USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > History of Iroquois County, together with Historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 73
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W. H. Harry, attorney-at-law, Sheldon, is a native of Woodford county, Illinois, and was born on his father's farm, near Eureka, November 28, 1853. In 1865, with his parents, he moved to Living ston county, Illinois, to their farm, two and a half miles from Chats- worth. He received a common-school education, and at the age of twenty taught a four-months term of school. April 1, 1874, he began reading law with the Hon. Samuel T. Fosdick, present state senator from the eighteenth district, comprising Livingston and Ford counties. He continued his residence at home, walking the two and a half miles morning and evening, and thus pursued his studies during the sum- mers and taught school during the fall and winter until June. 1, 1876, when having completed his course of reading, he was admitted to the bar, passing an examination before the supreme court, then holding at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and July 24, 1876, he came to Iroquois county, Illinois, and began the practice of law in Sheldon, and has remained here since. He was married to Miss Minnie Vale, of Livingston county, Illinois, April 4, 1877. They have one child, Edward S. His parents, Thomas S. and Arena J. (Compton) Harry, were natives of Kentucky. They were born August 31, 1823, and December 11, 1823, respectively. They were married October 2, 1844.
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SHELDON TOWNSHIP.
H. G. Dryer, grocer, Sheldon, is a native of Butler county, Ohio. He was born March 9, 1830, and lived there two years, when, with his parents, he moved to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and lived there until November, 1865. He then moved to Champaign county, Illinois, and engaged in farming. In February, 1873, he went to Newton county, Indiana, and engaged in the general merchandise and stock business at the village of Brook, and continued there until September, 1877, when he came to Sheldon and engaged in his present business. February 28, 1858, he married Miss Catharine Lindley. They had four children, two living, Irven and Charlie.
J. Watkins, dealer in lumber, grain, coal and agricultural imple- ments, Sheldon, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 24, 1820, and lived there eleven years, during which time his father died. With his mother he then moved to Montgomery county, Indiana, and lived there until 1851. He was principally engaged in farming. He afterward came to Illinois and settled in Momence, and farmed three years, after which time he came to Iroquois county and settled near Bunkum, and lived there until 1863. He went to Onarga and engaged in the bakery business, continuing the same four years. He then went to Will county, Illinois, and farmed for ten years, and in 1877 came to Sheldon and engaged in his present business. September 3, 1840, he was married to Miss Mary Conner, who was born in Ohio. They had seven children, six living : Elizabeth J., Clara E., Martha I., James W., John D. and Charles G.
Dr. A. C. Speck, physician and druggist, Sheldon, is a native of Preble county, Ohio. He was born August 3, 1830, and lived there ten years, when with his parents he moved to Miami county, Indiana, where at the age of twenty-four he began studying medicine with Dr. J. T. Speck. · In 1855 he went to Minnesota, and settled in Dakota county, where he improved a farm and practiced medicine. He also continued reading, until January 1, 1863, when he enlisted in the 3rd Minn. Cav., and remained in the service about two years and nine months. After the war he went to Kentland, Indiana, and practiced medicine, attending lectures at the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, during the winters of 1865, 1866, 1867 and 1868, graduating in the latter term. In February, 1878, he came to Sheldon, Illinois, and engaged in his profession and the drug business. In 1854 he was married to Miss Naomi Taylor, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, and died Marclı 18, 1863. Of their three children one is living, Frank E. His present. wife was Miss Sarah M. Brokan, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio. They were married July 23, 1868.
