USA > Illinois > De Witt County > History of De Witt county, Illinois. With illustrations descriptive of the scenery, and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 59
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In 1876, they took cash premiums aggregating $1,500; in 1877, $1,110; in 1878, 81,960; in 1879, $2,257; in 1880 and 1881, they attended four fairs only, but took $2,575 in premiums in those two years. Their sales of bucks in 1879, for breeding purposes, aggregated $1,470, and in 1880, $2,979. Their buck ' Smuggler " took alone $450 in premiums. His buck "Crown Prince " was of the Shropshiredown breed, and was bred in Eng- Iand by Gerry Allen. At one year old he weighed three hundred pounds; he took in premiums $485. In the breeding of swine they have been equally successful. In 1881 Mr. Taylor took eight pigs to the fat stock show in Chicago, and captured five first premiums, two second and one third, and two sweepstakes, that union ; two only are living. Dr. Starkey possesses social
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HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
qualities of high order, and is an exceedingly companionable gentlemen. He is pleasant, and affable to all who come in con- tact with him either npon business, pleasure, or social intercourse; and, as per consequence, is esteemed by all who know him.
EBER DAVENPORT.
SQUIRE Davenport, the grandfather of the subject of the present sketch, was a native of Vermont. He subsequently re- moved to New York, where he died. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His son, who was also named Squire Da- venport, was born in 1785, in Vermont, and was a soldier of the War of 1812. He left Vermont when a young man, and traveled over the conntry ; and was for a number of years piloting and boating on the Mississippi. Ife settled in Ohio, but lived in various other states owing to his roving disposition. He came to Illinois in 1829, and settled in Morgan county, and, a few years later, moved to Greene county in same state, and remained there eleven years, then came to Waynesville in 1842. He married Ruth Harris, a native of New Jersey. She died in 1837 in Greene county. Eher is the fifth in a family of eight children. He was born in Morgan county, Ills., Jan. 7, 1830. His educa- tion was limited to about ten months in all ; therefore, his edu cation may be said to be mainly self-culture. He worked with his father at the cooper trade. In 1852 he married, and, soon after, started in the mauufacture of brick. making them by the old hand-process. His business gradually increased, and in 1877 he added the manufacture of tile, in which he has continued to the present. He has given much of his time to the study and improvement of machinery for the manufacture of brick and tile. He patented an improved brick kiln. It is a combination of a down and npward draft, thereby getting the benefit of a re- turn heat, which saves fuel as well as labor. So far, kilns built upon this plan have proved satisfactory. He has always thought that human ingenuity ought to be able to devise means by which the work of horses or their power could be utilized. He is there- fore at work experimenting upon a steam propeller, or a wagon driven by steam, for ordinary farm and road use. His experi- ments, so far, promise to lead to practical and satisfactory re- sults. On the 22d of April, 1862, he was united in marriage to Miss A. M. Tinker, a native of Ohio. Her parents, Jonathan and Lucinda Tinker. came to Illinois at an early day. By this union there have been for children, three of whom died in in- fancy. Lyman Lovejoy Davenport is the only son. He is now in his twenty-first year. Both Mr. and Mrs. Davenport are members of the Presbyterian Church. He nnited with that Christian organization in his childhood. He is a most profonnd and earnest believer in the principles of the Orthodox Church, and at all times is ready to combat the heresies and fallacies of the so-called liberal thought- Spiritualism and other modern in- novations and unbeliefs-that have crept into the church. Poli- tically he was originally an old line Whig, and cast his first presi- dentlal vote for Gen. Scott in '52. He soon after espoused the cause of the Anti-slavery party, which action naturally led him into the Young Republican party. He was one of the pioneers of that party, and supported John C. Fremont in 1856. He has repre-
sented his township in the Board of Supervisors. He is an advo- cate of temperance, and has belonged to all the organizations for the suppression of the vice of intemperance, and was the first Worthy Chief of the first Templar Lodge of Waynesville.
