History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois, Part 55

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 55
USA > Illinois > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Clark counties, Illinois > Part 55

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).

verbial throughout the entire community. Like many of the early settlers, he was a noted hunter and ranged this county in quest of his favorite sport. He sold his possessions here about the year 1843 and moved to Indi- ana, where he died a number of years ago.

Other entries were made in the year 1832, by Enoch Thompson, in section 20, C. Hille- bert in seetion 1, and Moses Aughin in the same section. Thompson and Hillebert never resided in the township, and Aughin lived here but few years when he sold his place and moved to a distant State. In the year 1838 the following persons secured lands in Or- ange: Francis Howerton, C. Harrison, Hen- ry Harrison, Herman Canady, William Ma- pels, Isaac Foster and Ezekiel Rubottom.

Howerton, of whom but little is known, settled in section 21, where he made a num- ber of improvements. He sold his land and moved to Walnut prairie about the year 1847. C. Harrison entered land in section 2, and Henry Harrison in section 10, neither of whom was ever a resident of the township. Herman Canady came to this State from Ten- nessee in company with a number of other families, and improved a farm near the central part of the township in section 15. He was a man of considerable education and pure morals, and bore a commendable part in de- veloping the resources of the country. His death occurred in the year 1850.

In striking contrast to Canady was William Mapels, who came to the township about the same time and settled in the same locality. This man bore a very unenviable reputation in the community, and was known throughout the country as a desperate character, whose greatest delight was a brawl or drunken knock-down.

He associated with a set of blaeklegs, and desperadoes as villainous as himself, and many acts of lawlessness and crime committed in various parts of the country were traced to

434

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

his door. He became the possessor of eighty acres of land near the central part of the township, which he sold to John S. Hix two years later, and left the country accompanied by the wife of another man, since which time nothing has been heard of him. Israel Fos- ter settled in the southwestern part of the township on section 30. He was born in Vir- ginia, but moved to Ohio when the latter State was on the remote outskirts of civiliza- tion. He joined the tide of emigration which came to Southern Illinois in 1837, and found his way into this part of the county one year later, and being a man of more than usual energy he soon had a goodly number of acres under successful cultivation. At the first election held in the precinct he was cho- sen justice of the peace, a position he filled very creditably for a number of years. Among the early pioneers deserving of special men- tion were Aaron Mills, Richard Imes and John Smith, all of whom came in the year 1839. The first named was a brother-in-law of Herman Canady, at whose earnest solicitation he was induced to come West. He came from Tennessee and entered a tract of land in section 15, which is at present in posses- sion of his descendants. Imes located in section 30, and was for a number of years prominently identified with the early history of the township. He subsequently moved to Iowa, where he died a number of years ago from the effects of poison accidentally taken. Smith selected his home in the north- east corner of the township, where he located for the two-fold purpose of farming and en- gaging in the tannery business. The tan yard which he operated was one of the first in the county, and returned him a handsome revenue during the time he worked it. He acquired a considerable amount of real estate during his life in this county, which is at pres- ent owned by his descendants, several of whom reside in the township. His death occurred

thirty years ago. About the same time the fore- going settlers came to the country, Nathaniel Blakeman made his appearance and improv- ed a farm in section 29, where he still lives, the oldest living settler in Orange. He came here from Ohio, and for forty three years has been a prominent resident of the township, which he has seen changed from a wilderness to its present high state of improvement and civilization. The other settlers who came prior to 1840 were Mahlon Malone, John Beauchamp and George Bennett.

Malone was an Ohioan and located in sec- tion 4, on land now owned by Clark Downey, where he lived until 1845, at which time he sold the place and moved to Missouri. Beau- champ emigrated to Clark County from Vir- ginia, and improved a farm in section 4, which he disposed of in 1852, and went to a distant State. Bennett settled in section 25, where he still resides.

