USA > Illinois > Clay County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 23
USA > Illinois > Wayne County > History of Wayne and Clay counties, Illinois > Part 23
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The Fairfield Woolen Mills were projected originally by Thomas C. Stanley, and were on a very limited scale, but sufficient for the time in which they began work. The first mills stood on the site of the present build. ing, and was a large frame. This building burned in the spring of 1871, incurring a heavy loss to the proprietor. The enterprise was then revived by a joint-stock company chartered the same year. The official board were James McCartney, President; W. J. Sailer, Secretary and Treasurer, and Thomas C. Stanley, Superintendent. They erected the present handsome brick building, and arranged for a more extensive business. The approximate cost of the establishment as it now stands is $40,000. The mills make a specialty of "Kentucky jeans," finding their market with jobbers throughout the Central and North western States. They em- ploy sixty-three regular hands, running in the busy season sixty looms, technically known as a three-set mill. The corporation
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ceased to exist in 1882, and became the prop- erty of W. J. Sailer and A. H. Baker. For the year ending December 31, 1882, the ap- proximate sales were $100,000; the pay-roll is about $20,000 per year.
The manufacture of castor oil was at one time an extensive business in Fairfield. Dr. William Turney first started into the man- ufacture of the oil in a small way, by what was known as the lever press. He was fol- lowed by James Torrence and McClerkins, and after them Thomas Cooper, Sr. They pressed by I screw power driven by horses. Isaac Fitzgerrel was also in the business. At one time the cultivation of castor beans by the farmers was extensive, and was the largest crop produced by them. But as years passed the business drooped, and was finally discontinued entirely. This, so far as we can learn, comprises the history of Fairfield manufactories.
Samuel Leech was the first Postmaster of Fairfield. Then the office was small and in- significant, and Mr. Leech could very easily have carried the office and its emoluments, too as to that, in his breeches pocket, and then had vacant room left for his plug of tobacco. Mr. Tom Scott, the present Postmaster Gen- eral, finds the manipulating of the mail-bags a far larger job then did Mr. Leech some half a century before him. Some idea of the growth of the country, and the changes that have been wrought in the passing years, may best be had by a comparison of the busi- ness of the post office then and now. It would be difficult to think of society at pres- ent without the post office. It is one of the most important and useful institutions to civilization that is given to us by the United States Government. The first Postmaster, Mr. Leech, did not, on an average, receive three letters a month in his post office. Mr. Scott receives in his over 5,000 per month.
For years after the establishment of a post office, the reception of a newspaper through the mail was a most uncommon occurrence, but now great bags full of them are received daily. At one time the mails, carried on horseback, passed through the county weekly, when they were permitted by the streams to go through at all; now the mails are brought from the East and the West, and the North and the South by lightning railroad trains. This increase of mail matter shows to some extent the proper measure of the growth of population of the county, and the spread of intelligence and education.
The first blacksmith in Fairfield was a man named Graham, who kept a shop on the bank of the creek near where Mrs. Johnson's. boarding house stands. Hugh Stewart had an early shop across the street from Graham's. Stewart came from Big Mound Township, and for years was a man of considerable prominence. He laid off an addition to the town, and did many other acts for its im- provement and prosperity.
Taverns .- There was no regular tavern in the town for several years after it was laid out. Samuel Leech was the first individual who entertained the " wayfaring man," or in hotel parlance, " entertained man and beast," but he did not keep a regular tavern. It was left to Charles Wood to open the first public house. A house had been built for a tavern by Jackson, known as the "Jackson House," but Jackson failed, and Wood became the landlord of the Jackson House. Moses Turney kept the next tavern, but soon failed, broke up and went to Texas. Jacob Hall built a tavern at the O. & M. depot, which is also called the Jackson House, from the fact that he (Jackson) 'kept it for awhile. The Jackson House was finally burned. The ho- tels thus described were all the town had until the erection of Lang's Hotel. This is
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
a large, commodious, and even elegant hotel building.
