USA > Illinois > Knox County > Annals of Knox County : commemorating centennial of admission of Illinois as a state of the Union in 1818 > Part 13
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George Fitch, a son-in-law of Mr. Fraker, settled near by soon after the Frakers, and was the first school teacher and Justice of the Peace in the settlement. His son, Luther, is re- ported to have been the first white child born here. The first marriage was that of William Hitchcock and Julia Fraker. John Essex was the first settler on Walnut Creek, in 1830.
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His wife was the daughter of Jacob Cress, who, with his fam- ily, settled on Section 24, in 1831. These were the only per- sons living in Lynn before the Black Hawk War. During that struggle they went to Forts Clark and Henderson for safety.
About 1834, William Dunbar bought the improvements of one of the Frakers on a portion of Section 13, and entered the land, going to Galena by wagon, with two yoke of oxen, to do so. He came from Kentucky, and, being a hatter by trade, burnished fur hats to the neighborhood, peddling them on horseback. Mrs. Theodore Hurd says that when she, a girl of twelve years, came here with her father (Luther Driscoll) in 1836) they found twelve families here, settlement being known as Fraker's Grove; not all of it in Lynn, however, as the east township line ran through the middle of it.
In 1836, on Walnut Creek there were only John Lafferty, on Section 36; the Montgomery boys, on Section 35; Samuel Albro (who was a soldier of the War of 1812 and settled on land patented to him for his military service), on Section 34; John Essex and the Talors, south of the creek near Centerville ; and Hugh and Barney Frail, on Section 31. Mrs. Hugh Frail was the pioneer sister of the Cravers and the Collinsons, who followed, from time to time, settling that corner of the town- ship. By 1838 the population had increased considerably. Jonathan Gibbs came then, and purchased the Montgomery property on Section 35, where he lived until his death. He was always a leading man in the township, a Justice for twenty- five years and Supervisor for half that period. About this time also came Elison Annis, who settled on land patented to him for service in the War of 1812; Solomon Brooks, John Sis- son, Ralph Hurley and Elder Shaw, all from Ohio, and origin- ally from Maine. They were old neighbors, and were members of the Free Will Baptist Church. Soon after coming they or- ganized the Walnut Creek Baptist Church. Elder Shaw and Luther Driscoll for years acting as pastors. It is now extinct.
Peter Hagar, Simeon Collinson, the Sniders and Edward Selon were early. Mr. Selon had been mate on an ocean vessel and in one of his last voyages across the ocean the Charles family were passengers on his ship. One of them he soon after married. Another daughter is Mrs. Ira Reed, of this township and Mr. Charles, of Round Grove, Henry County, who was the first man married on the Stark county side of the Fraker settlement, is a member of the same family. In 1836, there was a rather large immigration from Goshen, Connecticut, for which Goshen township in Stark county was named. Captain Gere and William and Ira Reed were among these settlers. In 1840, came a considerable number of Mormons, but most of the latter remained only a short time.
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The first tavern opened was that of Mr. Dunbar, who so used his own home, but in 1846, Nathan Barlow opened the "Traveler's Home," on Section 24. It was on the Chicago trail and the stage road, and hence afforded accommodations much needed at the time.
Population increased slowly until the railroad was pro- jected. That was the ending of the old, and the beginning of the new era in the history of Lynn. J. A. Beal's relation to the township began in this transition period. Proximity to the railroad influenced his selection of a small piece of land for a future home, on the then unbroken prairie. The following spring his wedding trip from the home in Vermont was be- gun by rail, and finished by stage at Victoria. The ending was a little analogous to the overturning of the old by the new. It was a frosty March morning when the stage stopped at Vic- toria, with two newly wedded couples, the destination of one of which was Galesburg. The wife whose journey had ended and the husband who had yet to reach Galesburg both stepped out. The driver had dropped the reins and was at the boot, removing the baggage. The horses, impatient with cold and excited by their drive, suddenly started on the run and made a short turn to the Reynolds barn. In a moment's time the startled travelers were standing on their heads (to judge from the way they felt and looked afterwards) inside the coach. The shock was but for a moment, though the impression was that they were being dragged, and that something was yet to happen; the side door was above them and open; the hind wheel was revolving; and the head of the young wife was soon at the opening inquiring if "we were hurt in there." The stage had uncoupled in the overturn, and three horses had dragged the fourth and the front wheels to the barn.
