USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > Past and present of Montgomery County, Illinois > Part 62
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Briggs, and he states that Whiteside claimed that a battle with the Indians had been fought some years before in the southeast part of North Litchfield township, and that several Indians had been killed there. If this inci- dent be true, it occurred prior to any recorded settlement within the limits of the county, Bennett Woods settled on land east of Shoal creek, in North Litchfield township, about 1828, and John and James Roberts had pre- viously formed a settlement at Honey Bond. In 1829 Thomas C. Hughes made settlement on the farm at present owned by Martin Ritchey and thus became a near neighbor to Roh- ert Briggs. In 1830 there might have been six or seven families living in North Litchfield township. The first funeral service held in the township was in 1829 on the occasion of the death of Mrs. Bennett Woods, and the first marriage of record in that township was that of Sarah Briggs, eldest daughter of Robert Briggs, to Joshua Martin. James Street, the pioneer preacher, possibly delivered the first sermon in that township. In the settlement of South Litchfield township we find Melcher Fogleman, John Norton and James Bland ; Spartan Grisham and Theodore Jordan lived with Fogleman: that in 1824 Melchor Fogle- man removed to the neighborhood of the pep- per mill, or, as it was called, the Clear Spring settlement. In 1820, it is stated, the family of Nicholas Lockerman was the only one liv- ing within the present limits of Sonth Litch- field township: that the population of the county in that year was abont one hundred. Within the succeeding ten years but six fami- lies had made settlements in South Litchfield township. and in addition to others named Simon MeAfee and James Penter settled in the eastern part of the township. Anthony Street, brother of James Street. appeared about this time, and his ability to manufacture gunpowder gave him quite a reputation among the early settlers. There was hardly a settlement that did not have, as one of its accessories, a "dis- till house up the hollow," and it was no dis- credit for any one to engage in the manufac- ture of whiskey, and I do not find that any form of beer was brewed excepting from per- simmons. I am told, however, that persimmon
beer was something like our own "lager," re- quiring large quantities to satisfy the thirst for drink. Not until in the later '30s had orchards appeared, so that hard cider as a bev- erage was almost unknown until about 1840. To get their corn milled in the early history of the township was not the least of the settlers' troubles. They must either go to mill down to Edwardsville or else over to Old Ripley, in Bond county. To do either. however, required at least a week or so from home. As has been stated in a previous chapter. the pepper mill over near Hillsboro at the Clear Spring settle- ment was built in 182t, but the capacity of this mill made it a source of annoyance, espe- cially to one who had other labors to attend to or business cares that demanded his presence at home. John Crabtree settled in the Clear Spring neighborhood and afterward eame into possession of the pepper mill property. Our reason for mentioning at this time Mr. Crab- tree's connection with South Litchfield is that the settlement in the castern part of South Litchfield might properly be regarded as a part of the Clear Spring settlement, and it is rather a difficult matter to keep township lines in mind as we attempt to chronicle events that pertain to the settlements. James Copeland and the Forehands crossed Shoal creek to the bluff southwest of Fruitt's ford about 1832. The first schoolhouse built in South Litchfield township was in 1838. near the residence of J. N. MeElvain. Tradition reports that John Fogleman taught school in this house in 1843. It is well to remember that students often at- tended school from several miles distant, and although the schoolhouses were far apart it was no unusual thing for thirty or forty pupils to be enrolled in some of the schools at an early day. While we did not have the free- school system, yet pupils were not debarred from attending school by reason of an inability of parents to pay. As in many other things, the spirit of liberality obtained with reference to school privileges. While the teacher was compensated in various ways for his services, there was no such thing as a fixed salary or. stipend upon which he could depend. The school usually extended through September. October and November, and the tuition was
