USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume I > Part 80
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SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS
According to Brink's history, among the early settlers of the township were the follow- ing : "Abram Carlock, John Hoxsey and John Herrington, 1817; Samuel W. Voyles, David Hendershott, James Street, James S. Breath, 1818; James Keown, Thomas Kimmett, Sam- uel McKittrick, Wiley Smart, 1819; Isham Vincent, 1820; Thomas Keown, W. H. Keown, 1824; John and Andrew Keown, Thomas Por- ter Keown, 1825; Tobias Reeves, Joel H. Olive, 1828; Robert Keown, Joel Ricks, 1829; John A. Wall, 1830; Robert Y. Voyles, 1831 ; Jarrett Cudd, 1832; Abel Olive, 1833; James Olive, John Coleson, 1834; Rev. Peter Long and Elisha Sackett were other early settlers."
William Jones, James Street and Thos. Ray were pioneer preachers in the township. The first school, in section 34, was taught by Matilda Thompson. The first cemetery was located on the William Olive place in section 34, and the first interment was that of Geo. W. Olive, son of Abel Olive. A church of the Christian denomination was erected in sec- tion 34 in 1862 and a Lutheran church in section 18 in 1870. There are at present three churches in the township, Lutheran, German Evangelical and Methodist. A glance at a late map of the township shows the dis- appearance of the names of many of the old families as the original land owners and the substitution of other names mainly those of Germans. Prior to the adoption of township organization in 1876 the east part of the pres- ent township was known as Silver Creek precinct and the west part as Worden. These were political divisions. With the adoption of township organization the name given to the congressional township was Olive, in com- pliment to the old and honored family of that name. The first supervisor was James Olive who held office from 1876 to 1882. He was chairman of the county board in 1881-2. He was succeeded on the board by James Mc- Kittrick. The present supervisor is A. E. Kroeger; Harry Gilbert is clerk. Olive has sent at least two of her citizens to the state legislature, Lewis Ricks in 1856-8 and Wil- liam McKittrick in 1898.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Olive has increased rapidly in population since the inauguration of the mining industry. In 1890 the population was 697; in 1900, 773 ; in 1910, 2,627, and is now in 1912 not less than 3,000. Three-fourths of it is grouped in the villages of Livingston and Williamson. The transportation facilities of the township are good. The Wabash and Litchfield & Madison railroads pass through the north- west corner of the township, and the "Big Four Cut Off" and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroads, on joint tracks, through the central part .* The topography of the town- ship is that of a level plain, broken by oc- casional patches of timber skirting the banks of Silver Creek and its affluents.
MINING DEVELOPMENT
The mining development of Olive, on an extended scale, began with the completion, in 1903, of the "Big Four Cut Off" extending from Mitchell northeast through Madison county. The line is jointly operated by the C. C. C. & St. L. and the C. & E. I. A shaft was sunk in section 16, on the land of the John Livingston estate by the New Staunton Coal Company in 1904, and a railroad sta- tion established near by, and christened Liv- ingston. The company struck a six foot vein of coal at a depth of 270 feet. Mining oper- ations began with a complete modern equip- ment for digging and hoisting the coal, and under wise supervision developed into the largest coal-producing mine in the county. The manager is J. E. Rutledge with T. G. Hebenstreit as superintendent; Chas. Gilbert, secretary ; C. E. House, purchasing agent. The average capacity is 3,600 tons daily, or 90 carloads. It has a hoisting record of 4,395 tons in eight hours, the highest record in the county and next to the highest in the state. The mine employs 650 men. Its output in I910 was 613,962 tons, valued at $582,432.
* The Illinois Central passes through the east part of township and crosses the Big Four at Binney.
The DeCamp Coal & Mining Company, some two miles west of Livingston mined 163,795 tons in 1910, valued at $188,364. It then employed 366 hands.
The Mt. Olive and Staunton Coal Com- pany Mine No. I, located on the L. & M., mined 282,715 tons in 1910 valued at $258,226. It employed 299 hands.
The Mt. Olive and Staunton Company, mine No. 2, at Williamson, on a spur of the Litchfield & Madison, has a daily capacity of 2,750 tons and employs 550 hands. Thos J. Brewster, manager; John Westwood, Sr. superintendent. Its output in 1910 was 548,- ' 220 tons, valued at $507,826. This is an an- nual coal product for the township of 1,608,692 tons, valued at $1,536,848. This is one half the total coal product of the county.
