USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 81
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Another institution of which Alexis is proud is the Alexis tile and brick works, owned by Thomas Townsley. The works were established in the spring of 1879, by George Bruington, deceased, and the present owner, Bruington selling out two years later. Mr. Townsley em- ploys from twelve to twenty men, and turns out from 300,000 to 1,000,000 brick a year. He has seven acres of ground in the yard, and burns in five kilns. Little tile has been made for several years on account of the dry sea- sons.
GERLAW.
"Gerlaw City," as the plat calls it, was laid out for Robert Gerlaw, April 19, 1871, on the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 34. T. S. McClanahan was the survey- or, and he made nine blocks, with Depot, Olive and South streets running east and west, and Railroad, Gerlaw and Gilmore streets running north and south. A. A. Elder opened the first store in 1871, soon after the establishment of
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
the town, and was appointed the first postmas- ter early in the same year. He was succeeded August 1, 1883, by John A. Foster, who served until March 1, 1886: A. G. Parker was postmas- ter until April 1, 1891, being followed by Chas. L. McClanahan, who served until January 7, 1893. Ivra Q. Robison was then postmaster, being succeeded by Frank Terry, January 20, 1894, and he by the present incumbent, Clar- ence Young, October 1, 1897.
The Christian. Church at Gerlaw was organ- ized June 20, 1859, at Mauck's Grove, by Elder L. S. Wallace, with twenty-nine members. They were W. L. Hopper, William Hopper, Edith M. Hopper, C. M. Mills, Caroline Mills, John Stew- art, Mrs. Stewart, Letty Stewart, William Lair, Sr., Mrs. Lair, Robert Lair, Mary Lair, Fielding Lair, Harriet Lair, Helen Lair, James F. Owens, Mary T. Owens, John Miller, Ben- jamin Gardner, Jemima Gardner, Nancy Gardner, David Petit, Mrs. Petit, John Carson, Mary Carson, Walter Carson, Harriet Carson, Mrs. Coddington, and Mrs. Elizabeth R. Smith. Seven of these are known to be still living. A neat frame building had been erected prior to the organization, at a cost of $1,100, which, in September, 1873, was moved to Gerlaw, was re- paired, and served the congregation to wor- ship in until 1894, when the present beautiful and convenient house was erected at a cost of $3,630. Elder L. Smith Wallace was the first pastor, and was followed by Elders George W. Lucy, James Gaston, Henry Murphy, H. R. Trickett, J. B. Boyer, Leander McPherson, Charles Laycock, T. B. Stanley, M. Jones, T. B. Stanley, J. A. Mavity, A. M. Hale, H. E. Tucker, and L. F. Davis, the present pastor. The mem- bership of the church at present is 117.
The congregation now known as the United Presbyterian congregation of Gerlaw, was or- ganized June 22, 1855, as the Associate Re- formed Presbyterian congregation of Center, under the inspection of the Second A. R. Pres- bytery of Illinois. Rev. Matthew Bigger pre- sided in the organization. Its territory lay northwest of Monmouth, centering in Spring Grove. Fifty-one members entered the organi- zation. Of these less than half a dozen now (April, 1902) survive, and none of them in the congregation or neighborhood. A year after the organization of the congregation, eighteen of the members of the extreme north part were granted a separate organization, which subse- quently became a part of the United Presbyter- ian congregation of North Henderson, near
Norwood. About the same time the name of the congregation, thus reduced in size, was changed to Spring Grove. As a result of the Union which formed the United Presbyterian denomination in May, 1858, the name of the congregation was changed accordingly to the United Presbyterian congregation of Spring Grove. About the year 1880 the church build- ing was moved nearly three miles southeast into the then new railroad village of Gerlaw, and its name changed to Gerlaw. Soon after- wards the building was blown down, and an- other, quite commodious, was erected in its place, costing about $3,500. The congregation also has a parsonage. In the forty-seven years of its history the congregation has had nine pastors, in order as follows: Revs. James C. Mc- Knight, William M. Graham, Thomas P. Patter- son, David Inches, Rufus Johnson, William J. McCrory, A. W. Jamieson, Thomas G. Morrow, and John M. Henderson, the present pastor. President McMichael, D. D., of Monmouth Col- lege, also, was stated supply about a year, 1882. Of the pastors, the first three have passed away, all of them leaving kindred well known in Mon- mouth and northward; and another, Rev. Dav- id Inches, retired, at Sterling, Kansas, suffers great bodily affliction. None of the pastorates have been long ones, the longest being that of Rev. T. G. Morrow, between eight and nine years; and the shortest, that of Rev. W. J. Mc- Crory, between one and two years. The con- gregation has never been large. After various vicissitudes its present membership is about seventy.
