USA > Illinois > Christian County > History of Christian County, Illinois > Part 64
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
Mr. Firey has always followed farming. He has raised a family of seven children, all now grown: Jacob J., now practicing medi- cine in Taylorville, Hattie E., now the wife of Ross M. Houck, Albert M., married and lives at home, William H., Susan E., Isaac E. and Mary E., all yet beneath the parental roof. Mr. Firey had the misfortune to lose his wife, Feb. 2, 1880. She was a member of the Lutheran church, and took quite an active interest in the church, and did all in her power to further the interests of the Sabbath-school. Mr. Firey is also a member of the same church. In politics he is a democrat. He is a prominent farmer of Mt. Au- burn township, and by industry has acquired a competency to make easy his declining years.
LOCUST TOWNSHIP.
900 00 HIS township derives its name from a stream so called, which traverses a portion of its territory. It comprises the congressional township twelve, range one west, being six miles square, containing an area of 23,040 acres. It is intermediate between Pana and the county seat; bounded on the north by May; east by Assumption and
Pana; south by Rosemond; west by Johnson township. There is considerable timber along the west and south-west side of the township along Locust creek and its tributaries, which drain the township.
Settlements .- There were a few families living here when the county was organized, but the greater number of its inhabitants
244
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
came after the year 1850. Soon after this date a number of emi- grants from Ohio, and other sections of the country, settled here. The wild prairie was soon dotted over with a thrifty business popu- lation Among the pioneer settlers were: Wesley Westbrook, who came in 1835; Josiah Anderson, came in 1839; G. Wash. Cheek and a Mr. Harlick, came in 1838; Thos. D. Chastain, Matthew Durbin, James Bradley, and Thomas Bradley, came in 1846; Joseph P. Durbin, in 1850,-all of whom are now deceased. Among other early settlers were: James Durbin, Elisha Durbin, Elisha Logsdon, Martin Overholt, W. H. Madison, James M. Painter, B. C. Cochran, John McCune, Edward Lawton, John White, William Hunter, Achilles Morris, and William Lawton.
On the 10th of September, 1858, the county court, on the peti- tion of P. D. Vermillion and sixty other legal voters, formed "Locust Precinct," selecting Joseph P. Durbin, James Bradley, and Seth W. Benepe, its first judges of elections, and appointing the place of voting at Benepe's school-house, located on the six- teenth section. Its first Justices of the Peace were : Thos. W. Coch- ran and Seth W. Benepe. G. Wash. Cheek and John W. Hunter were elected the first constables November 2d, 1858.
During the first settlement to realize on their corn crops the farmers had to feed it to their stock, which they disposed of annu- ally about Christmas. They would frequently drive their hogs to the St. Louis markets, a distance of about one hundred miles. But with the advent of railroads in this county the order of things was changed. The first lot of hogs shipped by rail was by Dr. U. C. McCoy, Joshua Pepper, and John White, in the winter of 1855-56. They shipped six car-loads at Pana, on the Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, the first that passed over that road after its completion. The first threshing-machine was brought to Christian county by William Hunter in 1855 ; it was a " Marsi- lon Separator," and attracted much attention in the farming com- munity. Its owner had calls for its use from all parts of the county.
The old grocery store and saloon was a notable institution on the public road from the county seat to Pana: It was located at an carly date, on the north-west corner of section twenty-seven, town twelve, range one, and was a place of great resort for the lovers of foot-races and shooting-matches. As the township increased in population there was a greater demand for postal accommodation. The passing of the tri-weekly stage suggested the idea of a post- office. It was established in 1857, and was the first one in the township. Judge Vandeveer suggested the name, "Owancco," which was adopted. J. M. Weaver was appointed the first post- inaster, and the office was kept in a little frame building, near the late residence of Esquire Joseph P. Durbin, on the borders of Locust Creek timber. In the office was kept a few dry goods, groceries, and an abundant supply of " tangle-foot." The house was sold at one time by the United States Deputy Marshal for a failure to pay Internal Revenue whisky tax. The post-office changed hands, and at one time the following amusing incident occurred :
One day, as the mail-coach approached, the stageman sounded his bugle, and drove up to the post-office door. The driver sprang from the box, and was dragging the mail in the direction of the office, when a stalwart backwoodsman came to the door, and in commanding tones cried out :
"Stop right thar ; thar's no use in dragging that 'ar in here!"
" Why not ?" asked the driver.
" Tuck it along; tuck it back, I say ; needn't fotch it in here !"
" And why not ?" again queried the driver, who by this time had come to a halt.
