USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a tale of its evolution, settlement and progress for nearly a century, Volume I > Part 36
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During the time of his life, John Mann, the younger son of Abraham Mann, shared his brother's care of the home place. After John Mann died in 1873, his two children lived on the home place with their mother, their aunt, Mary Ann, and their uncle, Abraham Mann. During this time Mr. Abraham Mann bought other farms, but the original farm of 5,000 acres owned by Mr. Abra- ham Mann, Sr., was not changed by additions nor divisions, excepting the share the youngest daughter had received. The youngest daughter married Mr. Thomas Bennett in 1858, and her share of the estate lies adjoining and a part of the farm. Mr. Bennett has added to this land by his own purchase, and himself has a fine farm. His home is one of the finest in the county.
Mr. Abraham Mann, Sr. laid out his grounds in true English style, and during his lifetime the habits of the family were in keeping with the place. His sons, and later his one son, Abraham, Jr., took charge of the place after his death. A handsome house and stables are on the place well set back from the highway. It always has been a well appointed English gentleman's estate. The three sons of Abraham Mann now live on the farm. They, with their mother, have taken charge of it since the death of the father.
THE ALLERTON FARM.
One of the moneyed men of Chicago is the well known Samuel Allerton. His land is in various parts of Illinois, one farm being in Vermilion County. This is in the southwestern part. The western boundary of the farm is the boundary line between Vermilion and Champaign counties. This farm is separ- ated from the Edgar County line by the so-called Allen farm. The Allerton farm comprises four thousand acres, and at the time Mr. Allerton bought it, it was of little value other than to graze cattle and fit them for the market.
The farm was the property of the famous Sullivants of Champaign County, and came into Mr. Allerton's hands through a misfortune of Mr. Joseph Sul- livant. Mr. Sullivant had taken this land in Vermilion County which adjoined
MARY ANN MANN
CATHERINE E. (MANN) BENNETT
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his large landed possessions in Champaign County, intending to make it a vast estate. He began by taking great pains in beautifying it, rather than in improving it, to the end of its becoming a profit to him. Soon he became involved, and was obliged to give up the land. He had borrowed money from eastern capitalists, and the Singer Sewing Machine Company closed up the matter, Mr. Allerton being the buyer. The farm comprised four thousand acres.
After Mr. Allerton bought this vast extent of land, he put Mr. Herron in charge. Mr. Herron was a man who had an extensive knowledge of condi- tions controlling the value of this property, having long been acquainted with this section. Mr. Allerton trusted him implicitly, and agreed to all his plans for the improvement of the property. Mr. Herron's plan was to, in the first place, make it a well drained farm. He did this and converted the wild wet land into profitable fields of growing grain. The first years of his stay on the Allerton farm, Mr. Herron fed cattle. He did not like the Texas cattle, but bought calves from other farmers in Illinois and Indiana. Seeing greater pos- sibilities than came from the sale of cattle, this farm was tiled and cultivated so that grain could be raised in profitable amount.
When Mr. Herron went to the farm it held several ponds and the wild fowl were very plentiful. It was the home of the wild duck and prairie chicken and the paradise of the hunter. Mr. Herron had no half way nor experimental farming done. Mr. Allerton wanted the farm developed as it should be, and Mr. Herron carried out his ideas to his satisfaction as long as he remained on the place. When the time came that a station on the railroad was possible to make a shipping point, Allerton was built. No pains were too great to make this a model town; churches were encouraged, and a school which would furnish the best instruction was helped to be built. Mrs. Allerton herself, at the suggestion of Mr. Herron, took a great interest in the school, and made it possible to have special instruction given in domestic science.
The problem of having help to carry out the great project undertaken was solved by adopting the community plan of farming. This plan has been well tried, and to Mr. Allerton's satisfaction. The farm is divided into a number of small farms, each of which is put under the care of one man. These farms are carried on under the partial, at least, supervision of the man in charge of the entire place. The financial profit of each farm is shared by the farmer and Mr. Allerton. Mr. Allerton does not spend his time on this farm, nor has ever spent much time there. His home is in Chicago, but he is interested in the farm in Vermilion County, as he is in those he owns in other localities.
CHAPTER XXIV. EARLY MILLS AND MILLING.
