History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 23

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Illinois > Bureau County > History of Bureau County, Illinois > Part 23

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The northern boundary of the Military District is a line extending from the great bend in the Illinois River at the mouth of Lake De Pue, to the Mississippi River, a short distance below New Boston. The towns of Wheatland, Milo, Macon and Nepon- set, were in part in the Military District, which could not be entered, and for many years settlements could not be made in this reserve. Indiantown, Leepertown and Aris- pie were settled on lands without Govern- ment title.

Settlements .- In the spring of 1836 there was no one living in the towns of Fairfield, Manlius, Mineral. Neponset, Macon, Gold, Wheatland, Greenville, or Westfield. There was but one family in Milo, one in Walnut, one in Ohio, four in Berlin, five in Bureau, five in Concord, and six in Clarion. The dwellings were log-cabins, built mostly in the edge of the timber by the side of springs. There was but one meeting-house, two or three schoolhouses, only two surveyed roads,

and not a stream bridged. The land then under cultivation was a small field here and there adjoining the timber, and the prairies of the county were in a state of nature, a part of which had not been surveyed.

In the spring of 1830 Daniel Dimmick made a claim at the head of Dimmick's Grove, and in the fall of the same year Will- iam Hall made a claim near him, on the pres- ent site of Lamoille. In the spring of 1834 Leonard Roth, G. Hall and Dave Jones made claims in the Grove, and in July of the same year J. T. Holbrook, Moses and Horace Bowen, also settled in the Grove. In the fall of 1834 Enos Holbrook, Joseph Knox and Heman Downing came. In the spring of 1835 Tracy Reeves and Dr. John Kendall came here and laid out the town of Lamoille.

In 1834 Timothy Perkins and his sons claimed all of Perkins' Grove, and sold claims to those coming in afterward. The first cabin built in the Grove was on a farm now owned by John Hetzler, and occupied by S. Perkins and E. Bevens. The second house stood near the present residence of A. G. Porter, and was occupied by Timothy Perkins. In 1836-37 a number of persons came here, among whom were Joseph Screach, Stephen Perkins, J. and A. R. Kendall, J. and E. Fas- sett. In 1842 a postoffice named Perkins' Grove was established, but was discontinued some few years afterward.

In the summer of 1828 Reason B. Hall built a cabin on Section 34, town of Hall. In the fall of 1829 a black man named Adams built a cabin at the mouth of Negro Creek, and from him the stream took its name. In the summer of 1831 William Tompkins, Sampson and John Cole made claims on the east side of Spring Creek. In August, 1832, Henry Miller, William and James G. Swan made claims in the town of Hall. In 1833 Robert Scott, Martin Tompkins and A. Hol-

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

brook came. Other settlers came in soon after, among whom were Ranson and E. C. Hall, Mr. Wixam, Mr. Wilhite, N. Apple- gate, Dr. Whitehead and C. W. Combs.

In 1831 Thomas Washburn made a claim adjoining the county farm, west. He sold out to Benjamin Lamb, and in 1834 Lamb sold to James Triplett. In 1833 John Phil- lips, E. Chilson and Thomas Finley came; in 1834 Isaac Spangler, George Coleman, Edward and Aquilla Triplett. They settled in Center Grove. William Allen, C. C. Corss, Lemuel and Rufus Carey, Solomon Sapp, Adam Galer, George Bennett, and Rees Heaton were among these early settlers.

In the spring of 1834 Thornton Cummings made a claim on the north side of French Grove, and J. G. Reed at Coal Grove, and built a cabin on the present site of Sheffield. In 1835 Paul Riley, Caleb and Eli Moore, and James Langhrey built cabins in French Grove. A. Fay settled at Menominee Grove, and Benjamin Coal at Bulbona Grove.

In 1836 William Studley made a claim at the south end of Barren Grove, and in the following year William and George Norton, W. P. Batlerill and James Tibbetts came. In 1836 Curtis Williams, Thomas Grattidge, John Clark, Dr. Hall, George Squiers and E. D. Kemp settled in the north end of Bar- ren Grove.

In 1850 a settlement was made in the towns of Gold and Manlius, and among the first settlers were Samuel Mather, S. Barber, T. Rinehart, A. Lathrop, and James Martin.

In 1837 a settlement was commenced at Black Walnut Grove, in the town of Macon, and among the early settlers were William Bates, T. Matheral, James B. Akin, Lewis Holmes, and John and Charles Wood.

The country along Green River remained unoccupied for many years after settlements had been made in other parts of Bureau

County, and was visited only by hunters and trappers. It was known at that time as Winnebago Swamp, but took the name of Green River about the year 1837, about the time a settlement was commenced here.

