USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois > Part 70
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS
of 16xx) supported by fint
Gardon S Hubbard warn represent tive tram Virginia laid claim to all the con pannail Ver dien comes in the cht gener ando west of the thin ner and orange state of His, 1832 1834 At that county of Minor In the year 178 ;. Via surrendered her claims t the territory to the creating from who wants government of the United States. Ing ust all that territory king north of its present wwith line and cast of its west line as now estudantes domain afterward became known as the North west Territory. While the I mois covers with still a part of the Northwest Territory, in the taking in the greater portion of what is the Kankakee counts and ale ut ane the lot the ter- mitory embraced withon the present manglares of Will comets As then established Iremos counts extended from the north line of Ver nohut the then south hie of to k county year 1700, we find the Iroquois country a part of the county of king and so continued mitil February 3. 1801. When it became a part of the county of St. Clair, belonging to the Indian Ter ritory. By act of congress approved february 3. 1800), the Illinois Territory was established. Sand Will counts was created in the ver 1830, all extended south to the kankakee river, which river, except for a short distance at the north- Best corner of the county. In ame the northern act provides: "That from and after the first day of March next. all that part of the Indian. Territory which lies west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and past Vincennes due north, to the terri- torial line between the United States and Canada. shall for the purpose of temporary government. constitute a separate territory and be called "Illinois."
This county continued to be a part of St. Clair county until the 14th of September, 1812. when upon a reorganization it became a part of Madison county and remamed a part of the county of Madison until the 28th of November. 1814. when it became a part of Edwards county. In the year 1816 the Iroquois country became a part of Crawford county and there remained until Illinois was admitted into the C'mon m 1818.
When Illinois was admitted as a state she had but fifteen organized counties and Crawford county embraced all that part of the state hi- ing north of a line running east and west near the present site of Louisville. Ilmois, the colfitt seat of Clay county, and cast of the third prin- cipal meridian, which runs due north from the month of the Ohio river.
March 22. 1819. the territory di braved within the present limits of Iroquois counts because part of Clark county In 1823 Edgar county was organized and what is now Irognons county was attached to Edgar, and it renamed this until the county of Verilen was organised in 1826, after which it was attached to Vending where it remained until Iroque's mit Was organized, February 26, 1833
In the year 1853 Kathasher Counts 11.6 created, carved in the main, ir no territory there- to fore belonging to the countries of homes and Will and thus Produits confits was himitted to its present Ix uhdaries.
In the years 1850 to 1850 ichsie a strong efort was made to detach the southwest corner of Troques counts and annes it to that part of Vernulon which is now a part ci bord cant The schon originated m Lada, the object berg to make the village of ble the costs se till a new counts (Ford)
The undertaking nat with deteriomed oppost tien bath im Ir quais county and in prospect alls. now Pasta, the county seat of Ford counts. and consequently inled
The latter prirt of August, 1821. Gunli > Hubbard. a compamed b hs inthil com jane. Now Vasseur, and others, lett Marking their destraten ling the liaques country In way of the St Joseph river, de miss the for- tige of the Kerk hee, down the Kankakee Hver to the night i the bronquios thence up the lo- quads river to the North of Sugar creek 1 hørt di tarot cit of the truth ci Sigar crev.
· There 1- dela sich In Mr Hubbard- autume. raphy indicating that the date was Auzu 1 124, but the weleht of the evidence le as al tted in the fout
.. 1: 1. been said that Mr Hubba it came sta
river there sia Katbaker and honey se bit pola i doubtte an error
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PAST AND PRESENT OF
Mr. Hubbard built a trading house and erected a fur press. This building stood within the pres- ent limits of old Middleport. otherwise known as West Watseka. This was the beginning of civilization in Iroquois county. At this time Hubbard was employed by the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was the leading spirit. Stories of the great wealth of the Iroquois country in fur bearing animals had reached Mackinaw, where were located the ware- houses of the American Fur Company. Mr. Hubbard says he came here to establish a busi- ness in opposition to a trading house owned by the Messrs. Ewing, then of Fort Wayne. This post was located on the south bank of the Iro- quois river, near the present village of Iroquois and was in charge of one Chabare.
