History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 18

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 18
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 18

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 taverns were owned by the Wilsons and Elisha Fitch. That one owned by Wil- son changed hands frequently, and became the Garrard House. I. N. Wilson run it for years, and made money at the business. It was a great place of resort for a hundred miles around. People who came to buy land and to attend court stopped at it, and it was often the scene of balls and parties, grand and gorgeous for a backwoods community. It was the stage stand, and this brought it all the transient custom. The old-fashioned sign swung in front of both these old-fashioned taverns. The device on Wilson's was the rising sun, and that on Fitch's the moon a few days old. As he had but little custom compared to Wilson, the boys called it the

142

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

" Dry-moon tavern." The Garrard House is still in operation, but the gay times it once knew it now knows no more.

Palestine was incorporated by an act of the general assembly, February 16, 1857, and organized under special charter in April fol- lowing. It continued under this organization until the third Tuesday in April, 1827, when it was re-organized under the general law, or incorporating aet, and officers were elect- ed accordingly. The present board of trus- tees are Andrew Saulesbury, Wm. R. Em- mons, R. H. Kitehell, John W. Patton, and Amos Miesenhelder, of which Andrew Saules- bury is president, Amos Miesenhelder, treas- urer, and Wm. Alexander, clerk.

But little is known of the carly schools of Palestine. George Calhoun taught in the town as early as 1820; but little else can be ascertained of him and his school. As carly as 1830 the Masons and school board owned a building, which was used jointly as a Masonic lodge and a school house, the Masons occupying the upper part, and the school the lower. The lodge had a large membership then, but many moving away, and others dy- ing, the lodge finally ceased to exist. The building was used for school purposes until it became too small, and after the county seat w: s moved to Robinson, the old court house was used some time as a school building. The present school-house was built about 1870-72, and is a substantial two-story frame. The school has an attendance of some two or three hundred children. Prof. James A. Maxwell is principal, and Prof. Bussard, Miss Mary Goram and Miss Lizzie Alexander, assistant teachers. The school building oc- cupies the old public square, which makes a beautiful school yard.

Palestine in early days was the Paris of Illinois; it was the center of fashion, of wealth, pleasure and social enjoyment. Many of its citizens were cultured, educated people,

belonging to the very best class of society, and ranking among the aristocracy of the country. While this was true, however, of a large class, there was another class, and quite as large, that were just the opposite in every- thing. They were the fighting, roystering, drinking, devil-may-care fellows always to be found in frontier towns. To hunt a little, frolie much, go to town often and never miss a muster or general election day, and get "glorious " early, and fight all day for fun, was the pleasure and delight of their lives. At musters and elections they had a glorious pienic from "early morn to dewy eve," and they made the most of it. But such charac- ters do not last long, and generally follow the game westward.

The time was when Palestine was a place of considerable business. For years it was the only place in a large area of country where pork was bought, packed and shipped. It was the first place in the county to pur- chase and ship wheat. It carried on a large trade in pork and wheat. O. H. Bristol & Co., who bought wheat extensively from 1842 to 1845, built a grain warehouse. Many people made sport of it and said it would hold more wheat than the county would raise in ten years, but the business done proved them false prophets; Bristol & Co. often had it full of wheat two or three times a year. They had been merchants, but went into the grain business, which they continued several years. Other firms embarked in the grain and pork business, but when a railroad was built through the county it crippled Palestine as a grain, market. The building of the narrow-gauge! railroad, however, has revived somewhat this line of business. Morris, who has been al- ready referred to, commeneed a big distillery about 1831. Ile broke up at it, and died before completing it. Harmon Alexander bought the property and turned it into an oil factory, and for several years manufactured

143

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

castor and linseed od very extensively. A woolen mill was built here some years ago, but it never proved a success, and is now standing idle.

The Land Ofice .- This public institution was established at Palestine May 11, 1820. The first land sale took place several years previously, we have been told, to the date of opening the office here. The following were the registers and receivers during its contin- uance at Palestine, as furnished by the State auditor: Joseph Kitchell, from the establish- ment of the office to 1841; Jesse K. Dubois, from 1841 to 1842; James McLean, from 1842 to 1845; VIlarmon Alexander, from 1845 to 1849; James MeLean, from 1849 to 1853; VIIarmon Alexander, from 1853 to 1855. The receivers were, Guy W. Smith, from the es- tablishment of the office to 1839; Augustus C. French (afterward governor), from 1839 to 1842; David McGahey, from 1842 to 1845; William Wilson, from 1845 to 1849; Jesse K. Dubois, from 1849 to 1853; Robert C. Wilson, from 1833 to 1855, when the office was dis- continued and the books and records moved to Springfield.

