USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 14
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SIMEON H. BUSEY
The most prominent of Colonel Busey's sons were Hon. Simeon H. and General Samuel T. Busey, and they were leaders in business, finance and public activities. S. H. Busey, the elder, and the first son born to the Colonel, moved with the family from his native place-Greencastle, Indiana-to Urbana, when he was twelve years of age. He became a wealthy farmer and stock-raiser, but invested in outside business inter- ests and assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Champaign. In 1867, several years after his brother, S. T., had made his fine military record in the Civil War, he sold his interest in the Champaign institution, and the two brothers founded Busey's Bank in Urbana. S. H. Busey also was interested in Chicago and Peoria banks and other large enterprises, which proved the value of his business judg- ment. He represented his district in the thirtieth General Assembly (1876-78), having previously been active and influential in the location
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of the University of Illinois at Urbana, and the building of what was afterward known as the Peoria & Eastern Railroad, a part of the Big Four system. He was a Democrat and a prominent Mason. His death occurred June 3, 1901. Of his sons, Matthew W. Busey is president of Busey's Bank, Urbana ; George W. Busey is president of the Commercial Bank of that place. [See more detailed biography elsewhere.]
GENERAL SAMUEL T. BUSEY
General Samuel T. Busey was also born in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1835, and was eleven years younger than Simeon H. He engaged in mercantile pursuits at Urbana from 1856 to 1862, when he sold his business and was commissioned by Governor Yates to recruit a com- pany, with which he went into camp at Kankakee August 6, 1862. At its organization as Company B, Seventy-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volun- teers, he was elected its captain and subsequently was chosen lieutenant- colonel of the regiment. The details of his efficient and gallant service are given in the chapter on military matters; for the present purpose it is sufficient to say, that he reached the rank of brevet brigadier-general. After the war General Busey engaged in farming, and was thus em- ployed when, with his brother, he organized Busey's Bank in 1867. Gen- eral Busey afterward bought the interest of Simeon H., and associated himself in its management with his nephew, Matthew W. General Busey's prominence in public life is briefly indicated by the facts that he served as mayor of Urbana for five terms and was a member of the Fifty-second Congress, his opponent in the campaign having been Joseph G. Cannon. General Busey, who was a very active man up to the end of his life, was drowned in a Minnesota lake August 22, 1909, while he was away with his family on a summer outing. His more extended biography appears elsewhere.
SETTLERS IN 1828
At the time that the Colonel established his household in the Cole cabin, only five families lived in what was known as the Big Grove settlement-those of Runnel Fielder, Sample Cole, William Tompkins, Philip Stanford (who lived north of the Grove) and Thomas Rowland, who resided on Section 1, Urbana. No one had settled on the Sanga- mon. Henry Sadorus was already at Sadorus Grove, the squatter Stra- ley at Linn Grove, and William Nox at Sidney.
In 1840, Colonel Busey was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature and was reelected in 1842. He was very active in the
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movements against the Mormons, which were at their height during his last term in the Legislature. His extensive acquaintance throughout the state, acquired while a member of the Legislature, made his services valuable in securing the charter of the Illinois Central Railroad, and during the fights for the location of the county seat Colonel Busey was mainly instrumental in securing it for Urbana. For many years he served as assessor for the county and township. In the meantime he had given much of his attention to farming and livestock operations, and was especially known as a breeder of fine stock. In fact, he was a leading representative in everything which most vitally concerned the well-being of his section of the state and of Illinois at large.
While yet a resident of Washington County, Indiana, Colonel Mat- thew W. Busey was married to Miss Elizabeth Bush, who survived him until 1880, when she died at the home of her son, Colonel S. T. Busey. By that union there were six children, who all arrived at maturity : Simeon H., John S., Mary C. (Mrs. John C. Kirkpatrick), Louisa J. ( Mrs. W. H. Romine), Colonel Samuel T., Sarah (Mrs. J. W. Sim), Elizabeth (Mrs. Allen McClain) and Matthew.
As early as May, 1831, Colonel Busey entered 160 acres in Section 8, whereon is now built a considerable portion of the city of Urbana, and upon which stands the home built by his son, General S. T. Busey. This step was taken presumably with a view of making this land the site of his homestead, although he did not move his family thither until 1836. Before his death December 18, 1852, he became the owner of most of the land now included in western Urbana and eastern Champaign.
