were  of  houses.  When  we  were  in  the  other  school  we  drew  some 
awfully  pretty  pictures  and  they  all  burned  up.  Before  the  other 
school  burned  down,  we  were  going  to  have  an  exhibit  and  invite 
all  our  school  patrons  and  show  them  all  of  our  pictures,  and  when 
the  school  house  burned  down  all  of  our  pictures  burned  up. 

HOW  I  HAVE  LIKED  THE  MUSIC  THIS  YEAR 
I  have  liked  the  music  very  much.  I  have  liked  the  way  we 
studied  different  kinds  of  keys.  We  have  sung  many  different 
kinds  of  songs.  The  songs  we  sang  were  very  pretty.  We  have 
learned  the  syllables  and  we  like  it  very  much  that  we  learned 
them.  We  have  a  lot  of  good  singing  and  it  sounds  very  pretty. 
Our  teacher  taught  us  the  music  and  we  think  she  is  a  good  music 
teacher.  The  little  folks  are  doing  better  in  music  than  some  of 
the  bigger  folks. 


PIONEER  DAYS 

By  Mildred  Irvin,  Dist.  11 
Teacher,  DOROTHY  Griswold 

In  1859  John  S.  Hewins  started  to  break  prairie  in  Iroquois 
county.    Before  he  had  accomplished  much  he  enlisted  in  Com- 

[89] 


pany  E,  76th  Regt.  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service  the  22nd  of  August,  1862, 
at  Kankakee,  Illinois.  He  was  made  a  lieutenant  after  several 
months  of  service.  He  was  mustered  out  July  22,  1865  at  Gal- 
veston, Texas.  Then,  he  was  brought  back  to  Chicago  where  he 
got  his  pay  and  final  discharge. 

After  coming  out  of  the  army,  he  taught  school,  in  the  win- 
ters, in  Vermilion  county,  and  broke  prairie  with  oxen  during 
the  summers  for  about  five  years.  He  had  twelve  yoke  of  oxen, 
and  used  six  yoke  on  a  twenty-four  inch  braking  plow.  He 
hired  a  man  to  run  the  other  six  yoke  to  another  plow.  He  broke 
prairie  in  Vermilion,  Iroquois  and  Ford  counties. 

A  nephew  of  John  S.  Hewins,  J.  H.  Irvin,  used  to  enjoy 
very  much  seeing  those  cattle  yoked.  They  would  put  the  yoke 
on  one  ox  and  hold  the  other  end  up  and  call  his  mate  to  come 
under.    They  usually  didn't  want  to  but  would  do  it. 

At  that  time,  there  were  great  sections  of  land  that  were 
in  wild  prairie  and  large  herds  of  cattle  were  herded  on  them 
each  summer.  There  were  deer  and  plenty  of  wolves  in  this 
part  of  Illinois.  Almost  any  night  you  could  hear  the  wolves 
howling.  Ducks,  geese,  brant,  crane  and  prairie  chickens  were 
very  numerous. 

The  farm  implements  were  very  crude.  At  that  time  the 
sod  plow,  the  walking  plow,  the  walking  cultivator  and  the  two 
horse  harrow  were  practically  all  the  implements  used. 

The  sod  corn  planter  was  used  with  four  horses.  A  boy 
sat  on  it  and  dropped  the  corn.  All  the  oats  and  wheat  were 
sowed  by  hand. 

A  few  years  later,  the  mower  and  reaper  combined  were 
used.  The  reaper  raked  off  the  bundles  and  they  were  bound  by 
hand.  The  flax  was  done  the  same  way,  only  not  bound.  My 
Grandfather,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Hewins,  has  stood  on  the  back 
part  of  the  reaper  and  raked  flax  and  oats  off  the  reaper. 

The  schools  were  not  very  well  equipped.  Any  child,  who 
had  a  book,  brought  it  and  used  it,  regardless  of  the  name. 
They  seldom  used  two  books  alike.  A  few  years  later,  there  was 
a  uniform  set  of  books  for  the  children  to  use.  The  grammar 
and  history  were  not  used  until  the  children  were  about  13  or 
14  years  of  age.  Every  child  used  a  slate  and  slate  pencil  instead 
of  a  tablet  and  pencil.  The  Bratton  School  is  the  oldest  in  Butler 
Township.  The  Schwartz  School  is  the  second  oldest,  and  Murphy 
the  third  oldest. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  BOY  SCOUTS 

By  Thomas  White,  Dist.  76 
Teacher,  Oleeta  French 

Scout  is  a  word  which  means  watch.  Many  years  ago  they 
liad  scouts  to  watch  in  war  and  to  watch  against  Indians.  In 
late  years  the  meaning  has  been  widened. 


[90] 


In  1905,  Daniel  Carter  Beard  founded  a  society.  It  was 
called  Sons  of  Daniel  Boone.  About  the  same  time  Ernest  Thomp- 
son Seton,  a  great  naturalist,  formed  an  organization  called  the 
Woodcraft  Indians.  In  1910,  the  Woodcraft  Indians  decided  to 
unite  with  the  Sons  of  Daniel  Boone  and  form  a  larger  organiza- 
tion called  the  Boy  Scouts  of  America.  Meanwhile,  Sir  Robert 
Baden-Powell  had  founded  the  Boy  Scouts  of  England. 