The land-office was quite a feather in the cap of Palestine as it rendered it the most important town in the State, perhaps the State capital excepted. It was established in a couple of years after the town was laid out, and continued its existence here for a quarter of a century. All who entered land in the southern part of the State had to come to Palestine to do it, and this brought trade and importance to the town. The office was dis- continued after all the land was taken up south of the Danville district.

Mr. Guy Wilson now owns the old desk used in the land-office for many years, which he values highly as a relic. It is a massive piece of furniture, and was made in Philadel- phia specially for the office. It is of walnut

lumber, and is still in an excellent state of preservation.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, is the old- est religious organization in Palestine. Most of its original members were from Wesley Chapel, and among them were the Culloms. Revs. John Fox and old Father McCord were the early preachers, and the church was or- ganized about 1828-29. The first church house was a frame and was never finished. The present church was built for a town hall, and somewhere about 1872-73, was bought by the congregation and converted into a church. It is a frame building, has been re-modeled and improved, and is a very comfortable and even elegant church. Before its purchase, the congregation worshiped some time in the Presbyterian church. Rev. Thos. J. Mas- sey is the present pastor of the church. A Sunday-school is maintained, of which Arthur Vance is superintendent.

The Presbyterian Church of Palestine was organized in 1831 .* Rev. John Montgomery of Pennsylvania, and Rev. Isaac Reed of New York, held a meeting here embracing the 14th, 15th and 16th of May, of the above year, and during its progress organized the church, with the following members: John, Nancy, Jane and Eliza Houston, Mary Ann Logan, Wilson, Henry and Alfred Lagow, James and Margaret Eagleton, James Cald- well, Phoebe Morris, Anna Piper, John andl Ann Malcom and Hannah Wilson. John Houston and Wilson Lagow were chosen elders. The following have since filled the office: James Eagleton, Dr. E. L. Patton, Finley Paull, Andrew McCormick, James C. Allen, J. M. Winsor, J. H. Richey, Dr. J. S. Brengle, J. C. Ramey, and H. T. Beam. The following preachers have ministered to

* From Dr. Norton's History of the Presbyterian church in Southern Illinois.

141

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

the congregation: Revs. John Montgomery, Reuben White, James Crawford, Isaac Ben- nett, E. W. Thayer, R. H. Lilly, Joseph Platt, John Crosier, J. M. Alexander, Joseph Platt (again), A. McFarland, A. Thompson, Thomas Spencer, J. E. Carson and S. W. Lagrange. There is no pastor at present. Of the original members all are dead, and of those present at its formation, but two were present at its semi-centennial, May 14th, 15th and 16th, 1881,; these two were Isaac N. Wilson and Abigail Wilson, members of the Presbyterian church of Olney.

Dr. Norton, in his work on the Presbyte- rian Church of Illinois, pays an eloquent and justly merited tribute to Mr. Finley Paull. After speaking of his long and faithful ser- vice, he closes as follows: " Elder Finley Paull has been an elder nearly ever since his union with the church in 1835, and in all that time has missed but two meetings of the ses- sion, while but three members have been ad- mitted when he was not present." There are few instances of a more faithful stewardship.

Of former pastors, there were present at the semi-centennial, Rev. E. W. Thayer of Spring- field; Rev. J. Crosier of Olney, and Rev. A. McFarland of Flora. There had been 440 persons connected with the church since its or- ganization fifty years before, and two churches, Robinson and Beckwith Prairie churches have been formed from its membership. The first house of worship was a carpenter shop they bought and fitted up for the purpose. In 1849 they built a church 38x50 feet at a cost of $1,300. The house has been remodeled and enlarged and a bell attached. A Sunday- school in connection with the church is car- ried on, with Mrs. Lottie Ramey as superin- tendent.

The Christian church of Palestine is an old organization, but we were unable, through the negligence or indifference of its members, to learn anything concerning its early history.