ISAAC BUSEY AND ISAAC G. BECKLEY
About 1831, Isaae Busey came with his son-in-law, Isaac G. Beck- ley, and bought out William Tompkins who, on February 4, 1830, had entered the lands in Sections 8 and 17, Urbana, where he had lived for some time as a squatter. Beckley settled on the southwest quarter of Section 5, Urbana.
EARLIEST LAND ENTRIES
The earliest actual entries of land in the county were made in what was known as the Salt Fork Timber, in the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 12, Sidney Township. Jesse Williams made the first in the east half of that quarter on February 7, 1827. The tract appears to have been actually occupied by Thomas L. Butler. In October of the same year, John Hendricks entered the other half, the quarter section. In
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November, 1827, Josiah Conger entered land about two miles east of the Williams piece.
BIG GROVE PIONEERS
Big Grove appears, as has been noted, to have the honor of attract- ing most of the pioneer settlers, nearly all of whom were "squatters." Besides Fielder and Tompkins, there were Elias Kirby and family, who came in August, 1829. Early settlers who entered their lands in that locality were John Brownfield, who entered his claim in Section 35, Somer Township, at the Palestine land office, September 2, 1830, and Levi Moore, who entered 240 acres in Section 21, Somer Township, which he sold some years later to Lewis Adkins, who in turn gave his name to Adkins Point. Matthias Rhinehart entered land in the southwest quarter of Section 26, same township, in February, 1830, and he had already resided in that locality since 1828.
NORTHERN SECTIONS SETTLED LATER
The timber lands in the southern and central portions of the county were first to be settled, as being more convenient of access to trading points in Edgar County, and other settled districts in eastern Illinois and western Indiana. When Danville got to be of more importance as a basis of supplies, the favorable attention of the pioneers was directed to more northern points in what is now Champaign County, especially to the Sangamon region. The first entry of lands in the Sangamon Timber was made by Isaac Busey, October 22, 1832, at the Vandalia land office. His claims covered 120 acres in Section 14, 80 acres in Section 15 and 160 acres in Section 23, now in Mahomet Township. Later in that year he entered other lands in Sections 22 and 23, and on October 27, Jonathan Maxwell who, it is claimed, was the first to make his home in the township, entered 40 acres in Section 22. Within the following four years Sangamon timber lands were all the rage.
The far northeastern part of the county also commenced to get a large accession of settlers. The first of them was Samuel Kerr who, in 1833, entered land in what has since been known as Sugar Grove, Sec- tion 9. He gave his name to the township in the northeastern corner of the county.
A rapid review has thus been taken of the pioneer period in Cham- paign County, inclusive of the year 1833, when it attained civil and political entity and was organized as a self-governing body.
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JUDGE CUNNINGHAM'S PIONEER EPITOME
Our late advisory editor, the lamented and honored Judge J. O. Cunningham, was the best authority on all these early matters and pioneer characters. From the records of his pen, now at rest, the fol- lowing is extracted as the most complete epitome of this period, being a portion of his paper read before the Old Settlers' Reunion of July 29, 1886, on "Urbana and Somer Townships": "The local history of these two townships and, in fact, the early history of the county during the period to which I shall refer, which will be anterior to the period of history of others given here today, are practically one; for around the Big Grove, and upon territory embraced in both townships, were made the first settlements of the county.
INDIAN OCCUPATION
"Our earliest historic accounts accord the territory in this part of Illinois to the ownership of the Kickapoo Indians, as Indian titles were then regarded. In the year 1819, at Edwardsville, Illinois, at a treaty between the Kickapoo nation and the United States government, repre- sented by Ninian Edwards, a treaty was concluded by which that people relinquished their rights here, and then passed west of the Mississippi. The Indian occupation spoken of today was subsequent to this date, and by bands of the Pottawattamies, who hunted and, at time, abode here. Tradition, supported by the testimony of many old settlers, some of whom are here today, says that the site of Urbana and along the Bone Yard branch, was an Indian village of the Pottawattamies. The presence there of good water, fuel and an abundance of game, made it a favorite camping ground with them. They also frequently camped at the ('lements or Clay Bank ford farther down the creek. They buried their dead at Adkins Point near where John Thornburn now lives.
