USA > Illinois > Shelby County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Moultrie County > Combined history of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois : with illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 10
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berry
Tecoma Radicans, trumpet creeper
Tilia Americana, basswood
Ulmus Fulva, red elm
U. Americana, white elm
U. Racemosus, cork elm, hickory elm
Vibernum Prunifolium, black haw, arrow wood
V. Lentago, black haw
Vitis Aestivalis, summer grape
V. Cordifolia, frost grape
Zanthoxylum Americanum, prickly ash
Lindlira Benzoin, spice bush Rubus Strigosus, red raspberry
Occidentalis, black raspberry
Villosus, blackberry Robinia Pseudocacia, black locust
Our article will particularly treat of the more valuable woods used in the mechanic arts, and the grasses, plants, vegetables, and flowers most beneficial to man, and particularly those which are natives of these counties. The plants are many and rare, some for beauty and some for medicine. The pinkroot, the columbo, the ginseng, the boneset, pennyroyal, and others are used as herbs for medicine. Plants of beauty are phlox, the lily, the asclepias, the mints, golden rod, the cyebright, gerardia, and hundreds more which adorn the meadows and brook-sides ; besides are climbing vines, the trumpet creeper, the bitter sweet, the woodbine, the clematis and the grape, which fill the woods with gay festoons, and add grace to many a decayed monarch of the forest. Here are found the oak, with at least its twenty varieties ; the hickory, with as many more species ; the thirty kinds of elm, from the sort which bear leaves as large as a man's hand, to the kind which bear a leaf scarcely larger than a man's thumb-nail; the black walnut, so tall and straight and beautiful is nearly gone ; the hackberry, gum tree, black and sweet, the tulip, the giant cotton- woods, aud hundreds more attest the fertility of the soil and mildness of the climate. The White Oak is much used in making furniture and agricultural implements, as are also the Panel Oak, Burr Oak, and Pin Oak. The Blue Ash is excellent for flooring. The Honey Locust is a very durable wood, and shrinks less than any other in seasoning.
In the above list we have given the scientific as well as the English names, believing such a course best to pursue in the study of plants, and more beneficial to the student or general reader.
There may be some plants omitted, yet we think the list quite complete.
GRASSES.
In speaking of these we purposely exclude the grain plants, those grasses which furnish food for man, and confine ourselves to those valuable grasses which are adapted to the sustenance of the inferior animals.
Timothy grass or cat's tail, natural- ized
Agrastus vulgaris, red top or herbs grass
Muhlenbergia diffusa, nimble will Calamagrastis Canadensis, blue joint,
this is a native and grew upon prairies to the height of a man's head on horseback.
Dactylis glomerata, orchard grass Poa Pretensis, Kentucky blue grass Poa Compressa, true blue grass
Festuca Elator, meadow fescue
Bromus Leculinus, cheat chess, foreign
Phragmites Communis, the reed Arundinaria Macrosperma, or cane
Solium Perenne, perennial ray grass Anthoxanthum Odoratum, sweet- scented vernal grass
Phalaris Arundinacea, reed canary grass
P. Canadensis. canary grass Paspalum Setaceum,
Panicum Sanguinale, crab-gras:
Panicum Glabrum, smooth panicum
Panicum Capillare, Witch grass
Panicum Crus galli barn-yard grass Setaria Glauca, foxtail
Setaria Viridis, bottle grass
Setaria Italica, millet
Andropogon Scoparius, broom-beard grass
CHAPTER VII.
PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE
COUNTIES.
HE old pioneers are fast sinking to rest after the toils and privations of the border, whither they came, buoyed up with hope and nerved with vigor, to build for themselves and their loved ones homes amid this beautiful scenery, while yet the whoop of the Indian and the howl of the wolf resounded on every side, and war's alarms came not infrequently, with imperious demands for blood and treasure. Here and there a white-haired veteran, bowed with the weight of years and the unremitting toil of pioneer life, remains an interesting relic of fast-fading times. Before all of these old, hardy pioneers, whose impress was the germ of the present, and whose endowment was lofty examples of courage and unabated energy, and who have durably stamped their characteristics upon worthy successors-be- fore these have passed away, we seek to place upon the historic page the record of whom they were, and what they did to make their country what it is. The ties of home have, cre now, thrown around sterile coasts, frozen plains, and mountain cliffs the halo of the love of a patriotic people.