Prominent in the list of pioneers who se- lected homes in Orange, was Andrew Hardway, father of William Hardway, who moved his family to the township in the spring of 1840. He came here from Ohio, but was originally from Virginia, which State he left in his early manhood. The farm which he improved and on which he lived until the time of his death, twelve years ago, is situated near the northern boundary in section 4. William Hardway, son of the preceding, can be called an early settler, as he was but eighteen years of age when his father settled in Orange, and has lived since that time within the township limits.

The following incident is related, which shows the high estimation in which he was held by the neighbors of his community. Many of the first settlers in this country came west merely on tours of observation, and after having selected and entered their lands, would appoint some one of their number to go back to their former homes for money. This was

435

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

an undertaking attended with many difficul- ties and considerable danger, as the journey had to be made on foot or horseback through a sparsely settled country, which at that time was known to be infested with thieves and robbers. Young Hardway was selected for this duty in his father's neighborhood, and at once started on the trip, which he made on foot, and was a number of days in reaching his destination. He remained in Dayton, Ohio, about one week, collected three thou- sand dollars in money and started on his return. On his way back he avoided the most fre- quented roads and passed the nights in the woods without fire or shelter, not caring to trust himself to the care of any of the hotels along the way, as many of them were the re- sorts of desperadoes who would not hesitate to commit any species of crime. He arrived in Marshall late one evening and was pressed to remain over night by a friend, but so anx- ious was he to get home and deliver the money that he determined to complete the journey that night. He still had about fourteen miles to make, and after traveling six of the . number he became lost in the woods. After rambling about for some time he came to a small house at which he knocked and was ad- mitted. This place proved to be the home of the notorious John Birch, and was the headquarters of the most daring set of black- legs and thieves that was ever known in this country. Hardway remained at this place until morning, but did not sleep any during the night. He knew well the langer of his situation, but fortunately was not disturbed. .After getting out of sight of the house the next morning he started on a run which he kept up until he arrived at home, where he found his parents very uneasy on account of his long absence.

John S. Hix and Alfred Prindle made set- tlements in the year 1840; also the former where Mapel had lived, and the latter in the

northern part of the township in section 7. Prindle was supposed to have been connected with the notorious Birch gang, as a number of them had made his house a stopping place while in the neighborhood. During the ex- citement which prevailed in the country at that time, he was visited by a vigilance com- mittee, and, despite his vigorous denial of any connection with the gang, was cruelly whipped and compelled to leave the country. He went to Missouri where he afterward became very wealthy.

The other settlers who came in 1840, as far as known, were Elias Wilson, George Holt, Peter Shwalter, Jacob Allen, Basil Wells, John Bostwick, Elijah King, and John Elliott, all of whom made entries in different parts of the township, but the limits of our space for- bids a more extended notice.

The condition of the country at the time of its first settlement was wild, in the extreme sense of that term-game of all kind was plenty, and furnished the principal means of subsistence for many families during the first two or three years of their sojourn in the wil- derness. Deer was especially abundant, and formed in that day the staple supply of meat in every household. They were easily secured almost in sight of the cabin, though occasion- ally, when met on equal footing, proved no mean antagonists.

It is related of Cyrus King that passing through the woods one day he came upon a couple of bucks that had engaged in a strug- gle for the mastery with the usual result of inextricably locking their horus. The small buck was found dead but still holding his victor a close prisoner; with the instinct of a hunter, though unarmed, King sought to se- cure the game thus brought within his reach. Seizing a pole lying at hand he attempted to break the legs of the victorious buck, but without effect. He then tried to break its back, but the powerful animal throwing his

436

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

dead antagonist about by the horns proved no unequal match for his new assailant. In his desperate struggles the buck became dis- engaged and once freed, the enraged animal turned the tables and King was obliged to make for an adjacent tree. The hunter, fortunately, made his retreat in time to escape the ruthless prongs of his would-be assailant, which, circling around the tree cut off the hunter's further escape. At times the animal seemed to realize that its efforts would prove futile and leisurely start off but, attracted by the stir of the descending hunter, would as often return to the siege with renewed ardor to find his victim back again out of his reach. After several attempts of this kind, King waited until his enemy had disappeared when he cautiously descended. He got back to his cabin late in the evening worn out by his efforts and with a higher appreciation of the character of deer in general and this buek in particular.