MATHEW HAMMITT
WAS born in Morgan county, Ohio, December 13th, 1826. The family is of Welsh descent. They settled in New Jersey, and afterwards moved to Virginia. Benjamin, the grandfather of Mathew, married Ruth Vanmeter about the year 1778. His son Samuel, father of Mathew, was born in Ohio county, West Vir- ginia, April 12th, 1789, and moved to Zanesville, Ohio, while very young. He remained in Ohio until 1833, when he came West to Illinois, and settled in De Witt county on section 16 in Waynesville township, then a part of MeLean county. He died September 26th, 1861. He entered three hundred and twenty aeres in sec. 19 in same township, and improved it. He married Catherine E. MeElhiney. She was born in Baltimore, Dec. 18, 1791, and when five years old her parents removed to Ohio county, West Virginia, and there grew to womanhood, and then moved to Zanesville, Ohio, when she married Samuel Ham- mitt, April 4th, 1812 In a few years they moved to Morgan county, and from there to Illinois, near where Mathew Hammitt now lives. Mrs. Hammitt died November 22, 1857 By the marriage of Samuel and Catherine E. Hammitt there were eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. Mathew is the seventh in the family. He was yet in his boyhood when the family came to Illinois. He remained at home assisting his father upon the farm nntil his twenty-third year. In 1819 he moved to where he now lives. On the tract of land was a small log house, and here he has lived and made the improvements which now beautify this place. On the 6th Dec., 1849, he mar- ried Miss Sarah Baker, daughter of Jas. and Christina ( Roberts) Baker. Mrs. Hammitt was born in Morgan county, Ohio, Oct. 7th, 1831. Her father was one of the first settlers of Ohio He came West in 1834, and settled in McLean county, Ills., where Mrs. Hammitt was living at the time of her marriage. There were five children born nnto Mr. and Mrs. Hammitt, three of whom are living. Their names, in the order of their birth, are : Letitia, who is the wife of H. A. Kephart, farmer and resident of this township; Benjamin, who is also a farmer in this town- ship, married Alice Gates ; and Margaret Hammitt.
In religious matters Mr. Hammitt is liheral in his belief. Po- litically, he has been a life-long Democrat. In 1848 he cast his first presidential vote for Lewis Cass, and from that time to the present has remained a true and staunch adherent and advo- cate of democratic principles. In 1877 he was elected to repre- sent his township in the Board of Supervisors. He was re-elected in '78 and '79. During his occupancy of this office he has dis- charged the duties incumbent npon him with fidelity and to the best interests of the entire county. Mr. Hammitt is one of the old settlers of De Witt county. He has lived here as man and boy for nearly fifty years, and in all that time, among those who have known him best, has borne the reputation of an honest and straightforward man.
RUTLEDGE TOWNSHIP.
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N THE north and eastern part of the county is bounded as follows: On the north by Me- Lean county, on the east by Santa Anna township, south by De Witt, and west hy Wilson, and contains 24 sections of land, or about 15,500 acres. It received its name from the oldest householder, William J. Rutledge, who is said to be the oldest person born in the state, now residing in the county. He is thus a native of Illinois, and was born in 1817, his birth place being White County. The township is mainly prairie land, only between three or four sections having timber. The prairie is as good land as there is in Central Illinois. It consist of the deep, peaty loam peculiar to Grand Prairie, and is slightly undulating, sufficient to render good drainage with the use of tiling, which is being introduced to a considerable extent. The land in the timber is broken, and of a lightish color, but excellent for the production of wheat, blue grass or fruits and especially grapes. The timber is found entirely in the north- west, hugging the north branch of Salt Creek. This stream enters the township in the northern center of section 17, and flows south and west and passes out in the south-west of section 30. There are several perennial springs along the margin of the timber near the creek. The Springfield Division of the Illinois Central Railway crosses through the township in the south-east, entering from the east in the north-east corner of section 36, and crossing the line between Rutledge and De Witt in the southern central part of section 35. The thriving little town of Parnell is situated on the railroad, just over the township line, but fur- uishes an excellent market for grain and other conveniences to the citizens of Rutledge. We have thus given an outline history of this township, and will now proceed to give an account of the
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
The first to undergo the hardships of pioneer life within the boundaries of Rutledge was a native of Tennessee, Charles McCord. He emigrated from his native state with his family and located here in 1833, on section 32. His family consisted of his wife, Nancy, and three children, James S., Nicholas and Mary. Their home was a meagre pole cabin, 16x18, with a puncheon floor of roughest kind. The chimney was construct- ed of mud and sticks, and the door upon its wooden hinges could be heard to creak for half a mile. There were no patent latches in those days, it was merely a wooden contrivance with a string passing through a hole in the door to raise the latch ; hence the origin of the expression, " the latch string is hanging out ;" as these pioneers were always the most hospitable people in the world, from whom originated the old saying above
quoted. Apropos of this prevailing virtue, one of the pioneers now living gives au account of his being received at the cabin of Mr. McCord's in 1834, when he was making a tour through this part of the country. At the time of his arrival the mud chimney had toppled over, and the cabin was not in a condition for family use. They had therefore appropriated the pole smoke-house for the time being. This was only 8x10 feet in size, and the ground for a floor. Imagine if you can ten persons stowing them- selves away for the night in a cabin like this. The fire was built on the ground, aud all reveled in the smoke ; and yet, says Mr. Vandeventer, one of the guests, "we enjoyed it hugely."
