USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 14
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Old Michael Weaver came here from Brown County, Ohio, in 1828. He entered land here along the Little Ver- milion and became a large landowner. He died here in 1875 after having attained the age of one hundred years. Charles Baum came here in 1839. He left a large family, whose members have been prominent in Vermilion County to the present day.
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David Fisher came here from Indiana in 1834. He bought sixty acres of school land, at three dollars and thir- ty-one cents an acre. He married Jane Weaver. He became one of the prosperous men of the community, acquiring over a thousand acres of land, and raised cattle extensively as well as carrying on general farming. After the business prostration of 1837 he sold three-year-old steers for eight dollars per head. Wheat was twenty cents a bushel. In those days wheat was all cut by a sickle and bound by hand. Fruit was dried instead of canned. Samuel Porter came from Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1834.
The Methodists held religious services in Carroll Town- ship as early as 1824. Rev. George Fox preached at the house of Mr. Cassady, who was a local preacher of that church, and services were held at the house of Abel Wil- liams about two years later. Perhaps the first organi- zation was effected in 1826 and the first meeting house was built in 1827. Two preachers from Kentucky held meetings at the house of Mr. Williams. Meetings were held at the camp meeting grounds near Cassady's and the old log meeting house, which was the first building erected for a house of worship in the county, except the one built by the Friends at Vermilion. This log meeting house was built through the exertions of Mr. Williams and Mr. Cas- sady. This building stood on the north side of the creek, southwest of Dallas. Rev. John E. French had an appoint- ment here in 1829 and Collin James in 1830. These ap- pointments belonged to Eugene circuit at that time. The meetings continued to be held in the old log meeting house until about 1850, when two churches were built, one at Dallas and one on Mr. Williams' land. The latter was known as Lebanon. Among the early preachers here were
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Mr. Harshey, Mr. Fairbanks and Mr. Bradshaw. Mr. Charles Baum was one of the most earnest friends of the church. His house was the home of the itinerant preach- ers and he and his family gave liberal support to the cause of religion. Some of the other early preachers were: Mr. McReynolds, Mr. Buck, Mr. Crews, Doctor Butler, Gran- bury Garner, Doctor Davies, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Minier, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Hopkins.
The Baptist Church was organized by the Bloomfield Association and was called the Little Vermilion Church. Those members of the Bloomfield Church who lived on the Little Vermilion met on the Saturday before the fourth Sabbath in August, 1859, and agreed to be constituted a church. The organization was effected about a month later. Stephen Kennedy acted as moderator and Elder G. W. Riley as secretary. This organization took place in a log school house, known as Yarnell School House. The church was built in 1843, at Indianola. Elders G. W. Riley, John W. Riley and Freeman Smalley preached for the new organization.
The Prairie Church of the Cumberland Presbyterians, known as the Miller Church, was organized in 1866 by Rev. James Ashmore, who preached here for ten years. Later preachers were Rev. H. VanDyne and Rev. J. H. Hess. A building was erected in 1870 on land donated by John Carter.
Indianola is the only village of importance in Carroll Township. It has a population of three hundred and fifty- nine. It was laid out and recorded as Chillicothe on Sep- tember 6, 1836. In 1844 the name was changed to Dallas and later again changed to Indianola. These changes were due to other postoffices in Illinois with the same names.
CHAPTER XIII
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES-Continued
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP: DERIVATION OF NAME-SOCIETY OF FRIENDS- FIRST CABIN IN 1820-JOHN HAWORTH-CAUSE OF EDUCATION-THE SEMINARY-GROWTH OF CHURCHES-INFLUENCE OF THE QUAKERS --- SETTLEMENT OF RIDGEFARM-GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP: INDUCE- MENTS TO PIONEERS-FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS-EARLY RE- LIGIOUS LIFE-VILLAGE OF GEORGETOWN-ITS RAPID DEVELOP- MENT-LEADING MERCHANTS-PROMOTION OF EDUCATION-GEORGE- TOWN SEMINARY-WESTVILLE: ITS IMPORTANCE AS A VILLAGE- CHIEF INDUSTRY-POPULATION.
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP
Elwood Township derived its name from Thomas Elwood, an honored name in the Society of Friends and a distinguished writer in England. A pioneer Friends meet- ing house was named in his honor here, and later the name was offered to the township.
