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 92

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 92

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what it was, and they made an offer of 100 lots. This the commis- sioners thought very liberal, and Gov. Moore said for the commission that the Plato company would have to do better. The members of the company failing to put in an appearance, the commission, after remaining three days, went on and closed with the offer of the Middle- port citizens, and Plato " went back." About 1840 a post-office was established and John Wilson appointed postmaster,-a position he still holds. The land in this township had been opened for sale, but was afterward withdrawn from market to permit the selection of " state lands." These lands were donated by the general government to the state, under the act of September, 1841, donating the proceeds of the sale of lands, and a large amount of lands to the several states, and the law permitted a selection to be made of the choicest lands. Selections were made all the way from the Kankakee river to Middleport, except around Plato. John Wilson had one eye on this land and the other on the surveyors, and prevailed on them not to touch what he wanted. The price was fixed on these "state lands," ranging from $3 to $8 per acre, the price to decrease each year fifty cents per acre on all the lands except those valued at $3, until they should reach $3 and $4. The last were sold in 1858.

When Mr. John Wilson came here, about 1836 or 1837, there were six settlements in the county : Milford, Bunkum, Middleport, Upper Spring Creek, around about Onarga and Del Rey, Lower Spring Creek and Ash Grove. Mills and markets were from forty to 100 miles away. The settlers were honest, frugal and hospitable; none were rich, but no one left a cabin hungry. Any one within twenty miles was a neighbor. The advent into this new country of a man of the experience and education of Mr. Wilson was a great aid to the development of the country. and society. He was well and thoroughly versed in all land matters, and was a teacher of much more than ordinary ability. The lack of schools was keenly felt by inany of the pioneers, and Mr. Wilson's reputation preceded him to the new country. His acquirements were discussed, and his feats recounted. He was soon called on by citizens who lived along the upper Spring creek to teach their school. Mr. Jonas Smith, who represented the citizens then, said they would give him $30 per month and board for himself and horse. They built a house capable of seating sixty scholars, and so great was the rush of those coming in from all over the county, that the seats were full all winter. The parties who got up the school and guaran- teed his pay made a good speculation out of it, for there were so many scholars that the tuition of their own children was free.

The post-office at Plato was established in 1840, and Mr. Wilson,

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who was then appointed postmaster, has continued in that office ever since, through all the changes of administration. He is the oldest postmaster in the country west of the Allegheny mountains, there being a few in the eastern states who have seen longer service. The office was served at first by the stage route from Joliet to Danville. The offices south of this were Middleport, Milford, North Fork and Den- mark. Two-horse coaches made the trip once a week. After the railroad was built the office was served from Kankakee for awhile, now from Clifton twice a week. One of the first schools taught here was by Mrs. David Pierce before her marriage in 1845. It was in the neat little cabin standing near by the old house, having an old-fashioned stick- and-inud chimney, a brick hearth and one small window of four lights of glass. The door was swung on wooden hinges, and a stout leather latch-string invited those hungry for education to walk in. Split logs were used for benches, and pins driven into the wall of the house served for support for the desks, ranged around on three sides of the room. They paid Miss Webster $6 per month and board for teaching. Of course she " boarded around."

Joseph P. Starit came here and settled on the prairie twenty-five years ago, on section 22, that is, if hiding from wolves out on a prairie could be called settling. He has run a tlireshing machine for thirty- seven years. When he "learned the trade," in 1840, the machine known as the "ground hog" was in general use. It delivered the , grain, chaff and straw all in a heap, and you could rake the straw off . as when threshing with a flail, and the grain was scooped into a rail- pen, where it was considered safe until it could be " cleaned up." Next in order came the traveling machine, as it was called, which was moved around from shock to shock, leaving the straw on the field. The first " separators." that came around did not have the straw-carriers attached. It was thought to be a great invention. He has had con- siderable experience of "going through the mill " in his time. A refractory tumbling-rod once took off the tout ensemble of his wearing apparel, and gave him a taste of what " evolution " meant.

