USA > Illinois > Effingham County > History of Effingham county, Illinois > Part 22
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Effingham Chapter, No. 87, Royal Arch
166
HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
Masons, was organized under a dispensation from W. M. Egan, M. E., Grand High Priest of the State. Among the original members were William B. Cooper, Joseph B. Jones, Jacob Goddard, H. Buffner, J. Claypool, J. Niernan, N. C. Turner, H. B. Turner, J. Barkley and N. C. Kitchell, of whom Will- iam B. Cooper was the first High Priest; Joseph B. Jones, King, and W. H. Sinclair, Scribe. There is at present twenty-eight names upon the records, with the following officers, viz. : Owen Scott, High Priest; B. F. Kagay, King; J. H. I. Lacy, Scribe; Will- iam Bear, Captain of the Host; H. B. Kep- ley, Principal Sojourner; Gus Elbow, Royal Arch Captain; Charles Busse, D. J. McCabe and R. C. Harrah, Grand Masters of the Veils; Samuel Allsop, Treasurer; John Jones, Secretary, and L. J. Harding, Tiler.
A Council of Royal and Select Masters was in existence here until, by the authority of the Grand Bodies, the Council was merged into the Royal Arch Chapter.
Dallas Lodge, No. 85, I. O. O. F., was in- stituted at Ewington by H. D. Rucker, Grand Master, October 17, 1851. The charter mem- bers were John S. Kelly, K. H. Burford, James M. Fergus, S. B. Holcomb and Joel Elam. Mystic Lodge, No. 420, instituted at Edgewood in July, 1870, was consolidated with Dallas Lodge, No. 85, in 1876. Jupiter Lodge, No. 455 (German), instituted in July, 1871, in Effingham, was consolidated with Dallas Lodge in December, 1874. It is esti- mated by accurate calculation (says Mr. Le Crone, to whom we are indebted for this in- formation), that Dallas Lodge has paid out, since its institution. $1,500 in benefits to its members: Present membership, sixty-one; funds on hand, $900, and a flourishing lodge. The names of the officers were not furnished.
The Encampment of this order was insti- tuted May 12, 1882, by J. C. Smith, Grand
Scribe. The charter members were J. A. Anderson, W. W. Simpson, D. B. Coleman, C. E. Williamson, John Alt, S. N. Scott, Os- car Johnson and B. Berman. It was insti- tuted under the title of Royal Encampment, No. 134, and has now a membership of twenty-five. The present officers are J. A. Carson, C. P .; D. B. Coleman, H. P .; B. Fortney, S. W .; John Taut, Scribe, and John Alt, Treasurer.
The Schools .- The educational history of Effingham dates back to the very commence- ment of the town. The first school was taught by John Hoeny, beginning in the spring of 1855. It was carried on in a house built by Richard Dorsey, a brother to William Dorsey, the merchant, and is now owned and occupied by the widow of Charles Bourland. Alexander S. Moffitt taught the next school in a house now owned by Charles Troy. Both of these schools were non-sectarian private schools. In the spring of 1856, the Cath- olics built a smail log house (already alluded to) on the lot in the rear of Funkhouser's " Trade Palace," which for some time an- swered the double purpose of both school- house and church. The first teacher to oc- cupy this house was Barney Wernsing, the present County Treasurer. His school, as well as those of all other teachers for some ten or twelve years, was attended by children of all denominations then residing in the village.
The schools of the city now occupy two brick buildings, one on the east and one on the west side, of four rooms each. The two buildings cost something like $22,000 origi- nally, and have since been refitted at a cost of about $2,000 a piece. Nine teachers are employed, as follows: Prof. N. B. Hodsden, Superintendent; Prof. F. L. West, Principal of the High School; Hester Spencer, Mary Hasbrouck, Ollie Buchanan, west side; Prof.
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
S. F. Smith, Principal Grammar School; Jennie Stewart, Emma LeCrone, Genevieve Cook, east side building.
The cost of running the schools is annually about $6,000; teachers' salaries, $3,960; on- rollment of pupils, 604; average attendance, 450. The buildings are comfortable, but are of an inferior quality, when compared to many school buildings of other cities in the State, of Effingham's size and importance.