The first settler in Elwood Township was John Malsby, who built a cabin here in 1820. He did not remain long, however, but returned to his former home at Richmond, Indiana. John Haworth is credited with being the first permanent settler in the township, although Henry Cana- day came very shortly afterwards. John Haworth left Tennessee with his family in 1818 and went to Union
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County, Indiana, and came here in 1821. He spent the first winter here in the cabin which John Malsby had built. Among his early neighbors were Johnson and Starr, a few miles to the northwest; Squires and Thomas Curtis, three miles east; John Mills, Dickson and Simon Cox and Henry Canaday.
George Haworth, an uncle of John, soon joined the settlement, and with the Canadays, established the first meeting house and soon built a house for that purpose. Eli Henderson settled in the township in 1824 and died in 1833, leaving three sons and three daughters. Henry Canaday came from Tennessee to the Wabash in 1821. His four sons, Benjamin, Frederick, William, and John came to Elwood Township in the winter and built a cabin. The following spring the entire family returned to Ten- nessee. However, they remained there but a short time when they all moved back here.
Benjamin Canaday, one of the sons, was a tinner by trade. He would make up a stock of tinware and take it to Louisville, where he traded it for merchandise, which he brought back and sold to the settlers. He soon had built up quite a trade and later moved to Georgetown, where he became an extensive merchant and conducted business there for many years.
Andrew Patterson came from East Tennessee in 1827 and settled at what was known as Yankee Point. Isaac Cook was also a very early settler. Nathaniel Henderson also settled here at an early date. He later moved to Clark County. Mr. Wall came here from Ohio in 1832 and died in 1872. Thomas Durham came to this township about 1825. He later went to Kankakee. William Golden set- tled on section twenty-five in 1825. His residence was used for a school house part of the time. James Falen, Levi
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Babb, Benjamin Galladay, Thomas Postgate, Simeon Bal- lard and Benjamin Flehart were all early settlers here.
John Pugh came from Ohio in 1830. He died here in 1847. Isaac Wright and his son, John P. Wright, came as early as 1823. He built a horse-power grist mill on his place on section thirty-six. It was the first mill to be built in the township. Joseph Allison lived on section twenty- five in 1830. The first Methodist meetings were held at his house. Garrett Dillon was one of the first settlers at Pilot Grove. He was prominent in the work of the Friends Society and education. He reared a large family and many of his descendants are now living in Vermilion County. Nathaniel Henderson built the first cabin on the triangular portion of land, part of which projects south of the Edgar County line, known as Harrison's Purchase. Charles Brady settled in this township in 1831. He came from Centerville, Indiana. John Fletcher came from Ohio in 1836.
Asa Folger, a tanner by trade, came here in 1829. He set up on improvised tannery on a small scale and tanned leather for the pioneers. In those early days most of the pioneers made their own shoes from leather which they had obtained from the tannery.
A Friends Society was organized at Elwood. Among the early settlers there were Mercur Brown, Exum Morris, David Newlin, Nathan Thornton, Elisha Mills, Isaac Smith, Wright Cook and Zimri Lewis.
Thomas Whitlock, a Tennesseeian, came here in 1828. He was an early justice of the peace and served over twenty years in that capacity. Enos Campbell came here in 1834 from Tennessee. John Whitlock settled here in 1830. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and reared a large family, three of his sons becom-
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ing ministers of that denomination. Eli Patty came in 1848 and lived at Patty's Ford, east of the Elwood meeting house. John Reyburn, a Baptist minister, was an early settler.
Eli Thornton built a water mill on the Little Vermilion about 1837. It was both a saw and grist mill and was operated about forty years. Jonathan Haworth built a water mill at what was known as Cook's Ford about 1830.
Abraham Smith came from Tennessee in 1839. Joseph Ramey came about 1850. Samuel Graham came in 1828, also from Tennessee, and James Hepburn came in 1833.
Abraham Smith was one of the first to settle out on the open prairie, at Ridge farm. The early pioneers cautioned him against this venture-that no one was ever known to live out on the prairie. The experiment proved a success and soon he was joined by others, including Thomas Haworth, Uri Ashton and James Thompson. Mr. Smith "kept tavern" for travelers for a time as the stage coaches were operating between Danville and Paris. About 1850 Mr. Smith built a blacksmith and wagon shop on his place and about the same time opened a store. In 1855 he with others built a large three-story steam mill which did an extensive business until it was burned in 1863.
