USA > Illinois > McLean County > History of McLean County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 2
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE PRESS.
FIRST NEWSPAPER-BLOOMINGTON OBSERVER-THE PANTAGRAPH-DAILY BUL- LETIN-OTHER NEWSPAPERS-LABOR ORGANS-NEWSPAPERS IN THE COUNTY-OTHER WEEKLY AND MONTHLY PUBLICATIONS-SCHOOL PERIOD- ICALS.
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
CHAPTER XXIV.
COUNTY AND OTHER OFFICERS.
CIRCUIT JUDGES-CIRCUIT CLERKS-SHERIFFS SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS- STATE'S ATTORNEYS-COUNTY JUDGES-PROBATE JUDGE AND CLERK- COUNTY CLERK - TREASURERS - RECORDERS - SURVEYORS - CORONERS- STATE SENATORS STATE REPRESENTATIVES-OTHER STATE AND FED- ERAL OFFICERS FROM MCLEAN COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXV.
WORLD WAR.
UNITED STATES ENTERS WAR-SOME OF THE THINGS MCLEAN COUNTY DID- THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES-DRAFT BOARDS-RED CROSS-RELIEF ASSOCIATIONS- LOAN CAMPAIGNS-FOOD CONSERVATION - WOMEN IN SERVICE-COUNCIL OF DEFENSE-FOOD ADMINISTRATION-FUEL ADMINIS- TRATION-GENERAL HARBARD-FOUR-MINUTE MEN.
CHAPTER XXVI.
AMERICAN LEGION.
ORGANIZED HERE-NAMED IN HONOR OF LOUIS E. DAVIS-FIRST OFFICERS- INCREASE IN MEMBERSHIP-STATE HEADQUARTERS IN BLOOMINGTON- OFFICERS-WOMEN'S AUXILIARY-POSTS IN McLEAN COUNTY-WORLD WAR VETERANS.
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
CHAPTER XXVII.
HOSPITALS AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL-BROKAW HOSPITAL-MENNONITE SANITARIUM-JESSA- MINE WITHERS HOME-VICTORY HALL-DAY NURSERY-HOME FOR COL- ORED CHILDREN-THE BABYFOLD-GIRLS' INDUSTRIAL HOME-FAIRVIEW SANITORIUM-SALVATION ARMY-BUREAU OF SOCIAL SERVICE.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE.
FIRST ORGANIZATION-BUSINESS MEN'S ASSOCIATION-EARLY OFFICERS-SECRE- TARY HUDSON-ACTIVITIES OF ASSOCIATION-VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS- INFLUENCE-MEMBERSHIP 824-COMMITTEES-DIRECTORS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
FARMERS ORGANIZATIONS.
BETTER FARMING ASSOCIATION FORMED-D. O. THOMPSON'S WORK-NAME CHANGED TO FARM BUREAU-OFFICERS-MEMBERSHHIP-POULTRY SHOW- SWINE BREEDERS' ASSOCIATIONS-SHORTHORN CATTLE, JERSEY CATTLE AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS-FEDERAL LOANS-PRODUCER'S MARKET- FARMERS GRAIN DEALERS ASSOCIATION.
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
CHAPTER XXX.
HOME BUREAU.
PERMANENTLY ORGANIZED-FIRST OFFICERS-BRANCHES-VARIETY OF WORK- MONTHLY BULLETIN-VARIOUS ACTIVITIES.
CHAPTER XXXI.
LIBRARIES OF THE COUNTY.
FIRST COLLECTION OF BOOKS-EARLY LIBRARIES-BLOOMINGTON AND McLEAN COUNTY LIBRARY-LADIES' LIBRARY ASSOCIATION-WITHERS' LIBRARY- WESLEYAN AND ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL LIBRARIES-C. & A. LIBRARY- OTHER LIBRARIES.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME.
HAD INCEPTION HERE-ESTABLISHED IN 1865-LOCATION CONTESTED-TEMPO- RARY HOME OPENED IN 1867-EARLY SUPERINTENDENTS RALPH SPAF- FORD-MANAGING OFFICER.
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
CHAPTER XXXIII.
McLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ORGANIZED IN 1892-FIRST PRESIDENT-OTHER OFFICERS-FIRST VOLUME PUBLISHED-SECOND VOLUME-INCORPORATED IN 1901-OFFICERS-IN Mc- BARNES MEMORIAL BUILDING-HISTORICAL COLLECTION-MEETINGS.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
MISCELLANEOUS.
