Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 33

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897, ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913, ed. cn; Strange, Alexander T., ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 810

USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II > Part 33

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).

ter, Mrs. Edward Douglas, Charles Ramsey, Judge George R. Cooper, W. H. North, Mrs. L. G. Tyler, and Fred Randall. The officers were: President, Mrs. William Abbot; vice president, W. H. North ; secretary and treasurer, George Walter, who held the office till his death.

Feeling that the library should have a per- manent home of its own, the board of directors in 1903, wrote to Andrew Carnegie for money to erect a building. This was promised, and then Hon. John M. Whitehead, who was born and grew to manhood near Hillshoro, but whose home is in Janesville, Wis., generously gave the lot on School Street where the library now stands. Mr. Whitehead will ever be remem- bered hy the people of Hillsboro with as much gratitude as is paid to Mr. Carnegie. The lib- rary is a beautiful one-story structure of brick and stone, with a large porch, having massive pillars reaching to the tile roof, and resembling much the classic Greek temple. It was built to reproduce, as nearly as possible, the outlines of the old Hillsboro Academy which formerly stood on the Edison School campus across the street. This early educational institution of Illinois is revered in memory by the men and women who were so fortunate as to have at- tended school there, and whose sterling worth and character are a tribute to the soundness of its teaching and the high ideals with which it sent them from its doors. Mr. Whitehead was one of these, and it was at his suggestion, that the library was built like the Academy. The new public library was opened with a re- ception to the people of Hillsboro on March 1S. 1905. The number of hooks in the library at this time is 4641, but even with this limited equipment, it is serving the public well. The circulation has increased from year to year until the highest total, 14,236, has been loaned during one year. When the commission form of government was adopted the library board was reduced from nine members to three. The pres- ent members of the board are: Hon. Amos Miller, president; Mrs. James P. Brown, secre- tary ; and Mrs. A. M. Howell, and Miss Bertha Welge, librarian."

SCHOOL TREASURERS.

There is no township office of more importance and responsibility than that of school treasurer.

798

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Those who are now serving as treasurer of the several congressional townships in the county are :

Town 7-2, South Fillmore, Henry J. Hill, Fillmore; Town S-2, North Fillmore, Frank Herrin, Fillmore; Town 9-2, Witt, John L. Huber, Irving; Town 10-2, Nokomis, J. W. Sho- maker, Nokomis; Town 9-1, South Audubon, Irwin Drake, Nokomis; Town 10-1, North Audu- bon, E. N. Pray, Pana; Town 7-3, South East Fork, Charles L. Laws, Donnellson; Town 8-3, North East Fork, Louis Spinner, Coffeen ; Town 9-3, Irving, W. Milton Berry, Irving ; Town 10-3, Rountree, Robert W. Warnsing, Nokomis; Town 7-4, Grisham, F. F. Thacker, Sorento; Town 8-4, Hillsboro, J. C. Barkley, Hillsboro; Town 9-4, Butler Grove, T. Scott Hoes, Butler ; Town 10-4, Raymond, J. E. McDavid, Raymond ; Town 11-4, Harvel, John A. Huber, Harvel; Town 12-4, East Bois D'Arc, C. W. Dunlap, Pawnee; Town 7-5, Walshville, C. C. Barlow, Walshville ; Town 8-5, South Litchfield, Herman Niemen, Litchfield ; Town 9-5, North Litchfield, Pleasant Briggs, Litchfield; Town 10-5, Zanesville, M. F. Bandy, Barnett; Town 11-5, Pitman, Henry Haynes, Waggoner; Town 12-5, West Bois D'Arc, Agnes V. Thomas, Thomasville.

CHAPTER XVII.

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS.

INCENTIVES TO DEVELOPMENT-RAILROADS-A NO- TABLE CONVENTION-FIRST INDUSTRIAL ENTER- PRISES OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY-PEPPER MILL- MONTGOMERY COUNTY TELEPHONE AND TELE- GRAPH COMPANY-PEOPLES MUTUAL TELEPHONE COMPANY-AMERICAN ZINC COMPANY OF ILLI- NOIS-LANYON ZINC COMPANY-SOUTHERN ILLI- NOIS LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY-SCHRAM AUTOMOBILE SEALER COMPANY-MONTGOMERY COAL INTERESTS-KORTKAMP BRICK AND TILE COMPANY-FARMERS' MUTUAL INSURANCE COM- PANIES-MONTGOMERY COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY-PANA DISTRICT MUTUAL WIND STORM INSURANCE COMPANY-NOKOMIS MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY-FARMERS' MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION OF VIRDEN-UNITED

STATES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION OF LITCH- FIELD-INDUSTRIAL SUMMARY.