The first physician at the Fraker settlement was Dr. Nicols ; at Centerville, Dr. Spaulding. Mr. Leek built the first saw mill, in 1837, at Centerville, and later Jonathan Gibbs put up a second. The first log school house, used also for meetings, was built prior to 1836, by volunteer labor, near the home of the Dunbars, in the edge of the grove. Squire Fitch and Maria Lake were the earliest teachers. Later, a school house was built near Fraker's. Dr. Nicols is said to have been one of the first teachers. One of the early pedagogues at the Centerville school was a boy of eighteen, who, in 1863, became General Henderson, and afterward was a member of Congress. Anna Shaw, Betsy Smith and Catherine Annis were early residents, the last named teaching for a time in a log house near the Frails. In 1841, James Jackson was appointed school trustee, and made two districts of the township, which till then had formed but one. There are now 1899, eight frame school houses, worth about nine thousand dollars. None of the schools
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is graded, and the aggregate attendance at that time was about one hundred and seventy-five pupils.
Besides regular services provided at Centerville by Revs. Shaw and Driscoll, there were circuit ministers, who had regu- lar appointments to meet the people. Jonathan Hodgson, one of the earliest settlers at the Grove, became a local Methodist preacher. He was a man of influence in the settlement, a Probate Justice while a resident of the State, and a radical anti-slavery man. At the time of the Kansas struggle he cast in his lot with the free-soilers.| He became so much interested in the work of Jonas Hedstrom, at Victoria, that he learned enough of the Swedish language to preach to people of that nationality in their own tongue. Edward Selon also became a minister, and Rev. Alba Gross preached as well as farmed, un- til called to the Baptist Church in Galva in 1857. Though there has never been a church building in the township, the school houses have been freely opened to Sunday schools and relig- ious meetings.
In the presidential election of 1840, the polling place for both Lynn and Walnut Grove was at Centerville; four years later at the school house near the Frails', Squire Ward being one of those in charge. The practice of betting on elections dates back at least to this time, for James Jackson lost and Dr. Nicols won a pair of trousers on that election.
The grist mill and the market involved much labor and forethought for the early settlers. The first grist which Wil- liam Dunbar sent away went as far as Tazewell county, and in 1838 the nearest points of shipment were Canton and Moline. After getting to the mill one often had to wait for two weeks for his turn to grind. It can be imagined what a convenience was even the little hand mill of Mr. Fraker.
One winter Jonathan Gibbs contracted to deliver a drove of hogs at Peoria on a certain date. Deep snow came, and i. order to fulfill his agreement he made a snow plow, of two planks, set on edge and wedge-shaped. A yoke of oxen was hitched to this and driven ahead, making a path in which the pigs could walk.
Recreation was not entirely neglected. Social life, where there were so few, perhaps meant more than it does now. A wolf hunt took not only the men with their guns, but the women with their kettles, chickens and potatoes, to make chicken pies for the tired hunters. The pies were baked out of doors in twenty-five gallon kettles, set over the coals.
Lynn was organized in 1853, by the election of Jonathan Hodgson, Supervisor; I. S. Smith, Clerk; William A. Reed, Assessor; A. Gross, Collector; Erastus Smith, Overseer of the Poor; S. G. Albro, John Lafferty, and H. A. Grant, Highway Commissioners ; John Hodgson and John Gibbs, Justices ; John Snider, Constable.
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MAQUON TOWNSHIP From Sketch by Dr. J. L. Knowles
In 1827, ten years subsequent to the original survey of this military tract, William Palmer and family, consisting of his wife and five children, located on the southwest quarter of Section 3, about forty rods southeast of the present limits of Maquon Village. This was doubtless the first white family to settle in Knox county. Mr. Palmer's cabin, made of black hickory poles, stood in the midst of Indian gardens, which were usually deserted by the savages in early spring in favor of bet- ter hunting grounds farther west. They returned every fall to remain during the winter, until the year 1832, when, as a result of the Black Hawk War, they took a final leave and that neighborhood knew them no more. Mr. Palmer lived here five or six years, planted an orchard and cultivated the gardens, or patches vacated by the Indians, and, as his cabin stood on the old Galena trail, it afforded a stopping place for the miners going to and from their homes in the southeastern part of the state. A few years later Palmer sold his cabin to Nelson Selby and removed to St. Louis.
