USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 50
USA > Illinois > Bond County > History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois > Part 50
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essential to the success of the modern divine; yet he was endowed with a strong practical mind, which was well stored with plain, un- varnished facts. He preached the Gospel of Christ with but few of the adornments of rhetoric, and was untiring in his efforts and zeal to establish the cause of his Master in the sparsely settled localities of the new country.
Several churches were established through his instrumentality, both in Grisham and East Fork Townships, for which he preached a number of years. Goldsmith's beautiful lines descriptive of the village preacher can be appropriatety applied to this pioneer evan- gelist of the West:
"At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorn the venerable place; Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray."
The date of this good man's death could not be learned, but it is supposed that he died about twelve or thirteen years ago.
The same year that saw Street settle in Grisham witnessed the coming of William Griffith, who located on a piece of land near the old Baptist burying-ground, in the cen- . tral part of the township. He was from the South as were many of the early settlers of Montgomery County, and was one who prob- ably did as much in a humble and unpreten- tions way to advance the township's material interests as any man within its borders. Two sons are living in the county-one in Hillsboro Township and one in the city of Hillsboro. Another early settler in Grisham was Thomas Edwards, who came to Illinois from Kentucky in the year 1826, and im- proved a farm on Bear Creek Prairie, in the northeastern part of the township. The farm is now owned by his son, C. H. Edwards, and has been in the family ever since it was set- tlecl.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
In company with Edwards came John El- der, who bought the piece of land now owned by John Price, lying about one-half mile west of Edwards' Chapel M. E. Church. Robert Mccullough settled on the piece of land adjoining the farm of Elder the follow- ing year. These three men died long since, but the influence of their examples will al- ways live, as they were men noted for piety and high Christian character. They were untiring in their efforts to advance every in- terest essential to the stability and improve- ment of the society of their section of the community.
Another name deserving of mention in con- nection with the early history of this town- ship is that of Rev. C. C. Aydelott, a Metho- dist preacher, who came here from East Fork, where he settled in the year 1827. He located in Grisham in 1828, on the farm now owned by his son, G. R. Aydelott. He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war and met with many stirring adventures during that struggle with the Indians. Mr. Aydelott was a devoted Christian, and assisted in the organization of the first Methodist Church in the township. He died in the year 1865. at the age of sixty years. His wife is still living, having reached the advanced age of seventy-five years. To her the writer is indebted for many of the facts connected with the early settlement of the township.
William Young, a brother-in-law of the preceding, was also an early settler of Gris- ham. He came to the township in the year 1828, and located on the farm now owned by Henry Hickman, on Section 2. This place was his home for two years, when he sold the farm to a brother, James Young, moved to the southern part of the township and bought the tract of land on which Mr. Rhodes now resides. Here he lived till the year 1SS0, at which time he disposed of the place and
moved to Hillsboro, where he has since re- sided. He is the only one of the original set- tlers of Grisham now living.
He relates the following incident: "James Wilson, a great practical joker, and William Crisp, a neighbor from Bond County, were at one time out hunting among the hills lying along Shoal Creek, when night overtook them in the woods and they decided to camp till morning. Wilson told Crisp that he would go farther up the creek to see if he could find a more suitable place where to pass the night. When he got out of Crisp's sight, he rode his horse across the stream and up and down the muddy banks several times till the water was considerably stirred up. Then riding hastily back to where he left Crisp, he told him in a very excited manner that a band of hostile savages had just crossed the creek and were bent on mischief. Crisp, who was at heart a great coward, would not credit the story until he saw the tracks and muddy water, when he betook himself to the woods and passed the long dreary night in an agony of fear. Wilson found him the next morning and undeceived him, but was never forgiven for the cruel and heartless joke." Many other prominent settlers of this township are en- titled to a mention in these pages, among whom are William Paisley, Robert Paisley, Spartan Jordan, Jacob Holbrook, William Rogers, but the limits of this chapter forbid a more extended notice.
