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 68
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120
Pleasant W. Mendenhall, Georgetown, physician, was born in Mont- gomery county, Indiana, on the 21st of December, 1841, and lived there seven years, when, with his parents, he moved to Tippecanoe county, where they lived about seven years. They then moved to Kansas (now Miami) county, and lived there four years. This was during the squatters' sovereignty period. They then came to Vermilion county, Illinois, and engaged in farming. They lived here until 1864, teaching part of the time; thenee to Iroquois county. In the spring of 1868 he began reading medicine with his brother. Dr. Wm. O'Neall Mendenhall, and during the winter of 1869-70 he attended the Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and returned to Iroquois county and began practice at Crescent City. In the spring of 1872 he again attended the Rush Medical College, and graduated from the same in 1873, and re- newed his practice at Crescent City. On the 31st of May, 1874, he married Miss Annie L. Plowman. She was born in Maryland. They have one child,- Lillie, - born on the 1st of January, 1875. Mr. Men- denhall began practice in Georgetown. His parents, David and Mary Ann (Perkins) Mendenhall, were natives of North Carolina and Ohio. They were married in Ohio, on the 31st of October, 1837. They came here as stated, and are now living in Georgetown.
James N. Mitchell, Gessie, Indiana, farmer and stock-raiser, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, on the 7th of April, 1830, where he lived until he was nineteen. He then moved to Parke county, Indi- ana ; thence to Peoria county, Illinois, in 1851. In 1858 he returned to Montgomery county, and lived there until 1861; thence to Parke county, and in 1866 he moved to Vermilion county, Indiana, and in 1873 came to Vermilion county, Illinois, and settled on his present place. He has held no office except those connected with the schools and roads. He owns one hundred and seventy acres of land in this county, which he has earned by his own labor and management. On the 14th of January, 1850, he married Miss Sarah E. Harlan. She was born in Parke county, Indiana, and died in the spring of 1865. They had seven children, four living: Bathsheba R., George H., John F.
559
GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP.
and James D. On the 28th of September, 1869, he married Mrs. Mary Falls, formerly Miss Ritchie. She was born in Parke county, Indiana. They have four children : Sarah E., Martha J., Cassius L. and Josephine H.
Jumps Bros., Danville, care Boone's box, general merchandise. B. F. Jumps was born in this township, and has always lived in this county, with the exception of one year in Champaign. In 1876 he engaged in the general merchandise business in Westville, buying out J. Dukes, and forming a partnership with W. J. Boone. They then carried on the business there six months, when Mr. Perry Jumps bought out Mr. Boone's interests, and the business was moved to the present location, known as Hawbuck, or Boonesville. Mr. Perry Jumps married Miss Nora Williams, on the 22d of May, 1879. She was born in this county. These gentlemen have a full line of goods. and are prepared to attend to any wants in their line. They also accommodate the surrounding public by delivering their mail to store twice a week. Their parents, Jacob and Annie (Davis) Jumps, were natives of Ohio and Indiana. They were married in this county, of which place they were early settlers. Mrs. Jumps settled here in 1824.
Wm. F. Henderson, Georgetown, cashier Citizens' Bank, was born in Vermilion county, Indiana, on the 21st of March, 1847, where he lived until he was twenty-three years of age, during which time he was engaged on the farm, and served as county surveyor four years. He then moved to Edgar county, Illinois, and engaged in the farming and nursery business, in company with his brother. The nursery was known as the Prairie View Nursery. In June of 1876 his brother died, and the following year he closed out the business, and in Novem- ber, 1877, came to Georgetown. In July, 1878, he engaged in the banking business with the firm of E. Henderson & Co., and has held the position of cashier since. On the 9th of September, 1867, he mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Newman. She was born in Hendricks county, Indiana. They have had four children, two of whom are living: Alice B. and Lenora.
560
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP.
