USA > Illinois > Champaign County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Cook County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Cook County > Evanston > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > McDonough County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Ogle County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Boone County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Rock Island County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Carroll County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > DuPage County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Grundy County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume II > Part 45
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100
Until about 1857 this jail ยท answered the purposes for which it was built, as to mild offenders who went in emptyhanded, and for men committed for petty offenses. In it young Johnson, a son of a foster-brother of Abraham Lincoln, was committed in 1856, charged with a felony, and it was within its walls and through the afore-mentioned trap- door, that Mr. Lincoln held the interview with the young man, as told in Major Whit- ney's "Life on the Circuit."(1)
(1) This interesting reminiscence of Mr. Lin- coln is thus told by Major Whitney on page 475 of his "Life on the Circuit with Lincoln:" "In the summer of 1856, when he was one of the electors-at-large on the Fremont ticket. a crippled boy was aiding a drover to drive some horses to the northern part of the State. They stopped over night at Champaign; and, while there, this boy went to a small watch- maker's shop, kept by an old decrepit man named Green, upon an errand, and stole a watch. The theft was discovered in time to cause the boy's arrest at their noon stopping place. He was brought before my father, as a Justice of the Peace; the case being made out, he was committed, but the boy had requested that the case be left open, till he could send for his uncle, Abraham Lincoln, to defend him; that being denied him, he wanted it continued till I should return home. But the case seeming too clear to be aided by lawyers, my father com- mitted him to jail to await the action of the grand jury. Upon my return home, I was in- formed of the circumstances, but paid no at- tention to it at all, and forgot all about it at once.
"Not long thereafter; a mass meeting was held at Urbana, our county-seat, to which Mr. Lincoln came as one of the speakers, and, as soon as he saw me, he said: 'I want to see you all to yourself.' When we had got beyond the hearing of others, he said: 'There is a boy in your jail I want to see, and I don't want anyone to know it, except us. I wish you would arrange with the jailor to go there, on the sly, after the meeting, and let us in.' I then recollected this crippled boy and Lincoln explained to me that when his father married his second wife she had a boy about his own age (John D. Johnston); that they were raised together-slept together-and loved each other like brothers. This crippled boy was a son of that foster brother, and he was tending to the bad rapidly. 'He is already under the charge of stealing a gun at Charleston,' said Mr. Lin- coln, sadly; 'I shall do what I can for him in
735
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
The second jail was built of brick and iron in the public square, and stands in a modi- fied form to this day, though soon to be super- seded by one more modern and better calcu- lated to detain, as well as to protect, men charged with crime. The latter quality has become a necessity, owing to the disposi- tion to dispense summary and informal jus- tice on the part of mobs of regulators in these days.
The present jail was at first considered a safe repository for offenders, from the amount of brick and boiler iron employed in its con- struction, but some of the early inmates committed to the cells gave to the county au- thorities lessons in jail construction which proved of value in the repairs which were soon made necessary. The first cost of this jail, and jailor's residence attached, was about $7,000; but additions and reconstruc- tions since made have greatly increased this amount. Both the jail proper and the jailor's residence have been more than doubled in capacity.
This jail has witnessed one capital execu- tion-that of Richard Collier, convicted of the murder of Charles Freebriant, which took place on December 16, 1898.
At first, and until about the year 1858, the care of confirmed paupers was sold to the
these two cases, but that's the last. After that, if he wants to be a thief, I shan't help him any more.' The jail was a rude log-cabin structure, in which prisoners were put through a trap-door in the second story-there being no other entrance. So Lincoln and I were secretly admitted into the small enclosure surrounding the jail; and, as we approached the one-foot square hole through which we could converse with the prisoner, he heard us and set up a hypocritical wailing, and thrust out toward us a very dirty bible, which Lincoln took and turned over the leaves mechanically. He then said: 'Where was you going, Tom?' The boy attempted to reply, but his wailing made it incoherent, so Lincoln cut him short by saying, 'Now, you do just what they tell you-behave yourself-don't talk to any one, and when court comes I will be here and see what I can do. Now stop crying and behave yourself.' With a few more words we left, Lincoln being very sad; in fact, I never saw him more so."