To travel over a country with any degree of comfort or satisfaction, roads are necessary. The first roads were laid out without any re- gard to section lines, each person taking the shortest route to reach the place where he was going. As a result of this indiscriminate way of traveling, the township is traversed by many zigzag and crooked roadways. One of the first roads established was the old Sanga- mon road, which ran through the township in
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GRISHAM TOWNSHIP.
a northwesterly direction and intersected the southern boundary at a point about one half mile west of the village of Donnellson. Its course has since been changed and it is no longer a thoroughfare of any importance. The Greenville & Hillsboro road was another of the early roads, not only of this township, but one of the first in the county. It con- nects the cities of Greenville and Hillsboro, and passes through the richest and best set- tled part of Grisham. Part of the way it forms the boundary between Grisham and East Fork Townships. This is still an im- portant roadway, and is very extensively trav- eled. A road was laid out in an early day through Bear Creek Prairie, in the northern part of the township, and is still traveled, although the original course has been consid- erably changed. It runs in a zigzag course toward the southwestern part of the township, where it branches off into several small and unimportant byways.
In addition to those already named, Gris- ham, like all other townships of Montgomery County, is traversed by many very fair roads. which pass through it in all directions.
The Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Narrow (fange Railroad will, when completod, pass through the southern part of the township from east to west, about one-half mile north of the line which separates Bond and Mont- gomery Counties.
At present writing, the work is being rap- idly pushed toward completion. the greater part of the grading being done and many of the bridges built. This road will prove a great benefit to the country through which it runs and will afford ample shipping facilities for the farmers in the southern part of the county. One of the great sources of anxiety to the pioneer in a new country is the procur- ing of bread. When the first white settlers came into this country, they found none of the
conveniences of life by which the citizens of to-day are surrounded. No improvements, such as mills, bridges or roads, greeted his oye, but instead he saw nothing but unbroken solitudes of thick woods and monotonous prairies. In face of nature's wild deformities and all the annoyances which beset them. the pioneers went to work manfully and bravely. erected their humble cabin homes, broke the stubborn soil with their primitive plows and began that hard struggle for life which only the early settler has experienced. Mills were few and far between, and many miles of rough and almost impassable roads had to be traversed by the early settlers in order to obtain flour and meal -articles of food essen- tial to their existence. Theso journeys con- sumed much precious time, as every moment was as gold to the pioneer. A small mill was built in a very early day by a Mr. Fogleman, on Shoal Creek, near the central part of the township. It received the power by which the machinery was run from a couple of small springs, situated at the foot of a hill near by. A small race condneted the water to the little overshot wheel. This mill was a very rude affair and was called the old Pep- per mill. It had but one buhr and ground very slow. It was in operation but a few years. The old race-way can still be seen, and some of the old timbers still remain to mark the place where the first mill in the township was built.
One of the first mills in the county was built by a man named Nicholson, on Shoal Creek, a little south of the place where the old pepper-mill stood. This was a water mill, also, and was operated by the water of the creek. It was extensively patronized by the neighborhood, and for several years did a very good business. It was torn down many years ago and replaced by a steam mill, built by MePherson & Lewis. This was a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
combination mill, sawed lumber and ground both wheat and corn. It was torn away sev- eral years since, and has never been rebuilt. Prior to the ereetion of the above, there had been a saw-mill built on Shoal Creek by William Ross, in the year 1845, which was the first mill of its kind ever built in the township. No vestige of this mill remains, and it is difficult to tell exactly where it stood, though it is supposed to have occupied a spot near where the long bridge crosses the creek in the southern part of the township. Among the first industries of the township was the woolen factory built by James Street in the year 1828. It was operated by a small stream which was fed by a number of springs. The water, after leaving the mill, was dis- charged into Shoal Creek. It was operated by Mr. Street for a number of years, and, at his death, passed into the hands of his sons. who continued to run it until the machinery was worn out. It did a very paying business and supplied much of the wearing apparel used by the early settlers. At the present time, there are no mills or factories of any kind in the township.
Some attention has been given to stock- raising by the farmers of this township and a number of good farms are to be found within its limits. C. C. Root and C. H. Ed- wards were among the first to make stock- raising a specialty, and many fine cattle and sheep are to be seen upon their farms. While stock has received considerable atten- tion, agriculture is the principal occupation of the people, and promises to be for years to come.
