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 46
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In 1835 James Cowden entered a homestead in Section 33, on the west side of the Fork, where he lived with his family until his death in 1860. In the same year the Argo family, comprising Benjamin,
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Alexander, Moses and Isaac, established homesteads in Sections 2, 3, 10, 22 and 24, and evidently made their choice of lands with a view to permanent settlement, as they all spent their lives where they located at the time mentioned. Section 10 adjoins the present site of the village to the northwest.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE VILLAGE
In 1835 Robert Prather entered lands in Section 11, near the crossing of the Salt Fork by the Danville & Fort Clark road, and Prather's Ford at the site of Old St. Joe became even more famous than Strong's Ford, a short distance to the south. "At the height of its
ST. JOSEPH'S MAIN STREET
glory," says C. II. Gallion in his paper read at the Old Settlers reunion of July, 1886, "the village could boast only of three stores, a postoffice, a tavern, a blacksmith shop and several dwellings. The naming of St. Joseph is described by the following circumstance: It is related that at one time, when Joseph Kelley kept the tavern stand, a stranger came along and stopped with Mr. Kelley, and the two became quite agreeable friends and for several days had a jovial time together. When the stranger departed, Kelley, out of consideration for the good time they had had in company, refused to charge him anything, where- upon the mysterious stranger told the landlord that he would 'do some- thing for him' for his kindness. Soon afterward, the stranger, whom it seems was some politician of more than ordinary influence, and in some way connected with the administration at Washington, secured the estab-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
lishment of a postoffice, the need of which he had perhaps learned during his stay at Kelley's. Kelley was appointed postmaster, and in his honor it was called St. Joseph, from Kelley's first name."
(Kelley's tavern, here referred to, was a famous caravansary in its time. Abraham Lincoln frequently dined or lodged there on his way from Bloomington to Urbana and Danville, while riding the circuit of the courts with Judge David Davis.)
"The present thriving village of St. Joseph dated its existence from the building of the Indiana, Bloomington and Western Railway in 1866. The earliest settler on the site of the town was Catharine Hoss, who entered forty acres of land in 1839. The first business house was opened in 1870, in the west part of town by Wm. O. Shreve and Van B. Swearingen. These gentlemen have since been actively identified with the business interests of the place, and have contributed not a little to its prosperity.
"Shortly after, A. D. Ralph moved up a store building from the old town, and opened the first business house in the east part of the village.
"In the early part of 1880, the village was incorporated under the laws of the state, and at present comprises some twenty-five business firms, two public halls, two handsome churches and a large and well conducted graded school.
"On the construction of the I., B. and W. Ry., a station called May- view was established in St. Joseph Township about four miles west of the village, and now consists of a store, postoffice, blacksmith shop, grain elevator and a handsome Methodist Church.
"St. Joseph Township has held its place among the foremost town- ships, and in an early day, had much to do in the civil government of the county. The law establishing this county provided for the election of three commissioners, to be the highest in authority in the county. Jacob Bartley, of St. Joseph, was a member of the first board. Six of the members of the first grand jury, and three of the first petit jury were from St. Joseph. The first poorfarm in the county was in St. Joseph Township, the one now owned by Abe Hoy. The first bridge in the county spanned the Salt Fork where it is crossed by the State road in St. Joseph, and the first regular preacher in the county made St. Joseph one of his appointments. The first organized drainage dis- triet in the state under the new law, was in St. Joseph, and under the head of public improvements, St. Joseph Township donated $25,000 for the construction of the I., B. and W. Ry. The first supervisor was S. S. Rankin, and the subsequent representatives in the county board have been Mahlon Glascock, V. B. Swearingen, H. W. Drullinger, G. W.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Doyle, Jno. L. Smith, David B. Slayton, Abe Thompson, W. O. Shreve and the present incumbent, V. J. Gallion."
ST. JOSEPH OF THE PRESENT
The St. Joseph village of today is a progressive little community of some eight hundred people, provided with thorough facilities of trans- portation and communication; good drinking water and electric light service (through the Central Illinois Company ) ; a modern public school (superintendent, A. A. Allen) ; two banks (the Exchange and St. Josephi) ; two elevators, owned and operated by Swearingen & Walker and J. A. Gillis; two implement depots; a substantial newspaper, and
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
churches and societies for the religious and social gratification of both men and women.
The forerunner of the St. Joseph Record was the St. Joseph Eagle, established by Mr. Wyninger in 1890. In December, 1893, it was sold to J. H. Noble, who changed its name to the Record and continued its publication until September, 1897. Mr. Noble then sold to F. L. Dale and Charles W. Dale. Since 1904 the latter has been the sole proprietor, being assisted in its conduct by his wife in the making of a most useful local newspaper.