McBARNES MEMORIAL BUILDING-COURT HOUSES-COUNTY JAILS-MOTOR CAR AND ERA OF PAVED ROADS.
CHAPTER XXXV.
MISCELLANEOUS, CONTINUED.
EXTINCT TOWNS AND VILLAGES-POLITICAL HISTORY-POPULATION STATISTICS- INTERESTING FACTS.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Adams Branch, Scene on
104
Adams, Ira D.
816
Anderson, Millard F.
1044
Arrowsmith, Mr. and Mrs. James A. 1240
Augustine, A. M.
449
Augustine, Henry
448
Beller, Andrew
824
Bellflower, High School at
176
Bent, Horatio G.
520
Blooming Grove Marker
81
Bloomington High School
169
Bracken, William K.
808
Braley, Theodore A.
584
Brand, Rev. and Mrs. E. P.
472
Britt, Mr. and Mrs. John C.
1116
Brokaw Hospital
321
Buck Memorial Library
185
Buck, Mr. and Mrs. T. L.
904
Builta, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick
1256
Champion, Thomas E.
424
Chapin, Charles E.
624
Chenoa School Building
120
Colaw, William and Amos
952
Consistory Building
336
Country Club
104
Court House
65
Crumbaugh, Amanda M.
1077
Crumbaugh, J .H. L.
1077
Crumbaugh, Residence of Mr. and
Mrs. Hiram H.
1077
Curry, A. Bernice
944
Davis, David
793
Davis, Judge David
257
Davis, George P.
792
Dawson, O. F. and Family
680
Dooley, George E.
1184
Dooley, Rose L. West
1184
Downey, M, R.
776
Dunlap, Oliver W.
496
Edwards, Mr. and Mrs. William H ._ 672
Fairview Sanitorium
331
Fell Memorial Gateway
192
Felmley, David
488
Fisher, Frank C.
1168
FitzHenry, Louis
1
I
1063
Fitzpatrick, John
F.
1192
1
Flesher, E. L.
1
864
Forrest, John
1252
Franklin, Noah
656
1
1
Gerken, William A.
752
I
Gillespie, Frank M.
936
1
1
Gillespie, Park C.
480
1
1
1
Goodwin, John A.
784
1
I
1
Graves, Clinton E.
856
Green, Benoni S. 744 1 J 1 1
Hall, C. S.
712
Hall, Rachel S.
713
Halsey, Mr. and Mrs. Alex.
1068
Hanna, George S.
736
Harris, John C.
872
Hart, Edson B.
624
Hart, Harley H.
624
Harwood, Thomas F.
600
Harwood, Thomas Fitch
600
Harwood, Willis S.
600
Hasbrouck, Jacob L.
Frontispiece
Hawks, Joseph K. P.
624
Hay, Louis C.
632
Heafer and Company, Edgar M.
1081
Heafer, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar M.
1080
Hill, Dr. and Mrs. William
592
Hilpert, Mr. and Mrs. John W.
1112
Hilton, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob N.
576
Holton, Thomas T.
504
Howell, Vinton E.
439
Illinois State Normal University 192
Illinois Wesleyan, North Building.
185
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
Illinois Wesleyan, Main Building
185
Indignation Meeting-1865
152
Johnson, Dr. L. M. Hospital
1232
Jones, R. G.
1024
Keiser, Henry
705
Kelso, George B.
1088
Kennedy, Thomas
400
Kerrick, Thomas C.
394
Kickapoo Indian Fort Marker
96
Kilgore, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B
616
Klein, John
768
Koch, Christian F.
1056
Krum, Mr. and Mrs. R. S.
1224
LamBeau, V. E. J.
912
Lawrence, Mr. and Mrs. C. B.
1264
i .e Roy, High School at
176
Lexington Public School
120
Long, Mr. and Mrs. W. G.
648
McBarnes Memorial Building
373
McCann, B. H.
1040
McDowell, Samuel K.
528
McFee, Pulaski and Family
1128
McNemar, Sarah E.
664
McNutt, J. C.
920
Main Street, Bloomington
128
Mandel, Oscar
1096
Maurice, Thomas W.
