History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 37

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758

USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 37
USA > Illinois > Bond County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 37

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300

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

opening and working a coal mine, were mings formed a partnership and leased the convened, and Mr. Howard requested the mine, and assumed the payment of the debt from the lease money. In 1874, these part- ners had become possessed of the entire shares of the mining company, which was thereupon dissolved, as its predecessor had been, and the Litchfield Coal Company organized, with a nominal capital of $10,000, but with a property which had cost six times that amount. This third company still operates the mines, and by prudent management has reduced the expense of mining so that coal is delivered to local buyers at 10 cents a bushel, and yet satisfactory profits have been gathered. The price of mining was at one time such that miners received upward of $30 a week. formation of a mining company, with a capital of $20,000, into which he would enter, putting in the unfinished shaft at $5,000, to continue the work. His request was prompt- ly acceded to, a company was formed and incorporated, officers chosen, with R. W. O'Bannon, President; D. R. Sparks, Treas- urer, and H. A. Coolidge, Secretary. The stock was taken by nearly fifteen persons, Amsden & Beach and Best & Sparks sub- scribing largely, and others according to their ability. The shaft went down slowly; the cost was nearly $50 per foot, and when, in December, 1868, a thirty-two inch vein of coal was reached at a depth of 416 feet, the entire capital had been consumed, and In 1878, a second shaft was sunk at one- half the cost of the first one, and the output rose to 5,000 bushels a day in the busy season. At the foot of the second shaft a boring-rod was sent down about a hundred and fifty feet, to develop the character of the underlying strata, and coal oil was reached. The aston- ishment of the miners was unbounded. The news was received with incredulity. But the oil rose to the bottom of the mine and over- flowed the floor. A few barrels of it were collected and the well carefully closed in order to the safety of the mine. no one was willing to contribute more capital to open and work the vein, Some debts had been incurred, and in the summer of 1869 the mine was sold at auction to pay debts, and was bid in by Warder Cummings, acting in behalf of a new organization inside the mining company. A new company was at once legally organized. The stock of the old one was worth only five per cent, and most of the stockholders did not receive even that pitiful legacy. The capital of the new company was $10,000. Mr. Howard was dis- discharged, and Messrs. Green & Little, of Secret Societies .-- Whether it be from the dis- position of the human mind which would pry into a knowledge of the paintings on the left- hand side of the temple of Paphos, or from the absence of the joys of home, or from a desire to draw closer the ties of brotherhood, or from purposes streaked with self-hood, secret socie- ties were early planted in Litchfield, and have flourished in undecayed vigor and influence and usefulness. Moro, Ill., took the contract to finish sinking the shaft. A third vein of coal was reached at a depth of 500 feet, and then the company learned to their consternation that it costs as much to open a mine as for sinking the shaft. The operatives wanted lawyers' wages; $20,- 000 beyond the capital stock was expended, and still the mine was not prepared to put out coal.

In this emergency, Messrs. D. C. Amsden, H. H. Beach, James W. Jefferis, J. Smith Tally, Charles E. Benton and Warder Cum-

The list of secret organizations of a temper- ance character is long, and the history of each one is brief and uneventful. They were each

301

CITY OF LITCHFIELD.

short lived, and, like the " Murphy movement," have died and left no sign or contingent memo- rial. Total abstinence organizations are not unknown here, but none of them are secret.

Until 1857, the Masonic fraternity had no lodge nearer than Hillsboro. But, on the 4th of March in that year, a dispensation was granted to G. G. Withington, W. S. Palmer, W. H. Cummings, R. H. Peall, James Thalls, Sam- nel Boothe, S. W. McDonald and C. W. Parish, who instituted Charter Oak Lodge in the city, and the first regular communication was held on that date, W. S. Palmer, Master. The lodge met in the texas of Cummings' building, which was occupied jointly with the Odd Fellows un- til 1865.

R. H. Peall was the second Master. In 1859, W. H. Cummings was Master, and then in suc- cession came J. T. Duff, W. T. Elliott (for two years), C. W. Parish, W. T. Elliott and D. C. Amsden. In 1865, the lodge removed to the Elliott corner, State and Kirkham streets. Mr. Amsden was re-elected in December, 1866, and G. M. Loughmiller in 1867. James Rogers was chosen Master in 1868, and G. W. Amsden in 1869, and James Gowenlock in 1870. G. M. Loughmiller was Master 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874 and 1875. But in 1876, G. W. Hathaway was Master, though in 1877, 1878, 1879, and 1880 G. M. Loughmiller was Master. In December, 1881, the usual time of election, J. W. Rose was chosen Master. In 1868, the lodge moved to the third floor of Masonic Block, across the street from its previous rooms.

