History of Mercer County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., gathered from mattter furnished by the Mercer County Historical Society, interviews with old settlers, county, township and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources as have been available : containing also a short history of Henderson County, Part 16

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 904

USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., gathered from mattter furnished by the Mercer County Historical Society, interviews with old settlers, county, township and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources as have been available : containing also a short history of Henderson County > Part 16

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A railroad from Warsaw to Rockford having been projected to run through Keithsburg, November 4, 1855, the town unanimously voted to subscribe $20,000 to the capital stock of the company. The work of grading was commenced in 1856, B. P. Frick and J. C. Cabeen having the contract from Warsaw to Keithsburg, the former taking charge of the construction at this end of the route and the latter at the other. To settle all doubt as to the legality of the subscription and to make it available, an act of the legislature chartering the town was procured, with a special provision legalizing the subscription and authorizing the issue of bonds. This was approved February 16, 1857, and on the 4th of May following an ordinance was passed directing the presi- dent of the board of trustees to subscribe to the stock of the Warsaw & Rockford Railroad Company in the above-mentioned sum, and em- powering that officer and the clerk to execute the bonds of the town, due in twenty years, with interest at the rate of ten per cent, payable semi-annually. They were to be delivered as work upon the road progressed, to pay the assessments upon the stock taken by the town, and on the 1st day of June eight bonds for $1,000 each were issued. On the 16th four of them were passed over to B. P. Frick, and on the 10th of July the remaining four were surrendered to the same person. In this last month the company failed, and work on the road was permanently suspended. No part of the route was finished. Below Sagetown some bridging was done, but as the contractors were never paid for the bridges these were afterward taken down.

The corporation paid the interest on the indebtedness made in aid of this railroad until the hardship prompted the town to resist further collection, and in 1863 suit was brought in the circuit court of Mercer

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county and carried to the supreme court of the state, from which a writ of mandamus was procured, compelling the town to levy a tax to meet this obligation. In 1874 one of these bonds was paid and canceled, the second in 1876; and August 3, 1877, a corporation election was held to vote on the question of a new issue to retire the six then out- standing. A unanimous vote of forty-seven decided this in the affirma- tive, and on the first day of December the bonds were issued in denominations of $100. Next year ten of these were redeemed, leaving the presented bonded debt of the town $5,000.

Hiram W. Thornton, last president of the Warsaw & Rockford railroad, brought suit against the company for services and obtained judgment ; and when the road was sold under execution he bought the grading and has since disposed of it piecemeal at private sale. The Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis railroad having been projected with the intention of running the line through Keithisburg, a part of the road-bed of the Warsaw & Rockford was purchased by this company.

To preserve the continuity of events it is necessary to say that in 1869, through the exertions of Col. Isaac MeManus, state senator from the fourteenth district, a charter for the Dixon & Quincy railroad was obtained, with the ulterior design, no doubt, of transferring it to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy corporation. The Dixon & Quincy

company was forthwith organized with Col. McManus as president, and on the 18th of May a special election was held in Keithsburg to decide whether the township should take $35,000 of stock in the road, the bonds covering the subscription not to be issued until there should be a running connection by rail from Keithsburg to lines con- necting with Chicago. This was favorably determined by a vote of 229 against 11. Abington township also voted to subscribe $10,000 to the capital stock of the company.

Subsequent to these elections a meeting of the directors was held in Chicago, at which a very warm discussion took place regarding the transfer of the charter. A representative was present from each of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis companies. McManus was still interested in behalf of the former, but when the vote was taken his object was defeated, the rest of the board voting solidly to turn over the subscriptions to the other corporation on condition that it give to Keithsburg railway connection with Chicago by the way of Rockford.

To be certain that this proceeding was satisfactory to the people, the directors caused a special election to be called for the 4th of Octo- ber, and submitted the proposition to recall the aid formerly voted to the Dixon & Quincy, and to grant the same amount to the Rockford,

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Rock Island & St. Louis railroad. This was understood by the directors themselves to be simply informal and without legal conse- quence. as the charter invested the board with full power in the premises. Their action was endorsed by 197 against 5.