Is it surprising then that the undulating, flowery prairies and open vistas of park-like lawns, which, for extent and natural beauty, far excel the baronial manors of Europeau aristocracy, and watercd with running streams and quiet lakes-which beautiful landscape is embraced within the limits of these counties-should charm the eyes of the first settlers as they emerged from the dark, dense forests of the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Old Do-
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HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
minion, and Ohio, and beget in their hearts a love for the surround- ings of nature that clings to them in their old age, and falls but little short of reverence when they speak of the old county which witnessed their first struggles for life and competency ? These asso- ciations have made it a sacred and hallowed spot.
FIRST SETTLEMENT AND EARLY SETTLERS.
SHELLY COUNTY.
The first permanent settlement made in the county now com- prised within the limits of Shelby county, was by the Wakefield family. Charles Wakefield, Sr., wife and family, came into and settled in what is now Cold Spring township in March, 1818; the same year in which Illinois was admitted into the Union. Mr. Wakefield had quite a large family; his three married sons, Simeon, John, and Enoch, and their families, and Ormsby Van- winckle, his son-in-law, and family accompanied him, as did also his youngest son, Charles Wakefield, Jr ; the latter was unmarried at that time. They came from St. Clair county, Ill., and were genuine frontiersmen, and were thoroughly conversant with the habits and peculiarities of the Indians, with whom they were very friendly. The Indians were numerous in this locality at that time. They were a remnant of the Kickapoo tribe ; however, most of them left after the Black-Hawk war, and only returned occa- sionally in the autumn for a short period of hunting. They were always kindly treated by the settlers, and they did many little acts of kindness in return. The Wakefields-father and sons-were all noted hunters, and most of their living was gained by the rifle and other implements of the chase. In the spring of the year they would plant a small patch of corn, and the balance of the time was mostly occupied in hunting, fishing, and the sports of the chase. Charles Wakefield, Sr., settled and built his cabin about three- quarters of a mile south-east from the Cold Spring, near the present site of Williamsburg. It was the first house ereeted in Shelby county ; it was built of rough, unhewn logs, and mud and stick chimney. By some it has been considered that Simeon Wakefield was the first settler in Shelby county, but that is undoubtedly a mistake; however, very little time elapsed between the coming of the father and his sons. The Wakefields settled at the Cold Spring because there they had an abundance of good, pure water, good soil and plenty of timber, and the surrounding forests abounded with all kinds of gante. Simeon Wakefield settled at the Cold Spring, and John erected his cabin about three-quarters of a mile south-west of Simeon's improvement, and Enoch improved a place and built a cabin about one mile due west of Cold Spring. Ormsby Vanwinekle. the son-in-law of Wakefield, located with his family north-west of the Cold Spring, on a piece of land now known as the Horsman place. Lemuel Hawkins and family, Arthur Crocker and family, and the widow Petties and family all settled in close proximity to the Wakefields, or Cold Spring settlement, in the year 1818. These families were the first settlers of the county, and all came up from St. Clair county, Illinois. Further mention of them is made in the township history of Cold Spring.
Another early settler was Thomas Pugh, a native of North Caro- lina, who when quite young moved with his parents to the state of Kentucky, where he grew up, and married and raised a family. In the spring of 1819 he moved with his finitily to and located near the Cold Spring settlement, not far from the residence of Simeon Wake- field. The place is now known as the Milligan farm. Mr. Pugh was a man of considerable force of character, and enterprising to a high degree. At the time of his arrival here he had a family of three children, a daughter and two sons. The daughter is now de- ceased; thre sons, John and Robert Pugh, are at present both resi-
dents of Tower Hill township. In 1830 Thoma- Pugh purchas 1 a farm one mile north of Shelbyville, and began the improvement of the same, and lived there until his death, which occurred in 1955 or 1859. It is related by Robert Pugh that, for many years after his father came to the county, they could find the horns of the elk aml buffalo lying in many places on the prairies. Game at this period was found in abundance, there being plenty of bear. wolves, panthers, wild cats, deer, wild turkeys, and numerous small game. Thomas Pugh was quite celebrated as a hunter, and was the most successful Nimrod of the settlement The nearest mill for the pioneers was at Greenville, in Bond county. It was a horse-mill, and occasionally when Mr. Pugh went to mill he would bring home with him powder and lead, salt and such other things as the In- dians needed, which be would exchange for bees' wax, dressed hides, and other trinkets. Pugh was on very friendly terms with the red men, and was much loved and respected by them for his honesty. Robert Pugh says that in the carly times bears were very plentiful. and one could hardly walk into the forests without encountering bear signs. The bears and wolves destroyed much stock for the pioneer. The hunter would frequently come across deer that hal heen partly caten by panthers, wild cats, and cutamounts; the latter were very numero -. Mr. Robert Pugh says that he killed twelve catamounts one winter ; and that often large, fat hogs would come up with several pounds of flesh caten out of their ba .ks, the result of attacks by bears. These hogs were in a semi-wild stuit and were very vicious, and when in droves would frequently drive off the bears and other wild animal -.
