History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 19

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 19
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 19

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).

From 1818 to 1821, came Aaron Ball, Malin Voorhies, Eli Hand, and perhaps others. Ball was from New Jersey, and settled here in the latter part of 18IS, or in the early part of 1819. Edward, Montgomery, John and Aaron were his sons, and two of them he ed- ucated for doctors and two for farmers. Ed- ward was a physician and lived and died in Terre Haute; Aaron was also a physician and moved west, where he still lives and is prac- ticing his profession. John is still living where he originally settled, and Montgomery died here some years ago. Mr. Voorhies was also from New Jersey, and was an uncle to the Tall Sycamore of the Wabash-Senator Voorhies. He settled on the farm where his son, Henry C. Voorhies, now lives, and with the exception of a few years, it has never been out of possession of the family. It is owned now by Henry, one of the honorable men of the township. Mr. Hand was a na- tive of Virginia, and came here in 1821, set- tling where his grandson, Woodford D. Hand now lives. He emigrated to Ohio, when the Buckeye State was on the very verge of civ- ilization, and afterward came to Illinois as above, bringing his family and his earthly all in a three-horse wagon. He died in 185%. Jas. F. Hand was his son, and the father of Woodford. He was an active man in the neighborhood, and among other positions lie held, was that of associate judge of the county, and justice of the peace. He died

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in 1818, and the mantle of the active old man has fallen upon the shoulders of his worthy son, who is treading in his footsteps.

Nathan Musgrave, a good old Quaker from North Carolina, came to the settlement in the spring of 1826. He left his old home in 1823, as the leader of a large company bound for the great West. There was Mrs. Zylpha Cox, a widow, his mother-in-law; William Cox, her son; A. B. Raines, John R. Hurst, Philip Musgrave, James Boswell, Joseph Green, Axum Morris, Philip Corbett and fam- ily, and Benj. Dunn and wife. Dunn died on the road, and like Moses, never reached the Promised Land. They first stopped in Minor County, where they remained about three years and then came here-all of them, except Morris, Corbett and Philip Musgrave. Mrs. Cox's sons were William, Thomas and Wiley, and William was the first merchant in Hutsonville. Nathan Musgrave, has but one son, William P., and a daughter living- Mrs. Belle Kennedy. William Musgrave, who came to the township in 1833, also mar- ried a daughter of Mrs. Cox. When Nathan Musgrave came here he found two or three families living in the neighborhood where he settled, among them the Lindleys. Thomas Lindley was living where his son John H. died some years ago. He was from Virginia, it is believed, and died upon the place where he settled. His sons were Abraham, William, John H., and Morton. He had two brothers Samuel and William, also early settlers in this part of the townsh p. Young Sam Lindley, as he is called, is a son of William, and a > daughter married Lafayette Raines. Samuel ' lives where his father settled, and Lafayette and Simpson Raines live where the elder Samuel Lindley settled. The Lindleys and Musgraves were another honest set of men, and of the strictest integrity. Nathan Mus- grave lived to a ripe old age and amassed a fortune. One of the boys who came here

with Old Nathan Musgrave, took his first lessons in honesty, uprightness and square- dealing, which have marked his course through a long life, from him. We mean " Unele Jack " Hurst. He came here but a boy, and lived with Nathan Musgrave, in fact, was mostly raised by the good old Quaker, and imbibed many of his sterling qualities. The lessons thus learned have been his guide through life, so that now, when he stands upon a spot from which he can see the even- ing twilight creeping on, the name of John R. Hurst is without blot or blemish. And when the race is nearly run, to see this venerable, white-haired old man, and his white-haired companion hand in hand passing along, near- ing the journey's end, receiving the love and reverence of all, is a picture that many loving hearts would wish might never fade.

Chalkley Draper came to the county in a very early day, and was a man much above the ordinary. He lived first in the vicinity of Palestine, the general stopping place of all the early emigrants. He finally settled on the place where Franklin Draper now lives. He was a Quaker and of the striet honesty that characterized all the old time members of that peculiar sect. He had several sons of whom were Axum, Asa, Jesse and Franklin. The latter is the only one living, and resides on the old homestead. Mr. Wm. L. Draper of Hutsonville is a son of Axum Draper. Alex- ander McCoy was also a very early settler. He had three sons, William, John and Squire. William married Sarah Jane Barlow, and a daughter-in-law, Mrs. Albert MeCoy, lives on the old Hutson place, as previously stated. Squire MeCoy followed the river, and never lived in the township. The old man died here many years ago.