" Because, as how," said the deputy post-master, " the post-master is absent on a hunt, and I can't read a word!"
A passenger volunteered to open and assort the mail belonging to that office, provided the key was furnished. It was soon pro- duced, and to the proffered services of that passenger the inhabitants of the Owaneco region were indebted for the news of that day.
In 1866, on the adoption of township organization, this township remained unchanged as to its boundaries. At the election held April 3d, 1866, B. C. Cochran was elected its first supervisor ; John W. Hunter and Philip Baker were elected justices of the peace ; and Daniel Orr and David Jarvis, constables, on the 7th of November, 1865. These officers held over till the expiration of the time for which they were elected. The O. and M., formerly called the Springfield and S. E. R. R., runs diagonally through the town- ship, entering it on sec. 6 and leaving it on sec. 36. There are two stations in this township on the line of the road, Owaneco and Millers- ville. That part of the township lying south of Locust Creek forms a part of the territory of what is termed " Buckeye Prairie." It derived its name from a number of emigrants from Ohio, the Buck- eye state, settling in this prairie. Its first settler on the Cottonwood Forks was Martin Overholt, in the fall of 1851. He built the first house, and moved into it in an unfinished state, for a time affording only a pretext for shelter from the wintry blasts; it was situated on the west half of south-west quarter section twenty-nine. The house is still standing, and now owned by B. C. Cochran ; it was near the " Buckeye school-house."
Lumber for building purposes could not be obtained short of Lucas' saw-mill, several miles distant, and the hauling of rails and wood from the timber, some three or four miles distant, was a serious inconvenience.
In the years 1852-53 there was quite an influx of emigration to this country from Ohio; among them were John McCune, B. C. Cochran, and William Hunter; the two former settled and built houses a short distance from Martin Overholt's. This little band were deprived of many of the advantages which older settlements enjoy. No church, no Sabbath nor day-school ; all around it was silent and dreary. If a census of the prairie had been taken at that time it would probably have shown :- adults, six ; children, sixteen ; total, twenty-two souls all told. Quite a little colony. Schools claimed its attention at an early date. Cochran met Joshua Peppins and arranged Buckeye school district.
The first three named persons were elected directors. The " Buck- eye School-house " was built in 1856, on the head waters of Cot- tonwood creek, on the N. E. corner of sec. 31, town 12-1 W. H. L. Mull was its first teacher, in the winter of 1856-7. A writer states : " From this period dates the Elizabethian or golden cra of Buckeye history."
Its schools, lyceums and debating societics loomed up in propor- tion.
The Rev. Shunk, pastor of the Taylorville circuit, was the first minister to make his advent into this new colony. He preached at the cabins of William Hunter, James Witlow and Samuel Cowgill, He was followed by Rev. John Slate.
The M. E. Society was organized during the winter of 1856-7, and a Sabbath school at the same time. The school-house being built, the society worshiped in that for a time, alternating the Sab- baths with the Christian Society. The latter had been holding their meetings at the residence of B. C. Cochran, services being conducted by Elders A. McCollum and P. D. Vermillion. In the summer of 1866 the Buckeye M. E. Church was built ncar the township line, intermediate between Buckeye and Sherman school- house, on the south-east corner of sec. 31, at a cost of $6,000. The " Buckeye Cemetery," located in 1853, is near the church.
The first burial in this cemetery was a little daughter of Mr.
245
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Murry's. The first birth in "Buckeye Prairie," in this township, was Florence, daughter of B. C. Cochran, in 1854.
The lands in this township were originally surveyed by Enoch Moore, Deputy U. S. Surveyor; returned and certified January 25th, 1819, by William Rector, Surveyor-General.
The first land entries, as taken from the county records, are as follows : April 1, 1836, W. S. Russel, N. E. quarter sec. 18, 160 acres ; N. W. quarter sec. 18, 138 82-100 acres ; S. W. quarter sec. 18, 138 acres ; S. E. quarter sec. 18, 160 acres. April 27, 1836, Hiram B. Rountree, N. W. half N. W. quarter sec. 5, 39 7-100 acres ; April 27, 1836, Zadoc C. Rountrec, N. W. half S. W. quarter sec. 6, 37 52-100 acres.
The population, according to the census of 1870, was 825, now, about 2,000. At the presidential election in 1876 it cast a vote of 258.
We append the officers since township organization :
Supervisors-B. C. Cochran, elected 1866, re-elected 1867 and '68; John W. Hunter, 1869; A. De Barr, 1870; Geo. W. Marts, 1871; Z. F. Bates, 1872; A. De Barr, 1873; S. F. Bates, 1874; Z. F. Bates, 1875, re-elected 1876; R. McShea, 1877 ; G. W Marts, 1878; J. S. Cussins, 1879, re-elected 1880.