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fixed by the teacher at a rate of from one dol- lar and fifty cents to two dollars per term. As money was almost unknown as a medium of exchange. the tuition was payable in corn. pigs, cattle, coonskins and what not that might pay ony other obligation. To read. to spell and to "cipher" and to be able to write was thought to fit the individual for any possible position in life, and students of the time often excelled in some one of these branches of study. Fair mathematicians were to be found among the students of these early schools. Good readers and spellers were frequent, and ability to write a beautiful oval hand with a quill pen is evi- denced in many of the records that are to be found in the reports of our county. Other families that came to Litchfield vicinity were the Blackwelders. the Corlews. the Simpsons and the MeWilliamses. John Corlew came to South Litchfield township about the year 1836. Having served as a commissioned officer in the war with Mexico. Mr. Corlew was elected sheriff in 1848 and again in 1852. William Simpson antedated the settlement of Mr. Corlew some years, having made his settle- ment in 1831. Mr. Simpson has also been honored by election to county office, having served his county as treasurer. In the decade between 1830 and 1840 the homesteads in South Litchfield township would not have ex- ceeded ten or a dozen at most. John Fogle- man. in 1840, settled on his present home- stead. Mr. Fogleman also served in the ca- pacity of sheriff some forty years ago. and it is remarked at this day that Mr. Fogleman re- fused re-election to office on the ground that he did not believe that succession in office is good policy. Mr. Fogleman and Mr. Corlew are yet living at advanced age. These men have been examples of moderation in all things. They have lived simple lives, honored by all who know them, and doubtless when their names are called cach will be able to say, "I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." In writing of the city of Litchfield I am again indebted to the papers of H. A. Coolidge and to Samuel Kessinger, of the Monitor, for the facts and figures relating to the city. The city of Litch- field is located in both North and South
Litchfield townships, two-thirds of its terri- tory being in the former and one-third in the latter township. The city is beautifully lo- cated on the undulating prairie as it breaks into the hill lands just west of Shoal creek. It is about fifty miles east of St. Louis and forty-two miles south of Springfield, Ilinois. The first settler within the limits of the town was Isaac Weaver. who in 1842 occupied a cabin near the entrance to the public square. In 1835 Evan Stevenson and in 1836 Joseph Gillespie. in 1838 G. B. Yonowine, Isaac Ross, and in 1849 John Waldrop and Ezra Tyler en- tered the land upon which the present city of Litchfield is located. In 1847 Royal Sherer built a cabin on the southeast slope of the mound now owned by W. S. Palmer estate. Sherer being a single man, it does not appear that he ever occupied the cabin which he had built. In 1849 Ezra Tyler settled on the forty acres which he had entered, and A. Hart Pierce built a log house on the mound near where the North school building stands. Pierce and Caleb W. Sap in 1849 had entered the south- west quarter of section 33, in North Litchfield township, and this afterward became the nu- cleus of the present city of Litchfield, and now I am sure that I will be pardoned if I quote the language of Mr. Coolidge as he sets forth so aptly the beginnings of the city: "In the summer of 1853 residents of the present city were Alfred Blackwelder, near the site of the Weipert House, burned in 1880: Jacob Sherer. on the mound in the northwestern quarter of the city : his brother. Ralph Sherer, a quarter of a mile east of him : Nelson Cline, near Fred Stahls: A. Hart Pierce, on the schoolhouse mound : J. Y. Etter. between Martin Haney's restaurant and the Wabash Railway; O. M. Roach. in a diminutive room in Cummings & MeWilliams' addition: Ezra Tyler. in the southeast part of town. and J. W. Andrew. on the Davenport estate. The site of the town laid out for building purposes was a cornfield, and when Simeon Ryder and Hon. Robert Smith, of Alton : Hon. Joseph Gillespie, of Ed- wardsville: Philander C. Huggins, of Bunker Hill: Josiah Hunt, chief engineer of the Terre Haute & Alton Railway, and John B. Kirk- ham formed a syndicate to purchase the sites
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of prospective stations along the line of the of the town, though his home was antedated road then in process of construction they by the Jefferis house. Mr. Jefferis' family came three days later than Mr. Elliott's, whose home formerly stood on the ground now cor- ered by the Parlor shoe store. The fourth building was a rude blacksmith shop on Mr. Southworth's corner. W. S. Palmer in May began the erection of the west half of the build- ing the first door above L. Huffman's bakery. but as Mr. Palmer went to the woods and hewed out the framing timber he did not finish his store until fall. The next building erected was by Ezra Tyler for a grain warehouse on the site of the O. K. mill. There was not time to build houses, and therefore rnde struc- tures and small buildings were carted over the slimy priarie on runners from other points. Thus J. P. Bayless brought here on rollers one- half of what had been a blacksmith shop at Hardinsburg. It had no floor. no door nor window. He placed it on the corner north of E. Burdett's shop and made it do for a home for several years. Up to this time Mr. Tyler supplied meals and lodging to the men who were founding the city. As to roads, the great highway from Hillsboro to Bunker Hill ran a mile south of town. and the route from Edwardsville by way of Staunton to Taylor- ville entered the town near its present south- west corner. The road was laid ont by strik- ing a furrow for several miles on one side and then returning with another furrow equi- distant on the opposite side. The road Tay between these shallow ditches and marked the route well enough for the few people who were condemned to use it. Mr. Palmer and Mr. Mayo, his brother-in-law. put a stock of gen- eral merchandise in the store just built by the former and the east end was also his family residence. By the latter part of 1854 six families had planted themselves here and the town consisted of about a dozen buildings. of which one was a wagon shop, one a blacksmith shop and two were stores. By November. 