Court House .- In the older counties and cities and towns of the world, there is some characteristic to bo observed, some peculiarity that distinguish them, and render them notod among the nations and the people. In dif- ferent places it is difforont objects of inter- est. Here it may be the style of architect- uro, there the grandeur of public works or buildings, in this place magnificent ruins, in that, manners, customs, etc., but there is al- ways something in every country, or city, or community, to distinguish it from the rest of the world. Egypt, for instance, has been noted for a thousand years for its colossal pyramids; the lofty columns of Persepolis, the magnificent city of the plain, have moldered into dust, but as ruins remain to challenge our admiration; Jerusalem is famed wherever civilization has extended, for Solo- mon's Temple, of which the Queen of Sheba declared " half the glory had not been told." Coming down to a more modern epoch, Lon- don is famed for its St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and Paris for the Tuil- leries and its magnificent parks and gardens. In our own great country, New York has her Crystal Palace; Boston, Old Faneuil; Phil- adelphia, Independence Hall, and Fairfield -has her court house. This huge pile of brick and mortar (the Fairfield Court House), like the temple of Tadmor in the wilderness, may be seen from afar, and serve as a beacon light to guide the traveler and stranger on his way. It looms up above the surrounding buildings as the giant oak of the forest tow- ers above the willow of the marsh, and is surmounted by a lofty cupola which pierces the clouds. This massive structure was erected so long ago that " the mind of man runneth to the contrary," and if " old age is honorable," as we are told that it is, then
honors should be heaped upon it from every quarter. But to dispense with all jesting and light remarks, we doubt not the time is near at hand, when a new court house will be erected, upon the sito of this dilapidated structure, that will be a credit to the great and wealthy county of Wayne. Though it may be that the present one is endeared to the people as a 'relic of the prehistoric period, yet, that is no reason why the old shell should stand as an eyesore among the improvements that are rising around it.
Fairfield has been visitod more than once by the "fire fiend," but none of the firos have been of a very destructive character. Among them were tho burning of Bonham & Tarles' Mills; the old Fairfield Woolen Mills; the Jackson House; the old frame school- house; the O. &. M. Depot, etc., etc. None of these fires entailed a very great loss, but nsually the vacant spots thus made have been filled with much better buildings, as in the case of the woolen mills, the Jackson House and the schoolhouse. When we look at so many wooden towns, we are led to wonder that more of them are not burned than there are. A town springs up on the prairie, built almost wholly of pine lumber, and in a few years it becomes so dry that it burns very easily. When one happens to take firo with a prairie wind blowing twenty miles an hour, it is usually doomed. Fairfield has escaped well, considering it has had so many oppor- tunities to burn.
The press of Fairfield is no inconsiderable factor in the history of the town and county. There is no more faithful historian of a com- munity than the local press; and be it over so humble or unpretentious, it cannot fail in the course of years to furnish valuable in- formation for future reference. A file of the local paper for a dozen or more years pre- sents a fund of information, the value of
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
which can hardly be estimated. An eminent divine has said, " the local paper is not only a business guide, but it is a pulpit of morals; it is a kind of public rostrum where the af- fairs of state are considered; it is a super- visor of streets and roads; it is a rewarder of merit; it is a social friend, a promoter of friendship and good will. Even the so-called small matters of a village are only small to those whose hearts are too full of personal pomposity." It is very important if some school boy or school girl reads a good essay, or speaks well a piece, or sings well a song. or stands well in the class room, that kind mention should be made publicly of such success, for more young minds are injured for want of cheering words than are made vain by an excess of such praise. In the local papers, the funeral bell tolls more solemnly than in the great city dailies. The rush and noise of the metropolis take away the joy from items about marriages, and de- tract from the solemnity of recorded deaths; but when the local paper notes a marriage between two favorites of society, all the readers see the happiness of the event; and equally when the columns of the home paper tell us that some great or humble per- son has gone from the world, we read with tears, for he was our neighbor and friend.
