USA > Illinois > McLean County > Empire > Heritage of the prairie : a history of LeRoy and of Empire and West townships, McLean County, Illinois > Part 4
USA > Illinois > McLean County > Le Roy > Heritage of the prairie : a history of LeRoy and of Empire and West townships, McLean County, Illinois > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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There being no high school located in the township, students graduated from grade school use to either walk or ride early each morning to Sabina to catch the passenger train and ride to Laurette, a railroad crossing one and one-half miles south of Bellflower, then walk up the Illinois Central Railroad tracks to Bellflower to attend high school.
25
WEST
1874 Map
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Sabina Town Hall
Henry West
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Monument at Site of Stockaded Kickapoo Indian Fort.
4
Simeon H. West, donor of West Park.
Henry West Home
27
Lillard Horine Residence at Sabina
Their classes were so arranged that they could leave school in time in the afternoon to walk back to Laurette Station to catch the passenger train and return to Sabina about 4:30 p.m. Such was the method that several students from the Sabina and Glenavon area received their high school education.
There are three grain elevator stations in West Township: Sabina, Glenavon and Weedman. Sabina received the name from Mrs. Sabina Moore. Mr. Moore was a large land owner near Sabina and he gave his wife's name to the freight station. The grain station of Sabina is situated in the center of West Township. Many years ago there was a hotel, church and post office as well as two grain elevators, a general store and several homes. The hotel had a thriving business with salesmen and other travelers and visitors, who arrived on either the 7 a.m. train that ran from LeRoy to West Lebanon, Ind. or the 4:30 p.m. train on its return to LeRoy. The post office was located in the hotel lobby and was known as Monarch, Ill. The post office was discontinued many years ago. A branch line of the Illinois Central Railroad which passes through Sabina and Glenavon was popularly known as the "Pumpkin Vine." Also, a church flourished in Sabina, it being affiliated with the Christian Church in LeRoy. The church was located on the west side of the road and north of the railroad. After church services were discontinued the building was used as a residence for a time and later was torn down and the lumber used to build a home near Glenavon.
The general store stocked many items from tobacco, cough syrup and candy to canned goods. Sabina has had a general grocery store for many years. After the original store, which was owned and operated by Jay West was discontinued, several other owners operated the store, and most recently, the store was in the front rooms of a home, two houses south of the original store, and owned and operated by Ira Hess. All kinds of canned goods were available as well as a variety of cold meats and gasoline pumps were operated to supply the
farmers' needs.
At one time, there were stockyards located south of the railroad on the west side of the road. When the farm animals were ready for market, the farmers, assisted by their neighbors, walked or rode horseback, herding their cattle and hogs to the stockyards to be shipped out on freight cars to market.
Glenavon is located three miles east of Sabina. In earlier times Glenavon had a general store as well as a grain elevator. The passenger train stopped there twice a day as well as the freight train which hauled grain, coal and other supplies to and from both Sabina and Glenavon. The elevator station of Glenavon at one time had a post office named Delaney, Ill.
Weedman is located in the extreme southeast corner of West Township on the main line of the Illinois Central Railroad. Today it is a center for handling corn and soybeans with several homes and a thriving Methodist Church located across the road in DeWitt County.
The soil in West Township is deep black loam and very fertile. In earlier times the roads were an impassable quagmire, especially in the winter months. It was an all-day trip to drive to LeRoy in bad weather using a team of horses and buggy, and since the trains ran regularly, many township residents came to Sabina or Glenavon and rode the train to LeRoy, sometimes in the caboose of the freight train, having a couple of hours in LeRoy and then returning in the caboose.
In the 1930s, gravel was spread and most of the year the roads were quite passable. Now roads are all-weather blacktop.
Many years ago there was a church in Glenavon, also Mt. Zion Church was located on the north side of the township and Mt. Olive Church was located one mile south of Sabina, one mile west and a mile south.
At present there are 425 residents in West Township.
