USA > Illinois > Fulton County > Fairview > History of Fairview Township and the village of Fairview : 139th anniversary, 1836-1975 > Part 2
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In 1856, during the last year of Rev. A. D. Wilson's pastorate, plans were initiated to build a parsonage to house the incoming pas- tor, Rev. William Anderson of New Jersey. The building was started immediately, and was completed in 1857. The building was square in shape with a flat metal roof and observatory atop. There was a double parlor on one side of the entrance hall, and the kitchen was an annex in the rear. It had a cistern, a well and all the improvements of that time, including a study for the preacher, bedrooms, and a bathroom upstairs. The house at the time it was built, excelled in style, ornament, and cost of any other in town or area. The Rev. Mr. Anderson was given permission to approve the style and architecture of the home. Total cost of the home was $5500, a large sum in those days. The debt was paid off in 1865 by subscription. Three acres of ground for pasture, stables, and barns went with the house.4
The first Class of the Methodist Church was organized in 1850 and was composed of the fol- lowing members: Mr. and Mrs. Acil Hubbard, Mr. and Mrs. William Groendyke, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Rodormer, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mitchell, and John Mitchell. The ministers the first year were Rev. J. B. Quimby and Rev. T. Moffitt. In the original plat of the Village three northeast corner lots were designated for
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Methodist church purposes. It is assumed that these lots were never used for building a church of any kind. It is quite possible that the Methodists may have held church services in various homes as that procedure was quite common, in pioneer communities, until the membership grew large enough to warrant a special building. By 1850 the church needing a permanent site and wanting a more central location, chose a site farther west which is now occupied by the Russell Fengel Building. The Church edifice was erected in the year 1850-1851 at a cost of $1600. Mr. William Groendyke raised $900 of the cost by sub- scription.1
The settlers who came to Fairview Town- ship brought as much of the products of back East as they could bring on the overland trip. These products soon wore out, or became ex- hausted by passing time. The settlers had to rely on their own talents and initiative to re- place the exhausted supplies.
Providing food for the family needs was time consuming. At first the settlers had to take their grain to be ground to either Duncan Mills, or to the Mackinaw River east of Peoria. It has been mentioned that one Selby Harney had built a grist mill on Coal Creek in 1839. This mill had a limited capacity, depending on the water supply; so, in 1841 S. B. Suydam con- ceived the idea of building a mill in the Village using oxen to supply the power.
Suydam's mill was located on the lot where Harold Omer lives, and a portion of the barn where it stands on the lot, was the mill. The power house, where the motive power was generated, stood north of, and adjoining the barn. This consisted of a huge shaft erected at an angle of forty-five degrees. This shaft was surrounded by a round platform wheel twenty-five feet or more in diameter. On this platform the oxen were placed, and thus the principle was the old time tread mill power. The power was conveyed to the machinery of the mill by means of a large belt wheel sur- rounding the shaft underneath the platform on which the oxen were placed.2 This was a mill for grinding grain only, and the bolting of the flour was done in the home with little flour sieves.3
A competitive mill, patterned after the above mill, was built in the south part of the Village on a site now occupied by Bert Swinger. From available information it would seem
logical to assume this mill was built in either 1843 or 1844 by a person unnamed. This mill was of greater capacity than Suydam's mill as the diameter of the wheel was much larger, as ten or more oxen could be placed on the plat- form. In this mill a bolting process was oper- ated by machinery, and a good grade flour was produced. A wool carding machine was added to this mill, and here the wool was carded and made into rolls ready for the hand spinning wheel. It was not long until most every home had a spinning wheel.4
Flax was introduced and found to grow ad- mirably well in this new country, and it was not long untill the flax spindle became a house- hold necessity, and the sound of the weaving loom was found in many a home. Thus, their silks and frills, brought from the East, gave way to the homespun garments. The women dressed in their linsey woolsey were better supplied with clothing than the men for the manufacture of the heavier fabrics had not reached the Village. The men had to be con- tent with their buckskin garments and Ken- tucky jeans.
Soon fine go-to-meeting clothes became available as two tailors settled in the Village and opened a shop for cutting and manufactur- ing clothing. The name of one tailor was Mum- mert, and of the other Jacob Wills. It was not long until homespun suits were quite common.