The  Boy  Scout  society  began  to  spread  and  it  is  now  in  the 
United  States,  England,  Canada,  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
Australia,  China,  and  in  several  more  countries.  In  the  United 
States  alone  there  are  550,000,  and  in  other  countries  there  are 
800,000  or  more. 

The  method  has  been  summed  up  in  the  term  scoutcraft. 
Scoutcraft  includes  first  aid,  life-saving,  tracking,  signaling, 
cycling,  nature  study,  swimming,  rowing,  and  many  other  ac- 
complishments. 

All  these  things  give  great  physical  exercise.  Many  of  the 
organizations  have  summer  camps  in  which  they  have  drills  in 
tent  pitching,  fire  making,  and  cooking.  They  teach  boys  how 
to  be  comfortable  in  woods  without  the  luxuries  of  home. 

In  Vermilion  county,  there  is  a  summer  camp  for  boys  near 
Potomac.  I  have  often  seen  boys  on  bicycles  on  roads  of  Vermilion 
county  who  were  Scouts. 

Anyone  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen  can  be- 
come a  Scout.  Before  you  become  a  tenderfoot  or  a  Scout  of  the 
lowest  rank,  you  must  take  the  Scouts'  oath.  The  Scout  law 
includes  honor,  loyalty,  helpfulness,  friendliness,  kindness  to 
animals,  and  obedience.  In  order  to  become  a  second  class 
Scout,  a  first  class  Scout,  a  star  Scout,  an  Eagle  Scout,  and  a 
life  Scout,  you  must  pass  certain  requirements. 

In  form,  the  organization  is  semi-military.  It  does  not 
have  gun  drills.  Eight  boys  form  a  patrol  and  three  patrols  are 
a  troop.  A  troop  has  a  Scoutmaster  and  a  patrol  has  one  of  its 
own  boys  to  be  a  patrol  leader.  They  have  simple  uniforms.  The 
Scouts  have  a  motto  which  is  Be  Prepared. 


A  TRUE  PIONEER  STORY 

By  Marie  Miller,  Dist.  145 
Teacher,  Daphne  Cromwell 

Back  in  the  year  of  1872,  my  grandmother's  father,  John 
Dobson,  went  to  Minnesota  and  took  up  a  claim  near  Wadena, 
Minnesota. 

Several  months  later,  he  went  back  to  Janesville,  Wiscon- 
sin, for  his  family,  where  preparations  were  made  for  the  trip 
back  to  the  claim.  The  ten-day  trip  in  covered  wagon  was 
made  without  seeing  anyone.  At  night,  the  women  and  chil- 
dren slept  in  the  wagon  while  the  men  and  older  boys  took  their 
blankets  and  slept  under  the  wagon.    To  the  wheel  was  tied  a 

[91] 


larg-e  deer  hound  which  was  to  guard  against  Indian  or  wild 
animal  attacks  at  night.  They  lived  in  the  covered  wagon  until 
enough  trees  were  cut  down  to  build  a  one-room  log  cabin,  in- 
cluding a  loft  and  a  large  fireplace  at  one  end  of  the  room.  In 
the  loft  the  men  and  boys  slept.  To  get  to  the  loft,  a  ladder 
was  nailed  to  the  side  of  the  room.  Soon  the  land  was  cleared 
of  stumps  and  undergrowth  and  crops  were  planted.  Many  a 
wintry  morning  they  awakened  to  find  snow  had  sifted  in  on 
the  beds  through  the  chinks  between  the  logs. 

Game  in  the  woods  and  fish  in  the  streams  were  plentiful. 

They  had  many  a  visit  from  the  Indians,  who  were  friendly 
with  the  white  people  at  that  time.  When  they  came  to  a  house, 
they  never  knocked  but  walked  right  in.  If  it  was  near  meal- 
time, they  would  walk  up  to  the  table  and  sit  down  without  an 
invitation.  One  winter  morning  an  Indian  chief  and  two 
squaws  walked  into  the  house  while  grandmother's  mother  was 
baking  pancakes.  The  old  chief  wanted  sugar  to  eat  on  his 
cakes  but  was  refused  because  of  the  scarcity  of  white  sugar. 
One  old  squaw  reached  over  and  took  a  piece  of  fat  side  meat 
in  her  fingers  and  handed  it  over  her  shoulder  to  a  papoose  tied 
on  her  back.  The  smaller  children  were  frightened  and  hid 
behind  the  stove  until  they  left.  When  the  Indians  wanted 
their  dogs  to  come  to  them,  instead  of  whistling  they  called, 
^'Kittie-koo,  Kittie-koo." 

My  grandmother,  Mrs.  Catharine  Elliott,  was  a  resident 
of  Danville  for  twenty-three  years  until  her  death  two  years 
ago. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  CHURN 

Bij  Louise  Johnson,  District  No.  101 
Teacher,  B.  C.  Beck 

It  is  a  known  fact  that  the  churn  was  first  founded  in  Ver- 
milion county. 

