Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 48

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

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Among the first school teachers of Harvel Township was John P. Hitchings, father of Henry Hitchings. who is now a resident of Raymond. Mr. Hitchings taught at what was the Munsterman schoolhouse. near the center of the township. The second district to organize and build a schoolhouse was what is known as the Lone Elm district. and the first teacher there was William Moore.

Harvel Township is drained by the west fork of Shoal Creek with its source in Pitman Town- slip crossing Harvel in a southeasterly direction. In an early day there was a considerable amount of wet and undrained land which has now been drained. mostly by systematic ditch- ing, and is now the most productive soil in the township.

HARVEL.

The Wabash Railroad was built across the outheastern part of Harvel Township. in 1869, and John Harvel. who had come here some time before. had the town of Harvel laid out, naming it for himself. The town is located on the

EARLY BUSINESS MEN.

Some early business men of Harvel were: William Vasel, dry goods and groceries ; Henry Haupman, groceries; George Van Sandt, Hen- dricks Bros .. John Rogers and H. Tomlinson, general merchandise; George Ramsey & Brother, hardware and drugs; Philip Manger, boot and shoemaker ; Henry Beesman. harnessmaker ; William Putney and Jefferson Davis, black- smiths; Oscar Young, wagonsmith : John Rog- ers, barber : and Adams and Nelson, dealers in lumber.

CHURCHES.

The Harvel Methodist Church was organized in 1874, by Rev. John Cummins. Its first serv- ices were held in a schoolhouse and the church was built some four years later. Among the

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

original members were: George Van Sandt and wife, Moses Wright and wife, Orson Young and wife, E. M. Young, and Mrs. John Hawkins. Among the early ministers were: John Cum- mins, John Beckert, W. Roberts, Reverend Sla- ter, and Elijah Haley.

The St. Jacobs Evangelical German Lutheran Church was organized at the Liberty school- house by Rev. Lewey Sahn and after worship- ping in the country till after the town had be- come a center of local interest the church or- ganization built a house of worship in the vil- lage in 1SS0. Rev. L. Miller was the first pas- tor as well as a teacher in the village school. The church also started a parochial school in 1881, which has continued to be operated in connection with the church.

FRATERNITIES.

The Odd Fellows have maintained an active lodge in the village since 1882, which has been the most important fraternity in the village, though there have been and are now others. This lodge was instituted in 1SS2, as stated, by Elonzo Elwood as grand master. Its charter members were: John W. Petrie, Andrew J. Nash, Taylor Boyce, Reuban Rambo, J. M. Wil- liams, Leonard Nash, Newton Corn, C. C. Young, and J. J. Carey.

W. K. Zimmermann has furnished us with a very good brief description of the village as it is today, which we append hereto :

"Harvel has a population of about 500. It is situated on the Wabash Railroad sixty-six miles from St. Louis and thirty-six miles from Deca- tur. It is surrounded by some of the finest and most prosperous farming country in the state. It has two Lutheran churches, one Methodist and one Christian. It has a splendid and highly organized public school and two private schools. It has a park of fifteen acres covered with vel- vety blue grass and shaded with matured native forest trees. It has three thriving grain eleva- tors, one mill, a fine and well equipped brick, tile and cement works, a farmers' lumber yard, four grocery stores, two hardware stores, a harness shop, two livery barns, two blacksmith shops, a barber shop, a restaurant, a millinery shop, ice cream parlors, a bank with as fine a building and furniture as any town in the state with ten times the population, and a public garage situated on the Black Diamond Trail,

and which is a magnificent building the equal of which cannot be found in the state's capital city. The town has beautiful cement sidewalks reaching all parts of the town, the streets are well graded and abundantly shaded. Brilliant electric lights for both public and private use. It has both local and long distance telephones, and above all it is the largest grain and stock shipping point between St. Louis and Decatur, as the railroad books will verify. William J. Zimmerman is the president and Charles Hauptman is the secretary and Cyrus Smock associate of the school board. Three teachers are employed. C. A. Tulpin is the present prin- cipal. Hermon Huber is the president, Cyrus Smock the clerk, and Wade Zimmermann, Henry Bergschneider, Edd Redmann and Fred Geiselman, associates of the town board.

"The wide awake spirit of the business men, the fine location of the city and the character and integrity of its citizens make Harvel one of the most desirable towns of its size in the state. The town has an active commercial club, which does much for the business interests of its business men. H. H. Zimmermann is the president, Charles J. Hauptman, vice president, and W. H. Huber the secretary."