The Methodist Church and the First Church of Christ have well- supported organizations in St. Joseph. The former, now under the pastorate of Rev. E. B. Houck, has occupied two houses of worship-the first erected in 1872 and the present edifice, completed in 1915. The
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Church of Christ, of which the pastor is Rev. Guy L. Zerby, completed its present meetinghouse in 1908.
That St. Joseph is well supplied with secret and benevolent lodges or societies is evident from the fact that these local organizations are in the list: Masonic, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, Ben Hur, Order of the Eastern Star, Pythian Sisters and Royal Neighbors.
CHAPTER XVII
MAHOMET TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE
EARLY LAND ENTRIES-MIDDLETOWN PLATTED-ISAAC V. WILLIAMS AND BENJAMIN F. HARRIS-MAHOMET INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE -HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS-THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER-MAHOMET CHURCHES-SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
In comparison with the settlements of the timber tracts along the Salt Fork, the Okaw and the Ambraw, in the southeastern, southern and central parts of the county, those established along the Sangamon River, in the western and northwestern sections, were of a rather late date.
EARLY LAND ENTRIES
The first entries in Mahomet Township were made by Isaac Buscy, of Urbana at the Vandalia land office, on October 22, 1832. They covered 120 acres in Section 14, 80 acres in Section 15, and 160 acres in Section 23, which included the sontheastern corner of the present site of Mahomet Village with considerable tracts to the east and sontheast. Later in the same year he entered other lands in Sections 22 and 23, and on October 27. a few days later, Jonathan Maxwell filed on 40 acres in Seetion 22.
On October 29, 1832, Henry Osborn took up lands in Sections 11 and 12, to the northeast. All the lands thus entered were east of the river in the timber belt.
On August 10, 1833, John Bryan, who had recently become Isaac Busey's son-in-law, entered a forty-acre tract in Section 14 adjoining the first Busey entry. Thereon the Bryan family was established for several generations. In 1833 John Meade also filed a homestead claim in Sec- tion 15. From which it is evident that most of the entries and settle- ments were made on lands at and near the present site of Mahomet Village.
The years 1834, 1835 and 1836 saw numerons entries made in the northern half of Mahomet Township. In the former year various tracts in Sections 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17, were taken up by Henry,
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
David, Solomon and James Osborn, John Bryan, Samuel Hanna, William Phillips, John G. Robertson, Lackland Howard, Charles Parker, Noah Bixler, Jeremiah Hollingsworth and John Meade. In 1835 Noah Bixler, Martha A. Robertson, Joseph Brian, Joel Hormel, Jacob Hammer, Daniel Henness, Fielding L. Scott, Joseph Henness, Joseph Hammer, John G. Robertson and Joseph Lindsey entered lands in Sections 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 17, and in 1836 Jacob Hammer, Noah Bixler, James Bevans, William Justice, John J. Rea, John Webb, George Ritter, Martha A. Robertson, James Parmes, Jonathan Maxwell, Jonathan Scott, Jeremiah Hollingsworth, Robert M. Patterson, John Lindsey and Daniel T. Porter became landholders in Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15 and 17.
MIDDLETOWN PLATTED
On March 15, 1836, Mr. Porter entered the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 15, and on the 10th of the month placed on record a town plat covering thirty-eight lots of that entry which he named Middletown. The plat conformed to the present Bloomington road and was the original of the village of Mahomet. Additions to the original town were mainly made to the south, west and north.
ISAAC V. WILLIAMS AND BENJAMIN F. HARRIS
About the time that Middletown was platted the stock-raising industry obtained the solid foothold in Mahomet Township to which its natural advantages pointed. Isaac V. Williams brought in the first improved stock from Piatt County, his residence being just over the Champaign County line. Benjamin F. Harris also laid the basis of his fortune, which he later invested at Champaign City, in the increase and improve- ment of his wonderful herds which grazed over the grassy stretches of Mahomet Township. His activities in that field covered the twenty years previous to 1856. Before the railroads came, when the most profitable markets for his live stock products were Boston, New York and Philadelphia-centers reached only on foot-"Uncle Frank," as Mr. Harris was affectionately called, was the hardest worker in the county.