1272
Meadows Manufacturing Company
.1136
Meyer, A. W.
1144
Miller Park Views
368
Miller, Samuel
969
Moon, Mr. and Mrs. John 1052
Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Q.
440
Morrison, Mr. and Mrs. J. E.
536
Neal, Mr. and Mrs. Rolla B.
552
Normal High School
175
Oberkoetter, Frank
1176
Oberkoetter Frank, Sr.
1176
O'Donnell, James F.
1152
Olson, Ola and Family
1120
O'Neil, Mr. and Mrs. D. M.
560
Patton-Pierson House
72
Peasley, Granville and Family
1048
Peasley, Isaac N.
960
Peterson, Albert W.
1160
Pierson, Arthur Van Dyke
640
Porter, James and Rachel
544
Public Buildings, Bloomington
240
Punke, Mr. and Mrs. Gustave
848
Quinn, M. F.
1032
Rhodes, O. M.
1100
Richmond Family, Joseph E.
464
Rigby, Della H.
568
Riley, James F.
608
Risser, Mr. and Mrs. Peter
1104
Risser, Residence of Peter
1104
Robinson, James Edwin
512
Rocke, John
1136
Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley H.
1124
Russum, C. H.
1060
Rust, Florinda
Bishop
1008
Rust, Thomas J.
1008
Ryburn, Edward
1072
Sailor, Daniel D.
880
Saxton, J. F. and Family
1248
Schad, W. D.
1016
Schultz, Residence of L. J.
832
Sellers, George M.
1200
Service Flag, Dedication of
296
Shade, C. W.
984
Shorthose, Frank E.
432
Sloan, Edwin P.
720
Smith, John R.
416
Smith Library, Lexington
357
Soldiers Orphans Home Gymnasium 361
Soper, Clinton P.
728
Stanford Community High School.
180
Stevenson, Adlai E.
256
Stevenson, Letitia Green
928
Stevenson, Lewis Green
928
St. Joseph's Church, Chenoa
840
St. Joseph's Hospital
319
St. Patrick's Church
1193
Stubblefield, Mr. and Mrs. D. R.
1208
Sweeting, Frank E.
1064
Swinehart, Mr. and Mrs. George
888
Sylvester Family, Thomas
456
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
Thompson, O. M. 1092
Trotter Fountain
352
Umstattd, Residence of Charles F ._ 1260
Vrooman, Carl
800
Wakefield, Cyrenius
408
Ward, J. F.
760
West, Martha O'Neal 1216
West, Simeon H. 1216
Wiley, J. J., and Residence 992
Williams, C. C. 976
Wissmiller, Jacob
1000
Withers Public Library
352
Y. M. C. A. Building
208
LIBRARY OF THE watis Số Allemal
MeLEANN COUNTY COURT HOUSE, BLOOMINGTON.
-
-
History of McLean County
CHAPTER I.
PRIMITIVE McLEAN COUNTY.
McLEAN COUNTY A CENTURY AGO AND NOW-SOIL, TOPOGRAPHY AND VEGETA- TION - N - ANIMAL LIFE - INDIANS - KICKAPOOS MOST NUMEROUS - CHIEF MACHINA-OTHER TRIBES-INDIAN SETTLEMENTS-REMOVAL OF INDIANS TO THE WEST.
Two airplanes sailed over central Illinois, 100 years apart in time. Of course, the first of these was purely mythical, for there were no air- planes in the world 100 years ago. But imagination can serve as the pilot, and when the plane hovers over the territory which is now McLean County, we can picture in our minds the scene as the pilot would have seen it. As far as the eye could see, only stretches of prairie, broken here and there by the thread-like line of the streams and the darker patches of woods or groves. Just at the edge of Blooming Grove could be seen a curling column of smoke from the cabin of the first one or two white families who had settled there. More distant, another column of smoke from the wigwams of the Kickapoo Indians at the edge of what we call Old Town timber. Perhaps up toward the Mackinaw river might have been seen faint outlines of a camp of Delawares, last remnants of their tribe, and to the northwest the last camp of the Pottawattamies. No road or highway crossed the vast stretches of the prairie, but sloughs or ponds at intervals marked the undrained depressions in the landscape.
65
(3)
66
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
Wild animals roamed at large, but over the scene brooded a strange silence, as of expectation of the coming of the white man to take charge of this domain.
