USA > Illinois > Douglas County > Historical and biographical record of Douglas County, Illinois > Part 11
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ship 15, range 10; in 1837, the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 27, township 15, range 10, and in 1839, May 27, the east half of the northeast quarter of section 21, township 15, range 10. There is some ac- count of him in Bowdre township (q. v.). In 1837, June 28, Isaac Wells, north half of the southeast quarter of section 7, township 15. range 10. Same year, June 1, John Hopping, southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of sectin 33. township 15, range 10. Jonathan W. Powers entered, in 1849 to 1857, the south half of the northeast quarter of section 5, town- ship 14, range 14, and other lands. Cornelius Hopkins took the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter or section 7, township 15, range 14, and other lands, August 23, 1849; and Robert Albin, on March 4, 1850, entered the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 7, township 15, range 14, and subse- quently other lands. There are few if any en- tries in the years intervening between 1840 and 1849.
The railroad crosses the southwest part of the township, entering at the west side of sec- tion 9, township 14, range 10, and leaving at east side of section 15, same township, where it crosses the Embarrass river on a substantial bridge of some six hundred feet in length. This road got no subsidy from the township. The Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad crosses the southeast corner in section 4, township 14, range 14, having been constructed along here in 1881.
Villages, etc .- There is no trading point of comparative importance in the township, the business of the people, with regard to shipping points to railroad villages and post office, going
to "Brushy Fork," which is the only post office in the township.
A proposed city called Columbus was reg- ularly laid out in February, 1841, on the land of James H. Hicks, on the west side of the east half of the northeast quarter of section 35, township 15 north, of range 10 east, and con- tained about forty acres. The land was en- tered by Eli Sargent October 29, 1830. The town was surveyed by S. Sconce, Coles county surveyor, for Hicks, who does not appear to have had any deed to the land.
County office holders .- Residents, both former and present, of this township have had much to do with the public business. William Hancock was the first assessor and treasurer of the new county, having been elected with the first corps of officers in 1859. James H. Shaw- lian was elected sheriff in 1871, to fill the unex- pired term of Cooper, of Bourbon township, who had disappeared in company with Bourbon township funds. I. W. Burgett was the first supervisor.
MURDOCK TOWNSHIP.
Erection, etc .- In years, area and popula- tion, compared with the other political sub- divisions of Douglas county, Murdock town- ship ranks number nine and last, having been created at the December meeting of the board of supervisors in 1882.
The petition for the new township was closely followed by a counterpetition in the shape of a remonstrance leading to a warm discussion of the "pros and cons," it being held and strenuously maintained that the board held jurisdiction only of the inhabitants of the pro-
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posed new territory, and not of those out of whose area the new township was to be made. This nice distinction evolved from the ingenuity of the attorneys, did not, however, prevail; the matter was taken to the circuit court on appeal, and at the October term. 1883, the action of the board being confirmed. Murdock became an independent township. The name of the town- ship was given in compliment to John D. Mur- clock, an old resident yet living (see sketch).
Its arca .- The area is made up from twenty-two square miles of territory, which were generously donated by the township of Camargo on the west, and about seven from Newman, which lie upon the east side. It in- cludes the west twenty-four sections of town- ship 16 north, of range 10 east, of third prin- cipal meridian, and sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of township 15 north, of range 10 east, compris- ing twenty-eight regular sections, containing, according to the United States government survey, 30.65 square miles, the same being 19.617.61 acres, being the smallest township in the county.
With regard to the first entries of lands in this township, while there were some very early entries. most of the lands, being all prairie, were taken up along about 1852-53, which years seem to have been at the close of a period in which the government lands were tempor- arily withdrawn from sale pending the location of the Illinois Central Railroad and its selec- tions of lands within the six-mile limit, which limit was afterward extended to fifteen miles to enable the road to supply the quantity of lands not found in the first limit. The latter extended limit takes in all of Murdock.
tered the east half of the southeast quarter of section 2. township 15, range 10. This is the extreme southeast eighty acres in the township. The first entry made was by James Brewer June 18. 1847; he entered lot No. 2 of the northwest quarter of section 31, township 16, range 10. and Samuel Roderick took the south- east quarter of section 30. township 16, range IO, in 1849. J. Y. Campbell entered several tracts, as also John Tenbrook and the Baileys, 1852 to 1855.