The Gerlaw Camp, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized April 17, 1899, with sixteen charter members and the following of- ficers: Harry Carson, Venerable Consul; W. J. Miller, Worthy Advisor; R. B. McReynolds, Clerk; Clarence Young, Banker; A. A. Miller, Escort; D. W. Lantz, Watchman; Wm. Gibson, Sentry; John Selman, Chief Forester; Otis Bar- nett, W. T. Miller, A. B. Carson, managers. The present membership of the camp is seventy- five, and the officers are: Reece B. McRey- nolds, Venerable Consul; W. J. Miller, Worthy Advisor; L. F. Davis, Clerk; Clarence Young, Banker.
GRANDVIEW.
This is a town which hardly exists even in the memory of the oldest settlers. It was on the northwest quarter of Section 4, on the
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
county line four miles west of the present town of Alexis. The survey was made and certified by County Surveyor Butler October 8, 1836. The plat shows a public square and sixteen blocks, with Warren, Monmouth and Pleasant streets running north and south, and Henderson, Ben- ton and Knox streets running east and west. The owners of the town site were John Hum- phrey, George H. Wright, George Blake, Lyman Prentiss, William C. Butler and Daniel McNeil, Jr. The town site has long since been aband- oned, and is now in farm lands.
SPRING GROVE.
A postoffice was opened at Spring Grove, on the lines between Sections 28 and 29, in 1835, soon after the Rock Island stage route was es- tablished. There was quite a little settlement at this place, and some trading was done there before the railroad was built and the towns of Alexis and Gerlaw started. A United Presby- terian Church was there, but was afterward re- moved to Gerlaw. Most of the little town was also transferred to that place. The old ceme- tery is about all that now remains to mark the spot where it stood.
NORTH HENDERSON.
Samuel R. Boggs was appointed postmaster at North Henderson July 1, 1856, and the of- fice was kept in his residence in this township. The town and the office are now in Mercer County.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BLAYNEY, FRED H .; merchant; Alexis, Warren County; is on his father's side of Irish descent, and in his career has manifested all those characteristics which has made so many of his race in the United States good and suc- cessful citizens. John Blayney, his grandfath- er, and John C. Blayney, his father, were born on the Emerald Isle and came to America about 1850, settling in Washington County, Penn., whence, in 1852, they came to Illinois, locating near Monmouth. John Blayney died in War- ren County, in 1897, aged 97 years, and John C. Blayney, who was born in 1834, died May 8,
1891. John Blayney's wife is dead also, and Mrs. John C. Blayney, who was born in 1834, died October 5, 1898. John C. Blayney mar- ried Catharine Brownlee, who was born in Washington County, Penn., a daughter of Wil- liam Brownlee, who was also a native of that county, and they were members of the Presby- terian Church. Mr. Blayney, who was a mer- chant for twenty years at Alexis, was many times elected to serve on the village board and on the School Board, and was Supervisor of Spring Grove Township. He had two children, the subject of this sketch and a daughter named Elizabeth. Fred H. Blayney, who is a member of the Presbyterian Church and an influential Democrat, has been selling goods since he was a small boy, and is proprietor of a large, well-equipped and widely patronized general dry goods and grocery store. He was for three years Town Clerk, and has twice been elected Supervisor of Spring Grove Township.