The second airplane, pausing in mid-air in the summer of 1923, saw nestling beneath him, beautiful and busy Bloomington, county seat of a populous and well-cultivated county. Just north lay embowered Normal, and as the eye of the pilot explored the more distant scene, he saw clus- ters of houses marking the site of the many villages and towns-Hudson to the north, Danvers and Carlock west, Shirley and McLean to the southwest, Heyworth to the south, Downs and Leroy southeast, Say- brook and Arrowsmith to the east, Cooksville and Colfax to the north- east, and Chenoa, Lexington and Towanda to the further north. Cross- ing the scene at many places were the well-defined roads, many of them paved, along which rolled hundreds of motor cars. Twin lines of rails marked the course of the steam and electric railroads, along which trains passed at frequent intervals. Between the railroads, highways and towns lay hundreds of farms, with their golden grain harvests just ready for the reapers, with their flocks and herds browsing in the pasture lands. Large barns and comfortable houses denoted the habitations of a well-' fed rural population, and school houses at intervals indicated the means of their enlightenment. The whole picture was of a contented and pros- perous empire where once the wilderness existed.
The part of Illinois now comprised in McLean County was and is one of the most fertile sections. It is composed of rich black alluvial soil, on which for thousands of years before it was settled by the white man had grown luxuriant crops of prairie grass. The wide spaces of open prairie were broken here and there by more rolling sections of land bor- dering along the streams, and at intervals there were groves or small forests of native trees, oaks, elms, hickory and other varieties. The prairie grass would grow from six to eight feet in height in the more watered sections. Some of the lands, on account of the lack of drainage, would in the wet seasons assume almost the character of swamps. The rank growth of grasses gave rise to great danger of prairie fires in the fall of the year when the season was dry. If started by some accidental means, even by the lightning, there was no way of stopping their spread until the white settlers grew numerous enough to offer some serious resistance. Great stretches of the prairie lands were often left black and
67
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
barren after the sweep of these fires. The fires would also invade the timber and cause the destruction of thousands of trees.
The land was not without its inhabitants even before the white set- tlers came. There were thousands of wild creatures who lived on the prairies, in the groves or along the streams. These were deer, wolves, rabbits, raccoons and probably even bear in the more distant times. Numerous kinds and numbers of wild birds furnished a sort of compan- ionship for the white settlers when they first came. But they also fur- nished a more practical assistance in the form of game and the wild meat which the settler secured with his guns and traps was his chief supply of that kind.
There were human beings here also long before the white settlers arrived. These were the Indians who roamed over these prairies and haunted the woods. There are today traces of Indian villages in some parts of the county, notably in the vicinity of Arrowsmith and in West township. The tribe of the Kickapoos were the most numerous in this immediate vicinity. They formed the first neighbors of the white settlers, and from the time when the first families of whites located in the county, until the Indian tribes finally disappeared from the scene, there was never any scene of bloodshed resulting from collisions of the two kinds of races. Machina, known as Old Machina, was the name given by the white men to the great chief of the Kickapoos who inhabited this region at first. He was pictured as a real chief in stature and bearing. He never displayed any great hostility toward the whites in the form of violence, but soon after the first families came to Blooming Grove he appeared at the settlement one day and gave them warning in his sym- bolic language that they must leave the country soon. This he did by throwing leaves into the air and letting them fall, indicating that the whites must not remain after the leaves on the trees should fall in the autumn. The warning was not heeded, and Old Machina was obliged to accept his fate. After the final dispersal of the Kickapoos from central Illinois, some people of the tribes settles in the west, and it is said that a remnant of the tribe remains there to this day.
In addition to the Kickapoos which inhabited this part of the country, there were detachments of tribes of the Delawares and the Pottawato- mies. The Kickapoos, who were living in what is now McLean County when the white settlers came, removed here from the vicinity of Danville
68
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
after a treaty in 1819 gave that territory to whites. The Indians estab- lished a village on the Mackinaw River 17 miles northeast of the present site of Bloomington.
Four localities in McLean County are notably connected with Indian history. One is in Randolph Township; one in Arrowsmith, known as the Indian battle ground; a third in West, known as the Kickapoo fort; and the fourth in Lexington township, where was a small Indian town as late as 1829. In this latter village, according to tradition, were Indians from the three tribes of the Kickapoos, the Delawares and the Potta- watomies. A Kickapoo chief, known as Ka-an-a-kuck, was famous for his religious exhortation, having become a Christian under influences of some religious sect in the East.