INCENTIVES TO DEVELOPMENT.

The fertility of the soil, its valuable timber, or its mineral wealth, usually lies undeveloped and unused until markets are made accessible by the building of railroads or other transpor- tation facilities. Railroads and waterways are the great arteries of commerce, and commerce is the incentive in large measure for the develop- ment of agriculture and allied industries. In this chapter on industrial development it is intended to give a brief description of the rail- roads and other monied industries giving em- ployment to men, and affording commercial and manufacturing opportunities for investment that, united with agriculture and its allied oc- cupations, create the wealth, and elevate the standing of communities or commonwealths.

RAILROADS.

Montgomery County is particularly fortunate in having so many important railroad systems running through its confines, there being the Illinois Central, the Toledo, Peoria and Western, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Wabash and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis railroads, all of which have important stations in the county, and not only bring to the people much merchandise, but carry away the products of their farms, mills and mines. The birth of a number of the villages and cities of the county is co-incident with the building of the railroads, and the prosperity of others was checked by the failure to secure a right of way of the railroad through them as had been hoped. The first railroad to enter Mont- gomery County was the Big Four, then the Alton and Terre Haute, in 1855. This road was origi- nally incorporated January 28, 1851, as the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad, and re-organ- ized February 28, 1854, as the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute Railroad. It entered the county some four miles west of Litchfield. miss- ing Hardensburg just far enough to give that village a death blow, and to usher Litchfield into the arena of business activity with some- thing of a boom. From Litchfield the road was built to follow the ravines into and out of the Shoal Creek bottom in such a way as to reach the Butler community and to make the little

799

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

town a success, and on to Hillsboro, then a fairly representative place. From Hillsboro, the line swayed southeast by way of the pres- ent site of Schram City and on to the Irving site, making occasion for its establishment. From Irving it was built on in a northeasterly direction, opening the way for the establishing of Witt. Nokomis and Ohlman, all important shipping points, and essential to the develop- ment of the farming interest surrounding them, which may be said to be the best in the county.

The Decatur and St. Louis division of the Wabash Railroad was built in 1870. It en- tered the county between Litchfield and Mt. Olive in South Litchfield Township, and from Litchfield was built in a northeasterly direction through the present villages of Honey Bend, and Raymond : and then left Montgomery County at Harvel. None of these towns had any place before the building of the road so that they owe their existence and location to it.

The Springfield and St. Louis division of the Illinois Central Railroad, entered the county in about 1893. near the present town of Thomas- ville. and built due south through the present towns of Farmersville, Waggoner, New Zanes- ville, and Shop Creek to Litchfield, and then following the line of the Wabash Railroad, left the county about four miles southwest of Litch- field. Old Zanesville, once an important busi- ness center, received a knockout blow because the railroad missed it about a mile, but the other towns along its line that were begun in consequence of the road building, more than compensated for the loss of Zanesville.

The Clover Leaf, or more properly the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad, was built over the southern part of the county about 1881. It enters the county at the present town of Panama. passing through the little town of Donnellson. then nearly as large as now, and on in a northeasterly direction, destroying the chances for villages at Stevens, Sam Smith's corner. and practically destroying Van Burens- burg. in their place making possible the splen- did little villages of Coffeen, Chapman, and Fillmore. The Burlington and Quincy, formerly the Jacksonville and South Eastern Railroad. was built about 1880. It entered the county a few miles northwest of Litchfield, and after making Litchfield a division point, it built down across the townships of South Litchfield and Walshville, passing through Walshville and mak- ing Sorento just south of the county line.

The Big Four Railroad, in about 1903, to shorten its line to St. Louis, built what is known as the Short Line, by joining in with the Chi- cago and Eastern Illinois Railroad, in build- ing a double track across the county, diverging from the old line of the Big Four at Hills- boro and taking a direct course toward St. Louis across the townships of Hillsboro, Grisham and Walshville. Unfortunately for these villages, this division refuses to establish stations in this county, and no local benefit accrues from the road. The only village on this new line in the county, organized since this road was built, is Taylor Springs.

