USA > Illinois > Sangamon County > History of Sangamon County, Illinois, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 133
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
thus compelled to remain. After becoming reconciled, he often expressed his thanks to those horses for running away.
Abram Pease was born July 22, 1791, in Mar- tha's Vineyard, Dukes county, Massachusetts. The ancestors of this family were from Wales, and came to America more than two hundred years ago, settling in Massachusetts. Abram Pease went to the State of New York when a young man, and was married there, August 18, 1811, to Orpha Southwick. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, from Cayuga county, New York. Abram Pease and wife came to Sanga- mon county with the family of Jesse Southwick, arriving in 1818 in what is now Ball township. He died in 1832.
Joseph Drennan was born in the Pendleton District, South Carolina, April 16, 1786. He was a half-1 rother of and much younger than Wil- liam Drennan, senior. Joseph Drennan was married in South Carolina to Rebecca Evets. About 1807, the family moved to Caldwell coun- ty, Kentucky, and they moved to what is now Ball township, Sangamon county, Illinois, com- ing himself in March 10, 1818, and bringing his family in September of that year.
John Taylor was born in Danville, Kentucky. He came when a young man to Madison county, Illinois, and was there married to Elizabeth Burkhead, who was born near Charleston, South Carolina. They returned to Kentucky, and moved to Edwardsville, Illinois, and from there to what became Sangamon county, arriving in 1819 on Sugar creek, in what is now Ball town- ship.
Job Fletcher, Sen., was born November 11, 1793, in Rockbridge county, Virginia. His father died when he was an infant, and his mother moved with her elder son, John, in the autumn of 1808, to Logan county, Kentucky, and the next spring to that part of Christian which was afterwards Todd county. Job remained in the family of his brother John, attending school and teaching. He served as a soldier six months in the War of 1812, and as such assisted in bury- ing the dead after the Battle of Tippecanoe, al- though he was not in the battle. Mary Kerch- ner was born May 25, 1878, in Augusta county, Virginia, and was taken by her parents to Todd county, Kentucky. Job Fletcher and Mary Kerchner were there married, December 22, 1818, and moved to what became Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving November 11, 1819, in what is now Ball township.
He died September 4, 1872, within half a mile of where he settled in 18!9.
John Brownell was born in Rhode Island, Au- gust 14, 1800. During his infancy his parents removed to Seneca, New York. He came west with the family of William Seely. Mr. B. and the other members of his family came by water to Shawneetown, and from there in wagons, ar- riving in what is now Ball township, July 5, 1819. John Brownell was married to Nancy Pulliam in 1821.
James Sims was born in Virginia, and taken by his parents to South Carolina, where he was married to Dolly Spillers. They moved to Logan county, Kentucky, and from there to Caldwell county; thence to St. Clair county, Illinois, and from there to Sugar creek, Sangamon county, arriving in the spring of 1820, in what became Ball township, Sangamon county. He built a horse mill there to run by bands. He quarried stone of the same kind of which the first State House in Springfield was built, and by the aid of his brother-in-law, William Spillers, made the burrs for his mill. He was the first Repre- sentative from Sangamon county in the State Legislature. He moved to Rock Creek, in what is now Menard county, and from there to Morgan county. He was a Methodist preacher, and formed the first circuit ever organized in Sanga- mon county.
George Brunk was born December 22, 1804, in Miami county, Ohio. At seventeen years of age he came to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving in the fall of 1821. Ile entered eighty acres of land in what is now Ball township, returning to Ohio, and brought his mother, and step-father, Thomas Royal, with his brothers and sisters, to Sangamon county, and settled them on the land he had entered, where Dr. Shields now resides. He entered more land, built for himself a hewed log house, and was married Dec. 30, 1827, to Mary Boyd.
Job F. Harris was born in Rockbridge county, Va., Sept. 19, 1798, and was taken by his parents to Barren county, Ky., in 1806. He was ap- prenticed to learn the business of cabinet making, and moved to St. Louis, in 1816. Busi- ness being dull, his master released him, and he spent some time on the lower Mississippi, and went from New Orleans to the Rocky Mountains, with a company of trappers, returning in the fall of 1818. In the Fall of 1822 he came to Sanga- mon county, in what is now Ball township. In 1827, he enlisted in a Sangamon county company in the Winnebago war. He died July 29, 1866. Ilis widow and children live two and a half miles northeast of Auburn.
