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 90

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1180

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 90

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

368

HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

Anna Rabenstein, who was born November 2, 1841, in Sachsen Weimar, Germany, and emigrated to America in 1863, and resided with her father and brothers in Ottawa, Illinois, until she was married. She settled with her husband in Chebanse, and the two worked together in the mercantile business about nine years. By this united effort and economy they accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods to keep the children comfortably. They had born to them several children, only two of whom survive: Alfred Charles, who was born May 19, 1866, at Chebanse; and Victoria, born September 27, 1870, at Chebanse. John F. Grosse suffered a long and lingering illness of about two years, contracted in the army, and after seeking health in Texas, died October 23, 1874, at Chebanse, of consumption. At the day of his death he was thirty-six years, nine months and five days old.

OLD SETTLERS' REUNION.

In November, 1878, the old settlers of Chebanse had a reunion, which was held in De Veling's Hall. About two hundred persons sat down to a good dinner, and many happy greetings took place. The Chebanse Cornet Band furnished the music, and quite a number of old settlers made speeches. Memories of old times were revived, and it was a very enjoyable occasion. An Old Settlers' Association was organized, with Luther Gubtail, president, and. Joseph Haigh, sec- retary.

The second annual reunion took place in September, 1879. It was held in Chapman's Grove in the day time, and in DeVeling's Hall in the evening. The following poem was read by Josepli Haigh, Esq., at the first meeting, and was received with hearty applause :

OLD SETTLERS' REUNION.

BY JOSEPH HAIGH.

Columbus, centuries ago, Discovered this great land; But you and I and others know, He stood not where we stand.

He traveled mostly on the coast, Well pleased with what he found; But after him there came a host Who traversed all the ground.

But you and I, old SETTLERS all, To help the cause advance, Were left to settle and improve This famous place, Chebanse.

And many ups and downs we had, Oft ready to despair;

But future hopes would make us glad, And raise our load of care.

We well remember this vast plain With scarce a house in view, And went to work with might and main, To see what we could do. ¢

The sturdy sod was made to yield, That corn and fruit might grow, And soon a "shanty " and a field Each one could proudly show.

Hard was the toil, the fare not best, And rife with doubts and fears. This country then was the FAR WEST, And we, the PIONEERS.

369

MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

The prairie wolves at night would howl, And deer then roamed at will,

Wild chickens, ducks and other fowl, All that we wished to kill.

Our cattle roamed for miles around, Upon the wild domain,- Few roads or fences then were found, Their movements to restrain.

The folks enjoyed themselves-tho' few, More social than to-day; Both friends and country then were new, . And everything looked gay.

'Tis more than twenty years since then, And what do we behold?

The children have grown up to men, And young folks have grown old.

But greater still the progress made, As seen on every hand; A wilderness, by our own aid Is made a fruitful land.

The very town-site of Chebanse, Was vacant prairie land,

Without a store or business chance, For there was no demand.

Little by little, trade began, Demand and then supply,

Till not another village can In commerce rank so high.

The country too has prospered well, Extending far and wide,

For fruitful farms, as all can tell, Are every nation's pride.

And numbers who commenced with us, Still further west did roam,.

And some went east, and north and south, And some to their long home.

But we, who staid until the last, And have come here to-night,

Can now review the busy past With pleasure and delight.

But once is all that you and I Would act the pioneer, And we prefer to live and die, And then be buried here.

MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

Milk's Grove is the northwestern town in the county, and is bounded on the north by Kankakee county, on the east by Chebanse, on the south by Ashkum, and on the west by Ford county. Its legal description .is town 29, range 10 east, and the north third of town 28, range 10 east of the third principal meridian, embracing terri- tory equal to a congressional township. Its name was derived from the small grove of about 300 acres in sections 23 and 26 of town 29, and which was one of those singular, lone bodies of timber, away from others, not upon any running water, which put the theories of those who explain the phenomena of timber growths to a severe test. There is at this grove a small lake, and these circumstances made it an available place for early cattle operations. Col. William Howard, of Owasco, Cayuga county, New York, entered sometime late in the forties 80 acres in each of sections 23 and 26, as a place of shelter for his herd. At that time the grove was known as " Hick- ory Grove." Col. Howard, though its first purchaser, never lived here. He was engaged in that line of business known in those days as that of drover, buying up and driving to market whatever would go on the hoof, but generally, of course, cattle and sheep. He knew