From the moment the assignment of the subscriptions was made. work on the Rockford. Rock Island & St. Louis road was pushed north. from Sagetown (now Gladstone) with great vigor ; and December 14, 1869, the first locomotive ran into this town amidst the ringing of bells. the firing of anvils, and the blowing of steam whistles. Very little, if any, aid, except that guaranteed by these two townships, had been secured upon this route ; but about this time Warren county ten- dered a liberal donation upon condition that the road should be built through Monmouth, and this had the effect to divert the line at Bush- nell from the contemplated course, and to break off construction sud- denly at this point. The grading had been done between here and the American Central railway, but the iron was not down. and the bridge which had been erected over Pope creek was partly washed out, when the remainder was removed. The terminal depot was built on the eastern verge of the town, and up to 1877 this was the river branch of the main line.

This action of the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Company in changing their road left the Dixon & Quincy Company in a position to- make a new arrangement, and the matter slumbered until the summer of 1870, when it was revived by Theodore Glancy. The result of this fresh agitation was that the directors held a meeting and passed a reso- lution to open the books for new subscriptions. Gen. A. C. Harding, of Monmouth, appeared at this meeting and subscribed an amount sufficient to give him control of the affairs of the company ; and immediately a new board of directors was elected. of which Harding, by virtue of his power, became president, when he filled the other positions according to his own caprice. But the general refused to proceed with the construction of the road until the bonds should be issued, and toward the close of the year 1870 a citizens' meeting was. held at which H. S. Scott, William Willett and C. C. Matlock were appointed custodians to hold them in trust and to deliver them to Harding when the road should be completed from Keithsburg to the American Central railroad. C. S. Orth, heading the opposition, sued out an injunction to restrain the issuance and delivery of the bonds, and before service could be had on Matlock, the supervisor, the latter, notwithstanding he had promised not to evade service of the writ, hastened off to Monmouth and turned them over to Harding, taking the general's bond for $70,000, binding him to surrender them to the

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township in the event that the road should not be built between the points above-named by the first of January, 1871.

It is said that it was never contemplated to build this road; that while the ostensible purpose was to lay a track between the two cities named in the charter, the real object was to construct only the six-mile section from Keithsburg to the American Central railway. Whatever may have been the covert design. this was all that was done. The work was performed late in 1870 with the capital and by the construction company of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, the deception being kept up meantime until the Dixon & Quincy corpo- ration could secure the township bonds, which were the great prize that at last fell into Harding's hands for disposal. It is alleged that all that was asked of the general by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, was to obtain for that corporation the right of way. which he did for something less than $3,000.

Trains ran into Keithsburg over this short line on January 1, 1871. At the annual township election, in April of this year. Benijah Lloyd was elected to succeed C. C. Matlock as supervisor; on the 11th he qualified, and the following day demanded the books and papers belonging to the office. A few hours previous to this demand Matlock certified to the auditor of state that the township bonds issued to the Dixon & Quincy Railroad Company were entitled to registration. These bonds. seventy in number, were for $500 each, bearing ten per cent interest, dated November 1, 1870. and payable January 1. 1891. The township regularly paid, by taxation, the annual interest on these bonds up to and including the year 1880, when a suit in equity was brought by the township in the circuit court of Mercer county, to declare them void. They were supposed to be payable at the will of the people after five years, as this was one of the conditions on which the subscription was voted ; but no knowledge of their provisions could be obtained, and to pay so high a rate of interest had become unneces- sary and impolitie. The people were willing to refund at lower interest, but when no trace of the bonds could be discovered and the matter began to have the appearance of a design on the part of the holders to thwart any endeavor to retire them, inquiry was excited and investi- gation followed, when the numerous irregularities surrounding their issue and registration came to light, and it was decided to contest their validity. As a further defense of the people against the presumptions raised against them by the fact that for ten years they paid the interest withont protest, it is true that a large majority were not aware that a tax for this purpose was being levied and collected.

Morgan G. Bulkley, of Connecticut, holder of 823,500 of this

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municipal indebtedness filed an answer to the complainant's bill ; and on his motion the case was removed to the district court of the United States for the northern district of Illinois, where it was heard by Judge Blodgett, who, on January 9, 1882, dismissed the suit. The case is now pending in the United States supreme court, where it has been taken on appeal.

When Gen. Harding obtained possession of these bonds it only remained for him to transfer the road to the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Company, which he did ; and during several succeeding years Keithsburg was the terminus of the Galva branch, the depot being situated where it now is, close to the river. Finally, the main line and branches of the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis railroad were absorbed by this company, and in the latter part of July, 1877, the right of way through the town between the two depots was procured, and in August the extremities of the two lines were brought into con- nection by a half mile of new track.

