History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 116

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164

USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 116

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

G. W. Baird, Fairmount, farmer, section 18, son of Joseph and Eliz- abeth Baird, was born in Brown county, Ohio, on the 18th of October, 1851, and came to Vermilion county, Illinois, in 1869. On the 1st of January, 1871, he was married to Miss Lydia E. Davis, daughter of William Davis, who is one of the early settlers in the county. She was born in the county on the 23d of May, 1852. They are the parents of one son and one daughter : Harry D. and Nellie M.

Z. Stalons, dealer in groceries and provisions, Fairmount, was born in Orange county, Indiana, in 1854, and came to Vermilion county, Illinois, with his parents in 1870. He was united in marriage on the 7th of April, 1878, to Miss Nellie McFarland, a native of Illinois. Mr. Stalons is a member of the A.F. & A.M., Fairmount Lodge, 590.

B. F. Mott, Fairmount, physician, was born in Miami county, Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1851, and removed with his parents to Chan-

1000

HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

paign county, Ohio, in 1857. In 1874 he came to Fairmount. Mr. Mott attended medical college in 1872 and 1873, and graduated in 1874. He is not an old physician in the county, but, by honest and never tiring attention to his patients, he now has a practice that will do credit to some of the older physicians of the county. On the 30th of August, 1878, he was married to Katie E. Adams.

G. W. Ryan, Fairmount, railroad agent, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on the 10th of May, 1853, where he received his early education, and was in the employ of the Pacific railroad for some time. He came west, and engaged with the Wabash railroad, in Champaign county, and in 1877 came to Fairmount, where he has had charge of the office, as express, freight and tieket agent, ever since.

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

Butler township embraces all the northwest corner of the county which is in town 23 north, range 13 west, of the 2d principal meridian, all the east half of town 23, range 14, two tiers of sections off the north end of town 22 north, range 13, and six sections in the northeast cor- ner of town 22, range 14, making in all seventy-two sections, or equal to two full congressional townships. The land was originally entirely prairie, and, although embracing some of the finest land in the county, did not come into cultivation till 1855, and as late as 1872 broad strips of its rich prairie had not been vexed with the plow; indeed, as late as this present writing some of the beautiful high rolling prairie along the line separating towns 23 and 22 is yet in prairie-grass, and scores of the farms south and southeast of Rankin are guiltless of either fenee or hedge to mark their boundary lines. No considerable stream erosses the town. From its southern side the little streams and rivulets stretch away toward the middle fork of the Vermilion, from its eastern border they run into the North Fork, while from its northern half the water sheds to the head-waters of the Illinois River. High, rolling, rich and healthy, it can but seem wonderful, and must ever remain in a great measure mysterious, how the land of such eligible portions of the county were left uninhabited until long after the western half of the state, and Missouri, Iowa, and portions of Kansas and Nebraska, were largely filling up with settlers. People living along the Middle Fork, not twenty miles away, pulled up and moved to Missouri, on poorer land than could be found within half a day's ride of their homes, and this, after it had been demonstrated that people could live

1001

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

on the open prairie with less labor, just as much comfort, more health, and surer returns for their labor, than on timber farms. It cannot be pleaded in this case that these prairies were unknown. The Chicago road, the great highway of travel before railroads were built, passed directly over this beautiful tract, and the road leading from Danville to Ottawa, along which thousands of men went from the Illinois River country to Danville to enter land, and the road from Attica to Bloom- ington, along which hundreds of people passed each year, visiting their old homes in Indiana and Ohio, both crossed this arm of the Grand Prairie. The old scholars had an adage which, being liberally trans- lated, runs, "In matters of taste there is no use in disputing." Just so; there is no law against a man's going through the woods and picking up a crooked stick beyond.

The Lafayette, Bloomington & Muncie railroad runs directly through the township from east to west, on a line nearly one and one half miles from its northern line, having on it the three little villages of East Lynne, named from the charming novel of Mrs. Anna S. Stephens, Rankin, named from Hon. David Rankin, the proprietor of a portion of the town and of a large amount of land in the neighborhood, and Pellsville, named from W. H. Pells, who was co-proprietor of it.