The following year Simeon Dolph, the pioneer ferryman of Spoon River, settled on Section 4, building his cabin of logs where the Rathbun house now stands. Owing, however, to a suspicion of his having been implicated in the death of an un- known traveler, he left the community a short time afterwards.
In 1829, Mark Thurman, with his family, settled on Sec- tion 25, and one of his daughters, Mrs. Hughs Thurman, of Yates City, is recalled as one of the oldest residents of the county. The next year the families of William Darnell, Wil- liam Parmer, Thomas Thurman and James Milam settled on Sections 24 and 25. They all came from Highland county, Ohio. Subsequently a small, but regular and ever-increasing stream of settlers took up claims in the township, until in 1837, it was thought a favorable opportunity had arrived for laying out a village, which was called Maquon. This is of Indian origin, signifying spoon. Sapol means river, and as the stream bearing this name assumes somewhat the shape of a spoon from source to mouth, it was called Maquon Sapol, or Spoon River.
This township was one of the chief Indian settlements in the state, and here were congregated families of the Sacs and Foxes and Pottawattomies. Their principal village was located on the present site of Maquon as here the Indian trails centered from all directions in pioneer days. A vast number of Indian relics have been and are still being unearthed in the vicinity, and there are a great many mounds scattered about the neigh- borhood, the most prominent being the Barbero mound, which
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is supposed to have been built by the Aborigines and to contain human remains. Maquon is well drained by Spoon River and the many small tributaries that flow into it, fine timberlands abound throughout the township, and about one-half of the surface is underlaid with an excellent quality of bituminous coal. The township organization was completed in 1853, by the election of James M. Foster as Supervisor; Nathan Barbero, Assessor, and James L. Loman, Collector.
The first school house in the township was built of logs in 1834 on Section 23, or, to locate it more accurately, about eighty rods west of where James Young's dwelling now stands. The first teacher in that building was Benjamin Brock. The next house to be devoted to educational purposes was erected in 1836 or 1837, and was situated about fifty rods south of Bennington. The first school north of Spoon River was con- ducted by Miss Mary Fink in a shed adjoining the residence of Peter Jones, a father of John Jones, at one time postmaster. The only reading book at that time was the New Testament. It is claimed by some of Miss Fink's pupils, that she could read and write, but could not "cipher." However, notwithstanding this defect in her education, it was said that her labors were most commendable and satisfactory.
The township at first contained the three villages of Maquon, Bennington and Rapatee. Bennington was originally laid out in the center of the precinct in 1836 by Elisha Thur- man, but it failed to develop sufficient importance to be called a village, although it was the township's polling place until 1858, when the name was changed to Maquon.
The township is justly proud of its unbounded patriotism some of its residents having taken part in three of the nation's most important wars. Among the early pioneers of the town- ship were Philip Rhodes, John W. Walters and John M. Combs, who were soldiers in the War of 1812. Avery Dalton, who lived to a great old age and who has furnished much informa- tion of the early history of Maquon township, and Madison Fos- ter, deceased were members of the Fulton County Rangers in the Black Hawk War. The rifle carried by Mr. Foster while in service is now owned by his son, Albert, and is in a good state of preservation, the old flint lock having been replaced by one of more modern manufacture. A full quota of two hundred and fifty soldiers was furnished during the Civil War, many of whom died on the field of battle fighting for the Union, while others still survive and occasionally live over again one of the most exciting epochs in the history of the country.
The first birth and the first death to occur in the township was that of Rebecca, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thurman, in 1831. The first marriage took place on Christmas, 1834, the
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contracting parties being Elisha Thurman and Anna Hall, and the first postmaster was William McGown, who held that posi- tion in 1837. The first bridge across Spoon River built in 1839, by Jacob Conser, but it subsequently collapsed by its own weight and was re-built by Mr. Conser the following year. It was located almost directly south of the village of Maquon. The second bridge was erected by Benoni Simpkins, in 1851, a few rods below the site of the present structure, which was built in 1873. The stone work was done by J. L. Burkhalter and John Hall, the wood work by Andy Johnson, and the iron work by Mr. Blakesly, of Ohio. The first distillery in Knox county was situated in Maquon and it furnished the cargo for the first shipment from Galesburg over the Chicago, Burling- ton and Quincy Railroad.