Few  people  know  of  this,  as  there  are  few  markers  in  Dan- 
ville. Many  historical  events  which  have  occurred  in  Danville 
have  been  forgotten. 

In  1837,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Caleb  Pottle  came  from  Ohio  early 
in  the  spring.  They  made  a  settlement  in  the  prairie  where 
the  vacant  lot  at  the  corner  of  Harrison  and  Pine  streets  now 
stands. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pottle  had  a  cow  for  their  own  use.  One 
summer  morning  as  Mrs.  Pottle  was  milking  their  family  cow, 
a  very  funny  incident  happened. 

As  the  flies  bothered  her  cow  very  much,  the  cow  kicked 
at  a  fly.  The  cow  got  its  foot  wedged  in  the  milk  pail.  Mrs. 
Pottle  began  to  kick  at  the  cow's  leg  to  make  it  change  its  po- 

[92] 


sition.  Her  leg  then  became  wedged  in  the  pail  with  the  cow's 
leg. 

The  cow  began  to  run,  and  Mrs.  Pottle  had  to  run,  too. 

This  five-legged  race  lasted  for  fifteen  minutes. 

Mrs.  Pottle's  screams  finally  reached  the  ears  of  her  hus- 
band at  the  public  square,  where  he  was  peacefully  whittling. 

When  Mrs.  Pottle's  leg  was  removed,  a  half  pound  of  but- 
ter was  found  in  the  bottom  of  the  pail. 

Mr.  Pottle  wanted  his  wife  to  make  butter  every  week  by 
this  method,  but  she  rebelled.  Mrs.  Pottle  then  made  her  hus- 
band whittle  out  a  crude  churn  from  a  log. 

The  milk  churn  has  been  adopted  by  all  foreign  countries 
but  yet  no  marker  or  monument  has  been  placed  on  this  lot  to 
show  where  the  churn  was  first  discovered. 


OLD  TIME  CANDLE  MAKING 

By  LaVerne  Ruth  Miller,  Dist.  145 
Teacher,  Daphne  Cromwell 

In  olden  times,  about  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
this  is  how  they  would  make  their  candles. 

The  women  would  put  on  a  great  pot  of  tallow  to  melt. 
They  had  been  saving  this  tallow  a  whole  year  to  make  candles. 

While  the  tallow  was  melting,  they  would  cut  strings  about 
thirty-two  inches  in  length,  then  they  would  double  the  string 
and  tie  them  to  a  long  pole. 

When  the  tallow  was  melted,  they  would  take  the  pole  and 
dip  the  strings  into  the  tallow.  They  then  would  hang  the  pole 
over  the  back  of  two  chairs  to  dry.  They  would  repeat  this 
process  until  the  candles  were  the  size  required. 

They  would  cut  the  candles  off  of  the  pole,  and  put  them  up 
in  a  cool  place  to  keep  them  hard.  These  candles  would  last 
the  whole  year. 

In  later  years,  about  the  time  when  my  grandmother  made 
candles,  they  had  candle  wicks  instead  of  string,  and  later  still 
they  had  candle  molds. 

These  molds  would  make  about  six  candles  at  one  time. 
They  would  cut  the  wick,  and  thread  it  through  a  hole  in  the 
bottom  of  the  mold.  They  would  pour  the  mold  full  of  tallow. 
When  the  tallow  was  hard,  they  would  cut  the  knot,  tap  the 
mold,  and  the  candles  would  fall  out  of  the  molds. 

They  would  put  the  candles  away  in  a  cool  place  so  the 
candles  would  keep  hard. 

Now,  candles  are  made  in  factories,  and  people  use  electric 
lights. 

[93] 


LIFE  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 

By  Robert  Martin,  Dist.  140 
Teacher,  Pauline  Meade 

A  Vermilion  county  soldier  told  me  this  story.  Shortly 
before  the  United  States  entered  the  World  War,  men  were  as- 
sembled into  temporary  camps  to  do  guard  duty  at  ammuni- 
tion factories  and  important  bridges.  Later  on,  they  were 
assembled  in  several  camps  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

All  kinds  of  buildings  were  being  built.  After  this  was 
completed,  a  period  of  intensive  training  had  to  be  gone 
through  with,  to  get  every  man  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  different  weapons  of  war,  and  how  to  use  them.  After  this 
training  was  over,  men  and  equipment  were  loaded  on  trains 
and  started  for  the  east,  where  they  were  held  in  quarantine 
and  examined  to  be  sent  to  France,  where  the  major  part  of 
the  war  was  going  on. 

Men  were  all  loaded  on  giant  ocean  liners  and  secretly  set 
sail.  No  lights  were  allowed  on  the  ships.  When  out,  they 
were  met  by  small  ships  which  were  known  as  submarine 
chasers. 

After  a  week  on  the  ocean,  land  was  sighted.  After  land- 
ing in  the  harbor,  the  men  were  loaded  in  smaller  boats  manned 
by  English  and  French.  They  were  taken  to  the  shore,  where 
camp  was  made  by  using  the  shelter  half,  sometimes  called  pup 
tents.  Francs  is  sometimes  called  sunny  France,  but  to  the 
average  doughboy  this  is  not  true,  for  some  rain  seemed  to  be 
falling  every  day. 