It may be interesting in this connection to mesti va a little trade made by Thomas Pugh soon after he came to the settlement. He gave a cow and calf for a log-cabin, and it was used in common by the whole neighborhood for miles around; to n Mr. Robert Pugh's language, the chain was " kept hot " Implements of all kinds were very scarce among the early settlers, especially those made of iron.
Another pioneer of Shelby county was A-a Ledbetter, who came here with his family about the year 1822 ; he had formerly lived in the southern part of the state He was a man of consi lerable en- terprise, and huilt a water-mill on the Okaw river above Shelby- ville, at a place since known as the Francisco Mill site. Ldbet- ter's mill only stood a short time ; it was washed away by the high water of 1828, and, sad to relate, Ledbetter lost his life at the same time. He was desirous of saving his mill by weighting it down with rock which he brought across the river in a canas, and in making the last passag. the boat sank. Lelhetter was a poor swimmer ; he however sne ceeded in getting on a drift log, bat the weather was very cold, and before he received assistance he became so chilled that he fell into the water; the body was, however, soon recovered, but life was extinct. Ledhetter left a wife an I family.
Jenathan C Corley, a Virginian by birth, emigrated with his parents to Kentucky in 1808, where he lived until 1823, in which year he came to Shelby county, and settled on Robinson's creek ; he continued to reside in this county until his death, which occurred in 1860. He was hy trade a blacksmith, and is said to have been the first blacksmith in the county ; he was also a farmer. Mr. Corley raised a family of thirteen children. He was also for many years a justice of the peace, and figured quite prominently in the early annals of the county.
Levi Casey settled on Robinson's creek in March, 1824. He was a native of Sonth Carolina. When he settled here, he had a family of six children ; three of the six now live in Shelbyville- John Casey and Elizabeth, now Mrs. Tolly ; Naney, now Mrs. Howse. Mr. Casey improved a farmi on which he first settled, where he lived until his death in 1855 He was twice married.
C
42
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
and had four children born in Shelby eounty. Mr. Casey was one of the early eounty commissioners and a man of good judgment and integrity.
In the fall of 1825, Samuel Little, a native of Illinois, born on the frontier in the southern part of the state, built a eabin in the west part of Ash Grove township. In the spring following, his brother John and his brother-in-law, Robert Duncan, eame and built eabins near by. They were regular frontier-men, and delighted to hunt and have sport with the neighboring Indians. When the Indians left the state, the Littles moved to Texas. Dunean re- mained in this state, and died in Bond county, where he aecumu- lated considerable property.
David Elliott was perhaps the first settler on Richland creek. He loeated in what is now Richland township in the spring of 1825. In early days he had a horse mill and still-house, which he carried on quite profitably for several years. His brother, Jacob Elliott, moved into the settlement in the fall of 1826. He subsequently moved into what is now Holland township. He has lived in the eounty for fifty-four years, and is a hale and hearty old man, full of life and vigor.
Another early settler was William Weeger who made a settle- ment on Richland Creek in the spring of 1826. He was one of the early eounty commissioners. His eldest son, John Weeger, settled here at the same time. His wife Anna bore him twins July 4th, 1826. Their names were Julia Ann and Jane. The neighboring Indians made for them a double papoose eradle, which is still re- tained in the family, and is regarded as a unique and eurious article of furniture.
