USA > Illinois > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Illinois > Part 47
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Supervisors .- Jacob Breeze, 1870; Henry Breeze. 1871; Henry Breeze, 1872; Jacob Breeze, 1873; John W. Hails, 1874; John W. Hails, 1875; Henry Breeze, 1876; T. L. Ratts, 1877; Henry Breeze, 1878; W. L. Fisher, 1879; Henry Breeze; 1880; I. G. Carpenter, 1881; I. G. Carpenter, 1882; Henry Breeze, 1883, the present incumbent.
Town Clerks. - Samuel Copple, 1872; Samuel Copple, 1873; J. M. Gresamore, 1874; A. J. Hartly, 1875; W. A. Hartly, who took a mortgage on the place, and has held fast to it from 1876 to the present (1883) writing.
Assessors .- H. M. Bogan, 1872; W. Gas- ton, 1873; A. J. Hartly, 1874; E. S. Nole- man, 1875-76; L. H. Breeze, 1877; E. S. Noleman, 1878; J. H. Fisher, 1879; E. S. Noleman, 1880; A. J. Hartly, 1881; J. W. Fisher, 1882; and T. L. Ratts, 1883, now in office.
Collectors .- J. W. Fisher. 1872; E. S. Noleman, 1873; W. T. Fisher, 1874; Sam- uel Copple, 1875; T. Beadles, 1876; W. D. Baldridge, 1877; A. J. Hartly, 1878; G. P. Baldridge, 1879; R. W. Gaston, 1880; W. E. Beadles, 1881; W. E. Beadles, 1882; E. S. Noleman, 1883, at present in the office.
School Treasurers .- Jacob Breeze, E. Copple, J. Baldridge, Charles Mills, T. B. Moore, Sr., H. W. Beal, J. W. Hails, T. B. Moore, Sr., T. L. Ratts and J. W. Hails, the present incumbent.
Highway Commissioners .-- W. M. Gal- braith, Essex Payne, T. L. Ratts, I. G. Car- penter, W. C. Pitchford, Thomas Bald- ridge, Ira G. Carpenter, W. C. Pitchford, Thomas Baldridge, William Galbraith, J. W. Hails and Thomas Baldridge.
Justices of the Peace. - Franklin Cruzen,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Henry Breeze, T. B. Moore, Sr., H. Breeze and T. B. Moore, Sr.
Constables .- N. Rogers, J. W. Due, W. C. Pitchford, O. P. Moore, S. J. Shaw, J. H. Dickinson, W. C. Pitchford and J. Sprouse.
Grand Prairie Township, as we have said, is a fine section of country, and has many fine farms. In addition to raising large quantities of corn, wheat, oats, grass, etc., etc., much attention is paid to stock-raising. Here we may see in all their glory and beau- ty some of the finest specimens of the Nor- man horse. Jacob Breeze and Eli Copple imported three of these animals, the first ever brought to this township. Much atten- tion is now given to the breeding of these magnificent draft horses. Considerable fruit is also raised in the township. In the north part, Mr. Galbraith and Ira G. Carpenter make a specialty of strawberries, and raise and ship large quantities annually. Rich- ard and Jacob Breeze have a very fine sugar camp, which is worked every year. There are several other " camps" in the township, and hence a good deal of maple sugar and molasses are made: sugar cane is also raised to some extent. This diversity of crops and farming is seen in the thrift and prosperity of the farmers over those in sections where. an entire neighborhood is devoted to a single crop, as wheat, for instance, which every year is becoming more and more uncertain in this latitude.
The following incident was related to us, which we give as we heard it, and without any comment. Somewhere about 1840, one John Switzer came here and settled the farm now owned by R. Breeze. Here he lived until some time during the war, perhaps about 1863. One night three masked men came to his house and claimed. to be looking for refugees. There was a man named Tim-
mons at his house who was'a deserter, or sup- posed to be, from the Confederate army. This man the maskers took away with them, but soon two of them came back and robbed Switzer of all the money he had about the house or all that the rogues could find. So far as we could learn, no clew to the perpe. trators was ever unearthed. Switzer soon after sold out and left the neighborhood.
The first school, or one of the first, was taught by a man owning the uncommon name of Smith. He boarded with R. Breeze, but ran away before his school was finished without even remunerating Mr. Breeze for his board. The first schoolhouse built was on the Poston farm, and was a log cabin sixteen feet square, with slab seats, a punch- eon floor and stick chimney. The township now has six good, comfortable schoolhouses, located in Sections 2,7, 9, 13, 26 and 29, in which first-class schools are taught each year.