After  a  short  period  in  these  camps,  the  men  were  loaded 
in  funny  little  box-cars.  After  four  days  and  nights  riding  in 
these  cars,  they  arrived  at  their  destination  and  unloaded. 
After  a  greeting  by  a  Scotch  band,  they  were  given  tea  and 
small  cakes  by  the  English.  After  this,  most  of  the  traveling 
was  done  by  foot.  Each  move  brought  the  men  closer  to  the 
war  zone.  First,  it  sounded  like  a  distant  thunder,  which  was 
the  long  range  guns  firing.  The  men  were  so  anxious  to  go  in 
the  lines  that  sometimes  at  night  they  would  steal  out  and  go  up 
to  see  what  it  was  like. 

In  a  short  time,  order  came  to  go  in  the  lines  and  take  their 
part  in  the  war.  The  trenches  were  full  of  mud  and  water, 
which  came  about  knee  deep. 

No  firing  was  done  in  the  day  time  and  the  men  used  the 
time  to  sleep.  At  night,  under  cover  of  darkness,  patrols  were 
sent  out  to  get  information  from  their  enemy.  Often,  they 
met  one  another  and  a  short  battle  resulted.  The  victor  took 
the  prisoners  for  information.  After  a  time  in  this  sector, 
these  men  were  moved  and  others  took  their  place.  After  a  big 
battle,  one  could  see  men  lying  on  the  ground  dead.     Some- 

[34] 


times,  these  were  gathered  up  and  buried,  but  if  the  firing  was 
too  much,  men  were  allowed  to  lie  until  there  was  nothing  left 
but  the  bones. 

The  last  big  drive  was  at  Verdun,  a  city  built  mostly  under 
ground.  It  was  centered  on  a  hill  named  Dead  Man's  hill,  as 
this  hill  had  been  in  no  man's  land  for  two  years.  So  many 
men  had  been  killed  on  this  hill  that  a  pick  could  not  be  put  in 
the  ground  without  striking  bones. 

This  proved  to  be  the  deciding  battle  of  the  war.  It  was 
a  complete  success  for  the  allied  armies. 

On  November  11,  1918,  an  armistice  was  signed  which 
ceased  all  hostilities.  Everybody  was  happy  to  know  that  soon 
they  could  come  home.  Some  divisions  were  called  to  the  army 
of  occupation. 

Soon  the  order  came  to  prepare  to  start  home.  Back  to  see 
the  camp  from  which  they  first  came  about  a  year  before.  They 
started  home  in  a  storm  and  were  seasick  about  half  way 
home.    The  rest  of  the  ocean  journey  was  good. 

The  men  were  all  sent  to  the  camps  from  which  they  came, 
to  be  discharged  and  take  their  place  in  civilized  life  again. 
Some  returned  well  and  healthy,  and  others  are  crippled  who 
are  still  fighting  the  world  war  but  not  noticed  by  the  masses. 


THE  LIFE  OF  THE  CO.  SUPT.  OF  SCHOOLS, 

MR.  L.  A.  TUGGLE 

By  Jackie  Crist,  Dist.  101 
Teacher,  B.  C.  Beck 

Larkin  A.  Tuggle,  with  whom  all  school  children  arc  fa- 
miliar, was  born  in  a  log  cabin  about  fifty-nine  years  ago,  July 
29,  1875,  in  Indianola,  Illinois.  Until  the  time  when  he  started 
to  school  young  Tuggle's  life,  like  most  boys  and  girls  of  his 
dav,  merely  consisted  of  the  usual  routine,  of  seeing  that  the 
special  chores  assigned  him  were  done,  and  a  short  period  daily 
for  recreation  which  was  not  nearly  as  long  as  the  children  of 
today  enjoy. 

Following  the  passing  of  his  seventh  birthday,  young  Lar- 
kin Tuggle  was  marched  off  daily  to  Snyder  school.  The  boy 
was  so  bashful  that  more  often  than  once  his  mother  found  it 
necessary  to  use  a  stick  on  the  young  fellow  in  order  to  per- 
suade him  to  hurry  off  to  school.  The  boy  was  always  bright 
at  school,  for  his  keen  and  alert  mind  soon  realized  the  neces- 
sity of  a  good  education.  It  might  interest  the  boys  and  girls 
of  today  to  know  that  Mr.  Tuggle  had  as  a  boy  a  licking  at 
school  in  his  early  days.  In  those  early  days  after  the  small 
children  had  stumbled  through  a  lesson  of  A  B  C's,  the  teacher 

[95] 


would  pass  on  to  another  class,  leaving  the  small  youngsters 
with  empty  hands,  ideal  for  mischief.  The  story  goes  that  dur- 
ing such  a  period  of  the  day,  young  Tuggle  produced  his  slate, 
and  with  chalk  drew  a  truly  queer  animal.  Unfortunately  his 
school  teacher  caught  him  in  the  act,  and  there  ensued  a  pain- 
ful moment,  while  Tuggle  received  his  first,  and  last,  school 
licking,  and  learned  the  evils  of  wasting  school  hours  in  idle 
amusement. 