1855 the number of dwelling houses had increased to eleven, and the town, seen under a December sky, had an uninviting aspect. The population must have been at least one hundred. for when need comes folks can be compacted to- gether as close above ground as in it. By bought out Mr. Cline. They agreed to lay out a town on the eighty acres owned by Pretlow and Cline, and after reserving the land needed for streets, publie squares and railroad uses to reconvey to Pretlow one-half the lots and blocks on his forty-six acres in full payment for the remainder. Mr. Kirkham was made the agent of the syndicate, but in a few days he was replaced by P. (. Huggins, who retained his position through successive purchases of additional land to be laid out in village lots. until E. B. Litchfield, of Brooklyn, New York, became the sole owner of the company's inter- est in the city. The railroad was completed no further than Bunker Hill from the western end when Thomas A. Gray, county surveyor in October. 1853, laid out among the standing corn the original plat of the town. Gillespie was also laid out, and Messrs. R. W. O'Ban- non. T. W. Ellioti. H. E. Appleton, James W. Jefferis, J. P. Bayless and W. S. Palmer, of Ridgley, Madison county, having decided to ro- move to a point on the proposed road. drew straws to determine whether to locale at Gilles- pie or Litchfield. The fates willed in favor of Litchfield, and accordingly in January. 1854, Mr. O'Bannon bought the cast half of the block facing on State street and lying between Ryder and Kirkham streets for one hundred and twenty dollars. Any part of the cast front would not be a bargain at that price for a single foot (1882). This was the first pur- chase in the proposed town, and Mr. O'Bannon began at once to arrange to build a store on the southeast corner of his purchase. Mr. Jefferis appears to have been the second pur- chaser and Mr. Appleton and Mr. Palmer must have secured lots soon after. Mr. O'Ban- non obtained lumber for the frame of his store in the neighborhood. but the other Iumher was obtained at Carlinville. His store was com- pleted and occupied April 24. 1854, and Mr. Jefferis had his dwelling. now the south part of the George B. Litchfield honse, nearly ready for his family, but. Mr. Elliott. by bringing here the material of his home at Ridgely. managed to get his family placed in it May 5. 1854, and thus he was the pioneer settler
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October the railroad was opened as far as Clyde, and in January the Pretlow estate was sold by his executor. The sale was held in the store of W. T. Elliott and the day is still widely remembered for the dense rain which prevailed. The embankment for the railroad had formed a dyke across State street and in- terrupted its drainage. A miniature lake was thus formed, and it was the policy of the par- ties owning land just west of the town plat to have the dyke maintained in order to force the location of the passenger station in their vicinity, where, in anticipation of a decision in their favor, a sidetrack had already been graded. Mr. O'Bannon, Mr. Bayless and oth- er's cut this dyke and thus averted the location of the depot a quarter of a mile to the west- ward. The earlier sales of lots on State street has been made at the rate of thirty dollars for sixty-six feet front : the price in May, 1854, was increased to fifty dollars. There were no apparent natural advantages for the creation of a prosperous town. It was not known that the railroad shops would be located here. and Shoal creek presented a serious barrier to com- munication with the country to the east, and on the other side the prairie still spread, with here and there a settler, who was toilsomely breaking the virgin sod. The site of the plat had been bought in midsummer. 1853, at eight dollars or ten dollars per acre, and the plat gave two acres to eight lots and the sur- rounding street. At the Pretlow sale one-half the lots were sold by public outery, and it is instructive to note the purchasers and the prices paid. The terms were one-third down and the balance in one year. One of the lots would to-day sell for three hundred per cent more than the sixty-six did at that sale, which was at least four times greater than the valne of half the townsite before it was laid out. In 1854 "Nigger Dan," from Carlinville, built a hotel. which is now the east part of the Phoenix House. He was able only to enclose the building, and. such as it was. if was the first house of entertainment in the town. The next year E. W. Litchfield supplied the means to finish it. As to "Nigger Dan." I have not been able to learn his real name or subsequent history. Dr. Gamble was the first physician
