History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 16

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 826

USA > Illinois > Clark County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 16
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 16

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 Christian Church was organized in Robinson in the spring of 1876, and among the original members were N. S. Brown and wife, M. C. Shepherd, MIrs. Mary Callahan, Hickman Henderson, and Jas. M. Gardner and wife. The organization of the church resulted from a meeting of several days' du- ra:ion held in the court house by Elder A. D. Daily, of Terre Haute. Some fifteen or twenty additions were made to the member-

ship during the meeting. Elder Daily visited the church once a month for a year or more. The next minister was Elder I. G. Tomlinson, of Indianapolis, who preached here once a month. The church was built about a year after the society was organized, N. S. Brown, Mrs. Callahan, H. Henderson and M. C. Shep- herd being the principal movers toward the building of it. It was completed and dedi- cated in the summer of 1882 by Prof. R. T. Brown, of Indianapolis. There are at present about one hundred members, and they are without a pastor. A Sunday school is main- tained.

Robinson Mission Catholic Church was es- tablished in 1882 by Father Kuhlmann, of Marshall, with a strength of about fifteen families. The church building was erected the same year, at a cost of $700, and was dedicated by Rev. Father Kuhlmann, who has been the only rector, administering to the congregation once a month.

The secret and benevolent institutions of Robinson come in regular course next to the Christian churches. They do as much good in their way as the churches themselves. And the best men in the country do not deem it beneath their dignity to lend their assistance and countenance to these institutions. The Masonic fraternity has been represented here by a lodge and a chapter.

Robinson Lodge, No. 250, A., F. & A. MI., was organized in 1856, and the charter signed by J. H. Hibbard, grand master, and H. G. Reynolds, grand secretary. The charter members were John T. Cox, Daniel Perrine, Joseph H. Huls, Irvine Heustis, J. M. Alexan- der, J. C. Ruddell, John D. Smith and Charles Meilley. John T. Cox was the first master; Daniel Perrine, senior warden; J. H. Huls, junior warden; D. M. Mail, treasurer, and Irvine Heustis, secretary. The present of- ficers are: T. S. Price, master; H. B. Lutes senior warden; W. P. Stiles, junior warden;

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J. C. Evans, treasurer, and M. C. Mills, sec'y.

Robinson R. A. Chapter No. 149 was or- ganized December 1, 1871, and among its charter members were J. M. Jarrett, John Newton, A. J. Haskett, C. M. Patton, Wm. C. Wilson, Wm. Dyer, Geo. W. Harper, Wm. C. Jones, E. Callahan, S. Midkiff, S. Taylor, J. L. Cox, I. D. Mail, W. F. Fleck, J. O. Steel, etc. The first officers were J. M. Jarrett, H. P .; John Newton, K .; A. J. Has- kett, S .; C. M. Patton, C. of H .; Wm. C. Wil- son, P. J .; Wm. Dyer, R. A. C .; Wm. C. Jones, S. Midkiff and W. H. Fleck, G. M. of V .: Samson Taylor, treasurer; E. Callahan, secretary, and G. W. Harper, tiler. To the shame of the fraternity be it said, they have let the chapter die out, and the charter has been surrendered to the grand chapter.

Crawford Lodge, No. 124, I. O. O. F., was instituted in 1855, with the following charter

members: Wm. C. Wilson, Wm. Barbee, A. W. Gordon, S. H. Decius and James S. Barbee. The first officers were W. C. Wil- son, N. G .; Wm. Barbee, V. G., and James S. Barbee, secretary. It died out, but was resuscitated again in a few years. The pres- ent officers are T. S. Price, N. G .; A. B. Hous- ton, V. G .; George Kessler, treasurer, and G. W. Henderson, secretary.

Robinson Lodge, No. 1744, Knights of Honor, was organized in August, 1880, and among its charter members are Peter Walk- er, C. H. Grube, J. P. Murphy, M. C. Mills, T. S. Price, A. H. Waldrop, J. C. Olwin, A. B. Houston, Zalmon Ruddell, I. L. Fire- baugh, Geo. N. Parker and others. The present officers are George W. Harper, P. D .; W. N. Willis, D .; P. Walker, reporter; Sol Moers, financial reporter, and J. C. Ol- win, treasurer.

