Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 63

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 63

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

village for short or long terms. A post office was secured really before the town was laid out. John King was the postmaster, and kept the office in his residence, which was the first house built in the village. The post office dates from 1846. Allison Corlew was the second man in charge of the post office. Others have fol- lowed as business interests largely led them. Usually the office has been in some store, and kept as a part of the merchant's business. Dur- ing the last few years however the tendency of everyone to do business through and patron- ize mail order firms, has so increased, that the post office even in Walshville is quite a little political plum, making the seeker an ardent politician who would otherwise be tamely in- different.

Spartan Grisham and John Simpson built a Inill in the village in 1853. It was a steam mill and had a three burr run of stones. This mill was run with great success till about 1862, when it was totally destroyed by fire. It was quite a loss to the owners, costing them about $13.000, which was quite a fortune in those days. In 1863 John Rudd built another steam flour mill on the same spot, this he sold in 1866 to F. C. Kirkland, the price being about $7,000, not half the cost of the first mill but was large enough for the business at that time. This plant was run at various times by Mr. Wheeler, Mr. McCracken and Mr. Libbey. But the business of the mill gradually fell off as the stone burr business gave way to the roller pro- cess and the old mill for some years, was little more than a loafing place for tramps and boys with a tendency to gamble out of sight of law- abiding people. Now a very good barn stands on the site of the old mill, and the elegant spring of splendid water that ought to supply some good enterprise, goes unused other than for the stock that may wander to it. Nickols Price built a steam saw mill in the village in 1855, and after running it for five years he sold it to Isaac Parish, and he moved it to Shoal Creek.

CHURCHES.

The Walshville Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1850 with an original men- bership of twelve. Services were held in the schoolhouse for awhile. The Baptist Church was not organized there, but was organized by Rev. Lynn Craig in 1819 and for years the

humble log structure they built northeast of the town was the only church in that part of the county. Just when the house was built we do not know, but the organization dates back to 1819. In 1852 the organization decided to unite with the Baptists living in the village and they were the first to build a house of worship in Walshville. The Methodist people aided the Baptists in their building and occupied the church for awhile in common with the Baptists. It was in the first old Baptist Church that the first school was taught in this part of the county. The first Baptist Church in Walsh- ville was burned to the ground in the sixties and in 1866 the present structure was built. The cost was about $3,300, a very large sum for that day, Just when the Methodist Church house was built we do not know, but it was after the Baptists had their house and prior to the Presbyterians. Among the ministers who have served the Methodist people have been Revs. Mr. Moore, Asa Snell, George Compton, C. J. Tolle, David Stubblefield, Mr. Walker, S. P. Groves, L. C. English, William Van Cleave, Keith and many others.

The Presbyterian Church is, like the Bap- tist, another removal. The church was first organized and a house built at what is now known as the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The house stood near the north side of the original cemetery, but no evidence can now be found of it. The membership of this church lived either a mile or more south or in the vicinity of Walsh- ville, and the two divisions separated, the Walshville division building the Walshville Presbyterian Church in 1871 at a cost of $2,000. The other division built a church a couple of miles south of the cemetery which they later moved to Sorento after that town had been lo- cated. The old cemetery, however, remained the care of the two churches, and is so recog- nized at this time. "Uncle" James E. Rankin gave the cemetery almost constant care as long as he was able, but fearing that it might be neglected, in 1913 A. B. Copeland by solicitation, raised a sufficient sum of money to endow its care. This money was placed under the direction of the county court, who appointed Thomas M. Barlow as the trustee to serve without com- pensation. Among the ministers who have served the Presbyterian Church may be men- tioned. Revs. Calvin G. Keown, Daniel R. Bell, Robert H. McHenry, Haley, Loew, W. P. Baker, and many others.

Willis S. Pope & Family

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

The Christian denomination organized a filled the positions with as much dignity as though they had a Litchfield under their con- trol. The present board consists of T. M. Bar- low, Sr., president; W. H. Riggins, clerk; and Jr., T. L. Barlow, Isaac N. Jordan, and E. L. Shields as members of the board. church in the village in 1874. Reverend North- cutt, we believe being the principal organizer. In 1878 the church felt strong enough to build a house of worship. Among the preachers who . John C. Gaston, E. W. Barlow, T. M. Barlow, have ministered to these people may be named Revs. J. H. Garrison, J. H. Smart, H. P. Tandy, L. F. Wood, Vance, Dangerfield, and others. The churchhouse of this denomination was de- SCHOOLS. stroyed by fire some years after its building, and after a lapse of a few years the present church structure was erected.