The women had their Shaker bonnets and hoods, but the hats the men brought with them from the East were becoming shabby and did not correspond with their new homespun suits. The coon skin cap was all right for the buck- skin suits, but for a full dress of homespun this cap was out of place, particularly in warm weather. It was found that Benjamin Darling had some experience as a hatter, and he was induced to start a hat factory in the Village. Matthew Beer, an uncle of Dr. S. B. Beer, joined Darling in the hat business, and manu- factured the stiff or block hat, which in that day was quite stylish. A few of the squatters in the outskirts continued to wear their coon- skin caps and old dilapidated hats, styling the settlement in and about the Village "the stiff hat Jersey settlement".5
Salt pork and hominy, with the wild game, constituted the principal articles of food for the settlers, and while the spread of their tables was abundant, it did not provide a great variety. The fare after a time became monoto-
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nous, and the settlers yearned for the fruit of the orchard and fresh meats of their home- land. Robert Broherd, who lived with his brother Daniel on a farm west of the Village, informed the Villagers he would furnish them with fresh meat two or three times a week if they so desired. The offer was accepted, and Broherd began peddling fresh meat from house to house. In those days a great deal of busi- ness was done on credit with settlement made once or twice a year. Broherd followed this custom, but soon found that pay was slow and unsatisfactory. After a time he placed the fol- lowing notice in the public places in village and country - "You d ---- d Jerseymen, have eaten my meat, now I want my Money". (Sign- ed) Bob Broherd.1
Other difficulties besetting the settlers as time passed were the wearing out of their harness and wagons. They had repaired the harness as much as possible with rawhide. As only so much repairing of this kind could be employed, the settlers began to look for a tan- ner. In the spring of 1843 Edwin Shields, who had some experience as a tanner, moved to the Village from Indiana. He purchased an acre of land from D. C. Polhemus and started a tan- nery. The process of tanning in those days was done with lime and bark which was a slow and tedious process. The leather made by Shields was not as smooth and perfect as that of the present day, but it fulfilled the needs of the pioneer.
Darius Gilmore, who was among the first settlers, repaired their wagons, and soon commenced the manufacture of new ones. For years Gilmore continued in the business, and in 1848 began the manufacture of carriages, called the "Rockaways"?
The plows that were brought from the East were not fit for the black soil of the prairies as they would not scour. In 1845 a steel mould board plow was made by Joseph C. Rocka- fellow, and his brother Johnson, both being blacksmiths: This enterprise was soon aban- doned as a result of competition of larger companies.
A fanning mill was started about 1845 across the street from the old Fairview Grade School. These mills were used to separate grain from chaff, and were made by Candee and Shoe- maker. These mills were sold at the factory, and were peddled throughout the country by wagon.4
While the necessities for the farm were provided, the housewives had to be content with their home surroundings. The furniture brought with them from the East was still the furniture in use supplemented by the home made rough table, wood benches and stools, and the split bottom chairs. The worn out car- pets had been replaced by the rag carpet of their own weaving.
In the fall of 1852 Joseph Cook, Sr. moved to Fairview from Somerville, New Jersey where he had worked in the furniture trade as a master mechnic. Cook opened a furniture shop in the building formerly occupied by the Fanning Mill factory. In 1853 he was joined by his brother, Charles, who had just arrived from the East. He hauled much of his raw mat- erial and lumber from Copperas Creek Land- ing. All furniture and coffins, as they were then called, were handmade. He made many trips on foot to Ellisville, carrying wood, and there had it turned into table legs and spindles, return- ing at night. He was the first undertaker in the community, and had the first hearse in this part of the country.5
John P. Spiss, who was born in Germany, came to Fairview in 1855 and immediately opened a tin shop in an upstairs room of the Wilson Building. In 1856 he purchased a lot across the street from the present Postoffice building. This was occupied by him and his wife as a place of residence and workshop for a number of years until he built a building which is still standing, though not in use, on the same site. He carried hardware supplies along with his tin and metal work. Today, one can observe many metal roofs on the older houses of the Village, which, undoubtedly, reflects the influence of the excellent artisanship of this early pioneer.