St. Omer Commandery, No. 30, Knights Tem- plar, was organized under dispensation Septem- ber 3, 1868, II. W. Hubbard acting as Eminent Commander, assisted by several Knights from Alton. On November 6, 1868, the charter was granted to Sirs George H. Pomeroy, S. P. Kirk- patrick, George MI. Raymond, James Rogers, George W. Amsden, Wesley Best, P. B. Up- dike, D. R. Sparks, B. C. Beardsley and James Davie. George II. Pomeroy served as Eminent

Commander the first year, since which, George MI. Raymond has continuously filled the office, James Rogers has been the constant Secretary, and B. C. Beardsley, the Treasurer. The Com- mandery has fifty members.

August 9, 1867, a dispensation was granted to G. M. Raymond, W. E. Bacon, S. D. Kirk- patrick, James W. Davenport, H. C. Watson, C. W. Parish, S. S. Tyler, George A. Stoddard, John B. Hall, N. C. Alexander and Wesley Best for a second lodge here, which was to be called Litchfield Lodge. September 3, 1867, the regular charter was received and G. M. Ray- mond was chosen Master, and re-elected the following year, when he was followed by W. E. Bacon, and he in turn by George A. Stoddard. By years, the successive Masters have been : 1871, G. A. Stoddard; 1872, G. M. Raymond ; 1873. G. W. Goodell; 1874, G. W. Goodell ; 1875, W. E. Bacon ; 1876, W. E. Bacon ; 1877, A. T. Keithley ; 1878, W. E. Bacon ; 1879, W. E. Bacon ; 1880, W. E. Bacon ; 1881. W. E. Bacon ; 1882, A. T. Keithley.

Of Elliot Chapter, No. 120, no facts have been learned beyond the facts of its existence and that George W. Amsden has for ten con- secutive years been High Priest.

Litchfield Lodge, No. 202, of Odd Fellows, was instituted by D. B. Jackson, of Hillsboro, March 28, 1856, with the following charter members : R. N. Paden, S. W. McDonald, E. R. White, E. W. Miller and John P. Davis. Mr. Miller was the first presiding officer.

Until 1866, the lodge met in the Cummings building. For three years it met at Cheap Corner, and, since, has occupied a hall on the third floor of the Masonic building.

Jackson Encampment, No. 88, of Odd Fel- lows, was instituted by D. B. Jackson, July 22, 1868. The charter members were J. K. Milnor, H. M. Langley, William M. Beindorf, R. Ochler, Joseph F. Chuse, Louis Turner and M. P. Thompson. Louis Turner was the first presid- ing officer.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

White Cross Lodge, No. 66, Knights of Pyth- ias, was founded April 27, 1876, by W. T. Van- dever, of Taylorville. The charter members were Joseph Lawrence, J. R. Blackwell, G. W. Rattenbury, E. C. Thorp, L. G. Tyler, J. W. Steen, T. J. Cox, C, Paullis, Jr., George S. Webb, Ben, C. Best, George Kilmer, H. G. Tuttle and A. J. Reubart. Mr. Rattenbury was the chief officer.

February 14, 1875, Angusta Lodge, No. 507, of Odd Fellows, was instituted. This is a Ger- man lodge, and the ritual and the proceedings are in that language. They had a separate lodge room here, initiated thirty-eight members, and received eleven by card. Three members here died, and fifteen have terminated their membership by removal or otherwise. The present list contains the names of forty-four members. The lodge has had peace and pros- perity within its gates.

Sanitary .- As early as 1854, cholera ap- peared in South Litchfield, by importation from a river town. Several cases terminated fatally, but the disease did not visit the scanty population of the village.

