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 73
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The last annual report of the secretary, January, 1882, shows the total number of policies in full. 164. covering $178.468. The present officers of the company are : S. B. Shumway, president ; Orson Jones. secretary. and T. D. Merryman. treasurer.
Orford Lodge, No. 367. A.F.A.M. was granted a dispensation October 18. 1860, by the grand master of the state, to open a new lodge U. D .. in Oxford. in Henry county. The lodge worked U. D .. until October 16. 1861. it received its charter and number from Grand Master Ira A. W. Buck. Its first officers were : Paul Hahn, W.M. : Robert Detheridge, S. W. ; Wm. Fleharty. J. W. ; Samuel Wilson, Treasurer; M. S. Shephard, Secretary: Thomas Robertson, S.D .; George Gale, J.D. : Samuel Epperson, Tyler.
The charter members were P. W. Epperson. Thomas Robertson. Samuel Wilson, S. C. Moberly, J. D. Kennedy. J. M. Herbert. M. S. Shephard. Joshua Bruner. and N. McCombers. The lodge removed to and held its first meeting in New Windsor July 12, 1870. It owned its hall in Oxford, which it sold to S. B. Shumway, and in September, 1870. bought its present hall and undivided half interest in the lot on which it stands of J. A. Maxwell. It is in good financial condition and numbers among its members some of the foremost and best men in the community, ranking as one of the best working lodges in the country. It has had on its roll the names of over 130 members. its present active membership being forty-six. During its twenty-one years' existence the following eight members have filled the office of Worshipful Master : Paul Hahn, two years ; R. Detheridge, four years : S. B. Shumway, six years ; M. Colley, J. M. Timberlake, A. D. Underwood. two years; A. P. Petrie, two years ; and R. S. Petrie, three years, The present officers of the lodge are : H. H. Roberts. W.M .: B. F. Brooks, S.W .; J. F. Cox, J. W .; W. W. Parsons, Treasurer : A. P. Shrover, Secretary ; A. Olson, S.D .; A. G. McMul- len, J.D .; R. Blair, Tyler.
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A chapter of the Eastern Star was recently organized in connection with this lodge, having eighteen charter members, seven of whom are women. Its officers are : Mrs. Jennie Petrie. W.M .; Mrs. Lizzie Mc- Mullen. W.A .; A. P. Forgie, W.T .: Mrs. Martha Veeder, Treasurer : C. F. Peterson, Secretary.
New Windsor Lodge No. 518. I.O.O.F., was organized June 3. 1873, by Dept. G. M. James Kelly. Charter members were : J. B. Armstrong, A. A. Willett, W. W. Jobes, W. H. Gladman. and Samuel Adams. Its first officers were : J. B. Armstrong, N.G .: W. H. Glad- man, V.G .: Samuel Adams, Secretary ; A. A. Willett, Treasurer. Its roll shows a total membership of ninety-five since its organization. with a present active membership of twenty-six. It owns a hall over the drug store of A. J. Rosenbaum and the undivided half of the lot on which it stands. The hall was built in the fall of 1879. The lodge occupied its hall the first time November 20. 1879. Its present officers are : Dr. F. D. Rathburn. N.G .; H. Higley. V.G .; B. F. Brooks, Secretary ; D. Harkness, Treasurer : W. H. Kerr, Warden : John Olson, Cond .; James Ulam, Chap .: J. E. Gould, D.D.G.M.
The office of Noble Grand has been held by S. Adams, two terms : W. H. Gladman, two terms ; A. J. Smith, W. S. Coe. J. L. David, H. J. Piper, J. E. Gould, J. L. MeNaghten, W. H. Kerr. A. B. Firkins. . James Ulam, two terms ; J. N. Cox, and B. F. Brooks.
There are four cemeteries in this township.
The Woodhams Cemetery on the E. } of the N. W. of Sec. 21. covers two acres, which was set apart for that purpose by Mr. William Woodhams during his life and afterward deeded to the township by the family. Mrs. W. was the first one buried in this cemetery, which contains the remains of several of the township's pioneers.
The Cooper Cemetery on the S. W. { of the S. E. { of Sec. 30. the property of Richard Cooper, was started as a private cemetery by the Cooper family, and is occupied mostly by members of that family and connections.
The New Windsor Cemetery, on the S. E. } of Sec. 12, was donated by the late William F. Petrie, one of the proprietors of the village, and is on a beautiful rolling site, and is being rapidly improved by trees and flowers, which must soon render it very attractive.