and lived on a halt-floored house west of the Methodist church. Dr. H. H. Hood, who first opened an office at Ilardinsburg, was the second one, and had his office at J. M. Me- Williams' store, which was between the Phoe- nix House and the Central Hotel. On No- vember 24 of this year the railroad was opened to Litchfield and the sale of the Pretlow prop- erty following gave such an impetus to the town, which it has not since lost, though panies. fires, war and the removal of the railroad shops have each only given a breathing time to lay wiser plans and build its prosperity on a more stable basis. By the close of this year eight or nine families in addition to the six or seven fami- lies on farm lands when the town was sur- veved had homes in the city. We can enumerate W. O'Bannon. W. T. Elliott, H. E. Appleton, James Jefferis, J. P. Bayless, W. S. Palmer, "Nigger Dan," G. Evans and a little later T. G. Kessinger. In the spring of 1855 Messrs. E. W. Litchfield, E. E. Litchfield. E. S. Litch- field, George H. Hull and the three Dix broth- ers and C. F. Howe came from central or west- ern New York, all related to E. C. Litchfield who had become practically the owner of the town site. Several additions to the town were laid out, and James Cummings removed his store and contents from Ardinsburg and placed it just west of the cigar factory on Ryder street. He was the first postmaster. The original plat of the town, which bore the name of Huntsville, was never recorded. It was the purpose to have the name of the postoffice the same as the name of the town. and as there was a postoffice called Huntsville in Schuyler coun- ty the name of the town was changed to Litch- field in honor of its virtual proprietor. The railroad being open to Alton. Messrs. E. W. Litchfield and C. F. Howe began the sale of lumber, buying a carload or two at Alton and unloading it where State street crosses the railroad. E. E. Litchfield bought the Tyler grain warehouse and, removing it to the site of the D. Davis grocery store, converted it into a store and began the sale of dry goods. A year or two later he went out of the dry goods business and became a hardware mer- chant. James and William MePherson erected a flouring or grist mill and a residence just
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north of the Planet Mills' office. These were the first buildings south of the railroad. In the fall of 1855 ground was broken for the railroad shops. The winter of 1855-56 was an open one, and the tide of immigration setting in deep and steady, building went on during the entire season, and a hundred dwellings and other buildings were put up by the close of 1856. The passenger station had been com- pleted and the roundhouse with thirteen stalls had been enclosed and the foundation laid for the machine shops. The town had been in- corporated as a village, with R. W. O'Ban- non president of the board of trustees. The public houses had increased to four-the Mont- gomery House. now the Phoenix, by A. C. Paxson : the Litchfield House, opposite Wood- man's lumber yard, by Mr. Johnson : the Cen- tral Hotel, by J. Hawkins; and the Palace Hotel, by R. Chism. The Methodist and Presbyterian churches were built, but not quite completed. Hood & Bro. and Dr. Grinstead had drug stores, the first adjoining O'Bannon's store on the north and the second in the build- ing now occupied by G. B. Litchfield as a restaurant. Baghy & Corrington had succeed- ed Mc Williams and R. N. Paden in the State street stores south of the public square. O'Bannon & Elliott and Palmer & Jefferis in their own buildings continued to sell dry- goods and clothing, and Henderson, Hull & Hawkins had a store across the street south of Woodman's lumber yard. Til Shore sold stoves and hardware in the Harris building below Brewer & Grubbs' bank, which he had erected in 1855. E. E. Litchfield was in the same line on his corner. James Cummings & Son were merchants in the Cummings building op- posito the Central Hotel : John McGinnis sold clothing where Julius Machler's saloon is now (1882). John P. Bayless had succeeded James Cummings in the postoffice. There was but one saloon open, and that for but part of the time. where Peter Kane dispensed. B. C. Beardsley had begun business in Litchfield's store. There were two physicians, Hood and Grinstead: no lawyer. one schoolmaster and no resident preacher. When the railroad was opened as far east as Litchfield, John P. Bay- less was appointed the first agent and his office
was among the foundation timbers of the water tank, which stood near the southwest corner of the car works office. R. E. Burton was the painter and photographer; John P. Davis & Bros., the plasterers; William Downey, the bricklayer; while Farrar & Sinclair kept the livery stable where Griswold's stable is now. P. J. Weipert, harnessmaker; (. Hoog, boots and shoes ; and J. W. Cassiday, tailor, were suffi- cient in their day. Mr. Johnson and his son with saws and bucks cut the fuel for the loco- motives; G. W. Nelson ("Fiddler George") was the constable, and L. D. Palmer the jus- tice of the peace. J. L. Hood sold furniture in the Cummings building for Olcott & Com- pany, of Alton, and W. B. Charles ("Cap- tain"), having in his old age deserted the river steamer, had a little stock of clothing for sale in the same building. Carpenters were count- ed by the score and their wages were high. The population had by 1856 increased to six or seven hundred. The earliest residents were chiefly from the slave states, Kentucky or North Carolina. Messrs. Appleton, Grinstead. Mr. Long and a Mr. Thomas were of English birth, while Messrs. Hoog & Weipert were Ger- man ; a few came from Ohio, and there was a liberal infusion of persons from the state of New York, while the Irish brogue was heard on every