THE VILLAGE OF MURDOCK.
This village, established and named before the township was made, is situated generally on the north side of the I. D. & W. railroad, and between it and the east and west half-mile line of section 33, township 16 north, range IO east. It was laid off by the Murdocks in September, 1881. It was shortly afterward followed by an addition made by R. F. IIelm on the north side of the east and west public road. The railroad has a reserve on the north side of its track, about eighty rods long and one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, and a right-of-way on the south side of fifty feet; a roomy side track is established which gives ample facilities to shippers in the vicinity.
Mr. S. Baxter purchased a few acres di- rectly east of the village, where he erected several neat tenant houses which assist in giv- ing Murdock the air of quite a busy place ; this is further assisted by the elevator erected by the Murdocks in 1878, and later by Fred P. Rush & Co., of Indianapolis.
The Methodists, with their proverbial zeai,
On February 23. 1853, William Cline en- erected a substantial church here, and finished
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it in October, 1882, about as soon as the town was laid out. It has a steeple and a ninety . dollar bell, the cost of the structure being in all about eighteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Fairland is a new and thriving village in the northwest part of the township. It contains several first-class stores, good church and school. The business men are mostly young men and are thoroughly in touch with the ad - vance of the times. It has one bank, the Fair- land Exchange Bank, which was recently founded by John Quinn ( see sketch).
The first township officers were: Super- visor, David Smith; assessor, W. C. Whallen ; collector, R. F. Helm; justice, S. Baxter. And in the distribution of county officers Murdock lias had a share. Among those who live with- in the present bounds, Mr. John D. Murdock, from whom the township was named, was elected in 1859 one of the first two associate justices of the county, and was re-elected in 1861. This was, of course, prior to township organization. The county board consisted of a judge and two associate judges. Mr. Mur- dock served his first term with James Ewing, of Arcola, as judge, the other associate being Robert Hopkins, of Newman. In his second term, he was with F. C. Mullen, of Garrett, as judge, and Caleb Bales, of Arcola, as the other associate. It was under the care and manage- ment of the last named board that the court house was contracted for and begun. A large part of the business of this day, the early days of the county, was the location of new public - roads. The board would appoint three commis- sioners, one always the surveyor, to view the road, and report at next term. There was quite an epidemic of roads these times.
James H. Shawhan, now of the new town-
ship, formerly of Sargent, was elected sheriff in 1871, and also served several years with credit as highway commissioner.
The surveyors appointed by the court in October, 1871, were Edmund Fish, of Arcola; H. C. Niles, of Tuscola, and A. H. Guy, of Vermilion county. They worked a week at it and reported to court. The case was tried three times for various reasons, and finally set- tled down to the lines made by the commis- sioners. Mr. Issachar Davis, surveyor in the neighborhood, gave the board valuable and willing assistance. The confusion mostly arose originally from a proven mistake of the orig- inal government surveyors, they having left two corners on the range line, which they re- corded as twenty-two rods apart, while, iden- tified, they proved to be only six rods apart. The writer has seen the original figures made by the government surveyor, and the proof on the ground. The controversy arose from the situation of a thirty-five-acre piece belonging to John Brown, which the surveyors in their report dubbed the "John Brown tract." This whole controversy was conducted by the inter- ested parties with a manly and fair spirit, much superior to the temper usually manifested on such occasions; though Shiloh Gill says that he and Brown had worn out a certain fence four times in trying to conform to the various opinions of its true place. Each moved the fence every time the other fellow got a new wrinkle from anybody, and the surveying busi- ness in the close neighborhood was good until the commission surveyors came along and spoiled the job.
TUSCOLA AND TUSCOLA TOWNSIIIP.
Origin of the name .- The name of this
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township is derived from that of the city, but the origin of it is involved in obscurity, the most diligent inquiry having failed to disclose its source, or to draw out any account of it which promised satisfaction. Tlascala in Mex- ico, Tusculum, in Italy, and Tuscaloosa, Ala- bama, etc., have been suggested as possible bases for a guess, but have yielded no convic- tion. The idea that the name is of Indian ori- gin has been generally fallen back upon as the only hopeful solution, in which the anxious inquirers are joined by a prominent citizen of a county of the same name in Michigan. Township organization was adopted in 1867 and inaugurated in 1868. Joseph B. McCown, of Camargo, H. B. Evans, of Tuscola, and L. McAllister, of Arcola, were appointed by the county court to divide the county into more convenient political subdivisions.