FIRST WHITE OCCUPANCY
"So far as I am informed, the first white men to see this country were the United States surveyors who divided it into townships and sections. These townships were surveyed in the summer of 1821 by Benjamin Franklin Messenger under the authority of the Federal Gov- ernment. There doubtless were hunters, trappers, and traders, and perhaps squatters here before that date, but they left no name. The earliest squatters known to us were Runnel Fielder, said to have been the first white inhabitant of the county, who settled
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in 1822 near the northeast corner of Section 11, Urbana, and built a cabin there, which I have often seen. Fielder entered no land until June 21, 1828, when he entered the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 12-a part of the Roe farm now owned by Bate Smith-on which he planted an orchard, the first in either town, if not in the county. Some of the trees may be seen yet. Then there were John Light, who had a cabin where Tom Brownfield now lives; Gabriel Rice, who had his cabin on Sol Nox's place; Phillip Stanford, who lived near where William Roberts now resides and after- ward entered part of that farm, and David Gabbert, who built his cabin just north of this park. This cabin was the first home of the family of Colonel M. W. Busey, who came here in 1836. The Colonel had been here before, for he entered the eighty where we now are in 1830. Besides these, there were Daggett, who settled on the west side of the Grove, and William Tompkins, who built his cabin near the creek near where Halberstadt's mill is, afterwards in 1828 entering the land which he sold to Isaac Busey in 1830. Tompkins had a son near the Harvey Cemetery, who was also a squatter, for he never owned any land. In his cabin, it is said, was born the first white child in the county. Soon after 1828 permanent settlers began to come in-Thomas Rolland in 1828; Matthew Busey in 1829; Isham Cook in 1830; and soon there- after and, in some cases before, came James T. Roe, John Brownfield, T. R. Webber, W. T. Webber, Jacob Smith, Jacob Heater, John G. Robertson, Isaac G. Beckley, Sample Cole and James Clements. Before many of these, perhaps, were Phillip M. Stanford, Sarah Coe, Robert and William Trickle, Elias Kirby, and Mijamin Byers, the latter of whom was a justice of the peace for this part of Vermilion County. They all settled about the Big Grove in these two townships and soon began to enter the lands. These names I love to recall, as being the names of those who laid the foundation of our present greatness.
FIRST LAND ENTRIES
"The first entry in Urbana was made by Fielder, as before stated, in 1828, and the first in Somer by Sarah Coe, who, in 1829 entered the west one-half of the southeast quarter of Section 27, now in William Roberts' farm. During the three years following entries of land, now lying in both townships, were made by Mijamin Byers, Isaac Busey, John Whitaker, William Tompkins, Phillip Stanford, Charles Busey, Martin Rhinehardt, Walter Rhodes, John Light, John Brownfield, Robert Trickle and others.
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DISEASES AND PIONEER PHYSICIANS
"Like all new countries blessed with a soil holding the elements of wealth, this country when first settled, and until by cultivation and artificial drainage facilities were afforded for the surface water to pass rapidly away, was the home and nursery of malarial diseases. They appeared in the form of ague, chills and fever, flux and other bowel complaints, and were a great hindrance to the rapid settlement of the country. These diseases were universal and the later part of every summer and every fall people looked for a visitation from these diseases as much as they looked for the ripening of their crops. It was under- stood that unless the work of the season was completed before the sickly season came on, it had to go over, for during that period all would be sick, or if some were spared, their time would be monopolized in the care of their sick. Many times there were not well persons enough in a family or neighborhood to care for the sick. Physicians were few, or entirely wanting. Dr. Fithian, the veteran physician of Danville, was often called to this county, while Dr. Stevens, of Homer, and Dr. Somers, of Urbana, who were early on the ground, had a wide range of practice in these diseases. The effect of these annual recurrences of miasmatic diseases upon the individual was to weaken and sap the constitution of the strongest. The death roll of the first thirty years of our history, if it could be called, would startle us even at this distance of time. Strong men and women gradually weakened and finally fell before the unseen foe, while little children, ague-ridden from their birth, endured a dwarfish growth for a few years and went shaking to their graves. While this is true of many, we yet have monuments of the olden time in many whitened heads all around us, which have reached or long since passed the allotted three score years and ten, and still linger as good specimens of well preserved manhood and womanhood, equal in healthful appearance to any found in our most favored localities-men and women who have spent their thirty, forty, fifty, or even near sixty years. We may now congratulate ourselves that, drainage accomplished, we can compare favorably with any country for healthfulness.