370

HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

by a look the points of a good animal or a good boy. He thought he had found in the lad a good specimen when he took Lemuel Milk as a partner, and the subsequent history of the boy shows that Col. Howard's judgment was quite accurate. For several years they were partners, and during that time Milk ranged over New York and Ohio, buying any thing which lie "saw money in." Some sheep which were purchased by Mr. Howard in Ohio were driven here, and Mr. Rutledge H. Enos, now of Kankakee, came here as the representative of Col. Howard, remaining here for several years. The grove then naturally came. to be called Enos' Grove. Sheep was the principal line of husbandry, at first. The ewes were brought here, and for some years were let upon shares to those who would take charge of them, the renter giving two pounds of wool per head per annum, and making good all losses, making a very fair arrange- ment for both parties. The principal care of sheep in those days, when range was boundless, was to protect them from wolves and from the various diseases which they were liable to. Against the former, constant watching by day was necessary. They call it herd- ing now ; but in those days boys had to. "watch sheep." By night they were shut in high rail-pens, ten or twelve rails high, made so that a wolf could not get through it. Sheep cared for in this way were comparatively safe, until the coming of a "higher civilization" brought the inevitable dog.

In 1850 Col. Howard proposed to Mr. Milk to buy out half of his interest at the Grove. It is a sufficient commentary on the two men who had for some years been in business together, and showing the mutual estimation each had for the other, that Col. Howard advised the young man to go west where he would have a field equal at least to his energy and peculiar abilities, and that Mr. Milk bought the half interest in the land and stock here without seeing it, entirely on the representation of Mr. Howard. Seldom did a mutual confi- dence rest on a better foundation. Mr. Milk gave $3,750 for the half interest, and at the same time Howard transferred to his son a half of his remaining interest. Land had been added to the original pur- chase, so that, at the time of Col. Howard's death, 1,320 acres com- prised the Grove Farm.

In the spring of 1851 Milk came here solitary and alone, and across lots. He came by the usual method of travel in those days (for in 1851 Chicago had no railroad), to Joliet ; thence to Dr. Todd's, this side of Wilmington. "The old stage route ran then from Joliet, via Wilmington, Bourbonnais, Middleport, thence to North Fork and Danville. He picked his way along the river to J. B. Hawkins',

371

MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

where was the old lime-stone post-office, an advanced outpost of civilization. Thence on a bright Sunday morning in April, with the soil thoroughly soaked with the continued rains of that season, Mr. Milk struck out into the unknown wild, with a horse to ride and a boy to guide,-both of which were loaned him by Mr. Hawkins, - through the barrens to find Pilot Grove, the home then of Morey F. Frink, but which had previously been owned by Mr. Hawkins. His horse sank under him in the quicksands, and his heart began to sink in him, as, drawing nearer the place of his earthly possessions, he came into such an unearthly country. He had to dismount and pull his horse out of the sands. Our traveler, however, worked his pas- sage like the boy driving on the canal, until he reached solid land and Pilot Grove. Arriving, finally, at the residence of Mr. Enos, he of course made a careful inspection of the possessions and flocks and herds which he had purchased on the faith of Col. Howard's repre- sentations, and was thoroughly satisfied with his investments. The grove and lake were about what he had expected : but the beauty of the hill and valley landscape off to the north and west, the grand stretch of plain off to the south, for miles, the miles of gently roll- ing prairie, extending east to the Iroquois, twelve miles away, just growing green under tlre warm April showers, were beyond the power of immediate comprehension.

Certainly, in a state of nature, man could not have found in all this vast prairie region a more beautiful or alluring location than this, for five miles on every side of Hickory Grove. From the elevated position, two miles west of the grove, where the town-house now stands, as grand and extensive a view could be had as the human eye could well take in. Not a house could be seen at that time, save the one in which Mr. Enos resided. The nearest neighbor was eight miles away,-Mr. Frink, at Pilot Grove. With the first break of day the grand " boom " of the prairie fowls, which now has so nearly passed away that many of the residents in Illinois have never heard it, and in all probability never will, resounded in all directions. No writer was ever knowu to describe it, and the present one does not propose to try it. It was not like any other sound or reverberation in nature or in civilization : a continued "boom," kept up for an hour or more,-musical without being melodious, and grand without being exciting.

