USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 45
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"In September, 1836, a road was ordered to be laid out from Peoria to Aiken & Little's mill. It was surveyed by George C. McFadden, who laid down the lines so accurately they can be easily followed. Commencing at the bridge at Aiken & Little's mill, the line ran by different courses until it reached the center of Fifth street, thence to the center of Main street, following it to its eastern end; it was there deflected southeast twenty rods to the section line between sections 7 and 18 in township 8 north, range 8 east, which is now known as Lincoln avenue. Thence it ran east to the corner of sections 7 and 9, now the intersection of Lincoln and Western avenues, thence northeast to the west end of First street in Monson & Sanford's addition, following which it reached the lower end of Adams street, which was then at Franklin street. By following these lines we reach, unquestionably, the location of the mill near the center of section 12, which was at or near the northwest corner of the town of Peoria Mills, not far from Rocky Glen.
"Joshua Aiken died in the year 1840. Robert E. Little died in Peoria in 1842. What became of the mill in the meantime does not appear. Mr. Ballance says Mr. Aiken added a sawmill to it and ran both for some time but finally per- mitted the stream to undermine them and carry them away. In the files of the estate of Mr. Little in the probate court, there appears a lease for eighteen months, from him to Joshua and Henry S. Aiken, for the mill then in their pos- session, but from other data. it would seem this may have been only a sawmill. One of the provisions of the lease was that they should keep the dam and flume in good condition but if carried away by the freshet, it should be optional with them to do so or not. It is probable the premises were soon afterwards aban- doned, as Hale's mill had been established above and Hamlin & Moffatt's below it, and these two with others at Peoria, may have cut off its trade so as to render it unprofitable.
"At the March term, 1833, of the county commissioners' court, Orin Hamlin and Alva and Aquilla Moffatt obtained leave to erect a mill dam on the south- west quarter of section 13, past which a road was being laid out, which, on the old maps, bears the name of the 'Middle Road.' This was probably at first a sawmill, at which the lumber that went into the court house was sawed, as Hamlin & Moffatt had a contract to supply it. A flouring mill was, however, erected at that place, which afterwards became known and still lingers in the recollection of many citizens as Monroe's mill.
"In the Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazetteer, of April 8, 1837, it is said: 'Some years since a flouring mill (probably Hamlin & Sharp's .- Ed. ) was erected on that stream (the Kickapoo), which is in successful operation still, within two and a half miles of Peoria village. Two sawmills in the vicinity of the flouring mill are in profitable business. There are two sawmills above and one grist mill below.' Here are two grist mills spoken of, neither one of which could have been Hale's, for that mill was then in process of erection and had not commenced grinding. These mills, and at least two of the sawmills spoken of, must have been located within the present bounds of Limestone township. From these facts we can judge of the importance of the Kickapoo creek as a mill stream at that time.
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"June 10, 1837, Henry Jones laid out a town plat on the southwest quarter of section 3, and the southeast quarter of section 4, which he called Summer- ville. It was located on what is now the Farmington road, just north of the county farm. It has never become a place of importance, there being but a few scattered houses at the place, but a postoffice by that name is still maintained.
"This township has also the credit of having had the first public bridge in the county-that erected by John Cameron on the Lewiston road. The bridge at Aiken & Little's mill was also erected at an early day, but it may have been erected by the proprietors and not by the public. The township was also well supplied with both county and state roads-the state road running up the Kick- apoo ; that by way of Farmington to Knoxville; that to Quincy by way of Can- ton, and that by Pekin-all passing through its territory.
"It also had one of the first railroads-the Peoria and Oquawka having been finished as far as Edwards in 1855. It now has five railroads in operation: The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ; The Toledo, Peoria & Western; The lowa Cen- tral; The Peoria & Pekin Terminal; and the Chicago & Northwestern. These several roads converging near the eastern line of the township, make that a point of great importance as a future suburb to the city.
"This township also contains the county poor farm. It also has an important state institution, the Asylum for the Incurable Insane, which after sundry reverses and delays, was completed and received its first installment of patients February 10, 1902.