The newspapers of Fairfield-the Record and the Press-are written up in a chapter on the county at large, and their history will not be repeated in this connection. The Press and Record are live, wide-awake papers, and the people of Fairfield and of Wayne Coun- ty should feel proud of them and should sup- port them liberally. The newspaper is the people's friend, and the people should look to its support.
Schools .- The first schools in Fairfield were taught in any building that might chance to be vacant and convenient for school pur-
poses. The names of the first teachers are now forgotten. The first schoolhouse was built on the opposite side of the street from the new Methodist Episcopal Church. It was a large frame building, and served the purposes of education for a good many years, but was finally burned. The present brick schoolhouse was built in 1874, and cost orig- inally about $$10,000. Since its comple- tion, improvements and additions have been made to it, running its cost up half as much more. The house is large, com- modious and comfortable, and is well arranged for educational purposes. At pres- ent eight teachers are employed, as follows: I. M. Dickson (Principal), Mrs. E. S. Phelps, Miss Elizabeth Graham, Miss Hannah Bean, Miss Bessie Taylor, Miss Lulu Porterfield, Miss Mabel Hollister, Miss Ida Swan.
The church history will be found in another chapter, and only the briefest allu- sion will be made here. The Baptists put up the first church building in the town. It has been gone for at least twenty-five years, and few now remember that such a building ever stood in the town. The Presbyterians and the Cumberland Presbyterians were the first denominations to hold meetings, but the Bap- tists built the first church. The Cumberland Presbyterians built the next house of worship, and were followed by the Methodists. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is still standing, but begins to show signs of age. A church was built near where Overbay's boarding house now stands, but it was never completed. The town now can boast of five as handsome church buildings-modern brick edifices-as may be found in any country town. There are five brick and one frame church buildings, and are owned respectively by the Presbyterians, Cumberland Presby- terians, Christian, Baptists, Methodists and Roman Catholics. For a more complete his-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
tory of the Fairfield churches, see chapter on the church history of the county.
Freemasonry, the most ancient and honor- able of all the secret orders and societies, has long existed in Fairfield. Its origin is a point upon which there is much curious spec- ulation among men, and about which there is some contradiction and more conjecture among those noted for their knowledge of ancient history, that it originated so long ago, that no history tells of its beginning, is true. That Masons are to be found in almost every country, subjected to the white man's suprem- acy, is a point universally admitted. In tribes and countries, where letters and arts are ex- tinet, and where commerce and modern im. provement have as yet made no impression upon the national character, the grand features of Masonry are found to be correct. This re. markable coincidence is accounted for in various ways by different writers upon the subject. All who have carefully considered the origin of the order have been convinced that the germ from which it sprang was co- eval with that wonderful command of Jeho- vah, "Let there be light." At the building of King Solomon's Temple, the order as- sumed something like a definite form. We learn from tradition and from Josephus that, at the erection of that superb model of archi- tectural beauty, there were employed three grand masters, 3,300 masters or overseers of the work. 80,000 fellow-crafts, and 70,000 entered apprentices, who were all systemat- ically arranged according to their grade and rank.
We have been told by a writer of intelli- gence and veracity, that, "after the comple- tion of the Temple at Jerusalem, most of the Tyrians who had been employed by Solomon returned to their native country." From the same source we learn that many of the Jews who had been engaged upon the Temple
migrated to Phœnicia, a country of which Tyre was then the principal city. For some canse, left unexplained by the historian, this Jewish colony was oppressed by its neigh- bors, and flew to their friends, the Tyrians, for relief. The latter furnished them with ships and provisions, and they (the Jews) took their departure for a foreign land, and finally settled in Spain. If as workmen at the Temple, they had been invested with secrets not known to others, there can be no doubt but that they preserved and carried them wherever they went. Another writer informs us that about 190 years after the Trojan war, which would be about fifteen years after the completion of the temple at Jerusalem, a colony of Jews from Palestine made a permanent settlement on the western coast of Africa. From these three distinctive points, we may follow the march and spread of Masonry throughout the world. In all the countries settled by emigration from these places, or connected with these people, either by alliance or commerce, Masonry is found, her signs the same, her mystic word the same in all. And that it has existed in some form ever since there is no shadow of doubt in the mind of the educated craftsman. At what precise date it became speculative and dropped the operative form is not definitely known. In the early part of the eighteenth century, the Grand Lodge of England was established, and from that day to this the history of Masonry is familiar to all reading members of the order.