After  graduating  from  grade  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years,  there  followed  a  four  year  course  of  schooling  at  various 
high  schools. 

Finishing  this  course  of  learning,  he  entered  Westfield 
College,  in  Westfield,  Illinois.  The  college  is  a  United  Brethren 
College,  and  but  for  this  fact  Mr.  Tuggle's  schooling  might  not 
have  been  sufficient  for  his  later  undertakings.  As  Mr.  Tug- 
gle's father  was  a  United  Brethren  clergyman,  the  off'icials  of 
the  school  helped  him,  Larkin  Tuggle,  financially.  He  gradu- 
ated in  1895.  Throughout  his  college  years  Mr.  Tuggle  showed 
a  fine  personality  and  splendid  dependability,  as  well  as  an  in- 
telligence rarely  surpassed. 

His  amusements  during  his  younger  years  were  of  the  sort 
that  did  good  rather  than  destroyed  the  property  of  others. 

From  fourteen  to  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Mr.  Tuggle  dur- 
ing intervals  between  school  terms,  hired  out  as  a  workman  to 
the  rich.  They  all  would  hire  him  because  his  dependability 
and  sound  determination  to  work  thoroughly  were  known  facts. 
In  after  years  Mr.  Tuggle  always  says  that  these  years  were 
the  years  in  which  his  life's  ambition  became  that  of  a  school 
teacher,  for  he  hoped  in  the  future  to  oversee  others,  rather 
than  be  overseen  by  others.  Why  he,  with  such  intelligence, 
should  choose  to  be  a  school  teacher  is  easily  answered.  Of 
course  it  might  seem  that  he  would  have  followed  in  his  fa- 
ther's footsteps  and  been  a  clergyman,  but  when  he  was  young 
the  hardship  and  hard  work  of  a  minister's  life  became  appar- 
ent to  Mr.  Tuggle.  Later  in  life  Mr.  Tuggle  did  feel  a  desire 
to  become  a  lawyer,  but  financial  conditions  prevented  any  such 
desires  happening. 

In  1897  Mr.  Tuggle  procured  his  first  position  as  teacher 
of  the  Snyder  school,  the  same  one  that  he  first  attended.  This 
was  followed  by  two  years  at  Pleasant  Grove  as  teacher.  In 
short,  we  might  say  six  years  were  spent  in  teaching  country 
schools.  We  need  not  think  that  Mr.  Tuggle  was  fickle  in  keep- 
ing a  position,  for  he  wasn't.  He  actually  resigned  from  each 
position,  contrary  to  the  various  school  boards'  wishes,  in  order 
that  he  might  procure  a  bigger  and  better  position.  For  some 
years  Mr.  Tuggle  had  been  trying  for  a  teaching  position  in 
Danville.  At  last  he  obtained  such  a  position  at  Collett  school. 
He  followed  this  up  with  a  position  as  principal  at  Batestown. 

[96] 


This  position  he  kept  for  two  years,  when  he  resigned  in  favor 
of  being  principal  at  Lincoln  school.  Seven  years  here  brought 
him  the  popularity  necessary  to  obtain  a  position  as  superin- 
tendent of  manual  training  in  the  Danville  city  schools.  After 
eleven  years  in  this  position  Mr.  Tuggle  was  elected  to  the  of- 
fice of  County  Superintendent  of  Schools.  This  position  he  has 
kept  for  eleven  years  and  has  shown  himself  an  efficient  and 
reliable  superintendent. 

Mr.  Tuggle  hopes  to  serve  one  more  term  as  County  Su- 
perintendent. If  he  does,  he  will  hold  the  record  of  having  held 
the  position  longer  than  any  one  man  ever  has  in  the  history  of 
the  superintendent  position.  The  boys  and  girls  of  Vermilion 
county  all  hope  he  will  win  the  next  election,  as  Mr.  Tuggle's 
splendid  personality  has  made  him  popular  among  the  students 
of  the  county.  They  all  feel  that  no  one  else  is,  and  ever  could 
be  as  efficient  for  the  position  as  Mr.  Tuggle. 

Mr.  Tuggle  is  a  World  War  veteran,  having  served  two 
years  and  four  months  in  the  war.  Few  people  realize,  how- 
ever, that  Mr.  Tuggle  was  a  captain  in  the  army.  He  was  in 
the  Houston,  Texas,  camps  when  the  negro  soldiers  of  Uncle 
Sam's  army  caused  the  great  riot.  Under  the  captainship  of 
Mr.  Tuggle,  his  men  succeeded  in  quieting  the  riot.  After  this 
riot,  his  company  was  sent  to  Europe,  where  they  landed  at 
Brest,  France.  Following  their  arrival  he  was  put  in  the 
Amiens  trench.  He  hadn't  been  there  one  hour  before  a  ter- 
rific battle  began.  This  was  on  July  4,  1918.  This  battle,  as 
all  World  War  battles  were,  was  dangerous  yet  thrilling  to  the 
utmost  extent.  He  was  in  several  more  battles  before  he  re- 
turned in  July,  1919.  This  was  several  months  after  the  re- 
turn of  the  rest  of  his  company.  He  landed  in  New  York, 
where  his  wife  and  family  joyously  met  him.  You  can  well 
imagine  how  he  felt  to  be  home  from  foreign  lands. 