The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, in the village of New Windsor, near the southeast corner of section 12. and separated from the church by a street, is the property of that church and designed exclus- ively for the use of members of that church.
The following were the first township officers elected after the county went into township organization in 1854: supervisor. R. R.
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
Cox ; town clerk, James Bridger; assessor, L. Chidester; collector, N. Chidester ; justice of the peace, C. Harshberger.
The following is the list of town officers to date, with the number of terms that each held:
Supervisor .- R. R. Cox, two years ; Daniel Jones, two years ; A. J. Streeter, five years ; John W. Mills, two years ; N. P. Smith, four years ; T. G. Woodhams ; A. P. Petrie, nine years ; W. D. Fleharty, two years : J. G. Sexton, three years.
Town Clerk .- James Bridger, twelve years ; J. Lyman Smith, two years ; A. P. Petrie ; C. F. Durston, four years ; Joseph M. Christy, four years ; S. L. Durston ; A. J. Smith ; T. B. Mayo, three years ; J. W. Peterson.
In twenty-nine years nine persons have filled both of these offices. One of J. G. Sexton's terms is fractional, having been appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of A. P. Petrie.
Assessor .- L. Chidester; N. P. Smith, four years; Wm. Pitman ; S. B. Shumway, two years ; C. F. Durston, three years ; J. L. Smithi, three years ; H. R. West ; Joseph M. Christy, two years ; A. J. Jmith ; W. C. Cole; J. B. Longley, eight years ; Ira G. Bridger.
Collector .- N. Chidester ; Chas. E. Cox; H. R. West, eight years ; Orson Jones ; J. Menold ; T. G. Woodhams, four years ; J. B. Smith ; E. B. David; C. S. Smith, two years ; Sidney Durston ; W. B. Cullison ; W. W. Jobes ; Ira G. Bridger; S. L. Durston; W. W. Allen ; T. B. Mayo ; Geo. W. Gregg ; W. W. Parsons; O. Roberts; Royal Chidester; W. W. Watson; H. L. Loomis.
Justice of the Peace .- Term of office is four years : C. Harsberger, two terms; Peter Eekley ; R. R. Cox; John B. Longley, three terms ; J. W. Peterson, two terms; M. F. Whipp; J. Lyman Smith ; James Meadows; John Christy ; C. F. Durston, two terms ; M. F. Postlewait ; Joseph M. Christy; W. C. Cole; W. W. Parsons, three terms ; J. G. Sexton, two terms.
In 1865 the town auditors levied a tax of $2.60 on the $100 valuation for a bounty tax. The total amount expended for fifteen volunteers to fill the quota of this township was $7,940.75, of which $3,620 was raised by subscription.
In 1854 the first assessment under township organization showed that there were in the township 163 horses, 405 cattle, 5 mules, 226 sheep, 649 hogs, 45 wagons and carriages, 39 clocks and watches ; moneys and credits $779. The total personal property assessed was $19,821; the total real estate assessed was $35,238.29; total assess- ment, $55,059.29.
The New Windsor Observatory, located at New Windsor, and
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owned by Edgar L. Larkin, is an object of much interest. It was erected for astronomical purposes, and is provided with a telescope made especially for celestial observation. The diameter of the object- ive is six inches in the clear, and its focal length is eight feet ten inches. The observatory is in free telegraphie communication with the Smith- sonian Institute at Washington, D.C., and with the Howard College observatory at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The telescope is called an equatorial ; that is, it rests on two strong, cast-iron axes, that have motions so adjusted that when the telescope is set on a star it will remain so, since it is revolving on axes that move as the earth does. The telescope and all its belongings are first-class, and it would be a pleasure to note all of its peculiarities and appliances, but space forbids more than the above mention.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
REUBEN H. SPICER, Sr., was born in the town of Kent, county of Litchfield, state of Connecticut, June 24, 1810. In 1819 his father removed to western New York, then a new country. The schools there at that day were of the frontier type, but such as they were Mr. Spicer had the privilege of attending from two to three months during the year. Such was the advantage he took of the limited opportunities that at the age of fourteen he was spoken of for a teacher. Daboll's arithmetic, Webster's spelling book, with writing, comprised the entire curriculum of the common school then, but through the partiality of one or two teachers and a Baptist minister, Mr. Spicer was enabled to go a little beyond the standard course and obtain an introduction to mathematics, geography and grammar. At the age of eighteen he left the home farm at his father's suggestion, and spent some time in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania, which being an older settled portion of the country, brought