In the Spring of 1837 Cyrus Watson built a cabin near the present site of New Bed- ford, and occupied it a short time. Soon afterward Francis and William Adams, D. Brady, Milton Cain, Daniel Davis, Lewis Burroughs, George W. Sprall, T. and N. Hill settled here.

The land on Green River north of the Indian boundary did not come into market until 1844, and some of the settlers held their land by pre-emption right. But when the land came into market they were not pre- pared to pay for it, and to prevent others from entering their farms they organized a " Settlers' League," with a constitution and by-laws, signed by all those interested. From this Settlers' League originated the once common phrase, "State of Green."

In the north part of the county, except the one cabin at Red Oak Grove, and one at "Dad Joe" Grove, there were very few set- tlers until 1850. James Claypall occupied the Ament cabin in Red Oak Grove from 1833 to 1836. Soon after this Luther Den- ham moved to this place. He died in this county September 1, 1856, aged fifty-two years. His wife, Eliza, died November 19, 1854, aged forty-eight years. They were buried in Oakland Cemetery, Princeton.

A. H. Jones, G. Triplett, T. Culver and Richard Brewer settled in an early day at Walnut Grove.

In 1841 F. G. Buchan built a cabin at East Grove, on the north line of Ohio Town- ship, and in 1846 William Cleavland built a cabin on the prairie near the middle of the township, but in a little while he abandoned his claim. The prairie really began to settle

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

up about 1852. Among the settlers were the celebrated Esq. Falvey, John Kasbeer -- to-day one of the most prominent men in that part of the county-William Cowan, S. Wilson, John and Andrew Ross-the Ross family being now one of the largest and most prominent families in the county. The read- er is referred to the Ross biographies for further particulars. Also Daniel P. Smith, whose father is fully spoken of in another chap- ter, and Dwight Smith were the earliest set- tlers in this part of the county.

In 1841 there were only a few families in the south part of the county south of Boyd's Grove, among whom were D. Bryant, B. Hagan, John A. Griswold and Isaac Suther- land. Soon after this a settlement was made at Lone Tree, in Wheatland Township-John and T. Kirkpatrick, J. Larkins, J. Merritt, Henry and R. Rich, and the large family of Andersons, to one of whom the property now belongs on which once stood the noted Lone Tree. Ferrell Dunn (see Dunn's biography), A. Benson and Elder Chenoweth were the first settlers in Arispie.

The Sac and Fox trail passed by Lost Grove. This part of the county was slow in being taken up by actual settlers. As late as 1837 the Grove was the headquarters for some rather large and fierce looking wolves. In 1837 a traveler named Dunlap from Knox County, Ohio, was murdered at this grove, by, as supposed, a man named Green, whom he had hired to pilot him over the country in looking for land.

In the spring of 1831 Mason Dimmick made the first claim at Lost Grove, and com- menced a cabin where Arlington now stands, but soon abandoned it.

In the fall of 1835 two young men, Blod- gett and Findley, made a claim here, and while they were disputing about their claims, Benjamin Briggs entered the land. In 1840

he sold it to Michael Kenedy, who made a large farm here. He finally laid off the town of Arlington on his land.

In 1840 David Roth, who was a railroad contractor, built a house east of the grove, and afterward sold it to Martin Carley, who made a farm here. Soon after this Daniel Cahill, D. Lyon, James Waugh, Peter Cassa- day, Mr. Okley and others came in here and settled.

The first German to settle in the county was Andrew Gosse, who is still one of our most respected citizens. He resides in Prince- ton.

Butler Denham, a native of Conway, Mass., born July 25, 1805, and died in Princeton, August 8, 1841, was one of the large family of Denhams who were among the early settlers in the county.

Jonathan Colton died December 11, 1854, aged seventy-three years. His wife, Betsey, died October 4, 1846, aged sixty-two years.

The large Mercer family came from Ohio in 1834. William Mercer died here Decem- ber 22, 1844, aged seventy-seven years. His wife, Ann, died July 21, 1844, aged eighty- four years. Aaron Mercer died October 6, 1845, aged fifty-three years. Jane, his wife, died June 8, 1849, aged fifty-five years. Dr. Joseph Mercer died May 30, 1878, aged fifty years.