CHAPTER XII .*

LAMOTTE TOWNSHIP-GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT -JOSEPH LAMOTTE-THE EATONS-OTHER PIONEERS-THE SEVEN JESSES-EX- TRACT FROM FICKLIN'S ADDRESS-SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-PAL- ESTINE-ITS GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND INCORPORA- TION-THE LAND OFFICE-REGISTERS AND RE- CEIVERS-EDUCATIONAL, RELIG- IOUS, ETC., ETC.

" When in the chronicles of wasted time I read descriptions, etc." -Shakespeare.

IMIIE marvelous development of our coun- 1 try is without parallel in history. Look back a generation or two and behold these smiling fields a primevał forest or wild prai- rie. There are scores of people still living who recollect when hazel brush grew upon the site of the county's capital, and when the roads were little else than blind trails, and unbridged streams were swum or waded; when, instead of the locomotive's whistle, was heard the dismal howling of the wolf or the far-off screech of the hungry panther. Rapid as have been the changes and great the im- provements in this section, Crawford is only well upon her course; the energies which have brought her to her present state will not falter.

"Lo! our land is like an eagle whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beams, whose golden plumes

Float moveless on the storm, and, in the blaze

Of sunrise, gleams when earth is wrapped in gloom."

This civil division of Crawford County forms no inconsiderable part of the history of the great commonwealth of Illinois. No portion

of the county, nor indee:1 of the State, is richer in historical interest. It contained the first seat of justice of the county; the first land office established in the State was located within its limits, and the first settlement made in the county was in what is now La- motte Township. Here were erected forts and block-houses, when Indians were far more plentiful on this side of the Wabash than pale-faces, and here transpired some of the stirring events that have embellished with interest the history of the State.

Lamotte Township lies on the eastern bor- der of the county and contains much fine productive land. Its surface beyond the river bottoms, which are low and subject to overflow, is generally level or undulating, re- quiring little artificial drainage. With the exception of the bottoms above alluded to, our idea of its topography does not fully co- incide with the poet-laureate of Palestine when he penned the following lines:

" Half a century ago I lived in Egypt's famed land, Where the soil was composed of dark loam and sand; There were swamps on this hand and swamps on that, And the remainder of the land was level and flat."

The township lies south of Hutsonville township, west of the Wabash River, north of Montgomery and east of Robinson town- ship. It is drained principally by Lamotte Creek, which flows in a southeasterly course

* By W. H. Perrin.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

and empties into the Wabash near Palestine landing. The original timber growth was oak, hickory, walnut, hackberry, buckeye, sycancre, pecan, cottonwood, etc., etc. Upon the whole, the township is a fine agricultural region, and in 1880 had a population of 2,160 souls-and as many bodies. The S. E. and S. E. narrow gauge railroad traverses it from east to west, thus affording the people railroad communication and benefiting the township to a considerable extent.

Early Settlement .- The first occupation by white people, of what is now Lamotte Township, is veiled somewhat in obscurity. Prior to the war of 1812 a number of families were living in this region, and when the war broke out, they congregated where Palestine now stands, and built a fort or block-house. But how long before, white people lived here, there is no one now to tell, for they are gathered to the r fathers. It is believed that as far back as 1808 or 1809, there were peo- ple of our own kind in this immediate neigh- borhood, to say nothing of the French, who, as they were numerous about Vincennes, may have been much earlier, and very probably were. Many believed that Joseph Lamotte once lived in this portion of the county, though there is little but tradition, concerning his occupation of the country. The following is related by Mr. Martin Fuller, of Montgomery Township, who married Rosana Twomley. She was a daughter of Isaac Twomley, who kept a ferry at Vincennes at a very early day. Twomley married the widow of Joseph Lamotte, and of this marriage was born Rosana, the wife of Martin Fuller. Mr. Twomley used to say that Lamotte was an Indian interpreter, and spoke seven dialects of the Indian language, beside English and French, and that the Indians, for his services as interpreter in some of their grand pow- wows with the pale-faces, had given him all that tract of country, now known as Lamotte

Prairie. But when they saw a chance of sell- ing it to the United States Government, had watched for an opportunity, and had slain Lamotte. They threw his body into a deep hole of water in the creek just west of Pales- tine cemetery. After the death of Lamotte, Twomley was made Indian interpreter. He spoke five Indian dialects as well as English and French, and his danghter, Mrs. Fuller, also speaks French fluently.