The railroads .- The township is traversed by the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, running about north and south, di- viding it into nearly equal parts. The road enters at the northeast quarter of section 3, township 16, range 8, and leaves at south line of section 10, township 15, range 8, and is a straight line through the county, varying from true north, however, about seven degrees; that is to say, it bears to the right just about forty rods to the mile.
This road has a right of way two hundred feet wide through the township, which reserve is inclosed for the most part with a substantial fence as required by law, and occupies twenty- four acres of land for every mile it traverses, being in the aggregate two hundred and forty acres in the township; the difference to land tax payers along the line of the road was an item of importance and resisted, until by con-
sent, as it were, the railroad reserve was grad- ually eliminated from the acres of the adjoining land owner.
The township is also intersected by the St. Louis branch of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad, which runs east and west through it, along, very nearly, the middle line of the south tier of sections in township 16 north, range S east, crossing the Illinois Central Rail- road at Tuscola. The road was finished through the township in 1872; was chartered under the name of the Indiana & Illinois Cen- tral in 1852, and as Decatur & Indianapolis was legalized in 1853; it remained, however, under the name of Indiana & Illinois Central until 1876, when upon re-organization it re- ceived the name of Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield, and finally was known as the St. Louis branch of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western, having been leased to that corpora- tion for ninety-nine years. The road is now known as the I. D. & W.
A road was surveyed from Tuscola City northeastward, to be called the Danville, Tus- cola & Western, which was instituted by Tus- cola people. The preliminary surveying was begun in January, 1872, under the direction of James Davis, Esq., assisted by Thomas E. Bundy, the attorney for the road, the chief en- gineer being H. C. Niles. A year was con- sumned in the location and in trying to meet the wishes of everybody, and grading was for the greater part completed nearly to Danville; but the panic of 1872-73 calling a halt, and the railway business generally receiving a sudden check, it was found impossible to build the road with the means at command. It was subsequently completed and is now known as the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.
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Early entries of land and first settlers .- Being all prairie, the township was of the latest settled, the first comers, as a general rule, keep- ing close to the timber for its seeming protec- tion. The prairie was considered a bleak, bar- ren waste, unfit for habitation or cultivation, the magnificent richness of the soil not being appreciated by men accustomed to hilly wood- lands. The timber was convenient for fuel, building and fencing, and men clung to it, for it was considered injudicious to expose one's self and family to the full sweep of the winter storms and the annual and really dangerous prairie fires.
The first entries of land we find are about as follows: Sigler H. Lester, December 5, 1836, entered west half of the northwest quarter of section 30, town 16, range 8; John Hammer, May, 1837, north half of the northwest quarter of section 18, town 16, range 8; 1837, July 22, Jacob Moore took lot 2, southwest quarter of section 30, town 16, range 8; the bulk of the lands entered by him were six miles south; June 19, 1838, Thomas Lewis entered lot 2, southwest quarter of section 18, town 16, range 8; 1837, Samuel Lester, on lots 3 and 4, north- east quarter of section 6, town 15, range 8, and other large lands; 1849, William Brian, north half of the northeast quarter of section 19, town 16, range 8. Mr. Brian distributed his lands among his children, otherwise he would have been the largest land owner in the county. Most of the land entries were made in 1852-53. Up to that time it appears that there was a check upon settlements of lands by en- try, or rather the buying of such lands, the dis- trict for the most part being withdrawn from sale pending the location of the Illinois Central Railroad, and its selection of the lands granted
it by government. In 1853 H. Sandford en- tered the northeast quarter of section 33, town 16, range 8, which adjoins Tuscola on the west, and in the palmy days was firmly held at one hundred dollars per acre. Amongst the active and prominent of earlier settlers, as farmers and cattle men, were O. C. and M. F. Hackett, Owen J. Jones and Joseph W. Smith in the south part, and in the north B. F. Boggs, Ben- ham Nelson, George P. Phinney and Caleb Gar- rett. He emigrated from the adjoining town- ship of Garrett in 1874. Ample notes of the career and influence of many of these gentle- men will be found elsewhere in this volume.