The first religious meetings were held at the people's houses, and were attended by everybody in reach. The organization of the first church society was at the Widow Gas- ton's. Rev. Samuel Walker, a pioneer Meth- odist minister, was the organizer of it, and among the first members were the Gaston family, Clark Casey and family, and others of the early settlers of the neighborhood. The first church was built as a schoolhouse on the farm now owned by Mr. Hails, and was a log cabin. It was used both for school and church purposes. Mrs. Gaston's house was finally burned, and as the church had been organized at her house, this old church and schoolhouse was now given her as a res- idence. The first building put up for a church exclusively was a Methodist Church called Pisgah. It was a frame edifice, and was built about 1852. It is still standing, but has been purchased by the township and converted into a schoolhouse.
391
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Gilead Methodist Episcopal Church on Section 5, in the north part of the township, is the only church building, but several of the schoolhouses are used more or less as places of worship. A good Sunday school is kept up in the township, at the voting place near the center, under the superintend- ence of Mr. E. S. Noleman.
There is not a railroad nor a town or vil- lage in Grand Prairie Township. It is de- cidedly an agricultural region. The people.
however, do not need towns, as they have a number in close proximity on the Illinois Central Railroad, which passes near them. Richview and Irvington are near by, and even Centralia is but a few miles distant, and thus they have town facilities without the expense of them in their own midst. At these neighboring towns they do their trad- ing, shipping, and even get their mail at them, as there is not even a post office within the limits of the township.
CHAPTER XVI .*
MCCLELLAN TOWNSHIP-INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTION-TOPOGRAPHY-EARLY SETTLEMENT -TRIALS, HARDSHIPS AND GOOD TIMES-PIONEER IMPROVEMENTS-ROADS, BRIDGES AND MILLS - EDUCATION, SCHOOLHOUSES AND TEACHERS - EARLY CHURCHES-TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS, ETC., ETC.
" Everything has changed so much
Since sixty years ago." - The Pioneer.
TN our systems of agriculture, we are ex- 1 hansting our soils, regardless of the les. sons which the history of by-gone peoples teach us, and with no thought of the perils which the present system of robbing the soil will inflict upon future generations, when barren fields shall fail to yield the necessary food for the teeming population which our vast resources of fertile land is so rapidly calling into existence. The exhaustion of soil in this country is being accomplished much more rapidly than was the case with older nations centuries ago. We are living in a faster age, in a time when the means of transportation are so much superior to those of former times, as not to admit of compari- son. The markets of the whole world are
open to the products of our fields, and we are taxing our soil to its ntmost capacity in order to meet the demand, without making judicious use of the means at hand to re- place what this continual drain is taking from the land. The almost inexhaustible fertility of the soil, especially the soil of Illi- nois, which has been spoken of much and praised so highly, is already being shown to be something of an idle boast. The prairie land as a general thing looks much richer than it really is, and most of the cultivated fields at the present time would respond gratefully to a liberal application of barn yard litter. This is an agricultural section; this township is devoted wholly to farming, and the above remarks are applicable and should be heeded by the farmers. All the manure and refuse matter about the barns should be carefully preserved and spread upon the fields. Because land is still fresh
* By W. H. Perrin.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
1
and productive is no reason why it should not . be manured and improved. There is nothing like beginning in time to improve the quality of the land and of restoring its exhausted strength. McClellan Township lies south- west of Mount Vernon, and is bounded north by Shiloh Township; east by Dodds; south by Elk Prairie; west by Blissville; and is designated as Township 3 south, Range 2 east. It is diversified between woodland and prairie, and somewhat rough and broken along the streams. The prairies are all small, and are Town Prairie, named for the ยท county seat; Wolf Prairie in the southwest part, together with a portion of Elk Prairie which extends into it. The timber is mostly hickory, oak, ash, wild cherry, wal- nut, etc. Along the streams the timber orig- inally was rather heavy. but much of it has disappeared before the woodman's ax. The principal water-course is Big Muddy Creek, which flows in a southward direction almost through the center of the township, and Rayse Creek, passing through the southwest corner, and emptying into Big Muddy a half mile north of the township line. A few small and nameless branches feed this stream and contribute their share to the drainage of the township.