Fairfield Lodge, No. 206, A., F. & A. MI., was chartered October 7, 1856. Among its charter members were T. H. Lowrey, B. Baer, J. Watson, E. Brock, H. Weed and C. C. Kelley. The first officers were as follows: T. H. Lowrey, Master; J. Watson, Senior War- den; E. Brock, Junior Warden; H. Weed, Treasurer; D. Turney, Secretary; B. Baer,
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
Senior Deacon; C. Ridgeway, Junior Dea- con, and B. Glessner, Tiler. The lodge has now seventy-five members, officered as fol- lowed: J. W. Tullis, Master; George C. Chittenden, Senior Warden; Z. West, Junior Warden; J. T. Fleming, Treasurer; J. L. Handley, Secretary; L. D. Bennett, Senior Deacon; J. H. Nicholls, Junior Deacon; and W. H. Rea, Tiler.
Fairfield Chapter, No. 179, R. A. M., was chartered October 30, 1879, with the follow- ing charter members: J. L. Handley, J. W. Tullis, L. D. Bennett, T. M. Rogers, H. V. Leech, R. D. Adams, J. T. Fleming, W. H. Robinson, N. E. Roberts, W. Bestow, G. C. Chittenden, J. Nevins, A. Rinard, R. P. Han- na, W. M. Murray, George Felix, R. Wheel- er, F. Bestow, A. H. McClain, G. H. Hil- lard and John Gaddis. The first officers were J. L. Handley, H. P .:.; J. W. Tullis, K .:.; L. D. Bennett, S .:.; H. V. Leech, C .;. of H .:.; G. C. Chittenden, P .: S .:; N. E. Roberts, R. :. A .:. C. . ; G. H. Hillard, R. P. Hanna and R. D. Adams, Veilsmen; A. Ri- nard, Treasurer; J. T. Fleming, Secretary ; and L. D. Shaeffer, Tiler. The chapter now has forty members, and is officered as follows: J. L. Handley, H .. P. :. ; R. D. Adams, K. .. ; R. E. Mabry, S .:; L. D. Bennett, C .. of H .:.; G. C. Chittenden, P .:. S .:.; J. W. Tul- lis, R .: A ... C .:; C. L. Poindexter, J. R. Creighton and J. E. Wilson, Grand Masters of the Veils; J. T. Fleming, Treasurer; W. G. Carothers, Secretary; and J. C. Alexan- der, Tiler.
Fairfield Council, No. 64, Royal and Se- lect Masters, was chartered October 21, 1883, with the following charter members: J. C. Alexander, D. W. Barkley, R. D. Adams, L. D. Bennett, J. R. Creighton, G. C. Chitten- den, W. G. Carothers, J. T. Fleming. J. L. Handley, R. P. Hanna, J. Morris, R. E. Mabry, E. McClung, B. F. Meeks, W. M.
Murray, C. L. Poindexter, N. E. Roberts, A. Rinard, J. D. Shaeffer, E. Steiner, T. W. Scott, J. W. Tullis, N. M. Powers and W. J. Elwell. The officers are J. L. Handley, T. I. G. M .; N. E. Roberts, D. I. G. M .; L. D. Bennett. P. of W .: J. T. Fleming, Recorder; C. L. Poindexter, Treasurer; G. C. Chitten- den, C. of G .; E. Steiner, Sentinel, and the names of twenty-nine members are on the roll.