The subject of education has always held a high place in the estimation of citizens of Grisham, as is manifest by the interest taken in their public schools, which are as ably conducted as those of any other township in the county. The first schoolhouses were
small cabins built of post-oak poles, without either floor or windows. Light was allowed to enter the room through a long opening in the wall into which greased paper was fitted in lieu of glass.
The seats and desks were of the simplest kind, but answered the purpose for which they were intended in the absence of better furniture. Books were scarce and limited to the few who were able to purchase them. These schools were conducted upon the prin- ciple that silence was not at all necessary and all studying was done orally. One of the first schools of the township was taught by Clement C. Aydelott in a diminutive little hut which stood a short distance east of the place where Edwards' Chapel now stands. Like all of the early schools, it was support- ed by subscription and lasted but three months. As time passed, these small and inconvenient buildings gradually gave place to more comfortable and commodious struc- tures, until no the township has five good substantial schoolhouses. The schools last about seven months in the year. The term generally begins the first Monday in October. It is difficult to determine with accuracy where the first religious services were held in Grisham, or under what circumstances. Many of the early settlers were devoted members of churches before they came to the new country, and did not abandon Christian worship after they arrived. Public services were often held in private dwellings during the early days, and were principally conducted by some person whose gift of speech was more fluent than that of his neighbors, or by any traveling preacher that might happen along. The first church organization of which we have any definite knowledge is the Presby- terian Church of Donnellson, or, as it was for- merly called. Bear Creek, of which the fol- lowing is a brief history :
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GRISHAM TOWNSHIP.
The Donnellson Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized by a few families from the church of Kentucky and Tennessee. This was in response to a proposition made by Mr. Rice, and the organization took place at the house of William Robertson, a Presbyterian, who lived about two miles north of Greenville, Bond County. The names of the original members of this organization are given as follows: Robert Paisley, Elizabeth Paisley, Jonathan Berry, Polly Berry, William Young and Phenly Young. The date of the perma- nent organization is not given in the old rec- ords, but the name Bear Creek was given the church at the organization of the first Presby- tery of the State, which took place at the residence of John Kirkpatrick, in Montgom- ery County, May, 1823. The first Elders of the church were Robert Paisley, Jonathan Berry and John Kirkpatrick. Mr. Paisley and Mr. Berry were from churches in Ken- tucky, and Mr. Kirkpatrick was from Sugg's congregation, Tennessee. Joseph McDavid was ordained Ruling Elder in the congrega- tion in May, 1822, while the church was still in Bond County, and was the first Elder or- dained by the church. The present Board of Elders consists of four. In all, the church has had thirty Ruling Elders up to the year 1881. The church has had many Acting Deacons, but it never had but five ordained Deacons. The present membership is about 130. The first pastor of the church was Rev. Green B. Price, who preached for the con- gregation four years. He was succeeded by Rev. Joel Knight, who had control of the church for an unknown but long time. A. M Wilson was the pastor one year; Joseph Gordon, for one year; J. M. Bone, fourteen years; B. H. Blackwell, nearly one year; J. W. Blosser, six months; Dr. Bell, one year; E. R. Rogers, for a short time; J. H. Hen- dricks, two years; E. M. Johnson, two years,
and William Frieze, the present pastor, who has been with the church three years. Some of the most influential churches of the county are offshoots of this congregation, amnong which are McDavid's Point, Pleasant Prairie, Goshen and many others. Many of the con- gregations in the far West have found that their best workers were from the membership of this church.
For a number of years, the congregation held their public services in private dwelling- houses. The first church edifice was built in Grisham Township about two miles north- west of the village of Donnellson, where the tirst cemetery in the southern part of the county was laid out. This was a frame build- ing and served the congregation as a place of worship till the year 1856, at which time their present edifice was erected. This house is the largest church building in the town- ship, and cost about $3,000. A flourishing Sunday school is kept up during the year, which is at present under the superintendency of D. F. Davis. The present Board of Elders consists of the following members: Henry Hawkins. Milton Ross, James Johnson and Michael Hampton.
