USA > Illinois > Knox County > Annals of Knox County : commemorating centennial of admission of Illinois as a state of the Union in 1818 > Part 6
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Some Noteworthy Emigrations
Cedar Township has sent many of its sons and daughters to be pioneers in other states. I will mention three instances involving more than usual experiences.
When the memorable little company of "Forty-Niners," known as the Jayhawkers started from Knox County April 1, 1849, in quest of California gold, Cedar Township furnished one of the men, Lorenzo Dow Stephens, a brother of J. W. Stephens. The Jayhawkers, thirty-nine in number in seeking a short cut to California, left the Los Angeles Trail and enter- ing through a ravine "struck out bodly, at first, into the great American desert." They wandered for weeks in the desert, including that awful desolation of Death's Valley, which they discovered and which was never crossed before by a white man. Three perished there and the rest, having been fifty-two days with almost no food and suffering terribly for lack of water in the sandy valleys of salt and alkali, came out at last, little more than living skeletons at a hospitable cattle ranch near the head waters of the Santa Clara River in Ventura County, Southern California. Of this company, only two are living to- day, Lorenza Dow Stephens of San Jose, California, and John B. Colton of Galesburg, Illinois.
In the very early days of Minnesota, a young couple went from Cedar Township to be missionaries among the Indians. These were Mr. and Mrs. Amos Huggins. Mr. Huggins was for a while a student in Knox College and his wife was Sophia Marsh, oldest sister of Leroy Marsh. It was a time of much hostility among the Indians. After a few years residence there, Mr. Huggins stepped out of his house one evening into the yard on some errand. The light, streaming out of the open doorway, made him a fine target, a shot rang out and he fell, the victim of a hostile Indian's bullet. His wife and baby were held as captilves by the Indians for six weeks and carried 100 miles farther north before they were rescued by some govern- ment troops. Mrs. Huggins is still living in the State of Mis- souri.
A little company from Cedar Township became pioneers in the far west and the founders of a great city. Mentioned
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among the first to settle in the township, in 1831, was Mrs. Sarah Boren, the widowed daughter of Joseph Latimer. Mrs. Boren lived on the land adjoining her father's until her one son had grown to manhood and her two daughters were young women. The older of the daughters, Mary, married Arthur A. Denny, who was County Surveyor in Knox County, from 1848 to 1851. Soon after this marriage, the parents of the bride and groom, Mrs. Sarah Latimer Boren, the mother of Mary Boren Denney, and John Denny, the father of Arthur A. Denny, were married. John Denny, who had been a volunteer in the war of 1812 and had served in the legislature where he was associated with Lincoln, Baker, Yates and Trumbull, with his five sons and Mrs. Sarah Latimer Boren Denny with her sons and two daughters, became enthused with the idea of settling on the far Pacific coast. They had known pioneer days in Illinois and had the true pioneer spirit. On April 10, 1851, just two years after the Jayhawkers left Knox County, Mr. and Mrs. John Denny with their grown-up sons and daugh- ters, children and grandchildren, began the great journey across the plains. They started that April morning, from the family home at Cherry Grove in four "prairie schooners" as the canvas covered wagons were called, three of them drawn by four-horse teams, one by a single span; they took also a few saddle horses and two faithful watch dogs, that proved of great value in traveling in the wilds. Their long toilsome journey, full of incidents and adventures, was ended when, in the fall, they reached Puget Sound and Eliott Bay. They camped temporarily for the winter and in February of '52, less than a year after leaving Cedar Township, Arthur Denny, having made sounding's of the bay and determined where the city of his dreams should be located, used the experience gained as surveyor in Knox County, in surveying and laying out claims where was to be the city of Seattle. He, with his brother, David, and two or three other men, were the first to occupy claims and start business interests in that city. They lived to achieve great wealth and many of their descendants reside in Seattle today.
War Record
Cedar Township is justly proud of its war record. All through the Forties and Fifties, its inhabitants were wide- awake to war issues. These issues were ardently discussed in the Upsilon Society of Cherry Grove Seminary and in the college debating socities in Abingdon and were often hotly dis- puted in gatherings of the men. When Lincoln and Douglas spoke in Galesburg, wagon loads went from Cedar Township to hear them. Among the Township's strong Abolitionists was Abel Thomas, already mentioned in this history as one of the early settlers. He lived in the country east and north of
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Louisville and was a zealous pilot in the Underground Rail- way traffic. Mounted on a fence post, where the lane leading to his house turned off from the main road, he always kept the skull of a cow or of some other animal. This was a sign which meant to those helping runaway slaves, that here they would find a friend.