Their first church edifice was a frame and was burned some years ago. In 1824 they erected their elegant brick church, which in outward appearance is the handsomest church in the town. They have no regular pastor at pres- ent.

Palestine Lodge No. 2352, K. of H., was instituted January 21, 1881. The present officers are as follows: J. A. Martin, Dicta- tor; H. H. Haskett, Vice Dictator; Perry Brimberry, Assistant Dictator; J. W. Laver- ton, Past Dictator; A. C. Goodwin, Repor- ter; W. R. Emmons, F. Reporter, and J. A. Maxwell, Treasurer.

The site of Palestine is a beautiful one for a town, and its selection shows good taste in the commissioners who selected it for the county seat. It seems a pity that the seat of justice could not have remained here, but the center of population demanded its removal. The question of public buildings and removal of the county seat is noticed in the chapter on the organization of the county. The little town in its palmy days produced some able men, a governor (A. G. French); an attorney general (Wickliffe Kitchell); and a circuit judge and member of Congress, in the person of James C. Allen. With the removal of the county seat the town lost much of its former prestige, and to-day it is a rather dilapidated, rambling, tumble-down old town, almost wholly devoid of life and energy. Some beautiful residences, standing in spacious and well-kept grounds are an ornament to the place, and show a refinement of taste in their owners.

The cemetery of Palestine, like that at Jack Oak Grove, on the prairie, is an old burying ground, and is the resting place of many of Crawford County's early citizens. It is a very pretty grave-yard, with some fine monuments, and elegant marble slabs, silently testifying to the affection of surviving friends for their loved lost ones.

CHAPTER XIII .*

HUTSONVILLE TOWNSHIP-TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT-HUTSON FAMILY-THE BARLOWS, NEWLINS AND HILLS-OTHER PIONEERS-EARLY TRIALS AND TROUBLES-SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-VILLAGE OF HUTSONVILLE -ITS SITUATION AS A TRADING POINT-SOME OF THE MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN-FIRE, WATER, ETC., ETC.

" Against the cold, clear sky a smoke Curls like some column to its dome, An ax, with far, but heavy stroke Rings from a new woodland home." -Joaquin Miller.

"THERE is no perfect history. We dimly outline from our own stand-point the his- tory which meets our eye, and steer our course between extremes of dates and happenings, while incompleteness marks the narrative. Transcribing recollections of the aged, waver- ing in memory, we do not seek to reconeile discrepancies, but to embody in these pages the names and deeds of those whose like can never more be seen. Most of the pioneers of this division of the county have passed to their reward, and the few still left are totter- ing on down toward the dark valley and must soon enter its gloomy shadows. A few more brief years and the last land-mark will have been swept away as the morning mist before the rising sun.

Hutsonville Township is one of the most important civil divisions of Crawford County. It is situated on the eastern border, and is bounded north by Clark County, east by the Wabash river, south by Robinson and La-' motte townships and west by Licking Town- ship. The land is drained by the Wabash and the streams which flow into it through

the township, the principal ones of which are Hutson and Raccoon creeks. The surface is rather low and level along the river back to the second terrace, and much of it subject to periodical overflows. Beyond the second bottom it rises into slight hills, and from their summit stretches away in level prairie and timbered flats. The original timber was black and white walnut, hickory, pecan, elm, sugar maple, oak, cotton wood, sycamore, hackberry, buckeye, etc., etc. By the census of 1880, the township, including the village, had 1,982 inhabitants. No better farming region may be found in Crawford County than is comprised in the greater portion of HIutsonville Township. Aside from the inun- dation of the low lands, the worst draw-back to its agricultural prosperity is the great number of large unwieldy farms. Ohio farmers have grown wise in this respect, and the large farmn in that State is now the exception. There are plenty of farmers in the State of Ohio, who, one year with another, make more money on a hundred acres than any farmer makes, upon an average, in Hutsonville Township, or in Crawford County for that matter. Small farms well cultivated, pay better than large ones poorly worked. A little poem, going the rounds of the press some years ago, enti- tled the "Forty-Acre Farin," is not in appro- priate, but may be read with profit. It is as follows:

* By W. H. Perrin.

146

IIISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

"I'm thinkin', wife, of neighbor Jones, that man of stalwart arın,-

Ile lives in peace and plenty, on a forty-acre farm; While men are all around us, with hands and hearts asore, Who own two hundred acres and still are wanting more.