Mr. McCord was a mere squatter, but that year he broke a small piece of ground and raised a crop of corn. The following year, Daniel King bought out his improvement right, and Mr. McCord moved to De Witt township, where he died in 1839. None of his descendents are now residing in the county. His widow, with the family, afterwards migrated to California. The "squatter's" right is now owned by Magill Brothers of Clinton.
Another pioneer, Jacob Vandeventer, came from Tennessee in the fall of 1831, and located first in Mc Lean county, where he remained three years, and in the fall of 1834, moved to this township and squatted in section 17. He had a family consist- ing of his wife Rachel, and eight children, Abraham, Martha, John, David, Mary, Mahala, Marainy, and James. Mr. Vande- venter died just one year after his coming. His widow brought up the family, and died about twelve years ago. Five of the children are living, and all but one reside in the county. John McCord was a native of Tennessee, and settled here in 1834. He came with his father, James McCord, to Illinois in 1832. He was then a young man without any family, and being of an ambitious turu of mind left the parental roof, and took a pre-emp- tion or squatter's right in section 36, in 1834. He soon afterward married Miss Sarah Watt, and went to housekeeping on his premises. Three children were born by this union, Jackson, Charles W. and Maria. In after years he moved to Clinton, where he died in 1880. His widow survives him and resides in Clinton. None of the children live in the county.
William McPherson came in the same year as McCord. He was from Virginia. The 17th of March, 1834, he made the first land entry in the township, being the N. E. } of the S. E. } of section 19. His family consisted of his wife, Polly, and six children, four boys and two girls. The father and mother are both dead. But one of the children, Nancy, wife of Milan Moore, now lives in the county, and resides at Farmer City,
In 1835, there were but six families in the township ; Chas. McCord, William McPherson, Rachel Vandeventer-then the widow of Jacob Vandeventer, Nathan Britton, W. J. Rutledge,
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HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
and William Deatherage, in all about 30 persons. We have already given the history of three of them.
Nathan Britton came from Indiana in the summer of 1835, and settled in section 19. He had a family, consisting of three children, Elizabeth, George P. and Fannie. Mr. Britton lived to enjoy the fruits of his labors, and died abont 1862 George P. is yet living on the old homestead ; Fannie is dead, and Elizabeth is residing out of the county. W. J. Rutledge is a native of the state, and came to this township in the fall of the same year as the above. His family were his wife, Eliza, and two children, Martha J, and John A. ; they located in section 19. Mrs. Rutledge died soon after coming here, and in 1839 Mr. Rutledge was again married, to Mary Vandeventer, with whom he is yet living. No children have been born from this marriage. One of the children, Martha J., died in 1867. John A., is now residing in section 15. William Deatherage migra ted from Kentucky, first stopping in Morgan county. This way in 1830. He remained there five years, when he moved to Rut- ledge and settled in section 31. He had a wife and four children Several years afterward he went to Marion, De Witt township, where he died. The family subsequently moved to parts nn" known.