GILMORE, LAWRENCE H., farmer and stock-raiser, Spring Grove Township, War- ren County, Ill., (postoffice, Gerlaw), a pioneer and son of a pioneer of Illin- ois, was born in a log house, went to
school in a log house and lived in a log house until 1854, when he built his present res- idence. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction, a son of Robert and Maria (Pilgrim) Gilmore. His father was born in Chester County, Penn., in 1783, his mother in Ohio, in 1798; they both died in Illinois, he in 1857, she in 1840. Ephraim Gilmore, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, fought for American independ- ence in the Revolutionary War, and his fath- er, Robert Gilmore, served under General Har- rison in the War of 1812-14, as Captain and later as Colonel, for a time holding a position as staff-officer.
Robert Gilmore was by trade a tanner and was for some years in business in Ohio. He came to Warren County in 1833, bringing his family and their belongings down the Ohio and up the Mississippi, arriving at Oquawka, Hen- derson County, in June of that year. From thence he came on to Spring Grove Township and entered a claim to land in Section 25, which he eventually sold in order to buy the southwest quarter of Section 24, on which he erected his second log house in Warren Coun- ty, which was his home until he died.
Lawrence H. Gilmore, the son, was born in
LHGilmore
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Jefferson County, Ohio, April 11, 1830, and was a little more than three years old when his par- ents emigrated to Illinois. He received a com- mon school education and, in 1851, pre-empted a claim in Section 34, Spring Grove Township, to secure which he was obliged to borrow most of the purchase money. He now owns about one thousand acres of good land and is an ex- tensive breeder of cattle, horses and hogs. A Democrat in politics, he is influential in town- ship affairs, and has been Road Commissioner twelve years, Supervisor, and twenty-seven years Treasurer of the Warren County In- surance Company. He has for many years been trustee and elder in the Presbyterian Church at Monmouth, with which he united in 1856, his wife becoming a member in 1852. He was formerly for many years a trustee of the Warren County Library.
Mr. Gilmore was married in Spring Grove Township, November 9, 1854, to Sarah A. For- wood, who was born in Harford County, Mary- land, July 19, 1831, a daughter of William W. and Sarah T. (Gilbert) Forwood. Mr. For- wood settled in Spring Grove Township in 1838, and went to California in 1850, where he died in 1853.
Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore have had children born to them as follows: Clarence M., Frederick L., Frank E., George F., Rosa L., and Sarah B., and they have a bound daughter, Anna E. Eb- bers, who has lived with them since 1887. Frederick L. married a daughter of Schuyler Palmer; Clarence M. married Jessie Herbert; George F. married Annis Elliott. Frederick L. lives in Monmouth, Clarence M. near that city, and George F. and Sarah B. in Omaha, Neb.
HARKRADER, DAVID M .; Publisher; Spring Grove Township, Warren County (post- office, Alexis) ; comes of an old German fam- ily, which, for generations, has been honorably represented in Virginia. He is a descendant in direct line from John Harkrader, who was his great-grandfather, and who came from the Fatherland to America. John Harkrader, son of the first John, was born in Wytheville, Va., and married Christina Lock, a native of Lan- caster County, Penn. Samuel Harkrader, their son, father of David M., was born at Wythe- ville, Va., in 1806, and died in 1881. He mar- ried, near Xenia, Ohio, Rebecca Brown, daugh- ter of Daniel and Hannah (Renshaw) Brown, Virginians, who was born in 1814 and died in
1884. Mr. Harkrader's great-grandfather was. captain of a Virginia company in the war of the revolution, and was at Yorktown when Lord Cornwallis surrendered. His son, John Harkrader, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, hauled supplies for the United States army with his own team during the war of 1812. Samuel Harkrader, Mr. Harkrader's father, was an educated man, who taught school in the intervals of farming, and was long a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, of which his. wife was also a member. He came to Hancock County, Ill., in 1852, and late in life removed to Brookfield, Mo., where he died. His wife died at Macon, in the same State, Their son, David M., was born near Shaker Village, Warren County, Ohio, September 28, 1832, and gained a good common school education. May 24, 1861, he enlisted at Quincy, Ill., in Company D, Six- teenth Regiment Illinois Infantry, with which he served until July 8, 1865, when he was mus- tered out. At Bentonville, N. C., where he dis- played conspicuous bravery, March 22, 1865, he received a serious wound. After the war he attempted to establish himself as a black- smith, but was unable to handle