The last, but not the least in local impor- tance is the Illinois Traction System. This road, leaving its Springfield and St. Louis line at Staunton, parallels the Wabash Railroad to Litchfield. and from there, built a line to Hills- boro in about 1905. This, for local purposes, is of vast importance. It gave the opportunity to open up the Midway Chautauqua grounds, and while resting at Hillsboro for the present, doubtless will in time be extended on east and connect with the traction lines already in opera- tion, completing a chain of interurban lines that connect St. Louis with New. York and other eastern cities.

From these brief sketches it will be seen that we have in Montgomery County some eight distinct lines of railroad with an aggregate of nearly 200 miles of trackage, not including side tracking. The value of these lines is vast from the monetary standpoint and of much benefit to the county as tax producing property, but their greatest importance is their value as pro- motive agencies. They created the incentive for town building and made shipping a vast in- dustry, without either of which our country would still be in its swaddling clothes and its enterprises yet rudimentary. True, several favored spots for towns already projected have. been banished from our maps by the relentless progress of capital, but in their stead have come better and more important ones. The value of railroads in promoting industrial development is forcibly shown in the securing of the radia- tor plant of Litchfield. and the two great smelters and glass plant in Hillsboro, as well as the coal mines that have been opened up in consequence of their proximity to the coal fields. The railroads bring the markets of the world to our doors. give direct mail service with the daily papers and transportation connections for

800

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

travel in all directions. As a reminiscence we briefly describe a railroad gathering held in Hillsboro before the county had a railroad of any kind.

A NOTABLE CONVENTION.

Prior to the building of the Alton and Terre Haute Railroad from Alton to Hillsboro® and on eastward, there was much controversy in va- rious parts of the state over the proposed roads, and progressive towns vied with each other in their efforts to secure the passage of these roads through their localities. The influence of no- table men in the state was courted and much bitterness was often engendered by the lean- ings of these men toward one locality or an- other. While the contest was on, a conven- tion was arranged for 'and pulled through by such men as Judge Rountree, Joseph Eccles, E. Y. Rice, J. M. Davis, and others for Hills- boro, this being on the line of the proposed road. This convention was held in 1849, with such men as Judge Joseph Gillespie, Judge Anthony Thornton, General Thornton, and Governor French in attendance as speakers. In addition to the convention proper, there was held an old fashioned barbecue. This was pro- moted by almost the entire county and is said to have been one of the largest gatherings ever held in this part of the state up to that time. The place where the barbecue was held was south of the present site of the Mey shop, and on the east side of Main Street. That was then wooded land and known as the Clotfelter pasture, in which were several ox teams that they were using to deliver logs and lumber to the Clotfelter saw-mill which stood near the present water works. The barbecue of that day was a very popular entertainment for gath- ering . large crowds, but in this day it is re- garded as a sort of relic of bygone days, too coarse and disgusting to appeal to sensitive people.

FIRST INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

The enterprises here to be described, were established less than three years after the for- mation of the county, and when the county contained less than one hundred citizens or families. It must also be understood that they were positive necessities at the time, as they

provided the great essentials, building material, food, clothing and articles required for daily use, and we may say, incidentally, medicine. The first cabins were either round or hewn logs, till the saw-mill came. The first meal was made with a hand grater, till the stone burr grinder came, and the first wool or cotton was carded by hand till the advent of the card- ing machine. The first furniture was very crude till the cabinet maker came, and as to whiskey, it was by the early settlers regarded as about as necessary as the others, and with- out jugs it could not well be preserved and hence we had the pottery industry. As a pre- servative, its value as a medicine was undis- puted, and while we of today may smile at the idea, it should be remembered that the set- tlers had no other stimulant and a necessity existed which they, at least, believed could in no other way be supplied. The effect of this old time medicine on snakebites, mad dog scares and other imaginative calamities, we leave to our readers' speculation, as they may feel dis- posed.