Mercy Hospital is a city institution deserv- ing of mention. It was built about the year 1866, by the St. Anthony's congregation of Effingham, under the auspices of Bishop Baltes, of this diocese. Six acres of ground within the city limits were donated by Mat- thias Moening. It is under the control of the Franciscan Sisters of Mercy, and is open to all classes and denominations. The build- ing cost $15,000 and stands west of the Illi- nois Central Railroad. It is one of the best institutions of the kind in the State. Drs. J. N. Groves and L. J. Schefferstein are the attending physicians.
This brings us to the end of our sketch of Effingham. Thirty years, laden with sorrows and joys, bright anticipations and vanished
hopes, have added both age and dignity to the little city since it was laid out. Many of the old citizens who were wont to indulge in pleasant dreams over what the town would some day be, are quietly sleeping their last sleep. The boys and girls of those early times are boys and girls no longer; they have taken the places of men and women in the ranks, and are earnestly endeavoring to do the work laid out for them. The reflections, however, of what they were in their youthful days, can be seen in the many bright and happy faces of the scholars who now attend the public schools During these years-al- most a third or a century -- Effingham has steadily gained in financial strength, and it is to-day one of the solid little cities of South- ern Illinois. Nature has laid a golden offer- ing at her feet, but only those found on the surface have as yet been utilized. But some day in the future she may muster sufficient courage to investigate the mysteries beneath her feet, and when once the light of day is permitted to shine upon them, a transforma- tion of the town may take place, as amazing, perhaps, as those accomplished by Aladdin and his wonderful lamp.
CHAPTER XIV .*
SUMMIT TOWNSHIP-INTROUCTORY AND DESCRIPTIVE-TIMBER, SURFACE FEATURES, ETC .- SETTLEMENT OF WHITE PEOPLE-THEIR ROUGH LIFE AND HABITS-HUNTING AS A PASTIME - FIRST SCHOOLS AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES- EARLY CHURCHES-PIONEER PREACHIERS, ETC .- TOWNS AND VILLAGES-THE OLD COUNTY SEAT, ETC., ETC.
LD Times! It is a subject that wakes in the mind of the aged pioneer a feeling of enthusiasm for the free, wild life of the fron- tier, when, like the old soldier, he will sit down with you by the quiet fireside, or under the friendly shade tree, and " fight his battles
o'er again," and tell you of the days when he went forty miles to mill, riding on a bag of corn, and had to camp at the mill three or four days, living on parched corn until his " turn" came "to grind; " of the good old days when you could go out in the morning and kill a turkey or doer for breakfast, and
*By W. 11 Perrin.
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
when a bushel of corn passed current any- where for a gallon of whisky. Those were the good old times that the pioneer will tell you were better than the present; that all men were not only " free and equal," but on the most intimate terms of friendship, and the word neighbor had something of that broad and liberal significance given to it by the Man of Nazareth nineteen hundred years ago. As he recalls the pioneer simplicity of the early period, he will sadly shake his head, and with a sigh, tell you that the world is going to the devil as fast as the " unclogged wheels of time can roll it on." Well, we all have our hobbies, and " good old times" is the pioneer's hobby.
Summit Township, the subject matter of this chapter, lies west of the city of Effing- ham, and is mostly a fine body of land. It is pretty well divided between prairie and woodland, the latter lying contiguous to the Wabash River, and the other small water courses, principally in the eastern part of the township, while the weatern part is a broad rolling prairie, and is as fine land "as ever a crow flew over." Along the water courses in the bottoms were a heavy growth of walnuts, sugar maple, burr oak, poplar, cottonwood, buckeye, hackberry, soft maple, etc., while on the ridges were to be found in profusion white oak, pin oak, post oak, red oak and hick- ory. It is well drained by the Little Wabash and its numerous tributaries. The Wabash flows nearly south through the eastern part, receiving as a tributary Blue Point Creek. This latter stream rises in the edge of Moc- casin Creek Township, and flowing almost southeast through Summit, mingles its wa- ters with the Wabash about a mile north of the old town of Ewington, and receiving in its tortuous course several small and name- less streams. Funkhouser Creek, with its tributary of Long Branch, are small streams
in the southwestern part of Summit Town- ship. A number of other little branches and brooks are laid down on the maps, but they are too small and insignificant to have names. They contribute their part, however, toward the natural drainage of the land through which they flow. Summit originally in- cluded the present township of Banner within its limits. It was not until the June term, 1874. of the Supervisors' Court, that Banner was set off from Summit. At present, Summit Township is bounded on the north by Banner, on the east by Douglas, on the south by Jackson, on the west by Moccasin, and, according to the Con- gressional survey, is Township S north and Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridi- an. It is well adapted to agricultural pur- poses, and its people are industrious and en- terprising farmers, and have some of the best and most productive farms in the coun- ty. It is well supplied with railroads, though there are not many shipping points within its borders. The Vandalia line and two branches of the Wabash pass through it, but only the Vandalia has a station and ship- ping point.