him in contact with a higher grade of society, and better opportunities to gratify his ardent desire for knowledge and self-improvement. One of the first steps taken by him was to form a temperance society of one, for at that time the use of liquor was almost universal, standing upon the sideboard of every well- to-do gentleman, and in the closets of poorer people; greeting the guest upon arrival and following his departure as a stirrup cup. See- ing the degradation and misery which too frequently resulted, especially among young men, from the use of intoxicating liquors, he resolved to deny himself the use, and faithfully did he adhere to that resolution, and now as he reviews his past life he does not hesitate to award to that resolve the credit for his being a better man and more useful citizen than he could have been with the associations of those who had
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
a greater fondness for liquor and smoke than for mental culture. After traveling considerably through the middle, some of the southern and eastern states, in the fall of 1831 he went to Michigan, the only new country then thought to be habitable, with the expectation of making it his home. He spent the winter in Ann Arbor, then a flourishing town with good society. Early next spring with a pony he started out and during the season traversed the territory in various directions, Indian trails being the substitute for roads. Indians were numerous and he often found them useful in mapping the geography of the country for him ; with their ramrods tracing in the sand the course of trails, rivers, ravines and sloughs, and marking the crossings, all with an unerring accuracy that would have done honor to a learned pro- fessor. While stopping for the night at Bronson, now Kalamazoo, in the early summer, the people were aroused to great excitement by the arrival of a messenger announcing the breaking out of the Black Hawk war, and claiming to have been sent for aid to arrest the advance of the hostiles, which was represented to be rapid and not far distant. The people were panic stricken; old men and women traversed the streets wringing their hands, not knowing which way to turn for safety. Mr. Spicer's destination, Prairie Ronde, now Schoolcraft, led him directly toward the advancing foe, and he resumed his journey next morning against the earnest protests of the people of the village. He made the journey in safety, transacted his business, and, returning on the second day met the volunteers en route for the seat of war. Among them was every man from the Gull Prairie settlement, where he had been stopping, even Deacon Mills, the old man of the settle- ment, with whom Mr. Spicer had been boarding. By taking his place in the ranks Mr. Spicer induced the deacon to return to his home, and thus he was led into making a campaign in the Black Hawk war. With the desire for a higher education as strong as ever, he returned east in the fall of 1832, and at the age of twenty-two began that course of education that most young men now finish before that age. For two years he applied himself with untiring assiduity to his studies. In the spring of 1835 he again started west, this time with Texas as his objective point, that state being engaged at that time in the struggle to free itself from Mexican rule. Arrived at Cincinnati he found the funds too low to proceed farther, so crossed over to Kentucky and pro- cured a situation in a school and began to teach. He applied himself with such diligence in his new profession that he soon found himself at the head of one of the most flourishing local schools of the state. Two years of such intense application told upon his health, and he was forced to give up his school. In the spring of 1837 he married Miss
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Sophia Whitehead, of Covington, Ky., who was a native of London, England, and they started at once for Illinois. Arrived at Peoria he found speculation a mania, corner lots selling far up in the thousands. After inspecting the country about Peoria, he proceeded up the river to Peru, thence to Aux Plaines and Chicago. While stopping with a brother at Aux Plaines he incidentally heard of a wonderfully fertile country bordering on the Mississippi south of Rock river. A place where a man of small means had a chance to become the peer of his neighbor with no greater means. Chancing to meet a former acquaint- ance from the east, he started for the new Eldorado on foot, there being few inducements then for even stage lines to traverse the trackless prairies. After viewing the country he purchased a claim that is now embraced within the limits of his farm. He returned to his claim with his wife in July. The improvements. on the claim con- sisted of two acres broken and a log cabin erected, 14×16 feet dimen- sion, with a place cut for a door and a fire-place, and a place 6×8 feet