The early homes of the settlers were con- structed on the most primitive plan and con- sisted of but a single apartment which an- swered the fourfold purpose of kitchen, bed room, dining room and parlor. Yet from these humble abodes no stranger was ever permitted io go hungry and a lodging was always assured the benighted traveler if desired. Hospitality was a prominent vir- tue which the pioneer cultivated to a high degree of perfection, and his latch string, to use his own expression, "always hung out."

Hard as was life in the wilderness it had its seasons of recreation and enjoyment, log rol- lings and raisings were occasions always hailed with delight as they served to bring remote neighborhoods in social contact, and were generally followed by the dance, the chief amusement of pioneer times. Hard work, good digestion, and clear consciences made the time pass merrily, and many a gray-haired veteran whose youth was passed amid the

stirring scenes of these times recalls the good old days and thinks of them as the happiest period of his existence. The nearest source of supplies were York and Darwin, though many of the carly settlers went to Terre Haute and Vincennes for their groceries and dry goo is. The mills on Mill Creek and North Fork furnished breadstuffs, but a num- ber of families manufactured their own meal with a hand mill or mortar when the con- dition of the ground rendered going about im- possible, as was frequently the case during the winter and spring months. Honey was found in large quantities in the woods, and furnished a valuable addition to the daily bill of fare.

Elijah Elliott introduced the cultivation of flax into the township in an early day, and hauled his first crop to Chicago and sold it for fifty cents per bushel. He marketed his first wheat there also, and says that he could have purchased a good lot in that city with the price of one load but considered the sum too exorbitant.

The first person born within the present limits of Orange was Francis Hardway, son of Andrew and Margaret Hardway, whose birth occurred in the year 1840. In the win- ter of 1842 two brothers, Charles and Max- well Auld, while crossing Big Prairie one cold night got lost and were frozen to death. These were the first deaths as far as known that occurred in the township.

The first marriage ceremony was solem- nized in the year 1840 by Squire Nathan Wells, the contracting parties being John S. Hix and Olive Blakeman. The pioneers of Orange took considerable interest in the cause of education and schools were estab- lished as early as the year 1841. The first school-house stood in the western part of the township near the Mt. Olive Church. It was a hewed log building, much better than the majority of early school-houses and was built

437

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

by the neighbors, each one contributing so much work or a certain amount of material. The first teacher was Moses Downey who taught a three months' term with an attend- ance of about fifteen pupils. Silas White- head, present editor of the Illinoison, was an early pedagogue at this place and wielded the birch vigorously for several consecutive terms. The second school-house stood on the farm of John S. Hix and was first used by Hayden Hix, one of the early teachers of the county. Another carly school-house stood in section 4 and was known as the Malone school-house. The first frame school-house was erected about the year 1859 and is still standing, and known as the American school- house.

In educational matters at the present day Orange is not behind her sister townships of the county. There are a number of substan- tial frame buildings, well furnished with all the modern appliances, and schools last from six to eight months in the year. In tracing back the religious history of the townships but limited satisfaction has been derived. It is known that Elder Joseph Thomas held services at the Malone school-house at a very early day and was probably the first minister in the township. He was a member of the Christian church, or as they are more famil- iarly known, New Lights. Elders Bates, Mattox and Metheny were early preachers of that church, and held services in the different school-houses and private residences through- out the township, but do not appear to have organized any society.

Rev. Robert Bailiff of the Cumberland Presbyterian church preached at various places in the township, at an early day. and organized the Willow Creek church some time prior to 1858. Among the first members of this society were Jacob Keller, Elizabeth Keller, Mrs. - Keller, Sarah M. Bennett, George Bennett, Martha Bennett, Ruth

Spraker, Mrs. - Philipy, Mrs. Martz, and Mrs. Polly Morgan.