Not only the township as a whole, but the village of Mahomet, was greatly benefited by such broad-gauge operations. Among others who cooperated in this early development may also be mentioned Fielding L. Scott, John Bryan, Thomas A. Davidson and sons, Wiley Davis, Rezin Bolton, John J. Rea, John Carter, George Boyer, William Stearns,
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
William IIerriott, James C. Ware, John G. Rayburn, Joshua Smith, J. V. Pittman, James C. Kilgore, John W. Park, J. D. Webb and J. Q. Thomas.
MAHOMET INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE
When the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad was built diagonally through the township, in 1866, the village of Mahomet received such an impetus that it was incorporated seven years later. Within the intervening period it has become one of the best points in the western part of the county.
HISTORY OF THE SCHOOLS
From the first the township and the village have taken much pride in the quality of their schools and teachers, and S. C. Abbott, one of the oldest and most honored citizens of the town, has prepared the follow- ing sketch covering a period of seventy-two years, or from the time of the building of the first schoolhouse in 1832 to that of the completion of the fine structure of 1904, which, in turn, was burned two years later.
"The first schoolhouse within the bounds of what is known as district No. 29 was a log house fourteen by 16 feet built by subscription and labor donations, in 1832, about forty rods from the sand bank now owned by Jonas Lester. It was occupied in 1833 by George Cooper, first public school teacher in the township, at a salary of $15.00 per month and board among the scholars.
"The next was a log house near where Philip Cherry's old house now stands.
"In 1847 a frame house was built near where William Lindsey now lives, and in 1851 a two-story frame house near where the present brick one stands. This one was sold and is now the residence of Mr. Blanchet. In 1864 was built the brick house just torn down.
"In 1836 a school commissioner for this township, John Mead, was appointed, and in 1838 the first school trustees were chosen as follows: Jonathan Maxwell, James Osborn and Fielding Scott. On July 22, 1836, the school section (16) was sold at auction and brought $3,337.50 cash and the money was loaned by the trustees. The interest only was to be used forever for school purposes, and for 68 years that sum has been loaned and interest applied and the principal is as yet intact. The names of those who bought the land were James Yapp. John Robertson, Fielding Scott, Jno. J. Rea, Alvin Barnet, Thos. Crabbe, James Meator, Zack Osborn, John Mead and Michael Jess. The first school treasurer was Joseph Lindsey, appointed in 1838. Until 1840 the township was
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
but one district. That year Dr. Noble Adams was the teacher for the whole township; his salary was $20.00 per month and 'board himself.' In 1841 the township was divided and made into three districts. Middle- town was district No. 3. Some years later it was divided again and then was made No. 2; and fifty years later, No. 29. In 1841 Isaac Parmeter was the teacher : then followed Dr. Noble Adams, Joseph Lindsey, Jas. Brown, Wm. Danner, Jas. Brown, Jas. H. Brown, Geo. McClure, W. Stewart, R. P. Carson, A. W. Somers, W. Ingrain, Geo. Boyer, Jas. Crane, H. Phillipps, E. Harwood, D. Cheney, J. Tinkham, M. Kelsey, Wm. Whitney, Rev. S. F. Gleason, J. V. Stone, Wm. Crayne, W. Howard, W. Lindsey, L. Stewart, Rev. E. French, Chas. Baker, A. D.
BURNING OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, MAHOMET
Sizer, who for fourteen years ending in May, 1884, occupied the place as principal. The above are names of teachers from 1833 to 1884, fifty- one years. Since 1865 it has been a graded school and several teachers employed as at present. The names above are principals.
"The names of all the teachers since 1884 are known by all the adult people of the district. If we omit the names of Rev. S. F. Gleason and C. J. Tinkham of Homer, all the persons above named prominent in this community in their day have passed away.
"The new house is a handsome substantial building, concrete founda- tion, deep and broad with granite trimmings and a slate roof, size 70x60, six rooms and same number of large cloak rooms, prin-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
cipal's room, and spacious halls all furnished in latest styles. As a whole it reflects great eredit on the school board, Messrs. J. O. Rayburn, . C. L. Lindsey and C. B. Hoit; also on the architects and the contractor (Lon Spurgin). While the old one lasted forty years, we predict eighty years for this one. The cost of building and furnishing the building throughout with up-to-date apparatus and decorations with grading and tree planting and other outdoor improvements will be about $13,000. We are proud of the house and proud of the bevy of rosy-cheeked children that are being educated within its walls and think nothing is too good for them."
The handsome schoolhouse described was destroyed by fire on May 10, 1906, and was rebuilt on its former lines, being completed in 1908. C. P. Banman is the present superintendent and reports an enrollment of nearly ninety, over fifty in the high school. There are four teachers in the grades and three in the high school, the school property being valued at $18,000. Throughout the township, there is an enrollment of 350 pupils.