Assessors-Jonas Suttle, 1877 ; A. P. Huninger, 1878; Joseph Borgin, 1879, re-elected 1880.
Collectors-W. S. Benepe, elected 1866 ; Thomas W. Cochran, 1867, re-elected 1868, '69, '70 and '71; P. V. Johnson, 1872, re- elected 1873 ; C. E. Corcoran, 1874 ; R. Anderson, 1875, re-elected 1876; J. C. Hunter, 1877; Alex. Montgomery, 1878 ; A. De Barr, 1879; Charles Becker, 1880.
Town Clerks-R. M. Houck, 1877; Jeremiah Millhor, 1878; Martin Leach, 1879 ; S. M. Orr, 1880.
Commissioners of Highways-A. De Barr, 1877 ; Wm. Bordelais, one year; M. Anderson, two years; J. W. Hunter, three years. D. D. Resler, 1879; B. F. Goode, 1880.
Constables-Joshua Cochran and Preston Goode elected in 1873 ; George Law, 1874, re-elected 1877 ; James M. Painter, 1877; F. H. Hargis, 1878.
Justices of the Peace-John J. Danford, elected 1870; Z. F. Bates, '70; John J. Danford and Z. F. Bates, '73; John J. Dan- ford, re-elected '77 ; Richard Anderson, '77.
OWANECO
Is located on the S. W. S. W. 4 sec. 15, and a part of S. E. S. E. 4 sec. 16. It was laid out and surveyed by Elisha Gimlin, on Oct 1st, 1869, for J. C. Helmick and John Foggitt, proprietors. It derived its name from a post-office located not far distant, on Lo- cust creek. The town is prosperous, and is situated in the midst of a rich agricultural district, and is one of the stations on the O. & M. railroad. There is a large amount of grain and stock shipped from this point yearly. For a time the village was checked in its growth by the death of its chief proprietor, J. C. Helmick, a banker of Pana.
The present business is as follows :
Dr. J. S. Cussins, Physician and Druggist ; John Ward, Flour- ing Mill; Alexander Montgomery, Suddle and Harness Shop ; Dr. R. McShea, Physician and Grocer ; J. C. Hunter, Dry Goods, Groceries and Post-master; Price & Wilkinson, Grain Deulers ; R. Turgeon, Notions and Groceries ; John C. Handel, Blacksmith and Wagon-maker.
Secret Society-Locust Lodge, A. F. & A. M., No. 623, was char- tered in 1869. Number of charter-members, 12. A. B. Leaper, first W. M., who also fills the office at the present time.
MILLERSVILLE.
This town was laid out Sept. 20th, 1873, by M. G. Okey, as a midway station between Pana and Owaneco. It is located on sec. 26, in the south-eastern part of Locust township, and was surveyed by Elijah Gimlin, a resident of the township, for its proprietor, who acknowledged the same before W. M. Provine, N. P., January 20, 1874. It contains four blocks, and its principal streets are "Center," on the north side, and "Bismark," on the south side of the rail- road.
Considerable grain and stock is shipped at this point. The town is named in honor of Thomas Miller, who owns a large farm adjacent to it.
There are at present the following business houses : Ballord & Miller, Elevator (with a capacity of 50,000 bushels); Price & Wil- kinson, Grain Dealers ; L. Kirkpatrick & Co., General Merchants.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
A. E. LAWTON,
HAS been living in Locust township since 1853. His father, Ed- ward Lawton, was born in Nottinghamshire, England, in the year 1811, and married Mary Ann Hinds, who was a native of the same part of England, and was born in 1813. This marriage took place in the summer of 1832, and immediately afterward they sailed for America. After living six years in Canada they settled in Tus- carawas county, Ohio, where the family lived till the spring of 1853, and then came to this state. His father bought two hundred and forty acres of land in sections four and cighteen of Locust township, and the same year built the house on section four, in which A. E. Lawton now lives. At that time the only settlements in Locust township were along the timber, and the prairie was entirely wild and uncultivated. The Lawtons were the first to settle on the prairie in the township. The subject of this sketch was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, near Canal Dover, on the
sixth day of October, 1844. He was in his ninth year when his father came to this county. His father was a man of great in- dustry and energy, who brought up his children to habits of industry.