iron and heavy hammers and, going to Pike County, Ill., he began the publication of the Milton Beacon, a newspaper now known as the Pike County Times. In 1881 and 1882 he published the As- toria Argus. In 1884 he came to Alexis and is- sued the Alexis Argus, in connection with which he publishes the Viola Enterprise. He is the inventor of a three-horse plow evener, which was patented January 10, 1882, and of a three-horse wagon tongue, which was patented September 19, 1882, which have attracted wide attention among plow and wagon men. In re- ligion he is a Presbyterian and in politics a Democrat. He married, at Paducah, Ky., April 12, 1864, Sarah A. Burns, born in Williamson County, Ill .. October 25, 1843, a daughter of John and Martha J. (Harpod) Burns. Her father, who is of the same Scotch family which produced Robert Burns, the poet, was born in Tennessee, and removed to Williamson County, Ill., where he died when Mrs. Harkrader was a child. His widow, aged about eighty years, is living in Kentucky. To David M. and Sarah A. (Burns) Harkrader have been born child- ren as follows: Everett S., Charles S., Oliver D., William H., George A., Grace, Nellie and Gretta. Everett S., manager of the Viola En- terprise, married Lula Brown, and they have
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
daughters named Hazel and Phyllis. Charles S. publishes the Alpha Advance, at Alpha, Ill. Grace married William McFarlin, a farmer, and has five children. Charles S. married Alice Johnson and has two children. Oliver D. married Myrtle David and has two children. Gretta married L. T. Graham, assistant cashier of the Alexis bank. Nellie teaches music and art in the high school at Aledo. Mr. Harkra- der's sons are all printers except Oliver D .. who is now engaged in the pottery business at London Mills, Fulton County, Ill.
McCUTCHAN, JAMES F., M. D .; physician and surgeon; Alexis; is of Scotch-Irish blood and traces his lineage to the ancient Scotch family of McCutchan. Samuel McCutchan, a native of Ireland, married Elizabeth Fulton, a Scotch-Irish woman. They emigrated to the United States, and their son, William McCutch- an, Doctor McCutchan's grandfather, was born in Virginia in 1758 and died in 1848. He mar- ried Jane Finley, who was born in 1768 and died June 18, 1852. Their son, Robert Mc- Cutchan, was born near Staunton, Va., in 1797 and died in 1884. He married Mary G. Finley, who was born in Adams County, Ohio, in 1807, and died in 1854. Miss Finley was a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Glasgow) Finley, the former born in the Shenandoah Valley, Vir- ginia, while the last mentioned died in Adams County, Ohio. James F. McCutchan, son of Robert and Mary G. (Finley) McCutchan, was born in Adams County, Ohio, August 9, 1833, Robert McCutchan emigrated to that county from Virginia in 1825, and in 1848 to Parke County, Ind., and thence to McDonough Coun- ty, Ill., in 1853. A year later he removed to Mercer County, where for many years he was a surveyor. His sons, Robert Nathaniel, John Andrew and James F., fought for the Union in the civil war. Robert Nathaniel was killed at Chickamauga, and John Andrew at Resaca, and the bodies of both were lost. James F. Mc- Cutchan enlisted May, 1861, in Company H, Second Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and, in the fall of 1863, was made Captain of Company D, Ninth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged in May, 1865, and perhaps his most vivid recol- lections of the war are of the terrible fight at Fort Donelson, at Shiloh and the siege of Cor- inth. Doctor McCutchan's early life was spent
as a farmer. At the age of twenty-two years he entered college at Washington, Iowa, where he was graduated May, 1861. In 1865-66 he read medicine under the preceptorship of Doc- tor Webster at Monmouth, and he received the degree of M. D. at the Medical College at Keo- kuk, Iowa, in the spring of 1868. From that time until 1871 he practiced his profession at Norwood, Mercer County; in 1871-72 at Alexis; 1872-90 at Norwood; and since the last date he has enjoyed a successful practice at Alexis, riding extensively throughout Warren and Mercer Counties. He is a member of the Uni- ted Presbyterian Church, is a Republican, and a comrade of Alexis Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He married in Mercer County, Aug- ust 24, 1865, M. J. Salina Graham, who was born in Washington County, Penn., November 22, 1843, a daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah Ann (McDowell) Graham, who came of two old Scotch families. Mr. Graham, who was born in Washington County, Penn., and a successful farmer, settled in Ohio Grove Township, Mercer County, in 1856. He died in 1902; his wife still lives there. Mrs. McCutch- an has borne her husband five children: Mary Edna and Sarah Edith, born November 13, 1866; A. Joseanna, December 14, 1870; Alma G., June 12, 1876; Clara G., April 2, 1881. Edith died June 27, 1883.