About 1828, the Kickapoos who had been living in McLean County, removed their headquarters to a point within the present boundaries of Livingston County, where they erected a council house and village on the east side of Indian Grove. In 1830 they removed again, to Oliver's Grove, known as Kickapoo Grove, where a census showed 630 souls, men, women and children. In 1832, the government moved the remnants of the tribes to a place west of St. Louis. The remnants of the tribe are still in Kansas, where they were visited a few years ago by Milo Custer, a local historian, who collected valuable information concerning their present ways of life.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY WHITE SETTLEMENTS.
FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 1822-PIONEER FAMILIES-BLOOMING GROVE-NATURAL RESOURCES-DIGGING SALT-SETTLERS OF 1824-1825-EARLY CONDITIONS- BREAKING THE PRAIRIE-HAVENS GROVE-STERLING QUALITIES OF PIO- NEERS-FIRST MINISTER AND ORGANIZED CHURCH-WEATHER AS A GOVERNING FACTOR-DEEP SNOW OF 1831-"BIG FREEZE" OF 1836-HARD- SHIPS OF PIONEERS-PASTIMES AND SPORTS.
It was four years after the state of Illinois had been admitted to the Union, that the first white families came to make their homes in that part of the state now known as McLean County. The state had only 45,000 people within its confines when it sought admission to the Union in 1818. At that time the settlemens were all in the southern part of the state. Vandalia had been made the state capital and also the county sea of Fay- ette County, which then included a large territory stretching far up into the central portion of the state.
John Hendrix and John M. Dawson with their families came west from Ohio in the fall of 1821 and settled in Sangamon County, which included the present area of McLean County. The following April, 1822, they moved northward, and reaching a beautiful grove of timber decided to build themselves cabins. This was the beginning of the settlement of Blooming Grove, about four miles southeast of the present site of the city of Bloomington.
One can imagine the hard conditions under which these first settlers lived. Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix were the first white couple to build a home in the Grove. Mr. Dawson came with them, but left his family in Sanga-
69
70
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
mon County. There was a man named Segar also in the party. Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix became parents of eight children. They lived on the farm where they first settled until their deaths. The Hendrix place afterward became the property of O. H. P. Orendorff. When Mr. Dawson finally brought his family to Blooming Grove, he settled on a farm afterward owned by David Cox. John Hendrix was a native of Virginia, and John W. Dawson was a native of Kentucky. They met in Ohio prior to their migration to Illinois in 1821.
The little colony at Blooming Grove formed the whole world in this vicinity, so far as white men were concerned. There were no other houses north of this settlement until Chicago were reached. A few men engaged in digging salt at where Danville now stands, and a few miners near Galena composed all the northern Illinois settlements.
Reports from this part of the country having drifted back to the older settlements, other pioneers soon began to arrive. Gardner Randolph and family came in December, 1822. In the spring of 1823, John Benson, a soldier of the war of 1812, came with his family and lived in a linn bark hut at the Grove. In the same year, the Stringfield family, consisting of the widow and her sons, Severe and Alfred, settled at what is now known as Randolph Grove.
Isaac Funk and Absalom Funk came to this county in 1824 and set- tled at the timber which became known as Funk's Grove. William and Thomas Orendorff came to Blooming Grove the year previous. Then there was an old Quaker, Ephraim Stout and his son Ephraim, Jr., settled at what became known as Stout's Grove. Robert Stubblefield and his family and Thomas O. Rutledge were among the other arrivals at about this time.
The year 1825 saw many accessions to the McLean County settle- ments. Rev. Peyton Mitchell came to Stout's Grove in March, and in the fall of the year Jonathan Cheney made a settlement at the Grove now called Cheney's Grove. William Evans, Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes and Rev. James Stringfield were others who arrived at the Blooming Grove settle- ment.
These early settlers had to live the simple life. They had to go as far as Attica, Ind., to get their grain milled. They lived largely on game and milk from their few cows, with some little flour which they ground from corn. Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes had erected a mill in the year 1825.