James Vandeventer, another early settler, was a native of Ten- nessee, but soou removed to Virginia, and from thence to Illinois in 1830, and first located north of Mt. Pulaski, in what is now Logan county. In 1836 he came to De Witt, and located in Rutledge. Ile had a wife, Mary, and five children, two sons and three daughters. He remained here for some years, when he moved to Kansas. Thomas, a son of James, came with his father's family from Virginia, but was born in Tennessee. Ile is now residing in section 20, and is the next oldest settler, now liv- ing in the township. In 1841 he was married, and the follow- ing year he moved on the farin where he now resides. He has a family consisting of a wife, Mary, and five children, James II., D. F., Thomas M., Mary E., and George L. All reside in the county. Mr. Vandeventer has acenmulated a competency for his old age, besides aiding his children liberally in getting a start in the world. He is yet hale and hearty, and enjoying his old age on one of the best farms in the township. Peter Brickey came in 1840, and was then a single man. 1Je was a native of Virginia. In 1842, he entered a tract of land in section 36. He was after- wards three times married, and reared a family of twelve children. Mr. Brickey died in the fall of 1877. Eight of the children are living, and all but two reside in the county. In 1842, he hauled wheat to Chicago, and received but forty cents a hushel for it. What would the present generation think of carting their wheat over 100 miles to receive the meagre sum of but forty or fifty cents per bushel? Chicago then was bnt little larger than Clint n, and our informant says, there were hut six houses on Grand Prairie on the road to Chicago.
The following are the first land entries made in Rutledge town. ship: March 17th, 1834 William A. MePherson entered the N. E. ¿ of the S E. } of section 19. February 26th, 1835, J. Harp and A. Dail entered 161.30 acres in section 31. W. Palmer en- tered 35.9 acres in the same section, April 25th, 1835. J. Wil- liams, July 24th, of the same year, entered the S. E. I of the N. E. } of section 19. Angust 17th, 1835, Nathan Britton entered the N. W. } of the N. E. } of same section. October 9th, 1835, W. Rutledge entered the W. 3 of the S. E. } of the same section. W. Deatherage, December 9th, 1835, entered forty acres in sec- tion 31.
The first couple married was Jonathan Pearson to Rebecca
Vandeventer. The rites were solemnized at the house of the bride's father, James Vandeventer, by Thomas Toveara, a Meth- odist local preacher. The first death was the old lady Vincent, aud occurred in 1835. She was buried in the McCord cemetery in De Witt township, near Fullerton Station. The first child born was, Martha J., a daughter of William and Eliza Rutledge, in 1835. She became the wife of Dennis Turner of this township, and died in 1867.
The first and only cemetery in Rutledge, is located in section 31, and known as the Johnson burial ground. The first inter- ment made was a daughter of Silas and Elizabeth Johnson. This was in the fall of 1837. The cemetery includes a half acre of ground, and is kept in a condition befitting its use. There have been at least a hundred interments made here, and several good monuments adorn the grounds
The first school was conducted by Robert H. Pool in 1839. The school-honse was constructed of logs, and situated in the S. E. { of the N. E. | of section 19 on the land now owned by Es- quire Dennis Turner. It had a puncheon floor, and split logs for seats. For windows it had a log cut out in one side of the house, and greased paper plastered over as a substitute for glass. The house was afterwards taken down and moved to section 20, where it was used for a stable by Mr. N. Helmick. No vestige of it now remains.
The first sermon was preached by the Rev. William Phearson, in 1835, at his cabin in section 29. He was a local Baptist preacher. Among other early preachers were, Robert H. Pool, S. H. Martin, David White, and Archibald Johnson. The first three belonged to the M. E Church, and the latter was a Pres- byterian. The only church building erected in the township has just been built, December, 1881, and at this writing is not yet dedicated. It is situated near the town of Parnell in section 34, and cost abont $1,500. It is a neat frame structure of medium size, and has a spire that can be seen for miles away.
James Vandeventer was the first justice of the peace, and G. W. Waybright, Dennis Turner, S. M. Jones, and Thomas Van- deventer were among the first. The first to practice medicine was Patricus Moran. He then resided at Leroy in McLean connty, and subsequently moved to Springfield. This was as early as 1835. Dr. Weldon and John Warner were also pioneer physi- cians. Capt. Field did the first blacksmithing in 1861. His shop was a plank shanty, and situated in section 19. He moved to Champaign county in 1866. The shanty he used for a shop was afterwards fixed up with a floor, and for a time was used for a dwelling. It was torn down several years ago. Another shop is now situated not far from the old oue, and the business is con- ducted by Mr. M. Reynolds. The first milling was done several miles away in other parts of the county, and to get a bushel or two of meal ground it would take, sometimes, three or four days to accomplish it. The mills were but small affairs at the best being situated some distance apart, it took some time to get at, little supply of grist.
The first goods were sold by John Nichols, sen., in 1858. His store was for a time kept in a part of his dwelling, and was situ- ated in section 20. He afterwards built a little frame store- room on his premises, and added to his stock so that he could furnish the demand for a country store. He remained here until about 1868, when he moved to McLean county.