When Mr. Hubbard and his party landed at the mouth of Sugar creek, they found nearby, located on the north bank of the Iroquois river, a Pottawattamie village. They were well re- ceived by the Indians. Colonel Hubbard occa- sionally visited his friends, the Kinzies, in Chi- cago. He also made excursions to the Indian hunt- ing grounds as far south as the Little Wabash.
Later, perhaps about the year 1825, he estab- lished a new trading post about a half a mile north of "Bunkum," the present site of the vil- lage of Iroquois. Like many others, who found themselves beyond civilization and among sav- ages, Colonel Hubbard deemed it prudent to ce- ment his friendship with the Indians by marrying an Indian woman, according to Indian custom. For a wife he selected Watch-e-kee, a niece of the Pottawatamie chief, Tamin. Writing of this circumstance he says : "I have no wish to deny the fact of her being my wife, given me by her uncle when she was about ten, in the place of his own grown daughter whom he presented to me, and whom I declined. This little girl was to take her place, and was, under my pledge to make her my wife, brought to me by her mother at the age of fourteen or fifteen. She bore me a daughter who died at about eight months old. I lived with this Indian woman about two years in harmony. Our separation was by mutual agreement, in perfect friendship, and because I was about to abandon the Indian trade, and of course my connection with her tribe.
"Both thought each other's happiness would be promoted by separation, as it doubtless was."*
COUNTY SE.AT.
After the organization of the county, the next year. February 24, 1834, a special election was held to elect county officers. At that election Samuel M. Dunn was chosen for the office of sheriff, having received thirty-three votes. Henry Eusleu received twenty votes for the same office. John Hougland, William Cox and Samuel McFall were elected county commis- sioners, receiving fifty-one, forty-seven and thirty-one votes, respectively. John S. Moore was defeated, having received but twenty-four votes.
Forty-four votes were cast for Micajah Stan- ley for coroner.
The county commissioners on the 17th of March following convened at the house of Robert Hill near Milford, fixing that place as temporary seat of justice. Hugh Newell was appointed county clerk, Samuel Rush assessor and treasurer.
The county was divided into three road dis- tricts. The first embraced all that part of the county lying south of the line running east and west between townships 26 and 27. or substan- tially all that part of the county lying south of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad. The second district contained all that territory be- tween the first district and Beaver creek, and a line extending from the mouth of Beaver creek,
* This Indian girl, Watch-e-kee, was born near the present site of the village of Iroquois about the year 1810. She is said to have been a woman of superior intelligence. About 1828 she married Noel Vassuer, who remained in charge of the post. After her tribe left for the west, she, with Vassuer, moved to Bour- bonnais Grove. She was the mother of several chil- dren. In 1837 she went west with a remnant of her tribe and located near the present site of Council Bluffs, lowa, where she married a Frenchman by the name of Bergeron. About 1863 she returned to Illi- nois to visit Mr. Vassuer at Bourbonnais Grove, and from there on foot and alone she journeyed to Iro- quois county to visit the scenes of her girlhood. "Sadly she left, as the last Pottawattamie to set foot on the soil of Iroquois county." She died at the Pot- tawattamie reservation in Kansas about the year 1878.
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS
al Mi Cortright warengiao ... tended from the north hier of the end ofat henate of "of the event of it to the Kankakee river
In June, 1834 three election produce we .. tablished with the same boundaries as the real districts. The south precinct was added sugar creek precinct." with polling price at the hvise of John Nilson, late residence of Robert Hill. The north predmet was called ' kankakee pre cinct" and the polling place was at the house of William Baker near the present site of kankakee city. The middle was called "Iroquois precinct" and the house of David Meigs at Montgomery. was designated as the polling place
By an act approved February 10. 1835. Wil- liam Bowen and Joseph Davis, both of Vernation county, and Philip Stanford, of Chan paign county, were appointed commissioners "to locate the permanent seat of justice of Iroquois com- "), and give it a name." These men neglected to perform said duties. Isaac Courtright. of near "Bunkum," was a representative and a member of the tenth general assembly. 1836- 1838. He favored "Bunkum" for the county seat and secured the passage of an act nanung Noel Vasquer, of Will county, George Scar- borough and George Barnett, of Vermilion con- 13. commissioners to locate the county seat.