"The township contains no regularly organized village, but through sundry subdivisions of lands, especially along the Kickapoo creek, divers centers of popu- lation have become known as villages, such as Bartonville, South Bartonville and Minersville, which may soon become suburbs of Peoria. The township also contains several manufacturing plants, the most important of which are the Acme Hay Harvesting Company and the Cellulose factory of the Marsden Con- pany, at South Bartonville.
"Coal mining is one of the most important interests, the whole township being apparently underlaid with that mineral. The first coal mining was done at an early day, the first bank having been opened on the southeast corner of section 24. The Moffatts also mined coal at the same place and shipped it by keel boats to St. Louis. As at other places, the first mining was done either by 'stripping' or drifting into the hillsides where the outcrop appeared. But for some years deep mining has been carried on, not only along the river and creek bottoms but on the uplands. These mines give employment to a large number of laborers.
"The population of this township is of a mixed character-there being many Germans, some Welsh among the miners, some Scotch, some Irish, an English community on the north side and some Americans. Among the early German settlers were Conrad Bontz, who came in 1844, Christian Straesser and the Hallers and Beatty Johnson in 1848, George Ojeman in 1849, and the Roelfs in 1851. These men were and their descendants are, among the very best and most prosperous citizens.
"There being an extensive ledge of limestone rock in the north part of the township, the burning of lime for the Peoria market has from an early day been an important industry. There are also extensive quarries of sandstone along the Kickapoo creek, which yield a fairly good quality of stone for build- ing purposes."
SCHOOLS
The first school in the township was probably that which was taught in 1836 by Simeon Ward in a log cabin situated near South Bartonville. There were private schools taught by men and women whose names have unfortunately drifted away. This township, however, has kept pace with others in the county in its educational purposes and results and since the adoption of the free school
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system it has maintained a creditable stand in the matter of public education. There are now nine districts, in each of which is a good schoolhouse well main- tained and where from eight to nine months' schooling is given the children during the year. There is a union district near Harker's Corners.
CHURCHES
The first church, an Episcopal, was organized early in the '30s. In 1836 Bishop Chase came to the county and formed the people of this faith into a com- pact body, after which regular services were held almost every Sabbath and a house of worship was erected which still stands, though not, however, in its original form. At first it was a buff stone building but it has been enlarged and beautified by the addition of a tower and the placing of stained glass in the windows. This church was dedicated in the fall of 1845 and stands on two acres of ground donated by John Pennington in 1844. The original cost of the building was $1,500. Of this sum $1, 100 was contributed by friends in England, twenty pounds of which was the gift of Dowager Queen Adelaide, twenty pounds the gift of Lord Kenyon, a friend of Bishop Chase, after whom he named Kenyon College, established by him in Ohio. Some years ago Rev. John Benson, James Clark and Isabelle Douglas conveyed to this church twenty acres of ground just across the public highway from the church for the use and benefit of the rector. Attached to the church is a small cemetery in which the remains of Henry Wilson, who died September 17, 1838, were the first to be interred.
The Presbyterian church was organized May 6, 1859, by a committee of Presbytery consisting of Rev. Robert P. Farris, D. D., pastor of the Second Presbyterian church at Peoria, Rev. M. L. Wood, minister in charge, and Ruling Elder James 11. Patterson, of the Salem church. There were fifteen members admitted and John Cameron and William Jones were ordained and installed as ruling elders. The church has never supported a pastor as its membership had in its pahniest days reached but thirty members. The church building is a neat franie structure, which stands on section 8. Rev. M. L. Wood was the first pastor.
The German Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1855 with eigh- teen members and from the start the church grew and flourished. In 1856 a house of worship was erected at a cost of $1,000 but in twenty years it became too small for the growing congregation and in 1876 the old building was superseded by a new one which cost $4,000. This building is located on section 22, where it has three and a half acres of ground, in which was also located a cemetery. The first pastor was Rev. F. Wanke.