When the call to arms came, the Township responded quickly and loyally, with its full quota, probably more, of men. The strong loyalty everywhere manifested before and during the Civil War is noteworthy because such a large proportion of those who had been shaping the opinions of the different communities for the thirty years preceding the war, grew up in homes where the passing generation had come from semi- southern states and some of whom had slave-owning relatives. Exact statistics are almost impossible to obtain. In the Knox County list of Civil War volunteers, three hundred and sev- enty-two names from Abingdon and Cedar Township appear. Some of these men merely enlisted from Abingdon and were not Cedar Township people. The Township can undoubtedly claim three hundred volunteers and probably sent more. All who went from the Township were volunteers. There were no drafted men from Cedar.
While the men were serving on the battle field, the women were doing all they could to furnish needed lint, band- ages and supplies. Nowhere was there sincerer mourning when the bells announced the death of Abraham Lincoln.
In 1897, Company D of the Illinois National Guards was organized in Abingdon. At the outbreak of the Spanish War in the spring of '98, members of Company D volunteered and were mustered in with the rest of the regiment forming the Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which served through the war and was mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, November 25, 1898.
A very large number of Cedar Township men are serving at the present time in the various departments of service in the great allied war against Germany. Perry's History says of the Township: "Cedar has always maintained a high degree of patriotism. Of the old settlers, there are seventeen soldiers of the war of 1812, four of the early Indian wars and two of the Mexican war, found in its cemeteries. Forty-nine soldiers of the Civil War are also buried within the Township limits." Since these statistics were given, in 1912, a very large number of Civil War soldiers have been added to those already buried in the Township.
The men and women who had to do with the settlement of Cedar Township and with the shaping of its early life are almost all resting now and their voices are silent. It is fitting
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that we who come after, not so far removed in time but that we have often heard rehearsed the stories of pioneer days, should pass on to coming generations the annals of those times. Admiring, honoring, loving those who have wrought for us, to us in these days, comes the message Emerson voices: "I have no expectation any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing today."
LIBERTY LOAN RECORD
Owing to the omission of a line which makes the mean- ing obscure, the following showing the Liberty Loan Record of the county in the late war is republished :
The county by its response to the call of the government for funds also gave its soldiers the most substantial back- ing. This is indicated by the following tables showing the total contributions to each of the four Liberty Loans and the Victory Loan :
Quota
Amt. Raised
First
$ 923,180
$ 659,600
Contributors Not Known 7,000
Second
1,288,030
1,698,250
Third
1,256,640
2,229,600
10,557
Fourth
2,506,900
2,659,900
14,326
Victory
1,958,450
2,367,050
6,980
Totals. _ $7,933,200
$9,614,400
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
I
1
1
The county far exceeded the total quota.
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CHESTNUT TOWNSHIP From Sketch by H. M. Reece
The following interesting notes on Chestnut Township are from a sketch by H. M. Reece in 1899 :
The earliest settler of Chestnut Township was Anson Dolph, who came from Kentucky in 1833. He raised a crop of wheat that year on Section 17, and in 1834, came as a per- manent settler. In the year last named came also John Terry, from Virginia, who settled on Section 16, and became the first Justice of the Peace. He enjoyed the distinction of having per- formed the first marriage ceremony in the township, the con- tracting parties being a Mr. Gay and a Miss Cope, whose wish for a legal union was sufficiently strong to induce them to ride a long distance on a single horse. Those early marriages often presented romantic features wholly lacking in the fash- -ionable weddings of these days of purer refinement and higher civilization. To illustrate: One of the marriages solemnized by 'Squire Terry was that of a couple who stood on one bank of the Spoon River, while he pronounced the fateful words on the other, the stream being too swollen to permit either party to cross to the opposite bank. Mr. Terry afterward engaged in trade, and amassed what in those days was regarded as an in- dependent fortune.