April 11, 1837. two of the commissioners. Vassuer and Barnett, met at the house of Wil liam Armstrong in Montgomery and selected twenty acres adjoining Montgomery on the southeast as the site for the permanent seat of justice of the county.
This tract was accordingly conveyed to the county commissioners and their successors, In Amos White and William Armstrong, and the site was called "Iroquois." The county seat was destined to remain at "Iroquois" but a short time. No county buildings were created there. It offices were rented for the use of the county officials in Montgomery, and there the courts were held and the county business trans- acted so long as "Iroquois" remained the county seat.
In 1838 lsaac Courtright was agam a candi- date for re-election to the legislature. He was a man of strong character and one of the leaders of the democratic party, but throughunit the county there was general dissatisfaction with the location of the county seat at Montgomery.
Ish Grove township, was destel over Mr Courtright to the eleventh geferal asser by et
second session of this general assembly was the first session ever held at Springfield, the present capital Mr Roberts procured an enabling act for the re location of the county seat, and a com- 11 Istent was appointed for that purpose.
Hout the year 18:30, 18 is said that speculation ran nie. Great schones for palda improvement were promulgated Several towns in the county were land out and platted and each one hand its advocates, urging is special advantages for the county seat. Concord, Miliard. Plato, Savana. Modellsport. Point Pleasant and Irgens City were among the applicants. Plato was adver- tised as being at the head of navigation of the Irompante river. The prospectus sent cast to in- duce people to make investments in Plato, showed the picture of a broad river, teeming with ship- ping and commerce
Savana was located about two miles north di the present site of the village of Miliard. Iro- quais City was laid off on the north lank af the Iroquois river opposite Old Texas, Texas was also a competitor. Point Pleasant was lo- cated on the Iroquois river at the month of Spring creek, m the angle between the creek and river. In an early day it was the site of an In- chan village. Still another eligible site was dis- covered about two miles south of Milford.
June 13. 1830. the commission covered at Middleport and on the i7th of the sante month submitted their report to the county commission- ers, declaring the counts seat removed from "Iroquois" and permanently located at "Middle
Within the next few years a jail and court house were created in Middleport, and there the county seat renamed until 1805. when it was removed to it present location. The county seat fight between Middleport and Watscha, or South Middlepert, was a long drawn out and stubborn contest and one of the noteworthy events of the
The beginning of Middleport dates from the
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PAST AND PRESENT OF
landing of Gurdon S. Hubbard and the improve- inents which he there made. It was an ideal location, in the angle between the Iroquois river on the one hand and Sugar creek on the other.
At the request of Hugh Newell and Jacob Whiteman, Middleport was surveyed and platted in December, 1836. It was incorporated as a village April 16. 1859.
John Hogle. Wilson S. Kay, B. F. Barnum, D. B. Gardner and Alfred Torrey constituted the first village board.
Doubtless the county seat would have remained at Middleport, and it would today be the fore- most town in the county, had it secured the rail- road, now known as the Toledo. Peoria & Western.
The original line for this road was surveyed through Middleport but some disagreement arose as to depot grounds.
Micajah Stanley, who was financially inter- ested in the present site of Watseka, saw his opportunity and was quick to take advantage of the situation. He made a proposition to the railroad company which was accepted and the road was built, on its present line, leaving Mid- dleport off to the right. This sounded the death knell of Middleport as a county seat town, al- though the actual removal of the county seat did not occur until some years later.
The county seat contest between the old and new town was bitter. Strange as it may seem to the present generation, familiar with existing conditions, the passions of opposing factions ran high in a contest, which from the very nature of things must inevitably finally be decided against Middleport. The people of Middleport maintained that in as much as the county seat had been permanently located there, and the county had accepted one hundred town lots as a consideration that it was inequitable to remove it, but finally the leaders of the fight for Middle- port seeing nothing ahead but defeat, sought a compromise location but here again they failed.