Thus, we see that among the early settlers who came to Fairview Township at one time or another prior to the Civil War were many skilled artisans. They were men who posses- sed the ingenuity and foresight to produce the commodities so badly needed by the settlers of this prairie community. Through the work of the hatter, tanner, blacksmith, tinner, but- cher, cooper, wagon maker, and many other artisans the life of the pioneer settlers was a rewarding one. In spite of the hardships, poor transportation and communication the people were happy, contented, and made progress in the accumulation of material things along with
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their spiritual and intellectual achievements.
The early settlers in Fairview Township had no roads to follow as we know roads, today. Perhaps, they followed trails which the Indians had used prior to the coming of the white man. These early roads, or trails, were very crook- ed as they skirted swamps and headed small creeks. As the Township became more densely settled and the land was claimed by private ownership, the roads began to follow section lines, or even half or quarter section lines, forming square corners in the roads. Today, these square corners have been replaced by S curves due largely to the change in the mode of transportation, and that roads are maintain- ed by tax monies of some kind.
Two early roads, or perhaps trails, which were quite beneficial to Fairview Township were the Monmouth-Knoxville-Springfield Road, and the Peoria-Mississippi River Road. These two roads intersected in the Village of Fairview, and consequently, before the day of the railroad, were an economic boom to the Village and Township.
The Knoxville Road entered the Township on the north along the present Route 97 until it neared Coal Creek where it veered to the west and crossed both branches of Coal Creek be- fore proceeding on south through Fairview.
The Peoria-Mississippi River Road coming from Farmington entered Fairview Township at the extreme NE corner of Section 25, and proceeded in a southwesterly direction toward Fairview and entered the Village from due east and continued on west crossing Spoon River at Ellisville.
There was a cut-off road from the Knoxville Road to the Peoria Road which saved a few miles for people in the Township who wanted to go either toward Knoxville or Peoria without having to go to the intersection of the roads at Fairview. After the Knoxville Road crossed the north branch of Coal Creek, and before crossing the south fork, the cut-off skirted the north side of the south fork for a ways and then headed in a southeasterly direction until it joined the Peoria Road at the old Johnathon Smith place about two and one-half miles east of Fairview.
Traces of the original road can be identified in places on hillsides where the wheel tracks made gullies; where new growth of trees are' smaller; and where foundations of old houses, caves, and wells are still in evidence. Later
when this road was made to conform to section lines, the east-west portion became known as "Goat Road", and the north-south portion be- came known as "Coal Hollow Road". Goat Road is still in evidence, but Coal Hollow Road has been replaced by a road constructed by the Midland Coal Company. The 1871 Atlas of Fulton County shows roads which at the pre- sent time no longer exist.
It is reasonable to assume that the first mail to come on a regular schedule to the new Village of Fairview was carried over Mon- Mouth-Knoxville-Springfield Road. Old plat books show that what is now called Church Street was known as "Knoxville Road". The first postoffice in Fairview was established on May 9, 1838, with Daniel Groendyke as post- master, and the building was located directly across the street to the south of the present postoffice building, which was at the end of the Knoxville Road. Other postmasters who serv- ed up to and during the Civil War., with date of appointment, were as follows: David W. Wyckoff, March 30, 1843; Henry W. Kreider, July 21, 1854; Joseph I. Perrine, April 17, 1856; Jeromus V. D. V. Vandoven, September 25, 1856; John S. Wyckoff, January 6, 1860; Cornelius D. Hageman, August 3, 1861; James N. Suydam, March 7, 1863; and John G. Wyck - off, August 4, 1866.1
Probably, the most widely known place in Fairview during the Nineteenth Century was the Lewis House. It was built in 1837 by G. M. Lewis and may have been the second frame building constructed in the Village. The Lewis House was of two story frame construction. It contained twenty-eight rooms of which ten were on the second floor. There was a wide corridor extending east and west on the first floor with a parlor, living room, and office in the front besides ten guest rooms at the end of the corridor. A long dining room was located on the back side of the lower floor where de- licious meals were served at twenty cents per meal. The building was well constructed. The corner posts were 6x8's set on sandstone pil- lars; the rafters and joists were hand hewn, and were put together with wooden pins. Some of the siding was of solid walnut. The lower half of the building was lined with brick which insulated the building in both summer and win- ter.
In the early days people travelling by horse- back or carriage enroute between Monmouth
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Toknoxville
4.
3
2.
1.
creek
3
4
10.
11.