Elwood township occupies the territory in the southeastern corner of the county, having Georgetown for its northern, Indiana for its eastern, Edgar county for its southern. and Carroll township for its western boundaries. It comprises all of town 17, range 11 west, of the 2d principal meridian, a fraction of range 10, and two tiers of sec- tions off the east side of range 12, making a trifle less than a township and a half. The high ridge which runs along the sonthern boundary of the county extends partially along the southern boundary of this township also, until it is lost in the valley of the Vermilion River. The Little Vermilion runs across its northwest corner for two miles, and then runs into Georgetown for about a mile, when it turns south- erly again, and runs across the northeast corner. Originally, nearly one third of it was covered with timber, the timber land being along its northern and eastern boundary. It has, as if stuck to it, a small fraction of the triangular piece of land known as Harrison's Purchase. It is very difficult to describe this singular appendage, or southern extension. It would seem as though it really belonged to Edgar county, and had been driven up into Elwood like a wedge which was so blunt that it could not all be forced in with the amount of power applied. This portion of Harrison's Purchase includes nearly two sections of land. The land of Elwood township, which was covered with timber, is like all other which is thus covered in its nature, and the prairie very similar to other prairie lands, deep and rich, and sufficiently rolling to make it easy to cultivate and drain. Indeed, the farmers of Elwood are very fortunate in the general quality of their lands, and few are found who can reasonably complain. All along its northern and eastern border the early settlers found the necessary con- ditions for their pioneer homes, and soon spread over all that portion ; but it was twenty-five years before the splendid farms along the ridge came into cultivation. To the resident of the present day, that which has been so often repeated in these pages as to have become common- place, that people did not believe these prairies would ever be settled np, must ever be incomprehensible; but the truth of it cannot be doubted in the face of so many witnesses. Abraham Smith was thought to be wild when he determined to go out to the Ridge farm to live, and the wisdom of such a decision was so generally condemned that he himself doubted his judgment.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The points of early settlement were, Vermilion Grove, Elwood, Yankee Point and Bethel, or Quaker Point. Pilot Grove was later,
561
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP.
and Ridge Farm still later. These points, or settlements, embrace the entire circuit of the township, except perhaps the two places or settle- ments known as Johnson's neighborhood, in the extreme northwestern corner, and that around Liberty Church, in the northeastern. The names given to these different points of early settlement were, in the absence of any villages, a matter of convenience or necessity. Some of them took their names from the first settler; others from the little log churches or meeting-houses, and they from some association con- nected with them. Vermilion was natural, and later came to be called Vermilion Grove, from the fact that a station farther sonth on the rail- road was named Vermilion before a station and post-office was estab- lished here. Elwood derived its name from Thomas Elwood, an honored name in the Society of Friends and a distinguished writer in England, whose worthy life was commemorated by admiring friends in the nam- ing of their little log meeting-house. Yankee Point derived its name from Mr. Squires, who was the only eastern man in "this neck of timber," and who came here very early. Bethel and Liberty are from favorite names of the churches there. Pilot Grove, if unrecorded rumor and unwritten history is to be credited, is from its high ground, when compared with the surrounding timber, and acted unconsciously in directing the party here who came to make the survey of Harrison's Purchase, the two lines of which run through it. At another place in this sketch the writer has given the story of Pilot Grove as understood and related by those living here, without claiming exact historical accuracy, and which may be, as the colored preacher said about another story which had gained credence, "all a false mistake." Ridge Farm was the name given by Mr. Smith to his farm when he commenced to bring it into cultivation in 1849, from its natural position, and was the name of the locality long before a village was thought of there.
John Haworth is believed to have been the first permanent settler, although Henry Canaday came about the same time. There were others in here before either of them. John Malsby built a cabin near where Vermilion now is, in 1820, but did not remain here, going back to Richmond, Indiana. Mr. Haworth left Tennessee with his young family in 1818, to get away from the institutions which he did not admire. He went first to Union county, Indiana, and came here in 1821, and wintered in the cabin Malsby had built. He bought the claim of George Bocke, a son-in-law of Achilles Morgan, who, with his family, seems to have made his first settlement here before going to Brooks' Point, although one account credits him with living a season at Butler's Point. John Haworth was a cousin of James, who settled soon after at Georgetown. He did not bring stock with him,
36
562
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
but soon made an effort to utilize his new possessions by raising farm stock. Among his early "neighbors" were Johnson and Starr, off a few miles northwest ; Squires and Thomas Curtis, of Yankee Point, three miles east; John Mills, Dickson, and Simon Cox to the west, and Henry Canaday nearer by.