Before we enter into a description of the "Pepper Mill," we may premise by saying that Melchoir Fogelman, after selling out his prop- erty in North Carolina, landed in Montgomery County with $800 in cash, an enormous sum of money for the times. He located in 1818, on section 1, of township 7-5, and built a cabin just north of the spring at the side of the high- way on what has been known as the Joseph Green place. The cabin was about 200 yards north of the road as at present located, and on the bluff, and it was here that, soon after his arrival, his son John was born, who is ac- credited with being the first male white child born in the county. Mr. Fogelman was a black- smith by trade and soon after building his cabin he built a shop. It was about a half mile north of his cabin on what has been known as the Penter place, located there evidently be- cause a highway ran by that location.

It was at that shop that the irons were made that were used in the saw-mill and in the grist- mill and other enterprises. The saw-mill was located on the south boundary of the Edward McLain farm, on the south bank of Shoal Creek, at a point just north of the John N. Green residence. We are informed by Zacariah Kes- singer that the old sills may be seen today in the bottom of the creek at low water mark. Mr. Kessinger thinks that corn was ground there

WILLIAM A. LEWEY

MRS. WILLIAM A. LEWEY

801

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

also, but the evidence is not conclusive as to that. Lumber from this mill was probably the first sawed lumber, other than that known as whip-sawed, used in the county. Just the exact date these mills were built, is somewhat un- certain. Mr. Perrin says in his history that the Pepper grist-mill was erected in 1824, and as the lumber was needed to be used in. the building of the grist-mill, we assume that the saw-mill was built as early as 1822 or 1823. Now we get to the grist-mill. The first thing to be considered in building a grist-mill is the top or running burrs, which must be of fine granite or other hard rock. After a search, a large round stone was found on the farm of John Canaday, about five miles west of Hills- boro, on the land on which Mr. Canaday had squatted, and which he came near losing by being out-entered, and which Thomas Phillips aided him in securing, and afterwards came into possession of it. This stone was, by some, supposed to have been of meteoric origin, though this is doubted. It was loaded on some kind of a vehicle and conveyed to the mill location and there worked into the necessary shape for grinding. Where the bottom or stationary stone came from, we do not know. The next requisite was the water, and as overshot wheels were more powerful than the undershot types, Mr. Fogelman determined to build an overshot mill. To do this, it was necessary to raise the water about thirty feet before it was turned loose on the wheel. Going up the Street branch about a half mile to a point about opposite the Crabtree residence, a dam was built of suffi-

cient size to hold enough water to run the mill from three to four bours at a time. From the dam the water was carried down along the east bank of the ravine to the mill, thus se- curing the necessary elevation. After the grist- mill was complete and in operation, it was found that it took about twelve hours to catch water enough to run the mill three hours, and the practice was adopted of catching water dur- ing the daytime while thie men could attend to other labor, and grinding the grists after dark.

To establish the carding machine, James Street, who by the way was a Baptist minis- ter, built a second dam across the same stream, about one fourth of a mile further north, at a point about opposite the old Clear Springs Church, and a race course was built for tak- ing the water down to the location of the mill dam, and here the carding machine building

was erected and the machinery installed.

a furniture factory, and made furniture for the Anthony Street also put into operation here,

early settlers. The water was carried on the

west side of the ravine to this point and after

machinery, and the lathe for the furniture mak- éter, for the power used in running the carding turning an undershot wheel of six feet diam-

ing, the water, after turning the power wheel, was carried back into the larger dam, and went on its mission toward the grist-mill. Tbe

power plant conducted by Anthony Street, a

brother of James Street, was located on the west

bank of the branch and not far from the dam

that was made for the carding machine pur-

poses. This plant required little water, and so

According to Mr. Perrin, Mr. Grisham and Mr. far as we know no power machinery was used.

Jordan had come here about the time that

Mr. Fogelman arrived, and for a while lived with him before locating in Walshville Town- ship, as mentioned elsewhere. While living with

business of their own, by running for awhile business, they joined in promoting a private Mr. Fogelman, and aiding him in the milling

a distillery for the making of whiskey. This plant was about 250 yards west of the grist- mill. This was several years before distilling was carried on at the Pepper mill. After Mr.

Fogelman had left the business, distilling was done, which gave to the Pepper mill its repu- tation of being a moonshine whiskey establish- ment. The distillery machinery was put in during the time that the Jacksons operated the mill. After the Jacksons, Hardin Nelson ran

it for awhile, but it was after Mr. Woods had bought the mill, and was running it, assisted by Mr. Meyers of Litchfield, that the United States authorities interfered with him for doing a moonshine business, and arrested Mr. Woods through Albert Brown, deputy for Joseph Eccles, provost marshal, and took him before the United States courts accused of doing a moonshine business. It cost him a large part of his estate to get out of his trouble. Mr. Meyers skipped the country, and the distillery was destroyed by the United States authorities.