The sixteenth section in every congressional township was, by law, set apart for sale for the use of schools, and so sold by the state. It was required to be surveyed into lots, the utility of which is not clear, as the government subdi- visions would have answered every purpose of description.
Section 16, town 16 north, range 8 east, in Tuscola township, was divided into sixteen lots, cach lot being one of the original forty-acre tracts; the numbering began in the northeast corner and ended in the southeast. The pur- chases were made in 1857. W. P. Carter took six of them; T. G. Chambers two; J. F. Parcels four ; Le Roy Wiley four. There is no record authority in Douglas county for the number- ing, the only guide being the various convey- ances, which, however, generally give the num- ber of the lot as well as the regular subdivision.
First town meeting .- The first town meet- ing after township organization was held at Tuscola in 1868. The meeting was called to order by W. H. Lamb; S. D. Stevenson was elected moderator and C. F. Lamb clerk. A committee of five was appointed to divide the
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township into road districts. It was made up of G. P. Phinney, A. Mc Neill, J. McGinniss, James Jester and Josiah MeKee. The place of this meeting is not given, but it was arranged that the next should be held at J. B. Hart's store, northeast corner of Central avenue and Parke street. Here O. C. Hackett was elected the first supervisor, with a majority of only one vote over W. B. Ervin. Thomas E. Bundy exceeded the vote of H. C. Sluss by six votes. C. H. Griffith was elected assessor by getting two votes more than J. H. Purdy, and S. Pad- dleford was made the first collector, defeating C. F. Lamb by fifty-eight votes. J. M. Ephlin was the first constable and was chosen at this election. W. H. Wood was the first justice of the peace. The first commissioners of high- ways, and who were elected on this occasion, were Benham Nelson, Noah Ammen and W. Brian.
The original town of Tuscola .- The orig- inal town is bounded on the west by the Illinois . to the surveyor and is seventy-five feet wide, Central Railroad, and extends eastward to as also is the next avenue east. Both of these beautiful streets have been spoiled by the mis . taken economy, or perhaps want of informa- tion, of the proprietors of the subsequent addi- tions on the north, when they suddenly fell to a width of sixty feet, and not only that, but no regard or attention was paid to the abutting streets in the prior addition; the result is the streets, as it were, hit nowhere even, the lot bounds do not "line," and the people find fault with the surveyors when shown the facts. Niles avenue, which is the north and south center line of section 34, and is the street upon which stand the schoolhouse and Methodist church. This avenue was begun by Mr. Can- non in his addition to Tuscola, with the gen- erons width of seventy-five feet, but unfor- tunately the surveyor or proprietor of subse- quent additions saw fit to cut it down to sixty feet. The bound of the original town on the south is the south line of the section at the township line, and it is met on the north by Winston's addition, which is one-quarter of a mile wide.
Winston's addition .- The first addition to Tuscola was made by A. B. Newkirk, of Chi- cago, and consists of the north half of north-
west quarter of section 34, township 16 north, of range 8 east, and was surveyed by H. C. Viles, the county surveyor, in August, 1859. assisted by Hlenry Beach, who afterward built the first Beach House. The blocks in this ad- dition, nearly four hundred feet square, are di. vided generally into four lots, which all lay square with the world, except at the railroad. The streets are of the generous width of sixty- six feet, being six feet wider than those of the original town, upon which they join. No street was made between this and the original town.
l'amsley & Cannon's addition .- In the spring of 1860 William Wamsley, with J. G. Cannon as manager, laid off into lots and blocks the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 34, town 16 north, range 8 east, making sixteen blocks, the west tier of which was subdivided into quarters, the sur- veying of which was done by Niles. Niles avenue, on the west, was named in compliment
Kelly's addition .- Kelly's addition (by the way, there is never any "first" addition), No- vember 15, 1861, followed by his second De- cember 30, 1864. consists of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter and the north- west quarter of the southeast quarter of section
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34, town 16, range 8, eighty acres, and was sur- veyed by E. C. Siler, county surveyor. In the first addition, however, he was the deputy of Niles. The lots were made large, to meet a seeming demand for such, among which streets, lanes and alleys were very scarce. The progress of the times has eventually forced through sev- eral highways. Robert Kelly, of Indiana, was the projector of these additions. He was a Quaker of standing and much business ability.