The last named was one of the chief movers in the organization, and to her wise counsels and untiring zeal in the cause of the Master, is the church indebted for much of its pros- perity and success. Immediately after the organization a movement was made to build a house of worship, and in the summer of 1858 a neat substantial edifice was erected at a cost of about $:00. It is a frame building 20x26 feet, and stands in the southern part of the township.

Rev. Thomas Bailiff has been the faithful and efficient pastor ever since the organiza- tion, and during the period of his labors has won a warm place in the hearts of the con- gregation. Under his fostering care the church has grown constantly, and at the present time numbers about seventy-five com- municants, among whom are many of the best citizens of the surrounding country. A flourishing Sunday school is kept up during the year, and is well attended. The present superintendent is S. S. Morgan. The Wesley Chapel M. E. Church was organized about the year 1846, and was known for some time as the Baker class. The first members, Thomas L. Baker and wife, William Chapman and wife, John Elliott and wife, Sobrina Hull, John Holt and wife, Mrs. Bostick and Mrs. Hollowell. Meetings were held at different places until the year 1853, when a honse of worship was erected. This building was frame, about 26x36 feet, and cost the sum of $600. It was used by the church until the year 1879, when, finding it too small for the con- gregation, steps were taken to erect a more commodious structure. A fine brick house was built the next year at an expenditure of about $3,000. Its dimensions are 32x52 feet, and the audience room is one of the most commo- dious to be found in the township. The fol- lowing pastors have ministered to the church

438

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

in regular succession since its organization: Munsell, Young, Anderson, Moore, Blundell, Shepherd, Kellogg, Groves, Foster, Cowden, Nelson, Moore, Slater, Harris, McVey, Hun- gerford, Barthlow, Orr, Mitchell, Gay, Pal- mer, Corington, Hook, Lacy, May, Gall, Muir- head, Thornburg, Atkinson, Ellis, Shumaker, Walinsley, Jones, Hamel, Middleton and Mc- Elfresh, the last named being the pastor in charge at the present time.

The society is in a very flourishing con- dition and has a substantial membership. Their Sunday school was organized in the year 1851, and has been kept up ever since. The

average attendance is about fifty scholars. A Methodist church is sustained in the south- ern part of the township and numbers among its members many of the best and most sub- stantial citizens of the community. Their house of worship is a neat brick structure, which does credit to the energy and spirit of the congregation. The Missionary Baptists have a church in the northern part of the township which is largely attended and well sustained. Nothing concerni g its history was learned, and we will be compelled to leave it with the above brief notice.

CHAPTER XIX .*

MELROSE TOWNSHIP-SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS-TIMBER, GROWTH, SOILS, ETC-FIRST SETTLEMENT-BACKWOOD EXPERIENCES-PIONEER INDUS- TRIES -CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

TOWNSHIPS, like children, are often found convenient objects with which to ass: ci- ate the names of cherished friends or the recol- lections of earlier homes. The early emi- grant casting off from the scenes that blessed his childhood and going into surroundings that almost blot out the remembrance of brighter scenes, perpetuates the names of his early years as an anchor that still holds him fast to his native land though stress of cir- cumstances may lengthen the cable indefi- nitely. So long as the name remains, the ca- ble is not parted. It is probably on this prin- ciple that the township, to which this chapter is devoted, bears the euphonious name of the old English village. Melrose lies in the lower tier of townships in Clark County and is the second from the Wabash River. It was orig- inally pleasantly diversified by prairie and woodland and offered a tempting home to the early settler who not unfrequently prized the present advantages of a new home not less than its possibilities for the future. The ear- ly settler was no more blessed with prophetic vision than the generation of to-day, and chiefly sought as a site for a new settlement, a land that would furnish him the comforts and pleasures to which his early surroundings had accustomed him, and it is no uncommon thing to find those, who, after passing through the stern vicissitu les of pioneer days, regret the change and sigh for the joys that once they knew. But this township seems to have