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
CONCORD TOWNSHIP
Formerly comprised towns 26 and 27 north, range 11 west, and frac- tional towns 26 and 27 north, range 10 west of the 2d principal meridian. In 1868 a portion of this territory was detached, and formed into the township of Sheldon, and as a separate account of the latter is given, we will here confine ourselves to the events occur- ring within the present limits of Concord township, which comprises town 27 north, range 11 west, and fractional town 27 north, range 10 west of the 2d principal meridian. It extends along the state line, between the township of Beaver on the north and Sheldon on the south, a distance of six miles, and has an average width, east and west, of six and three-quarter miles, and therefore contains about 26,000 acres. The township is well watered by the Iroquois river, which flows through it, entering near the middle of the eastern side, and leaving near the southwest corner. Throughout the entire dis- tance there is a heavy growth of timber, wliich extends for a mile or more on either side of the river, and comprises fully two-fifths of the total area of the township, and affords an abundant supply of wood for fencing,. fuel and building purposes. Beyond the timber, and extending beyond the limits of the township, the country is prairie. North of the river it is high and rolling, and of a generally light sandy soil, though in portions, mostly on the eastern side, where the surface becomes more level, areas of black loam are found. South of the river the country presents a level plain, gradually ascending to the south, forming an immense river basin of beautiful and fertile prairie of black, sandy loam, and of unsurpassed productiveness. Adjoining the timber, the soil is well adapted to wheat, which is extensively grown. Corn is the prevailing crop on the prairies, and good average yields are obtained. The township is well adapted to stock-raising, in which the people are largely interested. The early history of this locality has been so fully treated of in other portions of this work that but little remains for us to write. The nucleus of the settlement, as has already been stated, was the trading post that was removed by Gurdon S. Hubbard from the Big Bend, near Mid- dleport, to this place. When Mr. Hubbard had concluded to change his mode of transporting furs and other products from the flat-boat, down the Iroquois, to that of the pack-mule, by way of the Hubbard trace, he found that this point on the Iroquois was on a more direct and available line from Danville (his southern post) to Chicago. He, with his help, both white and red, were then the first settlers in
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CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
this portion of the county. In addition to their trading operations, they also opened farms in the vicinity of Bunkum. The residence of Hubbard and Vasseur, however, was but temporary, as the change in the policy of the government toward the Indians, with whom their trade was largely carried on, and the growing scarcity of fur-bearing animals, left them but a modicum of their former large business. Hubbard sold out to Vasseur and removed to Chicago, about the time of the removal of the Indians to their reservations beyond the Mis- sissippi, and Vasseur continued here for three or four years more, when he removed to Bourbonnais Grove, in Kankakee county, where he has recently died. William H. Dunning now occupies the place formerly opened by Hubbard, and B. F. Fry that of Vasseur. These two men were the first permanent settlers of what is now in the bounds of Concord township. Elijah Newcomb, H. Eastburn, R. Scritchfield, J. Hougland and J. Crozzar were here about the same time, or a few months later. Mitchell Dunn was a resident here as early as 1831 or 1832. He was one of the first justices of the peace, and two or three years after his arrival was elected sheriff, and was acting in that capacity when Thomason, who was hanged here for the murder of Charles Legree, a blacksmith of Chicago. Sheriff Dunn officiated on the occasion. In the winter of 1830-1, Mr. B. F. Fry husked the first corn raised in this county for exportation, and which was raised on Mr. Hubbard's farm. In the spring the crop was loaded on a flat-boat, and accompanied by a half-breed (Joe Babee), Mr. Fry took the same to Chicago, by way of the Iroquois, Kankakee and DesPlaines rivers and the Chicago swamp. The corn was delivered at Fort Dearborn, which, with a few shanties, then embraced the city. .
Other early settlers were: Henry Enslen, Asa Gaffield, A. Pineo and George Courtright. Isaac Courtright was the first post- master. He was also first justice of the peace in what is now Concord township. He was elected in 1833, when Iroquois county was still a part of Vermilion. After the organization of Iroquois county, E. D. Boone was the first justice. Adam Karr was the first blacksmith in the township. His shop was located on the north branch of the river, near the present site of the wagon-bridge. He continued to ply the hammer from about 1836 till 1840.
By the year 1837-8, families had located on both sides of the Iroquois, so that most of the land in the edges of the timber was occupied. The first settlements here, as indeed all over the prairie country, were made in or very near the timber tracts. It was not - dreamed that the broad expanse of country, destitute of trees, could
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
ever be fit for aught else than for a range for stock. But slight additions in the way of new settlers or permanent improvement were made from the date mentioned, for nearly twenty years. Natural causes account for this standstill and for the sudden second growth, which began about the year 1855, and has continued ever since. In 1837 came the great financial crash, which stopped not only the wheels of the emigrants' wagons, but the wheels of commerce, trade and every industry in the country. The timber tracts had been pretty generally settled, and what few emigrants there were, pushed on further west, until they could find a spot more resembling their old Kentucky or eastern homes, than the bleak prairies still un- occupied. The advent of the railroads in 1854, followed by others in quick succession, explains the late sudden development of the prairies. The railroads have made an outlet for the products of the prairies, and have neutralized the predicted dearth of fuel and build- ing materials, by the importation of coal and lumber from other parts. Then, too, Nature had stored up under nearly every farm in central Illinois enough fuel to supply each one for untold genera- tions. With these advantages, and with the discovery that the prairie soil was not only fertile, but that it was already cleared for the plow of the husbandman, it does not seem so wonderful that this locality, in the short space of two decades, should increase in population to its present number. The improvements have been wonderful, but being based on natural causes, which still exist and which will continue to grow, it is not too much to predict that the full development of Concord is yet far from being realized.