When  asked  what  he  intended  to  do  in  the  future,  Mr. 
Tuggle  replied  that  he  intended  to  devote  his  time  serving,  if 
possible,  another  term  as  superintendent  of  the  county.  He 
likes  school  students,  and  therefore  to  his  utmost  skill  intends 
to  do  everything  possible  to  forward  an  excellent  educational 
system  for  the  students  of  the  county. 

Mr.  Tuggle  is  easily  pleased  when  it  comes  to  food.  He 
.eats  almost  everything.  However,  if  he  should  ever  eat  where 
some  of  you  readers  plan  the  menu,  see,  if  it's  possible,  that 
some  good  green  lettuce  is  included  in  the  menu,  especially  if 
it's  spring  or  summer  time. 

Mr.  Tuggle  hopes,  and  expects,  to  live  another  score  of 
years.  As  I  feel  sure  all  the  county  students  hope  he  will  live 
that  long,  let's  drink  to  his  health !  And  so,  "Long  life  to  Mr. 
Tuggle,  may  he  live  long  and  happily!" 


[97] 


WHY  I  WOULD  LIKE  TO  HAVE  MR.  TUGGLE 

FOR  OUR  SUPERINTENDENT  FOUR 

MORE  YEARS 

By  Charles  Perry,  Dist.  9 
Teacher,  Jewel  Perry 

I  would  like  to  have  Mr.  Tuggle  for  our  superintendent  for 
four  more  years  because  when  he  walks  in  our  school  I  always 
feel  just  like  I  do  when  I  am  at  the  circus  waiting  for  the  show 
to  begin.  He  always  says,  "Hello,  boys  and  girls",  as  if  he  is 
so  glad  to  see  us.  He  always  looks  so  nice  and  says  nice  things 
about  us,  and  he  always  tells  us  good-bye.  He  always  has 
something  funny  to  tell  us,  and  he  tells  us  about  his  trips  and 
what  he  saw. 

I  think  Mr.  Tuggle  has  done  more  for  the  schools  of  Ver- 
milion county  than  any  other  superintendent  we  have  ever  had. 
He  has  sent  out  so  many  things  to  help  the  boys  and  girls.  I 
think  the  questions  he  sends  out  for  each  pupil  make  it  easier 
for  us.  The  questions  are  always  just  what  we  have  studied 
because  we  have  followed  his  state  course. 

About  every  time  I  read  the  Danville  Commercial-News  I 
see  where  our  superintendent  is  going  to  speak  at  some  meet- 
ing, so  I  think  he  must  be  a  busy  man. 

He  always  says  how  much  he  likes  to  come  to  this  school 
and  how  nice  our  school  looks,  that  I  always  am  sorry  after  he 
has  been  to  our  school  for  the  year. 

So  I  hope  that  Mr.  Tuggle  gets  to  be  superintendent  of 
Vermilion  county  for  four  more  years. 


THE  SNYDER  SCHOOL 

By  Lucy  Tuggle  (1934) 

The  Snyder  school  is  located  two  miles  northeast  of  In- 
dianola,  Illinois.  The  land  on  which  the  schoolhouse  sets  was 
deeded  by  Josiah  Sandusky  on  August  6,  1873  and  filed  Octo- 
ber 11,  1873.  The  land  was  to  be  returned  to  Mr.  Sandusky  if 
at  any  time  it  was  no  longer  used  for  a  schoolhouse  site.  The 
schoolhouse  was  built  near  the  home  of  Emanuel  Snyder,  and 
he  helped  to  build  it.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  school  is 
called  Snyder  school. 

The  first  directors  of  the  school  were  Emanuel  Snyder, 
Abraham  Sandusky,  and  James  Branam.  For  several  years 
there  were  two  school  terms,  one  winter  term  and  one  summer 
term.  In  those  days  the  teacher  received  from  $25  to  $50  per 
month  salary.  Mr.  Alonzo  Hunt  was  the  first  teacher  of  Sny- 
der school.    Some  of  the  other  early  teachers  in  Snyder  school 

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were  J.  T.  McMillan,  J.  A.  McMillan,  Louie  Adams  Glick,  Anna 
Knipe  McClellan,  Simon  Gibson,  Alice  Clinkenbaird  Spicer, 
Mrs.  Laura  Gray  Baird,  Malen  Sanders,  Grace  Downey,  L.  A. 
Tuggle,  Bert  Sheppard,  Charles  Lenhart,  Daisy  Spry,  and 
Winter  Davis. 