Those who have served as police magistrates of the village have been : Henry M. Autle, 1873; David H. Sample, 1877, 1881 and 1885; William D. Corn, 1889; Samuel R. Hamilton, 1894; H. C. Millot, 1898; Thomas Elder, 1902; August Sut- ter, 1906 and 1911; and George Nuenaler, Jr., 1909.

SUPERVISORS.

The following have served Harvel Township as supervisors : Martin Brown, 1873, before Pitman was detached; Joseph Pitman, 1874, be- tore Pitman was detached ; Alfred Miller, 1875 and 1876; W. W. Adams, 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1880; A. C. Jordan, 1878; John H. Todt, 1881 and 1SS2; John R. Leigh, 1883 and 1884; Brewer A. Hendricks, 1885; L. H. Witt, 1886 and 1887 ; W. W. Whitlow, 1888, 1889, 1890. 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895 and 1896; J. J. Carey, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908; A. J. Thomason, 1901; William Hiems, 1904; George Goodman, 1909 and 1910; H. Huber, 1911, 1912 and 1913; and H. J. Todt, 1915 and 1916. J. J. Carey was honored with a chairmanship one term.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

Harvel Township has had the following jus- tices of the peace: Andrew W. Miller, 1873; William B. Wood, 1873; James Carroll, 1873; Henry Dalton. 1876; Jolm Stump, 1877 ; George W. Slater, 1877 and 1881; C. Sims, 1878; Wil- . liam D. Corn, 1879 and 1SS9; Andrew J. Hart, 1881, 1885, 1889 and 1893; James T. Adams, 1884; John W. Petrie, 1885; Joseph Sawyer, 1SS7, 1889, 1893, 1897, 1901 and 1905; Andrew J. Naslı, 1897 ; and August T. Sutter, 1813.

CONSTABLES.

Harvel Township has had the following con- stables : Milton B. Long. 1873 and 1SS3 ; George W. Slater, 1876; Fred P. Vest, 1876 and 1877 ; James C. Van Sandt. 1876; Christopher C. Young. 1STS; James M. Williams, 1878 and 1SS1; John Sherrell. 1880; Taylor Boyce, 1881; John E. Peebles, 18$1, 1885 and 1893; James W. Kessler, 1SS5, 1889, 1893 and 1897; W. J. Com- lon, 1889; and B. A. Havenor, 1897.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

HILLSBORO TOWNSHIP.

IN GENERAL-FIRST SETTLEMENTS-BOUNDARIES -- EARLY SETTLERS-EARLY MILLS-OLD WOODSBORO -LOCATION OF EARLY BUILDINGS-HILLSBORO PIONEERS DESCRIBED - MONTGOMERY COUNTY REMINISCENCES-CITY OF HILLSBORO-LOCATION - FIRST SETTLERS - SOME EARLY HILLSBORO BUILDINGS-EARLY BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL.

AND MEN-HILLSBORO OFFICIALS-PRESIDENTS AT- MAYORS-ALDERMAN-COMMISSIONERS-CITY

TORNEYS-POLICE MAGISTRATES-POST OFFICE AND POSTMASTERS-HILLSBORO LYCEUM- CEME- TERIES-HILLSBORO ACADEMY AND COLLEGE- HILLSBORO BUSINESS INTERESTS-CARNEGIE LI- BRARY - HILLSBORO CHAUTAUQUA - HILLSBORO HOSPITAL-TAYLOR SPRINGS-PROMINENT HILLS- BORO PIONEERS-HILLSBORO HONORED-SUPER- VISORS-TOWN CLERKS-ASSESSORS-COLLECTORS -JUSTICES OF THE PEACE-CONSTABLES.

IN GENERAL.

Hillsboro Township contains the county seat, and with its large business interests may be said to be the most important of any of the eighteen townships composing the territory of the county. Other townships may excel in some respects, but the centralizing of public county business of itself lends an importance to this township that is not possessed by others. Hillsboro Township occupies the whole of the congres- sional township S-4, with the city of Hillsboro near the northeast corner. The soil, originally largely covered with a growth of timber, is now under cultivation or in pasture. The soil, though not like the black loam of the prairies in fertility, is underlaid with a red clay subsoil that is porous, making the building up and re- taining of its fertile qualities an easy and sure task. The township is well supplied with water courses, being crossed with both the main branch and town branch of Shoal Creek, with its small tributaries.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