This story of Lamotte, of course, is tra- ditional, as there are none now living who seem to know anything very definite con- cerning him, beyond the fact that there was once such a man. This, as stated in a pre- ceding chapter, we learn from the old court records, from conveyances of land made by Lamotte. It is probably doubtful. however, if Lamotte ever lived here, notwithstanding the fine prairie north of Palestine still bears his name, also Lamotte creek, and this town- ship, together with the old and original fort which stood on the present site of Palestine.

It is a generally accepted tradition, and it is fast becoming a tradition only, that the Eatons were the first of our own kind to occupy this portion of the county, and they are believed to have been here as early as 1808-9. They were a large family of large people, and possessed most extraordinarily large feet. The latter was a distinguishing feature, and when a little unpleasantness oc- curred in Fort Lamotte, and the Eatons with- drew and built another fort, it was unani- mously dubbed Fort Foot, in derision of the Eatons' feet.

Mr. D. W. Stark, an old and well-known citi- zen of Palestine for many years, furnishes us, through Mr. Finley Paull, the following re- garding the early settlement: "There must have been a settlement there and in the vicinity, reaching back toward the beginning of the century, for at the breaking out of the war of 1812 a considerable body of settlers

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

assembled at Palestine, where they built two forts in which they forted during the war. One of the forts, I think, stood somewhere in the southeast of the present town, for in the fall of 1820 I well recollect seeing some of the ruins and stockade still standing. This fort was called Fort Lamotte, after the name of the prairie, and it was named after an old Frenchman. Where the other fort stood, if 1 ever knew, I have forgotten. It was named Fort Foot, as I understood, from the fact of two or three families of Eatons forting in it, who were all noted as having very large feet."

The Eatons were pioneers in the true sense of the word, and had gone west-had aban- doned home and the signs of civilization, and plunged into the vast solitudes, in order to better their condition, and finally secure homes for themselves and children. These sturdy, lone mariners of the desert were men of action. Not very social in their nature, moody and almost void of the imagi- native faculty, they simply whetted their in- stincts in the struggle for existence against the wild game, the ferocious beasts and the murderous savage. They, and such as they, laid the foundations on which rests the civili- zation of the great west. They took their lives in their own hands, as it were, pene- trated the desert wilderness, and with a pa- tient energy, resolution and self-sacrifice that stands alone and unparalleled, worked out their allotted tasks, and to-day, we, their descend- ants, are enjoying the fruitage of their la- bors.

As we have before stated, the Eatons were a large family, and consisted of the patriarch, who is believed to have been named Will- iam, and several sons, among whom were John, Job, Benjamin, Joseph, William and several others. It is not known of a certainty where they came from, but it is believed they were either from Kentucky or North Carolina. They were in the fort at Palestine

during the stormy period of our last war with England, and when the war clouds passed over and the olive branch was waved throughout the country, wooing the red man to peaceful sports, as well as the belliger- ent nations who had lately measured their strength with each other, and the people could branch out from the forts, with none to "molest or make them afraid," then the Eatons moved out and scattered in different directions, some of them settling in Hutson- ville township, where they receive further mention. One or two of the Eatons werd killed by the Indians during the time the people were "forted " at Palestine, which is spoken of elsewhere in this volume.

Other pioneers. many of whom lived for awhile in the fort, were Thomas Kennedy, David McGahey, the MeCalls, the Brim- berrys, James and Smith Shaw, J. Veach, the Millses, George Bathe, J. Purcell, Jesse Hig- gins, Mrs. Gaddis, John Garrard, the Woods, David Reavill and others. Thomas Kennedy was a Baptist preacher, and had squatted on a place, the improvement of which he after- ward sold to John S. Woodworth. Kennedy then settled in the present township of Mont- gomery. MeGahey was a prominent man, and opened a farm south of Palestine, on which Wyatt Mills now lives-himself of the original pioneer Mills family. McGahey served in the Legislature, was connected with the land office, and held other responsible positions. George Bathe entered land with McGahey. He has a son, George Bathe, Jr., now 77 years old, living in Palestine. Smith Shaw, after times became quiet, settled in the present County of Edgar, where he made his mark, and where he was still living a few years ago, when we wrote the history of that County. John Garrard came from South Carolina, and was here as early as 1811. He has descendants still living in Palestine, one of whom is proprietor of the Garrard House.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

John, Joseph and Welton Wood lived a few miles from Palestine. Welton still lives in the west part of the county. David Reavill was born in Delaware, and came to l'ilinois in 1810, stopping at Kaskaskia, then the State capital. When the war broke out with Eng- land, he went to Vincennes and joined the Rangers, serving with them until peace was made, when he came to Palestine. He was killed by lightning, a circumstance known to many of the old citizens. The McCalls (two brothers) were surveyors, and the first in the county. In the southeast corner of Lamotte Township stands one of their old "witness trees," on " Unc e Jimmy " Westner's place, and is the only one in the county known to be yet standing. Witness trees were marked by taking off the bark and scratching with an iron instrument called " three fingers," form- ing a cross. It was a mark known to all government surveyors, and when made upon a tree, though the bark would grow over it, the mark could be deciphered a hundred years after it was made. Hence, the name of witness tree.