In  the  spring  of  1874,  Emanuel  Snyder  wanted  Mrs.  Louie 
Adams  Glick  to  teach  school  in  the  summer  term,  but  her  fa- 
ther refused  to  let  her  teach  because  she  was  only  14  years  of 
age.  However,  the  following  spring  of  1875,  she  went  to  Dan- 
ville, Illinois,  and  took  an  examination  for  a  second  grade  cer- 
tificate. She  then  taught  the  summer  term  of  1875  as  she  was 
16  years  of  age  then.  She  only  taught  in  the  summer  terms 
as  the  larger  pupils,  who  had  to  work  in  the  summer  months, 
went  to  school  in  the  winter  and  were  very  hard  to  manage. 

Teachers  had  to  have  either  a  first  grade  teaching  certifi- 
cate or  a  second  grade  teaching  certificate  in  that  tinie.  For  a 
second  grade  teaching  certificate,  they  took  an  examination  in 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  spelling  and 
United  States  history ;  and  for  a  first  grade  teaching  certificate 
they  added  physiology,  botany,  philosophy,  and  zoology. 

Ray's  arithmetic,  Pinneo  grammar,  and  McGuffey's  reader 
and  speller  were  the  books  used  then.  The  McGuffey  readers 
are  the  most  wonderful  series  of  readers  that  have  ever  been 
published,  and  a  few  years  ago  Henry  Ford  had  several  books 
of  this  series  published  and  gave  them  out  to  his  friends. 

Soon  after  J.  T.  McMillan  was  hired  as  teacher  of  the 
school,  he  took  sick  and  his  brother,  J.  A.  McMillan,  substituted 
for  him.  While  he  was  sick,  J.  T.  McMillan  secured  a  position 
in  Mr.  Grace's  store.  J.  A.  McMillan  was  then  hired  as  teacher 
for  the  rest  of  that  term,  and  taught  the  following  summer  and 
winter  terms.  J.  A.  McMillan  has  been  and  still  is  treasurer 
of  Township  17  North,  Range  12  West  of  the  second  principal 
meridian  since  1894. 

Some  of  the  people  who  used  to  go  to  Snyder  school  are 
well  known  and  still  living  today.  Some  of  them  are  Collie 
Billings  Jackson,  Rosie  Billings  Wilcox,  Matilda  Homes 
Thompson,  Cornelia  Homes  Jordan,  Philip  Homes,  Nerve  Ref- 
fitt  Demond,  Mollie  Reffitt  Seekers,  John  Snyder,  William  Sny- 
der, Urma  Snyder  Shultz,  Perry  Snyder,  Susan  Branam  Jor- 
dan, Bell  Branam,  Charlie  Branam,  Josephine  Jordan,  Charlie 
Jordan,  William  Gilman,  Pitsie  Smith  Kincaid.  Frank  and 
Grant  Ward  attended  school  there  one  term.  Larkin  Tuggle 
and  Carrie  Tuggle  Ward,  and  Addie  Moser  Tuggle  went  there 
for  one  term  also. 

Some  of  the  younger  generation  who  went  to  the  Snyder 
school  where  their  parents  attended  school  are  Mrs.  Addie 
Mosier  Tuggle's  children,  Elvin,  Emery,  George,  Collie,  and 
Laura;  and  George  Tuggle's  children,  Ivan,  Mary,  Imogene, 

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Ruby,  Joy  Love,  Mae,  and  James  Robert.  This  makes  three 
generations  of  Tuggles  all  going  to  the  same  little  country 
school  for  their  education. 

Some  of  the  children  going  to  Snyder  school  at  the  present 
are  Robert  Knight,  Franklin  Knight,  Thelma  Taylor,  Joseph 
Taylor,  Stanley  Allison,  Otis  Allison,  Louis  High,  Merle  Ste- 
vens, Lester  Hugg,  Robert  Almy,  Ruby  Tuggle,  Joy  Love  Tug- 
gle,  and  Mae  Tuggle. 

County  Superintendent  of  Schools  L.  A.  Tuggle  attended 
and  taught  the  Snyder  school,  and  he  is  now  superintendent 
over  all  the  schools  in  Vermilion  county. 

In  the  early  days,  church  and  Sunday  school  was  also  held 
in  the  school  building.  Some  of  the  preachers  were  Rev.  Mer- 
ril,  a  faith  healer,  Rev.  Phettiplace,  Robert  Ellis,  James  Tug- 
gle, father  of  Co.  Supt.  L.  A.  Tuggle,  and  B.  F.  Duncan.  Mr. 
Duncan  held  a  writing  school  there  during  its  early  days. 

In  the  year  of  1883,  B.  F.  Duncan  married  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Glick.  Mrs.  Click  was  formerly  Louie  Adams,  one  of  the  first 
teachers. 

Mr.  Asa  Butler,  grandfather  of  Louie  Adams,  met  B.  F. 
Thomas  at  a  Baptist  Association  meeting.  He  was  a  poor, 
Kentucky  boy  who  wanted  an  education  and  to  learn  how  to 
preach.  John  Lawler  and  Egbert  Willison,  Benson  Willison's 
father,  agreed  with  Asa  Butler  to  help  board  Mr.  Thomas  and 
let  him  go  to  school  at  Indianola.  Later,  Mrs.  Abe  Sandusky 
took  an  interest  in  Mr.  Thomas,  and  as  they  had  no  children, 
they  took  him  into  their  home  and  treated  him  as  their  own 
son.  Mr.  Thomas  went  to  school  and  later  made  a  very  fine 
preacher. 