In 1857 or 1858, a case of small-pox was declared in Litchfield ; the patient, a man named Johnson, was removed to a pest house a mile from State street, where he died. A few of the citizens were attacked, but they recovered. In later years, sporadic cases were exhibited. There is no tradition as to their origin. No alarm was manifested; suit- able precautions were observed, and no fatal results followed. But in the winter of 1881-82, the loathsome contagion gained here a determined lodgment. It was a sequence of immigration or railroad travel. Nothwith- standing the prompt adoption of preventive or remedial measures, the fearful plague con- tinued its insidious advances until forty-four persons had been smitten, of whom nine died.

The mortality might have been less had all the sick refrained from grossly imprudent courses. General vaccination was enforced, and the disease starved out.

In the summer of 1867, five members of a circus company were seized with cholera the same night while at a hotel. The patients rallied enough to be removed to Pana, where it is believed they died. The pestilence spread, and several citizens fell its victims. Seven years later, the conditions were favor- able for its re-appearance. The heated teim was intense and protracted, and sanitary mat- ters were generously suffered to run them- selves. An elderly couple from Tennessee came in on the railroad, ill with cholera. They were removed to a private house, and within twenty-four hours were dead. Other persons were speedily attacked, and in a few hours were moribund. On two occasions, the deaths were four per day. The total number of cases was nearly ninety, and the deaths were reported to be thirty-nine. The stroke was swift. Men in apparent sound health at night would be dead in the morning.

In each visitation of cholera, the disease was plainly of a foreign origin, and if the contagion theory be well-founded, the ravages here have been only such as may be appre- hended in any town so placed that careless or infected strangers are constantly on its streets or stopping at its hotels.

The average annual mortality cannot be accurately given. The usual record of inter- ments is of no use here; as for family reasons, sepulture is in distant cemeteries, while the city cemeteries are used by town and city alike. It is certain that the ratio of mortal- ity in the city is as low as in the country, and last year did not exceed two per cent. With a population exceeding five thousand, the total deaths were about eighty.

303

NOKOMIS TOWNSHIP.

CHAPTER XVI .*

TOWNSHIP OF NOKOMIS-POSITION AND BOUNDARIES-SURFACE, SOIL, STREAMS, ETC .- FOREST GROWTHS-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS-EARLY SETTLEMENTS-ROADS-SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, ETC.

"Once o'er all this favored land, Savage wilds and darkness spread."

N OKOMIS occupies a scope of territory lying in the northeastern part of Mont- gomery County, west of Audubon and east of Rountree Township. It borders on Christian County on the north, Witt Township on the south, and is admirably located with reference to railroad and other accommodations. Its close proximity to the flourishing towns of Hillsboro, Morrisonville, and other equally good market places, affords many advantages to the citizens which they have not been slow to avail themselves of, as is shown by the increased prosperity of the agricultural interests through- out its territory. The distinguishing charac- teristics of Nokomis are its fine, undulating prairie lands, which, in point of fertility and produetiveness, are unsurpassed by any other similar amount of territory in the State. The northern portion is somewhat flat, and in certain places contains some low, marshy land, but the great majority of its acres are susceptible of a high degree of cultivation, as is attested by the rank which the township takes as an agri- cultural district. In the southern part, along the several water-courses and among the wooded portions, the surface is more rolling, but in no place is it too broken or uneven for tillage. The soil is generally a fine quality of loam, mixed with clay in certain localities, and sand in the low places along the creeks. The town- ship is sufficiently well watered for agricultural purposes and stock-raising, with several beau-

tiful streams traversing it in different directions, the chief of which is the East Fork of Shoal Creek. This is a stream of considerable size and importance in the southern townships of the county, and has its source in Section 1, from whence it flows in a southwesterly direc- tion through Sections 22, 28 and 33. A small stream flows through the northeastern part of the township, draining that portion, and receiv- ing in its course a number of rivulets which are not designated by any particular names.

Originally, about one-sixth of the township's area consisted of timbered land, the wooded districts lying chiefly in the southern and south- western parts. The productions of these forests were at one time the source of considerable wealth to those who settled in the timber and made the lumber business a specialty. At the head of these forest products stands the black walnut, a tree nnequaled in the United States for its many uses in cabinet-making. It is be- coming scarce in this part of the country on account of its wide demand, and owing also to the prodigal manner in which much of it was destroyed by many of the pioneer settlers. Next in value is the oak, of which several va- rieties are to be found growing in the forests of this township. It affords the principal amount of lumber for all practical purposes to the farmers in this section of the country, and con- siderable quantities of it have been shipped to other localities. Another of the forest mon- archs is the elm, which grows to gigantic sizes in the low lands skirting the water-courses. There are several different kinds of maple to