"Broke Jail .- Mackley, the chap who was con- fined in our jail, charged with stealing money, bade adieu to his limited domain on the night of Thursday last. He broke jail by means of a saw, with which some sympathizing friend had furnished him. In this connection, we deem it our duty to say to the people of our county, that it needs a jail better adapted to the detention of those committed to its cells than the one we now have. It might answer for the imprisonment of infants, or of men who are badly crippled. but will not do for the de- tention of rascals."-Urbana Union, January 11, 1855.
lowest bidders at auction, and temporary re- lief granted from time to time by overseers of the poor. During that year eighty acres of land, in Section 7 of St. Joseph Town- ship, was purchased and devoted to the care of the county's poor. Only a pioneer log house was on the farm and the facilities for caring for paupers were very limited. The distance from the county-seat rendered this location inconvenient and, in 1865, a farm about a mile east of the court-house was pur- chased, where substantial and convenient buildings have been erected. Incurable In- sane paupers, returned to the county from the State hospital, are now provided for there.
It will be of interest here to name those who have served the county from its organ- ization to the present time in the capacity of judicial and executive officers.
Under the statute, as then in force, the county business was transacted by three Commissioners from 1833 to 1848, when the adoption of a new Constitution and law changed the organization. The Commission- ers from the first were: John Brownfield, William Nox and Daniel T. Porter; in 1836, Cyrus Strong, Hiram Johnson and William Nox; in 1838, under a change in the law, James Clements was elected for one year, Daniel T. Porter for two years and Jefferson Huss for three years. After this, one Com- missioner was elected each year, as follows: James Clements, 1839; Daniel T. Porter, 1840; Jefferson Huss, 1841; James Clements, 1842; William Taylor, 1843; John W. S.wear- ingen, 1844; Archa Campbell, 1845; B. F. Harris, 1846; William Nox, 1847, and James Clements, 1848.
Here came in the change of administration when the county affairs were transacted by the County Court, constituted of the County Judge and two associates. The Judges are named hereafter. The associates who sat with Judge Thomas, Judge Harkness and Judge Ater, from 1849 to 1861, when the sys- tem was changed to the present, were J. W. Jaquith and Matthew Johnson, for the first four years; M. D. Coffeen and William Stew- art for the second term of four years, and John P. Tenbrook and Lewis Jones. The lat- ter, dying in office, was succeeded by F. L. Scott, for the last four years before
the adoption of township organization.
736
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
The Probate Judges were: Moses Thomas, by two elections, from 1833 to 1837. He was succeeded by his son, John B. Thomas, for two years; M. W. Busey, in 1839; John Brownfield, 1841; Daniel T. Porter, 1843 to 1848; Archa Campbell, 1848, until superseded by the County Court.
The County Judges have been as follows: John B. Thomas, 1848 to 1853; Elisha Hark- ness, 1853 to 1857; Edward Ater, 1857 to 1861; J. O. Cunningham, 1861 to 1865; A. M. Ayers, 1865 to 1873; Joseph W. Sim, 1873. to 1877; James W. Langley, 1877 to 1890; Cal- vin C. Staley, 1890 to the present-still in office.
Moses Thomas was the first County Treas- urer and served from 1833 to 1837. Those following were: Green Atwood to 1839; Ja- cob Bradshaw to 1843; M. W. Busey until 1851; Elisha Harkness until 1853; Dr. W. H. Pearce until 1855; Chalmers M. Sherfy until 1857; Rev. William Munhall until 1859; Pleas- ant M. Parks until 1861; Robert T. Miller until 1865; Maj. George W. Kennard until 1869; James M. Davies until 1871; John W. Hill until 1873; Thomas A. Lewis until 1886; James W. Davidson until 1890; Paul W. Woody until 1894; Dr. E. A. Kratz until 1898; Ellis M. Burr until 1902; Daniel P. McIntyre until 1906. John H. Savage has filled the office of chief deputy in this department since April, 1871, most acceptably to all.