The pioneers of Elwood Township, while enduring the many hardships and inconveniences incident to life in a new country, did not neglect the cause of education. The first school taught in this township, and in fact in Ver- milion County, was in the winter of 1824-25. The teacher was Reuben Black, a lad of eighteen years, who came here from Ohio. The schoolhouse was a log building located one mile west of Vermilion Station. The enrollment con- sisted of fourteen pupils, being the children of John Mills, Joseph Jackson, Ezekiel Hollingsworth, Henry Canady
TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL, RIDGEFARM, ILL.
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CARNEGIE LIBRARY, RIDGEFARM
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and John Haworth. Reading, writing, spelling and arith- metic were taught. The second school was taught by Elijah Yager, a Methodist minister from Tennessee. Henry Fletcher was the third teacher. Elisha Hobbs, who was a very successful teacher, began teaching here in 1831. From that time on education never lost ground in the township.
In 1850 the seminary building was built by the co- operation of William Canady, David and Elvin Haworth and others. They employed J. M. Davis as principal and the school opened with one hundred and ten students. Mr. Davis was a very successful educator and continued as principal for five years. Many of the advanced branches were taught, including algebra, chemistry, geometry, sur- veying, minerology, philosophy, domestic economy and Latin. The common branches were also taught. This seminary flourished for many years and was a great insti- tution. It continued until the advent of the free public school system. It was really the forerunner of the Ver- milion Academy, which was established in 1873.
The Friends Society was perhaps the first religious denomination to be organized in Elwood Township. Many of the early settlers belonged to that faith. Meetings were held in various places in the township prior to 1830 when a log meeting house was built at Elwood. Other meeting houses were built later at Vermilion, Pilot Grove, Hope- well and Ridge Farm.
The first Methodist meetings to be held regularly in Elwood Township were by Elijah Yager, who came from East Tennessee, a school teacher in the employ of some of the early settlers. The next regular preaching services held by the Methodists were held at the home of Samuel Graham in 1828. Reverend James McKain and Reverend
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John E. French were the preachers. The former was in charge of what was known as the Eugene circuit and the latter was his assistant. Among the pioneer local preach- ers of the Methodist Church were Joseph Allison, Mr. Cassady, Patrick Cowan, Arthur Jackson, and William Stowers.
The Ridge Farm Methodist Episcopal Church grew out of a class that was formed about a mile south in 1849. In 1852 it was moved to Ridge Farm. Reverend G. W. Fairbanks was the presiding elder at that time and Rev- erend R. C. Norton the preacher in charge. The first meetings were held in the schoolhouse. The first church was built in 1856 when Reverend S. Elliott was presid- ing elder and Sampson Shinn was the preacher in charge. A log church was built near the state line in 1842.
The Little Vermilion Baptist Church was organized in 1831. Reverend David Shirk was the first pastor. Rev- erend John and Reverend J. S. Whitlock were also early pastors of this church. The first church was a log struc- ture, built north of the creek. It was replaced later by a frame structure.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was early estab- lished here by the efforts of Reverend James Ashmore. He organized what was known as Liberty Church, north of the Little Vermilion, in 1842. A log church was built there in 1843. In 1871 a frame church was built. The Yankee Point Cumberland Church was organized by Rev- erend Ashmore in 1853. The meetings were held in a schoolhouse at first but soon after the organization was effected a building was erected on the south line of section twenty-two, near the center of the township. Gilead Church was also organized by Reverend Ashmore in 1854 near the southeast corner of the township. At first a log
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house was built which was replaced by a frame structure in 1872.
The Cumberland Presbyterians built another church in the township about a mile north of Vermilion Grove in 1872, known as "Sharon Church." Reverend Allen Whit- lock was the pastor at the time of the organization and building of the church. The Cumberland Church at Ridge Farm was organized by Reverend H. H. Ashmore in 1854. Reverend Hill was the first Cumberland Presbyterian min- ister here. He preceded Reverend James Ashmore, whom he greatly assisted.
It is an absolute fact that the Friends, or Quakers, as they are generally named, had much to do with the early development of the southern part of the county and no history of the county would be complete without an account of their large contribution to the religious and educational life of the county, especially in Elwood Township where they first settled.
August 10, 1922, Friends at Vermilion Grove cele- brated the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the church there. At that time a historical sketch was read which brought out several interesting points. The earliest permanent settlers in this part of the state came from eastern Tennessee in 1821, just three years after Illinois became a state. Being Friends, they had a cordial dislike for slavery and its influences. Naturally, a meet- ing was set up after homes were established. Coming into this frontier section, they found a few friendly Indians and an abundance of wild game, big droves of deer as well as small game.