The first settlement in this township was among the first in the county. Isaac and William Hicks settled in the northeast part in the fall of 1817. The Hickses were na- tives of South Carolina, but had been living down on the Ohio River for some time before coming here. Isaac Hicks had a son- Thomas-born soon after he moved here, and supposed to have been the first child born in the county. He (Isaac Hicks) was an exem- plary man and a member of the Baptist Church. John Lee came in 1819, and was from Tennessee, but was a native of South Carolina. He settled where his son, John
Lee, now lives, and had a large family of children. Israel Lanier was, perhaps, the next settler in the township to the Hickses, but of him we learned little beyond his set- tlement. A man named John Stillwell came about 1821 and settled in what is now MeClellan Township. He is described as quite a sociable sort of a man, one who cared little for the world's wealth and took but little pains to accumulate property. He was fond of hunting, and to range the woods with his gun upon his shoulder was the sum total of his earthly happiness. But once upon a time he took his last hunt. He and the Abbotts went into the woods one day in pursuit of game in the vicinity of John Lee's, and during the day he became separated from them. This caused no uneasiness, as he was an experi- enced woodsman, and they expected him to make his appearance at any time. But a heavy snow storm came on, and when his prolonged absence had excited strong ap- prehensions of his safety, search was made. He was never found, however, and the sup- position was that he became confused in the snow storm, lost his course and wandered about until he perished with the cold, or else fell a prey to wolves. Several years after, a gun barrel was found in Elk Prairie together with a few bones. These were always believed to be poor Stillwell's. After search for him was given up, a little fund was raised by the neighbors for his wife, and she returned to Indiana, whence they had come.
James Dickens settled here about 1821-22, in Section 12, and was a cooper by trade. He started a cooper shop in 1825-26, and did a considerable business in that line. He, too, was quite a hunter, and spent much time in the woods. He afterward moved up and for some time had charge of Tunstall's mill. His death is described as novel and peculiar. He was at the house of one Harlow, at some kind
393
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
of a public gathering, and while at dinner choked to death with a piece of pie. It seems he was a rather rapid and hearty eater, and having his mouth well filled with pie, something amusing occurred, when throwing back his head to laugh, the pie went the wrong way, choking him, and he died at the table in a very few minutes.
William and Jonathan Wells came into the township in 1823 and settled in Wolf Prairie. Jonathan was a blacksmith and had the first shop in the township. He did the work for the entire community for sev- eral miles around. William Wells, Jr., still lives in the township and is in good circum- stances. Simon Mcclellan settled here in 1823, on the place now owned by Samuel Jones, and it is said the township was named for him He has a son now living in Texas. Other additions to the settlement of the township were James Quinn, James Bodine, Philip Osborne, Joseph Hays, Solomon Ford, Thomas Porter, and perhaps others. whose names we have failed to obtain. Quinn came in 1826 and settled in the north part of Elk Prairie, where his son Washing- ton now lives. Bodine settled near Quinn and is still living.
Osborne first settled in Dodds Township, but moved into this about 1830 and settled in the north part of Elk Prairie. Hays set. tled on the place where Dickens had lived. His death is supposed to have been the first to occur in the township. He was among the early pioneers laid away to their last sleep in Old Union Cemetery. Ford settled in the western part of the township and is still alive, and one of the old landmarks of the county. Proctor came in 1830; he was a plain farmer and lived well.
The pioneers lived what we would term, in this fast age, a hard life, but most of the few still left will tell you that times gener.
ally were better than they are now; that peo ple were more social, more disposed to help one another, far inore honest and confiding than in the present degenerate times. A neighborhood was a kind of brotherhood-a mystic band of Freemasons, ever ready to lend a helping hand to the needy. They were brave, generous and strictly honest, and despised meanness in any shape it might present itself. It was true there were neigh- borhoods with a rough element in them al- ways ready for a disturbance. These, upon the slightest provocation, would get up a tight, and in the old rough-and-tumble- knock-down-and-drag-out style. Yet, the fight once over, they were ready to drink friends, get roaring drunk and savagely friendly. The bill of fare was often meager, and consisted of coarse and homely food. The pioneer's rifle supplied the meat; bread was provided often from meal pounded in a mortar. In summer, there were plenty of berries on the prairies and in the woods, and crab apples and wild plums were abundant. Crab apples were gathered and buried in the ground for winter use. These, cooked in honey, made delicious preserves, aud wild honey was plenty and to be had for the finding. Thus the life of the pioneers passed, if not always in peace and plenty, at least enjoyable to a certain degree.
Among the pioneer improvements of Mc- Clellan Township were roads and mills. The first roads were merely by-paths through the forests and over the prairies. As the people increased in wealth and provided themselves with wagons and teams, roads became neces- sarv. and were made by cutting out the tim- ber along these trails where they passed through the forests. At first and for a num- ber of years there were no bridges over the streams, but as [the people could afford it, bridges were built and travel thus rendered
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
more safe. There are now some three or four substantial bridges spanning the streams in the township.