12
North
crack
14
2L
23
24
South Fork
To
peoria
27
26
250
Creek
1
4
35
36.
Fairview
To 5 Miss. R.
springfield
KNOXVILLE-SPRINGFIELD AND PEORIA- MISSISSIPPI RIVER ROADS
State Roads Through Fairview Township
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Swegle ?
17
15
Brunch
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and Springfield would stop over at the Lewis House. It is reported that Abraham Lincoln on his way from Knoxville to Springfield spent the night here, and stayed in Room 16. Don Mahr has the numerals "16" taken from the door on display at the Spoon River Hatchery. Also, Robert Ingersoll was an overnight guest when he was in this area on railroad business. The bar room was one of the best wayside inns in Central Illinois where visitors and friends met to while away the evening hours.
The principal occupations carried on in the Township outside the Village of Fairview were farming, stock raising, fruit growing, and mining. The flat prairies and creek valleys were used for raising corn, wheat, rye, and some flax while the uplands were used for grazing and fruit production. Wheat was used for making flour for local use, and the surplus wheat was hauled to Copperas Creek Landing, Peoria, and even on occasion to Chicago, for a cash income. Mr. G. V. Polhemus hauled wheat in a wagon to Chicago and sold it for fifty cents a bushel. There was not too much actual cash available as there is evidence a few people had difficulty raising twenty-five cents to pay postage due on a letter; so a load of wheat represented a sizeable income for any family.
There were several farms where fine horses were raised. The horses were usually of the draft type, although a few farmers rais- ed driving and riding horses. Incidentally, there were not many mules as the U. S. Census of 1870 shows 39 mules compared to 796 horses. In the sheep industry the Shropshire was an early favorite. There were many hogs raised on the uplands where they could feed on acorns, wild nuts, and fruits. Pork was more widely used for food than beef as at that time, the pork could be salted down and kept for a considerable time. Frequently, droves of hogs were driven to market, either to Peoria or Copperas Creek Landing. Much of the grain of the farmers was stored in large warehouses built in the Village, which was later hauled to market. The most widely used market was at Copperas Creek Landing, some twenty miles distant, where larger warehouses stored the grain for later shipment down the Illinois Riv- er. Along with the grain, pork when cured and packed, was hauled to the same market. Two extensive packing establishments were erect- ed in the Village of Fairview where the hogs,
alive or dressed, were bought and manufac- tured into lard and cured meats. This industry created a demand for barrels. Two barrel factories were started in the Village while many barrels were also made in the country, thus creating a market for staves and hoop poles.2 Barrels were also used for storing cider and molasses.
Nearly every farm had an orchard of some size growing apples, pears, and plums. There were cider mills in connection with some of the larger orchards, and by 1875, Mr. T. H. Travers was making 30,000-50,000 gallons of cider annually? In addition to the fruits men- tioned, berries were also produced as L. M. Turner of Section 21 had an acre each of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries under cultivation in 1888.4
Since the coal seams appeared on the sur- face of the hillsides along Coal Creek and other creeks, drift mines became numerous. It is assumed that Coal Creek derived its name from these outcroppings of coal. Near- ly every landowner along the creeks did some digging of coal, but there were quite a few owners who developed extensive mines in the period just prior to and following the Civil War. Isaac Lamb came to Fairview Township in 1841 and settled in Section 31. He had quite an extensive coal bank, and for some of his land he paid $125 per acre. He beganhis coal business in 1848. At that time and for a few years later he could supply the demand for coal without help, but from 1865 he employ- ed help and mined about 25,000 bushels an- nually. 5 Thomas H. Travers and his father probably had the largest mine in the Town- ship. Travers had gone to Pikes Peak in 1859 and on to California where he spent about five years working in the gold and silver mines. In 1865 or 1866 Travers and his fa- ther opened the Travers Coal Bank, and by 1878 were producing 32,000 bushels of coal annually.6
Just a little over two decades had passed when the peace and tranquility of the prairie village was disturbed by the violence of the Civil War. Although no actual fighting oc- curred within the boundaries of the Township there were many patriots who were willing to fight to preserve the Union. Captain Matthew Voorhees told about the meeting in the Reformed Church during the Civil War when volunteers were being sought. He and