FIRST CORNCRACKER MILL WAS MADE BY JAMES BUTLER IN 1823-THE GILBERT'S MILL, BUILT IN 1828 AT DANVILLE-MILL ON THE SALT FORK, 1826-SHEP- HERD'S MILL-BRAZELTTON'S MILL-WHITSILL'S AND HOWARD'S MILLS ON THE MIDDLE FORK-THE HIGGINSVILLE MILL-KIRKPATRICK'S MILL-THE OLD KYGER MILL-AMOS WILLIAM'S MILL- THE HALE-GALUSHU SAWMILL-STEAM SAWMILL AT DANVILLE-THE WRIGHT-COOK FORD SAWMILL-THE HAWORTH MILL-THE MENELY MILL- THE MYERSVILLE MILL-THE MILL AT ALVIN- THE JAMES GEORGE MILL AT MIDDLE FORK-THE JENKIN'S MILL ON THE VERMILION-THE OLD WOOLEN MILL- THE STEAM MILL AT GEORGETOWN BUILT IN 1850-THE AMBER MILL-DOUGHERTY MILL AT FAIRMOUNT-THE WOOD'S MILL ON THE NORTH FORK-THE LUSTRO MILL AT DANVILLE-THE DANVILLE MILL-THE GARLAND STEAM STONE SAWMILL.
The first corncracker mill used was made by James Butler in 1823. It consisted of a gum, or section of a hollow tree, some four feet long by two feet in diameter. In this was set a stationary stone with a flat surface. The revolving burr, like the other, was selected with reference to its fitness, from the granite boulders-or as the old settlers would designate them, "Nigger- heads"-distributed freely over the ground everywhere. The two were broken and dressed into circular form, and the grinding surfaces reduced and bur- rows sunk into them so as to make cutting edges, by such rude instruments as Mr. Butler could manufacture for the purpose.
A hole was drilled near the rim on the upper side of the rotary burr. A pole was inserted in this, while the other end was placed in a hole in a beam some six or eight feet directly above the center of the hopper, and thus by taking hold of the pole with the hand near the burr and exerting a push and pull movement, a rotary motion was given to the mill. The capacity was about one bushel of corn per hour, with a lively muscular man to run it. It served the wants of the people at Butler's Point until the water mill at Denmark was made, in 1826, when it was taken to Big Grove, in Champaign County, by Robert Trickle.
The well known "Gilbert mill" on the North Fork, at Danville, near the lower end of Main street, was commenced by Robert Trickle and sold to
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Solomon Gilbert before it was completed. This was a log building, and the stones were cut out of such as could be found nearby. This answered the purpose of the neighborhood for a time, but it was not until a sawmill was attached two years later, that much profit was realized. Grain was cheap and the commissions on grinding was necessarily small. The mill was completed and in working order in 1828. The bolting was done by hand, and was a slow process, but gave work to the boys who would otherwise have been idle.
All these old sawmills used the "gate-saw." The saw was fixed into a frame which was about eight feet high by six feet wide, made so strong that it could hold the saw firmly to the work, and so heavy that it moved up and down very leisurely, which gave rise to the expression that it would "go up in the spring and go down with the fall freshets." It moved in grooves cut in the upright timbers. Such a saw would not be used now, but at that time men who were accustomed to their use, could saw two thousand feet a day, and a thousand feet of lumber for a day's work was doing very well. The price for sawing was always fifty cents per hundred feet, or a share; so it is readily seen that a sawmill was a profitable piece of property to own.
A mill on the Salt Fork really antedates the Gilbert mill. This mill was in operation in 1826, two years before the Gilbert mill, and it served a large territory. The mill stood in the middle of the stream, just north of the one built later. This mill was built of logs and, as did all other mills at that time, went by water power. Its patronage extended as far as into McLean County, people coming that distance to get their grinding done. This mill continued to serve the people until, in 1837, Mr. John Shepherd, who had come to Illinois the previous year and had money to put into such an enterprise, employed Aaron Dalbey to build a new mill. This was done, and equipped at a cost of $3,000, a large sum for those days. Mr. Shepherd, dying before he could realize any profit from the mill, it was bought by Mr. Parrish, who operated it for a time and then sold it to John Hay. He operated it until 1873, when he sold it to C. M. Berkley.