Maquon township is known for its excellent schools and its history is of large interest.
Note: The positive statement by Dr. Knowles regarding the William Palmer family seems definitely to fix Palmer as the earliest settler in the county.
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ONTARIO TOWNSHIP By Hugh Greig
While it is true that no well defined Indian trail crossed, in any direction, this township, yet there is indisputable evi- dence that the Redman was a frequent visitor. The large num- ber of arrow points found in the vicinity of Pilot Knob prove this. The point named is one of the few decided elevations in what is now Knox County and must have been used in times innumerable by the Indians to watch the coming or going of a friend, or to detect the stealthy approach of a dusky enemy.
The area in timber was much too limited to furnish an ideal hunting ground, and no living spring now known could have supplied water for any large number of people. There- fore, Pilot Knob, despite its sightliness, lacked many qualifi- cations which could induce the wanderer to make of it an abid- ing place.
That there were large numbers of magnificent trees near- by and in every direction, far as the eye could reach, a waving ocean of tallest grasses, proving the unsurpassed richness of the soil was to the Indian a matter of little or no importance.
It is quite probable that more than a century before the white man, as a settler, looked on this rich, rolling prairie land, the explorer on his way from the Illinois to the Mississippi or vice versa, had traversed this region and unquestionably the hunter of a much later date had stood on Pilot and in ever more than fancy "was monarch of all he surveyed."
However, though explorers and hunters have a place in history, a place which bold, venturesome men only can fill, still it is of a truth he and she who are possessors of or possessed by the ideas of the settler, the settler who squats on a defin- ite spot of earth, in some legal form obtains the squatters right to stay and stays. Such is the germ from which in due time Ontario township, Knox County, Illinois, the nation is made.
And if we are to judge the Ontario of today and of all the succeeding tomorrows by the all around make up of the early settlers we may well be thankful and take courage, for were they not all or nearly all the not distant descendants of those who made homes, built schools and churches, fought Indians and brought a thousands smiles to the flinty face of sterile New England, and some in the morning of their manhood as- sisted in Central New York by arduous labor in transforming a forest into a farm; and though here they found the unbroken prairie a new problem, its solution was simple in comparison ; it is true the implements needed were different, the skill to pro- duce them was not yet acquired, but here was the soil, stubborn indeed, but not more so than the settler. With a plow largely of
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timber, much prairie was brought under cultivation; corn was planted, not with a planter and check-rower, but with an axe, in due time this gave place to the hoe, and as evolution seems to be a universal law the two-horse planter came and stays.
Besides the corn, all the grains suitable to our soil and climate were sown and rich were the rewards of the husband- man. One crop now never seen in this township was to a limited extent grown, viz., flax, and not only grown, but by skilled and willing hands became by much patient labor a part of the clothing of the almost moneyless early settlers, and in even this year of grace and carnage this writer was shown a considerable sample of linen fabric, the flax from which it had been made grew on Section 31, Ontario township, the home for more than sixty years of G. W. Melton, Mrs. Melton and family, and we have reason to believe that the aforesaid Mrs. Melton with her own hands heckeled, spun and wove the linen cloth to the writer shown.
In the same year but previous to Mr. Melton's arrival, an Alexander Williams had fenced and plowed some twenty acres on the northwest quarter of Section 30 and therefore, so far as known, was the first settler in the township, who evidently intended to remain. However, in 1836 he sold his holdings to I. M. Wetmore. The latter became one of the large landholders in the neighborhood and in all his after years was a most prom- inent and successful farmer. And though the name, Wetmore, is less common than in the early days it is still with us and with a goodly number of others in a most interesting and pleas- ant way links the present with the past.
As stated, a goodly number of names familiar in the early days are still here, yet it is very true that a large and increas- ing percentage of our land owners and tenant farmers can and do speak an alien tongue, but we all know by evidence that cannot be gainsaid that alien speech is no indication of alien sentiment. When we bear in mind that perhaps even a major- ity of our voters are of foreign birth or are the children of those who hail from the land of Thor, and also recognize the fact that when the R. C., the Y. M. C. A.,, the K. of C. or other similar agencies let it be known that funds are needed in their ceaseless works of mercy, Ontario has unhesitatingly gone over the top.