Edwards' Chapel, the oldest Methodist Church in the county south of Hillsboro, was organized in the year 1829, with membership of twelve persons, whose names are as fol- lows: Thomas Edwards and wife, C. C. Ay- delott and wife, Thomas Grady and wife, John Hammond and wife. The organization was effected in a little log cabin, which stood in the southern part of the township, near the East Fork boundary line.
For many years, the little congregation had no house of worship and held their pub- lic services, protracted and quarterly meetings in groves, private dwelling-houses and barns.
" No silver saints, by dying misers given, llere bribed the rage of ill-requited heaven ; But such plain roofs as piety could raise, And only vocal with the Maker's praise."
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
These meetings were attended by all from miles around and did much toward bringing the remote settlements into social contact. Among the first pastors of the chucrh were Revs. Holiday, Ames, Walker and Dew. These were all able men and to their efforts are many of the Methodist Churches of the county indebted for their success. In the year 1850, a house of worship was erected near the residence of Thomas Edwards, an old settler in the northeast part of the town- ship, on Section 11.
The house was dedicated the following year by the celebrated Peter Cartwright. The occasion was one of unusual interest, and the vast crowd assembled to hear the fa- mons man, who preached a sermon, which, for force of logic, eloquence and wit, could hardly be surpassed. The building was of frame and served the congregation till the year 1872, when the present neat structure was erected. This building is frame, also, and cost the sum of $1,800. It is one of the best andience rooms in the county and will comfortably seat at least 300 persons. It stands directly west of the spot where the old building stood.
The present membership of the church is about eighty-five, among whom are some of the best and most substantial citizens of the community. A large and flourishing Sunday school is maintained throughout the year, and is at present under the superintendeney of W. H. Edwards.
A Baptist Church was organized by Elder James Street many years ago, and a house of worship erected, but of this society we could learn nothing, as it was abandoned a long time since and no efforts have been made to revive it. The burying-ground near which the old meeting-house stood was one of the first graveyards laid out in the county.
Another Methodist Church, Mt. Carmel,
was organized at an early day in the western part of the township, but at just what date the organization was effected could not be learned, as the original records were taken away a number of years ago and never re- turned. It was, however, one of the first Methodist Churches organized in the county, and has been in progress for at least fifty years. At one time, this church was very strong in numbers, but of late years the mem- bership has fallen off considerably, through death and removals. There are at present about forty members belonging to the church, and it is in good working condition. The first building in which the congregation wor- shiped was a little log cabin, situated in the southwestern part of the township, near the Bond County line. It served the congrega- tion for about twenty years. The building in which the church now meets was erected about twenty-five or thirty years ago. It has been remodeled several times and is still a very comfortable and neat house of worship. The membership will number probably thirty. The pastor who has charge of the church now is the Rev. William Van Cleve.
The Waveland Presbyterian Church, of the Presbytery of Alton, is situated in the north- ern part of the township, about five miles south and one-half mile west of Hillsboro. The Rev. A. Cameron Allen met a part of the members of the Presbyterian Church, of Hills- boro, at the house of W. P. Brown, in the year 1843, and organized them into a society called the Waveland Presbyterian Church. A sermon was preached upon the occasion by Rev. Allen and the following names recorded as original members: John Brown, Sarah Brown, Levi Brown, Newton G. Brown, William P. Brown, Elizabeth Brown. Nancy Brown, Eliza Brown, Rufus Brown, Jr., Margaret Craig. Jesse D. Wood, Minerva J. Wood, Saralı D. Blackwood, Emeline
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GRISHAM TOWNSHIP.