LIVINGSTON
As soon as the station was established and the mine opened a settlement sprang up. The first five houses were built in 1904, two of which are still standing, the others having been burned. A town was laid out on sec- tion 15 and 16, by the heirs of John Livings- ton on the lands bequeathed them by their father. It was incorporated as a village in 1905. The first president of the village board was David G. Livingston, son of John Liv- .ingston, who served from 1805 to 1911. The present village government is constituted as follows: Joseph Healey, president; John M. Arkabauer, clerk; Joseph Hebenstreit, treas- urer. Board members : Harry Gilbert, Thomas McCallister, Joseph C. Spencer, Ernst Zamboni, George Kreuter and Mat Bertulis.
A schoolhouse was erected in 1907 and enlarged in 1912. It now contains six rooms. The board of education elected in 1912 con- sists of Thos. McAllister, president; John M. Arkebauer, clerk; E. A. Hill, D. E. Aylward, W. S. Horton, B. Finer, Joseph Hebenstreit.
The population of Livingston, in 1910,
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
when the village was five years old, was 1,092. It is now over 1,200. It is provided with concrete sidewalks on all the principal ave- nues and one walk extending to the coal shaft in Williamson is two miles long in a straight line. The Bank of Livingston occupies a neat two story brick building. It was estab- lished September 15, 1911, by D. E. Aylward & Company, P. J. Aylward is president; D. E. Aylward, cashier; J. V. Mullen, assistant cashier. Capital stock $10,000, responsibility $40,000.
Livingston has one church, of the Methodist denomination, erected in the fall of 1911. It is near the line of Williamson village and sup- plies the spiritual wants of both communities. Livingston has thirteen saloons and the usual complement of stores. The population is largely foreign. The village has many invit- ing little homes and a good hotel. The rail- road depot and grounds are much more at- tractive than the usual run of country rail- way stations.
D. G. Livingston, the leading man of the village and for whom it was named, president of the board of trustees for six years, is also postmaster. His brother, Robert Liv- ingston occupies the same Federal position at New Douglas. Their father, the late John Livingston, was born in Ireland December 25, 1830, and came to this county with his mother in 1846. He at first supported him- self by working as a day laborer. He was upright and industrious, saved his money, and in 1861 was able to buy a fine farm in sec- tions 15 and 16, and was eventually the owner of 300 acres of highly improved land. He was married in 1857 to Mary A. J. Brown. He and his wife were members of the Staun- ton Presbyterian church. Mr. Livingston was a Republican in politics and filled various
local offices with credit. He left a large fam- ily all of whom reflect the virtues of their parents and are filling honorable positions in life. Three of the daughters are, or have been, school teachers.
WILLIAMSON
The village of Williamson lies immediately north of Livingston in sections 9 and 10. It was laid out by the Mt. Olive and Staunton Coal Company on land purchased from Henry Liche. The village is entirely dependent on the coal industry. Mine No. 2 of the com- pany is located here and ranks next to the Livingston mine in tons hoisted and hence is second in the county. The great proportion of dwellings in the village are owned by the coal company and are characterized by sim- plicity of architectural design and finish. The majority of miners in these villages are Slavs or Italians. The village has a neat school house. Morgan E. Reece, who recently took the school census, found 350 children of school age. He says the children of the foreigners are bright and eager to learn, and their parents anxious to have them in school. Williamson takes its name from the family of John and Mathew Williamson whose farm land is included in the village site. The vil- lage was incorporated in 1907. The first board of trustees consisted of John Commit, president; J. Crassen, M. Krupp, George Dyzorus, R. T. McAllister, Joseph Farrimond and H. Gray.
The present village board is constituted as follows: Joseph Farrimond, Jr., president ; John Westwood, Sr., George Dyzours, Sr., Wm. Herbert, Sr., Joseph Runner and Edgar Neal. Joseph Farrimond, Sr., is treasurer ; John Westwood. Jr., clerk; J. E. Dixon, police magistrate.
CHAPTER LXXI
OMPH-GHENT TOWNSHIP
FIRST EVENTS AND SETTLERS-WORDEN VILLAGE-COAL MINING INTERESTS-PRAIRIE CITY- GENERAL TOWNSHIP MATTERS.
Omph-Ghent is one of the north tier of townships in Madison county. Geographic- ally it is township 6, range 7, bounded on the north by Macoupin county, east by Olive, south by Hamel and west by Moro. The sur- face is an undulating prairie with timber along the streams. It is watered by Cahokia and Swett creeks. It. is named for a church that stood near the home of David Swett, the first permanent settler, who located there in 1820 and built the first cabin. Among other pioneers were Samuel Walker, Sanford Dove, Captain Samuel Jackson, Robert and James Rosby.