In 1836, Robert Leigh and Archibald Long came from Ohio and settled on Section 33, where Mr. Leigh remained until his death. Soon after his arrival he commenced raising hemp, and, there being no market for the raw product, he con- structed a factory of a rude description, where he manufac- tured his own and his neighbors' hemp crops into rope. For a time the industry proved very profitable, and he, too, amassed a comfortable fortune. Mr. Long, soon after settling on Sec- tion 33, removed to Section 19, where, in 1842, he platted the village of Hermon.
He was a local Methodist preacher, and soon after his arrival at his new home he organized a Methodist class, which met regularly at his house for many years. The last of this devoted band was Mrs. Sally Shafer.
Among the early settlers should be also mentioned O. P. Barton. He was famous in those times as a pedestrian, and gave repeated evidence of his prowess and power of endurance in this description of exercise. Once, starting on foot at the same time with several horsemen for the land office at Quincy, one hundred miles distant, he out-stripped them all, securing the prize offered to the winner of the race which consisted of
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forty acres of government land in Section 17. Another pioneer was Harmon Way, who was famous as a marksman and hunter.
The first house was built of logs by Mr. Dolph on Section 17, in 1833. The first brick house was that of Robert Leigh, erected about 1845. The first road was the old State road, from Peoria to Oquawka, which ran diagonally through the township from southeast to northwest. Its course, however, has been since changed, so that it now follows section lines. The first bridge was built about 1846, at the point where the old road crosses Spoon River. It was a very cumbersome, wooden affair, which was carried away and demolished by a flood in 1855.
The first birth was a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Shaver, in 1835. The first death was that of Jacob Hartford, in 1836.
The first graveyard was on Section 33, and was estab- lished by Robert Leigh, soon after he settled on the section. It is not now used as a burial spot, though the few graves there are well cared for by his son Benjamin, who is a prominent citizen of the township. Two other cemeteries have been laid out, as follows : One on Section 19, near the Methodist Church, by Archibald Long, which has been several times enlarged, the other in1863, by the trustees of the Christian church, near their house of worship on Section 18.
The first school house, after the fashion of those early days, was built of logs, and was exceedingly rude as regarded both its exterior and interior. It was put up in 1836, and some years afterward was replaced by a frame building which, after undergoing many alterations, is still used as the school house of District No. 3. Two years later (1838) the second school house, likewise of logs, was built on Section 28. It disappeared long ago, and the site is now occupied by the Church of the United Brethren. The first school teacher to exercise his voca- tion was Mr. Haskins, who taught in what is now District No. 3. At present, 1899, the township has eight schools, none of them graded, occupying buildings valued at six thousand, five hundred dollars. The aggregate attendance is two hundred and forty-three, out of a total population of three hundred and eighty-six minors.
The first mill was built by Mr. Howard on Haw Creek about 1845. It was designed both for sawing lumber and grinding corn, but was used only a few years and has long since been only a memory. There was also a saw mill on Lit- ler's Creek, on Section 25, about the same time, which has shared the same fate. Early in the forties, Mr. Parker manu- factured brick on Section 23, for several years.
The first store was kept by John Terry on Section 16, and
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its stock was very limited. A Mr. Moor early established an- other on Section 15, but it proved unsuccessful and he soon abandoned the enterprise.
One of the earliest taverns was kept by Jonathan Potts, on Section 22, on the old State road. The first physician was Dr. Porter, who came in 1838 and remained but a short time. He was succeeded Dr. Morris, and he, in turn, by Dr. Wilson.
The first settlers of the township were compelled to de- pend on Troy, in Fulton County, and on Knoxville, then the county seat, for postal facilities, but in 1848 a post office was established at Hermon, the mail being brought from Knox- ville once a week. The first postmaster was a Mr. Massie.
The township was organized at a meeting held in 1857, by the choice of the following officials: Samuel Collins, Super- visor ; John Terry and David Massie, Justices of the Peace ; Mr. McCoy, Clerk; William Graves and Freeman West, Constables ; Robert Benson, Collector ; and Owen Betterton, Assessor.
Justices of the Peace since the first elected have been Owen Betterton, Hiram Culver, Walter Bond, Samuel Jamison, Henry Bond, George Haver, Marion Dyer, T. J. Routh, Clay- ton Trumbeel, J. W. Ogden and John E. Davis and Lee Lucas, the present dispensers of justice, (1899), for the township.