This township is noted for having con- tained the first county seat of Effingham- the town of Ewington. At this place once centered the business enterprise of all the surrounding country, and congregated the beanty, the wealth and intelligence of the county. Like
"Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence, native to famous wits,"
it was the glory of Effingham, the common center, around which revolved the business, the intelligence and the moral and social in- fluences. But, like everything human, it had its time to die. The removal of the cornty seat sealed its doom, and from that event we may date its " decline and fall." Its mold-
169
HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
ering turrets and broken columns, its ruined palaces and temples, are but another les- son of the immutable certainty of the de- cay of all earthly glory. We shall have more to say of this old town further on in this chapter, as well as in other portions of this work.
The settlement of Summit Township dates back more than half a century. So far as we can definitely learn, the first whites who straggled in here came abont the year 1830 Those who, it is claimed, settled within the present limits of Summit in that year, were Alexander Mc Whorter, Robert Moore, John Trapp and the Rentfros. The latter were from Tennessee, and consisted of T. J. Rent- fro, Matt, Jesse, John, Joseph and Eli, all brothers. T. J. and Matt Rentfro are still living in the township, but the others are long since dead and gone. They brought with them when they came here a four-horse team and an ox team, which conveyed all their worldly wealth to the land of promise. They settled in the Little Wabash bottom, a short distance north of Ewington, or rather, where that town was afterward located. Until they could provide shelter for their families by the erection of cabins, they occupied a de- serted Indian camp, which was on what is since known as the old Reynolds place. This camp was made of linn puncheons pinned to the trees with wooden pins, and at the time it was occupied by the Rentfros, although in March a heavy snow covered the ground, which rendered it rather an airy habitation. They built cabins on the hill above the river bot- tom at a spring, as the Tennesseans knew nothing of wells, and would have expected to die of thirst nnless every cabin was supplied with a never-failing spring. They tapped a number of sugar trees as soon as locating, and made considerable sugar. Joseph was appointed the " bread finder." and if he did
not, like his namesake of old, go down into Egypt for corn, lie at least went as far as Paris on horseback, and brought back corn or meal in sacks. During the first summer the Rentfros lived in the town- ship, they cleared a small piece of ground and planted a "patch" of corn, and also of cotton. The latter, however, did not ma- ture, but the corn did well. They used to pound corn in a mottar, and use the finest for bread and the coarser for hominy. Often, when pounding meal for breakfast, they would be answered by wild turkeys, gob- bling in the woods, so plenty were they in those days. This was much the experience of all the early settlers of the connty, as well as this particular section.
Robert Moore was from the South, but it is not known whether from Kentucky or Ten- nessee. He was careful and prudent in his dealings, and accumulated considerable prop- erty -- mostly land. Judge Gillenwaters has now in his possession a grindstone that was brought to this county in 1830 by Mr. Moore. He died many years ago, and his widow married a man who spent her money as rapidly as Mr. Moore had made it. John Trapp was from Tennessee, and belonged to the first importation of settlers. He was the second Sheriff of the county, and finally lo- cated in Effingham, where he died. Alex- ander Mc Whorter, who completes the list of those settling in the township in 1830, was from Tennessee, and came here a young man. Soon after coming, however, he married a Miss Loy.