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
Mr. Harris voted for Abraham Lincoln every time he was a candidate for any office, from Cap- tain of a military company to President of the United States for the second time.
Anthony Deardoff was born in 1786, in Penn- sylvania. Elizabeth Powell was born in 1800, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. They were married in 1818, in Franklin county, Ohio. The family then moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1823, in what is now Ball township.
Thomas Royal was born about 1758, in Man- chester, England. He came to America with a comrade about his own age, near the beginning of the war for Independence. They both volun- teered in the army of the Colonists, and his com- rade at his side had his head blown completely off. At the same time Mr. Royal was severely wounded by a charge of buckshot entering his ankle, some of which he carried to his grave. After the Revolution he married a Miss Cooper, in Virginia, and raised a family. Mrs. Royal died, and he married Rebecca Matthews. They moved to Franklin county, Ohio, where Mrs. Rebecca Royal died. Mr. Royal married Mrs. Ellen Brunk. They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, with her sons, George and David Brunk, the Newcomer family, and others, numbering in all nearly sixty-three persons, arriving in the fall of 1824, in what is now Ball township. He died in 1834.
Joseph Logsdon was born in Madison county, Kentucky, about 1780. He was married to a Miss Simmons. They moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 1824, in what is now Ball township, near where St. Bernard Church now stands. In 1832 or '33, he moved his fam- ily to Missouri, and from there to Texas. He died in 1848, on his road from Texas to Califor- nia. He is particularly remembered in the vicinity of St. Bernard Church, from the fact that the first religious services ever conducted by a Catholic priest in Sangamon county was held at his house in 1829.
Peter Deardoff, brother to Anthony, was born in Pennsylvania; married in Ohio to Hannah Brunk, came to Sangamon county in 1824 with George Brunk.
David Brunk was born December 17, 1819, in Ohio ; came with his mother and step-father, Thomas Royal, to Sangamon county in Decem- ber, 1824. He was married November 5, 1833, to Maria Shoup, and died in 1855.
Gilbert Dodds, born in Spartanburg District, South Carolina, June 6, 1793, and was taken by his mother, first to Tennessee, and from there to
Caldwell county, Kentucky. He was married October 12, 1815, in Caldwell county, to Mary Clinton. Her father, James Clinton, was Cap- tain of a company in the Revolution. Gilbert Dodds and wife moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in August, 1824, in what is low Ball township, and joined his brother Joseph, who came six years previous.
Rev. Gilbert Dodds became a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in early life. He was for many years pastor of the Sugar creek church, and was always an active, energetic advocate of temperance. In 1847, he moved to Menard county, a few miles south of Peters- burg. Mrs. Mary Dodds died July 9, 1866, and Rev. Gilbert Dodds died May 3, 1872, both near Petersburg; the latter was a strong advocate of the Abolitionist party up to his death.
William Burtle was born July 1, 1780, near Montgomery Court House, Maryland. His pa- rents moved when he was a boy to Washington county, Kentucky. Sarah Ogden was born in 1786, in St. Mary's county, Maryland. Her father died when she was a child, and her mother moved, with several children, to Wash- ington county, Kentucky. William Burtle and Sarah Ogden were there married, about 1805. The family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in October, 1826, in what is now Ball township. Mr. Burtle entered land and made improvements for a permanent home, about two hundred yards east of where St. Bernard's Cath- olic Church now stands, and moved on it in the spring of 1828.
William, Jr., born August 9, 1822, in Grayson county, Kentucky, came with his parents to San- gamon county in October, 1826; was married September 4, 1856, to Mrs. Elizabeth A. Simp- son, whose maiden name was White. William Burtle has been a school teacher, justice of the peace, and for more than twenty years Treasurer and Collector of Ball township; also a member of the Board of Supervisors of Sangamon county. He was also elected President of the Old Settlers' Society, in 1874, for one year. He now lives in Auburn, engaged in mercantile business with his step-son, Jerome Simpson.