EARLY DEATHS
"So far as I can ascertain, the first death among the white inhab- itants of the county was Isham Cook. In 1830 he entered land in Section 5, north of Urbana. In the fall of that year he died and was buried there. The farm is known as the Dean farm. In 1831 a
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woman named Pugh, a member of a family traveling through, died at Rhinehart's, and was the first death in Somer Township. The wife of Isaac Busey died in 1834, and was the first to be buried in the old cemetery in Urbana. In 1833 several members of the Moss family and others died of cholera, north of the grove. The deaths were startling and spread consternation among the people. I mention also others who died within a few years after coming here, as follows: James Brownfield, brother of John and father of Robert; Thomas Rolland, father of Mrs. William I. Moore, of Danville; Isaiah Corray, father of Elisha; John Truman, ancestor of those remaining of that name; William Boyd, the grandfather of James Boyd; Isaac Busey, his son John and his grandson Isaac: David Shepard, father of Parris ; William T. Webber, father of T. R. and W. H. Webber; James Brown- field, grandfather of William and Thomas; Jesse Tompkins, a squatter on the government lands; Samuel Brumley, father of Mrs. T. L. Tru- man; Jacob Bradshaw, Stephen Gulick, Charles Busey-and the list might be extended, but space forbids.
DECEASED REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS
"Two of the earlier deaths were of men who were veterans of the Revolutionary War. One was Robert Brownfield, above noted, who died in 1841. The other was William Hays, who died afterward. Both are buried in Somer, and in unmarked graves. It would redound to the credit of the people to erect lasting monuments to mark the last resting place of these patriots, and to keep these spots in remembrance upon each recurring Decoration Day.
SCHOOLS
"John Light, the squatter, probably taught the first school within the territory of these townships in a cabin near where Frank Apperson now lives. James Boyd, who is with us today, was a pupil of Light's, and believes this to be the first. It was taught in the winter of 1832-33. Charles Fielder and John B. Thomas, afterwards a lawyer and judge of the county court, also taught school in the settlement in the north part of the grove. Asahel Brauer, a veteran of the War of 1812, who died five years since, also taught early in the '30s, in the grove.
MILLS OF EARLY DATE
"The first mill for grinding corn was brought by Robert Trickle from Butler's Point in 1826. It consisted of a hollow log or 'gum,' in
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which were inserted the upper and the nether mill stones. These stones were worked out from rough bowlders and, with the appliances for making the upper stone revolve, served a very good purpose. Fielder in 1828 and John Brownfield in 1836, built horse mills, which were improvements on the hand mill. Brownfield's mill was quite pre- tentious and was built by James Holmes, a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The frame of the building used still stands. The stones were subsequently built into a water mill in the creek in 1842 by Mr. Brownfield, which superseded the horse mill. The stones are still preserved by Tom Brownfield as mementoes of other days. John Hap-
OLD TIMER OF A SAWMILL
tenstall built a saw mill on the creek below the town about 1840, and Jacob Mootz in 1842 built another on a site here in the park of Colonel Busey. These mills were not attended with success and were super- seded by the first steam saw and grist mill built in the county, erected in Urbana in 1850 by William Park.
PIONEER PHYSICIANS
"The first physician who located here was Dr. Fulkerson, who came in 1830 and boarded with Mrs. Coe, a widow who had improved land in Section 27, Somer. He did not remain long, but moved on. Dr. Lyons stopped at John Shepherd's in Urbana Township for a time, before locating permanently at Sidney. He subsequently represented the
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county in the Legislature. Dr. John Saddler located in Urbana in 1839, leaving not long after, and was followed by Drs. Winston and W. D. Somers in 1840 and 1843. The former honored his profession until his death in 1871; the latter soon entered the law practice as the first lawyer of the county.