The Lowes were early settlers in the county. William Lowe was the first of the name to come, and he settled in the lower part of the county below Palestine. He was there as

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early as 181 :- 18, but afterward came to this township and located in the Lindley neighbor- hood. He finally died in Terre Haute. A son of his, Isaac N. Lowe, long a resident of Hutsonville, was known to nearly every man in both town and township, and univer- sally esteemed by all. Old " Jackey " Lowe came here in 1834, and Benjamin, an old bachelor brother, came about the same time. They are both dead, and few now, except the oldest citizens, remember them.

Another good old Quaker family from North Carolina were the Gyers. They came first to Indiana, and about the year 1825-26 came here and settled northwest of the pre- sent village of Hutsonville. Aaron Gyer died about 1840; of other branches of the family we have no data, though there are still a number of them living in the township. Joseph Green Was a member of the company that came out from North Carolina with Nathan Musgrave. He died here about 1855. Another family are the Coxes, though they came at a later date. Bryant Cox, still living, came from North Caro- lina, and arrived here the first of June, 1831. He settled where his son, Simpson Cox, now lives, while he lives a few hundred yards dis- tant. His sons are Wm. R., Andrew J., John T., the good-natured circuit clerk of the county, and Simpson, one of the most whole- souled men in Hutsonville Township. Mat- thew Cox was of a different family. He came from Tennessee in 1830, and settled in the northwest corner of the township, where he died several years ago, but has several sons still living.

This is but a brief and meager sketch of some of the pioneer families who settled this division of the county. The list no doubt is very incomplete, as the means of obtaining information of this "long ago period " are few, and year by year are becoming lessened. With all the disadvantages under which the historian must necessarily labor, it is not

strange if many names, together with impor- tant facts and incidents are overlooked or omitted altogether.

The hard life of the early settlers is a theme often discussed. There is no question but they did live a hard life. But there were ex- ceptions just as there are now. There was then, as now, great difference in the forethought and thrift of the people. Many, even in the earliest years of the county's existence lived in generous plenty of such as the land af- forded. Trne, the pioneers had to have pow- der, tobacco and whisky, but for everything else they could kill game. Meat of a supe- rior quality and in varieties that we now can not get were within the easy reach of all, but for meal they at first had to go to the Shaker mills in Indiana until mills were built here. Game of all kinds was plenty, as well as wild beasts, which a man would not care to "meet by moonlight alone," such as bears, panthers and wolves. Mr. Hiram Newlin tells the fol- lowing panther story: He, with his father and brother were out one day hunting wild hogs, when the dogs " treed " some kind of a " varmint." The boys threw rocks at it until tired, when Hiram, the most venturesome of the lot, climbed the tree. The varmint jumped out, and the dog's chased it to another tree. The great fuss the dogs and the boys made, brought some other men upon the scene, who like themselves, had been hunting hogs, and who happened to have a gun with them. They shot the animal, when lo, and behold! it was a full grown panther of a large size.

There is but little of interest in Hutsonville township to write about, aside from the mere facts of its settlement, as the principal history of the township is connected with the village. There is a group of mounds near Hutsonville, but they are fully described in a preceding chapter, and nothing can be said of them here without repetition. Of the early schools their

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history in this township is but a repetition of the same in other parts of the county, viz .: the log cabin-school house, the illiterate pedagogue and the dirty faced urchins. The township is well supplied at this day .with good school-houses, and its educational facil- ities are equal to its requirements in that line.

Churches .- The Quaker church is one of the oldest church organizations in the town- ship-so old that we could not learn the time of its formation as a church. They first held their meetings in a double log-house which stood near the grave-yard on the John H. Lind- ley place. A few years later a log church was built on the road leading to York and a short distance from the old place. The next was a frame church at the Cross Roads near Ezekiel Bishop's place. When that gave out, the present frame church building on the "Quaker lane," as it is called, was built, and a strong congregation occupy it. It has been a church organization for sixty years.