One of the first mills was a little horse- mill built by Jonathan Wells, which had a capacity of only a few bushels of corn per day. Prior to this, some of the early settlers used to go to the Ohio River near Barker's Ferry to mill. A number of neighbors would join together, and with teams and pack horses take the corn of the neighborhood and get meal in return. It took about three weeks to make a trip, and while they were gone the men who were left in the settle- ments would visit every family daily to see that they were not molested by Indians or wild beasts. This means of procuring the " staff of life" was resorted to until mills at home rendered it no longer necessary. A saw mill was started in the township a few years ago, and sawed up considerable of the timber, which was used mostly by the people on their farms.
John Lee put up a distillery in 1866, which he used exclusively in distilling fruit. It closed business in 1878, and, to the credit of the township be it said, it is the only en- terprise of the kind ever within its limits.
To educate the masses is the grand aim of this great country of ours. That every child shall have a chance to obtain an education is the great object of our excellent common school system, and the times are near at hand when every child will not only have a chance, but will be compelled to attend school. Many of the States are passing compulsory educa- tional laws, and soon these laws will be en- forced. This is as it should be, for, while education leads to enlightenment and pros- perity, ignorance is a direct road to crime and all sorts of lawlessness.
The people of Mcclellan Township took an early interest in educating their children.
When the settlements were still very sparse, schools were established. These were rude, when compared to our present system, but they were better than no schools at all. The first teacher, or one of the first to wield the birch in this section was Judge Bangh. He taught in a small log cabin on J. W. Lee's farm. It was of small round logs, about 18x20 feet in dimensions, and had been built by the Christian Church for a temple of worship in 1837. A second schoolhouse was built on Silas Rogers' place very early. At present there are six schoolhouses in the township, conveniently located, comfortable in arrange- ment and well furnished. They are located respectively on Sections 1, 8, 14, 17, 24 and 26. In these, schools are maintained each year for the usual terms.
There are not many church buildings in the township, but it does not follow that the people are not religiously inclined. Several of the schoolhouses are used for church and Sunday school purposes The first church edifice erected was the one already referred to as having been used for school purposes. It was, as already stated, erected by the . Christian denomination, and among the early members were John Lee and wife, Rev. William Chaffin and family-they were from an adjoining township-and John Scott and family, from what is now Dodds Township. The Christians now have a church in Wolf Prairie-a frame building about 40x60 feet. Services are held in it every Sunday, either by the Christians, Baptists, Methodists or Universalists. A Sunday school is carried on, which is attended and supported by all denominations.
John A Merrill was a clerical fraud in the early days of the township. He came into the community early and represented himself as a Baptist preacher. He stopped at Isaac Hicks', and held meetings in the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
neighborhood for several days. While this was going on, he stole Hicks' books, passed several dollars of counterfeit money, and. instead of making himself the exemplary shepherd of a flock, he turned out to be one of the very blackest sheep.
McClellan Township is thoroughly an ag- ricultural region. The people are beginning to pay some attention to stock aud to fruit. It was for many years that sheep could not be raised on account of the wolves, and even now the worthless dogs of the county prey on them nearly as fatally as the wolves used to do. The early settlers in- vented many devices for ridding themselves of the wolves that infested the country in the early days, and trapping wolves and wolf hunts were among the most exciting sports of the pioneer. After a premium was offered for wolf scalps, the animals began to disappear rapidly. As the dangers from them were lessened, farmers paid more atten- tion to sheep raising. Were they to carry it still further, it would be so much the bet- ter for them. There is but little question that Southern Illinois is better adapted to sheep than wheat raising. The sooner the farmers here turn their attention to stock and fruit, the more remunerative they will find their farms.
As a matter of some interest to our read- ers, we append a list of township officers since township organization, which took place in 1869. The first officers, however, were elected the next year. The list is as follows:
Supervisors .- W. A. Davis, 1870; D. C. Jones, 1871 to 1873; L. Allen, 1874; S. Ford, 1875; S. Allen, 1876 to 1878; W. A. Davis, 1879-SO; D. C. Jones, 1881; W. A. Davis, 1882; and E. Collins, 1883.
Town Clerk .- W. A. Davis, 1872-73; J. M. Hays, 1874-75; D. Millner, 1876; R. A.