William Burtle, Jr., remembers that his father and James Simpson sent a request to St. Louis that a priest visit their neighborhood. Rev. Mr. Dusuaswa came in 1829, and held services at the residence of Joseph Logsdon. That was the first service ever held by a Catholic priest in Sangamon county, and long before any thing of the kind took place in Springfield. William Burtle remembers that there were but two
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
Catholic families in Springfield. The next ser- vices were at the house of Wm. Burtle, Sr., by Rev. Joseph A. Lutz. The next priest to visit them was the Rev. Mr. Van Quickenbon. Ser- vices were held at the house of William Burtle, Sr., until 1849, when St. Bernard's Church was built. One edifice was burned, and the present one was built on the same ground. St. Bernard's church is associated with that at Virden in sus- taining a priest.
& : Mrs. William Burtle relates, in a very amusing manner, some of her experience on coming to the county. She had listened to the descriptions of the flowers blooming on the prairies, and made up her mind that it would lend additional charms to those she was acquainted with to culti- vate them on the prairie, where the wild flowers could grow around them. She came prepared with seeds, and at the proper scason armed her- self with a hoe and sallied forth to indulge her taste for horticulture on the raw prairie. The romance all vanished at the first blow, as the hoe rebounded without making the slightest im- pression. Until that time she thought that plow- ing with large ox-teams was overdoing the work, but then became fully satisfied that it was in- dispensable as a preparation for the cultivation of the soil.
Zachariah Ogden was born November 11, 1794, near Frederick City, St. Mary's county Maryland. His father died there when he was quite young, and his mother moved to Washington county, Kentucky. Zachariah was married, in 1815, in Grayson county, to Eliza- beth Peerce. The family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving October 13, 1827, in what is now Ball township. He died 1869.
James Simpson was born about 1785, in Mary- land and went to Washington county, Kentucky, when he was a young man, and was there mar- ried to Mary A. Boone, and she died. He then married Monica McAtee, and the family moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the fall of 1828. He located about one hundred and fifty yards southeast of where St. Bernard Catholic church now stands, in Ball township,
George Moffitt was born in Augusta county, Virginia, about 1780, was married to Rebecca Gilkison, and then moved to Fayette county, Kentucky. The family moved to Christian county, Kentucky, and from there to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in what is now Ball township in 1829. He died in 1860.
Richard Simpson, brother to James, was born in 1790 in Maryland, went when he was a boy, with his parents to Washington county, Ken-
tucky. He was there married to Monica Ilig- don. She died, and he married Ann Vinson, in Kentucky, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in 1830, in what is now Ball township. After a stay of but one year in San- gamon county, Richard Simpson moved his family to Christian county, and both died there.
David H. Hermon was born in Wilks county, North Carolina, January 12, 1805. His grand- father was German and his grandmother English. Sally Mitts was born February 11, 1811, in Grant county Kentucky. They were married in that county, August 27, 1827, moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving October 26, 1830, in what is now Ball township. They lived in a cabin one mile west of Sugar creek timber, and spent the winter of the "deep snow" there. But one other family lived away from the tim- ber. The recollection of Mr. Hermon is that rain fell for a day or two until the earth was satu- rated. The day before Christmas the rain turned to snow, and by night it was about six inches deep. Snow continued to fall almost every day for six weeks. February 11, 1831, was the first time he saw the sun, and then it was partially eclipsed. He burned all the rails and loose timber of every kind near his house, and it was all he could do to keep himself and family from freezing.
Jacob Greenawalt was born October 27, 1804, in Hardin county, Kentucky. Mary Bradley was born August 4, 1810, in Larue county, Kentucky. They were there married, January 29, 1827, and moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving October, 1830, in what is now Ball township, and the next year moved to Putnam county. The Black Hawk Indian war breaking out, hereturned to Sangamon county. After the capture of Black Hawk, he went back to Putnam, but sold out there, and returned to Sangamon in 1836. He died in 1863.
John Fletcher was born abont 1774, in Rock- bridge county, Virginia. Was a brother of Job Fletcher. Was a younger brother of his. John Fletcher was married in 1803, in Augusta coun- ty, Virginia, to Elizabeth McElvain, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher in 1806 emigrated to that part of Chris- tian county which became Todd county, Ken- tucky. They moved to Sangamon county, Illi- nois, arriving in the spring of 1830 in what is now Ball township. The family, including his son Job, with his wife and child, consisted of eleven persons, and their first place of residence was a log cabin sixteen feet square, belonging to
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IHISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
his brother Job, who had preceded him eleven years.