Roland Moseley, a son of William and Lydia Moseley, was born in Westfield, August 20, 1788; died September 19, 1855. He came to Princeton in 1831. His first wife, Aghsah - G. Pomeroy, was born in Northampton, Mass., February 6, 1792; died October 2, 1837. His second wife, Caroline H. Cabara,- was born in Pennsylvania in 1803, died Octo- ber 23, 1855. F. Moseley died November 3, 1865, aged forty-eight years. Dwight Moseley died September 11, 1870, aged forty- four years. W. N. Moseley, born in Stephen-

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

son, N. Y., April 11, 1822, died May 6, 1872. Roland P. Moseley died April 29, 1850, aged thirty-four years.

Joseph V. Thompson was born in London, October 31, 1814; died May 13, 1871. His wife, Mary E. Kent, was also a native of London; born 1810, died September 15, 1847. Mr. Thompson was one of the leading men of the county for many years. Ho filled many of the county offices; was Sheriff at one time. Was noted for his good sense, genial nature, and pungent wit.

Judge Robert T. Templeton was born October 20, 1811; died February 4, 1865. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery. Look- ing at the monument over his grave the writer's attention was arrested and deeply interested in a sentence on one side of the stone, where it was the only mark. It was, " The Grave of My Dear Papa." There was here a great deal of the story of life, love and inexorable death. Could a book tell more of the story of the babe, the little girl, the child and the strong, doting father and the tender affection and love of one to the other. The writer had never seen either of them, yet this short, simple inscription deeply interested him, and in imagination he could not but go over the sweet story that it spoke of a high and holy love that was stronger than death, so strong and so pure that he frankly confesses that it impressed him as the strongest plea for a union and a recogni- tion beyond the grave that he had ever met. She was buried by the side of her " dear papa's grave." Surely in death they are not separated.

Leonora, wife of Judge Templeton, was born July 11, 1824; died May 19, 1883.

Mr. Templeton was the pioneer merchant of Princeton, and he built the first commerce of the county. He was a man of large busi - ness capacity, and active in body and mind.

For his day he accumulated quite a fortune. He was a member of the State Constitu- tional Convention of 1862, was a mem- ber of the County Court in 1848, and also Swamp Land and Drainage Commissioner for the county. and in 1839 he was elected County Treasurer. In the building up of Princeton, the organizing the new county and putting its machinery in motion, he was con- stantly a prominent and efficient actor. He was widely known and universally respected. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Templeton there was but one child-a daughter-Mary

Ross Templeton, who was just three years old when her father died. She never mar- ried, and died in Princeton in 1878. It will be seen that with the death of Mrs. Tem- pleton recently, the immediate family of Judge Templeton became extinct.

Caleb Cushing was born August 12, 1795, in Seekonk, Mass. Died January 12, 1877, in Providence, Bureau County. He was a son of Charles and Chloe (Carpenter) Cush- ing, natives of Massachusetts. Their chil- dren were Christopher C., Charles C., Chaun- cey, Polly and Caleb.

Rev. E. Scudder High, who resided near Tiskilwa, was among the early and heroic preachers of the Presbyterian faith. He was full of the severe, intense and dogmatic doc- trine that so marked his day and age. He was not ashamed to own his Lord and Mas- ter, and it never occurred to him to stop and inquire whether this sentiment was duly re- ciprocated or not. He believed that religion was a solemn, serious and awfully severe thing, and he loved God exclusively on the ground that a few, only a few, were to be saved, and all else were to be damned, as they richly deserved to be. His God was always du- ly angry and jealous and He gave the great mass of mankind the hot end of the poker. The beauties of heaven were beautiful only by the

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reflex of the eternal and exquisite tortures of hell. He was severely good, heroically pious and very long-winded in his sermons of love and goodness. He was a bachelor, and who can blame him. He rode long distances over all this part of Illinois, and preached long sermons, and received but short pay. His sermons were so long and dry that it was a serious matter, especially with the young folks who had to sit them out. It is said that one real old benevolent Christian was so moved by the discomforts of the children that he provided himself with a lot of dough- nuts, which he passed about among the nr. chins, to their infinite relief, and without in the least attracting the holy man's attention or disturbing his "eighteenthly " or breaking the thread of his brimstone sermon.