in one corner covered by a puncheon floor. Mr. Spicer, writing of this cabin, says : "This domicile had its conveniences. First, it was well ventilated, then the open door and fire-place made ample provision for the easy ingress and egress of itinerant dogs and prowling wolves, the latter being much the more numerous." Speaking of these times Mr. Spicer remarked that "Political organizations at this time had not disturbed the unity of the settlements. In 1838 the first breeze, faint, but yet perceptible, swept over these prairies. In 1840 the invader arrived and the two parties, democrat and whig, for the first time measured their strength." Mr. Spicer was a democrat, and though lie foresaw that the probabilities were against that party acquiring a per- manent ascendency, he preferred to be right in his own estimation rather than yield his opinion to expediency. In 1841 he was sent as delegate to the state convention ; the first delegate of either party from the county to a state convention. He found some difficulty in making the geographical location of the county known. In answer to questions as to its whereabouts, he replied that "Time would make it known as one of the first counties of the state." This was received with very incredulous smiles. He there formed the acquaintance of many of the prominent men of the state, which became a source of much pleasure to him in after years. In 1843 he was elected to the legislature from the district composed of the counties of Mercer and Knox. In 1848 he was put in nomination for the state senate for the district composed of Mercer, Rock Island, Henry, Knox, Warren and Henderson counties. The canvass of that year was the most spirited in this section up to that time ; Gov. Joseph B. Wells and Col. E. D. Baker. candidate for congress,
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
participated. By the defection of a small portion of his party in Knox county he was defeated. This virtually closed his political career, as impediments beyond his control prevented his taking any further part in that direction. Yet in 1851, without his consent or knowledge even, he was again put in nomination for the same office, to fill a vacancy. His business arrangements were such then that he could not accept it and took no part in the canvass. Ile has always been an earnest advo- cate of the public schools, laboring officially and individually for their improvement, having served over twenty years as a school officer in his district and township. At the breaking out of the rebellion he was among the first to advocate its suppression, believing that the union must and should be preserved. Loss of hearing has for many years been a serious obstacle to the transaction of business, and still greater to the enjoyment. of social intercourse, for which he is so eminently qualified, and from which he would derive such great pleasure. Nat- urally of a studions disposition, this deprivation has caused him to turn more of his attention to books, and especially in that greatest of all books, the book of nature. where he finds his greatest solace. His father was a man of more than ordinary energy. and had executive faculties of a high order. Starting with a very imperfect education, he made his way through life a success. Frequently having large busi- ness operations under his supervision. he won the confidence of an ex- tended circle of friends. He held many of the local offices of his county, and when over sixty years of age removed from New York to the vicinity of Lawrence, Kansas, for the benefit of his younger children.' The climate and change seemed to affect his health, but he lived to reach nearly four score years. His grandfather gave his services to his country during the entire period of the revolutionary war. His grand- mother resided at New London. Connecticut. at the time Arnold . invaded that place, but was one of those who escaped to the hills in the rear of the place. Mr. Spicer's first claim and residence was on the S. E. of the S. E. of section 25, in Greene township; his present resi- dence was not built until 1841, and is on the N. W. of the S. W. of section 30, in Rivoli township. Of the ten children, nine are living : Sarah A. (wife of C. V. Shove, Viola, Illinois); S. Augusta (wife of Wm. C. Garrett, farmer, Rivoli township); E. Levis (member of Co. H, 84th Ill. Vol. Inf., was mortally wounded at the battle of Stone river, Tennessee, and was buried in the cemetery at Nashville) ; Talbut T. (farmer, married daughter of Elihu Rathbun, lives near Chariton, Iowa); Charles F. (senior partner of firm of Spicer & Gilmore, dealers in agri- cultural implements, Aledo, Illinois); Lucy A .; Reuben H., Jr. (mar- ried to Laura C., youngest daughter of L. W. Conger, now of Putnam
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county, Missouri); Franklin P .; Minnie I. (wife of John L. Stewart. farmer, Rivoli township); and Mary E.