28
Sabina Station
PICTURE OF SABINA STATION BRINGS NOSTALGIC MEMORIES
A picture of the old Sabina railroad station and engine No. 442 in last week's Journal brought back some pleasant memories to Elmer Doggett of Pekin, former LeRoyan. He took occasion to write the following letter which is full of information on "the old pumpkin vine" and railroad lore as only a veteran railroader could tell it.
South Pekin, I]]. February 9, 1948
Editor, The LeRoy Journal:
The picture of the old Illinois Central depot and engine 442 at Sabina on page eight of last week's Journal brought fond memories to me, for it was on this branch line, more commonly called "the pumpkin vine" in those day, that I began my railroading many years ago. My first job was on the section under Foreman Charles Robertson in 1900 and in those days we would pump a hand car out over the line, work hard all day and pump it back home at night, all for $1.10 a day. I was then just a kid, at exactly the right age to think that smoking cigarets and chewing tobacco was evidence that one who could take it, had reached manhood. At age 18 1 took over the job at the old engine house, as we called it. My job was to clean the coaches and engine of the passenger train that tied up in LeRoy at that time, keep a sharp eye on the company property through the night, then fire up the engine and have the train ready when the crew came on duty in the morning. But before this I "played hookey" from school, wiped the jacket, hoed the ash pan for the fireman, and just about worked my head off, all for a ride out to Sabina or at whichever station the local met the passenger, and then fire the passenger engine back.
At that time, to me, a locomotive was the most wonderful thing on earth as was a horse to many of my chums at that time. To me, at age 12 or 14 the greatest thing the world held for me was to be a locomotive engineer, and I was determined to be an engineer. Later I went firing on this line and that is the main reason why I was so much interested in the picture and the item mentioned. Sabina was the first station stop on the line out of LeRoy although there was a side track called "Crumbaugh" at which we sometimes picked up or discharged some passengers, and I well recall that at the time the station building at Sabina was an old discarded box car.
I recall, too, that the building in the picture, was formerly the depot at Henning and was moved to Sabina after the Henning office was done away with.
But it is a long, long road from the 1316 and other engines of that day with their 16x24-inch cylinders and 140 pounds boiler pressure to the present engines with their 30x32-inch cylinders and their 275 pounds boiler pressure, and even now larger and more powerful engines are being developed on the drafting board and will soon be on the road. Just a few days
ago I came in on a modern three-unit diesel engine with a train of 120 cars and more than 7500 tons of everything one could think of in the consist, the engine alone being valued at between one-half and three-quarters of a million dollars and I leave to you what the train might represent in money.
But the romance was gone. To me it was just another job, that of taking the engine and train at one terminal and delivering it safely at the next without any delay that could be charged either to me or the engine.
Many LeRoy boys of my age went railroading and many of them have passed on while others are still working or are on pension. I recall a few whose names will mean a lot to your older readers. There was Louie Houston, Lawrence Watt, Mel Gilbert, Ed Howard, Logan McClurg, Carl Tuthill, Walter Lyons, Clarence Alsup and many others. But I am still working and looking forward to the time when I can take my pension from the jack pot to which I have contributed for many years. Then, while I am not sure, I think I will return to LeRoy, which the late Dr. Keys described as "the heart of the world's Garden of Eden" or something like that, and there take my place in the park along with the others of my age, and with the rest of them spend my remaining days with a sharp knife and a piece of wood, and like the others who have gone before, whittle the stick until it is as round as a lathe could make it, then square it up and start all over again, all the while discussing the same old problems that were and still are the most important to the oldsters, politics, liquor, cigarettes, the tariff or the length of the ladies' skirts, which were discussed 50 years ago and will be 50 years hence.
I don't at this time know just what the name of the gathering will be, but when I first went railroading it was called "LeRoy's Sugar Tree Congress" with the late Joe Patterson as the chief orator, known then as LeRoy's Joe Cannon; and the first white child born in LeRoy, the late James Wiley, who could always be depended on to change the line of thought and argument when the going got too hot over the tariff or the gold standard, or any of the numerous questions then to the front, for in those days folks took their politics seriously.
