USA > Illinois > Knox County > Annals of Knox County : commemorating centennial of admission of Illinois as a state of the Union in 1818 > Part 15
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Game Abundant
Game was plentiful until about 1850. Parts of the ele- phant and the mastodon have been found in Persifer. A mas- todon's tooth was found on North Creek by Albert Wyman and I think it is now in the possession of Fred R. Jelliff, editor of the Republican-Register. The writer also found a part of a mastodon tooth on Section 35. What appears to be an entire tooth of an elephant was found by Luther Webb in Court Creek on Section 22 in 1917. I have often heard my father, R. W. Miles, say that the bones and horns of the bison were plentiful upon the prairies when he came here in 1836. Although these larger animals had disappeared from the country before the settlers came, there remained plenty of deer, a few elk, and numbers of wild turkeys. Prairie chicken, quail, squirrels, the raccoon and rabbits were abundant in those days but most of them have now disappeared. Prairie chickens were so num- erous in the early days that Charles Bradford and his son Wil- liam killed 24 by firing one shot each at a flock sitting on the first grain stacks ever stacked in Persifer. R. W. Miles on several occasions killed as many as 7 prairie chickens at one shot and the writer has seen as many as a thousand in one flock, but they have now almost disappeared from this part of the country.
Fur bearing animals are still to be found in small numbers. Probably $500.00 worth of furs are procured each year.
Indians were doubtless quite numerous at one time but very few were ever seen after the white settlers came and they were doubtless wandering bands. Many of their flint arrow heads and stone axes have been found. The poles of their wigwams which were standing when the settlers came would indicate that there was an Indian village where the town of Dahinda now stands. There are a few mounds in the township, but they may have belonged to a former race. The Indians had no burial place in the township so far as I have ever heard, unless the mounds be such place. What is known as the Galena
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trail-one branch of it-passed through the township. It ran almost straight north from the south side of the township to Court Creek, crossing that stream where the present Appleton bridge stands. From there it followed a northwesterly direc- tion. A branch trail from the mouth of Court Creek joined it near the northwest corner of the township. The trails were much used by the early settlers as they were very good roads, the Indians not having to follow the section lines in the selec- tion of their highways. Mr. W. G. Sargeant says that there were a number of poles of wigwams on the hills on the east side of Sugar Creek and south of what is known as Round Bottom.
One of the Indians who sometimes visited this section dur- ing the days of the early settlement was the chief, Shabona. He once offered to show William Morris a silver mine in the northeast part of the township, but Mr. Morris, fearing treach- ery, would not go with him. Afterwards when returning from a journey of some sort he came acoss a spot that corresponded with that decribed to him by Shabona. But when he went to look for it again he could never find the same place. It may seem strange that Mr. Morris could not find the place again, but I have heard my father say that once when returning from a hunting trip crossing Court Creek bottoms which had been freshly burned over he found quite a large piece of land strewn thickly with human bones, which were so badly burned that they fell in pieces when he tried to pick them up and although he tried to find the place afterwards he could not do so.
Early Settlers
William Morris, mentioned above, was probably the first white settler. He bought the N. W. 1-4 Section 26 on March 10, 1832. During the winter of 1832-3 he lodged in a hollow sycamore tree which stood near the south bank of Spoon River just below the mouth of Court Creek. Mr. Morris came from Wilksville, Gallia Co., Ohio. He married Miss Ruth Vaughn, who came from Kentucky. Mr. Morris probably built his cabin in 1833, but it is said to have burned down soon after it was built.
Beverly Young and Jesse and Willis Reynolds came to the township in 1833. They came from Munfordsville, Kentucky. Beverly Young settled on the east 1-2 of the northeast of Sec- tion 26.
Jesse Reynolds settled on the west 1-2 of the same quarter. Willis Reynolds settled on the west 1-2 of the southwest 1-4 of Section 25. Some time in the fall of 1834 Charles Bradford came from Licking county, Ohio, and bought the Beverly Young place and moved into the house which Mr. Young had built there. The next year, 1835, Mr. Bradford bought the north west 1-4 of Section 27 and moved into a house that stood
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just across the road west on Section 28. In 1836, Rev. S. S. Miles came to the township from Ohio and bought a part of the northwest 1-4 of Section 34, but did not move onto the place until the spring of 1839, although he lived nearby while he was building his house which, as he was in poor health and his old- est son was but 14 years old, it took him some time to do.
