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 84
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As early as 1869 they commenced holding religious services here
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
in their own language, in the school-house, under Mr. Duiker. The church was organized soon after, according to the polity of the de- nomination, by the election of two overseers: J. Schrevenga and H. Heersema; and two deacons : J. D. Kingsens and K. K. Muller. In 1872 a neat church, 30×50 feet, was erected at a cost of $1,800, and a convenient two-story parsonage at a cost of $1,200. These were erected on a lot of six acres of land, which was donated by Mr. Danforth for the purpose, just outside of that portion of the town plat which was laid out in blocks and lots for business and resident purposes. The generous disposition displayed by the proprietor, as well as the systematic business-like plan followed in all his doings here, is evinced in this arrangement and donation. Six acres of land, just outside a thriving little village, gives all the ground needed for any minister to spend all the time on he can spare from his study and pastoral labors, and the convenience of having the church located on it, and away from the business of the place, is advantageous.
After (Rev.EMr. Duiker's pastorate, Rev. H .; Hulst served the church two years ; then Mr. Duiker again one year. Rev. J. Muel- endyke is the present pastor. The church numbers nearly one hundred members. A Sabbath school is maintained through the year.
The Lutheran (St. John's) church commenced holding religious service in 1870, under the preaching of Rev. Mr. Johnsen. In 1873 the church was built, and a minister's house on a piece of ground simi- lar to the other, and donated also by the proprietor of the town. At this time an organization was perfected according to the rules of Lutheran procedure. The following were elected trustees : R. Man- son, R. Hasbergen, G. Ricken, H. Comack, F. Simons, H. Causon and F. Causon. The church is 36×50 feet, and cost $1,700. The minister's house is 16×30 feet, and cost $600. The church numbers about fifty. Rev. Wm. Thole served the church as minister three and a half years after the church was built, and. Rev. G. M. Fischer is the present minister. A Sunday school has been kept up about eight months in the year, with about fifty scholars. A day school has been maintained, under the rules of the church, during a portion of the time.
In 1877, the people living in the northern part of Douglas town- ship, believed that they had got strong enough to run their own concerns, and thought that their interests would be subserved by separate township organization. At their request the board of supervisors divided the township, which was, before the division, seven and a half miles wide, so that Danforth would be four miles
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DANFORTH TOWNSHIP.
wide. It became a nice question how the assets and liabilities should be divided equitably. The officers of the two townships met and agreed to divide on the basis of the assessed value of the two. The valuation of Danforth being somewhat larger, slightly more than half of the assets were given her. One item of assets it was found difficult to divide. There was in the possession of the town of Douglas $25,000 of stock in the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield Railroad Company, a defunct corporation, whose chartered rights still exist, but whose road had been purchased by the Illinois Central railroad, without assuming responsibility for its liabilities. This stock was in two certificates of $12,500 each. It was agreed that Danforth should have one of these, and that the other should remain witlı Douglas, whose officers solemnly agreed, and made it a matter of record, that if Douglas ever received any dividends on said stock, the equitable portion thereof, which belonged to Danforth, should be forthwith honestly and faithfully turned over into the coffers of that town, without delay, distraint or commissions for collecting,-a gener- ous offer which will be fully appreciated whenever it is fulfilled. The liabilities of the town, which consisted of $25,000 of 10 per cent bonds which were issued to the said railroad, were divided on the same basis.
.In 1878, at the first election of township officers, the following officers were elected : David Brunlack, supervisor ; H. R. Danforth, clerk; L. A. Benjamin, assessor; Fred. Kohl, collector; H. A. Griswold, C. Davis and William A. Elliott, commissioners of high-, ways; E. S. Schlegel, justice of the peace. In 1879, 139 votes were cast. John Overacker was elected collector; B. F. Vandolah, justice of the peace, and the other officials were reelected.
In 1873 the firm of A. H. Danforth & Co. was dissolved, George W. retaining the land, and Henry R. came here to represent the interests of his father and his own. "The firm was a strong one both in tlie means at its · disposal, and the business enterprise, skill and energy which its members brought to the management of this large business enterprise. Where so many others failed in attempts to manage large landed interests in this portion of the state, and saw their magnificent domains swept away by debts which they could not float, the Danforths have been successful to a degree beyond their own and their neighbors' expectations. They retain still about 5,000 acres of land, which is all under cultivation, their leases calling for either one-third or two-fifths of the crop, according to the location of the farm or its quality.