At this writing there is a country store situated in section 19, and kept by G. W. Lewis. From many favorable indications, it is thought that there are excellent coal beds underlying this township, and several efforts have been made to verify the indi-
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HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
eations, but not extensive enough to make a snecess to the operators.
The first blooded stoek was introduced by William Carew in 1842 They were the Durham breed, and imported from Ohio. The township at this time contains some of the best stock in the eounty. Among the prominent stoek raisers are the heirs of Wil- Jiam C. Swiney, Elihn llelmick, Daniel Fuller, and James Spratt.
The following persons have represented the township as mem- bers of the Board of Supervisors ; Jonathan Pearson was the first representative, and elected in 1859. William Fuller was elected in 1860, and served until 1869. Peter Brickey elected in 1869, and served four terms. James Vandeventer elected in 1874. W. O. Day elected io 1875, and served two terms. Daniel Fuller
was elected in 1877. W. O. Day re-elected in 1878, and served two terms, being chairman of the Board for that time. E. Hel- mick elected in 1880. Franklin Vance elected in 1881, and is the present ineumbent.
The population for the last three decades is as follows : 1>60- 546; 1870-664: 1-80-647.
The township contains seven sehool-houses, six of which are frame, and one briek. The log cabins and puneheon floors of the olden time have long sinee passed away, which is one of the best evidences that the present inhabitants are keeping paee with the times, and are ready to endorse any improvement that may be a benefit to the rising generation or the Commonwealth of the state of Illinois.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM J. RUTLEDGE.
MR. RUTLEDGE was born in White county, Illinois, June the 23d, 1816. Thomas Rutledge, his father, was a native of Georgia, where he married Miss Sarah Smith. Mr. Rutledge was of English and Irish descent.
He was a Ranger in the war of 1812, living in Kentucky at that time. Immediately after the war closed, he came to Illinois, and located in White county, where he lived until 1828. and then moved to what is now McLean county, where he died two years later, at the age of 62. He left a family of ten children and a wife, who survived him thirteen years. The subject of our sketch was next to the youngest child. He was at an age that he could just begin to make a hand when his father died. He assisted his mother on the farm until he was 19 years of age, when he was mar- ried to Miss Eliza Duffield, who died three years later, leaving two children-Martha J., now deceased, aud John A., who is a
farmer of Rutledge township. Mr. Rutledge was again mar- ried January 17th, 1839, to Miss Mary Vandeventer, daughter of Jacob Vandeventer, one of the early settlers of this section. She was born in Claybourn county, Tennessee, June the 2d, 1822. She is German and English on the paternal side, and Welch and Irish on the maternal. Mr. Rutledge has always followed farm- ing. He settled on the place where he now lives in 1836, being among the first to settle in the township, and when the county went into township organization, the citizens honored him by giving the township his name. He has nearly seven hundred aeres of land in this vicinity, fully half of which he entered from the government at $1.25 per acre. In politics he is a Democrat. Such is a brief sketch of one of the most respected old settlers of De Witt County.
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GRAIN AND STOCK FARM OF ELISHA HELMICH, SEC, 21, T. 21, R.4, (RUTLEDGE TP) DEWITT CO., ILL.
DANIEL FULLER.
AMONG the successful agriculturalists and stockmen of De Witt county, stands prominently forward the name of Daniel Fuller, who is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1824, and the second in a family of eight sons.
His father and mother, Daniel and Nancy ( Whitlach) Fuller, were also natives of Pennsylvania ; and the subject of this sketch obtained his education in the district schools of that State. He worked upon his father's farm until he was twenty years of age, at which time he left for Ohio; in that State he bought and fed stock for the eastern market ; driving his cattle and hogs when fattened to Pennsylvania. In this enterprise, however, he was not very successful. Finally, returuing to his native state, he became the owner of a small farm, consisting of one hundred acres. Thinking he could succeed better farther west, he sold bis farm for $900,-and in company with his brothers, Barnett and David, came to De Witt county in 1850. Their elder bro- ther, William, having emigrated to Illinois some years before, was already occupying a farm in this county. Daniel Fuller did not at once settle upon a farm, but operated in the buying and selling of stock throughout the state; finding a ready market for
his cattle and hogs in St. Louis ; driving at one time as many as 1700 hogs there.
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