The Keithsburg, Lacon & Eastern Railroad Company was organized here, and a survey made for a standard gauge road from this point to Lacon in 1873. and a considerable amount of subscriptions was taken along the line. but the financial revulsion of that year caused the enterprise to be abandoned.

The Keithsburg & Eastern Railroad Company was organized under the law of the state providing for a general system of railroad incorpo- rations, September 22, 1873, by the following incorporators: W. D. Smith, T. B. Cabeen. C. A. Frick, E. L. Marshall, G. W. Whiting, B. C. Taliaferro, Harry Weaver, William Gayle, Theodore Glancy, J. P. Wycoff, A. B. Sheriff, R. J. Cabeen and William Willett. The project was to construct a narrow gauge railroad from Keithsburg to the east line of the state in Kankakee or Iroquois county, with a branch to Chicago ; but it was never surveyed east beyond the Illinois river. Grading was begun at Keithsburg in the spring of 1874, and when the line had been extended eight miles it was decided to change the route either to Galesburg or Monmouth. Denny, in Warren county, distant twenty miles, being reached, work came to a standstill in 1875. Sub- 'sequently the road was sold in sections under execution, and finally the whole property was sold under mechanic's lien, but in each case it was purchased for D. M. Halstead and T. B. Cabeen. Halstead assigned his interest to George Seaton, R. J. Cabeen and T. B. Cabeen, who received a sheriff's deed. Recently these owners have contracted with William Hanna and B. P. Phelps, of Momouth, who represent the Peoria & Farmington railroad, to convey to them for a consider- ation all their interest in the Keithsburg & Eastern, if the former shall be completed to this point by February 22, 1884.

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BIOGRAPHICAL.

The subject of this sketch, ISAIAH WILLITS, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1812, where his boyhood. days were spent in rambling over the rocky bluff's and helping his father on a small farm. In 1826 the family removed to Wayne county, Indiana, where he was engaged in farming near Centerville, ten miles west of Richmond. In 1835 he came to Mercer county, Illinois, where he took a claim near Pope Mills, now known as the old Frick farm. He went back to Indiana several times for cattle, driving them through on horseback, until 1838, when he permanently settled at Bald Bluff, Henderson county, erected a rude log cabin and endured all the hard- ships and privations known to the earlier settlers. It was in this year that the famous Black Hawk chieftain visited the Bluff, together with four hundred of his warriors. Mr. Willits says that his courage was - never questioned, but when he saw them all approaching under full gallop, he is willing to acknowledge that he felt somewhat "shaky." They were tribes of Sacs and Foxes, who were on their way to their reservations on the Des Moines river, Iowa. April 4, 1839, Mr. Willits was united in marriage to Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Caleb Reynolds. of Ohio, she too being one of the pioneers, having come to Mercer county among the first who settled here. They lived on their Henderson county farm till the year 1857, when they removed to Keithsburg, where he went into the mercantile business, continued in this pursuit for four years, sold out and purchased a farm south of town half a mile, where he resided till the spring of 1873, when he became so afflicted as to unfit him for active duties, and he moved again to Keithsburg, where he still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Willits are parents of ten children, nine of whom are living. Joshua, the eldest, was born in Henderson county March 13, 1840, was raised on a farm with limited educational advantages such as existed at the early settling of the country, yet by close application and study at home he acquired a good practical education. He was married November 31, 1873, to Miss Clara Willits. They have two children : Norman, born Decem- ber 6, 1875 ; and Harry, born July 5, 1879. His vocation is farming. His farm joins the old homestead place. Emily, the eldest daughter, born in Henderson county, November 11, 1841, obtained the rudi- ments of learning in a little log school house, subsequently attended graded school in Oquawka and Keithsburg, was married to Mr. A. B. Childs November 16, 1880. They have one son, Benny, born Novem- ber 14, 1881. Leander, second son, born November 21, 1843. and Minerva. second daughter, born September 6. 1845, both unmarried, are living at home with their parents. Byron, born April 5, 1847, died