Hutsonville Baptist Church was organized February 21, 1856. The facts which led to its formations were these: A few Baptists liv- ing at and in the vicinity of Hutsonville, in the summer of 1855, requested the missionary board of Palestine association to send some one to Hutsonville, and in compliance the board sent Elder J. W. Riley. In company with Elder E. Frey, he commenced a meet- ing at Hutsonville on the 10th of February, 1856, and at its close organized a church con- sisting of the following members: Jane Bar- low, Daniel S. Downey, Joseph Medley, Mary Medley, Hezekiah Winters, Maria Vance, Phobe Downey and Anna Paine. Elder E. Frey was the first pastor, and Eller Asa Frakes the next, followed by Elder A. J. Fuson, and he by Elder J. L. Cox, the pres- ent pastor. Although the church was organ- ized in Hutsonville, yet when a church edifice was built, it was located about three and a half

miles northwest of the village. It was built in 1865 -- is a frame building 24x36 feet, and cost $1, 00, with 140 members at present.

Elder Frakes, the second pastor, was a Kentuckian by birth, and spent the last years of his life in Vigo County, Ind. He wielded a great influence for good throughout his long life. When he came to Hutsonville he found the church at a very low ebb. Under his labors it thrived and grew constantly during his administration. He was a man of great firmness, full of life and perseverance. When he first commeneed in the ministry, he could not read; he studied night and day and would go to the woods and procure bark to make a light to read hy, sitting up late at night, pre- paring himself for his ministerial labors. He was afflicted with dropsy, and near the close of his life, had to sit while speaking.

Elder Fuson was born in Ohio and came to this country in early life, settling in Clark County, between Marshall and Terre Haute. He lived there several years, extending his labors up and down the Wabash River, and then moved to the southern part of Crawford County, where he remained until the fall of 1872 and then moved west. He was of a deli- cate constitution, but of great perseverance. The country was new; without railroads, and his mode of traveling was on horseback, facing wind and storm. He traveled several years for the home missionary board of New York. His education was fair for that day. The Hutsonville church greatly increased during his pastorate.

The Universalist Church was organized in the Methodist church at Hutsonville, April 5, 1870, by Rev. Robert G. Harris. Most of the members lived in the country, and when a church-house was built, it, like the Baptist church, was built some two miles from town. It was built some ten years ago, at a cost of about $400, and is a neat little frame build- ing. The last minister was the Rev. Mr.

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Gibb, but he closed his pastorate in 1882, and the flock is at present without a shepherd.

The Village .- Hutsonville was laid out as a village in April, 1832. A body of land in- cluding that upon which the town stands, was entered by Andrew Harris, who sold a por- tion of it to his father, Israel Harris. The latter built a tavern on the river bank, near where the calaboose stands, and the site of which is marked by a sink in the ground (the old tavern cellar) and a few bushes growing out of it. This was on the old State road from Vincennes to Chicago, and which passed through Palestine, York, Darwin, Paris, Dan- ville, and on to Chicago. Harris lost money in tavern keeping, and finally traded the property, together with the land around it, to Robert Harrison, for property in Terre Haute, and moved to that place.

Robert HI irrison laid out the town in 1832, as above stated, and the original plat em- braced 48 lots, most of which were sold at the first sale. Harrison afterward surveyed and laid off 80 lots more which was known as " Harrison's addition to the town of Hutson- ville." There have been other additions made of a later date, but to go into the details of each, is not pertinent to the subject, nor of special importance. The town was called Hutsonville, in memory of Isaac Hut- son, whose family was murdered by the Indians.

The first residence built in Hutsonville after the town was laid out was erected by Wm. Cox, in the fall of 1832. The house was built on lot 32, fronting the river, and was of hewed logs, and was afterward "weather- boarded." By a strange coincidence it has fallen down from age, since we commenced writing this chapter. Wm. M. Hurst, a brother of "Uncle " Jack's; put up the next residence. He built a kitchen in the fall of 1832, and occupied it and the counting room of his store, until he could complete the

remainder of his residence, which was the fol- lowing spring. His was a small one-story building, also on the river bank, and is still standing and known as the " Gascon Adams House." Residences now went up rapidly; so rapidly we are unable to keep trace of them.