Daniel Easley was born October 18, 1773, in Stokes county, North Carolina. In 1791 he went to Sonth Carolina, and in 1801 to Cald- well county, Kentucky. He was there married in 1805 to Mrs. Margaret Ritchie. They came to Sangamon county, Illinois, arriving in the spring of 1830, in what is now Ball township. Daniel Easley died at Auburn, Sangamon county, February 13, 1874. If the date of his birth is correct, as given to the writer by the old gentle- man himself about fifteen months before his death, he was one hundred years, three months and twenty-five days old.
His recollection of events was quite distinct. He related incidents connected with the ascen- sion of the first steamboat on the Ohio river, which he witnessed; also of the War of 1812. He united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church when he was eighty years of age.
The Stout family, though not as old settlers as many others, are worthy of mention in this con- nection. Power, in his History of the early set- tlers of Sangamon county, has this to say of the family:
"The origin of this family in America is quite romantic. The principal points in their history may be found in Benedict's History of the Bap- tists. Some of his statements are based on the writings of an earlier historian. The following embraces all that is known on the subject:
"Some time during the seventeenth century, probably about 1680 or 1690, a young couple, just married, in Holland, embarked on a vessel bound for America. The voyage was prosper- ons until they were nearing the port of New Amsterdam, now the city of New York. The vessel was wrecked off what is now the coast of New Jersey, and nearly all on board drowned. The young couple of Hollanders escaped drown- ing, and with a small number of the passengers and crew succeeded in reaching the shore. Upon landing, they were attacked by Indians, who lay in ambush awaiting their arrival. The whole party were tomahawked, scalped, and otherwise mutilated, and left for dead. All were dead ex- cept the wife, from Holland. She alone sur- vived, and although her scalp was removed, and she was otherwise horribly mangled, she had sufficient remaining strength to crawl away from the scene of the slaughter, and secreted herself in a hollow log, which was concealed by under- brush. She lay there a day or two, during which time her mental and bodily suffering may be imagined, but cannot be described. She
finally made up her mind that there was no pos- sibility of her escaping with life; that if she re- mained quiet she would certainly die of hunger and thirst, and if she attempted to seek snste- nance, that would expose her to the Indians, who would be sure to kill her. At this june- ture, a deer, with an arrow sticking in its body, ran past where she was. This led her to believe that Indians were near, and she reasoned that it would be a much easer death to let them kill her than to endure the pangs of starvation by re- maining where she was. She then summoned all her remaining strength, and dragged her body out to an open space, that the Indians might see her, should they pursue the deer. In a short time, three of the savages appeared on its trail. Two of them rushed upon her with uplifted tomahawks, but the third one, a chief, restrained them, and saved her life. It was not humanity, but gain, that prompted him to this act of mercy. He took his prisoner to New Am- sterdam, and there received a ransom for her. That placed her in the hands of friends, who gave her the proper surgical treatment and nurs- ing as she recovered. The name of her husband is not known, neither is her own family name- nothing but her first and given name, Penelope; a name that has stood for more than twenty-five centuries, in tradition and literature, as the highest ideal of a true and loyal wife. It will readily be understood that I allude to one of the creations of Homer, the father of Greek poetry. A brief statement of the case, gleaned from his works, will not be out of place here.
" When the Greeks declared war against Troy, in consequence of the abduction of Helen, the wife of Menelaus, a Greek chieftain, it was found that one of their number, Ulysses, although a soldier by profession, and a farmer in time of peace, manifested great reluctance to leaving his young and beautiful wife, Penelope, and their infant son, Telemachus, for the pur- pose of engaging in war. He feigned insanity, by sowing salt instead of wheat. As a test of his sanity, Nestor, whom all respected for his wisdom and probity, proposed that the infant son of Ulysses should be laid in the furrow in front of the oxen with which he was plowing. The device was successful, and caused him to throw off the disguise by saving his child. It was expected that the war would be brief, but it was extended to a long series of years, and of those who finally returned, Ulysses was the last, after twenty year's absence. Meanwhile, he was supposed to be dead, and many suitors for the hand of Penelope, pressed their claims, and a
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
simple ' No' from her was not taken for an an- swer. The very thought of marrying again, espec ally while the fate of her husband was in doubt, was peculiarly revolting to her, and she announced her intention of choosing a husband among the suitors, when she had completed the weaving of a shroud for her father-in-law. Her ardent suitors waited with all the patience which they could command until it was discov- ered that she undid at night what she had woven through the day. She was then obliged to pro- ceed with her work when the long absent Ulysses returned just in time to save her from what seemed a horrible fate.
