USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 11
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Enos Cross belonged to the same organization. He was a practicing physician of some ability and a brother-in-law of Mrs. Pettengill.
All of these had the reputation of being very serious men and as far removed as possible from any hilarity. On one occasion the congregation undertook to give a church social and Jim Alexander, who was considered the wit of the town, was invited to attend. He remained but a short time and gave as a reason that there was 110 one there but Moses and Aaron and Enoch, and it was too near the flood for him.
Mr. Nurse was the first man to introduce fanning mills into central Illinois, and furnished the nucleus that finally developed into the Proctor business. In his advertisements he proudly announced that for wheat fans he made cross wove riddles.
A valuable member of this church was Mrs. Jeffries, grandmother of Mrs. Edward Gale. She was a widow with a large family of daughters, and a devoted church worker. The young ladies were noted as capable, industrious women, and as they came to maturity were married, three of them as I remember becoming the wives of Theodore Adams, John Bolton and Alexander Allison.
Like all new settlements Peoria had its share of eccentric people. One of them was John G. Bryson. When he first came to the country he taught school in Richwoods township and was very acceptable in that capacity till Jack Hines started the story that he was in the habit of correcting his pupils by hitting them over the head with stove wood. After that he clerked first for Aquilla Wren and then for the Voris Brothers, and finally had a dry goods store of his own on Main street. This he ran in a slow old-fashioned way till more progressive men monopolized the business. Those who knew him in later years as an eccentric, taciturn recluse, will be surprised to hear that he was once engaged to be married, at which time Mr. Voris said he walked so much around
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a certain tree, meditating on his beloved that the grass refused ever after to grow on the spot. He was a great man to argue and whatever the question, he might safely be counted on the contrary side.
Early settlers will have no difficulty in recalling an old Pole named Klopiski, who kept a sort of restaurant for many years on Main street. The boys dubbed him "Old Pork and Beans" and on ordinary occasions he was rather addicted to soiled linen and old slippers run down at the heels, but when dressed he was a noble looking man and every inch a cultivated gentleman. He came to America during the troublous times of Poland and professed to have been a nobleman and a military leader. He was very fond of chess and Mr. Ballance used sometimes to invite him to the house that they might have a game together. Very often the game would be forgotten and the old gentleman would talk for hours of outrages practiced upon his native country. As I look back I think we did not appreciate him as we should, and if he was still alive believe the present generation would be disposed to make a hero of him.
One of the most conspicuous if not as he thought the greatest man of the day was H. W. Cleveland. Where he came from or what his previous history might have been I do not know, but he suddenly appeared among us in several unexpected roles. Somebody had taken it upon himself to raise a company of militia, though in a spirit of bragadocio they paid it the compliment of call- ing it a regiment. Cleveland was a candidate for. colonel, and, owing to the unpopularity of the other aspirants, was elected, as much to his own surprise as that of others. He immediately appointed a complete line of staff officers as though it was a full regiment, among whom I recollect Dr. Rouse as medical officer and Mr. Ballance as quartermaster. About the same time the colonel got a charter for a new ferry across the river which was to be propelled by horse power and the lucky thought struck him to have a parade of his new regiment and a jubilee over the launching of his new boat at the same time. At length the auspicious day arrived. Horses were scarce but every officer that could get one was mounted for the parade. The colonel resided in a frame house on the corner of Madison and Jackson streets and in front of his door he had a table set with wines and all sorts of liquors and every time the parade went around the town the head of the column stopped at his door for refresh- ments. The more they refreshed the more foolish they became, and one by one the more dignified dropped out of the parade. There was a character named "Tig Tom" who being a little in doubt as to his military duties hunted up Dr. Rouse for advice. The doctor was a good deal disgusted by this time and growled out, "if this stuff makes the colonel sick it's my duty to physic him and yours to wait on him !"
After much fuss and feathers the parade finally reached the new boat and Colonel Cleveland proceeded to make a speech, the opening words of which were remembered and repeated by Peorians for many a day. He said : ..
"Fellow citizens and countrymen: Let us now proceed to commemorate the memory of the immortal Washington who has long since been laid in the tomb."