The next year, 1831, added a few more families to the little settlement. Among these were the Loys, William J. Hankins, John Galloway, William Clark, Gilbert, who was a liquor dealer and tavern keeper, Sey- mour Powell, the Reeds, Shorts, etc., etc. The Lovs were from Alabama. and afterward
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
moved into what now forms Watson Town- ship, where many descendants still reside. Hankins came from Tennessee and settled first in Fayette County, but in that portion which was cut off into Effingham at the time of its formation. He had a large family, many of whom still live in Summit Township, but he himself is long since dead. Mr. Hankins worked on the old National road and built the bridge where it crossed the Little Wabash in this township. He is more fully noticed, however, in a preceding chap- ter of this work. John Galloway was a noted fiddler, and we may add that, like the ma- jority of this class of individuals, he was good for but little else. He did not remain long, but, with his fiddle under his arm, he started, like Ole Bull, for a " farewell tour" of the country, and was never more heard of. William Clark came from the South and lived in the township until his death, which occurred long ago. Gilbert kept a saloon or grocery, as they were then called, the first shop of that kind perhaps in the township. He was an Eastern man and quite. a noted- character in his way. One day he borrowed a horse from Judge Gillenwaters to ride to a certain place, and on his return asked Mr. Gillenwaters what he charged him for the horse, to which he replied in true Southern style and with pioneer liberality that he loaned him the horse and did not charge him anything. But true to his New England in- stincts, he insisted upon paying for the use of the horse, while Gillenwaters as steadily refused to accept pay, and in the end he had his way about it.
The Reeds and Shorts did not remain long in the township, but, like little Joe, " moved on." Seymour Powell came from Tennessee. A son, Wash Powell, still represents this old pioneer in Summit Township.
The following additional settlers moved in
prior to 1835; Joe Gillespie, Samuel Parks, John C. Spriggs, Thomas J. Gillenwaters, Dr. John Gillenwaters, William H. Blakely, Byron Whitfield, Michael Beem, Samuel White and others. Gillespie was from Ala- bama, and was the first County Clerk of ' Effingham County. Samuel Parks was from Tennessee and settled here in 1834. He was one of Effingham's first County Judges. Spriggs was the first Circuit Clerk, but after- ward moved to Springfield. Judge Gillen- waters came from Tennessee in 1833, and is now a resident of Effingham, and is well known throughout the county. He settled on the old Cumberland road near Ewington, where he kept tavern many years. Dr. Gil- lenwaters was also from Tennessee, and was a physician, the first perhaps in Summit Township, or in the county. He came here before there were enou h people in the sur- rounding country to support a doctor, and so he had to turn his attention to other pursuits to make a living, and became the first peda- gogue in the neighborhood, as well as the first physician. He has been dead many years. Death is no respector of persons, but takes the physician as well as his patient, and " six feet of earth make us all one size." William H. Blakely came from New York, and is said to have been a man of more than or- dinary intelligence. He was the exact oppo- site of much of the larger portion of the pio- neers who had preceded him, and was very precise and methodical in his habits and business transactions. The county sent him to the Legislature and also elected him to the Constitutional Convention. He kept the first store in Summit Township, and has been dead for a number of years, but his widow still lives on the homestead just west of Ewington. Judge Gillenwaters says the first cooking stove he ever saw was brought here by Mr. Blakely, and so great a curiosity
Thomas D. Jenner
big, Field 162
Form Mood,
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
was it that people came for miles and miles to see it. Whitfield was an early settlor near Ewington, where he carried on a store, which was owned, however, by a man named Lynn. Samuel White was a pioneer school teacher, and taught the second school in the town- ship. Michael Beem camo from Ohio. He lived here some twenty-five years, then moved to the north part of the county, and now lives in the city of Effingham.
This brings the settlement down to 1835, a period when people were pouring into the county so rapidly that it is impossible to keep up with them. The rich lands attracted the farmer and agriculturist, the profusion of game brought the hunter, while the law, or rather the absence of pretty much all law, rendered it for a time a kind of safe resting place for those fleeing from justice. The latter class, however, did not remain long in the community, but left it for its good. As the better elements of society prevailed, the rough class were forced to flee farther West. Thus the hard characters are kept upon the verge of civilization. Fifty years ago, when the first settlers came to the county of Effingham, it was not the civilized land that it is now. There were no railroads, no productive farms, no pleasant homes, no churches, no school- houses, with their refining influences, but on every hand an almost impenetrable wilder- ness, in which wild and savage beasts roamed at will and disputed the white man's right to the country. The red sons of the forest still lingered in numbers loath to give up their richi hunting-grounds, and, thoughi compara- tively friendly toward tho whites, were scarce- ly to be fully trusted. With all these obsta- cles to be surmounted, and the numerous difficulties surrounding them to bo overcome, it seems needless to say that the first years of occupation by the whitos were years of toil, privation and self-denial. When they left
their homes beyond the Ohio, they left com- fort and civilization behind them-bade fare- well to ease aud luxury and entered upon a life of hardship, that must at the least last for a number of years. Their first years here was a struggle for existence-a fight with beasts, reptiles and insects, and verily, the latter were not the least dreaded foc. None, whose recollection extends back forty or fifty yoars, but remember the green-head flies, those little monsters that rendered stock fran- tic, and prevented the farmer from plowing a large portion of the day because his horses became unmanageable under the tormenting power of the flies. Other troubles and an- noyancos beset their paths and met them at every turn. To procure the necessaries of life often taxed thoir utmost capacity. The forest furnished an abundance of game, but meat without bread or salt, while it may sat- isfy hunger, is far from palatable. Bread- stuff was scarce and not easily obtained. Many went to the "Big Prairie," as it was termed, beyond Paris, for corn, which was then pounded in a mortar, for there were no mills near by. Clothing was another tax upon the settler's ingenuity. Much of that worn by the men were made of the skins of wild animals, while that of women was man- ufactured at home, from cotton and flax raised by their own hands. Everything else was in keeping and was as primitive in style as the food and clothing. But with passing years, improvement came in every degree of life and in every line of industry. The country has grown wealthy and productive, the wilderness has " rejoiced and blossomed as the rose," and the people are civilized, re- fined, intelligent and happy.