In 1837 many families came to the township, among them being those of Edmond Russell, Isaac Sherman, G. W. Manley, T. D. Butt, Caleb Reece, John Caldwell and James Maxey. Af- ter this new arrivals became quite frequent and neighbors were not so far apart.
First Marriages
The first marriage in which the contracting parties were residents of the township, was that of Charles Bradford and Parmelia Ann Richardson. Mr. Bradford was a native of New Hampshire but after his first marriage lived in the state of Maine a short time. He then moved to Licking county, Ohio, and later, in 1834, came to Illinois. Mr. Richardson came from Kentucky. They were married in Peoria some time in the spring of 1836.
The first wedding which occurred in the township was that of Harvey Stetson Bradford, son of Charles Bradford and Hester Whitton. They were married October 24, 1836, at the home of the groom's father who lived on the northwest 1-4 sec- tion 27. The Rev. Bartlett, a Baptist minister from Knoxville, performed the ceremony.
It has often been stated that R. C. Benson and Sarah Bradford were the first couple married in the township, but they were not married until January 5, 1837. They were mar- ried at the home of the bride's father, Chas. Bradford. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. S. S. Miles.
The first child born in the township is said to have been a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Reynolds, but there was a child born to Mr. and Mrs. Willis Reynolds in January, 1835.
First Death
The first death was that of Mrs. Charles Bradford, which occurred on January 5, 1835. Mrs. Bradford was in poor health when she came to the township, in 1834, and lived only a few months. She was buried on their own farm almost at the center of of the N. E. 1-4 of Section 26.
The first public cemetery was in Section 9 on what is now known as the Charles Myers farm. The first burial therein was a son of John Henderson, who then owned the farm.
Mr. David Russell, who came to the township with his father in 1837, says that there was a cemetery at Trenton at
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that time. This cemetery is located just east of where the town of Trenton stood and is known as the Trenton cemetery.
Modes of Travel
Traveling in those days was not very rapid. In the winter of 1835-6 Rev. S. S. Miles, who lived in Newark, Ohio, was in very poor health. The doctors told him that he would live only until spring came, but as soon as he was able to get onto a horse he began riding out every day and as soon as he could ride 10 miles a day he started for Illinois. He came to the township in June of that year and bought his farm and rode back to Ohio on horseback. When there he loaded his family into a wagon and brought them to Illinois the same fall.
They traveled quite slowly, leading a cow behind the wagon and camping out nights. The milk from the cow was hung up in the wagon in a tin bucket every morning and at night fresh butter was taken from the bucket. Many of the roads were cordoroy, especially in Indiana, and most of the streams had to be forded or ferried. Mr. Miles lived 40 years after coming to Illinois. His death was October 6, 1876.
Charles Bradford brought his family to Illinois in the same way. He brought one two-horse wagon and one six- horse wagon. His daughter, Mrs. P. C. Benson, told me that the only incident that she could think of in the journey from Ohio was that one of the wagons upset after they had passed all the hills and streams and were only about a mile from the place where they located. Nearly all of the settlers came in wagons, but it is quite likely that a few of them came on foot.
The first mail was carried on horseback, the carrier cross- ing Spoon River at a place called Jack's ford. This ford was lo- cated about 80 rods below the mouth of Court Creek and about the same distance above the township line.
The first public conveyance and one which also carried the mail was the stage-coach. Just when the stage began running through Persifer we do not know, but it seems to have been running in 1837, according to Mr. David Russell, who came to the township that year and was 15 years of age. The first route of the stage was from Trenton west nearly to the R. C. Benson farm, then in a southwesterly direction to the Miles farm, thence nearly on a straight line to Knoxville, passing the G. W. Manley farm, (now owned by Geo. W. Haner), where was a fine spring where people stopped to water. This route missed all the hills between Spoon River and Knoxville. The state road through Trenton and Knoxville was laid out in 1838. T. D. Butt, Caleb Reece and John Coleman were the commis- sioners.