The whole thing became so ridiculous that the regiment was never again heard of and even the boat seemed to partake of the general fooling and was soon after sold to a circus company and taken down to St. Louis.
A GLANCE BACKWARD
BY E. H. FERGUSON, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS
Times were very bad when we arrived in Illinois. There was no money in the state; no sale for grain except to travelers or emigrants; groceries, boots and shoes had to be paid for with cash; pork was all the farmers had that would sell for money. Fisher & Chapin bought hogs at Lacon, and always paid for them with Traders Bank of Boston bills. The money was new,
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stamped F. & C .- Fisher & Chapin. It paid taxes in Peoria, Marshall and Woodford counties. It was currently reported that Fisher paid sixty cents on the dollar in gold for money and had to redeem every dollar of it in gold that came back to the bank in Boston. That was good financiering for both parties, and a fair sample of early day business. Fisher always had a New Orleans boat come up every spring during the high water to take his pork to New Orleans. One spring, about 1843, or possibly a year or two later, David Heats, a merchant of Chillicothe, sent one hundred sacks of corn to St. Louis and sold it for money, getting about fifteen cents per bushel. Immediately on getting returns from the shipments he sent word all around that he would take grain in payment for boots, shoes, groceries and debts. That was the first shipment of grain that I ever heard of. A little later that same year Isaac Underhill, of Peoria, had Captain Moss, of Peoria, come up and take a load of his "rent" corn to St. Louis, where he received cash for it. After harvest he sent word to the farmers of La Salle Prairie that on a certain date he would have a boat at Rome if they wished to sell their corn. They all availed themselves of the opportunity, as that was the first chance they had had to sell grain for cash. There were two boats loaded with corn at Rome that fall. After that there was a market for grain at some price for cash.
My father inade three trips to Chicago with wheat. On one of these trips the load brought forty cents per bushel. He brought back shoes, tea and a dollar's worth of coffee and sugar, which mother made to last until the middle of the next summer. I think this was in 1841. During the dry year-the year of the big prairie fire-the mill race at Senachwine dried up and no flour could be obtained. My mother grated corn on a tin pan punched full of holes and made corn bread and cakes for about two weeks until we could get a grist ground at Crown Creek mill, east of Chillicothe, about where the Santa Fe railroad is now located:
Two of my mother's brothers, Elijah and Norman Hyde, came to Peoria about 1823 or 1824. Norman was county surveyor, postmaster and county judge when Chicago was in Peoria county. I have in my possession his text- book and surveying instruments. I have a chest of drawers and some dishes that belonged to my grandmother at the time of her marriage in 1790. In the line of ancient documents E have a history of Greece, printed in 1699, and a copy of a political discussion, published in 1671.
A HOUSE WITH MANY HISTORIES BY M. P. SIMS, LAWN RIDGE, ILLINOIS
The house now ( 1904) being torn down on the southeast corner of this place is one with many thrilling historical events. It was built in the '40s, the first house in Lawn Ridge, by Deacon, or Nathaniel Smith. The frame was of large square-hewn timbers, some pieces eight by ten, mortised and braced and cross braced so it might be sure and stand the howling winds from the northwest. The other lumber was hauled from Chicago with ox teams, taking up a load of wheat and bringing back lumber, the round trip taking about a week.
This house in the early '50s was one of the many depots on the underground railroad. The next one on the south was Deacon Burge's of Farmington, and the next on the north was Owen Lovejoy's of Princeton. Many a time when the slaveholder, with sheriff and posse, backed up by the Tegeft slave law which allowed him to call on any one to assist him to run down his slaves, and if they refused. be liable to a fine, would be only a few hours behind his slaves as they passed the place. The old house standing there looked so solemn and innocent, that they never suspected that down in the cellar were three or four badly frightened men and women trying to escape to free Canada, and waiting for the excitement to go by and night to come so they could be transported on to Princeton.
MIRROR LAKE, BRADLEY PARK
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After occupying this house a few years, Deacon Smith bought and built over on the west side of the road a similar one, where he lived a number of years. He was still depot master and fed the runaway slaves the same as before. He was a great character. He was not only a farmer, but a blacksmith, and a good one, too. He was an all around man. He could make a good speech and make it interesting on any subject. He took the lead in all advance movements, church and politics, established and maintained Sunday schools in all the country around. Later in life, he drifted to the west and finally returned to his old home in New York state, where he died. No doubt Deacon Smith had his faults but on the whole I believe him to have been a great and good man and one that helped to make this county what it is.
