Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2, Part 42

Author: Dyson, Howard F., 1870- History of Schuyler County. 4n
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1126

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Among other early settlers may be mentioned Robert Brooks, Hazel Dorsey, Adam S. and John Corrie, M. M. Cleek, John L. Callison. George L. Gray, Robert G. Mellatton, R. B. Stubblefield, B. F. Taggart and Joseph N. Ward.

The first pioneer who attempted to utilize Crooked Creek for motive power to operate a grist-mill, was John Taggart, and on December 8, 1835, the County Commissioners granted a pe- tition for a millsite ou the southwest quarter of Section 11, and it was specified that the dam across Crooked Creek was not to exceed nine feet in height. Two years previous to this Mr. Tag- gart and his father-in-law, Mr. Wolberton, had begun the erection of a mill on Section 26, but before it was completed the owner of the land forced them to abandon the enterprise. But in the year 1836 the second mill was completed and it did a good business for many years.

Dr. B. P. Watts, in writing of the early his- tory of Camden Township, gives, an interesting story of a Dr. Ward, a retired United States army surgeon, who took up quarters in a eave near the Taggart mill when he first came to the settlement. He was a man of more than usual ability, but very odd in his ways, and his cave was filled with eages of snakes, birds and wild animals that he kept for pets. That he was a skilled surgeon was demonstrated on several oc- casions, but he chose the free life of the pioneer in preference to the thickly settled communities where his talent would have been a source of pecuniary profit.

We are also indebted to Dr. Watts for the following description of social life in the Camden settlement : "Shoes were unknown to children ;

they went barefooted, winter and summer. and their feet got so tough they would knock fire out of a flint rock, drive a ten-penny nail with their heel or chase rabbits all day in snow ankle deep.

"Those times they were accustomed to live three or four days on baked squash alone. We heard of one instance where the wife and mother baked the last of the meal for breakfast, and just as the meal was ready, a couple of neighbor men came in, and being asked to partake sat down (the children those days always waited), and ate all the bread and the little children had to go hungry until their father could go forty miles to mill and, perhaps, be a whole weck mak- ing the trip. We were told that even the mother did not get any of the bread, and that when the men folks left, she sat down and cried. l'oor woman ! She was not the only one who suffered those cruel heartaches during pioneer times."

The first school taught in Camden Township was presided over by John Thornhill, a Ken- tuckian, who came to the settlement in 1836 and opened his tuition school in a eabin on Section 17. George L. Gray was another of the early school teachers, and his cabin was on Section 22.

The village of Camden, which is situated on the southwest quarter of Section 17. was laid out by Robert Brown and Joseph N. Ward, January 28, 1531. and was surveyed and platted by Sam- uel MeHatton. Deputy County Surveyor. The first store was established in the village in 1835 by John and Joseph N. Ward, and the following year Camden was made a government postoffice, and Alexander McHatton was named as the first government official. David Campbell built a flour- ing mill in the village in 1856, and it was op- erated nutil recent years. Today Camden is a flourishing inland village, with good schools, churches and mercantile houses, and her citizens are looking forward to the time when they can be put into closer touch with the outside world through the ageney of an electric railroad.

The village of Erwin, located on the northwest * corner of Section 26, was laid out by Columbus C. Meeks, March 27. 1560. Four years previous he had built a cabin and opened a store, and was that year appointed postmaster. The first school honse in the village was built in 1866 and James Bliss was the first teacher.

The population of Camden Township, accord- ing to the census of 1900, was 1, 27%.

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.

FREDERICK TOWNSHIP.

Frederick is the smallest township in Schuyler County and the most irregular in shape, two of its triangular sides being bounded by the linois River and Sugar Creek, a tributary stream. North and south the township measures nine milles, while the greatest width is three and a half miles, and it contains but twelve full sec- tions, although there are fractional sections lying along the boundary streams. The land surface is broken and a portion of the township is sub- jeet to overflow from the Illinois River.