Other pioneers in the neighborhood of Big Springs were Samuel Weatherspoon, Bazel Daniel, William Daniel, and B. Faneher, with their families, who settled there in 1826. In the fall of 1826 John Cochran, with his three sons-in-law, John, Daniel, and William Price, settled in what is now ealled Coehran's Grove. Mr. Cochran raised a family of five children. His youngest son James, who was thirteen years of age when they came to this eounty, is the only member of the family now living, and one of the oldest eitizeus now residing in the eounty. Other pioneers of Ash Grove township were John Frazer, Robert Templeton, Joseph Dixon, Robert Ran- kin, Daniel Green, John Bolin and John Storm.
In this eonneetion we must not fail to mention the Renshaw family. John and James Renshaw were both enterprising men. They settled on Riehland ercek in 1826. However, the year be- fore, in 1825, they came up to Shelby county with a drove of hogs, which they had driven up from White Co., Ill., where they were then residing ; they were so pleased with the country, that on their return home, they sold out their possessions, and the following year settled in the county as above stated. James Renshaw after- ward lived for a time in Shelbyville, and subsequently moved to Decatur. John still lives near where he first settled, and is one among the few pioneers left in the county. They are both men of integrity and enterprise.
Among the old settlers of Shelby eounty was Barnett Bone. He was a native of Tennessee, and eame to Illinois in the year 1825. He settled on the banks of the Okaw, about two miles south of where the eity of Shelbyville now stands. Here he built a sub- stantial log-house, where he lived for several years. He was a public-spirited man, and took a lively interest in eounty matters and the development of the country. The first county commissioner's court was held at his house above mentioned. He was a consistent and prominent member of the Methodist Church, and was known far and wide for his hospitality and kindness to his fellow-man. He was twice married, and lived to a ripe old age. He died in
this county, respected by all who knew him for his many good qualities.
Elias Miller, one of the pioneers of this eounty, was a native of Virginia, and came to Shelby county before it was organized. He lived for some time with another old settler, Barnett Bone. He was a widower when he came to the county, and for some years was engaged in teaching school. At that time he was considered one of the first in his calling. He afterward married again, and lived for several years in Shelbyville. His decease is the sad portion of this biography. It was some time in the year 1837 he concluded he would go down to Dry Point township to visit his friends. The day was fearfully eold, he lost his way in the timber, and was eom- pelled to lie out all night, and death resulted from exposure to the eold. Two of his children are still living: Mrs. Crockett in Christian county, and R. B. Miller, of Stewardson, Shelby eounty.
FIRST MARRIAGES
solemnized in Shelby eounty, 1827, after the eounty was organized : May 2d, John Coehran to Sally Bateman; Oct. 4th, John Hall to Eliza Cawly; Oct. 4th, Jeremiah Provott to Lidy Willborn ; Nov. 7th, Thomas Duty to Sally Rian ; Nov. 8th, Henry Smith to Sally Willbern ; Dee. 2d, John May to Raehel Rooks; Dec. 19th, Thos. Cole to Louis Hawks; Dee. 19th, Andrew Cronk to Judy Lee Bone; Dee. 22d, Thomas Ward to Elizabeth Wediek.
There were many other marriages that took place in the county prior to the above; and they receive mention in the pioneer chap- ter and the several township histories; but believing that it will be of interest to our readers to know the names of the parties who were married and received lieense the first year after the county was organized, we therefore make the list a part of this chapter.