Henry A. Butzow came here soon after, and undertook to make a farm at the mouth of Spring creek. He was early called on to per- form the duties of the various township offices, all of which he per- formed with such neatness, and in such an accurate, business-like manner, that he was selected as the candidate of the farmers' party for county clerk in 1873. He was elected by a large majority, and has justified the judgment of his friends in making a most acceptable and popular clerk. He was reelected in 1877. The earliest religious meetings in this portion of the township were held by Elder Boon, of

John Wilson

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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the Christian denomination, in 1843 or 1844. The Methodists com- menced holding meetings here about 1848, and have continued hold- ing meetings at the school-houses nearly all the time since. A class was formed here, and at present the regular preaching is at the Sturte- vant school-house.

EAST OF THE RIVER.

The east side of the river was settled from about 1839, by Samuel Lyman, Thomas Yates, with his father, Atis, Alexander Sword, James M. Moore, the last of whom settled here in 1850. When Mr. Yates first came here the principal articles of trade, and which, in the absence of gold and silver, were used as currency, were deer skins, honey and tallow. Mr. Yates never had less than a barrel or two of honey stowed away against a time of need, and down on Spring creek the story was current that " Yates boys had cakes of tallow to sit on instead of stools, made large enough so they could trundle them up to the table to sit on."

The Illinois Central railroad company took considerable of the land in this township. By the terms of the act of congress under which the road was built the company was entitled to each alternate section of land for six miles on either side of its line, and where any lands which would have belonged to them under such act had been previ- ously taken, they were entitled to select from lands, within a range of fifteen miles, as much as had been thus taken.

THE FERRY WAR.

Dixon's Ferry which connects the shores of Iroquois with those of Martinton, at Plato, has been the cause of a long, a bitter and an engrossing contest in the field, on the water and in the courts, which finally resulted in the issuing of the following license : "To William Dixon, issued for five years from the date hereof, July 25, 1879. Rates of toll established by the board of supervisors: For double team, 15 cents ; same, both ways on the same day, 20 cents ; horse and rider, 10 cents ; footman, 5 cents; cattle and horses, 3 cents ; logs and sheep, 2 cents. H. A. Butzow, clerk. Fee, $6, paid." The ferry had been established twenty years before, but as at that time there was no one to run it, and no business to do, it was unused. The other ferry, half a mile down stream, was in use, but all those who lived east of the river in Iroquois and along the line of Martinton liad to pass over the land of John Wilson to reach the ferry. This was considered trespass by Mr. Wilson, but as he had permitted it almost twenty years, it bid fair to become a road by limitation. To prevent this Mr. Wilson fenced up the road, and Stock, the rival ferryman, undertook to tear down

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the fence. This brought on an encounter between Stock and the picket- gnard which Wilson had thrown out, which did not exactly prove fatal, but led to a law-suit, Stock claiming that the road through Wilson's woods had been used twenty years, and that hence he had a right to reduce the fence which Wilson had erected across it to kindling wood. A three-days law-suit followed. The three towns of Iroquois, Martin- ton and Danforth were interested. Eighty witnesses were called, and Wilson carried the day. Then an appeal followed, of course, and the Stock party took a new twist on Wilson's reserved ferry rights by pro- ceeding to prove that the road which led along the town line to his ferry from the east was never legally laid out, it having been laid a forty instead of a sixty-foot road, and twenty years had not yet made it legal. This took the Wilson party between wind and water. They had got their ferry rights maintained by the aid of the law, and had shut up the road which led away fromn his ferry, and now the Stock party, aided and abetted by the Martinton officials, had shut up the only road leading to it. At the same time a legal road was opened half a mile north of the old one, which run directly to Stock's ferry. Then business had to begin anew. A petition was circulated to lay out the town-line road again, but the commissioners of highways were very slow to act, and an appeal was taken to the supervisors. About this time straw was put under a bridge which was supposed to have been intended by the Stock party to ignite the bridge and render travel to Dixon's impossible. Both ferries are in full operation, not doing busi- ness enough, of course, to support one, but neither will be suppressed. It has been captured and recaptured almost as many times as Harper's Ferry since the time of old John Brown.