FIRST EVENTS AND SETTLERS
The first death in the township was that of the wife of a squatter. The next that of the wife of Samuel Walker. The first birth was that of Mary Swett, daughter of David Swett, The first marriage that between James Best and Mary Tatum. The first church was built on the west side of the township in 1848. The first minister was Charles Howard. The first school is said to date back to 1825. David Swett was the first justice of the peace. He came to Edwardsville in 1817 and in 1820 lo- cated on a quarter section in Omph-Ghent, Matias Handlon entering eighty acres on the same date. Swett married a niece of Thos. Tindall who came to Madison county from North Carolina in 1817. Other early settlers .
prior to 1830, were Charles Tindall, Ezekiel Davis and Samuel H. Denton. Denton's widow lived to be the oldest of the early set- tlers in the township. Parham Wall, Wil- liam Hill, Benjamin Bond, Stephen Wilcox, Geo. W. Beaird, Robert Page, also came prior to 1830. Thos. Grant, Sr., came in 1831. His son Thomas, Jr., married a daughter of Colonel Samuel Judy. She was born in the county in 1809. Captain Samuel Jackson lo- cated on section 14 at an early date. Edward Butler and Darius Spruwell came in 1833. William Kell came to the county in 1829 and entered 320 acres near where Worden now stands. One of the main avenues of Worden is named after him. Robert Roseberry came in 1836 and Richard Sandbach from England in 1839. Fred. Handshey was the first Ger- man settler, coming in 1833. Other early German settlers were Adam Hohe, Frank Peters, C. and J. Kuhlenberg, Fred Klein, H. Weisman, Rev. L. Blume, F. and H. Durst- man, J. C. Schæfer, Fred. Hildebrand, Fred. Leseman and H. C. Nobbe.
Jonathan McManus built a saw and grist mill on the creek west of Worden at an early day and ran it for some years in connection with a blacksmith shop. In 1879 a destruc- tive cyclone swept through Omph-Ghent township. Houses and barns were blown down and scattered, forest trees uprooted and orchards wiped off the earth. Edward Mc-
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Donald was killed on his farm during the storm. The first Sunday school was held in the barn of David Swett by Joseph Gordon in 1833. Mr. Gordon became known later as a prominent Presbyterian minister. He also taught the first Sunday school on Liberty Prairie, the third established in the county.
While nearly all of the early settlers reared large families few of their descendants re- main in the county. They have died off or
Wall, who was the son-in-law of Mr. Rose- berry. In 1860 Mr. Wall laid out a town in section 35 and called it New Hampton. He established a store there. In 1854 John C. Worden, an Englishman, came to the county and engaged in business. In 1867 he pur- chased the store of Mr. Wall and his real estate holdings, and then laid out an addition north of the New Hampton plat. In 1870 the Decatur and East St. Louis railroad later
WORDEN SCHOOL HOUSE
moved away and their places have been taken by Germans.
WORDEN VILLAGE
The village of Worden is the commercial center of Omph-Ghent township. The story of its rise is told briefly below. John Lamb, a native of Tennessee, settled in section 25 at an early day. Some of his descendants still reside in the township. A saw mill was built southwest of Lamb's improvement and a post office established called Lamb's Point. During the Civil war it was a recruiting sta- tion for the Union army. William Burley was the first postmaster at Lamb's Point and was succeeded by David Burley. In 1857 the office was moved to the home of Hampton
the Wabash was built through the place and the name Worden was given the station in recognition of Mr. Worden's activity in fur- thering the interests of the company. He was a man of enterprise and ability. He was railroad agent, postmaster, deputy sheriff, by turns, and held other positions of trust. His wife was a daughter of G. S. Weaver. Some of their children still survive. The old home- stead is occupied by Edward Sandbach, an opulent resident, who married a daughter of Mr. Worden.