The mercantile business took an carly start in Hutsonville. William Cox and William M. Hurst, above mentioned were the pioneer merchants. Under the firm name of Cox & Hurst, they opened a store in August, 1832, a few months after the town was laid out. They continued business until 1837-38, when they closed out for the purpose of collecting up the debts they had made. Everybody there who sold goods at all, sold on a credit- "the cheap cash store " had not yet been invented-and hence, every few years, the merchant had to close out his business, and collect his outstanding accounts in order to raise money to buy another stock of goods. Thus Cox & Hurst, after running a store some five or six years, were forced to pursue this method to replenish their stock. and the mer- cantile field was left to others. After clos- ing out their business, they rented their store- house to C. C. McDonald, who opened a large store, but he soon run his course and dropped out of the race. But in the meantime, the second store had been started in 1835, by Scott & Ross, who came here from Terre Haute, for the purpose of making their for- tunes. Scott soon sold out to Ross, and after- ward Ross sold to Royal A. Knott, who took William McCoy in as a partner. In two or three years they were forced to close out and gather up their scattered capital.

About the year 1840, William Cox, the pioneer merchant, together with Hurst and others, under the firm of Wm. Cox & Co., again embarked in the mercantile busi- ness, but in three or four years, and for the same reason as heretofore, again retired.

John Attwest

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Caswell Jones opened a store on a small scale about 1839-40, and continued in business for some ten years. Henry A. Steele also opened a store about the same time as Jones. He built a store-house where the large brick block now stands, but retired from business in a year or two. (Again about 1854, in company with A. P. Harness, he opened a large store, which was continued until his death in 1860.) Harness then wound up the business and afterward he and McDowell commenced a store which they operated for a few years. In 1843-44 the mercantile busi- ness had subsided into almost nothing, and the people had to go to York to supply them- selves with " store goods," or in a measure do without them. Early in the year 1845, Dr. Lucius McAllister rented the Steele store- house and opened out a good stock. He flourished but a year or two when he signally failed, and left town. He located somewhere about Tuscola, where he recuperated and made money. In 1847-48 the Preston Brothers started a store in the Steele house, which they operated several years. But while in full blast John Sweeny bought the Steele store-house and compelled them to vacate it. Prestons then built a store on the corner opposite the present post-office, and after a few years more, closed out, and devoted their attention mostly to pork packing. A man from York named Coleman rented the Pres- ton store-house and opened a stock of goods, but did not remain but a year or two, when he closed out and returned whence he came.

February, 1864, the Prestons again opened a store, and on a much larger scale than be- fore. Under the firm of Preston, Lake & Co. they continued business until a few years ago, and made a great deal of money-just how much none but themselves perhaps know. But in pork-paeking, merchandizing, and in grain they did the most extensive business ever done in the town. This was the general

headquarters of nine stores which they had in successful operation. They let the stock run down, and a few years ago, sold it to George MeDowell, who continued business, until one of the fires, which Hutsonville is subject to, swept away the entire block, and the Preston, Lake & Co.'s building, where money had been accumulated for years, was but a " heap of smouldering ruins."

We will go back now and gather up anoth- er thread of the mercantile history of Hut- sonville. John A. Merrick opened a large store about 1852-53. He built the brick store- house occupied by Hurst & Olwin, when they were burned out in 1823. He commenced in the old Steele house, several times referred to, where he remained until his new brick store was finished. Mr. Merrick carried on an ex- tensive business for ten or twelve years, when he sold to Gen. Pearce & Sons. They closed out in a short time, and rented the store-house to Musgrave & Coffin. After a few months Musgrave bought out Coffin, and continuing business a short time longer, he (Nathan Mus- grave) died, when Wm. P. Musgrave, closed out the store. About the year 1854, Luther A. Stone opened a store as successor of Wm. Cox & Co. He took in Levi Moore as a part- ner, and Wm. L. Draper, then a young man. was employed as a clerk. Stone, Moore & Co continued a few years, when Stone died, and Moore closed out. A man from Terre Haute opened a store in the house lately occupied by Stone, Moore & Co., and in a short time sold out to Draper & Wood. A man named Melntire succeeded Wood, and the firm be- came Draper & MeIntire. Moore again be- came a partner, and so continued until he died. Draper, after Moore's death, closed up the business, and about 1863 sold out to John T. Cox, a son of the pioneer inerchant of Hutsonville. A. J. Cox became a partner, and the business continued thus several years. Win. P. Musgrave & Co. (John R. Hurst