The Free Methodists organized a congrega- tion in the village under the direction of Rever- end Ashcraft, but have never been strong enough to build a house for worshiping purposes.

FRATERNITIES.

In the matter of lodges Walshville has had a varied experience. The Odd Fellows at an early day organized and carried on Jackson Lodge for awhile, but the town was too small for an adequate support and it went down. The Mutual Protective League. the Modern Ameri- can, the Maccabees and several others have for a time held Lodges, but for the same reason they have been weak and short lived. The Masonic Order, however, was organized and chartered October 3d, 1866. Its charter mem- bers were Peter L. Davenport, M. S. Davenport, William M. Towell, Leonard Bailey, John J. Wilbur, Tipton Cox, Isaac Sturges, and W. M. Moody. The lodge got to work soon after its being chartered, and secured by co-operating with the school directors a place of meeting, thus guaranteeing permanency. The lodge had the misfortune to lose its hall with all its books and papers, but a new hall was built and the struggle again for an efficient membership be- gan, and today it is the oldest, and we may say, the one lodge that has withstood the ravages of time and continues to work on the square, as all men should, in the village.

INCORPORATIONS.

The town first organized under the statute pertaining to towns, and later changed the forms to comply with the statute controlling villages, but just when these incorporations took place we have not the data at hand. Its officials have been its most prominent citizens, and have

In school matters Walshville has always maintained a good reputation for efficiency, though its school has not been large. Among the persons who in the past have served the district as teachers we name C. G. Keown, Mr. George, Mr. Kennedy, A. B. Copeland, Mrs. A. T. Strange, W. H. McReakin, J. H. Rainey, Anna Haley, Mr. Wilcoxson, Isey Armstrong, Charles A. Armstrong, and others. The present school board is composed of Daniel F. Miner, president ; E. Wilson Barlow, clerk and W. E. Cannon.

OLD SETTLERS.

Among the old settlers of Walshville, not above mentioned we give the following : Eli DeShane, farmer, merchant and tavernkeeper ; William Rodgers, blacksmith; Claiborne Sey- mour, merchant; Dr. John S. Gorline, prac- titioner, Rev. Edwin Brown, known as "Wiggy Brown"; William A. Kingston, merchant and farmer; Rev. Moses Lemon, whose residence was in sight of the village; Henry Saunders ; George D. Taylor, farmer and merchant ; Squire Starkweather; Rev. Reuben Cline, father of Rev. C. E. Cline, whose residence was southeast of the village; Thomas C. Kirkland, whose resi- dence was about two miles west of the vil- lage; Thomas Greenwood, tavernkeeper ; Robert Hunter, farmer; Mr. Layman; Jonas Hueter, farmer and molassesmaker; Christian Hauser, harnessmaker; John Godown, farmer; W. J. Boyd, farmer ; Jesse Boyd, farmer ; George Hois- ington, farmer ; Moses Baeck, farmer; David R. Holliday, farmer and carpenter; Marshall Weber, carpenter, and numerous others. We give especial mention to this township's most widely known old settler. Walshville Township never had a more public-spirited and working resident than T. C. Kirkland. Mr. Kirkland was a Mis- sourian by birth but came into Montgomery County in 1852 when a young man. He was married in 1847 to Miss Edith Irwin and in his

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

struggles to secure a home in Montgomery County, his brother-in-law was associated with him. Mr. Kirkland was of Scotch-Irish descent, his forefathers coming to America during the Colonial period. His grandfather, John Kirk- land, fought in the Revolutionary War, being with Washington at Brandywine, Trenton and Yorktown. Mr. Kirkland died several years ago. His children are: Mrs. Matilda E. Davis, Mrs. Sarah E. Ripley, John Harden Kirkland and Mary M. Dressor. Mr. Kirkland was Methodist in religious preferment ; was a Mason, and in politics was a Republican. Late in life he became interested in the Litchfield First National Bank, and served it in the capacity of vice president.