COAL MINING INTERESTS
The opening of a coal shaft by the Wor- den Mining Company in 1876 was the begin- ning of the town's material prosperity and has
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
aided materially in developing it from a cross- roads settlement to a village of some 1,200 inhabitants. The country about is underlaid with a vein of coal some six to eight feet thick. The mining interests are now con- trolled by two great companies, the Kerens- Donnawald Company and the DeCamp Com- pany. The village has an elevator owned by Keiser Brothers, a creamery and other in- dustries, also the usual number of mercantile houses for a place of its size. Worden has several miles of graniteoid sidewalks and its streets are well-improved thoroughfares. While the village is largely dependent on its mining interests it enjoys a flourishing trade with the fertile country roundabout. It has a handsome two-story city hall, built of brick, which is an ornament to the place. On the first floor is located the private bank of Wall & Company, established in 1902. The pres- ident is William P. Wall, son of Hampton Wall who laid out New Hampton. The cashier is J. T. McGaughey, a genial and pop- ular gentleman, a descendant of one of the leading old families. Another successful financial institution which is doing much to advance the prosperity of the town, is the Worden B. and L. Association, of which Louis Dornseif is president; Wm. Schliepsich, vice president ; and Edward Pearce, secretary. The present postmaster, who is an efficient official, is Mr. M. E. Berry. Joseph Lamb, son of John Lamb, now eighty years old, has lived in the township seventy-seven years. The first physician to locate in Worden was Dr. H. R. Dorr. He was succeeded in prac- tice by his son who has just completed an unique and handsome residence. The educa- tional interests of Worden are well-provided for. It has a large two-story school house surrounded by pleasant grounds. This is a reminder that the first school treasurer of the district was Hampton Wall, a gentleman prominent in the business life of Madison and
Macoupin counties for a generation. There are four churches in Worden, Baptist, Luth- eran, Methodist and Christian. The Baptist church building is the oldest. It was built about 1850 and stood originally in the ceme- tery, a half mile north of town. It was later moved into the village to its present site, a case of the church coming to the people in- stead of the reverse.
Worden has good transportation facilities furnished by the Wabash and the Litchfield & Madison railroads. The Big Four passes east of town but has no station. Worden is also an important point on the Illinois Trac- tion line which furnishes it direct connection with the county seat.
The administration of civic affairs in Wor- den is in the hands of a village board of which C. W. Piper is president. The trus- tees, in addition, are A. Z. Rice, W. H. Sharp, Edward Pearce, Jesse Spurgeon, Charles Schuette and F. W. Quade. Other officers are J. T. McGaughey, treasurer ; H. H. Em- erich, clerk; Thos. Williamson, attorney.
Hon. Henry Picker, a leading German busi- ness man of Worden was a member of the legislature 1890-1892.
The population of the village in 1890 was 522; in 1900, 544; in 1910, 1,082.
PRAIRIE CITY
Prairie City is a pleasant settlement in sec- tion 18, on the line of Moro township, and at the crossing of two main county roads. The first settler was Maurice Hartnett. It was platted in 1858 by L. L. Dorsey. A Luth- eran church was built in 1863 followed by a more pretentious one in 1874, costing $11,000. The village has a beautiful location, a good country trade, and is surrounded by fertile farms tilled by an industrious and progressive people.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
GENERAL TOWNSHIP MATTERS
Omph-Ghent is almost entirely an agricul- tural township save for its mining interests. It has many fine farms and attractive suburban homesteads evolved from the wilderness. It has, in addition to the churches named, Mt. Zion Methodist church, South. The township is represented on the county board by super- visor William Zerges. The first supervisor
was James Kell, 1876-8. He was succeeded by W. F. Kell. James Kell was the son of William Kell who came to Madison county from North Carolina in 1829.
The population of Omph-Ghent in 1890 was 1,472 ; in 1900, 1,499; in 1910, 2,062. The gain in the last decade was almost entirely in Worden village.
Vol. I-3S
CHAPTER LXXII
PIN OAK TOWNSHIP.
PIONEER CITIZENS-NOTABLE SETTLEMENT OF FREED SLAVES-GENERAL ITEMS.
Pin Oak township, taking its name from a grove of Pin Oaks in section sixteen, a former militia training ground, comprises all of con- gressional township T. 4, R. 7. It is bounded on the north by Hamel, east by Marine, south by Jarvis and west by Edwardsville. Al- though one of the earliest settled townships in the county, and near the city of Edwardsville, it is the least populous. In 1890 it had a popu- lation of 1,119; in 1900, 1,026; in 1910, 933. Its surface is an undulating plain dotted with groves of timber. In early days about half the land was timbered and all would have been but for the frequent prairie fires. With the in- crease of settlers, and the consequent checking of the fires, new groves of timber sprang up and flourished. The township is watered by Silver creek and its branches. It is strictly an agricultural township covered with fertile farms and with little waste land. It is a beau- tiful country to look upon in summer with its broad acres of waving grain shimmering in the sunshine. It is adapted to all the staple crops and to stock raising, dairying being an important industry. The main county roads from Edwardsville to Highland and Marine pass through Pin Oak.