Elmer Doggett
WEST TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS
1858 - 1867
Henry West
1867 - 1868 John Weedman
1868 - 1869 Henry West
1869 - 1870
J. B. Leurs
1870 - 1871
J. M. Moon
1871 - 1872 William Biggs
1872 - 1873 Jacob B. Lewis
1873 - 1876
S. H. West
1876 - 1877
Stephen E. Clarno
1877 - 1881
S. H. West
1881 - 1883
W. J. Kimler
1883 - 1885
John Hamilton
1885 - 1886
G. W. Payne
1886 - 1887
W. J. Kimler
1887 - 1889 John Hamilton
1889 - 3/1892 W. J. Kimler
1892 - 1893 E. W. Clarke
1893 - 1897
Albert Whitaker
1897 - 1899
Harrison Horine
1899 - 1905 Thomas D. Irish
1905 - 1907
H. C. West
1907 - 1913 Thomas D. Irish
1913 - 1919 Charles Umstattd
1919 - 1927
R. A. Johnson
1927 - 1935
Harry W. Reid
1935 - 1947
W. P. Dean
1947 - 1962
Lillard Horine
1962 -
Freda Horine
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TTTTTT
1
11 -
Stockaded Kickapoo Indian Fort
Residence of John Weedman. West Township
30
FRANK HOWARD, 90, RECALLS MT. OLIVE 80 YEARS AGO
In 1953 Frank Howard, who spent most of his 90 years in the LeRoy community, recorded some of the many memories he had of eastern McLean County around the Mount Olive church as it looked to him 80 years before.
"In those years, people helped each other do farm work, making hay, cutting oats, wheat and rye. In those days there were no twine binders but mowing machines cut the grain and dropped it in bunches. Then the men would bind the bunches by hand and shock the bundles to dry out ready to thresh with a horse-power threshing machine.
"The neighbors all joined the threshing ring to exchange work. The women worked together to help each other get dinner for the men. At dinner time there was always a picnic with songs and visiting and stories about fishing in the big ponds.
"I also remember the big time at the Mount Olive song service.
"The Whitaker boys and the Pray boys could make seins to catch the fish. A day was chosen and the fish catch was always plentiful. The nieghbors all had fish to eat. The big turtles would bite the boys' boots and fingers while they took them out of the net. The boys all had sticks to club the turtles. What fun it was to lasso a big turtle and drag him out to a peg in the ground and have a big fight. Many were taken home for stew. Some turtles would weigh 20 pounds.
"We had a great time at Sunday school at Mount Olive church. The hitch racks were a mile long and filled with all kinds of vehicles and horses. After church the horseback boys would have a horse race swimming horses in the big ponds. The boys would break horses to ride while swimming. It was fun to see the big splashes and to see the horses stick their heads in the water and blow their noses and then try it over again.
"In the fall of the year, the O. D. Howard cider mill was the place to go after church in the afternoon. There was always free cider to drink with your picnic dinner. We'd have a song service and all sorts of play all afternoon. Sometimes there would be 200 present.
"What a lot of apples they raised in the country homes. One day Grandfather Shirley came to the cider mill with a big load of apples and four empty barrels pulled by a big yoke of oxen. It was fun to see a big steer lope around the vat grinding apples. Often a drunk neighbor would come to the cider mill and want some hard cider. (We were instructed not to give a drunk hard cider .; He would say, 'I want some hard cider, do you hear me?' We would take him to a vinegar barrel and tell him to help himself. After awhile he would come to us and say 'You pointed me to the wrong barrel.' He was about sober by that time.
"I attended the Bonnett school. I was 97th on the roll. Congressman Thomas Sterling was the teacher. How the old black board would look with little children printing and making figures. Dr. W. E. Guthry was the next teacher. He kept every scholar busy. What a time we had singing while John Peavler played the violin. Then we would pitch horseshoes.