Local Branch, No. 137, Order of Iron Hall, was organized November 27, 1882, with charter members as follows: Jacob Raden- bach, James C. Long, Jacob A Miller, James A. Johnston, Charles C. Smith, Win- field Scott, Z. C. Woodworth, Zelma Bean, Jacob Puff, John Crouch, John J. Sloan, John D. Long, Ira D. Long, Z. B. West. Charles W. Sibley, James Abbott, E. P. Thompson, E. L. Carlton, John Tullis, Jr., J. W. Darl- ing, James Emmons and Thomas Cottrill; with the following officers: Jacob Raden- bach, C. J .; C. C. Smith, V. J .: J. B. West, A .; Z. C. Woodworth, C .; J. J. Sloan, P .; Z. Bean, A .; Ira D. Long, H .; John D. Long, N .; Jacob Puff, V .; and C. W. Sibley, M. E. The amount of sick benefits paid to members to December 20, 1883, is $960. It has cer- tainly proven to be the poor man's friend, and bids fair to have a rapid growth.
Royal Templars of Temperance was char- tered December 30, 1879, and started on its career with the following charter members: Males-W. H. Vandewater, G. M. Davis, J. Frank Smith. E. B. Hanna, R. W. McCall, C. W. Sibley, H. L. Wheat, George A. Steal- ly and N. J. Odell. Females-Mrs. S. J. Steally, Mrs. L. J. Boggs. Mrs. E. B. Gal- braith, Mrs. McClure, Mrs. Louisa Shaw, Mrs. N. J. Smith, Mrs. Edna Fogle, Mrs. M. M. Campbell and Mrs. J. A. Brown. The first officers were J. F. Smith, S. C .; Mrs. S. J. Steally. V. C .; H. L. Wheat, P. C. ; Mrs.
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
E. B. Galbraith, C .; W. H. Vandewater, R. | L. Handley, R .: C. T. Johnson, R .; S. S .; G. S. Steally. F. S .: G. M. Davis, T .; Steiner, F .; W. L. Rea, G .; G. W. Johns, J. W .; R. P. Hanna, O. W .: William Foster, R. P. Hanna and L H. Baker, Trustees. N. J. Odell, H. ; Mrs. McClure, D. H. ; Mrs. L. J. Boggs. G .; E. M. Hough, S. The membership is twenty males and sixteen fe- males, with the following officers: J. Frank Smith, S. C .; Mrs. A. B. Haggard, V. C .; G. M. Davis, P. C .; D. M. Steally, C .; Mrs. N. Dickson, R. S .; George A. Steally, F. S .; E. J. Marlow, S .; N. J. Odell, H .; Mrs. L. J. Boggs. D. H .; Mrs. N. B. Smith, G .; Robert Moon, T.
Odd Fellowship at one time flourished in Fairfield, and the fraternity had an active working lodge. From some cause unusual with this zealous and praiseworthy order, the lodge has become lukewarm, and recently ceased to exist altogether. There is strong talk of reviving it, and doubtless it soon will be revived, and set to work again with its old-time vigor.
Lodge No. 65, A. O. U. W., was organized March 30, 1879. The charter members were John Morris, Thomas W. Scott, W. G. Ca- rothers, Edward E. Leonard, Joseph D. Leonard, Joseph D. Shaeffer, Francis A. Fel- ton, Francis M. Woolard, John L. Handley, Robert E. Mallory, Alexander Richardson, Sumner Lindsay, Daniel C. Groves, George Newton, James A. Cox, Lewis H. Baker, Charles W. Sibley, Arthur J. Hutchins, John Gaddis, Ansel M. Lusley and Josoph L. Ball. The first officers were as follows: J. L. Handley, P. M. W .; T. W. Scott, M. W .; W. G. Carothers, F .; A. M. Lusley, O .; R. E. Mallory, G .; J. D. Shaeffor, R .; L. H. Baker, F .: E. E. Leonard, R .; J. A. Cox, J. WV .; George Newton, O. W .: C. W. Sibley, F. A. Felton and Alexander Richardson, Trustees. The institution has eighty mem- bers at present, and is officered as follows: William Lusley, P.EM. W .; D. W. Barkley, M. W .: S. Forney, F .; N. M. Powell, O .; J.