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
DANFORTH VILLAGE.
The village of Danforth was laid out in 1872, on section 18 and the corner of section 17, which lay between that and the railroad ; that portion near the station into blocks and lots, with out-lots for church, school and other purposes. The switch and side track had been put in, in 1865, and a station established soon after. Danforth has several very handsome residences, which make it, to the eye of the traveler passing through, one of the handsomest places in the county, and a desirable place for residence. Its two churches are described elsewhere. A fine brick block of three stores is a real adornment to the town.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Mrs. Hannah Barden, Gilman, was born in Genesee county, New York, July, 1815, and, with her husband, located on the edge of the timber in Danforth township, on October 9, 1840. Mr. Barden voted for Harrison for president as he came through Chicago. The nearest neighbor at that time was Mr. Simons, who lived six- teen miles off; and they had to go to Wilmington to mill, forty-five miles, and all their grain had to be hauled to Chicago. Mrs. Barden would for several days at a time be left all alone, with the wolves howling around . the dwelling, and suffered all the privations in- cidental to pioneer life. She was married in 1836 and had three children : Mary Jane, born March 27, 1840; Newton F., born Sep- tember 14, 1843; and Warren A., born August 1, 1851. Her husband died January 4, 1866. They lost their eldest boy (Newton) when eleven years old, August 27, 1852. Her farm of 160 acres is well improved and in a high state of cultivation, with good orchard and timber.
James Cloke, farmer, agricultural implement agent and insurance agent, Ashkum, one of the largest farmers here, and one of the oldest settlers in the county, settled in Ashkum township on section 36, twenty-four years ago (1856), at which time land was worth $17.50 per acre. He is now fifty-six years of age. He was born in the county of Kent, England, in 1824, and sailed for America in the clipper ship London. They had rather a rough time, owing to boisterous weather, and sickness among the passengers, of whom there were 1,200 on board, eight or nine dying during the voyage, which occupied eight weeks. In addition to farming, he engaged largely in cattle raising, and herded all over this part of the county which was then all open, and for years he supplied wood for the cars, hauling it to where Ashkum now stands, employing fourteen teams and teamsters. In 1868 Mr. Cloke was married the third time. He
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DANFORTH TOWNSHIP.
has a family of twelve children. In 1870 he moved to Danforth township, where he now resides and is engaged largely in agricultural pursuits on his large farm of 500 acres, which is well improved and in a high state of cultivation. The McCormick Manufacturing Company has had Mr. Cloke in their employ for over fourteen years as their agent in this neighborhood, and he does a large amount of business in their goods. He is also agent for the Continental Insurance Company in these parts.
Thomas James Johnston, farmer, Danforth, is a native of Ireland. He was born in Macherfelt, county of Londonderry, province of Ulster, in 1818, and followed farming there until 1844, when he departed for the United States. He lived in New York for a few years, and then returned to Ireland on a visit. On arriving in America the second time, he came west and settled in Kendall county, Illinois, in 1851, where he continued to reside until 1863, when he moved to Danforth township, in Iroquois county, and bought forty acres of land east of the railroad as a homestead. He herded his cattle on the surrounding prairie, which was nearly all unsettled. In the course of a few years the prairie began to be broken up, so that he had not sufficient pasture for his stock, so he sold out and moved west of the track to his present location, where he bought forty-five acres at $8 per acre. "At that time this part of the county was so wet that corn had to be shipped here to feed the stock. Mr. Johnston has been twice married, first to Miss Sarah Hughes in 1837, and in 1858 to Miss Isabella Aurtar, of Will county, this state. He has a family of nine children. He assisted Mr. John Wilson wlien surveying this part of the county, and was employed a good deal in ditching. To his original farm of forty-five acres, Mr. Johnston has kept adding as his means permitted, and now own 130 acres.
John W. F. Demoure, farmer, Piper city, one of the most enter- prising farmers in the county, was born in Heilbronn, Würtemburg, Germany, in 1838, and came to the United States when he was nineteen years old, and came west, locating in Woodford county, Illinois. He remained there seven years, working on the farm, and came to Iro- quois county in 1864, and entered the employment of Dr. Wilson, who owned a large tract of land in Ashkum township, known as the Wilson settlement, running a ditching machine and improving the farms. For a number of years he acted as foreman for Dr. Wilson, and finally went into farming on his own account, buying land in Danforth township and in Ford county adjoining, to which he has kept adding as his means permitted, and now owns 400 acres : 80
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
in Danforth, Iroquois county, and 320 in Ford county. The home- stead, which is in Danforth township, consists of a handsome farm- house, story and a half, with kitchen attached, surrounded with a large grove and ornamental shade-trees ; cribs, barn and other farm buildings, and good orchard. Mr. Demoure was married, May 12, 1866, in Ford county, and has now a family of eight children, all boys.