He was married on the fifth day of April, 1853, to Miss Frances E. Painter, who was born near Palestine in Crawford county, in this state. Her father was Benjamin Painter, who was born in Virginia, in the year 1803, and came to Crawford county, Illinois, in 1805, wlien two years of age, and lived in that part of the state till his death in 1877. Since his father's removal to Taylorville in May, 1873, Mr. Lawton has been engaged in farnı- ing the old homestead. He has had three children, Mary F .; Benjamin E., who died in 1878 one year and two months old; and an infant daughter. He has always been a republican in politics, and cast his first vote for President, for Grant in 1868.
246
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
John W Stunder
LIKE many of the substantial farmers on the Buckeye prairie, Mr. Hunter is a native of Ohio. He was born in Tuscarawas county, of that state, on the twenty-fourth of November, 1832. His ancestors, at an early date, settled in the state of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Hunter still has in his possession a commission as lieutenant in the 128th regiment of Pennsylvania militia, which was held by his grandfather, James Hunter. His commission is signed by Thomas Mckean, then governor of Pennsylvania. James Hunter moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Tuscarawas county. William Hunter, the father of the subject of this sketeh, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and was a small boy when he came to Ohio. He was raised in Tuscarawas county of that state, and married Susan Butt, daughter of William Butt. The Butt family came from Maryland, and were among the pioncer settlers of Ohio.
The oldest of nine children by this marriage was John W. Hun- ter. He was raised on the same farin where occurred his birth. In the days of his boyhood the same ample provision for the edneation of children had not been made as at the present time. The schools were held usually only in the winter. The boys attended school only a few weeks, and then through the next summer generally for- got all that had been learned during the winter. Mr. Hunter's father was a man accustomed to hard labor, and brought up his children to follow, in this respect, his example. In the fall of 1853 the family moved from Ohio to this county. His father had previously visited the state, and selected a location on seetion twenty-
eight of Locust township, to which the family removed, after living one year in May township, cast of Taylorville. Mr. Hunter's father improved a farm there and died in the fall of 1858 ; his mother died in the spring of 1861.
His marriage occurred on the twenty second of May, 1856, to Miss Martha J. Vermillion, a native of Sangamon county. Her father, Birch Vermillion, was a Kentuckian, who canic to Sangamon county in the year 1833, and settled fifteen miles west of Spring- field, where he died. Mrs. Hunter's mother moved with her family to Christian county in the spring of 1856. In the fall of 1856, Mr. Hunter began improving the farm on which he now lives, in section thirty-three of Locust township. He built a house, into which lie moved the spring of 1857. He has been living on the same farm ever since. His farm consists of 233 aeres. Besides being employed in general farming, he has been engaged, to a considerable extent, in raising stock. Of late years he has devoted his attention to fine cattle and hogs. On his premises may be seen as good short-horn cattle as can be found in the county, and his breeds of Berkshire hogs are as pure as can be obtained. His name appears in several instances in the published volumes of the American Berkshire Record, as the owner of several animals. He is also one of the members of the American Short-Horn Breeders' Association. He was one of the gentlemen interested in the Christian County Agri- cultural Association, and for a number of years took an active part in the annual fairs. As a member of the Board of Directors, he did all in his power to make these fairs a success, and was usually
The Library of the Unterrain, of Illlachs.
RES. AND STOCK FARM OF EDWARD R. SHEPHERD, SEC.I, LOCUSTTP, (12) R.I W. CHRISTIAN CO., ILL.
247
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the recipient of several premiums for the excellence of his display of stock.
He was one of the early members of the republican organization, and his family on both sides were supporters of the old whig party. He sympathized with the aims of the republican party from its or- ganization, and in 1860 voted for Lincoln for president. Although of late years his views have differed somewhat from the financial theories which have found favor with the majority of the republican party, and he believes that that party has made grave mistakes in the management of the currency, still he is a republican, and with the exception of a couple of years, has always voted the republican ticket. He is a man whose sympathies have been with the people in opposition to monopolies. At the convention of the farmers' movement, when that organization promised to become of some solid advantage to the agricultural community, he took a deep interest in it, and for a time served as Vice-President of the State Farmers' Association for this congressional district, and assisted in organizing several societies in the central part of the state. He also, for a number of years, filled the office of the Justice of the Peace. He represented Locust township in the Board of Supervisors, and while on the board, was principally influential in the establishment of the county poor farm. He has been one of the enterprising citizens of the county. For a number of years he has been a member of the Buckeye Methodist Church. He now has four children, whose names are as follows : Cynthia S., Charles F., Hattic Belle and Gertrude. Three, Alvin Orlando, Ellen and Lucy, are deceased. His portrait appears at the head of this sketch.