The first settlements made in the township were in the vicinity of Clear Springs, in the southwest portion of the township, in about 1818, and also a little further east at what was called the Pepper Mill. From these points the settlers gradually extended their home building north and east. A town was begun at Woods- boro and attained respectable proportions be- fore Hillsboro was projected. In 1820 a few liad come to the site of Hillsboro, but it was not determined on for a town till after Mrs. Nusman went to the boggy, wet spot at the foot of the hill east of the original town, and with her bare hands pulled out the tufts of wild growths and dug up the mud and clay till a good bottom was secured and after awaiting for the spring to clear, found an abundance of good clear, sweet drinking water for the prospective home builders. Even after Hillsboro had sev- eral inhabitants in 1821, when the people were looking for a suitable location for the county seat, a place was selected about two and a half miles further southwest, at what was called Hamilton, and had it not been for the conten- tion of the people of the Hurricane settlement, who wanted the county seat nearer to them, Hillsboro perhaps would never have been se-

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

lected. There was no one in the Hillsboro set- tlement that had the land, or the money to buy it with, to secure the county seat, and they had to send down to the Hurricane settlement and get Mr. McCoffey, who was known to have a lit- tle money, and persuade him to come to Hills- boro and secure a twenty-acre tract of land, at a cost of fifty dollars and deed it to the county free from incumbrance to comply with the re- quirements of the state commissioners empow- ered to select a county site. The selection, how- ever, was made and public buildings, such as they were, were built, and the affairs of the county soon adjusted themselves to the location, and the site has not since been changed although Litchfield in the days of its supremacy made more than one ineffectual effort to remove the county seat to that growing and enterprising town.

BOUNDARIES.

Hillsboro Township is located a little south of the center of Montgomery County, and is bounded on the north by Butler Grove Town- ship; on the east by East Fork Township; on the south by Grisham Township; and on the west by South Litchfield Township. The sur- face is uneven, rolling and somewhat hilly along the water courses, rising in some places to bluffs, so that the scenery is remarkably beau- tiful. In the early days almost all of this sec- tion was covered with timber, principally oak, soft and sugar maple, cottonwood, elm, walnut, ash, pecan, hickory and similar growths of this climate. The township contains thirty sections lying in a square, corresponding with the con- gressional survey. Borings show that the town- ship is underlaid with valuable deposits of coal, which, with the exception of certain "faults." is workable, and of fine quality. The American Smelter before locating in Hillsboro tested the coal and found it second only to one other vein in the state.

EARLY SETTLERS.

The early settlers were mostly from Kentucky and Tennessee, and as before stated located first near the Clear Springs Church and the site of the old Pepper Mill. Some may have located in the township as_ early as 1817, as they did in the Hurricane settlement, but we are not cer- tain that Hillsboro Township was peopled be- fore 1818. and it is certain that Walshville

Township had. some settlers within a few months of Hillsboro Township. There has been some contention in the newspapers recently, based on tradition, that there were a family or two located near the Pepper Mill site as early as 1800, but the evidence of such early prehis- toric settlements are too unreliable, being based on traditions from people who in an early day kept no record but that of memory, so that we note the contention only for what it is worth.

Among the early settlers who first came to Hillsboro Township, or along its borders, may be mentioned Jarvis Forehand, William Clark, John Norton, Gordan Crandall, Rolland Shep- herd, Hugh Kirkpatrick. Alexander McWilliams, Nicholas Lockerman, Soloman Prewett, David McCoy, James Street and David Starr. These people were in the main uneducated, but men with a purpose, that of making homes where their families might be reared and started out in life with opportunities of in turn acquir- ing homes for themselves with all that life in a free country meant of possibilities and privi- lege.

They were devoted to the religious principles of truthi, honor and justice which has charac- terized our forefathers in every pioneer com- munity throughout the country. It was this spirit, with that of undaunted courage, that gave to this country her freedom in her contest for liberty with the mother country in the Revolutionary conflict.