IROQUOIS.
E Pluribus Unum ! The little village of Iroquois embraces within its limits the remains of several former towns, which, though they will never appear among the incorporated villages of the county, will ever retain a place in the pages of its history; and to many, at this day, the mention of their names will cause memories of those good old times of long ago, and of the friends who together formed the characters in the exciting scenes and events of that period; and no doubt among the many pleasant memories of the survivors of that old historic band will mingle those of sorrow, for those friends of old who are no more, and affection and regard will flit to distant lands, where others have gone to do their battle of life. Mont- gomery, - the one, the ancient sentinel of the Iroquois, whose early struggles were witnessed by the noble red man of the forest, and secured for it the position of first among the pioneer towns of the
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county,-was surveyed May 9, 1835, by J. H. Reese, deputy surveyor, holding his certificate of appointment from Dan Beckwith, county surveyor of Vermilion county. It was located on the south side of the river, and was the first county-seat. The seat of justice was fixed there on April 15, 1837. The county records were kept at the house of Isaac Courtright, three-fourths of a mile south of Mont- gomery, until Monday, June 5, 1837, when the first county commis- sioners court was held in a frame building situated on lot No. 10 in the town of Montgomery, rented from William Armstrong, for county clerk's office, at $2 per month. It must not be understood that Isaac Courtright's was the first place where the county commissioners court was held and the county business done after the organization of the county. The seventh term of commissioners court was held at Courtright's, on Monday, June 1, 1835, when it was removed from John Nilson's, near Milford, and the same continued to be held there until the time already stated, when the office was removed into Montgomery. This place took its name from the proprietor, Richard Montgomery.
Dr. Timothy Locey was the first tavern-keeper in Montgomery, he having a stand there as early as 1831. Mrs. Locey was a tasty, punctilious landlady ; if her guests did not order their behavior and proceedings to her pleasure, even to cutting the butter straight at the table, she would promptly notify them of the misdemeanor. David Meigs was the next tavern-keeper of any note. Richard Montgomery soon succeeded him in the same stand. John White came next after Montgomery. The latter (Montgomery) obtained his first license to keep tavern on Monday, March 2, 1835, for which he paid $5, at the same time entering into bond of $300. In those days they kept bars. Bunkum has always been the popular name for both places together : Montgomery and Concord. In 1830 the following- named persons settled at Bunkum : Benjamin Fry, George Court- right, Richard Courtright, the widow McColloch and her two sons (William and Solomon), Hezekiah Eastburn, and Reuben Critchfield.
Concord was surveyed on the north side of the river and opposite to Montgomery by James HI. Reese, who was deputed for that par- ticular task by Jonas Smith, surveyor of Iroquois county. The place was laid out between May 20 and 28, 1836. The plat bears the latter date, at which time the proprietor, Henry Moore, made acknowledg- ment of the same before Judge (Gov. ) Ford.
Iroquois has never supplanted the name of Concord : Concord lies north of the river, Montgomery and Iroquois south of the river. At present there is nothing like a town south of the river. However,
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
the plats of Montgomery and Iroquois have never been vacated, and the ground is still taxed as lots. The actual location of the county- seat by the commissioners was at Iroquois, adjoining Montgomery, but as no buildings were in Iroquois, the county office was kept, and the courts held, in Montgomery. The election at Bunkum in 1833 was the first held in the county.
Probably the first white child born in Concord township was William L. Eastburn; he was born February 22, 1834. Another early birth was that of Mr. Fry's daughter, Amanda; she was born in November, 1835, and died in infancy.