Going to Market to Sell a Nice Pig .- It is not so long ago but many yet living can well remember when the only market for all this part of Illinois was Galena-the Lead Mines -as it was once called. With no roads, no bridges, no places of shelter or retreat from " the night and storm and darkness," no guiding track except the chance Indian trail, or the sun and stars, and hundreds of miles to haul or drive to market and then get $1.50 for pork, or 50 cents for wheat, it now seems incredible that people would work and struggle to make farms with only such a pros- pect as this before them. The farmers usu- ally had to form little companies and thus go together, as this was necessary to help each other along over the long slow trip and as a protection against a sort of banditti that made it often unsafe for a man to travel alone. Many are the tales told of the dangers and fatigues between here and Chicago and Galena. We give one instance as a curious circumstance of the times. Robert Caultass, an Englishman living near where Sheffield now is, had arranged to

join three men from Stark County and take his drove of hogs with theirs to Galena. These three men from Stark were Robert and William Hall and W. W. Winslow. When the drove from Stark County reached Caul- tass' place he joined them and all started for Galena. They moved along slowly but with no great difficulty until they struck the great prairie beyond Edwards River, which was then a stretch of sixteen miles without a halting place. By this time provisions were growing scarce, and they dispatched William Hall ahead with a wagon to obtain some. and have them in readiness at their next camp- ing spot beyond the prairie. But hardly had he left them when the wind changed and blew a gale directly in their faces; a driving snow filled the air and almost blinded them, and the hogs most positively refused to face the storm. And these were no lubberly pen- bred hogs, but long-legged "graziers," fat- tened in the woods, that had good use of their legs when put to it; they were travel- ers from the word go. So the drovers had hard work to prevent a general stampede back to the Bureau timber. To advance a step was impossible. Here they were on the open prairie, in the driving, blinding storm. What were they to do? A council was held and they came to the conclusion that they must either perish or follow the hogs home again. But just at this juncture the Peoria and Galena stage, drawn by four stout horses, came dashing along cutting a path through the snow, and for some reason known only to themselves, the hogs took after the stage, fairly pursuing it for miles, squealing furiously, and running at a rate that almost kept them abreast of the horses, to the great relief of the drovers who thereby soon reached a shelter for the night, and glad to think that "all's well that ends well." In the course of time they arrived at Galena

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

with their drove, and made arrangements for doing their own slaughtering, as was then common. Some man furnished them yard, board and fire and all conveniences for the work, and in return took the rough fat. And the bold venture turned out very well.

John Musgrove was one of the important early settlers. He was from New Jersey, and to this fact Princeton owes its name, as he was one of the first proprietors of the town, that is, he was one of three that platted and laid off the town, and when they came to select a name for it Musgrove wanted it named Princeton. The others wanted some Massachusetts name, and finally the different names were put in a hat and to Musgrove's joy Princeton was drawn. Mr. Musgrove died October 16, 1839.

In the civil history of the county in other parts of this work the name of Justin H. Olds frequently occurs. He was a native of Belchertown, Mass. Born September 4, 1806; died in Peoria, to which place he had removed, November 30, 1878. He was Cir- cuit Clerk, County Treasurer of Bureau County and County Surveyor, besides other positions of honor and trust. His wife, Louisa G., was a sister of the Bryants. She died December 13, 1868, aged sixty-one years, eleven months and twenty-three days. Their children, Lucy Wood and Bryant, sleep by their side in Oakland Cemetery. The family reside in Peoria, to which place Mr. Olds removed in consequence of his ap- pointment as Inspector in the Revenue Serv- ice.

Cyrus Bryant died February 19, 1865, aged sixty-six years, seven months and seven days. Julia E., his wife, died April 25, 1875, aged sixty-seven years.

Austin Bryant died February 1, 1866, aged seventy-two years, nine months and fifteen days.

Mrs. Sarah Snell Bryant, widow of Dr. Peter Bryant, of Cummington, Mass, was born in Bridgewater, December 4, 1768; died in Princeton May 6, 1847. Her illustrious children are the fitting crown to her noble and devoted life.

The settlement in Walnut Grove com- menced in 1837. Among the first were Thomas Motheral, William Bates, James B. Akin, Lewis Holmes, Charles Lee, T. J. Horton and Charles Wood.

Matson in his Reminiscences says: "On the 19th of May, 1830, Daniel Dimmick made a claim a short distance south of Lamoille, on what is now known as the Collins' farm, and from that time the head of Main Bureau timber took the name of Dimmick's Grove. In the fall of 1849 William Hall made a claim and built a cabin on the present site of Lamoille, and occupied it about eighteen months. In April, 1832, Mr. Hall, having sold his claim to Aaron Gunn, moved to Indian Creek, twelve miles north of Ottawa, were himself and part of his family were killed by the Indians a few weeks afterward. At the commencement of the Black Hawk war Dimmick left his claim and never returned to it again, and for two years Dimmick's Grove was without inhabitants ; the cabins and fences went to decay, and the untilled lands grew up in weeds. When Dimmick fled from the grove he left two sows and pigs which increased in a few years to quite a drove of wild hogs, that were hunted in the grove years afterward, and from them some of the early settlers obtained their supply of pork.