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November 21, 1847, aged seven months. Jo. H. Wird, daughter, born August 26, 1848, received her education principally in the graded schools at Keithsburg, where she began teaching at the age of seven- teen years, and has been constantly engaged in the work in this place for sixteen years, attending normal schools during the vacations. Last year (1881) she. was at State Normal, at Bloomington, Illinois. Azro P., born July 19, 1850, was educated in Keithsburg; read medi- cine with Dr. E. L. Marshall and attended two courses of lectures in Rush Medical college, Chicago; was a member of the graduating class of 1877 ; received his diploma on examination before the Illinois State Board of Health, and is now (1882) a practicing physician ; January 19, 1880, he was united in marriage with Lizzie F. Whiting. of Keiths- burg. William A., born November 10, 1852; passed creditably through the high school at Keithsburg ; began his career as teacher in the State of Missouri, after which he came to his native county (Mercer) and taught three years in the district schools; then took the principalship of the Keithsburg graded school, and is now (1882) occupying that position. Leone, fourth daughter, born August 11, 1855, is unmarried and living with her parents. Lydia A., youngest daughter, born January 12, 1859, was married to Heman N. Childs, November 16, 1881. They are living on their farm in Henderson county, five miles southeast of Keithsburg.

BENJAMIN D. ELLETT (deceased) was born near Richmond, Virginia, February 2, 1813. He was reared partly on a farm, but early in life turned his attention to merchandizing in the dry goods line. In the spring of 1836 he emigrated to Illinois and settled in Henderson county, where he however remained but a short time, and removed to Mercer county, April 19, 1838. He was united in marriage with Miss Grace E., a daughter of Mr. Charles Jack, an early settler of Mercer county. She died in October, 1850, leaving three children, but one of whom is now (1882) living: Mrs. Mary J., wife of F. P. Burgett, banker, of Keithsburg. Mr. Ellett's second marriage was on Septem- ber S, 1851, with Miss Orpha B., daughter of Andrew and Mary (Lloyd) Myers. She was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, September 1, 1827, and came with her parents to Mercer county in 1836. Here she received such an education as was obtainable in the pioneer schools of this county's early history. At the time of his second marriage Mr. Ellett was filling the position of sheriff of Mercer county. After the termination of his official term, he permanently located in Keiths- burg and engaged in the lumber business, which he followed till the time of his deatlı, which occurred October 29, 1880. By his last marriage he had borne to him nine children, as follows: Frank A .;

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Minnie, wife of Martin Rice ; Nellie, wife of C. S. Frick ; William B., Harry B., Bettie, Edwin M., Frederick D. and Thomas A. Mrs. Ellett and family are living in her comfortable home in Keithsburg.

BENIJAH LLOYD was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania March 17, 1825, and is the second son of Benijah and Elizabeth (Dunn) Lloyd, who were among the early settlers of Mercer county, coming here in September 1835. Mr. Lloyd settled in Millersburg township where he lived till the time of his death (1864). He was the father of six children, one of whom was killed by falling out of the wagon near Keithsburg while on their way to their pioneer home. Benijah, the subject of this notice, thus early became identified with the county and enjoyed only the means of pioneer school education. December 9, 1847 he was united in marriage with Miss Arrelda J., daughter of Dr. Mark Willits, an early settler of Mercer county. They have reared a family of nine children, viz: Omer H., Ella J., Nettie, Charles M., William W., George W., Maurice E. and Maude. After his marriage Mr. Lloyd engaged in farming which he successfully followed till the fall of 1856, when he was elected Sheriff of Mercer. He then located at Keiths- burg, then county seat, where he remained till its removal to Aledo. At the expiration of his official term, in 1859, he returned to his farm but in 1860 came to Keithsburg where he has since resided enjoying the respect and esteem of his many friends who have almost continually kept him in some position of trust, as shown by the records of the township.

As early as 1836 there came one to Mercer county with limited means but hearty and industrious, and with a strong resolution to provide for the present and procure plenty for the future. Such a character was PAUL SHERIFF. who was born in Columbia county Pennsylvania, February 16, 1810. He was married December 23, 1832, to Miss Mary daughter of Jolin and Margaret Doak. Four years after their marriage they left their native state and came to Mercer county where they have resided ever since. Mr. Sheriff has always taken a lively interest in public en- terprises and given largely to their benefit. He has been very suc- cessful in accumulating quite a large property. He has a large farm that comes to the corporation limits of Keithsburg. Politicaly Mr. Sheriff has always been a republican. Religiously he has been a member of the Presbyterian church for thirty years. In temperance movements he has always taken an active part and has tried to show men that liquor will ruin those who become its slaves. Mr. Sheriff has always been engaged in farming. His father was born in Ireland, and emigrated to this country in the year 1790 and settled in Pennsylvania.