W. W. Gilbert, grain dealer, Danforth, was born in the city of Philadelphia, January 29, 1841, and moved west, coming to Dan- forth in 1864. He entered the employment of Mr. Danforth, with whom he remained for eight years; at the end of which time he commenced business on his own account in the grain trade, in which business he has been exceedingly successful, it having increased from 25,000 bushels the first to 100,000 this present year. Febru- ary 22, 1870, Mr. Gilbert married Miss Foster, the result of which union is two children : Arthur, aged six years, and Jessie, aged one year. Mr. Gilbert owns the only grain warehouse in town, and is in fact the only one engaged in the business here. His warehouse has a capacity of 20,000 bushels. His residence, which has just been completed this winter, at a cost of $7,000, is a handsome and com- modious two-story structure, and is quite an ornament to the town. The main building is 54×22 feet, and the L's (one on each side) are 16×30 each.
Henry R. Danforth, banker, Danfortlı, was born at Washington, Illinois, on November 2, 1843, and received most of his education at Lombard College, Galesburg, finishing at the Commercial College, Chicago, in 1863. He came to Iroquois county in 1865, locating where the town of Danforth now stands, though at that time it was not in existence. For the first year he attended to land business, and in April, 1866, opened a store here, but at the start was not very successful, his receipts for the first month being only $1.50. On November 2, 1865, he married Miss Mary E. Wenger, eldest daugh- ter of Dr. Wenger, of Gilman, and have a family of three children, two girls and one boy. In 1873 Mr. Danforth commenced banking, and his business has steadily increased. In 1875 he erected a hand- some residence in the village, at a cost of $6,000. The building is cruciform in shape, two stories high. One arm is 26×61, the other 26×56, with a tasteful verandah around the south and east sides. The lot on which the building stands is 50x160 feet, beautifully laid out and planted with trees and shrubs, the whole surrounded with a neat picket-fence.
David H. Henman, one of the prominent farmers in this township,
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DANFORTH TOWNSHIP.
Gilman, is a native of England, having been born in Bromham, Bedfordshire, England, in 1844. He engaged in agricultural pur- suits on his father's farm, until 1868, when he came to the United States, sailing from Liverpool on one of the Cunard company's steamers. On arriving in this country Mr. Henman at once came west, locating in Danforth township, where, along with his brother, he kept bachelor's hall for some years. In 1877 he married Miss Emily Frusher, a young English lady. On settling here the country was entirely unimproved, there being no graded roads or ditches, while deer and wolves were often seen. His farm of 160 acres is now well improved, ditched and hedged, with a good house, farm build- ings and a young orchard, and is in good shape for raising a crop in any kind of a season.
John W. Green, farmer, Gilman, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1826, and worked on the farin there until 1853, when he sailed for America in the ship Queen Victoria, bringing with him his wife, to whom he had been married in 1846. They met with many trials and vicissitudes on their voyage across the Atlantic, the wind being directly ahead of them during the entire trip, which occupied seven weeks and three days. On landing, Mr. Green located in New York, and worked there eight years, when seeing the advantages offered to industrious men in the west, he moved to Illinois, settling in La Salle county in 1861. Eventually seeing the great future in store for this township, he moved his family here in 1869 and bought 120 acres, being the south half of the southwest quarter, and the southwest quarter of southeast quarter of section 20, town 27, range 10 east of 3d principal meridian. When bought, the land was raw prairie, and one would hardly think that such a change could be effected in so short a time. The land is now all ditched and liedged. It has good meadows and pasture on it, a large story- and-half house, with a commodious L attached, large bearing . orchard and grove, in fact one of the best farmns on the prairie. The land is a very rich black loam, yielding large crops of all kinds of grain. Mr. Green had in his possession a pumpkin, which he raised last year without any extra care, which measured six feet and two inches in circumference, and weighed 113 pounds. His family, which is now grown up, consists of three children: William, the eldest, Elizabeth, and Helen Rebecca.