Walshville Township and the village being among the old settled communities of the county, the early events and customs, are sub- jects of interest to all who want to know the past history of our county. As instructive along these lines we give a brief article from the pen of B. Frank MeLain, on carly customs, and one from Dr. C. E. Cline of Portland, Ore., correct- ing some errors in previous histories.

WALSHVILLE RECOLLECTIONS.

The following is written from verbal conver- sations with "Uncle" Frank MeLain, and is told as illustrating early life and incidents. "In my boyhood days sixty odd years ago, I was very familiar with the Walshville settlements. Then Jonas Whitesides lived in a one-room log cabin a little north of what has for many years been known as the Whitesides place. Willis Hill and myself, both living at the time in the Donnell- son settlement in Grisham Township, were pay- ing attention to the girls of Jonas Whitesides. Quite frequently did the yearnings for their so- ciety take us into the Whitesides community and the cabin where the hospitable father lived whose good will we sought. Such visits were necessarily family visits, as all lived and slept and ate in the same room. Courting was rather a public pleasantry than of private conversa- tion under the circumstances, but the mental telegraphy of love usually was effective, scarcely ever failing to accomplish its purpose. How- ever, neither Mr. Hill nor myself became irre- trievably entangled and in time ceased our at- tentions there and sought new pastures on which to feed our desires for marital affections.

"On one occasion I went to Mr. Whitesides, there to learn that he had a team of horses stray away from home, and was very uneasy lest they might not be found. The usual custom of those days was to bell the horses and turn them on the common range, and seldom did they wander far from home and could easily be found from the tingle of the bell. But on this occasion they had wandered too far to hear the bell and a search had been made without re- sults. To relieve the anxiety of the girls, I told them that I saw the team near Shoal Creek some six miles to the east, Mr. Whitesides would not wait for morning, but went to the designated spot only to find no horses, nor hear the bell. I felt that my lie flippantly told was going to be my ruin, and feeling very badly about the matter on my return home on the next morning greatly to my surprise and ex- ultation I found the horses grazing at the very spot where I had deceitfully located them the evening before. On the following evening I took them to the Whitesides home. The entire family, hearing the bell before I got there were sitting on the rail fence that encircled the house awaiting the return of the horses and received the horses and their deliverer with genuine gratitude, and I felt that I had narrowly es- caped being found out in an unnecessary un- truth. Mr. Whitesides offered to pay me for my trouble, but to have accepted anything for re- turning the property of another in those days would have been an ungenerous act inexcusable in those days."

We quote one more, a Civil War incident : "During the days of the excited political cam- paigns of the sixties, Robert W. Davis, an at- torney of IIillsboro, went to Walshville to make a Democratic speech, and in his forceful way made some assertions that aronscd the spirit of the Republican or Whig hearers, and one. Mr. Elias W. Miller, fecling incensed at the as- sertion, yelled 'That's a lie.' The words had scarcely been uttered, when Mr. Davis drew a gun on Mr. Miller, and he hid behind a large drygoods box and Mr. Davis jumping down ran around the platform shooting at Miller as he ran, but Miller considering discretion better than valor under such circumstances made a hasty retreat, and Mr. Davis was restrained by his more level-headed friends and after a sem- blance of order had been restored proceeded with his speech."

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

971

WALSHVILLE REMINISCENCES.

By Rev. C. E. Cline.

Dr. C. E. Cline furnishes the following very interesting article :

"To the Secretary of Montgomery County (Ill.) Historical Society :

"The purpose of submitting this communica- . tion for a place in your little publication of pioneer history is to correct in a kindly spirit certain statements in a book entitled 'History of Bond and Montgomery Counties' 1882, W. H. Perrin, publisher, but written mostly by other parties, and to supply certain data omitted in said book. Incorrect history is not history at all. The corrections herein made are confined to the history in said book of Walshville Town- ship. written by G. N. Berry.

"William Cline and his good wife Jane (nee Bryant) emigrated from North Carolina to Illinois in the year 1818, just as the Illinois Territory was admitted to statehood. While casting about for the place to be their per- manent home, they tarried at Jonesboro, in Union County, one season, when they moved on to Montgomery County, settling on a piece of land (government land, of course,) which they entered and improved, and where they lived till their death, many years after. This place was about one and a half miles southeast of the present village of Walshville, formerly known as Mt. Kingston. The imme- diate cause of their settling where they did was a spring of sparkling water flowing the year round out from under a large hollow sycamore tree, at the foot of the hill, on the west side of Lake Fork Creek. One hundred yards or so from this spring of never-failing water, a house was erected on top of the hill, where the timber and prairie met-indispensable conditions with the early pioneers. On this place seven of the sons and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Cline were born and reared, Reuben H. Cline, the oldest of the children. being three years old when the family reached their new home in Illinois.