Thomas Gill and family, and John S. Wood- worth, came in the fall of 1814, and were from Mt. Sterling, Ky. Mr. Gill settled on a farm some four miles northwest of Palestine, where he lived, and where he died about 1840. He had a numerous family, but none of them are now in the township; James, the only one left, lives in Cumberland County. Mr. Gill had served in the Revolutionary War, and was a highly respected citizen of the county. John S. Woodworth married a daughter of Gill's, and raised a large family of children. But three of them are living, viz .: Martin and Leander of Palestine, and A. P. Woodworth, cashier of the Robinson bank. The first pur- chase of land made by Mr. Woodworth, was the squatter's claim of Thos. Kennedy to 160 acres. When it came in market he purchased it, and had to pay $6.10 per acre for it, a

heavy price for the time. Mr. Woodworth was the second sheriff of Crawford County. He was not an office- seeker, but devoted his time and attention chiefly to agriculture. He accumulated a large estate in landed property.

Edward N. Cullom came in the spring of 1814, and at a time when the forts were still occupied by the whites. He also was from Kentucky, and had a large family. Two of his sons are still living-Leonard, who lives in Lawrenceville, and George, living in Fay- ette County. Cullom was a very prominent man, and he and Judge Joseph Kitchell were the original proprietors of the town of Pales- tine. He acquired considerable property and purchased large tracts of land, but eventually lost a good deal of it through betrayed trusts. Much is said of the Culloms in a pre- ceding chapter.

The Kitchells and the Wilsons were among the prominent families of the county. Will- iam Wilson, the father of W. C. Wilson of Robinson, came here in 1816, and was from Virginia. IIe settled at Palestine and died in 1850. James H. Wilson, his father, came the next year, 1817, and was the first probate judge of the county. His sons were James H., Vastine J., Presley O. and Isaac N., Gen. Guy W. Smith married a daughter of Mr. Wilson. They are all dead, except Isaac N., who lives in Kansas. William Wilson's children are all dead, except Robert C., Carl, Eliza M. Patton, and Jane, the latter unmar- ried. Guy S. Wilson of Palestine, is a son of James H. Wilson Jr. Benjamin Wilson's children are all dead, except one living in California. Presley O. Wilson was quite prominent; was county judge and sheriff one or two terms. His widow, " Aunt Maria," as everybody called her, is living in Palestine.

The Kitchells were natives of New Jersey. Judge Joseph Kitchell emigrated westward and stopped for awhile in Hamilton County

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Ohio; from thence he moved to Indiana, and in 1817, came to Crawford County, locating in Palestine. He lived and died upon the place where he first settled. His old house is still standing in the west part of town, on the road leading out to Robinson. He was the first register of the land office when it was established, and was connected with it for more than twenty years. He afterward served in the State Legislature and held other positions of honor and trust. He had the first mill, probably, in the county-a horse mill, but an important institution in its day; really more important than the land office itself. Wickliffe Kitchell came to the county the next year, 1818, and was a brother to Joseph. About 1838, he removed to Hillsboro, Ill., with his whole family, except one daughter, the wife of Mr. D. W. Stark. He was the first lawyer in Crawford County, and was at one time attorney-general of the State. His wife died at Hilisboro, and he died at Pana, Ill., at the age of 82 years. One of his sons, Alfred, was circuit judge of this judicial dis- trict at one time, and afterward moved to Galesburg, Ill., where he died. Another son, Edward, entered the army at the beginning of the late war, and rose to the rank of brevet brigadier-general. After the war he returned to Olney, his former home, and died there a few years later.