In the matter of the various bond selling campaigns, over the top is simply considered the normal thing. This, however, is usually looked on as a fairly good investment ; yet take it all in all, the profit, the real profit, that which never tarnishes, is that derived from that giving where nothing is returned in kind. But to speak of the cold facts of history it is a pleasure to mention that while settlers were few, money almost unbe- lieveably scarce, yet the matter of education was not forgotten,
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for in 1839, a school house was built on the Northwest Quarter of Section 32. Just in what manner the project was financed we do not know, we only know that the free school system or anything much resembling it had not yet arrived; we have no reason to believe that the curriculum was very varied. All, no doubt, had at times an uncomfortable amount of fresh air; as has been hinted the course of study was somewhat brief, but as was proved on many subsequent occasions, the pupils graduated having, in the words of John Hay, "a middling tight grip on the handful of things they knew."
The first teacher was Sally Ann Belden. The school house for several years was used for religious services, and as denom- inational lines were not strictly drawn, the preacher of the occasion was not questioned very closely as to his beliefs or un- beliefs on doctrinal matters.
There are now in the township eight rural schools, and while all of them have been to some extent remodeled and greatly improved in general appearance externally and in- ternally, the course of study has become practically uniform; the teachers in a knowledge of teaching methods and in schol- arly equipment far surpass those of the so-called good old days of long ago. The Oneida district, officially known as No. 27, is what is known as a graded school. Four teachers are em- ployed and all pupils who successfully pass the eighth grade are eligible to enter the High school. The latter which is con- ducted in the same building, employs four teachers, each of whom we are glad to say is a graduate of a State University or College in good standing, and pupils honorably finishing the four year course are, provided they have made the best of their opportunities, able to enter any college in our state.
Every girl or boy in this township is in some High school district or in non-High school territory which amounts to the same thing. And yet, sad to say, very many of our young people never pass the eighth grade and some never reach it.
It was a number of years after the establishment of the first school when the township became a political unit, the first Supervisor was Edward Crane; Clerk, W. J. Savage; As- sessor, J. Burt; Collector, E. C. Brott; Overseer of the Poor, T. F. P. Wetmore. They also had constables and highway com- missioners. It is not all likely that the latter gentlemen were at any time urged to use their influence in favor of hard roads, and if their successors ever have been the good advice given them appears to have been wasted. The justices of the peace were E. Chapman and T. E. Mosher.
The names of the supervisors who until the present time have succeeded Mr. Crane, are as follows: J. Hammond, W. B. LeBaron, J. Hammond, W. B. LeBaron, A. S. Curtis, O. Beadle,
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E. Crane, A. S. Curtis, G. L. Stephenson, O. L. Fay, G. E. Fred- ericks, Hugh Grieg, J. J. Clearwater. There is in the town- ship but one village, Oneida. It was platted in the autumn of 1854 by C. F. Camp, B. T. West and S. V. R. Holmes. It is said that there was no intention on the part of railroad officials to have a station at that point but there were more convincing inducements presented at that time to the needy company chief of which was a gift by C. F. Camp of a plot of ground 500x1,000 feet, on which at this date are the R. R. Station, two grain elevators, various other buildings, and last and greatest is the beauty spot of the village, the little park which is the admir- ation of all, and as the years come and go the home one and the passing traveler notes the deep green sward, the clumps of shrubbery each in its season blossom tinted, the spreading branches of the elms, maples, chestnuts giving promise of the future forest shade where all can realize it, if they will that our pagan ancesters were not far amiss when they, in the shady woodland's "dim religious light" saw a temple in which they did and we might worship God.
The writer calls Oneida a village, and, as he thinks rightly, so as more befitting our small and sadly diminishing numbers, still it has a city charter, a special charter by the way, How- ever, it is quite doubtful if the makers thereof could today rec- ognize their handiwork. It will interest some to know that Oneida's first school was built in 1855, and its first teacher was Mary Allen West, who later became County Superintendent of Schools, and in such position and in others subsequently filled, she not only raised the standard of scholarship among the teachers but raised the standard of civic righteousness in every community that knew her presence.
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