RELIGIOUS PATHFINDERS
"One Mahurin, a Baptist, was the first minister to proclaim the Gospel here. He became chaplain of a regiment in the Black Hawk War and never returned. Alexander Holbrook, who lived where Captain Howell now resides, was a Methodist exhorter and often made the woods ring with his wild eloquence. William Phillips, known to the settlers as 'Bub Phillips,' and Rev. J. Holmes, who was a transient millwright, were local preachers of the same persuasion and materially aided the moral work. Father John G. Robertson, who in 1830 entered land in Section 10, Urbana, and who, as a Baptist layman, was ever a zealous Christian worker, is said to have held the first religious meet- ings in the then village of Urbana. He died at Mahomet a few years ago. The first Methodist class, and the germ of the present society in Urbana, was organized in 1836 at the house of Walter Rhodes, the first leader. The Baptist Church of Urbana was organized in 1841, at the Brumley schoolhouse, two miles east. The Roes, Brumleys, Trumans, Cooks, Coxes and Nancy Webber were among the constituent members. The officiating clergyman was Rev. Newell."
MORE ABOUT THE PREACHERS
As stated, one of the first ministers to hold religious services in the county was Rev. John Dunham, of the United Brethren Church, who, at a very early day, came among the scattered settlements of Big Grove and Salt Fork. He lived in McLean County, and often, as late as 1835, passed through the settlements on his ministerial tours. Alexander Holbrook, the Methodist exhorter, lived on Howell's farm and often held meetings in the neighborhood, sometimes riding a steer to his appointments. Rev. William Phillips, who settled the Meyers farm, north of Champaign, sometimes preached about the Grove. Rev. Mr. Holmes organized the first Methodist class in the county, of which Walter Rhodes was made leader. Another eccentric pioneer preacher was Rev. Samuel Mapes. He rode also on a steer, but his steer was ornamented, usually, with a bell. He rode barefoot and carried a gun.
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Rev. William I. Peters, of Salt Fork, used to preach much over the country. He bought whisky by the barrel on the Wabash at twenty cents per gallon, and retailed so as to clear thirty cents a gallon. The people not only regarded his practice as unobjectionable, but thought it a religious duty to buy their whisky of "Uncle Billy," as he was called, thereby assisting to spread the gospel and securing a good article of whisky at the same time.
A PROFESSIONAL LAND-GRABBER
David Gabbert, a widely known county pioneer, was honest and red- headed, unprepossessing in appearance and eccentric in manner. He never owned any land himself, but was often employed by others to enter land for them at Palestine or Vandalia and secure the receiver's certificate of entry. At any hour of the day or night he would set out, usually on foot, and never stop until his errand was accomplished. Gabbert lived on an eighty-acre farm in Section 15. Matthew Busey wanted to annex it to his farm; so one afternoon he started for Palestine, with the specie, to enter the farm.
It chanced that Anderson Rice, also, wanted the same land; so Gabbert was placed upon a horse after dark and started for Palestine. "Uncle Mat" had ridden leisurely forward until evening, when he stopped for the night. Gabbert, however, rode all night, passed Mr. Busey, and by the time the latter reached the land office, Gabbert had the receiver's certificate in his pocket, and Anderson was owner of the land. In this way did the pioneer settle once and forever many land titles.
WINTER OF THE DEEP SNOW
In the winter of 1830 and '31 came the deep snow. The weather during the fall had been dry, and continued mild until late in the winter. The snow came in the latter part of December and a great snow it was. The settlers were blockaded in their cabins and could do very little but pound their corn, cut their wood and keep their fires blazing. A great deal of stock was frozen to death. The deer and wild turkeys, which had been very numerous, suffered greatly and were nearly exterminated. The wolves became very bold and impudent. The stories of this deep snow would fill a volume. The depth of the snow was certainly over three feet, and many estimates place it at four. Fences were hidden. The summer following was celebrated for fever and ague, one of the severest scourges that afflicted the settlers. It was
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a disease that induced a feeling of despondency and took away that strong will and spirit of enterprise which enabled the settlers to endure the hardships of their lot.
FIRST MARRIAGE AND MARRYING MINISTERS
It is said that the first marriage in the county was that of Melinda Busey, daughter of Isaac Busey, to John Bryan, a young man lately from Kentucky, and that soon after, in 1834, Miss Nancy Drusilla Busey, daughter of Matthew Busey, wedded Elias Stamey, a settler who had entered land two miles north of Urbana.
The first ministers of the Gospel to perform marriage ceremonies were Cyrus Strong, an elder of the Christian Church, and William S. Crissey and James Holmes, Methodists, the latter the first organizer of Methodism in the county.
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