The first marriage took place October 12, 1832, the contracting parties being George Courtright and Agnes Newcomb. The license was procured in Danville, Illinois, and the ceremony was performed in an old log house, located on the place, now known as the Wright farm.
Following close in the wake of the pioneers to this township, came tliat dreaded visitor, death, whose presence had been made manifest in such varied forms, as seems to have exhausted the agency of power.
" Old age has been engaged, Tender infants low were laid, Even the hangman's fatal knot, Again the landslides rushing rock ; Now the river in its might, Then the bold assassin's knife ; Disease so often to the task, And the lightning's vivid flash,-"
Have all served, and form one phalanx in that irresistible army to which all must succumb. The first death to occur within the present limits of Concord township was that of Elijah Newcomb, in the spring of 1831. Another early death was that of Hezekiah Eastburn, October 29, 1832.
CRIME.
Gladly would we draw a veil over the succeeding paragraphs in the annals of this ancient town, so cherished in the memories of the past. Certainly it is an unpleasant duty to record murders and their consequences among the chapters of a locality so full of historic gems. But suchi is stern reality. Joseph Thomason, alias Joseph F. Morriss, alias Joseph F. Norriss,* was tried, on a change of venue from another county, for the crime of murdering Charles Legree, a
* He claimed Morris when arrested. Before the justice he called himself Norriss, but was afterward recognized as Thomason.
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CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
blacksmith of Chicago. The crime was committed about eighteen miles south of Chicago. He was tried on the third Monday of 1836, before Judge (Gov.) Ford, who at that time presided over the dis- trict of which Iroquois county was then a part. The jury was out six hours, when a verdict of "guilty " was announced. On June 10 he was hanged to a tree on the north bank of the Iroquois, about one rod east of the site of the wagon-bridge.
In July, 1862, at a dance held in Iroquois for the 76th regiment, a man by the name of Landen, a resident of Middleport, had a huckster stand. He formerly lived in Rensselaer, Indiana, where he met John Anderson, a blacksmith, and at the time of the dance a resident of Iroquois, Illinois. They had some words, Anderson racing Landon, and shortly the latter was found to be stabbed, from the effects of which he died. Report says he named Joe Davis, then John Anderson as the man who stabbed him. The latter was tried, and was discharged for want of prosecution, the witnesses being in the army.
Again : May 5, 1877, Iroquois was the scene of a bloody affray. This time Charles Pinkerton killed Samuel Kelly. Pinkerton was working for Kelly in the latter's livery stable. Pinkerton, with others, was on a spree in the stable, and Kelly went to quiet them. They had words, then blows, and Kelly was stabbed, the wound proving fatal. Pinkerton was tried and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary.
INCIDENTS, ETC.
Probably with all early settlements are associated amusing inci- dents and little stories, in which the names of the pioneers of their respective localities appear, and as one from Concord, illustrating the mettle of her pioneers, we relate the following, in which Mr. Benjamin Fry was the character. He settled here in 1830, when the "noble red man" roamed the forest at will, and, as was the case, they had a camp close by Mr. Fry's. They had many dogs, and these were very unfriendly to Mr. Fry's hogs, until, as a last resort, that gentleman took to shooting the offending canines, and some- times went into the Indian camp to exact his vengeance. This un- flinching bravery won for him the praise of the Indians, and the squaws gave the title of "Heap Brave " to the bold white man ; and as a mark of respect for him, or fear for their dogs, would always shoulder the latter in passing his residence, and carry them far out of sight.