One of the most distressing, and from all its surroundings one of the most singular crimes ever known in the history of this county, was the murder of Mrs. Malousen by her husband, in May, 1872. Joseph Malousen was a worthy and respected man. Nobody would have deemed him capable of committing such a shocking crime, but that his mental organization was somewhat deficient seems certain from the result. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church, and married, against the rules of his church, a woman who had been previously married, but who had long been separated from her husband, but had not been legally divorced. His priest reproved him sharply for his marriage and told him that he could not recognize him, and the church could not while living in such an unauthorized state. This preyed on his mind so that he was almost beside himself, and when returning from Watseka on foot with his wife, whom he really loved, in the evening, he sat down and talked with her on the bank of the creek a while. He then pushed

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her in and jumped in and held her down under the water till life was extinct. He then took off her skirt and left it in a field a short dis- tance away, and put the hand-basket which she was carrying under a bridge some distance away, and secreted himself. Of course the mur- dered woman was soon found, and the neighbors commenced the search for him with a rope, and it is believed his life would have been of little value had he been found. A week later he gave himself up to the sheriff, saying that he could not bear the terrible feelings any longer. He confessed liis crime and was sentenced to the penitentiary for four- teen years. His behavior there was such that he has already worked out.

The only railroad in the township is the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw, which was built in 1858 and 1859, and runs along the southern boun- dary line. A company was formed and surveys were made in 1872 for building the La Fayette, La Salle & Clinton railroad. By its survey it was to cross the river at or near Plato, and run through the north- eastern corner of this township. The building was about to be com- menced, the bonds having been placed with Jay Cooke & Co., for sale, when the failure of that house, and the consequent panic in financial affairs, put. a stop to this, as it did to all other railroad enterprises. There is some prospect that this road will be built.

W. F. Riggle was first clerk; A. B. Thompson, assessor ; and William Flesher and Isaac Riggle, justices of the peace. The present officers are : S. N. Calkin, supervisor, now in his sixth term; J. B. Eno, clerk, now in his seventh year; A. Flesher, assessor; J. B. Eno, collector; Robert Goodman and C. H. Martin, justices of the peace. In 1863 a special vote taken for or against township organization, resulted 45 for, to 1 against. In 1867 there were 72 for, to 6 against. A vote was taken May 14, 1867, for or against annexing to Kankakee county all of town 29, ranges 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 west, and 10 and 11 east, which then belonged to Iroquois county. It resulted unani- mously against annexation. The township has usually been democratic politically, and latterly very close when party lines have been drawn. The records of town meeting show a remarkable number of tie votes. Before township organization this was a part of Jefferson precinct, and voting was done at Mr. Jefferson's house.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

No person in Iroquois county has been more thoroughly and con- tinuously alive to all the interests of the county, from almost its earliest settlement, than John Wilson, of Plato. He was born in county Down, Ireland, in 1813, and four years later came to Baltimore, Mary-