Village Organization. - The town of Fair- field was incorporated May 26, 1856, and at the first election the following Board of Trustees was chosen : Charles Wood, John D. Cope, Roley Jackson, Thomas T. Bonham and Jacob Baker. At the first meeting, the board organized for business by electing Thomas T. Bonham, President, and John D. Cope, Clerk. By-laws and ordinances for the government of the town were drafted by Bobert Bell, Charles Beecher and Hall Wil- son. Ephraim Johnson was appointed Treas- nrer; Hall Wilson, Collector; William Pow- less, Town Constable; and Robert Schell, Street Commissioner. The following, with a few exceptions, in which the records are de- fective and incomplete, is a list of the boards, from the incorporation of the village to the present:
Elected in June, 1857-Charles Wood, Ja- cob Hall, Sampson Wickersham, James Pen- dleton and John D. Cope.
Elected in June, 1858 -- John D. Cope, George W. Turney, James B. Ardery, Fran- cis George and John Truesdale. William George was elected Police Magistrate and L. D. Bennett, Town Constable. It was at the first meeting of this board that the sale of liquor was prohibited in the town or within half a mile of the corporate limits. There is no record of an election of Trustees this year, but the minutes show the organization of a new board as follows: Roley Jackson, Presi- dent; C. T. Lichtenberger, Clerk; and T. T. Bonham, J. P. Covington and H. H. Beech- er; R. S. Barnhill, Town Constable.
For 1860, there is no record of an election, but on the 9th of July, a new board was or- ganized as follows: H. H. Beecher, Presi-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
dent: Forsythe Turney, Clerk; and T. T. Bonham, C. T. Litchtenberger and L. D. Bennett.
At the election held December 20, 1869,* Oliver P. Patterson, Thomas C. Stanley, Jo- seph L. Ball, Gilbert J. George and Jacob Hall were elected Trustees for the ensuing year. Jacob Hall was elected President; J. L. Ball, Treasurer; G. J. George, Clerk; and H. F. Sibley, Town Marshal.
At the election, December 19, 1870, for the ensuing year, the following board was elected: Jacob Hall, President; G. J. George, Clerk: J. L. Ball, Treasurer; and O. P. Patterson and Thomas C. Stanley. S. T. Nance was appointed Town Marshal.
At the election of December 18, 1871, the following board was elected to serve the en- suing year: J. C. Alexander, President; C. C. Boggs, Treasurer; and G. J. George and D. W. Barkley. S. T. Nance was appointed Town Marshal, and J. L. Ball, Street Com- missioner.
At the election of December 16, 1872, for the ensuing year, James A. Creighton, A. B. Rider, J. L. Handley, O. P. Patterson and G. J. George were elected. George was elected President of the board; Creighton, Clerk; and Ed Wilson, Town Constable.
At the election of December 15, 1873, the follo ving board was elected for the ensuing year: Oliver Holmes, R. D. Adams, N. J. Odell, A. H. Baker and J. V. Baugh. Holmes was elected President of the board; Baugh, Clerk; and Phil M Crabb, Town Marshal.
At the December election in 1874 for the ensuing year, A. B. Rider, J. W. Tullis, J. A. Moffit, G. J. George and J. G. Crews. George was elected President of the board; Crews, Clerk; and P. M. Crabb, Town Mar- shal.
At the December election in 1875 for the ensuing year, J. L. Handley, A. B. Rider, John W. Tullis, Thomas A. Martin and John Morris were elected. Handley was made President; Morris, Clerk; Martin, Treasurer; and W. N. Dickey, Town Marshal.
At the election in December, 1876, for the succeeding year, John Morris, David W. Barkley, E. W. Pendleton and John Keen, Jr., were elected. Barkley was appointed President; Morris, Clerk; Keen, Treasurer; and P. M. Crabb, Marshal.
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