*By G. N. Berry.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

be seen here, all of which are much used for artificial groves, on account of their hardiness and rapid growth. These species are highly oruamental, delighting the eye of the most careless, and giving a charm to the most unin- viting prospect. Hickory is found in certain localities, and is much used in the manufacture of carriages, sleighs, and almost all agricultural implements made in the different factories throughout the State. Besides the different varieties already enumerated, there are many trees and shrubs of smaller growth known as underbrush, much of which has been cleared away of late years.

Of the farm products we can speak only in a general way, as no statistical information concerning them was obtained. Agricultural productions of every kind indigenous to this latitude are certain of a rapid growth and large returns. As is shown by the vast wealth that has been drawn from the bosom of the soil during the thirty years that have passed-a wealth that has covered its surface with beau- tiful homes, and contributed toward feeding the hungry millions of other lands. Wheat is and has been the staple product of Nokomis, to which its soil seems peculiarly adapted, and has been known to yield as high as thirty-five and forty bushels per acre in favorable seasons although its average production is much less. Other cereals are raised in the same proportion, particularly oats and rye, which return abund- ant and well-paying harvests almost every year. As a corn district, this part of the country will compare favorably with any other locality in the county, as the land in the main is sufficient- ly rolling to render drainage easy. While other townships in the county suffered more or less severely during the drought of 1881, the farmers of Nokomis raised a sufficient amount of corn for home consumption and some for market also. Apple orchards are beginning to be ex- tensively cultivated, and fruits of the finest and hardiest varieties yield abundantly, and are

being produced in large quantities, while the already large area of orchards receives yearly additions. This product alone in a few years will form one of the principal articles of sale during its season.

The early settlement of Nokomis is so inter- woven with the pioneer settlements of the ad- joining townships that their history is, in the main, almost identical. The same difficulties were experienced, the same hardships endured by the pioneers of Nokomis that for years re- tarded the development and advancement of older municipalities. There were no roads, so to speak, no stores nor mills nearer than Gris- ham and Butler Townships, a distance of twen- ty or thirty miles ; no school buildings except of a very primitive character, and no places of worship except the houses of the pioneers. These and other experiences of a similar char- acter were what the first settlers of Nokomis had to contend with in the days of its infancy, but, thanks to the energy and thrift with which the early settlers were characterized, all these difficulties have been successfully overcome, and on every hand are to be seen well-tilled farms, elegant private residences, good roads, hand- some church edifiees, commodious school-build- ings, and other evidences of prosperity, which combine to make this part of the county a de- sirable locality.

The first permanent settler in Nokomis Town - ship, as it is now designated, was one Bluford Shaw, the exact date of whose arrival could not be ascertained, although it is supposed to have been prior to the year 1840. In the year 1843, Hugh Hightower, a name familiar in the north- ern part of the county, came to Illinois and settled on a piece of land lying in Section 33. Here he erected the first house ever built within the boundaries of the township, traces of which still remain. For the space of three years, Hightower was the only resident in this part of the county, his nearest neighbors living at a distance of at least ten miles away. Jolin

305

NOKOMIS TOWNSHIP.

Henry located here in 1846, securing land in Section 26, which he improved quite exten- sively. After him came John Lower, John Nichols, Mason Jewett and an old man, by name Redden, all of whom located near the site of the present city of Nokomis. In the year 1854, a number of settlers located in the north- ern part of the township, where they founded quite an extensive community. Among this number can be mentioned the names of Royal N. Lee, John Wetmore, William Bonton, Ab- salom Van Hooser, William Lee and Andrew Coiner, several of whom are still living on the farms they settled, and numerous descendants are scattered over different parts of the county. The northeastern part of the township was set- tled principally by an intelligent and thrifty class of Germans, who have improved that lo- cality until it is now one among the very best farmed sections of country in the township, and in point of improvements, as houses. barns, etc., it will compare favorably with any other com- munity within the limits of the county.