Probably no name is so familiar to the early residents of Shelby county as that of Joseph Oliver, who was a native of the Old Do- minion, and was born on Christmas day, December 25, 1794. He is deseended from a long line of English aneestry, and his fore- fathers were among the earliest to brave the perils and hardships ineident to the early settlements of the colony of Virginia. His father, William Oliver, was a captain of a company of volunteers in the Revolutionary war, and participated in many of the eam- paigns and battles of that eventful struggle. The war over, he returned to the bosom of his family. He was the father of twelve children, three of whom were soldiers in the war of 1812: John, Riehard, and Joseph. John and Riehard, being the eldest, were the first to enlist, and Joseph, in making a trip to Norfolk, Vir- ginia, with a drove of eattle, there met his two brothers, who per- suaded him to enlist (although not of age, his father had given him permission to enlist if he wished to do so). He enlisted in the cavalry arm of the service, and furnished his own horse, saddle, bridle and blanket. The government furnished him the other im- plements of warfare. Captain Sanford was the commander of the company of which young Oliver was a member. He remained in the service until peaee was declared, and soon after started on a pilgrimage for the then western wilds. Arriving at Kaskaskia, he began the life of a peddler, and with a horse and wagon traveled over mueh of southern Illinois. He purchased his goods at Kas- kaskia, and would make frequent trips to the surrounding country, and generally with considerable profit to himself. He continued in this business until the summer after the capital was changed to Vandalia. He then settled in Fayette county, and was elected the first Sheriff of that county, an office he held until the county of Shelby was organized. He then resigned his position in Fayette eounty to aeeept the elerkship of Shelby eounty. It was in the spring of 1827 that he eame to this eounty, and he was soon after
43
HISTORY OF SHELBY AND MOULTRIE COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
qualified to fill the offices of county and circuit elerk, recorder and judge of probate. Mr. Oliver bought a "squatter's" improve- ment of Josiah Daniel, near the Shelbyville spring, which consisted of a small cabin and a few acres of cleared land. He built an addition of one room, and here opened up county business. The offices were kept here until the county erected their first court- house, a log structure. His office fees at that time were not suffi- cient to support himself and family. He therefore opened a sub- scription school, which he taught, using the court-house for a school- room, and at the same time attending to his duties as a county official. Mr. Oliver was also the first postmaster in Shelby county. The post-office was also kept in the court-house; but as the mail was limited to letters only, he often carried the letters in his hat, and would hand them to whom addressed on meeting them in the little village. By the present generation that would be regarded as rather a primitive style of distributing the mails. Mr. Oliver also was the first merchant in the county in the carly days, deriving his principal trade from the Indians, of whom he would buy skins, bees-wax, etc., and give them powder, lead, tobacco, groceries, goods, and other things, in exchange. In his domestic relations Mr. Oliver was happily situated While a young man, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Barthrick, a Virginian by birth, and daughter of Daniel Barthrick, an early settler in Fayette county, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver had three children born to them : Benjamin, Mary Jane and Eliza. Mary Jane Oliver was the first white child born in the present limits of Shelbyville. Her birth occurred Feb. 3d, 1828. Mrs. Oliver died April 13th, 1834, and on the 31st of December, 1835, Mr. Oliver married Miss Sally Fearman, n native of Kentucky. They had three children, Wil- liam, Margery A., and Joseph. Mrs. Oliver, at this writing, has been dead about six years. Unele Joseph Oliver is still a resident of Shelbyville, and at the advanced age of eighty-six years is quite feeble in health, but still able to walk out, Wonderful indeed have been the changes which he has witnessed in the last half century, having been a resident of Shelby county for fifty-four years. Her growth and development he has watched with the greatest interest. But a few years of earth is left for this venerable gray-haired veteran, before he shall be numbered among those of the past. It is pleasing and gratifying to his friends to know that he has lived a most honorable and upright life-a life which has shed honors upon himself and the generation in which he lived. And now in his green old age he is loved and respected by all for his integrity and purity of life.
One of the oldest pioneers of Shelby county, as well as of the State of Illinois, is Uncle Johnny Rose. He was born in Livings- ton county, Kentucky, in the year 1806. His father, with his family, moved to Pope county, Illinois, the September following his birth. Here he grew to manhood, and in the year 1827 he came north and located on Sand Creek, Windsor township, Shelby county. His brother William came with him, and together they located n farm and built a small log cabin upon it. Through his indomitable industry he has amassed a competency in his old age. In 1867 he moved to Sullivan, where he now resides. He was married to Miss Matilda MeDaniel, October 21, 1829. By this union there were five sons and four daughters. In 1862 Mrs. Rose died, and was buried in the Grider cemetery, Shelby county. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Jane Lilly, who is still living. No children have been born from this union. Unele Johnny is not only one of the oldest, but one of the best citizens, He has raised an excellent family, all of whom stand high in the estimation of their fellow-men.
Prominent among the pioneers to this county from North Caro-
lina was Benjamin Walden. He was a native of the above State, und soon after his marriage emigrated to the State of Time-se, where he continued to live nutil part of his family were grown. He then sold out his possessions, and gathered together his worldly wealth, and with his wife and children came to Illinois, and settled in the southern part of the State, where he lived several years, and in 1827 he came to Shelby county, soon after its organization, and located on a traet of land now comprised within Richland township. His eldest son, Hugh Walden, was a man of family at that time, and came and settled near his father the same year. Benjamin Walden raised a family of ten children who grew to manhood and womanhood. Only three are now living. Their names are as follows :- Benjamin, John, and Mrs. W. F. Hilsa. beck.
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