Deacon Smith sold this place in an early day to a man by the name of Job Brown, or "Joby" Brown, as he was called. He was more of an inventor than a farmer. There is no doubt but what Job Brown was the real inventor of the corn planter. It was in this house that he studied and thought out the great problem of planting corn by machinery. It was here by the door he first pulled his machine by hand, and then with one horse, and finally made a planter something similar to planters now in use, only dropping three rows, and instead of wheels had sled runners. The dropping part was the real invention. It is said the inventor seldom gets the profits; it was so in this case. It was in this house he signed away all his rights in the planter for the price of a horse, and another person became rich from the manufacture of the corn planter.
Brown was also the inventor of a seed sower, and a scalding tub, that could be moved from one farm to another, in which hogs could be cleaned much faster than in the old way. This was in the days when farmers dressed their hogs at home for market and this machine could easily run out seventy or eighty a day. He was a very odd and eccentric man but known in his day all over the land as an honest, good man.
After a time Brown, too, sold out and moved away. Some twenty years ago there came a man by the name of Scoon who lived in the house. He had only one arm. He made and sold what he called Peoria bitters, made of several kinds of drugs, a little whiskey and lots of water ; but it would make you drunk, and that was enough. He did a thriving business for a while, sold it in pint bottles, one dollar a bottle. The business increased, so he rented a small build- ing on the east road. within a few rods of the Cornell house. He fixed it up with shelves and counter and a big lamp in the center of the room and on the opening night set the bitters up to the boys, went home late and to bed, and, I suppose, fell into a sound sleep. It was one of those calm, still nights and not a breath of air stirring, when at midnight, or a little later, there was a terrible explosion which was heard for miles. The next morning when Scoon came down after breakfast. he found his shop and bitters blown to flinders; so that ended Scoon and his bitters. But who put the jug of powder and laid the fuse under the house will never be known. Many detectives came and lay around from Peoria but went back without solving the mystery.
A LEGEND OF HALLOCK BY E. C. SILLIMAN
About 1820 Lewis Hallock came to Peoria county. He had been a trapper and fur trader among the Indians of Wisconsin and the northwest. Soon after coming to the county he located on the land at the mouth of Hallock hollow in Hallock township. He was a Quaker and was opposed to war and bloodshed, his life among the Indians and his kindness and truthfulness to them winning for him great influence with them.
In 1825, Namaqua, an Indian of the Pottawatomie tribe, killed a Frenchman in a drunken brawl. He was arrested, and there being no place of confinement nearer than the Springfield jail, Hallock furnished bail. No one ever sup-
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posed that the Indian would appear, but Hallock knew he would and on the first day of the term of court Namaqua was on hand. He was tried and sen- tenced to death at the November term of court that year, but through the in- fluence of Hallock and others, who believed the sentence was unjust, his case was taken to the supreme court, where it was reversed and remanded for a new trial. The trial was put off from time to time, Hallock always appearing with his prisoner. He remained a lifelong friend of Hallock.
In 1831 the winter was very severe, a big snow falling early, some three feet deep and drifting badly, and later was covered with a thick crust. A party of Indians on a hunting trip were caught in what was later called Gimblet hollow, west of Sparland. Hallock, knowing of their peril, went to their as- sistance, piloting them down the hollow to the river, then on the ice to Sen- achwine creek and up the creek to Northampton, along the bluff to his place, where he had a pen of corn and his cabin, which he shared with them. He and the braves took turns at breaking the road through the snow, the women and ponies following. It took three days to make the trip. The deer could not escape and Hallock had the Indians secure enough venison to last until spring.
When the Black Hawk war was first inaugurated, Hallock knew the peril of the whites, and having made many trips to the lead mines near Galena, he had many acquaintances between that place and Dixon, whom he determined to warn. Taking his rifle he started and as the dusk of the evening approached, he arrived on a hill overlooking the Pottawatomie camp near "Indiantown" now called Tiskilwa.