It has been asserted, and wisely so, that the avenues of communication are an undoubted evidence of the state of society. The history of this planet from its earliest days furnish in- ‹lisputable proof of this now universally admit- ted truth. As civilization progresses, intercom- munication increases, and the channels of trade are improved, while the conveyance of products and the movements of armies require an unob- structed highway. Of the Eastern nations who comprehended the truth of this great principle, the chief were the Romans, whose broad high- ways and ruined arches still survive to remind us of the former power and greatness of those masters of the world. While in the Western Hemisphere, Mexican causeways and Peruvian stone roads attest the vigor of a national life centuries departed. But the trails across the prairies and through the forests of this part of the country-ample for the aborigines of Illinois, and withal equal to their capacity, have

given place in turn to a network of highways, while not comparable to the military roads of the Romans or ancient Mexicans, and perhaps far inferior to the turnpikes to be seen in older States, are at least equal to the requirements of a highly civilized people. The first road estab- lished in Nokomis passed through the township in a northeasterly direction, and was known as the Hillsboro and Nokomis road. Its original course has been changed, although it is still one of the important highways in the northern part of the county. A road leading from the town of Nokomis to Irving was laid out and improved in an early day, but does not appear to have been properly established until several years later. One of the most important high- ways passes through the central part of the township from north to south, and is rather ex- tensively traveled. The greater number of roads which traverse the township in all direc- tions have been established in recent years. and are well improved. Like the highways in all parts of Central and Southern Illinois, these thoroughfares, during certain seasons of the year, become well-nigh impassable, owing to their muddy condition. The porous nature of the soil, however, causes this mud to dry up quite rapidly, and in a comparatively short time after the frost leaves the ground in the spring, the roads improve and remain in good traveling order until the following winter.

Passing through the southeast corner is the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, which has promoted the material interests of the town- ship more than any or all other improvements combined. In its course, it passes through Sections 32, 28, 22, 14 and 12, intersecting the southern boundary at a point about one and one- half miles from the Rountree Township line, and the eastern boundary two miles south of Christian County. The city of Nokomis owes much of its prosperity to this road, as does also the township at large.

It is a fact which the splendid educational

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

institutions of the present make it difficult for us to-day to comprehend, that in the early set- tlement of the country, one of the greatest dis- advantages under which the pioneer labored was the almost entire absence of facilities for the education of his children. When the qnes- tion of keeping soul and body together had once been solved by the constantly increasing acreage of farm land, and the corn waved over the spot which required toil and perseverance to conquer from its primitive natural state, and bountiful harvests told of no more immediate wants, then the pioneer's attention was called to the necessity of schools, and means of snp- plying the want were most earnestly sought. A man by the name of Henry Lower, an excel- lent teacher by the way, is said to have taught the first school in the township, at his private residence, about the year 1848. It was attend- ed by the boys and girls in the new settlement and supported by subscriptions, as were all the early schools in the county. The first house erected for educational purposes was built on Section 27, and is still in use. There are a num- ber of good frame schoolhouses in the township, and the citizens can point with pride to their educational institutions, which, for efficiency and thoroughiness of work, are unsurpassed by any in the county. Many facts relating to educational matters of the township, belong properly to the town of Nokomis, and will be spoken of in connection with the history of that place in the next chapter.

One of the first public officials of the town-

ship was John J. Wetmore, who was elected Justice of the Peace in an early day, although we are unable to give the date. About the same time, J. W. Hancock was clected Con- stable, in which capacity he served the town- ship several years. His marriage to Miss Margaret Meratt was the first event of the kind ever solemnized in Nokomis. Several healthy religious organizations, with as many substan- tial temples of worship, are the most convineing evidence of the existence of high moral princi- ples, and a sense of religious duty on the part of the people. The Methodists organized the first church in the township, and their ministers were the first to find their way to the cabins of the pioneers, and preach the everlasting truths of the Gospel to the early inhabitants. Rev. J. L. Crane conducted the first religious services, and assisted in the organization of several churches of his denomination, in the township and town of Nokomis. The first church edifice was built by the Lutherans, in the town of No- komis, and will be more particularly spoken of in the chapter devoted to that place. The Lnth- er ans and Methodists have several good societies in the township, whose congregations are in excellent condition, and destined to accomplish a great amount of good in their respective com- munities. For want of particulars concerning the various churches, the writer is obliged to give them the above very brief notice. For further church history, see the following chap- ter on city of Nokomis.

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History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 37

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin Number of Pages: 758

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin
Number of Pages: 758