" His is a pretty little farm, a pretty little house: Ile has a loving wife within, as quiet as a mouse; His children play around the door, their father's life to charm Looking as neat and tidy as the tidy little farm.

"No weeds are in the corn fields ; no thistles in the oats ;

The horses show good keeping by their fine and glossy coats;

The cows within the meadow, resting beneath the beechen shade,

Learn all their gentle manners of the gentle milking maid.

" Within the fields, on Saturday, he leaves no eradled grain To be gathered on the morrow, for fear of coming rain ; He keeps the sabbath holy, his children learn his ways, And plenty fill his barn and bin after the harvest uays.

" HIe never has a lawsuit to take him to the town, For the very simple r ason there are no line fences down, The bar-room in the village does not have for him a charm 1 can always find my neighbor on his forty -aere farm.

"Ilis aeres are so very few he plows them very deep;

'Tis his own hands that turn the sod, 'tis his own hands that reap.

lle has a place for everything, and things are in their plaec ; The sunshine smiles up .n his fields, contentment on hi, face.

" May we not learn a lesson, wife, from prudent neighbor Jones,

And not-for what we haven't got-give vent to sighs and moans ?

The rich aren't always happy, nor free from life's alarms ;

But blest are they who live content. though small may be their farm."

Of all those immortals who have helped to make this world wholesome with their sweat and blood, the early pioneers were the hum- blest, but not the meanest nor most insignifi- cant. They laid the foundation on which rests the civilization of the great West. The importance that attaches to their lives, char- acter and work in the cause of humanity will some day be better understood und appreci- ated than it is now. To say that in this chapter, it is proposed to write the history of every family in the order in which they came into the township would be promising more than lies in the power of any man to accom- plish. But to give a sketch of some of the leading pioneer and representative men of the times is our aim, and to gather such facts,

incidents, statistics and circumstances as we may, and transmit them in a durable form to future generations is the utmost limit of our desire and our work.

The Hutson family, there is no doubt, were the first white people in what is now Hutson- ville Township. The sad story of their tragic death-the massacre by the Indians, of the whole family, except the unhappy father and husband, is told in a preceding chapter. Hutson was from Ohio, and settled dne south of the village of Hutsonville, where the widow Albert McCoy now lives, and which is the old Barlow homestead. The war of 181? was not yet over, and the Indians were still on the war path more or less, but committing few depredations in this part of the country. Hutson believed there really was no danger, and so declined to take refuge in the fort where most of the people of the country then resided for safety. One day when Hutson was absent from home, a band of prowling sav- ages came to his cabin and murdered the fam- ily-wife and four children, and a man named Dixon, for what cause, except on general prin- ciples, was never known, as no one was left to tell the tale. When Hutson returned, he found his family all dead and his cabin in flames. These are the facts in brief. Hutson joined the army at Fort Harrison and was soon after killed in a skirmish with the sav- ages.

The Eatons, who figured conspicuously here in early days, settled in the southwest part of this township; or rather some of them did. " Uncle Johnny " Eaton, was of those who became a settler in this township after leav- ing old Fort Lamotte, where the people " hibernated " during the war of 1812. He died but a few years ago, and had a mind well stored with incidents of the early history of the county. All, however, that could be learned of the Eatons, has already been given.

147

1HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The Barlows, next to the Hutson family and the Eatons, if the latter settled here immediately after leaving the fort, were the first settlers in what now forms Hutsonville township. John W. Barlow came from cen- tral Kentucky, and sprung from a family of Virginia origin. He was brought up in a region where the first rudiment learned was that of Indian warfare-where the people learned to fight Indians with their mothers and sisters in their cabins, in ambuscades and open fields, and before the savage war-cry had died away upon the frontiers of Indiana and Illinois, he had left the dark and bloody ground as though following the red man's retreating footsteps. Mr. Barlow stopped two years in Indiana, near the Shaker village, and in the spring of 1816 came here. He settled on the place where the Hutson family were massacred, and when the land came in market he purchased it. Hutson's cabin had been burned by the Indians, but there was an old stable standing. In this Mr. Bar- ow sheltered his family, while preparing his cabin, and while they still occupied it a child was born to them. Literally, it was " born in a manger, " and was doubtless the first birth in the township. Mr. Barlow lived upon this place until 1839, when he removed to Mar- shall. He raised a large family, the names of which were as follows: Sarah Jane; married Wm. McCoy; Frances, an invalid daughter; Henry M. (he that was born in the stable), now a resident of Texas; Nancy O. (Mrs. John R. Hurst); Rebecca, married Wm. T. Adams, she is dead and he lives in Marshall; Alfred died on the farm; Polyxena, a daugh- ter who died single; Dr. James M., living in Jasper County; Dr. John W., died in West- field, Ill .; Dr. J. Milton, died two years ago in Clark County; Joel died while yet an infant, and Wm. Ilugh die I before reaching matu- rity. Mr. Barlow died in 1863 and his wife in 1879, and side by side they sleep in the cem-