McKNIGHT, DAVID S .; retired hardware merchant; Alexis, Spring Grove Township; born in Crawford County, Penn., June 26, 1835, in his busy and useful life has exemplified those traits of character which are known fac- tors in the careers of successful men. His par- ents were James and Lucinda ( Adams) Mc- Knight, the - former a native of Crawford County, Penn., the latter a native of Virginia. In 1866 James McKnight came to Illinois and bought a farm north of Monmouth, where he and his wife lived out their days. David S. McKnight was engaged in farming in Spring Grove Township from 1860 to 1863. He was married, December 23, 1862, at Galesburg, Ill., to Emma Mclaughlin, and after that event removed to Ford County, Ill., where he en- gaged in farming until 1867, when he removed to Piper City, where he became a general mer- chant. In 1871 he engaged in the hardware trade at Alexis, and was thus employed for twenty-three years, until he retired from active business on account of poor health. Some four
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
years after his retirement his sons bought the business which he had established and which they have since conducted successfully. Mrs. McKnight was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1837, a daughter of Joseph and Alice McLaughlin, the former of Scotch, the latter of Welsh parentage, both born in the United States, and both of whom died when their daughter was yet young. Mrs. McKnight has borne her husband six children, named as follows: Wil- liam A., Maggie A., Thomas Harvey, Elizabeth P., Clyde, and one who died in infancy. Mag- gie A. is deceased. William A., who is post- master, undertaker and stationery merchant at Alexis, is interested with his brother, T. H., in the hardware business. Thomas Harvey mar- ried Maggie Moore, and they have a son named Dean McKnight. Mr. McKnight is a self-made man, who was educated in the public schools and whose course has been marked by industry, integrity and perseverance. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church and, in politics, is a Republican.
STEVENSON, WILLIAM GRANT; bank- er; Alexis, Warren County; is a son of Joseph and Belle (Green) Stevenson. His father was born in Adams County, Ohio, and his mother in Pennsylvania. Until his retirement from active life, his father was a farmer, and he is now the owner of land in Missouri. He and his wife are living at Monmouth, and are mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church of that city. William G. Stevenson was born at Mon- mouth, October 27, 1865, and was educated in the public schools and at Monmouth College. After the completion of his studies he was, for three years, in the employ of the Weir Plow Company, of Monmouth, and on October 18, 1887, he came to Alexis and established the Bank of Alexis, of which he has been cashier ever since. He is a Republican and a member of the United Presbyterian Church. For six years he served as a member of Company H, Sixth Regiment Illinois National Guard. Mr. Stevenson married, September 22, 1887, to Ella Kobler, who was born at Monmouth in 1865, a daughter of G. J. Kobler, senior member of the firm of Kobler & Sons, and Anna (Stein) Kob- ler. Mr. and Mrs. Kobler are natives of Ger- many, were brought to America in their child- hood by their parents, and were married at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. They have children named Ricka L., Anna Belle and Joseph Kob- ler Stevenson.
CHAPTER LI.
SUMNER TOWNSHIP.
(Township 12 North, Range 3 West).