Henry and Matilda Canaday were perhaps the first Friends to settle in this vicinity. They came from East Tennessee into Indiana as early as 1818, then followed two
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of their sons to Illinois in 1820 or 1821. John and Sicily Haworth, John and Charity Mills, with their families, soon joined them and together formed the nucleus of this new Friends settlement.
Vermilion County records show they entered many acres of land for homesteads in October 1822. In quick succession came the Mendenhalls, Hesters, Smith, Lar- rances, Holadays and many others. Almost simultaneously with this settlement at Vermilion, as it was then called, two other settlements of Friends sprang up, one at Elwood, two miles east of Georgetown and the other at Quaker Point, known as Hopewell, just across the state line in Vermillion County, Indiana.
Meetings were held alternately at Vermilion in a little log house on the John Haworth farm and at Hopewell at the home of a Friend, known as "Yankee John Haworth." The trip to this meeting included a ten-mile drive made in a rude cart, drawn by an oxen team. Elwood Town- ship derived its name from Thomas Elwood, an eminent English Friends, amanuensis to John Milton, the blind poet.
The Elwood neighborhood was for many years called the "middle settlement." At Hopewell it was called "east- ern settlement of the Vermilion." Among those who first settled at Elwood were Thomas and Keziah Cook with their six sons and five daughters. All of these but one son, spent their lives in that vicinity. One son and five grandsons became Friends ministers. Other pioneers of Elwood were Simri and Isaac Lewis, Asa Folger, Eli Hen- derson, Nathan Thorton and Elias Newlin.
The first meeting house at Elwood was built in 1830. A meeting house was built at Vermilion prior to that time, although the exact date of this is not known. The first
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death in Vermilion settlement occurred in February, 1823, and a burial ground was selected near the new meeting house. The Vermilion Grove cemetery is probably the oldest burying ground in this part of the country. Al- though across the Indiana line, Hopewell meeting has always been an important part of Vermilion meeting and such well known Friends as Richard Haworth, William Henderson, Mercer Brown, Aquilla Branson, Enoch and John Pugh and William B. Walthall were prominent church and business men of that locality.
Pilot Grove meeting, two miles east of Ridge Farm, was set up and a meeting house grounds and adjoining burial ground was donated by Henry Fletcher, who entered land there in 1836. A number of early settlers in this neighborhood were from Elwood, who had dared to push out a little from the timber line and risk dangers of the prairie. Among them were Garett Dillon, Asa Folger, William Lewis, Williamshon Price, and their families. About the same time the Pilot Grove neighborhood was started. Isaac Smith pushed out from the Vermilion set- tlement and two miles south, "homesteaded" the Ridge Farm.
Later this farm was platted for a town and became Ridge Farm. Here too, the Friends organized a meeting and in 1875 built a meeting house. Levi Newlin, Jonah M. Davis, Rufus H. Davis, John Hester, Caleb Lews are familiar names in that meeting. Georgetown has a his- tory dating back almost as far as that of Danville and from the beginning, Friends had a large part in the making of that history. Benjamin Canaday, son of Henry Cana- day, embarked in the mercantile business as early as 1831. Elam Henderson, a prominent Friend, was also a pioneer business man. Georgetown Friends belonged to Elwood
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meeting until early in the seventies when they built their own house of worship there.
At all the above mentioned points, Friends meetings are still maintained and from these centers through the century just closing, have gone out scores of people who have carried Friendly ideas and ideals into other sections of the country. Vermilion Quarterly meeting was estab- lished in 1863 and for a half century or more "Quaker Quarterly" was an event of more than passing interest. In 1863, but one recorded minister, Wright Cook, was in the limits of the Quarterly meeting. Asa Folger, the first minister recorded by Friends here in 1850, died a few years later.
John Howard, William Perry Haworth, Frances Jen- kins, Mary Rogers, Hannah Ann Commons, Thomas C. Brown, Levi Rees, Melissa S. Haworth, Rachael Hester, John Folger, William Henderson and James P. Haworth were for many years faithful ministers in the Friends' Church and with the exception of William Haworth, have all passed to their reward. The first resident pastor in the quarterly meeting was Samuel C. Mills, who came from Fairchild quarterly meeting in Indiana in 1888 to become pastor of the meeting at Vermilion Grove.