This building which served as a profitable mill so long was thirty by forty- two and a half feet, and had both water and steam power. The supply of water was so constant that the steam was seldom used. The building was moved from the position that it first occupied to the bank of the creek-(but a short distance) soon after Berkley bought it.
Jacob Brazelton put up a horse mill at his place near the Vermilion at an early day, which, though a cheap affair, as were all these horse mills, yet did better than going so far to have the corn ground.
The first carding mill is credited to William Miliken, who built one in about 1830. It was indeed a primitive affair. It was run by tread power, and when he wanted to get up power he had to hunt up the oxen which ran in the bush, and these were not readily found. If they had happened to have wan- dered over to the river for water, which they were apt to do, it took days to reach the required power to run the mill. Meanwhile there was nothing to do but to wait for the desired material. This primitive mill has long since passed, together with the industry which made the demand for it. Mr. Whit- sill built a mill on Middle Fork in about 1832 or 1833. He operated it several
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years, and then it fell into the hands of the McGees. It finally had to be abandoned because of not being kept in repair. It was a grist-mill at first, with a sawmill added later.
Another old mill on Middle Fork was built by James Howell, who operated it a short time and died; and his son then operated it, and he died. Then Mr. Downing took it, and next James Cunningham ran it until it became useless. This was a sawmill at first, but it finally had a corncracker added before it was abandoned.
Another sawmill in the county was built this same year of 1832. It was built by Naffer & Smalley three-fourths of a mile southeast of Higginsville. It did good work, and was much in demand in sawing up the timber. Hard wood lumber was much in demand for fencing, building and furniture. Later a grist-mill was added to this and did good work, and was a great convenience. This mill was in operation until 1860, or perhaps later, but long ago every evidence of its being had disappeared.
There was a water mill built on Stoney Creek in 1835 by Robert Kirkpatrick, which was operated for some years. It was a sawmill, and was run only by Kirkpatrick himself. One of the best mills of its time was what was known as the old Kyger mill. Situated as it was, with surroundings of the most beau- tiful scenery, it was a pleasing spot, and a favorite place, even after its use- fulness as a mill was passed. The first mill upon this site was built by William Sheets, of Georgetown and Thomas Morgan, in 1835. When Mr. Kyger came into possession of the mill, he built a large frame and put in new machinery.
Mr. Amos Williams has left a number of letters and other papers from the contents of which there is reason to infer that he was much interested in milling, but it is difficult to learn how many mills he had, and where they were located. Whether he bought or built the one long known as the "Cotton's mill" is not known, but that it was in his possession at one time is not to be disputed. It was in 1836 that the dam was put in at this place, at any rate, and that is a probable date of its being begun. This mill was built on the main stream of the Vermilion river, and it is possible that the date fixed for its beginning is too late, and it is the date of a second dam. Mr. Williams did not prove as successful as a miller as he was in many other things, and the mill was a heavy expense with little returns, as long as he lived. After his death Mr. Cotton bought this mill, refitted it, and continued to run it until 1867. This mill had a carding machine attached to it. After the building of the new mills began, Mr. Cotton thought he could use his water privilege to greater profit, and discontinued the use of the old mill. The fall was about six feet and gave head sufficient for more modern wheels.
Mr. Hale came to Danville in the thirties, bringing some money with him. As a general thing, the early settler did not have much money. This was the first capitalist to come to Danville on record. Since there was no better way to invest his money, he built a sawmill in 1836. He took a Mr. Galusha as a partner, and his investment was profitable. Had he entered less land, with the profits of his sawmill, he would have become very wealthy; but he made the mistake many others have, and became possessed of more land than he had money to pay taxes upon.
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In the course of time it was considered a need of the community to have a steam sawmill located at Danville. A company was organized, consisting of Thomas Willison, Thomas Mckibben, J. H. Murphy and G. W. Cassidy, and perhaps one or two others, and a mill of that kind was built. This steam sawmill was located on the Vermilion Bottoms just below where the Wabash Rail- road crosses the river. This promising improvement to Danville was destined never to profit its projectors, however. The panic of 1837 struck it, and it was suf- fered to go into decay; even the logs which were drawn there to be sawed into lumber, were left to decay in the yard.