The young braves were holding a war dance and working themselves up to a fighting mood. Hallock knew all the war whoops of the different tribes. The Iroquois being their worst and most feared enemy, he gave their war cry and rushed down the hill through the brush, landing at the chief's tent, who not being fooled, sat quietly smoking, while all the "braves" ran for cover. Upon seeing a lone white man they came out, brandishing their tomahawks and making warlike demonstrations. Hallock stood his rifle against a tree, lit his pipe and advised the old chief "to spank them papooses and send them to bed." A wave of the old chief's hand and all slunk away. Hallock then handed his pipe to the chief, who refused it. He then stepped back and said: "What! refuse to smoke the pipe of peace with the white man that never sheds blood, that pro- tects the red man from the anger of the pale face and from starving when hungry ? Who fed your tribe when the snow was deep? Hallock!" Slowly the chief arose, took the pipe, gave it the customary whiff and returned it, then he produced his sack of salt, took a pinch, and handed it to Hallock, who did the same, And all the tribe knew Hallock was a friend and not an enemy. After supper with the chief, he demanded safe conduct to the camp of Black Hawk. On the morrow two Indians accompanied him on ponies. Near Dixon on the edge of some heavy timber, they came in sight of a band of some five hundred Indians, who, on dis- covering a white man in charge of two Indians, sent a troop of about fifty Indians out to meet them. They came galloping down upon them in full war paint, demanding the pale face for sacrifice. A wave of the hand and announcement of safe conduct to Black Hawk from their chief, caused them to fall in behind in silence. Of Black Hawk he demanded a safe conduct to Galena, which was granted. Two Indians escorted him to a point where they told him he was beyond danger, and as he went along he gave the alarm and all white settlers, about thirty families, fled to the block houses for safety.
For some years the lead mines of Galena were the only place where settlers could get cash for their cattle or produce. Hallock often went there with cattle and sometimes came back on horseback by way of Dixon, but more frequently he came down the river to Rock Island, or a near point west. Sometimes he floated down in a canoe, and at other times came with a flat boat, loaded for St. Louis. From this point he would walk across the hundred miles home, always carrying his rifle and camping wherever night overtook him.
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After the war in 1832, Black Hawk and his band located in Iowa near Des Moines, and they, too, often went to Galena to trade.
And now comes the tradition of Hallock. Many people called it "Hallock's dream." Some say it was a squaw after the death of Namaqua who showed the vision to him, but from my boyhood recollection, having heard the tale from many and from some to whom he had told it himself, I think Hallock's version was this: Some years after the Indians left, Hallock made one of his trips to Galena and there met Namaqua, the Indian he had stood by in trouble and who had never ceased to hold Hallock as his saviour. White men sometimes forget a favor, an Indian never! He told Hallock he was going down the river and across the country to his band and wanted him to accompany him in his canoe, which Hallock consented to do. They floated down the Mississippi and at sunset they landed, made their camp fire, ate their supper and smoked the pipe of friend- ship. Namaqua said, "Would you like to see where the 'white bullets' come from?" Hallock said he would.
In early days the Indians had many silver bullets which, until they learned their value to the pale face, they traded pound for pound, as they were hard and the Indians preferred the lead bullets. Namaqua said, "If my tribe knew I had shown a white man this they would kill me. Promise you will never tell of this until I am dead." Hallock promised and never revealed the story until after Namaqua's death several years afterward. He blindfolded Hallock, they got into the river, where he whirled the canoe around until it was impossible for Hallock to tell the direction. He then rowed about an hour and landed. They walked a short distance, waded what seemed to be a creek, went up an incline for some distance and then stopped. He could hear him remove some stones. He then told Hallock to crawl after him, which he did for a couple of rods. The Indian then removed the blindfold and lit a torch. They were standing in a passageway, which they followed a little distance and came into a cave, possibly 200 feet across and 20 to 50 feet high. On examining the walls he saw where a large amount of silver had been dug out of crevices, some pure silver, other places streaked with lead. Hallock was allowed to examine it and satisfy him- self that it was silver and lead, but he was not allowed to carry any away, nor did the Indian take any. There seemed to have been large quantities removed and there was any amount of it in sight. Namaqua said none had been taken away for a long time. They returned as they came and before landing at their camp, the canoe was whirled until direction was lost. Hallock said they might have rowed several miles, or as many rods. They may have crossed a creek before going up to the cave, or they might have waded in the edge of the river a few feet. Indian strategy and shrewdness threw all chance of tracing the route to the winds.