PIONEER CITIZENS
Joseph Bartlett and pioneers Lockhart and Taylor were the reputed first settlers in the township. They came in 1808 and began im- provements in 1809. Descendants of Joseph
Bartlett still reside in the township. Thomas Barnett, who came to the county in 1815, set- tled in section 5. Two of his grandsons, Ed- ward Barnett, a prosperous lumber dealer of Edwardsville, and J. A. Barnett, the genial circuit clerk, are among the most popular resi- dents of the county. Col. Thos. Judy was an early settler in section 4. Sylvanus Gaskill was a pioneer, and the first sermon in the township is said to have been delivered at his house by Rev. Knowland, in 1808. The first school was taught the same year by Mr. At- water in a log cabin on a farm later owned by Jubilee Posey. Joseph Bartlett became a prominent citizen and was the first assessor and treasurer of the county. He served in the war of 1812 and also in the Black Hawk war. Service in these two wars, however, was general among the pioneers. They had to de- fend their new homes or lose them. Paul Beck located on section 5 prior to 1812 and built a block house and established a horse mill. This improvement was later purchased by George Coventry, an Englishman, who came from Kentucky in 1813. This place and other lands adjacent were subsequently purchased by Gov. Edward Coles. The site of an old block house is now occupied by a flourishing apple orchard. Gov. Coles retained this prop- erty during his lifetime. He died in 1868 and willed it to his daughter, Miss Mary Coles of Philadelphia, who still survives. In 1870 she sent an agent to the county, in the person of
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former Mayor Prince, of Boston, who, on her authority, sold the lands to Wheeler & Prickett of Edwardsville. They, in turn, disposed of the lands to others. The eighty acre tract in section 4 on which Gov. Coles had improved was purchased by K. T. Barnett. The eighty acre tract south of the main road is now owned by Mrs. Mary Miller and the north tract in section 4, by MI. M. Buchta. Another tract of the governor's land, in section 5 was also pur- chased by K. T. Barnett, father of Edward and uncle of J. A. Barnett of Edwardsville. A second tract in section 5, understood to have been once the property of the Governor, is owned by R. Buckley. The tract in section 4 purchased by Mr. Barnett was subsequently sold by him to F. W. Tunnell. Gov. Coles in his autobiography says that his buildings and improvements, including a young orchard, were destroyed by prairie fire shortly before his re- moval to Philadelphia in 1833, but, in the mem- ory of persons still living, a gigantic apple tree stood in the yard surrounding the present tenant house on the premises and was probably one that survived the fire spoken of by the Governor. An old well, doubtless sunk by Gov. Coles' direction, was also near the pres- ent tenant house. In later years it became choked up by the sides caving in, and a new well was dug fifteen feet distant, and the earth taken therefrom was used in filling up the old well.
Jubilee Posey, a native of Georgia, came to the county in 1811, when a youth, and became a prominent citizen. He lived to an advanced age. Other early citizens who came in terri- torial days or soon after, were George Hutton, Laban Smart, James Tunnell. James Pearce, Alvis Hauskins, John Minter, Jacob Gonter- man. Matthias and George Handlon, Samuel McKittrick, Edmund Fruit, Robert McKee, James Keown, Thos. J. Barnsback, Col. Thos. Judy and others. Reference to many members of these old families will be found in the bio- graphical volume of this work.
NOTABLE SETTLEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
In a certain aspect Pin Oak is one of the most interesting townships in the State as the scene of a historical incident. It will be re- membered that in 1819 Edward Coles of Vir- ginia, having freed his slaves, brought them to Madison county and settled them on lands he purchased in Pin Oak township, from three to four miles from Edwardsville. He gave each adult male a quarter section. The colony of freed slaves thus established prospered and, as time passed on, other colored settlers joined them and the original holdings were subdi- vided. The settlement at one time numbered about 300, but subsequently diminished, a num- ber of families moving to Montgomery county. The settlement is in the centre of the town- ship, mainly in sections 14, 15 and 16. Two main county roads run through it and it is bisected by Silver creek. Among the early settlers were Robert Crawford, Michael Lee, Samuel Vanderberg, Henry Daugherty and Thos. Sexton.
There were several preachers among the col- ored people in different decades. They sup- ported two churches, Baptist and Methodist. The original colony was a success in establish- ing the ability of the emancipated slaves to sup- port themselves when afforded the opportunity and vindicated the judgment as well as the philanthropy of Gov. Coles. One. of the churches referred to seems to have died out as Supervisor Fred Tegtmeyer informs the writer that there is now but one church in the town- ship, the colored Baptist.
The most notable colored man in the town- ship, but not connected with the original col- ony, was Henry Blair. He was born a slave in Tennessee in 1816. After his master's death he was set free by his mistress and made his way to the fertile land of Illinois. He engaged in farming in Pin Oak township. By industry, perseverance and native intelligence he made rapid progress in securing a competence, and
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