There is but one village in Chestnut, originally called Harrisonville, but now known as Hermon. A village was laid out in Section 23, in 1852, by Andrew J. Parker. It was situ- ated on the right bank of the Spoon, near where the present bridge crosses that stream. It never grew, and the plat was vacated by the legislature in 1869.
The Christian Church in the township was organized in 1854, by Revs. John Miller and Gaston. The Church of the United Brethren was organized in 1859, and the denomination has a well-built edifice, on Section 28.
The Methodist church was first organized by Archibald Long, an early settler and local preacher. Through his efforts a modist church building was erected in 1842. The Baptist Society was organized early in the forties by Elders A. Gogorth and C. Humphrey.
The township furnished its quotas to the Civil War and to the wars since then. It's citizens have had a conspicuous part in the affairs of the county.
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COPLEY TOWNSHIP From Sketches by J. W. Temple
The surface of Copley Township, so named from a prom- inent family of that name at one time residing in it, consists chiefly of fertile prairie land, just sufficiently rolling to ensure good drainage, though in its southern part there is some broken ground, probably one-fourth of its area having been originally timber land.
The first settler in the township was a Mr. Berry, who, in 1836, located near the present village of Victoria, which lies partly in this and partly in Victoria Township. Mathew Her- bert and Larkin Robinson followed, the next year. In 1839, the first members of what soon became a thrifty Scotch colony began to settle on some of the best lands; and the descendants of these sons of "Auld Scotia" are now men of wealth and high moral standing in the community. The Gordons, Cooks, Mc- Cornacks, Taits, McKies, Leightons, McClymonts, McMasters, McDowells, Stevensons, Milroys, McQuarries and others, with their numerous and thrifty progeny, were among the most prominent citizens of the township. Later, its rich lands have attracted a large number of Swedes, whose thrift, industry and probity have made of these first immigrants wealthy farmers and landholders. Their descendants, by intermarrying with the native population, are fast becoming homogeneous, as they are a patriotic body of American citizens, while their success is due to brain no less than to brawn.
When the first settlers arrived, a small tribe of Indians still inhabitated a grove, now known as Foreman Grove, near the northern limits of the present township.
The first child born in Copley was a son of Mathew Her- bert, in 1836. The first death was that of Harriet Foster, in 1842. Rev. Charles Bostwick and Mrs. Hurr were the first couple to be married, and Rev. Mr. Bostwick preached the first sermon in 1840, in a log school house.
The first school was taught by Miss Mary J. Smith, after- wards Mrs. John Becker, in a log cabin, one and one-half miles northwest of Victoria.
There are few townships where the value of an education is more genuinely appreciated than here, the result being shown in the exceptional intelligence and culture of its citizens.
The first saw mill, that of Jeremiah Collinson, operated by horse power, was put up in 1850. Mr. Berry was the builder of the first frame structure, on Section 9, in 1840. Now some
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of the finest residences in the county are to be found on its prairie farms.
Copley Township has lacked railroads, and by reason of that want has no large towns. In 1894, however, to reach the extensive coal fields of this and Victoria townships, a railroad was built from Wataga, on the line of the Burlington and Quincy Railroad, running through nearly the center of the township, to a mining village called Etherly, located on the eastern boundary of Copley. This village was laid out on the southeastern quarter of Section 35, on August 10, 1894, by Samuel Charles. Owing to legal complications, which pre- vented for a time the operating of the road, the village is yet, (1899), without many inhabitants. It is believed, however, that, under altered conditions, a thriving mining town will soon be built up to develop the rick, unworked coal deposits which underlie nearly all the southern part of Copley. This railroad has been since extended into the village of Victoria, which, with its natural advantages of situation, has heretofore only lacked railroad facilities to become one of the most pros- perous villages in the county.
The first town officers elected in 1853, were: J. O. Stan- ley, Supervisor; N. Kelsey, Clerk; J. M. Perkins, Assessor; Austin Gaines, Collector ; Isaac Copley and A. W. Buckley, Jus- tices; A. A. Smith, S. McCornack and J. Sirie, Commissioners of Highways, and J. Collinson, Overseer of the Poor.
Its population in 1860 was one thousand and ten; in 1870 it was twelve hundred and nineteen; in 1880 it had fallen ot one thousand and seventy-six and in 1890 was nine hundred and ten.