The Sheriffs of the county have been: John Saulsbury, chosen in 1833; A. H. Stevenson, in 1834 and 1836; David Cox, 1838, 1840 and 1842; Wilson Lewis, 1844, 1846 and 1848; Ed- ward Ater, in 1848 and 1850; Penrose Stid- ham, in 1852; Francis M. Owens, in 1854; Penrose Stidham, in 1856; N. M. Clark in 1858; Randolph C. Wright, in 1860; Nathan Towle, in 1862; John D. Johnson, 1864; Thomas J. Scott, in 1866; Peter Myers, in 1868; Henry C. Core, in 1870 and 1872; John D. Johnson, 1874 and 1876; James E. Oldham, 1878 to 1882; James C. Ware, chosen in 1882 for four years; P. B. Burke, 1886 to 1890; Samuel C. Fox, 1890 to 1894; Daniel D. Cannon, 1894 to 1898; Ernest Lorenz, 1898 to 1902; Cyrus S. Clark, 1902 to 1906.
The School Commissioners were: John Meade, elected 1838; Moses Thomas, 1840; John B. Thomas, 1846 and 1848; William Pe- ters, 1850 to 1853; Paris Shepherd, 1853, re-
signed, and John B. Thomas, served until 1857; Thomas R. Leal, 1857 to 1873; S. L. Wilson, 1873 to 1877; Calosta E. Larned, 1877 to 1881; George R. Shawhan, 1881 to 1902; Charles H. Watts, 1902 to 1906.
Thomson R. Webber served as Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court from the organ- ization of the county to the change in the County Board in 1849, when he was elected County Clerk and served four years, to be succeeded by Thomas A. McLaurie, who served until 1857; Solomon J. Toy, 1857 to 1865; Capt. Nathan M. Clark, 1865 to 1869; . John W. Shuck, 1869 to 1873; James S. Mc- Cullough, 1873 to 1896; Thomas A. Burt, 1896 to 1906.
Prosecuting Attorneys .- Until the adoption of the Constitution of 1848 the Attorney Gen- eral was also Prosecuting Attorney for this circuit. Following this, and until his death, T. H. Campbell, of Springfield, filled the of- fice. Succeeding him, by appointment, Amzi McWilliams, of Bloomington, acted in that capacity until the election of Ward H. Lamon, in 1856. Mr. Lamon, as Prosecuting Attorney for the Eighth Circuit, represented the people until 1861: After the creation of a new cir- cuit, the Twenty-seventh, including Cham- paign County, Joseph G. Cannon was twice elected for the circuit, his term expiring with the year 1868. Martin B. Thompson was elected in 1868, and served until 1876. Before this time the law was so changed as to pro- vide for the election of a people's attorney , for each county. Under this law, Milton W. Mathews held the office from 1876 to 1884; Lewis A. Smyres, from 1884 to 1892; Ran- dolph C. Wright, from 1892 to 1896; Andrew J. Miller, from 1896 to 1904; F. A. Coggeshall, 1904.
County Surveyors .- Garrett Moore, 1833; James S. Wright, 1838 to 1850; John L. Som- ers, 1850 to 1857; John Thrasher, 1857 to 1859; R. C. Wright, 1859 to 1861; L. T. Eads, 1861 to 1863; John Thrasher, 1865 to 1867; T. B. Kyle, 1869 to 1875; F. M. Price, 1875 to 1879; T. B. Kyle, 1879 to 1900; Joseph O'Brien is the present incumbent.
County Coroners .- James Myers, 1847 to 1854; A. M. Kerr, 1854 to 1856; B. Thrasher, 1858; W. S. Garman, 1860; A. M. Kerr, 1862; W. J. Foote, 1864; H. Miner, 1866; W. J. Foote, 1868; J. M. Tracy, 1870; S. K. Reed, 1872 to 1876; George W. Burr, 1876 to 1880;
737
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
Jacob Buch, 1880 to 1892; W. B. Sims, 1892 to 1896; H. S. Penny, 1896 to the present.