William A. Elliott, farmer, Gilman, came from Vermilion town- ship, La Salle county, to this county, settling in Danforth township when he was twenty-two years of age. He was born in La Salle county in 1848, and has been engaged in farming all his life. In "
20
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
1870 he married Miss Mary Isabella Galloway. They have two children : Harry aged seven, and Clara aged two and a half years. Mr. Elliott owns 160 acres of land, which at the time he came here was raw prairie, with no buildings upon it. Now it is all broke and under the plow, hedged and ditched, with good farm buildings upon it, and one of the handsomest farm houses on the prairie. The main building is 16×28 feet, two stories high, with stone basement, and a commodious one-story L, 26×26 feet. The farm is the result of his own labors and industry, having started with very little capital, except his own strong arms.
Edward Schegel, dealer in dry goods, groceries, hardware and tinware, Danforth, Illinois, was born in Weissenstein, province of Saxony, Germany, in the year 1840, and came to America in 1849, settling in La Salle county of this state. In 1868 he married Miss Jerusha Severence ; and has one daughter, named Minnie, aged six years. He moved to Milks' Grove, in this county, 1875, and after two-years residence there, he came to this town in 1877, engaging in the dry-goods and grocery business, and also in hardware and tin- ware, doing a very large trade in each department. He occupies two large store rooms, each 60×20 feet, and also fills the office of post- master.
Ambrose Moriarty, farmer, Danforth, was born in Canada in the year 1843, and moved to the United States, settling first in La Salle county, in this state, in 1867, where he engaged in farming and was very successful. In 1870 he married Miss Hill, of Ottawa, and has now four children : three boys and one girl. In 1876 he moved to Danforth township, and bought the north half of section seven in that town, on which he has since resided, engaging largely in agri- cultural pursuits. When purchased the land was raw prairie, and like the most of the land in this township was low and marshy, necessitating a large amount of ditching before there was any cer- tainty of raising a crop. It is now all ditched and broke, and yields large crops in most any season. In addition to attending to his large farm, Mr. Moriarty runs a threshing machine and corn sheller, and is well patronized in each business.
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ASHKUM TOWNSHIP.
ASHKUM TOWNSHIP.
Ashkum is situated near the northwestern part of the county, having Milk's Grove and Chebanse north of it, the Iroquois river for its eastern boundary, Danforth on the south and Ford county on its · west. It contains the southern four tiers of sections of townships, 28 north, ranges 10 and 11 east of the 3d principal meridian ; range 14, and all that lies west of the river of range 13 west of the 2d principal meridian. It is sixteen iniles long east and west, by four miles wide, and is little less than two congressional townships. The Illinois Cen- tral railroad runs across it a little east of its center, and has upon it the village which bears the name of the township. The land is generally beautifully undulating, and that lying near the river decidedly sandy, but rich and fertile. About the middle of town 28.10, lies one of the series of swamps which marks the head-waters of the Vermilion river, which was in the early times an impassable morass, but which has, by a system of ditches inaugurated by Messrs. Danforth, Milk and other large land-holders, very nearly disappeared. The law under which this work was done was afterward declared unconstitutional by the supreme court of the state, but that did not by any means tend to fill up the ditches which had been opened under it. The big ditch which was cut to drain the land south of here, and open communication with Langhamn creek, runs across this township near the center of range 10. North of this it is joined by the one which was cut to drain Milk's Grove.
Nearly all of the land in the western part of the township was pur- chased of the county, which held it under the act of congress for the disposal of swamp and overflowed lands, by Mr. George C. Tallman, a wealthy citizen of Utica, New York, under a scheme which was not entirely creditable to those having the matter in charge. It was after- ward conveyed by Tallman to Dr. Wilson, of Washington, Tazewell county, Illinois, who retained much of it until his death about a year ago. He proceeded to improve, and his heirs still own sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30 and 31 of range 10, and it would hardly be known as swamp land now.