The township itself was named, at the suggestion of the first super- visor, in 1864, from the cock-eyed hero who had solved the difficult questions of the war, each as it arose, with as much ease as he would have settled a quiet dinner in his own house. He had equipped and marched the first brigade of volunteers to beleaguered Washington (or had commanded the march), in less than three days after notice had reached him, and in less than two days from the date of his . selection by Governor Andrew for the position. He had captured Baltimore one night, while the war department was making a plan of attack, which it was expected he would join in carrying out the next week. He had solved the most difficult question of what was to be done with the negroes who continually came into our lines, under the constitu- tional provision requiring the return of fugitives owing service or labor, by calling them "contraband of war." He had hung the only rebel that ever was hung in America (except old John Brown and his party), and had made the women stop making faces at the "boys in blue," and had just secured a peaceful election in New York city. Next to Grant, whose name had been applied to the adjoining town- ship, he was the hero of the day; so Wm. M. Tennery thought, and so his loyal neighbors thought when they gave his name to their home.

The first farming done in the township was probably in the year

1002

HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

1854, and these were the pioneers, so far as the memory of old settlers now living here serves to call it to mind .*

In the year 1854 Mr. J. H. Schwartz and several neighbors came from Ohio to Danville, and there found Parker Dresser doing a "land office business." It was busy times just then. He entered for the party the following tracts of land : Lot 1 of northwest quarter of sec- tion 30, for Mr. Schwartz; the south half of 19 (311 acres), for Mr. Yates (whose son came here and lived on it till his wife died, and then went back to Ohio); the east half and lot 1 of the southwest quarter of section 30, for Phoebe Bennett; the west half of the southwest quarter of section 29, for Mr. Bennett, and lot 2 of the northwest quarter of 30 for another party. Mr. Bennett did not come here to live, and never saw the land but once. Mr. Schwartz moved on his purchase and lives on it still. He was a man of fair education, of moderate financial resources, but large heart and strong and abiding faith. He found a new country, destitute not only of crops and stock, but destitute of the institutions of religion and education. His son-in- law, Lewis John, settled near him on section 20, in 1859, and remains there yet. The year he came here to live followed close on the years in which the large wheat crops were so general through the state. Cases were numerous where a single crop of wheat had paid the cost of purchasing the land, tilling, fencing, harvesting and mar- keting the crop, leaving a balance to the credit side of the account. The crop, of course, was an exceptional one; but that such did really grow is beyond dispute. This was sent to Ohio and other eastern states, and many came here in 1855 expecting to get rich on wheat raising alone. Cases were plenty where farmers who were well-to-do ran in debt for additional land, intending to pay for it out of the next wheat crop. Men, in the height of their excitement over wheat, sowed it on the last year's stubble, and harrowed it in without even plowing the ground. Of course the subsequent successive failures of the crop ruined many farmers, crippled others, sent some to the asy- lum, and convinced all that this was not in the " wheat belt."

The hard times which followed the financial crash of 1857 was fully as severe on the new settlers of Butler as had been the previous one of 1837 on those who were then in the timber belt along the Middle Fork. Corn became the principal article of food. Money there was none. The entire paper currency of the west was based upon the faith which the people had in bankers, many of which were either foreign to

* The writer would like to give credit to Mr. Schwartz and Mr. McCune for their assistance in furnishing-the former, the interesting statistics of the churches, and the latter, of the early settlers.

1003

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

the state, or mere myths. Michigan "red-dog," Georgia " wild-cat," Missouri " stump-tail," were the nicknames which were applied to the various kinds of bank-bills, which were taken at par one day, and re- fused at a heavy discount the next. Never was a people so swindled with imaginary money. Bank-note detectors were consulted by every business man whenever he received money, to try to discover whether it was safe to take. The men of the present generation who complain of "hard times " may have suffered, but they know next to nothing of the suffering which their fathers passed through then. Taxes were all payable in specie, and light as they were then, it was more difficult to obtain the hard money with which to pay them then than now, not- withstanding they are ten times as great.

Daniel Stamp came from New York and bought land in sec- tion 14 (23-14), in 1855. He sold to A. B. Lucas, and he to Samuel Johnson. Lucas lives in Pellsville. Johnson sold to Williams, and went to Kansas. Fred Stamp settled about the same time, and made a farm on section 15. He lives now in Paxton. James Dixon settled on section 11, where Mrs. Johnson now resides. John Jones the same time made a farm on section 19, just north of Schwartz. Caleb T. Beals came in 1856, and took land in section 3 (22-13). He still lives near there, in section 9. John Dopps commenced farming in section 15 (23-14) in 1855. He afterward sold out and went to Kansas. Da- vid Dopps commenced a farm in the same section. These men were pioneers of the Methodist church, and the first class was formed at the house of their brother Eli, across the line in Ford county.