side. The spring of 1857 opened late, with rain and cold, and the streets were gorged by the depth of black, tenacious mud, and as for sidewalks there were none. The second block east of State street was a shal- low pond and the water fowl frequented it in the early spring. Drains and sewers were un- known and the rainfalls skulked and dodged through grass and rubbish to the head of the water channels which begin a mile or more distant. A few dwellings boasted more than two rooms and people stayed here comforting themselves with the hope of improved future and a release from their narrow surroundings. The railroad had been opened to Terre Haute the previous year and Edwin C. Dix had suc- ceeded Mr. Bayless as station agent. The previous year several carloads of grain had been shipped to St. Louis in sacks. The vil- lage organization was kept up and E. C. Dix was president of the village board. Some
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ordinances had been adopted, but were not enforced. The town was the common fight- ing ground for the surrounding country, and groups of bullies would ride into town, fire their courage with whiskey and then gallop through the streets, carrying clubs or weapons. seeking a fight. On such occasions "Old Shake," foreseeing their purpose, would usual- ly lock his door and disappear for the day under the pretense of hunting or fishing: though a thinner exeuse than fishing could not be imagined. The first circus tent spread here drew not less than five thousand persons to town, people coming as much as forty miles to witness the moral horsemanship, to be aston- ished at the wit of the clown and to admire the frisky mules. Still, the religious impres- sions of the performances have not yet been observed, or, if so. have failed of a chronicler, though the town is not wholly ignorant of preachers who thought the noblest passage in the Bible was Job's description of a horse. There have been circuses here since, but not to arouse the excitement as that first one, and men are said to have gone fishing, but no one with so good a purpose as "Old Shake." or with equally as commendable results as on the occasion of this first circus at Litchfield." Mr. Coolidge further relates, in regard to the establishing of manufactures, that "in 1854 James McPherson and William, his brother, built a grain mill and residence on the site of the Planet Mill. and these were the first build- ings south of the railroad after the laying out of the town. The mill would be called a humble affair to-day, but it was ample then for all local wants. The next year R. H. Poall and J. M. M.Williams became the own- ers and added much expensive machinery. Mc Williams dying in 1857, the mill fell into the hands of Ezra Tyler, who operated it un- til 1860, when he sold it to M. J. Gage. He, fully doubling its size and capacity, practically made the mill a new one. In 1866 Best & Sparks purchased it and leased it first to E. 1. Cooley and John Best and then to 1. W. Samson. The owners afterward planned to replace the wooden structure by brick mill and the main building was erected. but in 1870 an evening fire destroyed the mill and the project
of replacing it was finally abandoned, A sec- ond mill was completed in 1860 half a mile up State street by John C. Reed and James MePherson. In the spring of 1863, in some unknown manner, this was also destroyed by fire. The attempt to connect its destruction with military and political troubles had no sufficient basis, Perhaps some card-playing youths knew more than they told. The mill. however, was not rebuilt. Wesley Best and David R. Sparks, from Staunton, completed a three hundred barrel mill on the railroad a quarter of a mile west of State street. The mill was twiee enlarged and its goods achieved a flattering reputation. It, too, was burned in February, 1849, and arrangements were made to rebuild it in 1881, but when the walls were fairly begun the property was sold to D. L. Wing & Company, who demolished what had been built, and the barren site is to-day the sole memorial of what was one of the best old-style mills in central Illinois. Peter Box- berger in 1868 built a flouring mill on the railroad a quarter of a mile east of State street. Three years later he sold it to Peter MeLenan. This was also destroyed by fire. in 1873. About this time T. G. Kessinger had a custom mill opposite Best & Sparks' mill, but it was not kept up long. In 1873 Mr. Boxberger built the flouring mill near the Indianapolis & St. Louis depot. Becoming embarrassed. he formed a partnership with Julius Machler and the firm failed. All the mills used burstones and completed the manu- facture of flour in two grindings. Their ca- pacity was limited. and until the opening of the coal mines and the introduction of water- works they struggled under great difficulties. In the spring of 1881 D. L. Wing & Com- pany, of Springfield, Massachusetts, began the erection of the Planet Mill. which, by reason of its capacity and the new system of convert- ing wheat into flour and the character and completeness of its appointments, will hear a short description here. The mill building proper was fifty by one hundred feet and five stories high, exclusive of basement and texas. The basement contains shafting and main driv- ing pulley, elevators. fan and wheat sink. The main floor contains seven reduction mills and
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