Frederick Township was the gateway to Schuyler County in the first years of its history, and all of the early pioneers crossed its borders and mounted the high bluff in their journey in- land. Some of them doubtless tarried for a time in temporary homes along the bluff, which makes it difficult to name any one person as the original settler in the township. Among the first to make a permanent home within the bounds of Fred- erick Township was James Lammy, who settled about a half-mile north of the present site of the village of Frederick in 1825. Andrew Vanee, Timothy Harris and Edward White were also carly settlers. Abraham Hollingsworth made his first permanent home in the county in Frederick Township, locating there in the spring of 1827. He was one of the early Justices of the Peace and Hollingsworth branch was named in his honor. Others of the pioneer settlers, with the year of settlement, are as follows: John D. Wren, 1829; Lyman Utter, 1830; Anthony Mes- serer, 1832; Jesse Darnell, 1834; Thomas Bel- lamy, 1835, and John Utter, 183S.

In the early 'thirties, soon after the first steamboats began to ply the Illinois River, George Frederick Jonte and Frederick Merchant. two Frenchmen, located on Section 17 in Frederick Township. Mr. Jonte took note of the natural conditions, and decided to found a city that would be the shipping point for all the rich in- land country to the north and west. Allen Per- singer was employed to plat the town, which he did, May 12 and 13, 1836, and in honor of its founder it was named Frederickville, and is so recorded on the court records, but the United States Postoffice Department in 1892 shortened the name to Frederick.

Samuel P. Vail was the first storekeeper in the village. In 1844 Charles Farwell & Co. es- tablished a mercantile business in Frederick that

afterwards grew to large proportions. Maro Far- well came from the East in 1SIS and joined his brother and. in 1:52, they built a large store building in the village and a warehouse on the Illinois River. They engaged in merchandising, pork-packing and steamboating, and had probably the largest business of any firm on the Illinois River. In those flourishing days Frederick was connected with Rushville by a plank road. and was the shipping point for towns as far north as Macomb. Steamboats, loaded at Pittsburg. Pa., brought their entire cargo to Frederick, and on the return trip carried back to the East their valuable cargo of pork and lard. In those days it looked as if Frederick was destined to be one of big towns along the Illinois River, but when railroad building began, its business was diverted and the gradual decline of the river trathe made unprofitable its big mercantile business, and the firm of Farwell Bros, ceased to exist in 1877. But while the village hid its most prosperous days in the early 'sixties, it is yet a thrifty little town and has a number of prospering mercantile houses.

The first school taught in Frederick was pre- 'sided over by Horatio Benton in 1845. In 1871 a two-story brick school building was erected which is in use at the present time.

Population in 1900, according to United States census, 628.

IHICKORY TOWNSHIP.

Hickory Township lies in the extreme north- east part of Schuyler County, and is bounded on the north by Fulton County and on the south by the Illinois River. It contains but fourteen full sections, and by reason of its location along the Illinois River, the land surface is about equally divided between uplands and bottom lands. The narrow strip of sloping bottom land, extending the entire length of the township, is wonderfully rich and productive and is valued as highly as any land in Schuyler County. The lower bottom lands are also rich and fertile. but a erop there is uncertain on account of the danger from floods. In the northern part of the township there are several large lakes lying inland a few rods from the river, and all this country is now owned by hunting clubs on account of the splendid feeding ground it affords for wild game.

In the spring of 1826 a party of pioneers com-

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IHISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.

posed of Amos Richardson, Jonathan Viles, Nich- olas Viles and his son-in-law. William Steven- son, crossed the Illinois River at Beard's Ferry and followed an Indian trail along the bluffs until they reached the point where Batlersville is now located. Here they built their cabins and cleared the ground for the cultivation of crops. Richard- son was the only one of the party who remained there, and he was killed in 1830 by Burrell Bas- set

. Abraham Carlock moved to the township in 1827 and lived there until his death some years afterwards. Jacob Guinn was another early set- tler. IFe first cleared a farm on Section S, which he afterwards sold and purchased another raw tract, which he transformed into good farming land. William Moss and Stephen Y. Jolly were pioneers of 1830, and lived in the township for many years.

In 1834 William K. Jones came from Ken- tucky and settled on Section 7. He was followed two years later by William H. Gregory, who set- iled on the bluff west of Butlersville. William Sackman was another pioneer of 1836 and he resided on Section 4 until 1566, when he removed to Missouri. Other settlers of this period were : Thomas Wilson, Philip Ruby. Mosier Alley, Ly- man Tracey, Enoch Steward, William Brown, Martin Crafton. William Powell, James Stewart. David Venters, Levi Sparks, Reason Prather and Darius Prather.