etery at Hutsonville. For more than half a century they toiled together, and even in death they were not long separated.

Joel, Jesse and James were brothers of Mr. Barlow. The first two came here with him and settled, Joel south of Hutsonville, and Jesse on what is now known as the Steel farm. James came several years later. They are all dead; Joel died and was buried iu Hutsonville cemetery. About the same time that the Barlows arrived in the township John Neeley and Joseph Bogard came- probably came with them. Charley Newlin lives on the place where Bogard settled, while Neeley settled on what is known as the Cal- lahan place. They are all dead and gone. When their strong and busy hands fell nerve- less at their sides in death, their life work was taken np by those who came after them.

The Newlins, Hills, and John Sackrider came to the county in 1818, and settled in the present township of Hutsonville. The New- lin family is one of the most extensive and numerous probably in the whole county. It used to be a standing joke, that you might start out and go west from the village of Hut- sonville, and if you met a stranger, call him Newlin, and you would hit the nail on the head. Another remark often made of the Newlins and Hills, and one to the truth of which all who know them will bear testimony, is, that the word of a Newlin or a Hill is as good as his bond, and when once pledged is never broken but held sacred as though bound by the strongest oaths.

John Newlin, the patriarch of the tribe, came here with his family in 1818. He was from North Carolina (this township was set- tled almost entirely from the "l'ar-heel" State), and stopped for one year in Indiana, but not being favorably impressed with Hoosierdom, crossed the Wabash, and settled in this divis- ion of Crawford County. His sons were Na- thaniel, Thomas, James, " Caper" John, Jon-

148

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

athan, and William. The old pioneer and all his sons, except Nathaniel-" Uncle Natty," as the present generation call him-who lives now with his son-in-law, George McDowell, on the prairie south of Hutsonville, are dead. For some years before the old man's death he made his home with Thomas, who lived in what is now Robinson Township. Some of his sons settled originally in that township, but most of the family have always lived in this township, and are among its best citizens. James Newlin entered a section of land in a half mile of where Cyrus Newiin lives, upon which he lived until his death in 1852. He raised eight children, all sons, viz .: Andrew, John, Hiram, Alfred, Abraham, Oliver, Na- than and Cyrus. Nathan lived and died on the homestead, and met his death by cutting down a tree and being caught under it as it fell. The other sons, with one or two excep- tions, are living in this township. John Hill also came from North Carolina, and settled on the place now owned by " Bub " Newlin, and upon which he died some thirty years ago. He had four sons: Charles, Doctor, Will- iam and Richard, all of whom are dead ex- cept Mr. Doctor Hill, who lives in the imme- diate neighborhood of his father's settlement. John Hill of Robinson is a nephew, and one of the most respected business men of that enterprising young city. Sackrider was an active and energetic man. He was a captain in the war of 1812, and was with Perry on Lake Erie. He died thirty-five or forty years ago. Solomon and Allen were his sons, and are both dead. Wm. Boyd lives on a part of the old Sackrider farm. Allen Sackrider died in Terre Haute, and Solomon died in this township.

Of such men as we have been writing about, how true are the words of Lord Bacon: " That whereunto man's nature doth more aspire, which is immortality or continuance; for to this tendeth generation, and raising of

houses and families; to this buildings, found- ations and monuments; to this tendeth the desire of memory, fame and celebration, and in effect the strength of all other human de- sires. We see then how far the monu- ments of learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands." These men have left monuments as lasting as the " monuments of power or of the hands "- monuments that will live in the hearts of gen- erations yet to come.

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.

History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 18

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