J. W. Shannon came in 1855, and took up land in section 35 (23- 14). He lived there twenty years, and now resides in Perrysville, Indiana. Mr. Clark about the same time settled on the south side of section 14. In 1857 C. McCune came from Ohio, and took up land in section 7, one mile east of where Rankin now is, where he resided till five years ago, when he made Rankin his home. Wm. I. Allen, who had been a pioneer in Grant township, purchased land in 1855, north of East Lynne, and had two men there improving the farm. Ruffin Clark came from Indiana in 1856, and settled on section 28. He was a man of intelligence, and made his mark on the community. He took a lively interest in schools. He died in 1869, and his family went back to Indiana after a few years. Geo. Mains came to live on section 21 in 1856. He still resides there. Daniel S. French came to the same section in 1857. He now lives in Indiana, and is editing a paper in Tippecanoe county. He still owns the farm. Jacob Swisher came to section 12 (22-13) in 1855. He was a public-spirited man, and well known throughout this part of the county. Jesse Piles, who also came

1004

HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

here early, settled in section 10 (22-14), in the extreme southwestern part of the township. Jonathan Done in 1856 settled in section 15 (23-14). He afterward removed to Paxton. John Pursley, in 1857, purchased half a section in 11, near Rankin, and continued farming there until he enlisted in the army, in Allen's company. He had been in the engagement which resulted in the surrender of Fort Henry, and while at Donaldson was sent back to Fort Henry for ammunition. The fatigue of the trip was too much for him, and he gave out and died. He left two sons, who are worthy and respected young men.

Thomas Towe commenced about 1856 to improve a farm on section 7 (23-13). Along in the fall sometime, Towe and McCune had gone to Middle Fork,- McCune to get wood and Towe for a load of sand. This timber, twelve miles away, was the nearest fuel they could obtain. They knew nothing of coal at that day. McCune had a good team of horses and his partner was driving three yoke of cattle - of course he had to go on foot. Night overtaking them they became completely lost. To be lost on the prairie at night is the nearest thing to being "finally lost" that one experiences in this life. There is absolutely no clue by which the most skillful detective could work out. Especially is this so when the wind does not blow. Teams are liable to walk around in a circle, and in the absence of any light, which can be seen on such occasions many miles, the wanderers not unfrequently find it necessary to spend the night on the prairie. In this case the benighted travelers set to hallooing with all their might, and after an hour of such exercise they were heard by Mr. Stamp, who fired a gun to attract their attention. As soon as they could ascertain the direction of this first "gun at daybreak" they started for it at double-quick ; Towe ahead leading the van with his steers, and McCune following like a general officer on dress parade, glad to ride where Towe should lead. They came to one of those ponds which at that time were numerous on these prairies, and the leader, fearing to turn to the right or the left lest he should lose his direction, plunged in knee deep, yelling at the top of his voice to keep his courage up, and to keep their gunner acquainted with their whereabouts. McCune rode out the storm like a major, and never looked on that pond after that without almost fancy- ing he could see Towe knee-deep in the flood. Mr. Towe returned to New York, and John, who remained to carry on the farm, went to the army and was killed. 'Squire Bowers, in returning from Loda one night, got lost and became mired in a pond. He took off the horses and walked around all night to keep from being numbed with the cold. It was customary when the father of the family was belated, to place a candle in the window which looked in the direction he was to come,

1005

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

and many a man has been saved a night on the prairie by " keeping the lower light burning."

The nearest mill for a time was at Myersville, until Persons pur- chased and refitted the Ross Mill. The nearest trading point was at Loda, twelve miles north, which was a famous point for trade for all this country until the distillery burned and the building of the rail- road drew merchants away from there, until now there is nothing left of its former business importance.

In the early days the people here did not raise many cattle for some reason. As previously stated, all tried wheat for a time, until con- tinned failures used up all they had kept for seed, without any return. Still they bought seed and sowed again. Corn and hogs were the sta- ple. Hogs almost always brought a paying price, and it was before cholera had been invented. Stock and corn are the principal staples of the farmer yet. Flax has been raised some, and is considered a fair crop. To the renter it is considered an available crop, for it " turns " so much earlier than corn that it enables him to get something to live on several months before he can for corn.