Mahomet has a number of substantial stores ; two banks, the Mahomet and Home; two elevators, the Farmers and Wykle; a newspaper, and several churches and societies.
THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER
The Mahomet Sucker State, as the local newspaper is called, issued its first number on October 13, 1879, a few issues having been put ont as the "Magnet." As the "Magnet" did not seem to draw, "Sucker State" was substituted. For the past fifteen or sixteen years the paper has been owned and edited by Charles D. Warner, C. W. Murphy, C. M. Pearson, O. D. Stiles and C. W. Pugh. During the bulk of that period it has been in charge of Messrs. Pearson and Pugh.
MAHOMET CHURCHES
The Mahomet Baptist Church was among the first of the religious organizations to take substantial shape in the Sangamon region of Champaign County. From all available sources of information it would seem that John G. Robertson, a Kentucky immigrant to the Big Grove and a zealous missionary of the country round-about, furnished the initial inspiration in the formation of Baptist societies at the Brumley schoolhouse, two miles east of Urbana, and at Mount Pleasant. now Farmer City, DeWitt County, in 1839. Rev. J. D. Newell, then resid-
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
ing at Waynesville, that county, was the actual organizer of both churches. Bethel church, as organized at Mount Pleasant by Mr. Newell, had a membership extending from Salt Creek to Urbana, a distance of thirty miles. Its original members were J. G. Robertson and wife, Martha A .; Fielding L. Scott and wife; Preston Webb and wife, Ulila; James Webb and sisters; Mrs. Dr. Adams and Sarah Blunt. During the summer the church moved to Mahomet as a more central field of labor, and held its meetings at the houses of various members. In the fall the society united with the McLean Association and held its meetings at the Methodist camp ground, Randolph's Grove. Mr. Robert- son had been elected deacon of the church and settled at Mahomet.
Elder Newell had arranged to preach to the Baptist congregation at Mahomet once a month, and at the close of his labors, which covered more than a year, Elder William McPherson succeeded him. He also preached monthly for about a year, after which there was a short interim, although regular meetings were maintained by the church members. In 1845 F. L. Scott was elected deacon, who, with Father Robertson, served in that capacity for some sixty years. Elder Sylvester Pasley commenced his ministery of a year in 1846, and was followed by Elder Mason. In 1851 Elder Pasley was again called to the pastorate and a house of worship was completed in the following year. Then succes- sively came Elder Justus Taylor, Elder McPherson (a second term) ; Elder W. R. Combs (who remained from June, 1855, to April, 1864), during whose pastorate the church united with the Bloomfield Associa- tion ; Elder D. S. French ; Rev. S. F. Gleason, who served the church for more than twenty-five years; Rev. S. G. Anderson and Rev. Thomas F. Chilton. The Baptist Church bought a parsonage in 1854, two years after the completion of its first house of worship, which stood north of the present public school. The building now occupied was erected in 1867. The church numbers 230 members.
The Methodists of Middletown organized a class at an early date, and from 1843 to 1855 belonged to the Monticello circuit. In the latter year the Middletown circuit was organized, and embraced all of the Sangamon settlements within the county. A house of worship was completed in 1856. Among the earliest members of the Methodist Church of Middletown were James W. Fisher, B. F. Harris, James C. Kilgore, Hezekiah Phillippe, and F. B. Sale with their families. Mr. Sale subsequently became a local preacher of Methodismu, and was influential in the establishment of other circuits and stations higher up the Sangamon. Among the early pastors of this church may be named Rev. A. S. Goddard, Rev. J. A. Brittingham, Rev. L. C. Pitner, Rev.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
J. C. Rucker, Rev. A. R. Garner, Rev. C. F. Hecox and Rev. Arthur Bradshaw. Rev. Grant Johnson is the present pastor in charge.
In 1858 the Presbyterians residing along the Sangamon Timber, who were affiliated with the West Urbana Church, were dismissed from that organization to form a church at Middletown. This was accomplished, a church building was subsequently erected and an organization maintained, with more or less permanence, for many years. The Presbyterians of Mahomet are at present without a pastor.
SECRET AND BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES
The Odd Fellows, Masons, Modern Woodmen of America and Court of Honor all have societies in the village. The I. O. O. F. is repre- sented by a lodge of more than 100 members organized in November, 1892. Its first elective officers were James Young, N. G .; George Warner, V. G .; William Wiles, R. S .; Peter Williamson, treasurer. Present officers: J. W. Hicks, N. G .; F. C. Daniel, V. G .; M. E. Smith, R. S .; J. J. Hayward, treasurer.