In the spring of 1834, Leonard Roth, Greenberry Hall, and Dave Jones made claims in the grove, and for a short time Timothy Perkins occupied the Dimmick cabin. In July of the same year, Jonathan T. Hol- brook, Moses and Horace Bowen settled in

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

the grove. Mr. Holbrook and Moses Bowen bought Gunn's claim and made farms. In the fall of 1834 Enos Holbrook, Joseph Knox and Heman Downing settled in the grove. In the spring of 1836 Tracy Reeve and Dr. John Kendall bought Moses Bowen's farm and laid off Lamoille. Mr. Bowen had previously made a survey of the town, but made no record of it when he sold to the above named parties. The town was origin- ally called Greenfield, but was afterward changed to its present name, on account of obtaining a postoffice.

Joseph Knox on leaving Dimmick's Grove, located at a point of timber which was after- ward known as Knox's Grove. One night. while Mr. Knox and his sons were absent, two young Indians came to his house, prob- ably without any evil intentions, but it frightened the women so they fled on foot for Dimmick's Grove, eight miles distant. Next morning these two young Indians, accom- panied by their father, came to Dimmick's Grove to give an explanation of their visit to the house the night before. There were present Leonard Roth, J. T. Holbrook and Dave Jones. With the two former the explan- ation of the Indians was satisfactory, but with the latter it was different; Jones whip- ped one of the Indians severely.

In the summer of 1831 William Tompkins, Sampson and John Cole made claims on the east side of Spring Creek, and for some time they were the only permanent settlers in the east part of the county. In August, 1832, Henry Miller with his family settled on the farm now occupied by his son, Henry J. Miller. About the same time William Swan made a claim in this vicinity, and the next year James G. Swain made a claim where he now lives. In 1833 Robert Scott became a resident of the settlement, and about the same time Martin Tompkins and Alexander

Holbrook made claims near the east line of the county, where H. W. Terry now lives. Other settlers came in soon after, among whom were Reason and E. C. Hall, Mr. Wixam, Mr. Wilhite, Nathaniel Applegate, Dr. Whithead and C. W. Combs.

In 1834 Timothy Perkins and sons claimed all of Perkins' Grove. The first house built in the grove was on a farm owned by John Hetzler. This was originally occupied by Solomon Perkins and Elijah Bevens. The second house was built near A. G. Porter's, and was occupied by Timothy Perkins; this house was covered with deer skins. Joseph Search, Stephen Perkins and Mr. Hart set- tled in the spring of 1835 on the west side of the grove; J. and A. R. Kendall, J. and E. Fassett were among the early settlers. A postoffice was established here in 1842 and called Perkins' Grove.

In 1834 Isaac Spangler, George Coleman and Aquilla Triplett settled on the east of Center Grove; William Allen and C. C. Corss north of it.

Providence Colony .- in 1836 a colony was organized in Providence, R. I., for the pur- pose of colonizing some place in Illinois. There were seventy-two stockholders in the company, who owned from one to sixteen shares each, and each share was to draw eighty acres of land, which amounted in all to 17,000 acres. Com. Morris, Col. C. Oak- ley, Asa Barney, L. Scott, S. G. Wilson, Edward Bailey and Caleb Cushing, were ap- pointed a committee to select and enter the lands for the colony. This committee, after exploring the country in different parts of the States selected Township 15, Range 8 (now Indiantown), for their future home. The land in this township was then vacant, except a few tracts in the southeast corner, and it was without inhabitants, with the exception of Martin Tompkins and Mr. Burt. All the

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HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

vacant land in this township, and some in the adjoining one, was entered by the colony, and a portion of which was soon after made into farms. The colony committee, after entering the land, laid off a town, and in honor of Roger Williams, named it Providence. Two of the committee, Asa Barney and Caleb Cushing, remained until fall for the purpose of erecting a building on their new town site; this building was a large frame structure, built out of the funds of the colony, and in- tended to be used for a hotel.

In the spring of 1837 about forty persons belonging to the colony arrived at their fu- ture home, all of whom found quarters in the house built by the colony until other dwell- ings could be erected. With this colony came many of the enterprising citizens of this county, and they received a hearty wel- come from the early settlers.

This colony, like all others, did not meet the expectations of its projectors, nevertheless, it added much to the wealth and population of the county. Among the members of this colony who settled here were Alfred Anthony, Hosea Barney, J. Shaw, James Harrington, James Pilkington, John Lannon, Thomas Doe, Mathew Dorr, James Dexter, Elias Nick- erson and Thomas Taylor.

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History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 23

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company Number of Pages: 776

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776