Daniel W. Beckwith came to Mr. Haworth's residence during the time of high water in the spring of 1822, and remained all night. The rain had fallen in torrents during the night, and when he undertook to resume his journey in the morning he got into the stream, falling in all over. He was dressed in buckskin pants, or breeches; a round- about, and wolf-skin cap. He was not to be deterred from going on his journey by one ducking, however, and went on as if nothing had happened.
Mr. Haworth entered several hundred acres of land, but did not hold it to speculate on. Whenever a newcomer arrived whom he thought was a desirable neighbor, he sold land to him cheap, and on time if required. He exercised the same christian forbearance in his dealings with men as in his daily walk. George Haworth, an uncle of John, a strong-minded and robust man, soon joined the neighborhood, and with the Canadays established the first meeting, and soon built a house for that purpose. John had a family of eight children, of whom Mr. Elvin Haworth, now living on the place, is probably the best known, coming here at a time when, by his age, he was peculiarly susceptible of the impressions which circumstances would make. He grew up under such influences as his father was able to throw around him, fully appreciating the good effects of the institutions of religion and of learn- ing, which, meagre as they were, were far superior to any in other por- tions of the county at that time. He attended the first school tanght in the county, and assisted by his counsel, though young in years, by a maturity of judgment beyond his age, to establish the first seminary of learning in this part of the state. With that clear perception of duty which no cloud shades, and sound judgment which no circum- stance wavers, he is accorded justly a high position in council and a strong place in the esteem of his townsmen. For a long time he rep- resented the township in the board of supervisors; and he was the early friend of the Vermilion Academy, which, under his fostering care, is making steady progress in the work of higher education.
Henry Canaday came from Tennessee to the Wabash in 1821; his / boys, Benjamin, Frederick, William and John/coming here in the winter and making a cabin three hundred yards west of where William has so long resided. They brought a few hogs with them, but when spring came they sickened of the enterprise, and Benjamin went back
563
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP.
to Tennessee and bought a farm there, and all moved back. In the fall they regretted the move and came back here to live. Satisfied with their roving, they settled down to business and remained here. The hogs they brought first had become wild by the time they got back here, and for years they and their progeny furnished hunting in connection with the other "game " here. On their return they brought a few cattle with them, and hunted in a few hogs to give them a start. When they returned here to live, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Bocke and the Hoskins children had come, none of whom remained here, and John Mills was farther west. The land-office was at Palestine, and when land came into market Mr. Canaday entered about two sections, and made it his practice to sell to new-comers at congress price with interest.
Eli Henderson came in soon after, in 1824, and settled east of Mr. Canaday's, and died there in 1833, leaving three sons and three dangh- ters. His son Elam soon after this went to Georgetown, where he still resides, one of the most successful and active business men of that place. John Newlin and Richard Golden came to Yankee Point about the same time; the latter going to Iowa. Mr. Anderson re- mained here a few years and then moved away. He was successful and enterprising, though always moving.
There was at this time, and until Dr. Heywood came, no doctor nearer than the Wabash, and no mill nearer than that. There was abundance of meat, corn and wheat, and farmers all kept a few sheep, being careful to put them in a close pen at night. The farming oper- ations were tedious, when all the land had to be marked out with a bar-shear plow, corn dropped by hand by the children and covered with a hoe.
Benjamin Canaday had a small house near by, and during the win- ter of the deep snow, the snow so nearly covered it that one could not see the house till he got right to it. That winter the deer, and pretty much all the game, were destroyed by the snow. He was a tinner by trade, and made np a stock of tinware and traded it at Louisville for goods, which he brought back here and put into a building which he built for a store, on his farm just west of Vermilion on the Hickory Grove road. This accidental trade made a merchant of him. He sold goods here several years before going to Georgetown. He became the largest merchant there, and for many years the most successful one.
John Canaday, another son of Henry's, lived on the farm on the State road, between Vermilion and Georgetown. He had a good farm and attended to it thoroughly. He had five sons and two daughters. Of these, Henry lives on the old homestead, Calvin went to Kansas,
564
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
Benjamin lives in Champaign, John lives here, and William in the western part of the state. Mrs. Mahaley lives near Ash Grove, in Iro- quois county.