Not long after homes were built in these frontier settle- ments schools were opened. In 1824, the first school in the Vermilion settlement, probably the first in the county, was taught. The building was of logs and was sixteen feet square. It stood a little to the east of the David Haworth home, now owned by Beriah Haworth, about one mile west of the village of Vermilion Grove. A stick and clay chimney, a big fireplace, clapboard roof, with no nails in the building, the roof being held in place by a long strip
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of board fastened at the ends by wooden pegs, composed the ancient seat of learning.
Greased paper was placed over the windows, there was a puncheon floor and slabs, with legs, for seats. A shelf along one side was used by pupils who were in the writing class. Reuben Black from Ohio was the first teacher and there were fourteen pupils. This building sufficed for some time as a schoolhouse but was later used as a resi- dence. In 1850 the old Vermilion Seminary was built. Efforts to secure subscriptions for building a house having failed, David Haworth, Elvin Haworth and William Cana- day assumed responsibility for the project. Each gave one hundred dollars and with their own hands and the help of neighbors erected a frame building thirty by fifty- two feet, not far from where the district school now stands. The land then belonged to the Elvin Haworth farm, for- merly the John Haworth homestead.
This building had an assembly room and two class rooms. Jonah M. Davis was employed as principal and school opened with one hundred and ten pupils. They were from the age of six to twenty-five years. They came from Georgetown, Elwood, Ridge Farm and Pilot Grove. Besides the grade studies, Latin, algebra, geometry, chem- istry, surveying and astronomy were taught. John M. Davis, with different assistants, continued as faculty for six years. Other well-remembered teachers were Charles Black, who later became General Black, James Rees, Josephus Hollingsworth, William Mendenhall, Jonathan Ellis, Thomas C. Brown and Levi Rees.
Gradually other schools were built in the outlying neighborhoods. In the early sixties the public school sys- tem was introduced and thus the numbers at the old academy decreased. There were enough children to re-
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quire two teachers until 1869. The advanced studies were then dismissed. In 1847 Vermilion Academy was built by the quarterly meeting. Public high schools being few in the county this institution, like the old seminary, drew its patronage from a large territory and the enrollment for a few years was near eighty. As other schools were built and the contributing territory became more circum- scribed, the enrollment gradually fell off but the school is still maintained and ranks among the foremost of the good schools of our county.
The first Sunday School, then known as First Day Scrip- ture School, was undertaken in 1840 with James Reese as its head.
Material for the first burial casket was brought on horseback from Terre Haute, Indiana.
Many of the younger women of the pioneer days made the trip here from Eastern Tennessee on horseback.
The first musical instrument to be used in Vermilion meeting was an organ purchased about 1887.
The name "Society of Friends" was officially changed to Friends Church by an act of the Western Yearly Meet- ing in 1891.
In the vicinity of Elwood, the church cemetery has many graves which are unmarked. In early days, the Friends did not believe in marking graves with tomb- stones and as a result, there are many unmarked burial plots in this little cemetery. Rocks, placed in various posi- tions, some of them in initial form of the deceased's name, are the only markers by which descendants of these pioneers can distinguish graves of their departed ones.
One-half of the southern part of Vermilion county's population are descendants of the early Friends settlers.
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Ridgefarm which is located in the southern part of Elwood Township near the county line, was platted by Abraham Smith in November, 1853, and the original plat consisted of thirteen lots. Smith, the founder of Ridge- farm, will be remembered as the first man to venture out on the open prairie and undertake to cultivate a farm in that part of the county-"out on the Ridge" as it was called then. Smith's plat was located on the west side of the state road (now the Dixie Highway) and south of the county road. The same year Thomas Haworth laid out and recorded an addition west of the state road and north of the county road. February 27, 1856, Thomas Haworth laid out and platted another addition of seven- teen lots. On December 1, 1854, J. W. Thompson laid out an addition of eight lots east of the state road and south of the county road, and in August, 1856, he laid out and platted an addition of thirty-two lots. On April 11, 1856, A. T. Smith platted an addition of six lots. March 25, 1857, T. A. Haworth laid out his third and fourth addi- tions. A. B. Whinrey laid out an addition of two blocks at the railroad. On April 5, 1873, R. H. Davis platted a subdivision of section thirty. In April, 1872, J. H. Banta platted an addition of four blocks east of the rail- road, and on April 15, 1873, H. C. Smith platted an addi- tion east of the state road.
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