E. R. SHEPHERD.
HENRY SHEPHERD, father of E. R. Shepherd, an illustration of whose farm in Locust township appears on another page, is now one of the oldest men living in Christian county, and one of the few surviving soldiers of the war of 1812. Henry Shepherd was born in the town of Tinmouth, Rutland county, Vermont, on the 12th of April, 1792. He is, consequently now in the eighty-ninth year of his age. His father, David Shepherd, had been a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was with Gen. Ethan Allen at the tak- ing of Fort Ticonderoga. He was also one of the Green Mountain Boys, whose bravery saved the day at the battle of Bennington. After the Revolution, he married and settled at Tinmouth, Ver- mont, and subsequently moved to Castleton, in the same state. David Shepherd was in Capt. David Beecher's company, raised in the town of Castleton, for service in the war of 1812, and took part in the Can- ada campaign. In September, 1812, Henry Shepherd enlisted in Capt. White Young's company, 15th regiment United States In- fantry. This regiment was commanded by Col. Zebulon M. Pike, one of the most illustrious characters of the war, in whose honor Pike's Peak received its name. His company was composed of soldiers from Vermont, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He served eighteen months in the state of New York and in Canada, and was in the engagement at Sackett's Harbor, New York, and of the Stone Mill, Canada. His term of enlistment expired in the spring of 1814.
In 1815, he determined to make his home in the west. That was at a day when the whole western country was a wilderness, and Ohio was regarded as a frontier state. He made the whole journey on foot, from Vermont to Cleveland, Ohio, which was then a small village recently founded. He was one of the earliest
settlers of Cuyahoga county. When he first saw Cleveland, it con- tained only a few log buildings, two taverns, and a log jail and court-house. Most of the time while living in Ohio, he worked at the carpenter's trade. In the month of January, 1820, he married Cynthia Jones, who died in June, 1821. His second wife was Matilda Richmond, who was born at Peru, Massachusetts, and whom he married in the spring of 1823. Her death happened in 1864.
In 1860, he removed to this state, first settling in Stephenson county, and in 1861, came to this county. He was old enough to vote for pr sident in 1816, at the time of the election of James Monroe. But there was no rigid division of party lines at that time, and no excitement about the election, and as he would have been obliged to travel a long distance to vote, he did not cast a ballot at that election. He did not vote till 1824, when Clay, Crawford, Adams, and Jackson were the opposing candidates, and Adams was chosen by the House of Representatives. When the country came to be divided into the whig and democratic parties, he gave his support to the whigs, and generally voted for their candidates. At the election of 1824, he voted for Adams; he supported the same candidate in 1828; in 1832 he voted for Henry Clay; in 1836 also for the whig candidate; in 1840 for Harrison; and in 1844, again for Clay. His convictions on the subject of slavery made him one of the earliest adherents of the free soil movement. In 1848, he voted for Van Buren, who was nominated for the presidency by those opposed to the extension of slavery. In 1852, he favored the election of Franklin Pierce, as being least obnoxious to the free soilers, and on the organization of the republican party, a couple of years later, he became one of its earliest members and most ardent supporters. He voted for Fre- mont in 1856, for Lincoln in 1860 and 1864, for Grant in 1868 and 1872, for Hayes in 1876, and at this writing, hopes to be on this footstool in November, 1880, to cast his vote for James A. Garfield, a native of the same county in which, for so long a time, he had his home in Ohio.
E. R. Shepherd was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, twelve miles from Cleveland, on the 19th of January, 1838. His motlier was Matilda Richmond, his father's second wife. She was the daughter of Elihu Richmond, one of the early settlers of Cuyahoga county, Ohio. In Ohio the family lived in a well-settled country, and the district schools afforded good opportunities for obtaining an education, but on their removal to Illinois, they settled in a part of Stephenson county, which at that time contained few settlers, and scant educational advantages. In 1861, Mr. Shepherd came with his father, to this county, first residing in May township. In 1864, he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section one of Locust township. On the 18th of November, of the same year, he married Sarah Ring, who was born in Cabell county, Virginia, in August, 1846. Her father, Andrew Ring, was a native of Penn- sylvania; moved from that state to Virginia, thence to Kentucky, and about the year 1850, to Missouri, where he finally settled at La Grange. Her father died in June, 1857, and her mother on the 28th of March, 1880. Mrs. Shepherd went to Assumption to visit some relatives, and thus made her husband's acquaintance. Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd have had five children : the oldest, Emma, died in infancy; the others arc Annie, Bertie, Harry J., and Eddic. Mr. Shepherd is one of the enterprising farmers of Locust town- ship. In politics he is a republican,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.