The county seat was removed from Middle- port to .Watseka in April. 1865, and the old part of the present courthouse was erected in 1866 at a cost of twenty-eight thousand dollars, including the jail in the basement, on lots do- nated for that purpose by Micajah Stanley. The contractor was Amzi C. Mantor, and it may
be said to his credit, that his work still stands as one of the best pieces of masonry in Iroquois county.
As the business of the county increased from year to year, the courthouse was found to be too small and steps were taken during the year 1881 to build an addition thereto.
A committee of the board of supervisors, com- posed of J. G. Williams, W. B. Simonds. C. W. Brown and E. Hitchcock on the 14th of Sep- tember, 1881, submitted to the board three plans for said addition. The third plan proposed was the one adopted by the board. It provided for the building of said addition on the south side of the main building, the length of which from east to west, should be twenty-eight feet greater than the width of the main building, or to extend out fourteen feet either way from the sides of the main building. The height, material and archi- tecture to conform to the main building. Fire proof vaults for the county records were to be built, additional room for the circuit and county clerk's office, and upstairs a grand jury room and a room for the board of supervisors. On the 24th of October of the same year, this com- mittee on behalf of the county entered into a contract with William Pepperdine for the con- struction of said addition, which was completed the next year. The contract price was twelve thousand seven hundred and seventy-five dollars. with the exception of a few unimportant changes, the court house remains today as it was when this addition was completed, the base- ment, however, is no longer used as the county jail. During the year 1893. the county erected a new county jail and sheriff's residence, about one block east of the courthouse at a cost of twenty-three thousand eight hundred and eight- een dollars and forty-eight cents, which is a credit to the county.
About 2 o'clock of the morning of October 16. 1866, many of the records of the county clerk's office were destroyed by fire. At that time the county offices were temporarily located in build- ings in the same block and east of the present First National Bank building in Watseka, awaiting the building of the courthouse. This fire occurred after the removal of the county seat from Mid- (lleport and was thought to be of incendiary origin.
IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Agam on Sunday afternoon. Val 5. 103. the present courthouse was seriously des med by a fire which originated in the county clerk's office. Fortunately the vaults were closed atel no important records were destroyed. vigorous work of the city fire department doubt less saved the building from total boss, as it with it cost the county the sum of six themand one hundred and seven dollars and fifty two cents to repair and refurnish the courthouse.
The county received from insurance company on account of the fire the sun of one thousand two hundred and eighty-ene dollars and thirty- eight cents.
THE COUNTY FARM.
The county farm is located about two and three-fourths miles southeast of Watches £
lt originally consisted of a two hundred and thirty acre tract, purchased from I. R. Caberhy in January, 1857. for three thousand one hundred dollars. In December. 1887, an additional tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres was purchased from Mrs. Mary James for five then- sand six hundred dollars. Prier to March 24. 1875. it was the custom to rent the county farm to a keeper and pay him a stipulated suin for the care and keeping of the patients. This method proved unsatisfactory and it is said the board of supervisors looked upon the county farm with so little faver that they would have sold it. could they have found a purchaser
.
On March 24, 1875. Late Last took charge of the county farm. He was the first superm tement to receive a salary. Under his manage ment the place became a valuable asslung for the county's insane and unfortunate. Mr. Cast died in 1886 and his widow. Mrs. Mary Cast, with the assistance of Mr. John Wills, managed the farm until March, 1891, when I. W. Miller was appointed as her successor. Mr. Miller With succeeded in March, Long. In John Wills, the present superintendent
Mr. Wills married the daughter of Mrs. Cast. and by reason of his long experience is well qualified for the duties of superintendent
The keepers of the county farm have been Samuel Porter, Themas Mason, Joseph Moore.