"The history written by Mr. Berry of Walsh- ville makes no mention of the coming of this family, while it speaks of others, a number of whom came much later. The coming of William Cline. my grandfather, as a matter of fact, pre- ceded all the others in that region, save Nicholas Voils. and Melchoir Fogleman. His settlement was prior to that of the Grishams, Kirklands, Jordans. Lindleys. Garrisons, Simpsons, and the

Kingstons, whom Mr. Berry mentions. My grandfather with his family was living where he settled, as above indicated, when the late John Fogleman, the first white child, was born, · a mile or so north. Mr. Fogleman's birth pre- ceding only a short time that of Alexander. Cline, my uncle, who improved a farm across the creek a half mile east of the place of his birth.

"William Cline and wife were Missionary Baptists, opening their humble home as a place of divine worship; and here was preached early in 1819 the first sermon it is believed in Mont- gomery County, by Rev. Lynn Craig. Among the first things William Cline did was to measure off a piece of his farm for a 'burying ground' now sadly neglected, and where he and almost his entire family, with not a few of the early pioneers, lie buried. On this plot of ground a plain hewed log church (Baptist, of course) was built. Here the Baptist people came for their annual gatherings from long dis- tances, among them Rev. John M. Peck and the Lemens, five brothers of whom were Baptist preachers, from Sinclair County; Rev. William Burge, from Cahokia Creek. Macoupin County, and others. for their annual 'associations,' which were identical in manner and results with the oldtime Methodist camp-meetings. It was in this church that Emil Clowsen taught the first school in that part of Montgomery County, and not in 'a little log structure that had formerly been occupied by the family of some squatter,' as Mr. Berry states. In that church Reuben H. Cline, my father, was in boyhood converted, and in after years ordained as a minister, and chosen its pastor ; a position he held with that of justice of the peace till his death in Febru- ary, 1856, Rev. Moses Lemen being his succes- sor in that pastorate.

"The organization (not the old log building) was moved to the village of Walshville in 1852, and not 1862, as Mr. Berry says. The first building erected by these people in Walshville in 1852 was soon after burned, and another built before my father's death, he with William Simpson, William Rogers. Esq. Starkweather, Hugh Jones, Henry Sanders, and others fur- nishing most of the money for the new church, still standing and which cost $1,000.

"Among the fondest recollections of my early childhood are the scenes about my grandfather's old home. with the big milkhouse built where that cold spring water flowed over clean flag-

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

stones, on which the crocks of rich sweet milk were set, and from which the best butter was made. Once a little pet dog crept into that milkhouse, worked off the top of the big woodell churn, and in his efforts to get down to the cream, slid in, head first, to the bottom, where my grandmother found and pulled him out stiff the next morning, by the tail. That churning was not churned, and poor little 'Jimmy' never chased the cats again.

"Sixty-eight years ago, just big enough to toddle, I attended with my brother Perry, my first school, in the old log church above men- tioned, learning my A, B. C,'s cut from a copy of Pilgrim's Progress, and pasted on a paddle,- the paddle occasionally being used for other purposes. And I may now be permitted to state tliat the historic data lierein given is not guessed at, but was received, the earlier parts of it, first-hand, from those who made the his- tory. I forgot to state that my grandfather, as did "Uncle' Sammy Simpson, 'Bobby' Kirkland, the Streets, and others among the first things planted an orchard of apples, peaches and cherries, the latter on his place becoming finally a regular thicket. From near and far the neighbors came with 'piggins' and buckets for cherries when ripe, free to all for the picking. Alas! the orchard. the log cabin, the old churcli, the springhouse and even the spring, are gone, with all the dramas of domestic life occurring about them, forever hushed."

BITS OF WALSHVILLE HISTORY.