In the early 40's the people desired a postoffice closer than Knoxville and one was established at the home of Charles
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Bradford, Mr. Bradford being appointed postmaster. We do not know the date when the office started but some place the date as early as 1842. Several years afterwards the office was moved to Trenton and the name was charged to Trenton.
Schools
The first school of which we know was taught by Mary Ann Long in 1839. The school was held in a cabin which stood in the hollow just north of the present Maple Grove School house, District No. 91. This school was not a public school, but was supported by subscription. Mr. C. N. Butt, now living in Knoxville, was a pupil of that school.
The first school house was built in 1841 on the line be- tween the Francis Wilson and the John Caldwell farms. It stood on the north side of the road 1-4 mile west of the center of Section 30. It was a log structure with the door in the south and one row of panes where a log had been sawed out in the east and west of the house for windows. We believe that John McIntosh was the first teacher and that Curtis Edgerton was the second, but some have said that Mr. Edgerton was the first. So far as we know the pupils who attended the first public school were James and George McPherrin, Neptin, Lu- cina and Mary Russell, Charles N. Butt, Jacob Brunk, and John C. Hearn.
The first school trustees of Persifer were T. D. Butt and Samuel McCormack. The first meeting was on January 10, 1846, and the first official act was the appointment of Francis Wilson to the office of Secretary and Treasurer.
Another log school house was built in an early day near the town of Trenton, but it was probably not built until after the one on the Wilson farm. This building stood between 80 and 90 rods almost due east of the present Trenton school building.
There are now nine frame school buildings in the town- ship and the schools are all graded. According to the census of June 1st, 1918, there are 207 pupils of school age in the town- ship. The value of the school property in the township is $9,830.00 and the amount of tax levy for last year was $6,325.00.
Business
Persifer boasts the first mill in Knox county. It was built in 1834, by Robert Hendrix. It stood on the south bank of Court Creek at the mouth of Middle Creek-just above where the Knoxville and Victoria road crosses Court Creek on Section 19. At first only corn was ground at this mill, but later wheat was also ground by Samuel McCormack. This mill was after- wards converted into a saw mill and was owned and operated by Andrew Fletcher, Hubbard Huggins, Daniel Anderson and
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David Russell. Mr. Russell was operating the mill when the dam was washed away in 1853.
The next place of importance in the township was the town of Trenton. It was the first town and was laid out in 1839 by Hyram Bowman on Section 25. It contained a tavern and hos- telry, a postoffice, 2 stores, a blacksmith shop, a pottery and a brick yard. Charles Bradford kept the postoffice, which was moved from his farm to Trenton. A man by the name of Good- man kept the first store. It was a regular stopping place for the stage as long as that mode of conveyance was in use, which was up to 1853. The name of one of the stage drivers was Dave Brownlee and the name of another was Oliver Pike. Thece men were of the rough and ready sort or they would not have been in such a business at that time. At one time one of these men brought a young lady to Galesburg who was to teach in Knox College. It was a very icy time and when the driver opened the stage door and reached up to help the young lady out his feet went from under him and he went flat on the ground. The young lady, (I forget her name), was so far out of the coach that she could not keep her balance, so she very neatly jumped over the fallen driver and alighted on the curb without any assistance. But the driver was not daunted by the mishap to himself. He turned to a half dozen young men who were standing by and beginning to laugh at him and said: "Boys, there's terrible times over in Knoxville. The niggers are dying off at the rate of six a minute." (There was but one negro in Knox county at the time). Both these men went to California in the gold digging days.