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land, with his father, who had been for some years county officer, a position answering in part to the office of sheriff before its duties had been clipped by what is known as township organization, but having a certain jurisdiction in several counties. For twelve years, while Mr. Wilson carried on mercantile business in Baltimore, John was in school. On the removal to Ohio of the elder Wilson, John remained and taught school at Fredericksburg, meanwhile qualifying himself to teach civil engineering, draughting, penmanship, commercial educa- tion, etc. In June, 1835, he arrived at Danville, with as good a prac- tical education as any man in the thriving settlement, and for two years served as clerk in the land office, under Judge McRoberts, teach- ing a commercial class each winter in the branches which lie had prepared himself to teach. He also taught commercial classes in Chi- cago, La Fayette, and several in Urbana. It was while he was at Danville that he formed an intimate friendship for Mr. Lincoln, which, notwithstanding their opposite political views and party associations, continued till the death of the martyr president. When the Plato Company was formed, - a company which had a considerable landed interest here, - he came here to reside as the agent of the company. In 1830 he taught, not the first, but probably the second, school on Spring creek, and which was the forerunner of the Grand Prairie Sem- inary, now flourishing near where he taught. So much had the fame of the schoolmaster spread that the building which had been put up for the school, holding sixty pupils, would not accommodate the appli- cants. Soon after this lie quitted the employ of the Plato Company, and assisted James Smith, county surveyor. He improved two farms on the Iroquois river, which he sold, and afterward became owner of the Plato Company's property, and has added to it until he has now 1,100 acres of land, of unsurpassed fertility and beauty. He was county surveyor for four years, and prepared and published one of the most complete and accurate county maps ever issued in a new county, and which is still considered authority. He was appointed the first postmaster at Plato, in 1840 or 1841, and has held the position unin- terruptedly for thirty-nine years. He is believed to be the oldest post- master in the country. He was appointed in 1846 one of the commis- sioners of the Kankakee and Iroquois river slack-water improvement. He perfected the survey of the rivers, and made estimates on the work, commencing at the upper end of the rivers. He was overruled by the other commissioners, who decided to commence at Wilmington. They put in one dam and lock there, which was washed away by the next spring freshet. He was appointed on the second commission in 1861, but the war then progressing prevented any work being accomplished.

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He prepared maps of Vermilion, Champaign and Kankakee counties, and was engaged for some time making surveys for the Illinois Central railroad, and platting their lands. He married, in 1839, Samantha Butler, who died in 1843, leaving one child, now Mrs. Reynolds, who lives in Michigan. He was married in 1845, at Urbana, to Amy E. Carson, who is still living. He is the father of eight children, all liv- ing : John J. and Robert Bruce, who are married, live near by ; Thomas F. at Ashkum ; Isabella Dixon lives at the ferry ; Joseph F., Alfred and Pauline at home. He carries on his large farm, which is well stocked, feeding cattle in large numbers. Politically, he has always been a democrat, and in religious belief is a spiritualist in sentiment.

Enoch H. Long, fariner, Watseka, was born in Hawkins county, east Tennessee, in 1826. He removed to Indiana in 1842, and to Ash Grove ten years later. His great-grandfather served Shelby, and re- ceived three balls at the battle of King's Mountain, which he carried in his hip until his death. His grandfather died in Tennessee during the late war. He was a cousin of John C. Calhoun, the famous leader of South Carolina political views. Mr. Long married, July 1, 1855, Almira Sturtevant, and has seven children : Sarah L., William C., James A., Thomas L., George, Laura J. and Lucy May. He has lived a number of years in Iroquois township, where he has a good farm, with excellent buildings. He has been for years a devoted friend of the church, and his influence has been in favor of good society and good government.

Maurice Kirby, farmer, Crescent City, came to America in 1829, when he was twenty years of age, having been born in Ireland in 1809. For a number of years after coming to this country he was employed on various public works throughout the country, having been engaged on the Wabash and Erie canal, and other works of a similar nature, in the states of New York, Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. In 1840 he bought the 200-acre farm on which he now resides in this township, it at that time being wild land, but did not move on it until 1850, previously marrying Miss Caroline Griffin, the same year, in Parke county, Indiana. Their family consists of four children, two boys and two girls: Mary Francis, born in 1850; Caroline, born in 1856; John, born in 1860; and James, born in 1865. During the early years of their residence here they had to endure numerous trials and hardships, but he is now enjoying the fruits of his industry.

Tobias Danner, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Ohio in 1814. His grandparents were from Germany, and his parents were born in Virginia. They came to Indiana in 1830. He came to this county in 1852, and lived three miles southeast of Watseka. In 1864 he came to

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his present residence to live. In 1837 he married, and from that union six children were born : Robert is married and lives near Watseka; John B. is married and lives near his father ; Samuel O. also lives near; Mrs. Charlotta Harwood lives in Crescent, and Catherine E. died at the age of twenty-four. He was married a second time, in 1871, to Rachel Tarbott, who has two daughters and one son. Mr. Danner has been a constant member of the Methodist church for thirty-seven years.