In 1850 Irwin Cory was elected a justice of the peace, and serving with such universal satisfaction that he was re-elected several terms. His successor. we think, was William M. Towell and probably succeeding him was James Fergu- son, who also filled the position for quite a long while. James Jordan was the first man in the township to invoke the aid of the law in uniting him in the holy bonds of wedlock. His bride was Elizabetlı Grisham, a daughter of Austin Grisham. The father of the groom was John Jordan, who, with Austin Grisham, were two of the oldest settlers in the township and the county. The first burial ground in the town- ship was what was and now is known as the Kirkland Cemetery, and was laid out by John Kirkland, also one of the early settlers. Peggy Garrison and a child of John Wood were the

first to be interred in the newly laid out ceme- tery.

It was in 1850 that L. D. Smith opened up the first store on the site of the town of Walsh- ville, though we believe a store had been run at the site of Mt. Kingston a mile further north for some time before. Mr. Smith ran the store for about two years and then sold it to a Mr. Bowers. Bowers sold it to Chapman & Kennedy, and in 1865 Michael Walsh became the owner and ran it for some time in the house of John King. It was in that year that Mr. Walsh laid out the original part of the town and platted and filed the plat of record. The first residence built on the town site was built fifteen years be- fore the town was laid ont, by Mr. Smith, and other dwellings soon followed the laying out of the town. When Mr. Walsh laid out the town, lie managed to get the post office moved froni Mt. Kingston to the new town, and he also in- (luced the department to change the name to Walshville, by which name it has gone till the present. Isaac Irwin opened a second store in the village soon after it was laid out. In 1855 Seymour & Kline built a storeroom and opened up for business and after a successful career of some two or three years they sold out to Eli DeShane. Among other merchants at different times since then, may be mentioned Hodge & Sanders, Hodge & Boyd, Blevins & Denny, W. A. Kingston and Johnson & Engelmann. Doctor Green, who married Jane Whitesides, was the first physician, he did not practice long, how- ever, and was succeeded by Dr. William Wil- liams. Dr. Luke Stoddard was there also for several years before coming to Hillsboro, and Doctor Davenport after practicing for several years in the west part of Grisham Township moved to Walshville, where he practiced till his death. Dr. John Wadkins, Dr. Nathan' Jayne, Dr. E. F. Newberry, Dr. Ambrose Barcroft and Dr. John Koen were among the later practition- crs. As the old merchants passed away others took their places and they too, it seems were of the long ago. John H. Lossau, Andrew DeShane, George D. Taylor, Claiborne Sey- mour, Isaac Smith, and Johnson & Engelmann, were among the merchants succeeding the first named. The first postmaster in the town was John King, and he was followed by Allison Cor- lew. Among those who have filled the office since then, may be namel : Mary Wells, Charles Engelmann and A. B. Copeland.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY

In 1876 Andrew Sitton built a hotel in the village and after running for some years it passed into the hands of William Shurtliff, who with his son-in-law ran it for many years, and Mrs. Derby. Not the same house, however. John G. Hawkins opened up and ran a hotel in the village for quite awhile, Eli DeShane fol- lowed him and later Thomas Greenwood ran a hotel in the same building for a long term. In 1853 Grisham & Simpson built a large flour- mill in the town and for awhile it was one of the best and most popular mills in the country, having three run of stone burrs, an unusually large mill for the times. After a successful period of nine years the mill was totally de- stroyed by fire. Insurance was then not common among the settlers, hence the loss was very dis- astrous to the owners. In 1863, John Rudd erected another steam flour-mill in place of the burned one. He sold it later to F. C. Kirkland and after a year or two Kirkland sold it to McCracken & Libby, and after a few years of declining business it took fire also and was burned to the ground. Now a barn stands on the site of the old mill. Nicholas Price built a steam saw-mill in Walshville in 1855, and later he sold it to Isaac Parish, who moved it to Shoal Creek near the mouth of the branch now known as the Parish Branch, and near where James Simpson later ran a saw-mill.

The Odd Fellows instituted a lodge, known as Jackson Lodge, in an early day. For awhile it ran smoothly and did considerable esoteric work, but about the beginning of the Civil War, the interest ceased and the lodge was compelled to surrender its charter. Other lodges or asso- ciations have come and gone in the village but the only one that has shown "sticktoitiveness" enough to stem the tide of adversity, that the village has sustained is the Masonic Lodge, and that at times has been so low as to threaten its hold on fraternal life.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II, Part 63

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