Breaking the tough prairie sod with the crude plows of that day was
71
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
no child's play. It required five or six yoke of oxen to draw the plow. The settlers raised their own wool and flax and wove their own cloth. The wolves were the chief enemy of the sheep. Large bounties for wolf scalps were offered by the settlers, and at last the legislature also offered rewards for killing these beasts. If the settlers succeeded in raising a number of cattle, they had to drive them to market at Pekin, Peoria or Chicago. From the very first, the Funk family were the largest cattle raisers.
The name for the first settlement came about in a natural way. There were many flowers blossoming in the Grove, and Mrs. William Oren- dorff suggested that it be called Blooming Grove. Thomas Orendorff and John Rhodes in letters written about this time first gave the name to the settlement. One story is to the effect that previously it had been called Keg Grove, because the Indians had found a keg of whiskey there.
Between the years 1823 and 1830 there were many other settlements made in various parts of what is now McLean County. In August, 1826, the Trimmer family arrived and located at Smith's grove. Jacob Spawr, who afterward became one of the oldest men in the county, at first lived with the Trimmers.
During the early summer of 1827, Stephen Webb, William McCord, George and Jacob Hinshaw settled either at Blooming Grove or Dry Grove. Matthew Robb and Robert McClure came to the county at the same time, settling at Stout's Grove. In 1828 the Francis Barnard and the Henline families settled on the north of the Mackinaw river on Hen- line creek. The Conger family settled near Stout's Grove the same year.
The year 1830 saw important accessions to the county settlements. Jesse Havens settled at a grove near where Hudson now stands and which became known as Havens Grove. Benjamin Wheeler also settled there. Most of the early settlers chose the timber tracts for settlement, owing to their natural protection from storm, wild animals and Indians. At that time nobody thought the prairie would ever be settled up at all.
From the earliest days, the population of McLean County has been known for its strong and substantial character, its religious cast, if you please. This may be due in large part to the sterling qualities of the first settlers. John Hendrix was a deeply religious man, and the first church services held in this county were held at his home, conducted by Rev. James Stringfield. Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes, the first minister who settled at Blooming Grove, in 1824, soon organized a congregation of eight per-
72
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
sons who held regular meetings and formed the first organized church in this county.
In the earlier settlement of this state there was a class of immigrants who formed a floating population. They never stayed long at any one place. They drifted about seeking the easiest places to eke out a preca- rious livelihood. This class of settlers did not find much welcome in the Blooming Grove neighborhood. Messrs. Hendrix, Dawson and the others wanted men and women of substantial character to come and live here, and these always found genuine welcome and what help could be afforded them in getting established. By the time of the organization of the county government, there were several hundreds of families, nearly all of this solid and substantial character.
So near to nature did the early settlers live,that the weather was one of the governing factors of their lives. Therefore any great natural phe- nomenon was recorded in their memories. One of these great red letter events was the deep snow of the winter of 1830-31. The weather during the fall had been dry and so continued until late in the winter, with mild temperature. But in the latter part of December there came a snow the .like of which none of the settlers had ever known. It snowed from four to six feet deep all over the landscape. The settlers were literally penned in their cabins, and could do little but grind their corn to eat and keep their wood fire burning to keep warm. A great deal of stock was frozen to death. Deer grew tame, and wolves came to the settlement for pro- tection and to scout for food. Stories of the "deep snow" formed a stock in trade for reminiscences by the old settlers until all the generation who had remembered it had passed away. In the spring of 1831, when the snow melted, the whole country was covered with sloughs and ponds.
Another of the natural phenomena which created a lasting impres- sion on the early settlers was the big freeze of December, 1836. The weather had been mild, with rains following the snows, changing to slush. One afternoon the temperature dropped 60 degrees in a few hours, fall- ing from 40 above to 20 below zero. The country assumed the aspect of the arctic regions. Stock and men alike who were caught out in the storm were frozen to death if they were unable to reach shelter. Chick- ens were frozen fast in their tracks, and great suffering resulted to man and beast.
The families who first settled this county came here with little or no money. In spite of this fact, with their own hands they wrung from
1
L
JU.C.
S
2.
-
5
THE PATTON-PIERSON HOUSE, SECTION 22, LEXINGTON TOWNSHIP, BUILT BY JOHN PATTON IN 1829, SUPPOSED TO BE THE OLDEST HOUSE IN THE COUNTY IS STILL STANDING.
L OF INE
73
HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY
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.