Land was worth from $2.50 to $5 per acre: Some sold as high as $9 before the railroad was built, and some sold in anticipation of that building as high as $12. Eight dollars was probably a fair average for land two years before the railroad was built. Twenty can hardly be called an exorbitant price now.

McCune says that as late as 1857 he has seen here on this prairie as many as twenty deer at a time, and at one time he saw on section 7 fifty-four in one lot going in a northwesterly direction, and wolves were as thick as rabbits. As late as 1858, of a flock of sheep, which had got away from a man living north of here, eighty were killed in a single night. Badgers were also plenty. They were as large as a dog and stronger, with a thick neck, and too strong for any dog to master. Rattlesnakes were so plenty that on a single farm a hundred were killed in a single season. It is a wonder that more people were not killed by them. Dogs that were bitten by them seemed to know how to eure themselves. Prairie mud was a very certain cure. They were really a dangerous neighbor, yet the children went barefooted to school or hunting strawberries as now. They seem as adverse to civilization as any of their wild neighbors, and as the prairie-grass was killed out by being plowed and cultivated they disappeared. The last seen of them here was about 1870. It is doubted whether any survived the ' shriek of the locomotive or the high taxes of modern civilization. We used to have squirrels here, red and gray, not unlike those in the tim- ber but smaller, and with shorter tails. Prairie chickens were of course

1006

HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

very plenty, and the reverberating "boom " of their matins, ushering in an October morning, will never be forgotten by the old settlers, and probably never heard in its fullness by the new. Sand-hill cranes were very numerous, as they nested here in the ponds on this divide, and, if undisturbed, would make havoc of the corn in the spring, taking two rows at a time, as clean as any man could root it up, and in the fall would congregate in great numbers if not driven away.

The first Methodist class formed here was, according to Mr. Schwartz' recollection, about 1855. It was formed before he came here to live, at the house of Eli Dopps. It was an interesting class, and grew into three separate churches : that at Schwartz, at Rankin and at Pellsville. At the time of its formation it consisted of sixteen members. C. Atkinson was preacher in charge, and John Vincent assistant. It be- longed to the Danville circuit, and there was no church in all this country but the "Wallace Chapel " at Blue Glass, and the old log- house called Partlow's Church. The preaching appointment was each alternate week ; and it was a terrible winter, as all remember, so that Atkinson did not reach his appointment all winter,- but Vincent was very regular. Greenbury Garner, Milo Butler and W. H. McVey were on the Danville circuit before 1861. Mr. Elliott was presiding elder, and, after him, L. Pilnor. After this W. H. H. Moore was elder. Sampson Shinn and Enoch Jones, preachers, John Helmick, assistant, J. S. Barger and John Long, preachers in charge. In 1865 the Blue Glass circuit was formed, and Schwartz school-house was built. S. Shinnn was presiding elder. The class was divided, and those living near here were served with regular preaching at this school-house, which appointment belonged to the Blue Grass circuit, and those over by Dopp's were in the Paxton circuit. The society at East Lynne was formed in 1869. This church was built in 1875. It is 28x 46, and cost, painted and seated, $2,000. Some help, to build this beautiful chapel, came from Danville, but most of it was raised within them- selves. The present year Mr. Davis is pastor. A Sabbath-school is maintained in summer.

Prairie Chapel, Christian church, was built near Swisher's, at the extreme southeastern corner of the township, about 1861. Elder Raw- ley Martin used to preach there, as he did for years all over this country. He was for many years the pioneer preacher in this denomination. It is a pleasant church, and the membership is about forty-five. Elders Stipp and Charles Cosat preach there alternately. The organization of this church was effected at Blue Grass, in 1859, by Elder Martin. Preaching was continued for some time at the Blue Grass school-house. Jacob Swisher was one of the most influential members of the church,

1007

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

and when they came to build he induced the building near his resi- dence. He was an elder in the church.

A United Brethren church has been recently formed by Mr. Ziegler when he was in charge of the Vermilion circuit. Mr. Scott is the pre- sent preacher. Mrs. Duncan is class-leader. They propose to build soon on land that has been donated by Mr. Biddel, of Indianapolis.