CHAPTER XX.
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS.
COMING OF THE MINISTERS OF CHRIST-EARLY PREACHERS-JOHN DUNHAM, WILLIAM I. PETERS, JOHN G. ROBERTSON, J. D. NEWELL-ELDERS TAY - LOR, REESE, CARTER, RILEY, FARR, PASELEY, M'PHERSON, COMBS AND GLEASON-REV. CYRUS STRONG-REV. JAMES HOLMES-FIRST METHODIST CLASS-REV. ARTHUR BRADSHAW-HIS CIRCUIT- BUILDING OF THE FIRST CHURCH-THEOLOGY AND DISCIPLINE OF EARLY PREACHERS-FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH ORGANIZED-FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH -FIRST CHURCH BELL IN THE COUNTY-FIRST CON- GREGATIONAL CHURCH-MIDDLETOWN CIRCUIT- UNIVERSALIST CHURCH-ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH-FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Ever since our race followed the Star of Empire westward, the Herald of the Cross has pressed hard upon, or even preceded its migrations, in its endeavors to lay the foundations of every new community upon the rock Christ Jesus. As long since as the seventeenth century, the Catholic fathers, in their zeal for Christianity, had taken their lives in their hands and, literally without purse or scrip, had set up the banner of the Cross in the Illinois country, before the white man had reared a cabin. Of converts they had but few, for their audiences were gath- ered from the pagan tribes who roamed these prairies and erected their wigwams beside our rivers and creeks But it remained for another people and another faith to take per- manent possession of this beautiful country, and to honor the God who made it, by the establishment of a civilization as advanced and permanent as any the world ever saw; for in 1763 the fortunes of war transferred all this country from the actual possession of the French and from Catholicism to the English and to Protestantism-but to a tol- erant and liberal Protestantism.
Again, in 1778, by the fortunes of a frontier war carried on by the little army of Gen. George Rogers Clark, of Virginia, the same territory became the conquered territory of the new American Republic, and, of course,
was soon actually occupied by the frontiers- man. Closely following Clark, in all cases, came the preachers and religious teachers.
To this rule the early settlement of our own country and community formed no ex- ception. The first settlers, who were squat- ters upon Government lands without other title than occupancy, were scarcely settled in their cabins before the itinerant made part of the circle about their cabin fires, and, faithful to the injunctions of his divine com- mission, he "reasoned of righteousness, tem- perance and of judgment to come."
In 1831 one John Dunham, an itinerant of the United Brethren denomination, preached at the house of Matthias Rhinehart, probably the first sermon ever delivered in the terri- tory afterwards formed into this county. That was two years before Urbana or Cham- paign County contained a habitation or had a name, and while this was a part of Ver- milion County. His ministrations were re- peated at frequent intervals as he passed through after this date. It is related of him that he rode an ox from point to point, and that, while the itinerant roared and bellowed within, the ox, tethered to a sapling, roared and bellowed without. (1)
Rev. William I. Peters, who lived in the Salt Fork Timber, used to travel and preach much over the country. He preached a "free salvation" literally, for he never asked any compensation for his labors. He did not, however, strictly observe the injunctions given the early disciples, that they carry "neither purse nor scrip" in their wander- ings; for it is said that he sometimes car- ried with him, when upon a preaching tour, a barrel of whisky for retail among the peo- ple. He could buy whisky on the Wabash by the barrel at twenty cents a gallon. He sold it out at his appointments and on the road at a "bit" a quart, or fifty cents a gal- lon; and the income thus realized gave him as good a support as the average pastor then received. The people not only regarded this practice as unobjectionable, but thought it a religious duty to buy their whisky of "Uncle Billy," as he was affectionately called, thereby assisting to spread the gos- pel and at the same time securing a good article of whisky.