supplied both demands equally well. Tl.e surface is somewhat broken in the northern and eastern parts, and along the course of Raccoon Creek which rising in the northwest part flows diagonally through the township. Just north of the center the surface seems to be marked by an elevation which divides the natural drainage, sending off a branch due eastward to Mill Creek, and another branch near the northern border in the same direction to the same stream. This part of the town- ship was originally well covered with a large growth of the various kinds of oak and hick- ory, and in the eastern part with maples as well. The prairie land was chiefly in the western part where an arm of Dolson prairie invades the township. A small prairie of a few hundred acres, known as Crow's Prairie, is situated in the southeastern part. These lands were originally low and wet and were marked by the growth of some walnut timber. There was but little undergrowth, however, in any part of the township, and it is said that an ox-goad could not be procured short of the Wabash River. The soil varies with the char- aeter of the surface; that of the woodland being chiefly a light clay, admirable for the culture of wheat, and that of the prairie be- ing a black loam with clay subsoil, better adapted to corn raising. These qualifications of soil have determined the industry of the farmers who devote their attention to raising their specialty in corn or wheat.

The early settlement of this county came in from the east, and it was not until the more

* By G. N. Berry.

440

HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.

attractive lands along the Wabash, in York township, were occupied that the inflow of population invaded this section. Reuben Crow, a resident of York, made an entry on section 36, as early as 1816, but beyond giv- ing his name to the prairie here, made no improvement and never was a resident of the township. The first actual settler, Joseph Willard, came here about the same time and settled on the same section. He was a native of North Carolina, and made the journey from his native State with an ox-cart. In the following year the township settlement re- ceived several accessions. Among these was James Bartlett, a native of New York, who came by raft to Cincinnati and from thence by wagon. He was an energetic man and soon became a prominent citizen in the new community which grew up here. He died in 1822, and was at that time the oldest of the masonic fraternity in the county. Stephen - Handy, who came into York with his father in 1814, in this year made a start for himself and entered land on section 13. He was the first justice in the township, and subsequently was elected as county surveyor. William Martin was another addition to the Melrose settlement in 1817. He was a native of New York, a cabinet maker by trade, and came by the river forcing his way on a keel boat. In 1823 John Mooreraft came and settled on section 11. He was a native or New York; a man of some wealth who had met financial embarrassment and came to this new country with the hope of retrieving his fortune. He was a man of good parts, gained prominence in the community, and was influential in form- ing its character. In this year also came Benjamin Dolson, from whom the prairie and one of the northern townships of the county was named. Mr. Dolson was a marked charac- ter in the early community, and won a regard that will perpetuate his memory. He was bon in St. Lawrence County, New York, and

spent his childhood and youth under the rug- ged influences of a pioneer community. At eighteen years of age, in company with a single comrade, he took a raft of lumber to Quebec during the British embargo. He and his companion were seized and impressed into the naval service. On the following night he planned to escape, and seizing the long boat the two got clear of the ship. This was not effected without alarming the watch, however, and they were saluted by a broadside from the ship's guns. Though near enough to hear the captain exclaim, "This will send them to hell," they were so fortunate as to receive no injury from the shot. The darkness of the night and the rough state of the river gave them more anxiety, but they were finally suc- cessful in reaching the American side in safety. But once on land their troubles had only just begun. Here they found an un- tracked wilderness with which they were entirely unacquainted. They launched into these interminable woods, and for weeks wandered without getting any trace of a human being, and subsisting in the meantime on buds, roots, a porcupine and a ground squirrel which they secured. They finally reached the settlements in New Hampshire, famished and worn out with their experience, and for two weeks were unable to proceed to their homes. Mr. Dolson was subsequently a scout attached to Gen. Brown's army and became noted for his woodcraft and many thrilling adventures. At the close of the war he engaged with the Onondaga salt company and here received injuries which caused him to limp the rest of his life. It is said that he and his father, who was a widower at this time, were both suitors for the hand of the same lady, who favored the older man. This may or may not have been the cause of his coming to the west, but he, at all events, came to Ohio in 1818 and married in the following year. On coming to Clark County, he settled

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 55

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