MEDINA TOWNSHIP
This township in point of settlement is one of the earliest in Peoria county. Geographically it is divided into two sections, one lying on the high prairie and the other on the river bottom, the dividing line being a strip of bluff about two miles wide. The land on the river bottom was first considered very desirable, not only from its being close to the river, but also owing to the fact that the soil was very fertile, being part prairie and part timber land. La Salle prairie con- stitutes part of this tract and was in early days a distinctive settlement. Through it ran two state roads, one leading through Northampton to Galena, the other through Chillicothe, Henry and other points to Boyd's Grove, thence on to Ottawa and Chicago. On the high prairie side were two state roads, one from Peoria running north by Mount Hawley, the other branching from that one from Mount Hawley and running diagonally through to Princeville and thence northwesterly to Rock Island.
Medina township is in the second tier from the north and has the river and the southern point of Chillicothe township for its eastern border. On the north
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is Hallock township, the west, Radnor and on the south, Richwoods township. George Love settled near the present village of Mossville, with his family, Novem- ber 10, 1824, coming from Parke county, Indiana. He was the pioneer of the township. At the time of his arrival and for several years later there were many Indians in the community. Their village was on section 4. It is said that this pioneer's nearest neighbors were at Fort Clark, nine miles distant, and at Fox river, now the city of Ottawa. It was but a few months after Love's settlement, one John Ridgeway cast his fortunes in this new country and the Ridgeway family became a landmark and has frequently been mentioned in connection with early highways, elections and school districts. The next to appear here were Samuel Clifton, Edmund Weed Briarly, Henry. Thomas and Abner Cooper. In the next few years the settlement was considerably augmented by other arrivals, many of whom became dissatified and soon left for other scenes of activity.
In the year 1825 a settlement sprang up in the northern part of Medina, the principal families of which were the Averys, Resolved Cleveland, Stephen Carl and Stephen French. For temporary habitations they occupied the abandoned bark cabins of the Indians. In the spring of 1831 Linus Scoville and family immigrated from Vermilion county, Indiana, and came to this township, locating on a claim on section 22, which Mr. Scoville had previously secured from George Love. Gershom Silliman, a Baptist minister, was a settler in the community as early as 1831, and Nicholas Sturn and John E. Bristol, in 1832. Those who came in 1835 were Thomas Mooney and Sons, James and William. Jerome and Imri W. Case settled here in 1836, William Robinson in 1837, Jonathan W. Rice and John P. Neal in 1838. Many of these early settlers became quite prominent in the affairs of the county. Principally among them may be mentioned Moses Clifton, George Love, Stephen French, Henry Thomas, Resolved Cleveland, Thomas Mooney, John E. Bristol, Hiram Curry and Simon Reed.
111 1850 the territory embraced in the township was separated from Rome and La Salle precincts and organized and named Medina township. The first election was held April 2, 1850, at which time the following officers were elected : Supervisor, John Jacob; assessor, Linus Scoville; town clerk, Thomas Mooney, Jr. ; collector, C. B. Pierce ; overseer of the poor, Isaac Wideman ; commissioner of highways, Harvey Stillman, Samuel C. Neal and Alanson Vantassel : justices of the peace, Thomas P. Reed and Phineas Crouch; constables, William Porter and G. W. Hargadine.
The first marriage to take place in Medina township was that of Abner Cooper and Sallie Sheldon. The ceremony was performed by Rivers Cormack, a Baptist preacher, in February, 1826.
The first school was taught by Jesse McGee, who, having secured the neces- sary number of pupils, turned them over to Moses Clifton, in January, 1827. Clifton's successor, Zelotes Marks, took charge of the pupils three months there- after. The school building was erected especially for the purpose and was situated near the present site of Mossville. This schoolhouse was a log cabin 16x18 feet, with puncheon floor, glazed paper windows and clapboard door, and the interstices between the logs were closed with mud. This was in the nature of a private school, the tuition being two dollars per scholar for a period of three months. Another school was taught by Hiram Curry in 1836, which was afterwards removed to section 27, remaining there until a public school was estab- lished in Mossville, where in 1868 a schoolhouse was erected at a cost of $4,000. The first public school taught in the northwest portion of the township was on section 7 and was presided over by Joseph M. Batchelder, about 1840. Previous to this, however, a private school had been taught by John Benjamin in a log cabin used as a dwelling. It was not until 1852 that a public schoolhouse was erected. This was located on section 3 and remained until 1866, when the location of the school was changed to section 2. In 1853 a schoolhouse was built on the farm of John E. Bristol, which was removed in the fall of 1856 to its present site, where in 1872 a splendid school building, costing $2,500, was erected.