"After school began in the fall, the hazelnuts, hickory nuts and walnuts were ready to harvest. Say, did we not have some fun cracking nuts for the crowd? Thomas Sterling, our teacher, would say, 'Be careful not to eat too many as they may make you sick.'
"On Saturday evenings we would go to a spelling book race to see who was the best speller in the school. Then after the spelling race we would have a song service. Frank and Charley Hoit of Mount Olive school would lead the song service with their violins. The fine songs and music caused the old school house to be jammed full of home folks. The hat was passed around to pay the Hoit brothers for coming to play their violins.
"Now I will close my memories of 80 years ago. 'Kind words can never die' is my greeting to you all."
INDIAN HISTORY OF THE AREA
John Dawson and other early settlers found the ruins of an old fort east of Old Town Timber and near what was known as the "Grand Kickapoo Village." He found ditches and earthworks, and several large stockade posts still standing upright in the ground. The outline of the fort was visible in the ridges of the earth as late as the Civil War, but had disappeared under the plow by the 1880s.
The fort, which was about a mile east of the present West Park and near the northern line of West Township, commanded a view in all directions and the approach of friends or foe could be seen in advance of their arrival. Game could be seen from afar. Historical research revealed that the fort was built by the Prairie Kickapoos. In later years, captives of raids in Kentucky and southern Illinois were brought to this fort for torture and for ransom.
During the War of 1812, Major Zachary Taylor, who later became president, led an expedition against the Indians at Old Town, but they fled at his approach. In June of 1813, Colonel Bartholomew, with a small army, raided the area and destroyed the fort.
At the close of the war the Indians returned to rebuild their village, which was just west and northwest of the fort. In 1819, the Kickapoo chiefs and headmen signed a treaty and again, a month later, signed another agreement, relinquish- ing title to all their Illinois lands in return for a promise of annuities and lands in Missouri. Although the Indians in this country were permitted to live and hunt here, they chose to migrate to Mexico.
Bands of Delawares, Pottawatorhies and Kickapoos moved into the county. They roamed from one camping spot to another at Blooming Grove, Randolph's Grove, Pleasant Hill, Old Town Timber, and to Indian Grove and Oliver's Grove in Livingston County. They were friendly to the white settlers when they came.
In 1832, at the close of the Blackhawk War, an order came for all the Indians to leave. A farewell party and dance was held at Blooming Grove and in a few days the Kickapoos traveled westward. General William Clark, Indian agent at St. Louis, reported that 250 Kickapoos and 550 Pottawatomies were removed from this area to a reservation in Kansas.
The above information was taken from "The Story of McLean County and Its Schools" by William B. Brigham, historian.
NEWS ITEMS
Mt. Olive Church was sold in 1920. L. C. Keenan paid $415 for the building and $186 for the fixtures.
John B. Savage died July 22, 1912. He was the first grain buyer in Sabina and also the first postmaster at Monarch, Ill. (Sabina).
December, 1902 - If you have a wild horse to break, call on Shaw & Troineham, the wild west horse tamers, Glenavon, Ill.
-Dr. J. F. Jones - Remembers that he when a boy took a ride on the little engine which made the first round trip from LeRoy to Rantoul on the then newly built narrow gauge railway, the LeRoy, Rantoul and Eastern. It was along in the seventies. His father, a blacksmith, and who did much work for the new road, was the fireman, and George Ives was the engineer. Dr. Jones remembers that it was a very bumpy and scary ride.
31
C'mon in n Celebrate With Us ...
1776
Dairy Queen
1976
Route 150
LeRoy, III.