Eli Thornton built a water mill on the Little Vermilion at the Wright-Cook ford in 1837. This was both a gristmill and a sawmill. The need of the latter was more particular at this time because of the fact that many of the trees had been killed the previous season. The frost was so severe in June of that year that the leaves of the trees were killed, and the trees, many of them, were also killed. Thornton ran this mill until 1857, when it was abandoned as a mill and the frame of the building was sold to James Frazier for a barn. There was a mill built at Cook's ford before this. Jonathan Haworth built one in 1830. This mill Isaac Cook bought and sold to Eli Patty, who operated it as long as it could be used.
With advancing civilization, the water at this place became too low to run a mill. A mill was built in the more northern part of the county the same year that Eli Thornton built his at the Wright-Cook ford. Mr. Menely, him- self a practical millwright, built a sawmill at a little way down stream from Marysville. Menely ran this mill for some time, but afterward sold it to Smith. While it was the property of Smith, J. D. Shepler was the miller. In about 1860 the mill burned. Smith rebuilt it and sold it. In 1872 a run of stone was put in.
The year after Menely built his mill down stream from Marysville, Myers- ville was made a possibility by the building of the Chrisman mill at that place. A dozen families were settled in this neighborhood, and Peter Chris- man came from Indiana and bought a mill site at that place, and began the building of what he meant should be a combined saw and grist mill. He began his work on the building at once, but before the grist mill was begun a sad accident prevented further work upon it. A sharp ridge lay transversely to the mill-race which the men were cutting, and it was decided to tunnel it to avoid removing the great amount of earth in the way. Chrisman's son Joseph drove the digging too far before he propped the great weight over- head and it broke down, crushing him beneath. This accident occurred in February, 1839, and it so affected the father that he never finished the build- ing, but sold the mill in the following fall to a man living in Indiana. This man's name was Koontz. He employed John and Samuel Myers to go and complete the work which was begun. These Myers brothers were practical millwrights, and soon bought out Koontz, moving their families to the place which afterward was given their name. These brothers were enterprising men, and besides running the sawmill, they at once put in a run of stones and also set a carding mill in operation. In June, 1842, they set a carding mill in opera- tion. In June, 1843, they raised the grist mill. They owned and operated this
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mill for nearly twenty years. After making much profit, they sold the mill to Joseph Smith. By this time only the grist mill was in use. It has been some years since this old mill has been run to profit, yet it still stands, and some one or another comes along occasionally and fixes it up, and finds work can be had from it even yet.
A little northwest of Alvin there is yet to be seen the old historic mill around which cling tales of prosperity and tragedies. It was built by Mr. Clawson in 1838 as a sawmill, and later was also made a grist mill. After the accident at the Chrisman mill which cost young Chrisman his life and the mill was sold in consequence, Mr. Chrisman bought the Clawson mill at Alvin. The Clawsons ran this mill nearly ten years and then sold it to John Hoobler from Perrysville, Indiana. In 1851 Hoobler sold the mill to Jacob T. Ross and from that time it was called the Ross mill. To accommodate his neigh- bors, Ross put in a small stock of goods and made the first store in the town- ship. It was here that the town meetings were held, and here also were the elections.
In 1858 Jolin L. Persons bought the mill and operated it until his tragic death in 1862. The circumstances of his death were as follows: A man by the name of Miller had an account with Persons of less than five dollars. In making settlement a dispute arose between him and Persons. Being very angry, Miller laid his pocketbook down and went home without it. When he dis- covered that his pocketbook was missing, and remembered that he had left it at the mill, he would not return for it, but made an agreement with three men to get it for him. The agreement was that the men, whose names were Sanders, Smith and Moore, should go to the mill after the pocketbook, and in case they did not succeed in getting it, they should kill Mr. Persons. The men said they would go together and demand the pocketbook, and all expected they would have no trouble in getting it. Miller gave them a gallon of whiskey and agreed to give them half of what was in the pocketbook. There was about ten dollars there. Moore, for some reason, had the custody of the whiskey and drank more than his share before the others were ready to go. He started on the errand alone, and without asking Persons for the pocketbook, killed him on sight. After Moore killed Persons, he hunted up the others and told them their help was not needed. Moore was arrested, but turned states evi- dence, and thus escaped punishment. On the death of Persons, the property went into the hands of Sangster & Swazy of Cincinnati, Ohio, and about 1867 John Mains bought it.