John Ash Land Gast, Mar Lant. W Shiller
was created at the courts fare and in 1977 brick linking two stars high, twenty the forty eight just, was constructed for the me
At the special February sin of the hard
instructed to receive plans and specifications for a new luking to cost not to exceed ten them Sand dollars. At the regular September sessions of the board, of the same year. Richard R Meents chairman of the committee, reported the letting of the contract for the building to > Strader, of Banville, Illinois, The contract price was desen thousand eight hundred and fort- eight dollars. He also reported that the heating contract had been let to Frank H. Burnham at one the usand seven hundred and five dollars and that the plan bing had been awarded to Joseph Pickens at four hundred dollars
These amounts, with necessary extras made the improvement est fifteen thousand me hum- dred and ninety nine dollars and twenty mie cents as shown by a report of the committee to the board under date of February 10. 1 ; This Bulding is well adapted for the purpose and takes the place of the old fra ve building which Has been razu
Fever smee March 21. 1875, the county has paid the superintendents in charge of the com farm a salary, and has hired the necessary its sistance to operate the farm
Thuring the last few years this expense has run from two thousand to two thousand to . hun- dred annually, A strict account is kept of every- thing raised on the farm and bought and sold as well as what is consumed and the red reports are submitted to the board During recent well's the expense to the confits of maintenir the pampers, over and above the meone of the first. has been from It to rights costs for euch patient. The number of immate run from fifty tive to seventy five. At present there are seven teen mane patients at the county farm, returned from the Eastern Minor Hospital for the In
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PAST AND PRESENT OF
This farm with its equipment and under the present efficient management of Mr. Wills is said to be one of the best institutions of the kind in the state of Illinois.
CHAPTER IH. EARLY TRAILS.
Transportation and distribution of commod- ities it as essential to the well-being of man, as production. The blazing of the trail is the fore- runner of civilization. It is interesting to note the evolution of the trail into a highway of com- merce. Great transcontinental railroads have been constructed along famous trails of the pioneer.
In considering the early events of Iroquois county, two different trails deserve mention, the one known as "Hubbard trail" and the other "Butterfield's trail." Gurdon S. Hubbard in his autobiography says :
"During the year 1822, I had established a di- rect path or track from Iroquois post to Dan- ville and now ( 1824) extended it south from Danville and north to Chicago, thus fully opening "Hubbard's trail" from Chicago to a point about one hundred and fifty miles south of Danville. This trail ran through the counties of Cook, Will, Kankakee, Iroquois and Vermilion. pass- ing the present towns of Blue Island, Home- wood, Bloom, Crete, Grant, Momence, Beaver- ville, Iroquois, Hoopeston and Myersville to Danville."
From Danville it extended southwest through Vermilion and Champaign counties to Bement in Piatt county ; "Thence south through Moultrie and Shelby counties to Blue Point in Effingham county."
This trail crossed the south line of Iroquois county about three-fourths of a mile west of the place where the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad now crosses the same line.
From the south line of the county the trail extended north to a point a mile south of the north line of the present township of Mil- ford, thence it angled to the east following the ridges until it reached Montgomery ( Bunkum).
From Montgomery, it extended in a north- westerly direction passing near the present site of the village of Donovan, near which was lo- cated the famous Buckhorn tavern, an early day wayside inn.
Another tavern was located near where this trail crossed Beaver creek.
In 1834, the Illinois legislature caused a state road to be laid out from Vincennes to Chicago, and the commissioners appointed to locate the road, in the main established it on the old Hub- bard trail.
For some distance this trail followed the di- viding ridges, separating the water-sheds of the Illinois and Wabash rivers. Hubbard's trail af- terward came to be known as the State road. It is said from this circumstance, "State street, Chicago, received its name.
Mr. Hubbard in his autobiography writes feelingly of the last look he had of his well worn trail. He says: "Through constant use, by horses and ponies and men, the path became worn so deeply into the ground that when I last visited the vicinity of my old Iroquois post ( now called Bunkum) in the fall of 1880, traces of it were still visible, and my grand-nephew, a lit- tle lad of fourteen years, who accompanied me on the trip, jumped out of the carriage and ran some distance in the trail where I walked fifty- eight years before."*
In the midst of these familiar scenes, recol- lections of other days, doubtless crowded in upon his memory. He would remember the pleasures as well as the hardships of those years, when he, in years a mere boy, blazed his way through the wilderness and those companions who had passed on before him .**
About the year 1830, Ben Butterfield, who, prior to that time had resided near Danville, Illinois, selectd a new location for a home near the present site of Lockport in Will county. The following spring he again went to Danville to
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