Abraham Louderback, who settled in Schuyler County in 1829 near Rushville, removed to Hick- ory Township in the early 'thirties and became one of the large land owners, and his descend- ants are still residents of the township.

John Sharp was one of the prominent citizens of Hickory in the early days, and he acquired a fortune in merchandising and land speculation. lIe located along the Illinois River near the mouth of Alum Creek in 1837, and built a large warehouse and store-room there. This point be- came known as Sharp's landing, and it still bears that name. lle was in business there for thirty years and later removed to Astoria, Fulton County, where he purchased 700 acres of land that afterwards greatly increased in value.

Daniel Sheldon was another of the prominent early settlers of lliekory. He was a native of Rhode Island and located In Butlersville in 1838, where he taught the first school in the village in the winter of 1838. He was also the first post-

master of the village and continued In office until his death, Angust 5, 1869. When the postotlice was established it was given the name of Shel- don's Grove, thereby rechristening the village which, up to that time, had been known as But- Jersville. Noah Butler was the original founder of the village and it was surveyed and platted by J. M. Sweeney, November 29, 1846.

Bluff City, which is located on the northwest quarter of Section 1, was laid ont by Abraham Louderback and was surveyed and platted by Leonidas Horney, November 2, 1860.

The first mill in the township was a saw mill, built by James S. Turner, on Alum Creek in 1839.

DeWitt Allen taught the first school in the township in 1834 in a cabin on Section 3.

Population, according to census of 1900, 586.

HUNTSVILLE TOWNSHIP.

Huntsville is one of the townships located on the extreme southwestern corner of Schuyler County, being bounded on the west by Adams County and on the south by Brown County. It is drained by Cedar Creek in the north and Little Missouri in the south, both tributaries of Crooked Creek. In an early day the country was heavily timbered. but where once were towering forests there are now rich. cultivated fields and hand- some farm residences.

Huntsville enjoys the unique distinction of being the only township in the county settled by a pioneer who came from the West. In all the other townships the pioneers crossed the Illinois River and either went direct to their destination or tarried a while in the Rushville settlement. But the first homeseeker in Huntsville Township came from the West. This honor belongs to Wil- liam Spangler. a native of Pennsylvania, who had afterwards lived In Kentucky and Indiana. He had reached manhood and had a wife and family when he decided to push on further west. 'faking passage on a boat he went down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi, landing at Quincy in the summer of 1832. Ile brought with him a team and wagon, and loading his household goods, drove east through Adams County to the north- east quarter of Section 5, Huntsville Township, where he built his cabin and cleared a tract for cultivation, afterwards securing title by pre-emp-

Edwin Dyson

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.

tion. Mr. Spangler resided on his homestead farm until 1851, when he removed to Hancock County.

Before Mr. Spangler and his family were set- tled in their new home, Willis G. Moffett came overland from Kentucky and settled with his family on the southwest quarter of Section 4, and in the fall of that year John .Thornhill and Jamison Wilson settled on the north half of Sce- tion 22. Jesse Burke, a Virginian, was one of the first to settle in the south part of the town- ship, and in 1832 be built his eabin on the north- east quarter of Seetion 30.

In 1833 the settlement was further increased by the arrival of Reuben Allphin, from Kentucky. who settled upon the southeast quarter of Section 10; Robert Clayton built a cabin on the north- west quarter of Section 13, but never acquired title ; David Tyree and Ilamilton Anderson, with their families. located on the southeast quarter of Section 11, and Samuel Warren, Stephen Men- denhall, Alfred Jamison and Stephen Perkins were others who came during that year.

Rev. William Crain, a Methodist minister, and Abraham Newfield came from Missouri in De- cember, 1834, and entered land on the northeast quarter of Section 6, and also the northeast quar- ter of the northwest quarter of the same Section for Ezra Dorsett. who joined them the next year. Among the settlers of 1835 were: William An- derson, who located on Section 12, and William Nesbit and Samuel Smith, who located near by. John and Thomas Allphin came that year and settled on the northwest quarter of Section 16.

The first marriage in the township occurred in 1835, when Rev. William Crain joined in wed- loek a Mr. Cruikshanks and Miss Keziah Perkins.

The first birth was a child of Mr. and Mrs. William Spangler in 1832.