"This modern Penelope had no such doubts to contend with. The death of her first husband was only too sure, having been witnessed by her own eyes. After her recovery, she became ac- quainted with and married an Englishman by the name of Richard Stout. They then went over into New Jersey, made themselves a home and raised a family of twelve sons. One of them, Jonathan Stout, and his family were the found- ers of the Hopewell settlement, in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where Hopewell Baptist Church was afterwards constituted. Of the first fifteen members, nine were Stouts. The church was organized at the house of a Stout, and for forty years their meetings were held chiefly at the houses of the Stouts; after which they erected their first house of worship. In 1790, two of the deacons and four of the elders were Stouts. Jonathan Stout lived until his de- scendants were multiplied to one hundred and seventeen. Another one of their sons, David, had a son Benjamin, born in 1706. He had a son, Jediah, born April 10, 1757. His son Phile- mon, came to Sangamon county in 1836, and died some ten years later. Several of the family yet live in the township, and are well known.
" The Stouts very justly take pride in their family history, and being mostly Baptists, they take pride in their Baptist history also. When they meet a stranger by the name of Stout, who manifests a disposition to claim relationship, they apply one test only in their family history. They do not ask him to pronounce the word Shibboleth, but ascertain if he has any knowl- edge of Penelope, and if he knows nothing of her, they know nothing of him. In other words, they do not cultivate his acquaintance in the direction of relationship, any further."
Captain Job Fletcher, one of the oldest living settlers now living in the township, came in 1830. (See sketch.)
In 1829, a company of sixty-three persons came from Ohio, among whom were Absolom Meredith and family, Isaac Clark and family, David Clark and family, Mr. Snell and others. Among other early settlers were Joseph Dixon, Joseph Gatlin, Daniel Ford, Mr. Averill, Edin Lewis, William Eads.
MILLS.
The first mills in the township were the old fashioned horse mills, often described. Thomas Black had one on his place, and also Joseph Drennan and Robert Pulliam. The first water mill was erected in 1827, by A. Lathrop on Sugar creek, on section two. 'This was a saw mill. Subsequently it was sold to John Purvis, who built a grist mill in connection. Mr. Purvis run a distillery, which, like others at that day, was extensively patronized. Mr. Purvis sold to Leroy Hill and Hill to Robert McCondy about 1840. Mr. MeCondy died in 1843, and the mill passed into the hands of Timothy Shoup. In 1850, William D. Crow purchased it, and in 1857 tore it down and re-built a larger and more substantial building. The mill was run exclu- sively by water until 1866, when steam was in- troduced. Itis now run by water or steam or both, as it pleases the operator. The mill has three run of stone and does a large business, about one-half of which is custom work. Wil- liam D. Crow died in 1869, and was succeeded by his son.
POST OFFICE.
In 1862, after the organization of the One Hundredth and Fourteenth regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, a large number of whom were from Ball and Cotton Hill townships, the desire sprung up by many living in both town- ships for a post office in the neighborhood, that they might earlier receive news from the seat of war. A petition was circulated, praying for the establishment of an office, and the appointment of Davis Meredith as postmaster. The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the office was established with Mr. Meredith as postmas- ter. It was called Cotton Hill, althoughi located in Ball township, on section twelve. During the dark days of the war, the yard of Mr. Meredith was often filled with anxious men and women, awaiting the arrival of the mail that they might hear news from absent ones, fighting their coun- try's battles. When the war was over, Mr. Meredith resigned the office, and James Terry was appointed postmaster. The office was re- moved to Mr. Terry's residence, two miles south, on section 24. Here is remained about one year,
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HISTORY OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
when it was removed to Crow's mill, and George Stakey appointed postmaster. Mr. Stakey was subsequently succeeded by Charles Silash, and he by Taylor Crow, and finally Virgil Downey was appointed, and is the present postmaster.
MAZEPPA.
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