The question has been asked why was the grist-mill called the "Pepper Mill?" Some have said that it was the vernacular way of speaking of the powder mill, and others say, and with more plausibility, that it was the slow way of grinding the corn reminding the onlooker of the old fashioned pepper box, and that the mill

802

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

was the "Pepper Box Mill," abbreviated to the Pepper Mill. Mr. Kessinger says that the name comes from the fact that large quantities of peppermint grew on the Street branch, Mr. Starr, however, disputed this, and says that his grandmother, Mrs. James Street, set out the first peppermint and calamus plants on that branch herself, for medical purposes. Really the raising of these plants was another indus- try carried on in connection with the above named enterprises. Thus we have the begin- ning of organized industries in Montgomery County on the very threshhold of the county's existence.

John Beal, who owns the land where the Pepper Mill was located, says that a great many people came to see the place where the mill was located from a sense of curiosity, ana as the two burrstones are all that is left of the mill, that he had intended to move them to his yard and place them where the public could see them, but through Mr. Richards we persuaded him to allow them to be brought to the county seat and placed in the courthouse yard, as a reminder of the beginning of the county's industries of almost a century ago. The county supervisor's committee in charge, accepted them upon the part of the county. Mr. Beal's generosity is appreciated. Zacariah Kessinger says that the stones now in the courthouse yard are not the original stones, but Mr. Starr, Mr. Bowles, and Mr. Richards all think that Mr. Kessinger is mistaken. How- ever. even if Mr. Kessinger is right it does not lessen the fact in the least that the burrs are a type or reminder of the first industries of the county.

The following description of these bulirs or burrs, is from the Montgomery News of Decem- ber 8, 1916, and is interesting, except that Mr. Bliss evidently has reversed the running direction of the top buhr. "These old millstones are made from buhr-stone, a form of silica as hard as flint but not so brittle. This rock, it is said, is only found in abundance in the mineral basin of Paris and some adjoining districts, and belongs to the tertiary formation. It is a cellu- lar texture, and is frequently full of silicified shells and other fossils. Millstones are usually from four to six feet in diameter, and are each made up of a number of pieces strongly ce- mented and bound together with iron hoops. One six feet in diameter, of fine quality used to cost $250. The grinding surface of each

stone is furrowed .or grooved, the grooves being cut perpendicularly on one side, and with a slope on the other. A pair of stones are used together, and both being furrowed exactly alike, the sharp edges of the grooves on the one come against those on the other, and so cut the grain to pieces. These millstones after being used for a considerable length of time, would become 'dull,' and had to be dressed down and sharpened by an expert who used what was called a 'nidging hammer.' This expert would sit for hours at a time pecking away at the surface of the stone with his nidging hammer until he had sharpened the perpendicular edge of the grooves so they would grind as good as ever. Sometimes it would take him several days to properly dress the surface of a pair of these millstones. These experts used to make good money traveling from mill to mill over the country sharpening the millstones. Where these stones are now used they have a patent process of dressing the grinding surface of them by means of a peculiar kind of diamond which rapidly covers it with small grooves. But this method is not considered as good as the old fashioned method where the nidging hammer, in the hands of an expert, was used."

In connection with these industries, a man, supposedly, Mr. Brazzleton, operated a small distillery a half mile west of the Pepper Mill on the James Street farm, and here also a man named Couch ran a pottery business on a small scale. The pottery business comple- mented the distillery as the whiskey could not be sold and conveyed without jugs to contain it. Hence we have the same spirit of co-opera- tion, that is so important a part of the Pepper Mill industries. Mr. Couch, after closing out the pottery business, lost his daughter, Hannah. by death, and he took a large round stone used in the pottery business for grinding and mixing the clay and other ingredients, and placed it over her grave in the Clear Springs Cemetery, where it may now be seen with the name Han- nah Couch, chiseled thereon.

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.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 33

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897, ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913, ed. cn; Strange, Alexander T., ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 810

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897, ed. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913, ed. cn; Strange, Alexander T., ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 810