(1) James S. Wright, at a meeting of old set- tlers.
738
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
As has been elsewhere said, John G. Rob- ertson, an early immigrant to the Big Grove from Kentucky, a zealous religionist of the Baptist church, held meetings for religious instruction soon after his arrival here, and was, to the day of his death, a strong influ- ence for good, both in that grove and upon the Sangamon, to which he subesquently re- moved.
The labors of this good layman doubtless resulted in the organization of the Urbana and Mahomet Baptist churches-the former having been organized at the Brumley school- house, two miles east of Urbana, in Septem- ber, 1838, and the latter in March, 1839, at Mt. Pleasant (now Farmer City), but soon changing its place of meeting to Middletown, now Mahomet. Samuel Brumley and wife, James T. Roe and wife, Nancy Cook, widow of Isham Cook, David Cox, an early Sheriff of the county, and wife,' all elsewhere named as early settlers in the Big Grove, were among the members of the first, and John G. Rob- ertson and wife, Fielding L. Scott and wife, Preston Webb and wife, and Mrs. Dr. Adams, early settlers of the Sangamon, were of the membership of the latter.
Rev. J. D. Newell, then residing at Waynes- ville, DeWitt County, was the organizer of both churches.
It is fitting to say that, among the early ministers who served these charges were El- ders French, Taylor, Reese, Carter, Riley, Farr, Pasely, McPherson, Combs and S. F. Gleason, the last of whom has literally spent his life in the service of the Mahomet church and others nearby. The Mahomet Baptists built a church in 1844.
So also Cyrus Strong, an early settler upon the Salt Fork, who was a licentiate of the Disciples of Christ Church, and was the first minister whose name appears upon the mar- riage records of the county as officiating at a marriage ceremony, early in the history of that neighborhood, exercised his gifts in be- half of a religious life. Samuel Mapes, a resi- dent at Hickory Grove, of the same denomi- nation, preached at different places in the county and was instrumental in the organiza- tion of a church at the school-house in his neighborhood, which finally became the St. Joseph church or churches-for there are two there.
These were the earliest churches of this
denomination; and among the earliest pas- tors laboring there since then, may be named Elders Martin, Mckinney, Hess, Yates, Bas- tian, Maupin and Clark. The church at Ho- mer of the same denomination grew up sub- sequently, largely under the same leaders.
The first Methodist who put his sickle into this harvest was Rev. James Holmes, who came to the settlement in 1835. Mr. Holmes, while probably an ordained minister-for he officiated at weddings among the settlers- does not seem to have held active relations with any conference. He was a millwright by occupation, and, like Paul, wrought at his craft. The settlement was without any ade- quate milling facilities, without traveling be- yond the Wabash River, and Mr. Holmes came here to build a grist-mill for John Brownfield. Seeing the opening for evangeli- cal work, like a true missionary, he accepted the call and set about proclaiming the gos- pel. Near Brownfield's house was a school- house. It is described by Martin Rhinehart as "built of split logs, with puncheon floors, basswood bark loft, greased paper windows, half log benches (flat side up), and cost, fur- niture and all, not to exceed $25." In this house-or in the cabins of the nearby set- tlers-Mr. Holmes preached the doctrines of his Divine Master to the frontiersman, and soon after-probably in the winter of 1836- organized the first Methodist class in Cham- paign County. That class, while not in Ur- bana, was the germ of the subsequently formed Urbana Mission, Urbana Circuit, Ur- bana Station, and of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Urbana, as now existing.