Col. John Houston, whom the citizens of Palestine well remember, and himself a cit- izen of the place for nearly sixty years, be- longed to the Rangers that operated in this section during the war of 1812. He located here permanently about 1818, and engaged in the mercantile business. He came here just when he was most needed, and his finger- marks may yet be seen, telling the story of his handiwork, and writing his epitaph in the hearts of many who are now reaping, and who will in the future enjoy the fruits of his labor and foresight. He served the county in many

responsible positions; was sheriff, county treasurer, served in the State Senate, etc., but it was as a merchant and business man he was best known. We shall speak further of him under the business of Palestine. Alex- ander M. Houston was his brother, and for years his partner in business, a soldier in the Black Hawk War, and a prominent citizen of the county. Mr. D. W. Stark was also a partner of Col. Houston's, and is now living in Indiana. To him we are indebted for many facts pertaining to the Houstons, and other early settlers. We, however, knew Col. John Houston personally, some years ago, and can say much to his honor and credit from our own knowledge.

The Alexanders were another of the promi- nent families of this section, and must have come here as early as 1825, as we find John C. Alexander the representative of Crawford County, in the Legislature, at the session of 1826-1828. Harmon Alexander also repre- sented the county in the Legislature some years later. They were from Kentucky, and have descendants still in the county. There are many more pioneer families entitled to mention in this chapter, but we have been unable to learn their names, or anything defi- nite concerning them. This section was the first settled of any portion of the county. For years, the settlement was scattered around Fort Lamotte, and not until after all danger was over, consequent upon the war of 1812, did the settlers begin to extend their skirmish line from the base of operations- old Fort Lamotte. As new-comers made their appearance, they stopped awhile in the vicinity, until homes and places of settle- ment were selected. Thus it was that nearly all the early settlers of the county were once settlers of this town and township, and hence many of them are mentioned in other chap- ters of this work. Along from 1825 to 1835, a number of families came, who have been

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identified prominently with the town and county. Of these we may mention the La- gows, Judge Harper, Finley Paull and others, who for fifty years or more were, and are still, a part of the country. The Lagows for years were among the most prominent eiti- zens and business men of Palestine. Wilson Lagow was one of the very first merchants in the county. Judge Harper and Finley Paull are among the oldest citizens of the town living. They came here young men --- they are old now, and far down the shady side of life, with the evening twilight gather- ing around them, and life's last embers burn- ing low. For more than half a century Judge Harper has lived here, and has held prominent positions in the county. Mr. Paull was long a merchant, bought goods in Cincinnati and Louisville, and hauled them here in wagons. In elosing up his business, he would accept in payment of accounts any- thing he could turn into money, live stock in- eluded. Thus, he became possessed, like Jacob of old, of many cattle. These he used to herd on the prairie where Robinson now stands.

The Seven Jesses were as noted a family in Crawford County, as the family of Seven Oaks in England, but in character, they were the very antipodes of the latter. There were seven brothers of them, and they lived two miles south of Palestine. Their name was Myers, and the Christian name of the eldest was Jesse. A very strong family re- semblance existed between them, and hence they finally all received the nick-name of Jesse. Gen. Guy Smith, who had a keen sense of the ludicrous,, was the first to give them the unanimous name of Jesse, on ac- count of their strong resemblance. They had many peculiar and eccentrie traits, one of which was, they always went in single file, and it was no uncommon thing to see the seven leave home together, riding invariably

one right behind another, with all the pre- eision and regularity of a band of Indians. They were coarse, rude, ungainly and wild as the game they hunted. They were illit- erate, not ignorant; but shrewd, active, alert, and possessed strong, practical, com- mon sense. Jess went to Terre Haute just after the first railroad was completed into that town. When he returned home he was asked by some of his neighbors if he saw the railroad, and he replied: "Yas, by hokey, and it beats anything I ever seed. A lot of keridges come along faster'n a hoss could gallop, and run right inter a house, and I thought they would knock hell out of it, but two men run ont and turned a little iron wheel round this way (imitating a brakeman) and the demed thing stopped stock still. They did by -. I'm goin' to take mam and Lyd to see 'em shore." The latter were his mother and sister. At another time Jess went to Vineennes, and stopped at Clark's hotel. Next morning when he came down stairs, Mr. Clark said: "Good morning, sir." Jesse replied, " what the h-I do you say good morning for, when I have been here all night?" Clark then asked him if he would have some water to wash, and received in response, " No, by -! we Myerses never washes." Clark saw he had a character, and drew him out in conversation, enjoying his eccentricities in the highest degree.

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History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 16

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 826

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 826