Frederick and William Canaday still live on the farms which they made when they came to the state .- the former just north and the other west of Vermilion station. His four sons, William, Henry. Isaac and John, live around him, worthy and honored men, who esteem it an honor to be able to cheer the declining years of him who led them in their youth in the line of an honorable life. Of his daughters, Mrs. Lawrence resides in Kansas, Mrs. Patterson in Bethel, and Mrs. Ank- rum near where her father lives. William had four sons, three of whom reside in Champaign. His daughters, Mrs. Herrill and Mrs. Brown, live here, and Mrs. Dr. Morris in Rockville, Indiana. When young he had learned the saddler's trade. His father was a tanner and a black- smith, and as soon as he could after coming here they got these vari- ous branches of business going. William for some years carried on harness-making and saddlery, but as soon as he could he gave it up to give better attention to his farm. He continues to carry on his large farm, but does not stick so close to the plow as he did when a few years younger. He keeps a hundred or more head of cattle. Looking back over the time which has elapsed since the first white man settled here, he can see the changes which have taken place, from the wilder- ness to the present condition of wealth and prosperity. Few people have it given them to see what William Canaday has seen. Fifty-seven years upon the same farm! There is the patent for his land direct from the President of the United States, with no transfers to note .- not even the modern decoration of a mortgage to cover it. An abstract of that title could be written up in " short meter." His life here spans the history of the county with " two laps." Two families, which have been important factors in the history of this county, settled here in this cor- ner of the township at a very early day,-those of Achilles Morgan and Henry Martin. The name of the former has repeatedly appeared in this history, and as his stay here was short, the record of his life perhaps does not properly belong here. He belonged to a family which had made a name in Virginia as Indian fighters,-a quality which was not wholly wanting in the branch of it which settled here. He went from here to Brooks' Point, and thence to Danville. Two sons went to Texas. One danghter married Mr. Henslee. One mar- ried George Bocke, who took up the claim which was purchased by Mr. Haworth. After Mr. Bocke's death she became Mrs. Coburn. Another married Mr. Underwood, whose children still live in the east- ern part of Georgetown township. Another married Henry Martin,
565
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP.
who was among the first to settle in Elwood, taking up a claim on sec- tion 6, where Mrs. Spicer now lives. She is said to have been a woman of many good qualities, and during her long and eventful life strongly impressed her character on the community. Her life was devoted to her children, in whose success she never failed to take a great interest. Rawley became an elder of the Christian denomination, and devoted his time and services to preaching and organizing churches in the sur- rounding country. Most of the churches of that name in the northern part of the county were the fruits of his zeal, organizing skill and de- voted life. At the outbreak of armed rebellion he felt called on to preach patriotism as he never had before. He labored with the same single-hearted zeal, wherever his influence would be felt, to arouse the spirit of patriotism among the people. In consideration of his self- denying labors in the desk and on the platform, he was elected county treasurer, a position which he filled with so much credit that those who elected him had no cause to regret it. His death soon after deprived the county of one of her most worthy and useful citizens. Achilles Martin is one of the prominent business men of Danville. Henry also lives in Danville, and John at Decatur. Mrs. Spicer lives on the old homestead in Elwood, Mrs. Dillon lives in Danville, Mrs. Graves just north of Georgetown, and Mrs. Underwood near McKendry church. After the death of Mr. Martin, Mrs. M. became Mrs. Parish, and died only about a year ago, strong in the love of her best gift to the world - her children. Few women of the present day have had greater reason to feel more satisfied than she, with the part she bore in the stern reali- ties of pioneer life; and the children and grandchildren, so many of whom still live in this county, will, during their lives, continue to hold the good mother in kindly remembrance. Andrew Patterson came from east Tennessee in 1827, and settled at Yankee Point, one mile east of where his son William now resides. Mr. Cook then lived near here, and Mr. Henderson, Mr. Haworth and Mr. Johnson. Isaac Cook came here very early, but the date is not now remembered. He owned several different farms. The first place he sold to James Thompson. A son lives on section 13, and another, Milton, lives farther east near the Little Vermilion. Nathaniel Henderson made an early home here, and remained until 1853, when he removed to Clark county. His sons Eli and George died here. Mr. Haworth, who lived in this neighbor- hood, sold early to Mr. Wall, and moved to Indiana. Mr. Wall came from Ohio in 1832, and died here in 1872. He had four sons and one daughter, who are all gone. Two grandchildren, Mrs. Hilyard and Mrs. Adam Mills, reside here. Thomas Durham came here about
566
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.