Before the building of the railroad through this town its open prairie attracted the attention of a gentleman whose large experience, business capacity and ready means well qualified him to make a large venture in farming operations here, which has proved of the utmost importance to the interests of this prairie town. Mr. David Rankin had been largely engaged in cattle-farming and feeding in Henderson county, in this state, and had amassed a comfortable fortune before he commenced his operations here. He was a gentleman of broad views, wide ac- quaintance, and the strictest business habits. Associating with him his relative, W. A. Rankin, he purchased eight sections of land lying near together here, and commenced improving it, in 1867. They built a fine residence on section 2, which has been beautifully surrounded by trees, changing the bleak prairie of only a few years ago into one of the most delightful shady resorts to be found in this part of the coun- try, which has been the home of the junior partner since then. They put the land into cultivation as fast as possible, and secured the loca- tion of a depot at Rankin.

There were before the railroad was built two post-offices, which were more or less in Butler, i. e., they were hanging on the border of the township. Jesse Piles was postmaster of Circle for a while, and Dr. O. F. Taylor at Sugar Creek, which before the railroad was built was moved to what is now Pellsville. Butler was set off as a township in 1864, at which time Wm. M. Tennery was supervisor of the united townships. At the first town meeting held, Ambrose Armantront was moderator. The following is a list of the township officers elected since its erection. The town has never had but three supervisors and three clerks.

Date. Vote. Supervisor. Clerk. Assessor. Collector. 1865 .. 37. .J. H. Schwartz .. E. S. Pope.

.WV. M. Thomas ... D. A. Schwartz.

1866. ... 45 .... J. R. Bowers. . . E. S. Pope. Wm. Glaze. Wm. Glaze. 1867. . 45 .... J. R. Bowers ... J. J. Johnson .J. J. Johnson E. S. Pope. 1868 46. .J. R. Bowers. . . E. S. Pope. Wm. Glaze Win. Glaze.

1869 .. 85. .J. R. Bowers ... J. J. Johnson. WVm. Glaze . Wm. Glaze.

1870 .... 104 ... . J. R. Bowers ... D. A. Schwartz .. Wm. Glaze. Wm. Glaze.

1871 .... 59 .... J. R. Bowers ... D. A. Schwartz .. Wm. Glaze. . Wm. Glaze.

1872 .. .107 ... . B. Butterfield. . . D. A. Schwartz .. John Yeazel . Win. Glaze.

1873. ... 118 .... B. Butterfield. . . D. A. Schwartz .. E. G. Hancock ... E. G. Hancock.

1874. . .. 124. .B. Butterfield. .. D. A. Schwartz .. John Yeazel. G. W. Smith.

1008

HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

Date. Vote. Supervisor. Clerk. Assessor. Collector.

1875. ... 82 ... B. Butterfield. . . D. A. Schwartz .. John Yeazel. W. H. Schwartz.

1876 .... 148 .... B. Butterfield ... D. A. Schwartz .. John Yeazel. W. H. Schwartz.

1877 .. .320. ... B. Butterfield ... D. A. Schwartz .. John Yeazel. W. H. Schwartz.

1878. .. 250. .B. Butterfield. .. D. A. Schwartz .. E. H. Beals W. H. Schwartz.

1879. . .. 300. .B. Butterfield ... D. A. Schwartz .. E. H. Beals. Andrew Sloan.

Justices of the peace have been Jacob Swisher, Fred. Stamp, Hiram Armantrout, J. P. Dopps, David Brown, J. R. Bowers, and H. M. Ludden.

At the town meeting in 1866, the ordinance forbidding stock to run at large was passed, and has been strictly enforced, to the great saving of those who were trying to make new farms on the prairie. On the 11th of May, 1867, at a special meeting, held after due notice, the town voted, by 46 to 5, in favor of giving fourteen hundred dollars to the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes railroad. Later a meeting was held on the subject of subscribing twenty-five thousand dollars to the Lafayette, Bloomington & Muncie railroad, which resulted in favor of such subscription.

In 1877 two voting precincts were established, dividing the town, as near as possible, in the center, the eastern precinct voting at East Lynne, and the western at Rankin. This makes it very convenient for the voters, as it was fully thirteen miles from Jesse Piles' residence to the voting-place at East Lynne, when the election happened to be there.

EAST LYNNE.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 116

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903 Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company Number of Pages: 1164

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164