The first school was taught by Jeremiah Bris- coe in a log cabin on the southwest quarter of Section 4 in 1835.

The first sermon in the township was preached by Rev. Milton Kimball, at the cabin of William Spangler in 1833, and Rev. Peter Borin, Rev. John P. Richmond and Rev. W. Pitner, Metho- dist circuit riders, also held services at an early day.

Among the early physicians were Dr. North, Dr. John P. Richmond, Dr. Samuel Clarkson, and Dr. A. J. Mead.

The first mill in the township was built by

Dr. Samuel Clarkson on the south bank of Big Missouri Creek, on the southeast quarter of Sec- tion 25. in 1957.

The town of Huntsville was platted February 21, 1436, by Allen Persinger for Willis G. Motlitt, John T. Gast, William Spangler, George II. Bris- voe. Samuel Warren and Jolm L. Ewing, pro- prictors. The village is situated on the north- west quarter of Section &. T. A. Burton erected the first dweffing house in 1935. and Willis G. Moffitt was the first store-keeper and postmaster. John L. Ewing was the first Justice of the Peace. The first church built in the township was erected by the Presbyterians in the village in 1541.

Population of the township in 1900, 976.

LITTLETON TOWNSHIP.

Littleton may welt be referred to as the "Prai- rie" Township of Schuyler County, and, with a location on the watershed between Crooked and Sugar Creeks its wide expansive prairies make it one of the most populous and wealthy town- ships of the county. It is one of a tier of four townships which forms the north boundary of the county, lying adjacent to MeDonough County on the north. The south part of the township is the more broken, where flows Horney Branch and Brushy Creek, but even this land has now reached a high price on account of its close prox- imity to the rich levet lands that surround it.

The first pioneer settlers in Schuyler County were attracted by the richness of the virgin fields of Littleton Township, and as early as 1825, . Da- vid Tramor located there and built his cabin on the west half of the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 27 and put in his first crop.

The following year Thomas MeKee and his son-in-law, Garrett Wycoff, moved from Bain- bridge Township to their new home on the southeast quarter of Section 35. Another of the first settlers of Schuyler County, who was at- tracted to Littleton Township, was John Ritchey, who bad located in Buena Vista Township in 1824 and, two years later, removed to Littleton. He purchased the claim of Garrett Wycoff on the southeast quarter of Section 35 and his travels in search of a home then ceased, for he was an honored resident of the township up to the time of his death.

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.

Among other early settlers in the township were David Snyder, who entered the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 33 in the fall of 1830; Elijah M. Wilson, who came from Ken- tucky in 1831; James Thompson, also a Kentuck- ian, located in Littleton the same year. Mir. Thompson had come to the county in 1826 from Kentucky in a spirit of adventure, but was im- pressed with the possibilities of the country and, in the fall of 1831, returned to his old home, where he was married to Miss Catherine Craw- ford, and they soon afterwards took possession of the cabin he bad built in the wilderness.

The Littleton settlement was further in- creased in 1832 by the arrival of Richard P. Ap- plegate, who made the long trip overland with his wife and two children. The following year William II. Crawford, wife and five children were attracted from their Kentucky home to Schuyler County and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 20.

By this time Littleton Township was well known among the settlements of the county, and the rush of immigration makes it difficult to fol- low the settlements in their natural order. But among the settlers who came to the township in those early days, and made it their permanent place of abode, we may mention the following : Randolph Rose, Drury Sellers, Michael Matheney, Joseph Logan, Col. Samuel Horney. George Gar- rison, William Lambert, James DeWitt, John S. Walker, Samuel Dodds, Joseph W. Snyder, Adam Walker. John Seward and D. C. Payne.

Ilon. L. D. Erwin, one of the few pioneer resi- dents of Littleton now surviving, in conversation with the writer, says he well remembers when deer and prairie wolves were plentiful in Little- ton Township, and gray wolves were occasion- ally seen. Mr. Erwin has also given us some in- teresting facts regarding the early election> in the township. It was customary to hold the elec- tions at the cabin of one of the settlers, and in the early 'forties the cabin of Richard Applegate was chosen on account of its central location. This was before the county was divided into townships, and the residents of that precinct agreed upon Oregon as an appropriate name and it so appears on the early election records. But when a postoffice was first established in the township. Dr. W. H. Window filed with his pe- tition to the Postmaster General a request that the postoffice be named Littleton, in honor of his

father-in-law, James Little, and this was done and the township was so named when it was or- ganized in 1854.