Mathers' addition .- The next addition made was called Mathers' northeast addition, and comprised the east half of the northeast quarter and the northwest quarter of the north- east quarter of section 34, town 16 north, range 8 east, one hundred and twenty acres. It was surveyed July 12, 1864, by E. C. Siler, county surveyor, under the proprietorship of John Mathers, who had previously acquired an inter- est in the lands of the original Town Company. The greater part of this addition was laid out into lots or blocks, containing in gross about ten acres, and has since been used almost ex- clusively for farming lands. The streets in this portion of Tuscola do not conform to those in the original town, not only being of different widths, but do not fairly meet the original streets.
Cornelius' addition .- Cornelius' addition consists of about twenty acres of land in the southwest corner of the section, being a re- served portion of the original town plat, and lying east of the Illinois Central Railroad, and north of the south line of the section. The lots are of good average size, with a location not very desirable. It was laid out by P. S. Cor- nelius and surveyed by Niles August 19, 1870.
Population and condition .- The population of the city in 1870 was placed at fifteen hun- 7
dred; H. B. Evans was the enumerator. At the tenth census, 1880, the population was about the same: within that decade the city had not progressed much in the way of extending areas or erecting new buildings. While progress in this respect has not been observed, it is notable that Tuscola is one of the neatest and best- kept villages in the central part of the state. Fourteen miles of substantial sidewalk, a large part of which is eight and twelve feet wide, conduct the exploring stranger dry-shod to churches, school houses, etc., in fact, take him anywhere, except to a saloon. Careful and systematic attention has been given to sanita- tion, and breaches of the public peace are rare. The census of 1890 gives Tuseola eighteen hiin- dred and ninety-seven and it has a present pop- tilation of about three thousand.
Early events .- The first house which ap- peared in Tuscola was a part of the present dwelling of Thomas S. Sluss, at the northwest corner of Main and Daggy streets. It was placed there by William Chandler, who hauled it from the close neighborhood of Bourbon. He occupied it awhile and sokl it, building sub- sequently the dwelling now standing directly east.
The first house built was the store at the railroad, on the north side of Sale street, long since gone. Simon G. Bassett, brother of Dr. 11. J. Bassett, of Tuscola, was the first post- master as well as express and freight agent.
The second house built was erected on Parke street, east side, near the present brick, south of Sale street ; it was put up by A. L. Otis.
The third house built was the residence of Thomas Woody, erected on the northwest cor- ner of Central avenue and Main street, whence it was removed. Thomas Woody was the fa-
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ther of A. M. Woody, who served as mayor of brick at the southeast corner of Parke and Sale the city for the four years ending in April, 1883. Thomas Woody was an active Meth- odist, and before the day of churches he and his wife, with A. G. Wallace and wife, associ- ated with Mrs. Dr. Bassett and Mrs. Kuhn, were the only church people in the place who had any aptitude for conducting religious exercises. Class and prayer meetings were held in Mr. Woody's house for several years after Mr. Woody's arrival. He died in No- vember, 1883, with full honors.
The first child born in the place was Miss May Wallace, daughter of A. G. Wallace. Mrs. Has. Moore, nec May Chandler, daugh- ter of William Chandler, moved here from Bourbon at the age of six years.
The first store was a grocery, built on the north side of the court house square by B. F. Lewis, now a farmer northwest of town. The next was probably the drug store of Dr. J. W. Wright, which was located in the present one- and-a-half-story dwelling, now standing di- rectly east of the old court house. These two proprietors were compelled to yield to the logic of events, both eventually pulling up stakes and moving down into town. The Lewis store was removed bodily to State street. The stock was bought by J. M. Ephlin and .A. M. Woody, and was the foundation of the large Woody & Russell grocery store. Dr. Wright built a store and dwelling combined on the southwest corner of Main street and Cen- tral avenne, where he had sole control of the drug business until 1865. He finally went to California, being succeeded in his business by Dr. J. A. Field, who occupied the okl stand for a while, and afterward removed to his
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