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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Thomas and Mary (Woodham) Bridger emigrated from Sussex, Eng- land to America in 1826, landing at New York. They then went direct to Troy where they lived until 1836, when they came west to Mercer county, Illinois, and settled in what is now Suez township, where he and his wife lived but one year when they both took sick and died about ten days apart. Mrs. Emma Doak, daughter of the above, was born Feb- ruary 4, 1819, in Sussex England, and crossed the Atlantic when seven years of age. She remembers the trip well and many facts connected therewith. In May, 1842, she was married to DANIEL F. DOAK, second child of John and Margaret Doak. He was born August 5, 1810. After their marriage they first lived in Green township two miles north of Viola until 1850, when they sold out and removed to Perryton town- ship where they lived one year. They then removed to Keithsburg township where they have lived ever since. In 1864 they bought the S. W. { of Sec. 2, in Keithsburg township, which makes a very com- fortable home for them. They have about one hundred acres in cultivation, the balance in pasture. There have been ten children from this union, eight living, two dead. James T., Martha J., Mary A., Sarah E., Nancy M. (married to T. J. Hayes), Anna, Daniel W., Ida M., John, Fannie A. Mary A. and Ida M. are dead. Daniel (their father) died in September, 1869. Mrs. Doak is still living but in poor health.

BENJAMIN F. GRUWELL, was born in Greene county, Ohio, Novem- ber 22, 1808. In 1825 he removed with his parents, Jacob and Prudence (Dill) Gruwell, to Wayne county, Indiana, where he lived at farming until 1837. He was married in Miami county, Ohio, to Miss Lucy Hurst, December 18, 1829. In the autumn of 1837 Mr. Gruwell, taking his wife, their two children, and his wife's sister, emigrated to this township, he driving a six-ox team and hauling the family effects, while Mrs .. Gruwell and the others kept company in a one-horse car- riage. They arrived at the bluff on the 18th of October, and Mr. Gruwell bought out the claim of Jack Harris, a single man, to 80 acres on the N. W. } of Sec. 1. The time was short for making improve- ments before the biting blasts of winter, so a 10×12 foot cabin was hastily constructed from small trees eight inches in diameter rived and stood upright, with one end in the ground. Sod from the prairie formed a tight roof, and sticks and mud composed the chimney. The crevices were daubed in the usual way, and a quilt was hung up at the door to keep out snow and wind. The parents and two little children lived in this four months in great enjoyment. During the time many visitors came to their cabin. It was here that their fourth child, Martha, was born. Boxes in which they had brought their household

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. goods were their bedstead that winter, and their "fall-leaf" table was the only one that anybody had knowledge of in the country. There was just room enough for two to sit down to the table at once. They had hired help that winter, and when the hands had got their supper they went to their own homes to lodge. The people then thought nothing of going ten miles to visit ; all within a radius of that distance were neighbors; and at that time most people knew everybody in the county. The family lived on this farm until they owned 300 acres of land. In 1850 Mr. Gruwell went across the plains to California, and returned by steamship the next year. In 1852 he disposed of his farm and moved to Keithsburg, where he bought the Calhoun House and kept hotel seven years. They have been the parents of seven children, as follows: Joseph, who died in infancy; Melissa ; Francis Marion, who was killed in Keithsburg November 24, 1859, by the bursting of a cannon while celebrating a victory at the polls ; Martha ; Erastus, who was killed at Fort Donelson February 13, 1862; Alice ; and Edna (dead). Martha was married February 21, 1856, to John Thomson, a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a carpenter by trade, who came to Keithsburg in 1853 and worked here till the summer of 1862. At that time he enlisted in company H, 84th reg. Ill. Vol., and served upward of a year in the field. The hardships of the service com- pletely shattered his health, and he has since been a confirmed and helpless invalid. Of his eleven children eight are now living. One daughter, Miss Mary L., has lived with her grandmother Gruwell since the age of five. These two are communicants in the Presbyterian church.

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Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co. Number of Pages: 904

Author: Mercer County Historical Society (Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : H.H. Hill and Co.
Number of Pages: 904