The first school in Littleton Township was taught by Thomas Bronaugh in the summer of 1835, in an old deserted log cabin on the south- west quarter of Section 21. and the first building erected for school purposes was built in 183S on the southwest quarter of Section 19.

The first marriage in the township was that of James Trainor and Miss Mary Shields, which was celebrated on Christmas Day, 1828, Thomas McKee, a Justice of the Peace, officiating.

The village of Littleton is located in the geo- graphical center of the township, and was platted by Leonidas Horney, County Surveyor, July 31, 1849. James Little and his son-in-law, Dr. Wil- liam H. Window. were the townsite promoters, and the latter had built the first house in the village in 1847. He also kept the first store and. in 1847. was appointed postmaster. The first school building in the village was erected in 1849, and was replaced in 1856 by a two-story brick building. On October 26, 1856. Littleton was devastated by a destructive tornado, par- tieulars of which are given in another chapter of this history.

By reason of its location in a rich agricultural country, Littleton has always been a commercial center for the country round about, but with the coming of the Macomb & Western Illinois Rail- road. which made the village its southern termi- nus, new vigor was enthused and. in late years. many extensive improvements have been made. The old frame business houses have been re- . placed with substantial briek buildings; a bank. elevator and newspaper have been started. and a coal company, with a capital stock of $25.000. is making an effort to develop the mineral wealth of the locality. In 1907 a bandsome new and modern church was erected by the Methodist Episcopal congregation, and a four-room. two- story school building. of concrete block construe- tion, replaced the old frame building that bad done service for many years.

The village of Doddsville, located on the northern boundary .of Littleton Township, lies partly in Schuyler and partly in MeDonough County. It was laid out by Samuel Dodds and Paris Wheeler. July 6, 1836, and was platted by Allen Persinger, County Surveyor. Samuel Dodds built the first house and kept the first store in

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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.

the village. Since the inauguration of the rural free-delivery system. Doddsville has lost its identity as a government postoffice, and its butsi- ness is tributary to adjacent towns.

The population of Littleton Township in 1900, according to the census of that year, was 1,002.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP.

Oakland is one of the four townships in Schus- ler County bounded on the north by MeDonough County, and it is bounded on the east by Fulton County. The land surface of the township is broken and in early days was covered with heavy timber that has long since been cleared away on the uplands where we now find expansive and fertile farms.

Sugar Creek and its tributaries drain this wide scope of country and the stream flows the entire width of the township, entering on the west in Section 7, winding its course southward and east to Section 36. The stream is now an insignifi- cant one, with the bluffs towering high above it, and from whose sides there are mimerous out- cropping of coal veins that are worked profitably, even though the coal is but thirty-six inches in thickness.

In the month' of April, 1882, a natural phe- nomenon occurred on the north half of Section 27 that is worthy of note. In one night a portion of a hillside sank deep down into the earth, car- rying with it the large trees growing on the sur- face. This sunken area included a tract of land five aeres in extent, and in a night it sank to a depth of forty-five feet and the big trees were left intact with their tops waving where only a short time before was the level of their roots. The walls of the depression were left as per- pendicular as the walls of a house and all the lateral fissures were the same. A creek running at the foot of the hill was made higher than the surrounding ground, and a new channel, fifty yards away, was cut by the stream. The coal that was pushed out with the mud and gravel, and into the creek bed, showed that there was a cave or chamber in the coal vein that had been formed when the coal was made, probably cen- turies ago.

The first settler in Oakland Township was Richard Ashcraft, a pioneer of Kentucky. In 1832 he drove to Illinois from Indiana in a one-

horse wason, and brought with him his wife and three children, William, Aber and Abisha. Crossing the Illinois River at Beard's Ferry he pushed northward and. in November, 1832, set- tled on the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 25, where he built his eabin and prepared to make his home. Mr. Ashcraft afterwards became a licensed preacher of the Baptist denomination and resided in Oakland until his death.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2, Part 42

Author: Dyson, Howard F., 1870- History of Schuyler County. 4n Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1126

Author: Dyson, Howard F., 1870- History of Schuyler County. 4n
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1126