About 1839 James George built a grist-mill on the Middle Fork and operated it eight or ten years. He then sold it to Mr. Watts. Mr. Watts ran this mill for seven or eight years, and sold it to Mr. Phillips. Mr. Phillips kept it for a while and sold it to Abisha Sanders, who let it run down. Later Doane & Byerly bought it and put it into profitable working order, and sold it to Mr. Swift of Danville. A watermill was built on the Vermilion by William Jenkins about 1840. It was a good mill and did good work. The water at this point rose rapidly and at times was very high. So uncertain was the water here that the bridge was nearly thirty-five feet high. With all precautions taken the mill was washed away at high-water time. An incident of this bridge is to the effect
OLD CHRISTMAN MILL
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that while a boy on a wagon load of corn, was crossing it, the bridge broke and the wagon fell into the water; the bridge was ruined, the wagon disabled, but strange to say, the boy was not hurt. The old woolen mill on the banks of the North Fork of the Vermilion river at Danville was for a long time one of the landmarks of Vermilion County. The building yet stands, but the machinery has all been sold and since the attempt at a box factory a few years ago, no use has been made of it. This mill was built in 1844, by Hobson and Ailsworth, and went through many hands and many changes of remodeling in the thirty years before Riggs & Menig took it in 1877, and made a woolen mill of it. It was first operated by hand power, then by water power and at last by steam power. Its supply of water by the series of fine springs on the bluff above it, added to its value. This mill was probably better known than any other in the county, and during the time it was operated by Mr. Menig, its product was a pride and could compete with any in the country. The large steam mill at Georgetown was built by Henderson, Kyger, & Morgan, in 1850. It was built forty by fifty-three stories high, and had three run of stones. It was a great suc- cess and was in active operation until the same firm, Henderson & Kyger built the first grist-mill in Danville. Later Mr. M. M. Wright bought it and ran it for some time. By 1859 the county had grown to such proportions that more mills were needed. Blount township had grown and a grist mill was much needed. It was then that Henry and Andrew Wood built a sawmill and a grist-mill on North Fork, near the northeast corner of the township. It was a good mill with two run of stones, and had enough water to run almost all the time.
Another sawmill was built in Blount township in 1861. This was built on sec- tion 26 (20x12) and run by steam. Anderson come from Michigan, and bought sixty acres of timberland, and cut it off for lumber. It was a splendid piece of timber. He ran the mill here about eight years, and then sold it to William and John Lee, who moved it to section 36. This year was the time of building an- other mill at Danville. There was no longer any need to locate the mills on the banks of streams because the power adopted was steam. So it was the Amber Mill was built near the Wabash station. It was built in 1866 at an original cost of $28,000. This mill was burned in 1874 and rebuilt by Bowers & Co. Later it was sold to D. Gregg who ran it until the time of his death. This was a fine mill and produced an excellent grade of flour. The building was three stories and a half and basement built of brick, and was forty by a hundred on the ground. It was remodeled in 1878, substituting the new process and making it a first-class mill in every respect, which it continued to be as long as it was operated by Mr. Gregg. The building lay idle for some time after Mr. Gregg's death and in 1902 it was remodeled and used for the wholesale groceries.
John Dougherty built a grist mill at Fairmount in 1868. It was forty by fifty and supplied with three run of stones. The mill under his management was a great success. It was built at a cost of $15,000. The Globe Mill was a conspicious building in Danville for many years. It was built by Knight & Fairchild in 1870. It was 40 by 80, and well equipped with the "patent process" machinery. It had four run of stones. This mill was known as the "Lustro" after the firm of Smith & Giddings took it. Mr. Joseph Smith, the senior member of the firm,
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had been connected with the mill a year before the firm was established in 1875. During the proprietorship of Smith & Giddings, the output of the mill was about 40 barrels per day. This mill was operated until 1894, during which year the partnership was dissolved by the death of both Mr. Smith and Mr. Giddings. The building was burned the same year and was not rebuilt. A large and, in every respect a first class mill was built at Rossville in 1875, by Tittle and Ross. The City Mill in Danville was built on Vermilion street opposite the jail, by Samuel Bowers. It was a frame building 60 foot front on Vermilion street and 55 on South street. This mill is better known as the Wright mill, or the Dan- ville mill. Mr. Wright bought this mill in the early seventies and under his supervision this industry became an important factor of the city's growth. He constantly enlarged it.
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