Mr. Milk was more than pleased with the view and the prospect. Here was room for the display of all the energy and business activity of the most ambitious. He had an ambition, not for wealth, though wealth had come to him, but for business activity, for flocks and

372

HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

herds, which could grow fat on this boundless wealth which grew spontaneously on these hills and valleys, an ambition for extensive and large enterprises which should fully occupy his active mind and full physical powers. In both of these respects his ambition has been filled. He is one of the few really remarkable men of the state. The right man, the right place, and the right time met at Milk's Grove in 1851. Here were all the conditions for a full reali- zation of all the hopes and anticipations any mortal could have. He was in his sphere, and grandly has he filled it. With the death of Col. Howard in 1853, Mr. Milk bought the interest of his son and widow. Howard had left a will which had bequeathed in three lines of writing all his real and personal property of every kind to his widow. The landed estate at the Grove then amounted to 1,320 acres. The land around here had then been withdrawn from market by the act which organized the Central railroad, but it was soon after thrown open for sale.

Wolves were the great pest of this time. Many were the incidents which the keepers of the flocks had with them. Lawrence Myron, who was then in the employ of Mr. Milk, was returning late one evening. Mistaking the scattering timber along Langham creek for the grove, he made for it just in time to be surrounded by a pack of hungry fellows, who would like to have made a supper of him if he had been willing. With nothing but a knife to defend himself with, he marched in single file, at double quick, with the point of the knife thrown out as a rear guard, and thought he was accomplishing as successful a retreat as did the ten thousand Greeks ; though Larry knew little of Greek, his rear-guard did duty nobly, and he escaped without a scratch.

For several years after Mr. Milk came here, sheep were the prin- cipal stock, but soon cattle became his largest interest. His landed interest grew with the rest. He purchased later a considerable tract of the county lands of Dr. Wilson, who had purchased of Mr. Tollman all that he owned in this part of the county. The grove supplied timber enough for fencing and fuel, and he soon had large fields of corn growing. The owners of the distillery at Wilmington sent teams and men to husk his crop, paying him 25 cents per bushel for it on the stalk. Wool was a profitable crop for him. By the custom here, he received two pounds per head for rent of sheep. The price was usually from 30 to 40 cents per pound, and was marketed in Joliet.

When the war began, Mr. Milk was in good shape to realize the good prices which the war caused. He had then 1,300 head of neat

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

375

MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

cattle, one thousand of which (averaging 1,100 pounds) he sold for $55 per head, which would indicate that in ten years he had pros- pered fairly. The years which followed were full of business activity, great deals in cattle and live stock followed caclı other, and, with prices constantly enhancing, these were sufficiently successful.

His practice has been to buy, instead of raise, cattle and feed them at three years old. The home farm at the grove has always been under his own management ; the others are rented. The houses and buildings on his farms are all good, better than we usually find on rented farms. His theory is that he can secure a better class of renters by liberal provisions for their wants, a result which he has certainly obtained. In 1870 he commenced a system of draining the flat lands lying south from the grove, and has followed it up very effectively. A main ditch was run into Langham creek, and laterals from all directions lead into it. Few men have had a larger ex- perience, and none have found the advantages coming from thorough and systematic ditching more encouraging.

His feeding has been carried on on the most extensive scale,-stall- feeding as many as 1,300 head of cattle in a single season, with thousands of hogs. The present winter he is feeding 5,000 sheep, intending to have them ready for.the spring market. To carry on this successfully, his farms are supplied with good sheds, and some of them with excellent barns.

He has about fifty farms, ranging in size from 80 acres to a section, not all of which, however, are in this township, and his especial pride is to have them kept neat in general appearance and clean in culture.

The general filling up of the township did not occur until quite recently. Its first settler was Mr. R. H. Enos, who had. charge of the farm when it was first bought by Col. Howard, and continued in charge of it for some years after Mr. Milk became interested in it.

The township was set off as a separate town in 1872. There was from the first an aversion to serving as township officers, which has not yet been overcome, though the voters have been fortunate' in finding in Mr. B. W. Gilborne a man who was willing to sacrifice his own personal peace to attend to the affairs of the public.