John  Frainer  made  the  first  course  of  study  for  schools  in 
1881,  which  was  used  in  many  counties  of  the  state.  There 
have  been  seven  revisions  of  the  State  Course  of  Study  of  1903, 
and  Mr.  L.  A.  Tuggle,  our  present  county  superintendent,  uses 
a  course  of  study  made  by  himself  in  this  county. 

Some  of  the  men  who  have  been  county  superintendents, 
in  Vermilion  county  are  John  Parker,  Vic  Guy,  son  of  Asa  Guy, 
who  v/as  county  surveyor  for  many  years,  John  Benedict,  L.  H. 
Griffith,  R.  B.  Holmes,  W.  Y.  Ludwig,  0.  P.  Haworth,  and  L. 
A.  Tuggle. 

In  the  early  days,  schedules  were  used  and  were  turned  in 
by  the  teacher  to  the  school  township  treasurer  to  receive  their 
salary.  Michel  Fisher  was  then  treasurer  of  Carroll  town- 
ship. Nothing  was  known  about  grades  or  examinations  in 
that  day,  but  a  few  of  the  leaders  were  trying  to  introduce  it  at 
the  institutes,  which  were  held  for  about  six  weeks  each  sum- 
mer at  the  county  seat. 

Old  wooden  buckets  were  used  for  water  buckets,  and 

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long-handled  dippers  used  to  drink  out  of.  The  teacher  would 
take  turns  in  dismissing  two  pupils  to  let  them  carry  the  water 
from  Emanuel  Snyder's  home,  and  when  they  returned  the 
water  was  passed  around  to  all  of  the  pupils  to  give  them  a 
drink.  The  boys  and  girls  thought  it  was  a  great  treat  to  carry 
the  water  from  Mr.  Snyder's  to  the  schoolhouse.  Later  heavy- 
glazed,  paper  buckets  were  used  in  which  to  carry  the  water. 
In  a  few  years,  Charlie  Parker  dug  a  well  at  the  schoolhouse. 
Mr.  A.  P.  Jackson,  John  Tuggle,  and  Emanuel  Snyder,  who 
were  directors  at  that  time,  let  the  bricks  down  to  Mr.  Parker 
to  build  the  well. 

In  the  center  of  the  schoolroom  stood  an  old  cast  iron 
stove  with  the  chimney  in  the  center  of  the  building.  In  1913, 
a  new  heater  and  ventilator  costing  $128  was  bought.  Orvill 
Cundiff  built  a  new  chimney  at  the  right  side  of  the  door,  and 
this  cost  $42.85.  The  old  stove  was  sold  to  Claude  Williams 
for  $2. 

A  new  floor  was  put  down  in  August,  1916.  In  1909  Ed 
Miller  put  down  a  cement  walk,  which  cost  $54. 

Double  seats  were  used  in  the  early  days.  The  pupils  had  to 
march  orderly  to  the  front  to  recite  their  lessons  on  a  long 
recitation  bench.  New  seats  have  been  bought  for  the  past 
several  years,  and  now  all  of  the  seats  are  modern  style  seats. 
A  recitation  bench  is  still  used,  but  it  has  a  back  rest  on  it,  and 
the  one  used  in  the  olden  days  did  not  have  a  back  rest. 

New  blackboards  have  replaced  the  old  blackboards.  Dou- 
ble and  single  slates  were  used  in  the  olden  days  instead  of  the 
writing  tablets  used  today.  A  cloth  or  sponge  was  used  to 
wash  the  writing  off  of  the  slates. 

The  school  girls  wore  long-sleeved  dresses  with  high  col- 
lars, and  lots  of  ruffles,  ribbons  and  lace.  The  dresses  were 
also  full  and  long.  They  wore  copper  toe  shoes,  and  the  boys 
wore  leather  boots  with  copper  toe  shoes.  Some  of  the  pupils 
wore  yarn  mittens  made  by  their  mother  or  grandmother. 
Some  of  the  girls  wore  apron  dresses  which  were  buttoned 
down  the  back. 

In  1893,  a  small  porch  was  built  on  the  schoolhouse,  so  that 
the  pupils  could  clean  their  shoes  before  going  into  the  school- 
house  in  stormy  weather. 

A  new  bookcase  was  bought  in  February,  1920,  and  the 
old  one  was  sold  to  Opal  Jordan  for  $5  on  March  8th,  1920. 

Some  of  the  more  recent  teachers  of  the  Snyder  school  are 
Samuel  Lanover,  George  Sanders,  Nellie  Pollitt,  Marie  Lough, 
C.  A.  Bradfield,  Flora  Mosier,  Kate  McKee,  Gwen  Coggeshall, 
Forest  D.  Gibson,  Violet  Larrance,  Etta  Donley  Kraft,  Amy 
Ruth  Jordan,  and  Dora  Sanders. 

Some  of  these  teachers'  pupils  were  Opal  Knight,  Dale 

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