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At the time of the adoption of the free school system there were several schoolhouses in the township. These, of course, have been substituted by others and at the present time there are six school districts in the township, all of which have moderately good school buildings.
Two lines of railroads enter Medina township. The Rock Island & Peoria cuts across the extreme southwest corner, where is located the village of Alta, on section 31. Alta was laid out in March, 1853, by Imri Case, Loren Wilder and Thomas Hanson, three prominent citizens of the township. The village is quite a trading point for the surrounding country, has good stores, shops, a factory, church and school, in all of which its citizens take a great pride. The other road, the Peoria & Bureau Valley, which is known as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, extends through that part of the eastern portion of the town- ship bordering on the Illinois river. This road was opened in 1854 and about the same time the village of Mossville was laid out and established as a station, on section 21, and got its name from one of the proprietors of the land, William S. Moss, who at the time was a resident of Peoria, operating a distillery there. He was one of the builders of the Peoria & Oquawka railroad. In 1859 Mr. Moss removed to California, where he died in 1882.
The Baptist church at Mossville was organized at a meeting held in the schoolhouse, April 9, 1868, by a committee of the Peoria Presbytery, consisting of Rev. John H. Morron, and ruling elders, Jonathan K. Cooper, of the First Presbyterian church of Peoria, and H. Hervey, of Prospect church, Radnor. By public subscription a church edifice was erected at a cost of about $2,600. In 1875, owing to the fact that a large percentage of the members lived on High prairie, the church was removed to that locality and its name changed to the Church of Alta. The old building was sold and the proceeds placed in trust for the erection of a church at Alta. A history of the Methodist and Catholic churches will be found in articles under those titles.
RADNOR TOWNSHIP
Radnor township is bounded on the north by Akron, on the east by Medina, south by Kickapoo and west by Jubilee townships. The land is mostly prairie, well watered by the Kickapoo and tributaries. Here are many fine farms, and a contented, progressive and high-thinking class of people. At the time of its organization as a township, Radnor was known as Benton precinct, which was composed of Radnor and Kickapoo townships. Previous to its organization an election had been held in the woods in Kickapoo, north of the village, at which time Smith Dunlap was elected justice of the peace, and continued to serve in that capacity until the adoption of township organization. The first election in Radnor township as such was held at the residence of Jonathan Brassfield. Alva Dunlap was the moderator, and Nathaniel T. A. Shaw, clerk. Jonathan Brassfield was elected supervisor; Nathaniel T. A. Shaw, township clerk ; Lewis Harlan, assessor; Jonathan Brassfield, Griffith Dickinson, William Wilkinson, commissioners of highways; Phineas R. Wilkinson, clerk; Lorennes Shaw, overseer of the poor; George B. Harlan and Smith Dunlap, justices; John M. Hendricks and Phineas R. Wilkinson, constables.