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
Scarcely had the sound of the pioneer's ax died away in the forests of the Iroquois until religion appeared, and cast its benign influence upon the scene ; the scattered residents assembling in the rude log cabins of the day, there, in humble silence, to hear the divine teach- ings of Christianity expounded by those earnest, sincere and noble characters, the pioneer ministers, who throughout our land early followed the first footsteps of man to the western wilds, and brought religion, with its christianizing effect, in his midst. The particulars relating to these pioneer religionists, and the societies they formed, are somewhat shrouded in doubt, time having wrought such changes as in instances not one member of former religious societies remains. However, some of the old timers are yet here, as may be judged from the following extract from a letter written by the Rev. Stephen R. Beggs, of Plainfield, Illinois, bearing date December 9, 1879 : "I have preached several times on both sides of the Iroquois river, only as a visitor the first time. In 1832 I passed through on my way to La Fayette, Indiana. I am well, thank the Lord, and able to preach twice on Sabbath. I shall be seventy-nine years old the 30th of March, 1880." Perhaps Mr. Beggs was the first to preach in Concord township, and probably the next was brother Essex, of the Methodist persuasion, who in 1833 was on a circuit extending from Spring Creek to Rensselaer, Indiana, and from the Wabash to the Kankakee. During the winter of that year he preached at the resi- dence of Benjamin Fry. He was succeeded, in 1834, by Elihu Springer, who organized the first religious society in the township. It was composed of eight members, and his quarterage was $24.14. Leonard Walker, his successor, reported seventy members. The society has flourished to this day. In 1872 they built a church edi- fice, which is located on the Indiana side of the state line, east of the village of Iroquois. It is a frame building, 32×45, and 18-foot ceil- ing, and cost about $1,500. The present membership numbers about forty. In 1873 a Sabbath school was organized, and continues dur- ing the summers.
The village of Iroquois was also the scene of early religious gatherings, though no regular services were held until the building of the present M. E. church, which is a frame building, 30×40, and has a 16-foot ceiling. It was erected in 1875, at a cost of $2,300, and was dedicated by Elder Robert Pearce, January 9, 1876. The present membership numbers about one hundred. In 1873 a Sabbath school was organized, and now has an attendance of about one hundred.
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CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
In 1846 John Dollarhide, a United Brethren, formed a society, which after a few years joined the Methodists.
In 1850 Jacob Kenoyer, also a United Brethren, formed a society in the Enslen school, about one mile south of Iroquois, and it has flourished to this day. In 1875 they moved to their new church building in Sheldon.
In 1854, a M. E. society was formed at the Iroquois school house, and flourished until the time of the war, when it disbanded. It is probably very seldom that the church building precedes the society, but in the instance of the Prairie Dell M. E. church, we find an exception. This church is a frame building, 36×50, and has an 18-foot ceiling. It was erected in 1870, at a cost of $2,400. It was dedicated by the Rev. Mr. Atchinson, of Kankakee. Mr. William Brown and Samuel Warrick were the projectors, and each donated about one-quarter the entire cost, the balance being subscribed in the vicinity. It is located on the southeast of the northwest of section 18. In the fall of 1869 a cemetery was laid out adjoining the church. It was deeded to Samuel Warrick, S. Cobb and William Brown, and by them sold out in lots, the pro- ceeds going to keep up the grounds.
SCHOOLS.
The characteristic feature of America is her public schools. In- deed it has been said by able ones, that the worth of a people is found in their schools. If this be so, surely the people of Concord rank high in the scale of merit, and should ever be held in grateful remembrance, many of whom owe their instruction to the efficient institutions of learning, whose origin date away back almost to the first footsteps of the pioneer. It is probable that the first school was taught in 1835 by Judge Hugh Newell, in an old log residence. Benjamin Scott also taught near that date. He was the first school treasurer, and the second sheriff of the county.
From Mr. P. V. Frounfelter, the present school treasurer, we get the following items in his report for the year ending June 30, 1879 : Number of school-houses, 8; number of children under 21, 632; number of children between 6 and 21, 370; number of children enrolled in the schools, 335; principal of township fund, $3,480.90 ; tax levy, 1878, for schools, $2,056.53 ; value school property, $6,850 ; value school library, $40; value school apparatus, $555; expendi- tures for the year ending June 30, 1879, $2,401.67.
There is also one private school, having an attendance of 59 scholars. The first school money, $151, was loaned to John White,
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
November 16, 1836. The first school-house was built in 1840, and James Perry was the first teacher. The present two-story brick graded school in Iroquois was built in 1875.
ORGANIZATION.
Concord township was organized at a meeting held in a school- house in Concord in April, 1856, by the election of the following officers : Jesse Eastburn, supervisor ; A. O. Whiteman, town clerk ; Abraham Hogle, assessor; P. V. Frounfelter, collector ; Samuel Warrick, overseer of the poor; A. C. Mantor, Isaac M. Caldwell, James H. Karr, highway commissioners. The present officers are : W. B. Simonds, supervisor ; Jerome Salkeld, town clerk ; H. Russell, assessor; P. V. Frounfelter, collector ; Abraham Hogle, Robert Karr, George Pineo, highway commissioners.
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