David McCoy, having one of the best cabins in the community. invited Rev. James Street, then a young Primitive Baptist preacher, to hold services in his house, which he did, his being the first sermon ever preached in the county. A church was not organized just then, and in the meantime, the settlement over on the Hurricane, under the guidance of Rev. Henry Sears, another young Baptist pioneer minister, began the erec- tion of a churcli and became its pastor, so that when shortly after, the Clear Springs Church was built, it was the second church in the county. The house of Mr. McCoy was rather distant from the main settlement, being south and west of where Taylor Springs now stands. As educa- tion and religion always go hand in hand, as soon as the settlement became safely established, the settlers began to think of some means of having their children educated. A young man by the name of Brazzleton seemed to possess the necessary qualifications to teach. He knew "reading, riting and rithmetic." and could make a goose quill pen and make ink out of poke

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

berries or the oak ball, so he was engaged by subscription, to teach a term of school. For the purpose, Reverend Street furnished a cabin, not far from where the Clear Springs Church is lo- cated, and here was taught the first school in Montgomery County. Not long after this a log schoolhouse was built north of here, near where " Hamilton was laid out, which was the first schoolhouse in the county.

While Clear Springs settlement was the first settlement in the county, it was only a few months after then that Joel Smith and David Kirkpatrick settled about where Hamilton was laid out. With them came a son-in-law of Mr. Kirkpatrick. Doctor Garner. He probably was the first practitioner in the county, although Dr. Levi Boone was not far behind him in beginning to practice.

Among the early settlers, other than those above mentioned, especially those particularly connected with the early history of the town of Hillsboro, were Robert Mann, brick kiln owner, John Marshall, same business; Mark Rutlege, tavern keeper ; C. B. Blockburger, tavern keeper and tin shop keeper; John S. Haywood, land speculator ; John Dickerson, mechanic; William Brewer, merchant; Thomas Sturdevant, mer- chant, John Tillson, promotor and educator and many other all around workers, such as Ben Rose. George H. Anderson, James Grantham, Wesley Seymour, Ira Boone, Alfred Durant. E. B. Hubble. Hiram Rountree. James Blackman, Thomas Phillips, Joseph Rolston, Jacob Wilson, Charles Holmes, John Slater, Sol Harkey, Jacob Cress. Joseph Eccles, Alex Scott, and many more, the descendants of whom live in the county today.

Then people began to settle in other parts of the township. Benjamin Rose and Joseph Mc- Adams settled near where Taylor Springs now stands. and as Mr. McAdams built a commo- dious two-story cabin, the largest and best yet built. and when it became necessary to hold county and circuit court. the first meetings were held in his cabin. About this time James Rut- lege. Jolın Nussman, Hiram Rountree, Dr. Levi Boone. D. B. Jackson, John Tillson and C. B. Blockburger were locating in the vicinity and at the present site of Hillsboro.

EARLY MILLS.

Associations of settlers make necessary cer- tain industries for the accommodation of the pub-

lic. In looking for the first of these, we find a meal and flour mill erected in the southern part of Hillsboro Township, probably the first one in this part of the county. It was built and operated by Melchoir Fogelman, and was known as the Pepper Mill. It was located near two springs, and its power was water, furnished by being carried in a race course some distance to a little overshot wheel. The mill ground very slowly, its burrs were of stone rudely made and small in size. The old burrs are now in the hands of John Beal, who prizes them highly as a relic of the days of a hundred years ago. The Nick- olson Mill was a little below the township line and was one of the first. It is mentioned in the chapter on Grisham Township. Also the Ross saw-mill mentioned in the Grisham article was the first one of its kind in the county. James Street built a small wool and cotton carding mill near the Pepper Mill, east of the Crabtree place, at quite an early day, which was run for several years, for be it remembered that cotton was then raised on quite an extensive scale for the making of wearing apparel. There were several other mills established as population increased, one known as the Parh Mill, near the Bond County line: another near where the old depot stood on the railroad northeast of Hillsboro; and one at the town of Woodsboro, and others.

The center of population was toward Woods- boro, as this was the crossing of the St. Louis and Vandalia highways, but the building of the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad turned the tide of settlement and improvement toward Hillsboro and Butler, and proved the undoing of Woods- boro. We give here a brief reminiscence of the once town of Woodsboro, but William Woods, its founder, was not caught in its collapse, for see- ing the impending downfall, he moved to Butler, and after awhile that town, not being sufficiently progressive for his irrepressible temperament, closed out there and aided materially in the up- building of Witt.

OLD WOODSBORO.

How transitory are the ambitions of frail humanity ! What "air castles" we of the earth earthy sometimes build. And it ofttimes pains us to see them crumble to dust before our eyes. When William Woods selected, at the junction of two important state roads, a location to give vent to his promotive spirit, he was not a dreamer, but did see visions of a town with its

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

opportunities, and its advancing civilization that others did not, through lack of that vision. The travel from St. Louis to Shelbyville and beyond, and that from Springfield to Vandalia, inter- sected each other at the place selected, and from every human avenue of foresight was the ideal site for great things. His ambition was aroused. not by chimeras of an extorted vision, but by conditions and environments that met the ap- proval of others more conservative.