Years afterward Hallock scanned and searched again and again for the silver cave, but in vain. His belief was that it was on the Iowa side of the river.
Many persons said it was a dream of Hallock's; others thought it was truth, as Hallock was always truthful. Inasmuch as the Indians did have silver bullets in early times and as but few places have been found where they could have procured them and those places far to the north, and as quite an amount of silver has been found in the lead mines of Galena, there is no good reason that the "silver cave" does not exist. I am inclined to believe that the gratitude of Namaqua in showing Hallock the cave was covered by the fact that his treach- ery to his own tribe was death and he made the find so secure that years must elapse after his death before even a vigorous and systematic search could dis- cover his treachery to his tribe.
Hallock believed it. And the reader can follow the legend in the same mys- tery as have others in the years gone by. Do not lose sight of one fact, in your judgment. The red man never forgot a friend or a friendly act, even in time of war, when all the bloody passions of his race were called into play. I have penned this for the eye of many who have heard the tradition as it was handed
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down through the years, often mutilated, and its truth destroyed. Such is one of the legends of Hallock township of eighty years ago.
HISTORIC OLD SCHOOLHOUSE BY CALVIN STOWELL, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
Lest the historic old brick schoolhouse, located upon Blue Ridge, in Hallock township, and the many things, mostly educationally and socially, which clustered around it in the pioneer days should be forgotten, we have been tempted, partly by our own feelings and partly by the solicitations of others, to attempt to write a little sketch of the early days of the community who built it. We have often felt that there were many things worthy of note that would be of abiding interest to the present and future generations connected with the history of this com- munity, that so far as we can ascertain have never been made a matter of record, which, with the lapse of time, must pass into oblivion. While at this late day any record that we can write must be more or less defective for want of details, still we feel that we have been very fortunate in finding two living witnesses whose lives are practically contemporary with the first settlers of the little com- munity of Blue Ridge, and they are the only ones living, so far as we can ascer- tain, who were old enough to furnish items from personal recollections as far back as 1837. We refer to James Will, now ( 1910) past eighty-five years of age, and his brother George, two years his junior, who were for many years our friends and neighbors in Illinois. It is through the courtesy of Mrs. Lura Will Johnson and George Will and daughter Hulda, who have furnished us with much of the memoranda in substance from which we write.
The earliest settlers on Blue Ridge were Leonard Ranstead, Zenus G. Bliss, E. C. Root, Lucas Root and Egbert Palmer. The exact time of their settling there is not known to us, but we think we are safe in saying not later than 1836. William B. Will, Elihu Stowell, Roswell Nurse and son Isich, and Ebenger Stowell came in 1836, the latter three making the trip from Chenango county, New York, on foot. After looking over the country and locating land they made the trip to the nearest land office at Quincy and made their entry ; returning, they built a cabin. Leaving Isich in possession, the other two, Roswell Nurse and father, returned to New York state late in the fall by way of the lakes. Roswell Nurse with his family moved to Illinois the following spring. Our father did not move with his family until 1843. In 1837 Robert Wilson with his family moved to this little community from Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania.
In 1840 the little brick schoolhouse was built, the necessary funds being raised by subscription, which certainly meant almost a sacrifice offering in those early days of scarce and hard-earned dollars. Robert Wilson, a stone and brick mason by trade, assisted by his son George, did the mason work, while Zenus Bliss and Egbert Palmer looked after the wood work. While the house would hardly stand as a model for these more modern days, we doubt if a house was ever built which was more highly appreciated by the public or served a better purpose of general utility for all sorts of public gatherings. The first school taught in this house was by William Atwood, who received twelve dollars per month for his services. The school was thoroughly patronized for many miles around, starting with fifty scholars, which was soon increased to the fullest pos- sible capacity of the house to accommodate. Everybody took in boarders, going upon the old time pioneer plan, as we suppose, of "come in, if you can get in.'
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