When the Central railroad was built, all west of the timber-growth of the river was open prairie. In 1857 Mr. William M. Ross, a Scotch- man by birth, but engaged in New York and Chicago in the dry-goods business, and well remembered as the head of the firm of William M. Ross & Co., and afterward Ross & Gossage, purchased section 30 (range 14), one mile west of Ashkum station, with a view of making it his country
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
home, where he could spend the few hours he might be able to snatch from the pressing and exacting cares of business in pleasure and relief. With this in view he built a suug and comfortable residence, and pro- ceeded to surround it with a wealth of trees, embracing nearly every known variety which grows on this marvelously rich soil. Besides the evergreen and deciduous shade-trees which surround the house in rich profusion, and miles of trees in avenues across the farm, he planted somne thousand or more fruit-trees, which have grown into probably the finest orchard in the county. He afterward, in 1867, added to it by the purchase of section 30 (range 11), lying just west of the former, and erected buildings, provided a beautiful deer park, and here he used to bring his friends, entertaining them with generous munificence. Hunt- ing was rare sport in those days, and with hound and gun the days of their stay here were busily filled in loyal remembrance of and dupli- cating the gorgeous sports of the Scotch braves. From the Iroquois to the Mazon the wild stretch was unobstructed, and game was " plentier than blackberries." The particular kind of sport which the genial Scotchman and his guests delighted in, will never be known again in this region of the country. Then these prairies seemed only made for sport ; now nearly every acre is under cultivation, and a dozen great railroad corporations contend, as resolutely as huntsmen did then, for the game which they hope to bag,-the generous crops and the fatted herds. Lord Dufferin, governor-general of the dominion of Canada, during his tour through the United States, made a pleasant visit to the Ross Farm, and received its hospitality. The library and decorations of the house show the elegant taste of the proprietor. Mr. Ross died here in 1876. His brother and sister occupy the residence and quietly and pleasantly maintain the delightful home. Each Fourth of July the place is the scene of gay American festivities, such as become the rural citizens who meet in memory of our nation's birthday. The country around about is just as certain to attend the Fourth of July celebration at the Ross farm as to hang up its stocking Christmas eve.
The Wilson settlement, so-called, is on the farm of the late Dr. Wilson, which embraces seven or eight sections of land, running across the entire western extremity of the township. The entire farm is beautiful rolling land, and is farmed by tenants. Mr. J. H. Carpenter is foreman, and the produce of the farm is principally fed out to stock upon the place. Dr. Wilson, in addition to his large landed interest here (which has been as an investment an entire success), was engaged with his son in banking, at Gilman, and latterly at Chatsworth, as the firm of C. A. Wilson & Co., carrying on also a large real-estate busi- ness, being men of large business capacity and liberal means. Dr.
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ASHKUM TOWNSHIP.
Wilson never resided here, but remained in Washington until his death. The earliest settlements were, of course, along the timber which skirts the river. The families of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Artis Yates were among the first who made permanent settlements there. Mr. John Wilson, whose name has been so largely connected with the history of the county since 1839, removed across the line into Iroquois township, and the reader will find under that heading a very full and very interesting account of his life, and his connection with the affairs of the county, though one of his sisters still lives in this town. Mr. Thomas Yates, who with his father, Artis, carried on an extensive cattle business, and whose wife is a sister of Mr. Wilson, sold the farm which he had here, in sections 28 and 29, to Mason Ayers, and moved to and now resides in Iroquois township. Mr. Yates remembers many incidents of early adventure along this neck of timber, and is not averse, when not too busy with the cares of his farm and cattle, to sitting down and relating stories of the early day, which seem now almost like fiction. But Mr. Yates is not the man to mix fiction with his facts. As early as 1850 the French from Canada began to come into this part of the town, and soon after settled around L'Erable in such numbers as to make a con- siderable settlement. Peter Spink, a man of large executive tact, was their leader and general man of business. Well educated and affable, he made many friends, and went here and there doing their business for them, caring only to help them along in a friendly way ; but like all men who try to do too much for others gratuitously, he found his own business affairs becoming deranged, and he commenced a series of business tactics, under the pressure of circumstances, which proved rninous to him. Together with Father Chiniquy, he labored assidu- ously for the building np of the church, and devoted much of liis time to that worthy work. He went to Danville and bought lands for the colonists, intending to let them have them at the same price they cost him, but his financial complications rendered it impossible to do what he intended. In one of the matters whichi grew out of the colony or church matters, Spink was accused of swearing falsely. Father Chi- niquy,-whether he was himself personally interested or not, does not appear,-seems to have suddenly taken sides against Mr. Spink, and said, while preaching in Mr. LaBounty's house, that people ought to be very careful in testifying, saying that there had been recently some false swearing done. Mr. Spink resented the imputation, and taking two friends with him, called on the priest for a retraction, which was refused ; and thus began the long and bitter feud which resulted in the separation of Chiniquy from the Catholic church, and the building up Protestant missions here and in Canada, under his ministrations. Mr.
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