Mr. Woods was a native of the Palmetto groves of South Carolina, a grandson of Revolutionary ancestors who had fighting, and new departure blood in their veins. When still a boy under age, he left his paternal home, on the Big Peedee, in search of the ideal land of promise, and en- countered the wilds of the then far west where the great prairie empire invited all to come and fight life's battles with courage undaunted and faith in the all-wise Ruler of the Universe. Drop- ping down on the East Fork less than eight years after it first became the habitat of the white man, he began his remarkable career. From working on a farm, chopping the trees for house- building, and clearing off the underbrush for cultivation, he jumped as it were, into the more active life of merchandizing. Buying a store- house and stock of goods, his ability to manage business was shown and appreciated by a profit- able trade. Soon he had accumulated enough to go back south and bring his parents and others of the family to the land of promise.

Alexander McWilliams, possibly the first East Forker, had sons and daughters and young Woods did not wait for a competence to propose a union with one of the daughters. Nor took he a course different to the custom of the day. The only question in that day, and who says it should not be the paramount one today, was the personal affinity question. And as divorces were not then a fad we may well asume that the affinities were well selected. When the impulse of town build- ing took possession of young Woods he went to David Killpatrick to find a lodging place for himself and young wife until he could put into execution his well-conceived plans. Mr. Kill- patrick had an old cabin used to store tanbark in, in which Mr. Woods camped for awhile. He induced Jacob Lingofelter to build him a one- room house on the site selected, he in the mean- time clearing off the underbrush and preparing the site for occupancy. This house was built of hewn logs and sided with rip-sawed lumber, with a large fireplace which a brother helped build.

Into this he moved with his family, not waiting for its completion. The floor was laid only as far as the beds occupied the space, the windows were not in, nor were the doors hung, but barred with barrels against them. These improvements, however, came in due time and as time pro- gressed another room on the ground floor and two rooms above were added and thus comfort- ably situated, he began to work out his plans for building the proposed town. As travel over these roads was an incentive to his purpose, he was not slow in adding enough to his house to open up a tavern to the public. And here we may say he entertained from time to time the most notable characters in the state, among them being Abraham Lincoln.

The store that he had managed on the East Fork was moved to the new location and soon he enjoyed a lucrative business, but without waiting for others to aid in his enterprise he kept up the pace set by building a saw-mill for converting the fine timber around him into lumber for home building, thus making unnecessary the old tire- some method of rip-sawing that was essential for the needs of the pioneers. Running a store was not enough for Mr. Woods' ambition, and while he kept this going he was also clearing up the land erecting shops and dwellings and other buildings. The exchange of skins and other produce for family supplies was the larger part of the trade of the day. Specie was scarce, and state bank notes were not considered safe, hence the question of currency was a momentous one in those times. To the saw-mill Mr. Woods soon added a stone burr grist-mill, thus he put out of business another pioneer method of preparing the family gruel, the grater or the mortar and pestle. Just south of Mr. Woods' store was built mainly by Mr. Woods an all-purpose house, denominated a schoolhouse, though used more for religious worship than for school purposes. All other kinds of town meetings were held there, debating societies, singing schools and political meetings, etc. Mr. Woods, however, did not wait for the schoolhouse to begin the education of his children and those of his neighbors, but set apart one of his storerooms and hired James Street to teach the young idea how to shoot as best it could be done under such hampered cir- cumstances. When the schoolhouse was com- pleted, Frank Fellis was the first one to wield the birch and make the quill pens, as well as in- struct in the blue back speller and the "three R's" of a common school education. He was

(An old cut ) OLD ZANESVILLE MILL (Built about 1835)

THE HILLSBORO ACADEMY (Built in 1835-6)

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

followed by James Jenkins, James Street, Eliza- beth Simmons, Julia Simmons, Robert W. Davis, Mr. Wright and others. The desire for educat- ing the children was not the only longing of the early settlers, but that native inborn aspiration toward something that would console the heart in trouble and give hope for the hereafter, was theirs as has been in all ages and counties. Rev. Alfred Bliss, Rev. C. C. Aydelott and others were among those who preached to those hungry for the gospel truth.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 48

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