At the first election, R. C. Munger was chosen supervisor; B. W. Gilborne, clerk ; Samuel Walker, assessor; C. W. Sumner, collector; and R. C. Munger, justice of the peace. The present officers are B. W. Gilborne, supervisor, assessor and justice of the peace ; C. W. Sumner, clerk ; and F. M. Laughlin, collector.

376

HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

Lemuel Milk, farmer, stock-raiser and general merchant, Che- banse, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Ledgyard township, Cayuga county, New York, October 18, 1820. His father was born in Westport, Massachusetts, and his mother (formerly Miss Mary Hathaway) was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. At the age of two years, Mr. Milk moved with his parents to the town of Fleming, Cayuga county, New York, where they lived in a log house for six years. After residing in said town for twenty-eight years, farming, raising and driving stock, he removed to this state and settled in what was formerly known as Hickory and Enos' Grove, but afterward changed to Milk's Grove township, its present name, it being called after himself. He bought a half interest of Col. William Howard in the said grove, which at that time contained 160 acres. After the death of Mr. Howard, he bought the undivided half of the lieirs, which contained 1,320 acres. By steadily increas- ing his landed domain, he soon became the possessor of 9,000 acres in one body, but in 1875 he commenced selling off, reducing this immense tract to 6,000 acres. He has several other farms in this county, store property and lots in the village of Chebanse, over 1,000 acres in Kankakee county, as well as other property in Kankakee, Wilmington, Manteno and Chicago, and also 12,000 acres in one body in Indiana. Besides his half-dozen-stores-in-one in Chebanse, he raises great quantities of wheat, corn, oats, hay, flax, etc., all of which, not used by him, finds its way to the Chicago markets. Mr. Milk does not confine himself alone to farming and merchandising, but deals heavily in stock, having at the present writing (1880) some 200 horses, 500 head of cattle, 1,200 hogs, and 5,250 sheep. He is by all odds one of the most noted, as well as one of the most extensive farmers and stock-dealers in the state of Illinois, if not in the West. His Illinois land alone, if sold before the last financial crisis, would have brought him the magnificent sum of $500,000 and upward,-so much for grit, energy and thrift. He was married to Miss Jane A. Platt, June 1, 1854, she being a native of Butternut, Otsego county, New York, and was born May 20, 1831. They have been blessed with two children, both living : Jennie M. and Sherwood P. Mr. Milk never held public office, not being a chronic office-seeker, neither has he been a member of any denomination. In his early days he voted the democratic ticket, but in later years lie cast his vote with the republican party. Although not in the army, he rendered his country valuable service in the way of contributions, etc., for the purpose of raising troops

377

. "MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

in the late war. Although he carries on mercantile business here, and heavy farming operations in Milk's Grove and surrounding country, his family reside in Kankakee city.

William Walsh, farmer, Chebanse, was born in the county of Dublin, Ireland, on January 12, 1834 .. His father was John, and his mother was Bridget (Lynch) Walsh. All the education Mr. Walsh received, was obtained in Ireland, and he was brought up on a farm. In 1855 he came to this country, inaking direct for this township, and working for Mr. Milk for two years - the first work performed after coming here. His next move was to Chebanse, working four years on the railroad. He then returned to the Grove and remained for four years, and then bought his present place of 160 acres of Mr. Milk. He was married in Chebanse, on May 2, 1860, to Miss Catharine Gallagher, who was born in the county of Dublin, Ireland, in 1836. They have. six children : Charles, John, Mary H., William, Edward, and Robert; deceased, Emeline.

Joseph Wadleigh, farmer, Herscher, Kankakee county, is one of the heaviest land-owners in the township. He was born in New York, June 2, 1817. When quite young his parents moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, living there a number of years, then moving to Oxford, Butler county, Ohio. His parents having gone to their last resting place, Mr. Wadleigh, in the summer of 1847, crossed the plains to Oregon, in a train of forty wagons, under command of Capt. Hawes, their conveyance being of the most primitive charac- ter. Oxen drew them to their destination, the trip taking some five months' time. Being a tinsmith, he opened the first establishment of that kind in that locality, and remained one year. In 1848 he got the gold fever,-it being epidemic. He left Portland, Oregon, in a sail-vessel, reaching California in October. He located at Suters Fort (now Sacramento City) and went into the tinsmithing busi- ness. He made the surveyor's chain that was used in laying out the city. He mined but a day and a half, his trade being worth up- ward of $100 a day, an ordinary milk-pan selling for an ounce of gold. One year thereafter, he returned via Panama and New York, to his home in Oxford, Ohio, and in 1859 moved to Kankakee, and the next spring to this township. He was married in Hamilton, Ohio, July 27, 1851, to Miss M. J. Morey, who was born in Somer- ville, Butler county, Ohio, December '12, 1829. They have seven children : Romeo F., Theodore S., Josephine, William M., Robert W., Henry L., and Sheridan J. He has been school-treasurer since 1866. His farm consists of 1,600 acres, with good house, out-build- ings, etc. He rents two tenant houses, also land to smaller owners