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other young men were in the gallery. When signatures were called for, at first no one responded. He looked at the other young men and felt that some one should begin, so he jumped down from the gallery to the plat- form, and was followed by others, to enlist.1 The 103rd Infantry was organized in August 1862 and was mustered on October 2, 1862. This was exclusively a Fulton County Regi- ment having been raised entirely within the County. Company D of this Regiment was largely made up of men from the Fairview Community with J.S. Wyckoff and M.V.D. Voorhees as Captains, and Matthew V.D. Voorhees, First Sergeant? Company D drilled briefly at Fairview before going to Peoria for final drilling. The Company was sent to Tennessee and Mississippi and was engaged in the siege of Vicksburg3battle of Missionary Ridge, and finally joined Sherman's March to the Sea. Hugh H. Hillpot, a member of Com- pany D, received a sunstroke while engaged in the siege of Vicksburg, and was unconscious for weeks. After having a second sunstroke he was assigned to the Reserve Corps, Company F, and was sent to Washington, D.C. When President Lincoln was assassinated his Com- pany was called to assist the police in con- trolling the crowd. He was one of the soldiers selected to stand guard at the bier of the President as he lay in State: Company D was
mustered out on June 21, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky, and proceeded to Chicago where on June 24, 1865, it received final payment and discharge.6
There were men from this area in other Companies, but Company D seems to be re- membered as a unit from the Fairview area. In 1868 the citizens of the Fairview Com- munity erected a monument in the Village Park to the memory of the men who gave their lives in the service of their country. The Monument is a marble shaft about fifteen feet high on a base of Joliet limestone. The Monument cost $1,000 and was paid for by popular subscription? The names of the thirty - two men inscribed on the shaft are as follows: Lawrence P. Blair, Peter Hall, Abraham W. Ammerman, Peter T. Corzatt, George W. Leeper, Ichabod Leigh, Jacob Martin Neg- ley, Casper B. Schleich, Joseph R. Skillman, William P. Wyckoff, Eathern M. Botkin, George J. Bye, Hiram Goodell, Gresham Sweeny, Lewis Anderson, George W. Alward, Charles J. Dilts, Caleb T. Moore, Daniel Walsh, Henry R. Suydam, Charles Alpaugh, Peter Dilts, Herman Dilts, Cornelius Prall, Samuel Kellogg, John Hagaman, George W. Beams, William G. Johnson, George J. Moore, William Hall, Archibald McCrea, and Simon V. Brown.
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Part II. Economic Expansion and Social Progress
In the period following the Civil War the struggling pioneer days were past, and the life of the people began to take a new form and direction. Isolated communities began to disappear as soldiers returned home followed by a stream of emigrants moving westward. New activities and new industries began to take form and move toward the complex mech- anical age of the Twentieth Century. The ex- pansion of the railroad, the improvement of water transportation, and new improved farm machinery all led toward an expanding econo- my. The people were in closer contact, and as a result, clubs, lodges, and social activi- ties began to replace the house-raising and quilting bees so common to the pioneer days. Fairview Township shared in this new era of expansion.
In 1865, P. J. Herder came to Fairview and started the manufacture of wagons and carriages. He obtained the services of John Pfeiffer, a blacksmith, to do the iron work. After several years the two men formed a partnership known as Herder and Pfeiffer which continued until the death of Herder in 1892. In the Fairview Bee of March 17, 1887, the following item was recorded: "The new bus of the Lewis House is making its first trip to the depot this week. It is a dandy and was built by Herder and Pfeiffer". After the death of Herder, Pfeiffer discontinued the business and went into partnership with C.V. Gilmore selling farm implements. In 1896 this enterprise had the misfortune to be burned out by the big fire of that year.
In the late fifties a large grist and flour mill was erected on Church Street on the site where John Dennis lives. It was 30x50 feet with three stories and was built by J.M. Fox. Later it was bought by Allen Anderson who operated the mill for several years. In December 1876 the mill was purchased by Peter Berger.2 Mr. Berger improved the equipment installing a forty horse power steam boiler which he purchased from the Old Woolen Mill at Canton. The boiler was four- teen feet long, four feet in diameter, and contained thirty four inch flues? Berger used the equipment to grind grain and to make flour. People came from many miles to pa- tronize the mill, as it was one of the better mills in this area. Leonard Putman recalls
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