The names of the persons who were thus united in this first class of the denomination, now so numerous in this county, so far as remembered were Walter Rhodes, leader, and Mary Ann, his wife; Lewis Adkins and Nancy, his wife; Susan Trickle, subsequently the wife of James Kirby; Sarah and Ann Brownfield, Alexander Holbrook and ' the preacher, Rev. James Holmes, and his wife. This organization was effected in 1836. A camp-meeting, held at Haptonstall's mill, on the creek a mile below Urbana, in 1839, un- der the charge of Rev. S. W. D. Chase, Pre- siding Elder of the Bloomington District, is pointed out by those who remember it as marking an epoch in the religious history of the county, on account of its immediate ef-
739
HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
fects upon the community and for the rea- son that, from that time-1839 and on-Ur- bana became a point upon the map of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Before that time neither it nor any other point in the county had been recognized by the confer- ence as a field for its work. It then became known upon the Conference Minutes as "Ur- bana Mission," and Rev. Arthur Bradshaw was appointed to assume charge.
Previous to that time, there had been no organization of Methodists in Urbana; and, in fact, no flock to be ministered unto. The sheaves harvested by Rev. Chase at the camp- meeting were to be gathered together, and the parish-which embraced the settlements in the Big Grove upon the Okaw, the Am- braw and the Salt Fork, down nearly to Danville-was to be established.
The last field of this first settled pastor of the county was 'a large circuit down upon the Wabash River, from which place he re- moved to Urbana in the autumn of 1839. How he came and what was the character of his first experiences in this new field, the pioneer preacher may, by the following ex- tract from his own writings,(1) tell the read- ers of to-day:
"My next appointment (1839) was Urbana Mission. This caused a move of one hundred and fifty miles. We were compelled to move in an ox-wagon, camp out about half the nights and take the weather as it came; so we had rain, mud and storm. When we ar- rived in Urbana our goods were all wet, a fierce wind blowing from the northwest and no empty house in town. We took up lodg- ing for a few days with Simon Motes, in his cabin in the north part of the village. The little society and friends had put up the body of a hewed log cabin with rafters, but no roof, floor or chimney.
"I organized a society four miles north of Urbana at Esquire Rhodes'; another east of Rhodes' three miles at the house of John Gilliland; another, down east of Urbana ten miles, at Widow Bartley's; and still another east of that on the main road leading to Danville, at Pogue's. Then to old Homer.
"My first visit to Homer was on Sabbath morning, hunting a place to preach, but
(1)A brief sketch of the Life and Labors of Arthur Bradshaw, Pioneer Preacher 58 years.
there was neither hall, school-house, church nor empty house; so the prospect was gloomy. At last a gentleman remarked: 'Do you see that little white house in the north part of the village?' I said, 'Yes.' 'Well,' said he, 'they have dances there; maybe you might get in there.' So I went and stated my busi- ness. 'Well,' said the doctor (Dr. Harmon Stevens), 'we have dances twice a week here. I don't know how that would work. What do you think of it, wife?' 'Well,' said she, 'I don't know.' I said, 'You don't dance on the Sabbath.' 'No,' said the doctor. 'Well, then,' I said, 'let me preach on Sun- day; we'll have no friction.' So they con- sented. Before the year was out the doctor and his wife professed religion and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and we or- ganized a society. I never knew what be- came of those dancers.
"I then organized a church in Sidney. I went from Urbana to Sadorus Grove, fifteen miles, without a house to stop at, making it a cold ride in bad weather. Nine miles be- low, or south of, Sadorus, at John Haines', we had a small society. Five miles below on the Okaw was where William Brian lived in a small cabin. Here we organized a society. Continuing down the river five miles, we came to Old Father West's. Here we organ- ized another society. Still continuing south we came to Flat Branch, where we organized another society in the cabin of John and Sarah Poorman. We are now forty miles south of Urbana. This entire round was made every three weeks.
"In 1840 we put up the frame of a small church, thirty by forty feet, in Urbana and inclosed it; and in the fall, as I was leaving for my next appointment, I was sued for the shingles that went on the church.
"It was at a camp-meeting, one and one- half miles east of Urbana (at Haptonstall's), that Jake Heater, said to be the bully of the county, got under strong convictions. He was . told to go to the altar and pray and he'd feel better. So Jake went and kneeled down, and his prayer was: 'Oh, Lord God, rim-rack and center shake the devil's kingdom.'"
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.