378

HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.

adjoining. His first house was a double one, one end being occupied by himself and family, and the adjoining room used as a barn. A great change has been wrought during the past twenty years.

Theodore Wheeler is one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers. of this township. He has a magnificent farm of 320 acres ; a fine residence, large granaries, out-houses, etc., and a fine orchard con- taining 1,500 bearing trees, from which lie gathers a crop of 1,500 to 2,000 bushels yearly, and makes some twenty barrels of cider. His farm lies on the sectional line dividing Milk's Grove from Che- banse township. He raises nearly everything a farm produces, his principal crop being corn, which he feeds to his stock, he dealing extensively in horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. He was born on the Mohawk river, state of New York, on September 27, 1830. He was raised on a farm, and lived at the place of his birth till 1853. Com- ing west he worked three years in Edgar county, Illinois ; then re- turned east, and June 26, 1859, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Andrews, who was born May 19, 1844, in the birthplace of her husband. In the fall of 1860 they came to Illinois, stopping two years in Salina township, Kankakee county, and in the spring of 1863 moved to his present residence. When he located the county was mostly a wild, uncultivated waste, not a house to be found for some fifteen miles to the south, and on the west it took nearly a half day's journey to reach the house of a neighbor. He has never craved office, but has held the position of school director for some time. He has two children : Willard A. and Elma.

William S. Wood, farmer, Clifton, is a native of Orkney Isles, Scotland, and his wife was Miss Margaret Russell, and was born and raised twenty miles from Edinburglı, Scotland. Mr. Wood came to the United States in the month of July, 1852, stopping a year and a half in the state of New York, then moved to Bloomington and other points in this state, and finally brought up at Milk's Grove township, this county, in 1868, settling down on his present homestead. His residence being on an eminence sufficiently high to give him a mag- nificent view of the lowlands, he can, on a clear day, see for a dis- tance of fifteen or twenty miles. By dint of industry and economy, Mr. Wood has secured himself and family a comfortable home. They have two children : Isabella and Arthur; two deceased : Ada and Caroline.

Richard Duckworth, farmer, Chebanse, is a well-known and promi- nent resident of this township. He was born in New Hartford, Oneida county, New York, April 14, 1834. His parents were George. and Mary (Nuttall) Duckworth, both natives of Lancashire, England. His

379

MILK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

father, who is still living, was born in 1796, and his mother in 1806. Mr. Duckworth was two years of age when his parents removed to Lisbon, La Salle (now Kendall) county, in 1836, and remained with them till twenty-two years of age, then went to work on his own farm in Grundy county, and moved on his farm in Milk's Grove in 1868, where he still resides. He has a beautiful place, handsome residence, good barns, finely laid out yard, dotted with evergreens, etc., and has 240 acres. He enlisted September 18, 1861, in- Co. K, 8th Ill. Cav., commanded by John F. Farnsworth. It was organ- ized in St. Charles, Kane county, and joined the army of the Poto- mac under Gen. McClellan. He served three years, and was under fire 106 times, without receiving a wound. Some of the principal battles he was engaged in were: Williamsburgh, Baltimore Cross- roads, Fair Oaks, Richmond, Turkey Creek, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Falling Waters, and all the engagements his regiment participated in, and never missed a day's service while it was in active operation. He lost two horses, one being shot from under him. He was mar- ried April 11, 1869, to Miss Susan Daller, who was born in Nor- way September 19, 1843. They have three children : Elon J. F., William A. and Austin W., -the last two being twins. Mr. Duck- worth is a Congregationalist and his wife a Lutheran.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 90

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903 Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 1180