Blackwood, Levi H. Thorn, Margaret Thorn, George Nicholson, George S. Clodfelter, Elizabeth Barry, Joseph McLean, Abi- gail McLean, Enos Clodfelter and Eliza- beth Brown. The first Ruling Elders were John Brown, Levi H. Thorn and Dr. Jesse D. Wood. Mrs. Elizabeth Brown was the first of the members to be summoned away by death. She died Angust 4, 1843, just one month after the church was organ- ized. After its organization, the church was for a number of years a sort of outpost of the Hillsboro church, of which it is an offshoot, and was supplied by the ministers of that church till the year 1846. The first pastors who ministered to the congregation were Rev. Cameron Allen and Rev. Thomas H. Hynes, who preached at stated intervals till the year 1859. Since then the following pastors have preach I for the church: Robert M. Roberts, from 1851 to 1859; William Hamilton, 1859 to 1861; John S. Howell, 1861 to 1866; James H. Spillman, 1869 to 1871; H. Hynes in the year 1876; W. P. Baker, Willis Patchen and W. S. Rodgers have also had charge of the church since the year 1876. For many years, the congregation had no house of worship, and, during that time, held their public services in a grove in pleasant weather and in the private dwellings of Will- iam Brown, Levi Brown, Joseph McLean and Dr. Brown when the weather would not admit of outdoor meetings. On the 5th of October, 1847, the church obtained by gift from John Brown and his brother, Maj. William Brown, a deed for six acres of land, on which they erected a plain, though comfortable, house of worship. The times were hard, and, the majority of the people being very poor, the building was erected mainly by days' work, contributed by the members. Very little money was donated or needed. This house was used by the congregation for about twen-
ty years, when the church concluded to re- place it by a more commodious structure. In the summer of 1872, the present handsome building was erected at a cost of $1,600, the whole amount of which, it may be said with credit, was raised at home, without drawing upon the general funds of the church for aid. When the second house was built, the congre- gation was still without large numbers or much wealth, but they took hold of the work earnestly, and their efforts were crowned with success. While some contributed liberally, none were impoverished or seriously embar. rassed by their liberality. The pastor, Rev. J. H. Spillman, was most active and zealous in pushing the work forward, and to his en- ergy is the church largely indebted for its success. In the summer of 1848, the church established a parochial school and sustained it for three years. It was taught in the old meeting-house, first, by Mary F. Wait, of Vermont, and afterward by Miss Elvira M. Powers. It was successful and useful beyond expectation of the congregation and all its friends. It was distinctly Christian, rather than seetarian, and accomplished much good among the youth of the church and neighbor hood, giving at the same time both literary work and religious instruction. A neat parsonage was built in the spring of ISS1, just south of the church editice, which cost the congrega- tion the sum of $600. The present officers of the church are the following: G. W. Mans- field, D. H. Clodfelter and W. F. Hiekinan, Elders; I. N. Moss, James Brown, George McGhee, Deacons: G. N. McFail. Jesse Sei bert, Monroe Holmes and I. N. Moss, Trustees. A flourishing Sunday school is maintained, which is now superintended by G. W. Mans. field. Fifty-one Christians from other places have here been associated for the worship of God, and 102 have come out from the world and cast their lot with the church. Twenty-
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
five have died and quite a number have been dismissed to other congregations. The pres- ent membership numbers about sixty-five.
Connected with each of these churches is a cemetery, where one may read much of the history of the early settlers. The oldest cemetery is Bear Creek, and among the first ones buried there was Robert Paisley, of whom we spoke in a previous page. "The moss-covered slabs toll of the sweep of Time's seythe more truly than could be written by our feeble pen, and the little mounds, with the short records and dates tell to the wan- derer through these silent resting-places of the recklessness with which death marked as his own the old and the young indiscrimi- nately."
The village of Donnellson is situated in the southeast corner of Grisham, and was laid off into lots in the year 1860 by James Hutchin- son, who built the first house. Mr. Hutchin- son kept the first store in the township; his first stock of goods was kept in the kitchen of his old residence. Hejwas also the first
Postmaster of the village, having been ap- pointed when the office was established in the year 1860. Several dwelling-houses were erected in the years 1861 and 1862, though since that time the growth of the village has been somewhat slow. A good hotel was built in the year 1881, by Michael Hampton, at a cost of $1,500. There are two blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, one good store, an ax- handle factory and a paint shop in the town, all of which are doing a good business. The first physician who located in the place was Baxter Haines; he practiced his profession here for a number of years. The present physician is Dr. J. B. Carey. The future of this village is promising, as it is one of the points on the Toledo, Cincinnati & St. Louis Narrow Gauge Railroad. There is no town nearer than Hillsboro, a distance of twelve miles. Many lots are being brought up and improved, and the place promises to become at no very distant day one of the best shipping points in the county.
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