Hon. ALEXANDER P. PETRIE was born at Rosendale on the Hudson. in Ulster county, New York, August 31, 1837. He came to Illinois with his father's family in 1844, via the lakes to Chicago, and thence by wagon to Richland Grove township, arriving at the house of Samuel Clark, one of the pioneers of that township. June 6. 1844, the next day after the great tornado that had blown from their foundations the McMullen and Wilcox houses, the only two houses then on the prairie south of Edwards creek. His youth was spent on the farm with only the very limited advantages for education afforded by the common schools of that day. He afterward took a course in a commercial school at Chicago: On August 9. 1862, lie enlisted in Co. C. 112th reg. Ill. Vol. Inf., and at the company organization was elected orderly sergeant, was mustered into the United States service as second lieuten- ant, at Peoria, September 22, 1862, went with his regiment to Covington. and thence to Lexington, Kentucky, where he wintered; went with a detachment from his regiment in the summer of 1864, on Saunder's raid into east Tennessee, destroying railroads and confederate supplies. Some of his command were captured near Cumberland Gap, but he escaped. Reaching Lancaster, Kentucky. they celebrated July 4, 1863, there, and afterward rejoined his regiment at Danville, Kentucky; was at the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Kelly's Ford, east Tennessee. January 27, 1864, he was wounded by a shot in both legs during a cavalry engagement. For his wound he received a furlough for two months and visited his home. He rejoined his command, then a part of Gen. Sherman's grand army, rendezvoused near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the spring of 1864, taking part in that wonderful hun- dred days' campaign which resulted in the fall of Atlanta, his command being in the Twenty-third Army Corps under Gen. Schofield. He com- manded his company after the battle of Resacca, in the spring of 1864, until after the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, November 30, 1864, in which his brother, Edward R., a member of his company, was killed and borne from the field by Lient. Petrie in person. He was also with his command in the right wing of the army under Gen. George H. Thomas, when Gen. Hood received his final defeat at Nashville. His command having been sent to Fort Fisher after the battle of Nashville, to take part with Gen. Sherman in the Carolina campaign, he joined it at Kingston, North Carolina, in March, 1865. He was mustered out at Greensboro, North Carolina, June 20, 1865, as first lieutenant, reaching home on July 9, following. August 28. 1862, Mr. Petrie united in marriage with Miss Alice, daughter of Dr.
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
T. S. Petrie. probably a distant relative. as both parties trace their lineage back four or five generations to one James Petrie. gardener and florist. Forest. Elginshire. Scotland. Miss Alice was born in Liverpool, England. April 1. 1839, and came to America with her parents in 1840. via New Orleans and the river, to Peoria. Illinois, settling first at Trivoli, in Peoria county, thence moving to Brimfield. and thence to Rivoli. Mercer county. Mr. and Mrs. P. have four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest. Maggie. being now in attendance at St. Mary's school. Knoxville. Illinois. In the spring of 1867 Mr. Petrie was elected supervisor for Rivoli township. to which office his neighbors continued to call him until he had served them ten years. He has been an active member of the republican party ever since his majority. but not in the roll of an office seeker. the offices having sought him. In 1880 his party called on him to represent the twenty- second senatorial district in the house of representatives of the Illinois legislature. which position he fills with as much honor to himself and his constituents as any of the new members of that body. Mr. T. is a member of the Congregational church. of New Windsor, and of Oxford Lodge. No. 367. A.F.A.M .. of New Windsor, of which lodge he was W.M. for two years. His farm. consisting of 560 acres, lies near the village of New Windsor : his residence. where he has lived since Feb- ruary. 1866. is on the southwest quarter section 12. The farm is in a high state of cultivation and has 1,600 rods of drain tile laid at present. His business has been farming and stock raising, and for a few years, he was engaged quite extensively in raising hedge plants. His father, William F. Petrie, was born at Forest. Elginshire. Scotland, April 19, 1803. and came to America in 1828. and was overseer several years for Commodore Stockton, of the United States navy, at his place. near Princeton. New Jersey. Here he married Miss Ann Regan, who was born in Ireland in 1809, and was at the time a nurse in the family of Commodore Stockton. Went from Princeton, New Jersey. to Rosendale, New York. and engaged in mercantile pursuits; then on to a farm in Oneida county. New York; thence to Illinois in 1844. settling on the southwest quarter section twenty-five. in Richland Grove township, Mercer county. In 1849 he crossed the plains of California, where he remained two years. most of the time plying his vocation as gardener, near San Francisco. While there he took the contract to grade Stock- ton street in the above named city. Having sold his farm in Richland Grove township, he bought land on sections 12 and 13, in Rivoli town- ship. and moved on to the northeast quarter section thirteen. in 1857. He was one of the original proprietors of the village of New Windsor, part of the town plat being on the northeast of section 13. Mr. P.
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had nine children. one daughter and eight sons. four dying in in- fancy and one. Edward R .. killed in battle as mentioned before. The four survivors reside in and near New Windsor, viz : Mary C .. (wife of W. D. Fleharty). Alexander P .. Richard S .. and Cornelius L. Mr. P. was an energetic. thorough going man in all that he undertook. being awarded the premium three successive years by the Mercer County Agricultural Society. for the best cultivated farm in the county. He died August 19. 1866. his worthy wife surviving him until September 10. 1874. Their remains are deposited with those of their heroic son. Edward R., in the village cemetery north of New Windsor. the site for which was donated by Mr. Petrie.
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