On the first division of the county into town- ships after the election in November of 1849, the committee appointed by the County Court gave this township the name of Martinsville, in honor of the Martins, who were among its first settlers. This election having been found to be invalid, another election was held and township organization was legally authorized in November, 1853. The new commission ap- pointed to name the townships called this one Union, but when the Board of Supervisors met it was found that there already was a town- ship in the state with that name, so this one was changed to Sumner. Sumner township is in the northwest corner of the county. It is well watered by Middle Henderson and Cedar creeks, with their tributaries, and along the streams there is considerable of fine timber. The land is generally undulating, but quite broken in the southeast and southwest, along the Cedar. The soil is rich, and farming is both easy and remunerative. There is much wealth among the farmers and most of them have fine farm houses and surroundings. The Iowa Central Railroad enters the township at the northwest corner, runs almost due south a couple of miles, then crosses in a southeaster- ly direction, passing out into Hale Township from Section 35. There are two stations, Little York and Eleanor.
The township was organized at an election held at Little York April 4, 1854. Thomas Graham was moderator and George Black clerk of the meeting, and the following officers were chosen : Supervisor, J. P. McGaw; assessor, John E. McCrery; collector. Thomas Graham; highway commissioners, John Porter, John Martin, John Nealy; justices of the peace, A. A. Allen, T. J. Caldwell; constables, George Gib- son, Hugh Brownlee; overseers of roads, Will- iam Preston, Samuel Graham. The vote for town clerk was a tie, and the justices of the peace selected Thomas Brownlee to take the place. The present officers are: Supervisor, John C. Gabby; town clerk, H. F. Armstrong; assessor, D. R. Acheson; collector, J. C. Mc- Crery; highway commissioners, William Bond,
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
I L. Munson, J. W. Brownlee; Justice of the Peace, W. H. Brown; constable, William R. Walters. Those who have held the of- fice of supervisor in the township to the present time are: John P. McGaw, 1854; John Porter, 1855; Frank Brownlee, 1856-57; H. C. Maley, 1858-60; John Atchison, 1861-64; H. C. Maley, 1865-67; A. H. Rockwell, 1868-69; R. C. Stewart, 1870-71; R. w. Porter, 1872-77; Thomas Brownlee, 1878; R. W. Porter, 1879-81; J. J. Ivey, 1882-83; J. E. Paine, 1884-89; N. C. Ranney, 1890-93; J. E. Paine, 1894-95; N. C. Ranney, 1896-99; John C. Gabby, 1900-03.
Sumner Township was one of the earliest portions of the county to be settled. Among the first comers were the Ritcheys, from Jeffer- son County, Indiana. There were several fam- ilies of them and they settled in the southern part of this township and the northern part of Hale in 1828. Adam, Sr., settled on the north half of Section 35 in Sumner, near the present site of Rockwell's mill, building a blockhouse on the hill. In 1830 he sold the northeast quarter of the section to Lovett P. Rockwell, and continued to reside on the northwest quar- ter until his death, which occurred November 28, 1832. His will was the first filed for pro- bate in the county. Otha W. Craig came to the township about the same time as the Ritch- eys, taking his residence northwest of Little York on Sections 19 and 20. He died at Oquawka. Lovett P. Rockwell and Jonathan Buffum came from Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1830. Rockwell bought part of Adam Ritchey's place in July of that year, afterwards selling a half interest to Buffum. Together they built a small saw-mill on Cedar creek, the first in the county. The next spring they went back east for their families, returning in the fall and building another blockhouse and stockade or fort. In 1832 they rented their saw-mill to Chester Potter, also of Ashtabula County, who put in a set of burrs for grinding wheat and corn. He made the burrs himself out of "nig- gerheads," which abounded on the prairies. Mr. Potter remained but one year, removing in 1833 to Kelly township, where he set up a mill of his own on Henderson Creek. The fa- miliar Rockwell mill was erected in 1836 or 1837. Hugh Martin, Sr., with his wife and seven children, came in the fall of 1832 from Fulton County, settling on Section 28. They were orig- inally from Muskingum County, Ohio. The second son of Mr. Martin, William, came a
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