The Rebekahs were organized in November, 1895, and are of equal strength. Their first officers were: Mrs. Sarah Lott, N. G .; Miss Flor- ence Pinkston, V. G .; Mrs. Jennie Johnston Keene, R. S .; Mrs. Vina Cummings Cooper, F. S .; Mrs. A. V. Purnell, treasurer. Present officers : Mrs. Nora Reed, N. G .; Mrs. Lizzie Ruhl, V. G .; Mrs. Fannie Wiles Johnston, R. and F. S .; Miss Lilah Clapper, treasurer.
CHAPTER XVIII TOLONO AND SIDNEY TOWNSHIPS
VILLAGE OF TOLONO-PIONEER BUSINESS MEN-BANK OF TOLONO- THE TOLONO HERALD-LIGHT AND WATER-CHURCHES AND SECRET SOCIETIES-SIDNEY TOWNSHIP-FIRST LAND ENTRIES IN COUNTY- NOX's POINT-TOWN OF SIDNEY LAID OUT-THE VILLAGE IN 1854 -THE VILLAGE IN 1917-BANKS-THE SIDNEY TIMES-CHURCHES AND LODGES.
Tolono, one of the southwestern townships of the county, is six miles square, or covers an area of thirty-six seetions, and with the exception of the ridge which divides the waters of the Okaw from those of the Ambraw is substantially a flat prairie. This physical fact has made necessary drainage operations of quite an extensive nature, especially in the western portion of the township. These improvements have greatly extended the area of fertility, which was formerly largely confined to the valleys of the streams.
VILLAGE OF TOLONO
The village of Tolono, in the southeastern part of the township at the crossing of the Illinois Central and Wabash lines, is one of the best trading centers and shipping points in the county. It has a popu- lation of about nine hundred people, but was virtually non-existent until the railroads came in 1855-57. Until that time about the only settlers were a few families along the main branch of the Okaw-John P. Ten- brook, Isaac J. Miller, John Cook and John Hamilton and their house- holds. About 1855 Captain J. R. Swift was appointed agent for the sale of Illinois Central Railroad lands in the neighborhood. He opened a land offiee at the new station, built a comfortable residence and erected an office building and while he remained at Tolono ran true to his name. Captain Swift did not see the completion of the Wabash line, although he projected a southwestern line from Tolono to St. Louis himself. He organized a company, became president of it and managed to have a track graded several miles toward Shelbyville across the Okaw. But his funds gave out, and the clamoring laborers frightened him out of the country.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
PIONEER BUSINESS MEN
The completion of the Wabash in the late '50s made it evident that Tolono would be a desirable place for business and residence. In 1857 T. Purrington, who had long been in government service at Washing- ton, opened a land office at Tolono. At an early period also came such professional men as D. H. Chaffee and the lawyers A. M. Christian and Neil McDonald. Quite a large hotel, the Marion House, was also erected at the crossing of the two railroads. William Redhed, an English merchant who had been engaged in business at Chicago for several years, located at Tolono in April, 1857, as the town's first grocer. There he
BUSY SECTION OF TOLONO
continued in active business for more than thirty years. In the follow- ing year Alonzo Lyons, who had been an Urbana merchant, opened a general store at the railroad crossing, and continued in business at Tolono until his death in August, 1878. Ile was one of the most enter- prising and honored citizens in the county. Henry C. Smith was another of the founders of the town, loeating in 1857 as a carpenter and con- tractor, later engaging in the lumber and coal business and, when his sons matured, branching out with them into other lines of business.
BANK OF TOLONO
In 1865 Robert A. Bower eame to Tolono from Ohio and established himself as an attorney-at-Jaw, but in 1869 established the Bank of 1-32
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
Tolono, of which he has ever since been the president. William Redhed was also identified with the management of the bank in its earlier years. Its first cashier was T. M. Salisbury, and his successors have been William T. Bower, H. S. Bower, Alexander Campbell, E. B. Rogers, S. M. Bower and R. A. Bower, Jr. The assistant cashier is W. S. Redhed, of the well known pioneer family. The average deposits of the Bank of Tolono are now $100,000; paid-in capital, $25,000.
The Citizens' Bank was established by Lawrence Sandwell in 1904, with J. A. Corbett as vice-president and A. B. Campbell as cashier. In 1915 Isaac Raymond became president, and was succeeded by Mr. Corbett, Eli Trost assuming the vice presidency. Mr. Campbell con- tinues as cashier.
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