The first birth, death and marriage aro al- ways matters of considerable importance in a new settlement. They cannot, however, always be given with certainty. The first J
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HISTORY OF EFFINGHAM COUNTY.
birth in Summit Township is lost in the mists of obscurity, but that there was not only a first one, but that it was followed by many others, is indicated by the present population. The first marriage is supposed to have been Alexander McWhorter and a Miss Loy. He came to the township, a young man, in 1830, the year the first settle- ments were made, and, in 1836, married Miss Loy, as above noted, and no one remembers an earlier marriage. The angel of death came first to old " Grandaddy " Hankins, the father of William Hankins. He was an old man when he came to the settlement, totter- ing on the brink of the grave, and survived the rigors of the climate but a short time. He was the first one buried in the graveyard at Ewington, since the resting-place of many of the pioneers. Most of the first settlers have followed him to the land of dreams, and the few that are left, stand among their fel- lows " like the scattered stalks that remain in the field when the tempest has passed over it."
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The old National road, or old " Cumber- land " road, as better known, passed through the southern part of this township, near where the Vandalia Railroad now runs. Along this old National road the first busi- ness enterprises were begun. On this road the first taverns were kept, the first goods sold and the first shops established. A man named Reed, mentioned among the early set- tlers, kept the first tavern. At least it was as near approach to a tavern as the keeping of a few boarders could be. From keeping boarders, he got to taking in the wayfaring man and travelers generally, and finally his place was called a tavern. Judge Gillen- waters kept a tavern on this old National thoroughfare, a little west of Ewington, from the time of his settlement there in 1833 until his removal to Effingham. Charles Kinzie note, except saw-mills, in the township, and
kept a tavern later in the town of Ewington. He was, as will be seen by a sketch on an- other page, a man of eccentricities and pecu- liarities. The first goods sold in the town- ship were sold here by William H. Blakely, who opened a store soon after his settlement. A man named Fisher is believed to have been the first blacksmith, or among the first. He was not much of a workman, but sufficient for that day. Henry Bailey " tinkered a little at smithing," about the same time. Other industries sprang up, and then Ewing- ton was laid ont and business was then con- centrated in the town instead of being scat- tered for miles along the National road.
Mills were a necessity that was not sup- plied for several .years after the first settle- ments were made. Says Mr. Rentfro: " The corn was pounded in wooden mortars, or in a stump which had been scooped ont for the purpose. A pole was attached to this, which worked something after the fashion of a well- sweep." They would rise in the morning and make meal by this " patent process " for breakfast. In a few years a horse-mill was built on the Okaw, thirty-five miles distant. To this mill Mr. Rentfro says the people used to go from this neighborhood to get corn ground, and sometimes had to remain four or five days, sleeping in the mill at night and living on parched corn. The journey to mill was made by ox team across the prairies and on horseback. It often looked like a camp- meeting at the mill, with so many people en camped about it. The first mill built in Summit Township was a saw-mill, about 1832-33, and stood near Ewington. It is not known now who built it, but it was being run by a man named McIntosh when Judge Gillenwaters came. Reed built a horse-mill in Ewington, the first grist mill, a few years later. There were never any mills of much
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