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the Co.) opened a store March 17, 1864 ; the Prestons had re-opened business here in Febru- ary preceding. Wm. P. Musgrave & Co. con- tinued about eighteen months when Musgrave sold out to I. N. Lowe, and the firm became J. R. Hurst & Co. In November, 1867, John Olwin was admitted into the firm, and shortly after Hurst bought out Lowe, and changed the firm name to Hurst & Olwin, which still continues in business. W. B. Hurst became a. partner in 1871. " Unele Jack," as every- body calls Mr. Hurst, has retired from active business but the old sign, like that of Dom- bey & Son, still swings in the breeze.

W. L. Draper, who sold out in 1863, and went to Terre Haute, afterward returned to Hutsonville and went into business again. In 1825, S. L. Bennett was admitted a part- ner, and the firm of Draper & Bennett con- tinued until about the close of the year 1882, when they sold out to Golden & Canaday, now in business.

This comprises a brief sketch of the early mercantile business of Hutsonville, together with some of the old firms, so well known to the people of this section of the county. We leave the records of more modern firms and business men to some future historian. Many men have embarked in business in Hutson- ville, and some have enjoyed prosperity and success, while others failed; some of them swept over the scene like untamed meteors, flashed, darted and fizzled, and then went out. Quorum pars magna fui. Yes, the writer invested his surplus capital in Hutsonville, but it was swept away in the great overflow of " '>5 "-otherwise in the " August freshet," and in overflows of a different character, but nevertheless it went. There have been others who met with like misfortunes here. But there is consolation in the fact that what is the loss of one is the gain of others. But Hutsonville has proven an Eldorado to many. More than one snug little fortune has been

carved out here and carried away to enrich other sections of the country.

Taverns. - Israel Harris, as stated, was keeping a hotel, or tavern, as they were then called, when Hutsonville was laid out, and sold it to Robert Harrison. He kept the tav- ern for years, and finally killed himself by excessive drinking. Some time before he died he solt the tavern and all the land he owned (outside of the town lots) to John El- liott, who, after running the tavern for a while, sold it to Enoch Wilhite, the father of Squire James Wilhite, whom many of our readers still remember. Mr. Wilhite kept the tavern as long as he lived. It was once a very important place; it was the stage- stand, when a four-horse stage ran daily between Vincennes and Danville. The next tavern was opened by Levi Moore. During the mercantile career of Stone, Moore & Co. they built the brick resi- dence now owned and occupied by Mr. W. L. Draper, and in this, after the death of Stone, Moore kept tavern. Moore sold it to Simons, who also kept it as a tavern for a while, and then rented it to William Boat- right, who used it for the same purpose. The next tavern was kept by Joel Barlow, on the corner where Newton & Rackerby's drug store stands. Then a tavern was opened on the site of the present Adams House. The house was put up as a private residence by John Musgrave, but was rented to C. C. McDonald, who kept it as a tavern. It has charged hands and landlords often since then; altera- tions have taken place, additions been built to it, old portions torn down and repairs made, until to-day there is, perhaps, not a single square inch of the original building left in the present house. For thirty years or more it has been a tavern-stand, and twice during that period it has been the " Adams House." Who does not remember " Uncle Joe " Adams, and "Aunt Jane," and their home-like tavern?

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The present proprietor, Mr. Lewis Adams, is a genial host, judging from his evening com- pany, and an accommodating landlord.

A post-office was established here in 1832, and William Cox was the postmaster. It was small and insignificant compared to what it is now. The mail was received over the old State road then, and when Murphy & Goodrich started their big four-horse mail coaches, their arrival created a greater sensa- tion than Charley Willard does now when he comes in from the depot with the mail-bag on his shoulder. Murphy & Goodrich started their coaches about the year 1838, but broke up in a few months, and again the mail dropped back to first principles-the haek, or the "post-rider " -- until the iron horse dashed in with it at lightning speed.

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History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 19

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