George Fidler, farmer, Plato, was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1823. At the age of four years he came with his parents to Tippeca- noe county, Indiana, and married Harriet Parker in 1848. A few years after they came to this county and settled near where he now lives, on section 4. He has a farm of 320 acres, and 20 acres of timber land. They are the parents of ten children, six of whom survive: David A. is married and lives near by, has five children; Rebecca Jane Miller, who lives a mile from her father, has two children; Mary P. Miller has one; William, Owen and Curtis live at home. Melissa died at three months; Susan Mildred at sixteen months; Albert when eight years of age, and Johnnie at the age of seven. Mr. Fidler has never held office of any kind except that for several years lie has served his district as school director.

J. B. Eno, teacher, Crescent City, was born in Hartford county, Connecticut, November 26, 1825. Determining to devote his life to teaching, after attending the academy at his native place some years, he attended Suffield Literary Institute, then under the charge of S. Dryden Phelps, the "poet teacher." Graduating at the State Normal, at New Britain, he has, with very little intermission, continued to teach until this time, commencing in 1839. He taught nine years in Connecticut and three years in western New York. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Holcomb, and removed to Illinois with the Connecticut colony, which settled in the western part of this county in 1856, since which time he has resided in this county, teaching in Watseka, Chatsworth, and in nearly every town in this vicinity, holding the position of deputy superintendent of schools for some years. In 1863 he was the candi- date of his party for superintendent. His wife died in 1864, leaving two daughters: Carrie and Cora. In 1866 he married Miss Alida Pardy, who has three children : Mary, Kittie and Jerrie. He is be- lieved to be the oldest teacher in this part of the state, having devoted thirty-four years of his life to that work. Coming here at a time when education was in its infancy, he has done much to strengthen the edu- cational interests of the county. Mr. Eno has long been a member of the Congregational church, and has been devoted to the interests of that church and society at Crescent City. Politically he has always

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been a democrat, and has frequently been called on to perform the duties of township office. He is the present clerk, collector and treas- urer of Iroquois township.

S. Newell Calkin, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Du Page township, Will county, his education being in the work on the farm and in the common schools. At the opening of the rebellion he enlisted in Barker's dragoons, which soon after saw service in the army of the Potomac, acting for some time as Mcclellan's body-guard. In December, 1863, the regiment to which it became attached reën- listed as veterans and was sent to the department of the Gulf. They participated in the disastrous Red River campaign and then marched back again. It was probably one of the companies of this regiment about which the story is told with a good show of truth, that returning in such a dilapidated condition so far as their nether garments were concerned, a stylish officer, on being invited to partake of a dinner by some ladies who desired to show hospitality, was obliged to decline on account of the unpresentable appearance he would make should he dismount. His father removed to this township about this time. Mr. Calkin, at the expiration of his term of service, married Miss Adelaide George, March, 1865, and came here to reside where he now lives, on section 17. He has six children : Samuel, Gertie, Henry, Jacob, Mary and Hannalı. For six years past he has been the supervisor of Iroquois township and has given evidence of very good qualifications for the important position. In the fall of 1879 he received the unani- mous nomination of the independent greenback party for the office of county treasurer.

Samuel Loveridge, farmer, Watseka, was born in England in 1835. Receiving a good education, and having a decided aptitude for clerical work, he applied for a clerkship in the commissary department of Her Majesty's service during the Crimean war, and received the appointment, serving twenty-one months, and until the close of hostil- ities, most of the time at Scutari, in Asiatic Turkey. On returning to England he sailed for America, and traveled extensively to find such a place as he wanted. He traveled all over the southern Atlantic states looking for a place to engage in the business of producing pitch. During a portion of the war he was engaged as clerk in the quarter- master's department at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1864 he married Miss Eliza Scrymgeour, of Jeffersonville, Indiana. They have two children : Maggie and Jessie. He came to this township to live in 1865, and resides on section 35. He has served as assessor of the township, and for several years past has been an elder of the Presby terian church at Watseka.

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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 92

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