1825. He sold to Mr. Thompson and went to Kankakee and settled among the French.
Win. Golden settled on section 25, near Quaker Point, about 1825. Hle got up a splendid honse for the times, one story high and painted red, and permitted it to be used as a school-house a portion of the time. He was a man of strong native abilities, -a natural leader among men. He died here and left six children : two sons, Jacob and Richard, and four daughters,- Mrs. Elam Henderson, Mrs. Nathaniel Henderson, Mrs. Andrew Patterson and Mrs. J. C. Dicken. Richard sold ont and went to lowa, where his family reside. Jacob had ten children, four of whom live in Towa ; Elam and Mrs. Win. Thompson live here, and Mrs. Dr. Cloyd and Mrs. James Dubre live in Georgetown. When Andrew Patterson came here, in 1827, he remained the first season with his father-in-law, and then put up a hewed log house on see- tion 23, a little north of the old gentleman's. It required all the men in the country, from Vermilion Grove to Quaker Point, to raise it. He was an industrious and careful man, and soon acquired a com- peteney. Always alive to the interests of family and neighborhood, he gave an intelligent attention to whatever seemed in the line of duty. lle owned six hundred aeres of land in this township. He died in 1847, leaving six children. William, the oldest, lives on a farm which he purchased of James Thompson in 1863, on section 22, a mile from where his father made his home fifty-one years ago. Of the other children of Andrew Patterson, Thomas, Golden and Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell live in this township, and Mrs. Sarah Campbell near by in Georgetown.
Jerre Falen and Levi Babb came early into the same neighborhood. Mr. Babb had a farm on seetion 26, where his son still lives. A daugh- ter resides in the neighborhood. Benjamin Galladay, Thomas Past- gate, Simeon Ballard and Benjamin Flehart all settled early in the same neighborhood. They are dead and their families gone.
Mr. Packer, who settled early on section 24, was a singular man. and many a queer story is told of him. He was a well-digger, and seemed never so happy as when in the full practice of his art. James Sidwell entered a large amount of land in this vicinity, but never came here to live. The Ashmore Grove farm was first settled by James Lawrence, who sold it to Andrew Wagoman, who moved there from near Georgetown. He in turn sold it to Abner Frazier. Rev. James Ashmore bought it, and for many years lived there while preaching to the various churches in the township. He built the large house on it. A few years since he moved to Fairmount to live.
John Pugh came from Ohio in 1830, and entered eighty aeres east
567
ELWOOD TOWNSHIP.
of Joseph Baird's, in Carroll, where he lived five years. He sold to James Grear, and went to Elwood. The next year he removed to the Bethel neighborhood. The land upon which he went to live had been entered by James Haworth, and sold by him to Mercer Brown, who also owned a considerable tract of land in Edgar county. Mr. Pugh died here in 1847, and his widow still resides with her children. She came from Maryland, and is believed to be the only woman in town who never saw a railroad or a train of cars. She is abundantly able to go to town,- indeed could walk the distance,- but will not. Her son, Granville, lives on the place, and owns four hundred and fifteen acres of land there. He has often been called on to administer the affairs of the township, having held several offices, and has shown an ability in the performance of the duties which speaks well of him as a citizen and an intelligent man.
James B. Long lived, as early as 1835, on the farm just east of Brown's land, next to the state line. He had a large family of chil- dren. His son Levi still lives on the land, and three other children live in the neighborhood.
Isaac Wright and his son, John P. Wright, lived just north of Brown's as early as 1823. He owned the north part of section 36 until 1842. He built a horse grist-mill on the place. The stones were cut out of boulders, and the bolting chest, which was about ten feet long, was run by hand. He used to shovel up the ground mass and put it up on a shelf, and while he turned the chest with a crank his children would push it into the mouth of the bolt as fast as it would work well. The mill was the first one built in the town, and did pretty good work, till he sold it in 1842 to parties who took it to Indiana. Wright sold the farm to Branson, and he to Mr. Pugh, in 1864. Mr. McMurdock, who came here with Mr. Wright, is here still. He is an old stand-by-one of those wise-heads who know enough to stay where they are well off. John Howard, a son-in-law of Wright's, lived here a while, and then went to Indiana, from there to lowa, and then back here, where he still resides.
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.