An Early Mill
Elliott's Mill, so-called in honor of Captain Hiram Elliott, who was captain of Company H, 102 Illinois Infantry, and who owned and operated the mill for several years, was built in 1840 at the mouth of Court Creek on Spoon River. It stood on the south bank of the river at the mouth of the creek and has quite a history. Some time prior to 1840, probably in 1839, Thomas Gilbert who lived south of Knoxville and who was one of the men who sought out the location for Knox College and a man named Captain Jack made a tour of inspection along Spoon River and decided that the spot we have described was the best place for a mill site. As these men did not wish to go partners in the mill and neither wanted to pay the other for what the law gave free to the man who first began to build, both men went home and watched for an opportunity to get the first start. Finally Captain Jack started for Oquawka for two loads of castings for a mill. After his departure Mr. Gilbert heard of it in some way and not to be out-done he engaged all the men that he could get to go with him from Knoxville and they went out to the river and began cutting walnut logs in the creek
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bottoms just west of the mill site. They worked all night, cut- ting, hewing and dragging out the logs and when Captain Jack got back with his castings he found that he was beaten. It is said that he hauled the castings down the river a short dis- tance, threw them out of his wagons and never picked them up. Although Mr. Gilbert secured the site for the mill, for some reason he did not build the mill. He may have sold the site to a man named McKee, for a man named named McKee built the mill. Mr. McKee doubtless began building the mill in 1839 for the frame was up early in the spring of 1840, and it was fin- ished that year. It was a large substantial structure and re- mained standing 41 years. In the beginning it was a saw mill but it was later converted into a flour mill and was for many years one of the most important milling centers in the county. As the mill grew in importance Trenton declined and one of the stores was moved from Trenton to the mill. For several years there were two stores and a blacksmith shop and at one time there were two saloons in operation. One of them was even named the Blue Goose. The mill was owned first by McKee then by the Lewis boys, (Laderic, Loid, Loren and Luther Lewis), then by a Mr. Stinocker, then by Captain Elliott, then by Proctor Myers, then by Henry Corbin and last by John Degrummond. After about 1870 the water began to fail so badly in the streams that the mill finally had to quit business about 1875. The building finally became unsafe and was torn down by Mr. Degrummond in the spring of 1881.
The Golden Circle
During the Civil War the Knights of the Golden Circle were quite numerous in the vicinity of the mill and for a long time they met every Saturday night in an old log house that stood on the west side of the road just on the high bank of the creek. The house was one story with a loft and a stone chim- ney on the outside. Mr. Henry Butt, who told me of the cir- cumstances, was a good sized boy at the time and was staying with the miller. He says that on Saturday evenings when it was getting dark men would begin to ride in on horseback from all directions and tie their horses in the low ground back of the house where they would be entirely out of sight from the road. There were usually about 25 of them and they would gather in the loft of the old house and stay there for quite a long time before they dispersed. Mr. Butt was very anxious to know what they were meeting for and so one night he climbed up the chimney until his head was above the floor of the loft and list- ened, but although he could hear them talking he could not distinguish anything that they said. The Knights kept up their meetings until the draft was called when some of them in order to escape the draft left the country and the circle was broken up. The Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret
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organization, originated in the south for the extension and de- fense of slavery. It contained many men in all the southern states and a great many northern men. In Persifer they went so far as to plot the murder of some of the prominent citizens. The writer's father was the first one whom they planned to execute, but a friend of our family who was a member of the Circle, came to our people and told them- what was planned. As I think of it now I do not know the man's name, I only know that he was an Irishman.
The third and last mill to be built in the township was built by Charles Haptonstall about 1848. It was built on Court Creek, about 80 rods west of the road leading south from the town of Appleton. In it corn and buckwheat were ground at first, but it was later converted into a saw mill and not being very substantial was never a place of much business.
All of the mills and the town of Trenton have long since disappeared as places of public business and there were no other places of that character except a few blacksmith shops until the A. T. & S. F. R. R. was built in 1888. There have been several blacksmith shops in the south half of the township aside from the ones already mentioned. The following are all that the writer remembers: Francis Wilson on his farm on Section 30, Thomas Gordon on the Wm. Morris farm on Section 26, Stephen Clark on what is now known as the Wm. Breece farm on Section 26, and, at a later date, Jas. Kelso, on the hill south of Appleton.
Dahinda was laid out in the summer of 1888 by the Santa Fe Town and Land Co. It stands on the west bank of the Spoon River on the N. W. of Section 24 and is a station on the Santa Fe R. R. There is a Methodist Episcopal church and a Latter Day Saints church, generally known as an offspring of the Mormon church. Guy H. Peters has a store and is postmaster. Charles Woolsey and A. E. Sargeant each have stores and James Kelso has a blacksmith shop. A. E. Sargeant also runs the elevator and E. W. Farquer has a barber shop. The A. T. & S. F. R. R. which traverses the township from west to east with a fine double track has a fine bridge across Spoon River at this place.