Dale, 1877; T. B. Ford, 1878-79; R. A. Dale, 1880-81; J. M. Hays, 1882; and R. A. Dale, 1883.
Assessors. - J. W. Bradly, 1872; J. P. Downer, 1873; W. A. Davis, 1874; J. W. Robinson, 1875; J. M. Hays, 1876; V. G. Rosenberger, 1877; G. W. Bodine, 1878; J. M. Hays, 1879-SO; J. W. Davis, 1881; G. W. Bodine, 1882; J. M. Hays, 1883.
Collectors .- J. E. Farthing, 1872; J. C. Quinn, 1873; V. G. Rosenberger, 1874 to 1876; G. W. Bodine, 1877; G. W. Dicker- son, 1878; G. W. Bodine, 1879; A. Barrister, 1SS0; G. W. Bodine, 1881; J. E. Gilbert, 1882; J. W. Davis, 1883.
School Treasurers .- J. W. Mayfield, 1872 to 1878; Thomas Gray, 1879; J. W. May- field, 1880 to 1883.
Highway Commissioners. - Benjamin Pars- ley, 1872; Samuel Lacy, 1873; S. E. Gil- bert, 1874: J. E. Farthing, 1875; Samuel Lacy, 1876; H. Mclaughlin, 1877; J. D. Quinn, 1878; J. M. Rutherford, 1879; S. Ford, 1880; J. M. Hicks, 1881; E. Collins, 1882; and G. A. Lambert, 1883.
Justices of the Peace .- John W. Hagle and S. Reeves, 1870; Peter A. Bean and S. Reeves, 1872; E. W. Gilbert and D. S. Gray, 1874 to 1876; W. A. Davis and D. S. Gray, 1877 to 1880; J. M. Rutherford and W. A. Davis, 1881 to 1883.
McClellan Township is without villages, towns, manufactories or railroads. Its ship- ping point is Mount Vernon, which is but a mile or two from the northeast corner of the township, and by hauling to that city rail. road facilities can be obtained for all the best markets of the country. To sum it up, the farmers of Mcclellan Township have a prosperous future before them, and they only need to be true to themselves and to guard their interests faithfully to reap a golden harvest at no distant period. They have
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
good lands and valuable farms, and must sooner or later attain all else that is desira- ble, if they only work to their own advan-
tage. To this end, then, they should look more to stock-raising and fruit-growing and less to grain.
CHAPTER XVII .*
FIELD TOWNSHIP-TOPOGRAPHICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, PHYSICAL, ETC .- SETTLEMENT BY WHITE PEOPLE-LIFE ON THE BORDER-EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES-CHURCHES AND CHURCH
BUILDINGS-AN INCIDENT-TOWNSHIP OFFICERS-SUMMARY, ETC., ETC.
" And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb." -Holmes.
N the rush of invention and discovery, I men give but little time or care to the preservation of facts and incidents that ren- der history valuable and instructive. As the period of mortality shortens, activity in- creases and selfishness becomes a predominat- ing motive. The dead and the past are too quickly forgotten in the hurry of the present and the anxiety for the future. But the re- flecting mind always derives satisfaction in reviving the events of preceding years and forming a mental contrast between the then and now. Could we but again go back to our boyhood days, and handle the old wood- en plow, the sickle and cradle, and once more listen to the hum of the spinning-wheel in the old log cabin, after so long enjoying the ben- efits of modern implements and machinery, it would seem to us impossible that the people of the olden time could live as contentedly as they did. But the old settlers have, many of them, passed away. The slow plodding ox team has given place to the more rapid Norman span. The reaping-hook of our fathers has become a curiosity to our chil-
dren. And so in their turn, perchance, our grandchildren may laugh and wonder at the implements and machinery which we now use and consider so perfect. The methods of harvesting and machinery in use by the com- ing generation may put our boasted self- binders and steam threshers to shame. These changes are inseparably blended with the changes in population and with the progress in civilization and social life. It is the duty and task of the historian to make note of all these transitions, and the history of Field Township would be imperfect without this reference to the old-time ways and customs, which are yet dear to the memory of many still living.
Field Township is situated in the north tier of townships, and is bounded on the north by Marion County, on the east by Far- rington Township, on the south by Mount Vernon Township, on the west by Rome Township, and is Congressionally known as Township 1 south of the base line, and Range 3 east, of the Third Principal Meridian. It is divided between woodland and prairie, the former predominating. The timber is mostly oak and hickory, with a few other kinds common to this section of the country. Casey's Fork of the Big Muddy is the princi- pal stream, and flows south through the west
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