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LeRoy, Illinois Phone 962-4941
Prier Poindexter
Bernadine Poindexter
Valeria Dotson
Ronald Munster Bill Linder Mary Gaherty
Mary C. Mears
Linda Miller
Ethel Munston
Joe Poindexter
Donnie Poindexter Kathy Poindexter Laura Poindexter John Trenkle Charlene Swallow
Mary Ruth Schlosser Ron Litherland
Cathy Reynolds
Launder-Ette
32
LeRoy City Park 1907
Band Stand donated by Clark E. Stewart
Parks
LeRoy's first official park was primarily the work of Mayor Amos Rutledge. In 1898 the citizens of LeRoy saw the transformation of a frog pond and horse-watering station, complete with windmill, into the downtown circle park. The trees in the park were set out soon afterward.
On the first day of 1912, at 1:30 p.m. the population of LeRoy gathered to meet the newest prominent figure in town. On that date the Hon. Simeon H. West presented the city with a fountain, statue of a Kickapoo chieftain, Osaketa. The fountain was accepted, in behalf of the city of LeRoy, by Hon. Leslie J. Owen.
The span of 64 years has brought many speculations as to the symbolism in the statue's facing the old fort and burial ground. In actuality the $1200 fountain statue was accidentally faced toward the old fort and burial ground (located in West Township), "and the sculptor who fashioned the figure didn't even know about Osaketa. He merely turned out a handsome Indian garbed in some of the accouterments of the Kickapoos". This information was given on Jan. 2, 1912 by Marcus West, son of the donor Simeon West.
Enhancing the park is a cannon, a Spanish-American war relic, according to one source. It was a gift from the government and had been used to defend Ft. Wadsworth, Mass. during the Civil War and many years before. In 1922 a band stand was donated by Clark Stewart, a musician of Bloomington.
In addition to the circle park early citizens of LeRoy had unofficially adopted other spots outside of town for picnics and social gatherings. Among these were Fern Banks, approximately 3 miles south of town, and Sulfur Springs, located in an area east of the present LeRoy Country Club.
During the week of June 8, 1956 LeRoy was presented with a recreational site. A 45-acre tract of land on Salt Creek was donated by Mrs. T.H. Trevett, a childhood resident of this community. This generous offer was made in memory of Mrs. Trevett's parents, Mr. and Mrs. D. O. Howard. Mrs. Trevett was the former Mary Howard.
The name of the park was to be "The Howard Virgin Timber Park" and was to be primarily open for use to organizations and members of organizations residing in Empire township. In 1959, after extensive planning, fund raising, and work by local civic organizations and individuals, Howard Virgin Timber Park became a reality.
Early in the 1960s plans for yet another recreational site were being discussed. At that time LeRoy Community School District No. 2 decided to declare the Washington school
property as surplus property, and subsequently sold it at public auction as specified by the McLean County board of school trustees. The property was purchased by Community Recreation, Inc., a group of civic leaders who believed the property should be retained for public use.
About the same time it was learned that a former resident. Mary Grizzelle Helmboldt, had bequeathed $20,000 toward construction of a swimming pool under the administration of a local governmental unit in order to guarantee its upkeep and maintenance.
In April of 1965 LeRoy Community Park District was formed with a board of five park commissioners to govern it. The Washington school property was turned over to the park board which set out to provide the community with a swimming pool.
On Oct. 7, 1965 the board accepted a bid of $74,750 for the construction of the pool. The pool officially opened June 4, 1966. The bond issue to complete payment of the pool had been passed April 25, 1966 and was retired in 1971.
Since the opening of the pool there have been additions such as a horse shoe court, two regulation size tennis courts and an outdoor basketball court.
The early 1970s saw the latest addition to the recreational facilities. This new playground park is located on the northwest side of LeRoy and is the work of the LeRoy Jaycees and the City.
Howard Virgin Park
33
LeRoy Swimming Pool
Osaketa, fountain statue in the City Park.
-
Moto br
City Park 1915 [Horse watering tank on left ]
34
.
.
The LeRoy Journal Steam Printing House
This old frame building was located on the same site as the present block building just south of the Masonic Temple, which was built in 1902 and served as a tavern until 1905. This picture was evidently taken between 1893 and 1902. John Zetthoefer, on the right purchased the LeRoy Journal in 1893.
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