Appleton was laid out by the Hon. J. H. Lewis in the spring of 1888, on the S. E. 1-4 of Section 16. It is situated on the north side of the Santa Fe R. R. and is a station on that road. Mr. Wm. A. Iles has a store and is postmaster. Alfred E. Saline has a store and a grain elevator. There is also a black- smith shop and a Church of the United Bhrethren in Christ. Quite a large amount of grain and stock is shipped from Apple- ton each year.
The Prairie State Oil Co. has pipe lines and a pumping station in the township. The pipe lines follow the Santa Fe
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tracks and the pumping station is by the side of that road on Section 23. They also have a switch from the Santa Fe tracks.
Another pipe line runs through the south part of the township but has no pumping station here.
Churches
The first sermon preached in the township so far as we have any record, was at the home of Charles Bradford in June, 1836. The preacher was the Rev. S. S. Miles. He also organ- ized the first Sunday school at the same place in 1838. The first lesson was from the Book of Daniel. The first church was built in 1863 on the Robert Young farm at the center of Section 30. It cost $1,800.00. There are now seven church buildings in the township but two of them are not used. The church on the Young farm is called Bethel and is Methodist. Maxey Chapel stands at the center of Section 5 and is Metho- dist . One of the churches at Dahinda is Methodist and the other is an offshoot of the Mormon church, called the Latter Day Saints. The church at Appleton is the old United Breth- ren denomination. The church which stands at the center of Section 8 and the one standing at the southwest corner of Sec- tion 27 belong to the revised division of the United Brethren church. The two latter are not in use aet the present time. The U. B. Church at Appleton built a parsonage in 1917. It is the first parsonage in the township.
Religious Life
A great deal might be said about the religion of Persifer people. In the first days of the settlement there were no churches nor school houses and the meetings had to be held for the most part in the homes of the settlers and later when a large barn was built it would sometimes be used for holding meetings. The barn on the Robert Young farm was once used for holding a revival meeting, Mr. Young being himself a great church man. A goodly number were converted at this meeting and some of them became very enthusiastic. One man coming out of the barn after he had joined the church saw his son talking with some other young men out in the yard and coming up to him said: "Son, you d-d fool you, why don't you go in and join the meeting? Mother's joined and I've joined and the girls have joined and we've all joined." Possibly the enthusiasm would to a certain extent excuse the profanity.
After the school houses were built they were used almost exclusively for holding religious services until the churches were built. They were the only places of public worship for years. Many people liked the school house the best for church services as it was not the property of any denomination and people felt more at home there.
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At one time in the early days a Spiritualist came into the Young neighborhood and gave a few talks and the older people began to be worried on account of the young people, and tried to get the man to leave the community. Instead of leaving, however, he proposed that they get some one to debate the subject with him and leave the question to be settled in that way and Mr. Robert Young took him at his word and tried to find some preacher who would debate with him. But Mr. Young could not find a preacher who would undertake the task and finally a man named Ruff Branscom told him to get R. W. Miles. Mr. Miles said he would debate with him and got Mr. Branscom to pretend that he wanted to join the spiritualists and get some of their books for Mr. Miles to study. The de- bate was finally called and lasted only an hour and a half when the spiritualist was ready to quit. Mr. Young now said that as Mr. Miles had spent some time in studying up for the debate and had given them such good service it was no more than right that they should take up a collection for him. He then proceeded to take up the collection wearing a very broad smile at the same time. One of the neighbors seeing this smile spoke up and said that if it was a victory, it was not a Methodist victory, at which remark Mr. Young's smile only grew the broader.
Many meetings of great interest have been held in the township and many people have been converted in them and although there have been many backsliders there have also been those who were faithful.
Agricultural Evolution
The first land broken was six acres on what is known as the Stevens farm in the S. E. of the N. E. of Section 28. Six acres were also broken on the S. E. of Section 34 at about the same time.
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