It is probably not too much to say that Erastus Peet was the first settler in this community. He located here in 1834 and soon thereafter his little daugh- ter, four years of age, became lost on the prairie. That night the tall grass took fire and the little one perished, her charred body being discovered the next day. The next settler in the township was Robert Cline, who came from Oswego county, New York, in 1835, and lived two years at Hale's mill, after which period he settled on section 35 and two years later on section 13. Mr. Cline was killed by lightning, April 21, 1849. William Gifford, who came from Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1836, erected the first frame house on the south half of section 28. Moses Harlan settled on section 22 in the same year. He became quite
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prominent in public affairs, serving as county commissioner in 1838 and repre- senting the county in the legislature in 1838 and 1840. His son George B. Har- lan settled on section 32 in 1836. He also was called upon for public duty and for some years was justice of the peace, a member of the board of supervisors two years, and held other local offices. William Knott was a settler in 1836, locating on section 26. John L. Wakefield, who came from Butler county, Ohio, to Peoria county in 1834, settled on section 18. Among those who came in 1837 are recalled Abner Russell, Calvin Blake, Aaron G. Wilkinson, Charles, George and Richard Wilkins, Anson Bushnell and his brothers, Horace and Alvin, Thomas Shaw and Griffith Dickinson. About this same time Alva Dunlap, of Oneida county, New York, appeared in the community, being on a prospecting tour. The country looked good to him and returning to New York for his family, he settled here early in the year 1838. Napoleon Dunlap, with his father and mother, a brother and sister and five children "embarked at Sackett's Harbor, on a little schooner of about one hundred tons, for Chicago. Leaving his mother and sister with a daughter residing at Chicago, for another trip, the rest of the party proceeded in wagons which previously had been engaged, arriving at their destination on the northwest quarter of section 14, on the IIth day of October, 1837, and took up quarters in a frame house 16x24 feet, which Alva Dunlap had built the preceding summer with lumber hauled from Hale's mill, then partly erected. Their nearest neighbor was an Englishman named John Jackson, a bachelor, thirty years old, with a lad of fourteen years, named George Scholes, on the northeast quarter of section 15. Jackson had arrived in 1837 and had broken up his land, on which he raised a crop in 1838. Ira Smith, a native of Hampden, Maine, who had been a sea captain, had also come in 1837, and had paid Chloe Case $50 for a claim on the northeast quarter of section 3, which he entered, and afterward, in 1840, sold to Adam Yates for $3,000. He was a very worthy man, an old line abolitionist, and believed in the golden rule. He removed to Peoria and went into the lumber trade." J. J. Hitchcock settled on section 3 in 1837 and in the winter of 1838 assisted Alva Dunlap in bringing his goods and family from Chicago to their new home. At that time "the country was an unbroken prairie and what houses there were were scattered along the streams and in the edges of the timber. On the larger prairies one could travel a whole day without seeing a house. The scarcity of timber for fuel, fences and building purposes was a serious matter with the carly settlers and if one could get hold of a piece of timber land he was considered fortunate; and woe to him who, having secured one, would go off without leaving some one to guard it, for on his return he would likely find it all stumps. No one thought lumber could be shipped here in sufficient quantities to supply the needs of these vast prairies. Coal had not yet been developed to any considerable extent. Sawmills were located along the streams where there was timber, and water with sufficient fall to obtain power. But the lumber secured in that way was very unsatisfactory for building pur- poses. When the osage orange was introduced for hedges, it was thought to be a great advance in the matter of fencing, but now since the introduction of barbed wire, the osage is no longer planted and farmers would be glad to be rid of what they have. Jonathan Brassfield took two loads of wheat to Chicago and brought back finishing lumber. Several others tried the same experiment but no one went the second time. When the canal was opened in 1848 it brought great relief to those living within reach of the river. Timber is now much more plentiful than it was sixty years ago. Then it was short and scrubby on account of the fires. After that was cut off and the fires kept away from the new growth, it became thrifty. Coal became the principal fuel and the inhabitants ceased in a great measure the use of wood, either for fuel or fencing, but for the last few years many prefer to have the land for farming purposes and have been cutting off the timber and making clearings.
"As the population increased the deer disappeared, but the wolves remained and are not yet entirely extinct, occasionally one venturing out from his
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hiding place. As cornfields increased the prairie chickens also increased for a time into large flocks and became very destructive to the corn, which, according to the custom of the country, was left in the field over winter, but when the prai- ries had become settled up and their nesting places invaded, they began to decrease in numbers until they were all extinguished. The rattlesnake was a common pest in breaking up the native sod and was often encountered by the plowman. They were not considered dangerous, as they made their presence known by their rattle and were easily disposed of. Cattle instinctively avoided them but were sometimes bitten, which caused severe swellings but seldom death. They disap- peared when the land became cultivated.
"After the opening of the canal pine lumber in quantities began to make its appearance. The coal banks began to supply fuel and the people began to lose their fear of settling upon the broad prairies.
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