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HISTORY OF ELBA TOWNSHIP By Miss Elsie D. North
The Illinois Indians were no doubt the first inhabitants of Elba Township, but were gradually driven further South by the Kickapoos. These were industrious, intelligent and cleanly in comparison with most of their kind, and made this town- ship only their temporary home, on the way to and from other hunting grounds. So the white men never had to dispute pos- session of this land with the Indians, nor were they ever molested by the Red Men, so far as history shows.
The first white man to locate in the township was John King, of Ohio, who, in 1835, came and took up 80 acres on Sec- tion 2, then returned to Ohio to bring out his family. The next Spring he again started West, leaving his family to follow later, but arriving at Peoria, he was taken sick and died before reaching Knox County. As soon as they could leave their old home, but which was not until 1837, his widow and nine children, the youngest less than 2 years old, made the long westward journey in wagons drawn by oxen, stopping with her brother in Peoria County until their new home could be built.
Very soon thereafter came Darius Miller and his brother; then Felix Thurman settled on Section 34, L. A. Jones on Sec- tion 15, Jacob Kightlinger on Section 27 and James H. Nichol- son on Section 25. Josiah Nelson, John Thurman, John and William West, Vachel Metcalf, J. H. and W. H. Baird and Samuel Tucker were also early settlers.
The first marriage was Moses Smith to Tabitha George in 1840, by Jacob Kightlinger, the first Justice of the Peace, whose Commission was dated August, 1839. The first birth was Tabitha Smith, on Section 35.
The first house in the township was the one built by Thomas King for his widowed mother and sisters and brothers. It was on the north side of Section 2, on the Knoxville and Peoria stage road, and was a one room log building, with a loft above.
The population increased steadily as the township was built up, many of the early settlers having large families-the majority of these were from Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, while several came from England.
The first school house in the township was built by Jacob Kightlinger in 1842, on Section 27, but before this Mr. Kight- linger had employed a private governess, named Antoinette Walker, to teach his children, eleven in number. Vachel Met- calf had also taught school in a private house, in 1840. As the
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township became more settled, other school houses were built until now there are eight in the township, all being substantial frame buildings of one room each.
The early settlers did not meet with such hardships as were endured by many pioneers. Their homes were usually in or near the timber, which furnished material for their build- ings as well as fuel and shelter for their live stock until they could build barns and sheds. There was plenty of game and fish for food and good grazing for stock out on the prairie. Only the cultivated land was fenced and cattle, horses and hogs roamed at will over the prairies, and as they often failed to come home at night, much time was spent hunting for them. Money was not plentiful and prices were very low, corn selling for 20 cents per bushel ; potatoes, 1834 cents per bushel ; pork, 2 cents per lb .; lard, 4 cents per lb .; butter, 6 cents per lb ; flour, $4.50 per barrel; wheat, 60 cents per bushel; oats, 30 cents per bushel, etc., but the wants of these people were not many and were easily satisfied.
Travel at first was mostly on foot, on horseback or in wagons drawn by oxen or horses, while the fortunate owners of the first buggies and carriages were frequently called on to loan them to their poorer or less provident neighbors. Dur- ing busy seasons, while horses were working in the fields, some thrifty housewives would occasionally take a basket of eggs and butter on either arm and walk three or four miles to mar- ket, bringing home groceries in exchange for their produce. At the present time travel is mostly by buggy and automobile, very few farmers feeling themselves too poor to afford the latter.
In the early days Farmington in Fulton County, Charles- ton (now Brimfield) in Peoria County, and Knoxville were the nearest trading points. Later there were stores at Newburg in Peoria County and Glenwood in Salem township. There was a store at Eugene in Elba township. When Elmwood and Yates City were started they secured most of the trade of this township, which they now share with Williamsfield and Doug- las. Also the early settlers hauled much of their wheat to Peoria, and it was not uncommon to haul a load to Chicago, bringing back lumber or something not obtainable at nearby towns.
The first store in the township was at Eugene, on Section 2. It was a general store kept by E. A. Ellsworth, in a small building near his residence, and was started prior to 1850. There was also a Post Office here, the mail being brought by stage from Knoxville and Peoria. Later, (in 1860), Miss Mary King moved both store and Post Office to her home, just east of her brother, James King's house; sometime after
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