USA > Illinois > Champaign County > Philo > Philo area centennial, 1875-1975 > Part 2
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Quotation from William A. Conkey who settled at Homer in 1843, read a paper before the Champaign Historical Society, describing the 1000-mile journey of his family from Massachusetts to their new home in Edgar County, Illinois.
STATE OF ILLINOIS UNDER FOUR FLAGS
Under Spain, England and France
The State of Illinois has been under four flags. The whole western hemisphere was under Spain after Columbus' Discovery in 1492. The Con- tinent of America was under England with Cabots' Discovery in 1498.
The North America south of the Great Lakes and the region on the Mississippi River and its boundaries was again under Spain with De Leon's Discovery of Florida in 1513 and De Soto's landing on the Mississippi in 1541.
By a charter in 1603 all North America was under the French flag. By the Patent for Virginia in 1606 and 1609, the Massachusetts' Bay char- ter in 1629 and the Connecticut Colony Rights a large part of the country was under the English flag.
By the Canadians and Indians of the West Treaty in 1671, the Discovery of Illinois, etc., by Marquette in 1673, and the La Salle ceremony at the mouth of the Mississippi in 1682 and the Crozat Patent in 1712 this region was again under France.
By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 England owned all of the French possession east of the Missis- sippi except New Orleans.
Captured by Clark 1778
Virginia by the capture of Clark in 1778 claimed all the land northwest of the Ohio River.
The United States
The United States with the cession from Vir- ginia in 1784 claimed the country northwest of the Ohio River; and from the cession from Mas- sachusetts in 1785 claimed west of New York to the Mississippi River; and from the cession from Connecticut in 1786 claimed all west of Pennsyl- vania to the Mississippi River; the Northwest Territory, by the Ordinance of 1787 claimed the country northwest of the Ohio River; the Indiana Territory, by Act of Congress, 1800, included Indiana, Illinois, etc .; the Illinois Territory, by act of Congress 1809, included Illinois, Wiscon- sin, etc .; Illinois Territory, Second Grade was the same and the Indian cessions by various tribes.
Northwest Territory Divided
In the session of Congress in the winter of 1899-1900 there was a proposition to divide the Northwest Territory into two territories. The wes- tern part was to be known as Indiana Territory, with its capital at Vincennes and the governor was William Henry Harrison. The eastern division was called the Northwest Territory. Illi- nois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan now be- came the Indiana Territory.
Illinois Territory
Illinois Territory came into existence in 1809. On December 3, 1818, the State of Illinois was admitted to the Federal Union, with its first capital at Kaskaskia. Two years later the capital was moved to Vandalia. On February 25, 1837. the Illinois Assembly passed a bill providing that the Capital be nearer the center of the State and three days later Springfield was chosen as the new Capital City. Abraham Lincoln was influ- ential in obtaining Springfield as the capital.
The Illinois Indians
The Illinois Indians meaning "men of people" formed a loose confederacy of about a half dozen tribes, mainly the Metchigamis, the Kaskaskias, the Peorias, the Cahokias and the Tamaroas.
The Metchigamis were found along the Mis- sissippi River and also lived in the vicinity of Lake Michigan, to which they gave their name. They were allies of Pontiac in the War of 1764
and some perished with other members of the Illinois Confederacy on Starved Rock in 1769.
The Kaskaskias were originally along the upper Illinois River and moved to the mouth of the Kaskaskia in 1700 and founded the old city of Kaskaskia, which became the center of French life in the interior of the continent. During the next century the Kaskaskias lived at that region and after nearly being exterminated by the Shawnees in 1802, the Kaskaskias moved to a reservation on the Mississippi and eventually went to Indian Territory. The Cahokia and Tamaroa tribes merged with the Kaskaskias under one chief.
The Potawatomi and Kickapoo
The Potawatomi and the Miamis were familiar with the early settlers, not so much that they were settled here but rather that they made their appearance here as warriors or hunters.
The Kickapoos were associated with the two above named tribes in Indian campaigns in other regions and especially at the battle of Tippe- canoe. They were scattered throughout the Illi- nois country and for fifty years before the Edwardsville treaty of 1819 held strong sway over the eastern part of the State of Illinois and were here in the late '20's and early '30's, when the first white settlers were arriving in Champaign County.
The Potawatomi, "People of the place of fire," and the Kickapoos, "he moves about," had mi- grated south into the land vacated by the Illinois Indians beginning about 1765. The battle fought in 1811 was to remind the Indians of the wisdom of peace. In 1812 William Henry Harrison was victorious. The Indians of the northwest sup- ported the British in the war of 1812 and some were led by the great Indian leader, Tecumseh.
Edwardsville Treaty of 1819
At Edwardsville, Illinois, the Kickapoos signed a series of treaties on July 30, 1819 and ceded their grounds along the Sangamon which means "plenty to eat." They honorably observed their contacts and moved to western lands, although weak remnants of their tribe lingered until the early '30's on several of their camping grounds.
The Black Hawk War was to clear the State of Illinois from the Potawatomi and the Kickapoos who sought land in the west.
Remnants of Indiana tribes migrated west- ward as late as 1832-1833.
Champaign County was a favorite region for the Kickapoos and the more migratory Potawa-
tomi as it abounded in game, the climate was less rigorous than the northern sections and the soil yielded plentiful of cereals and vegetables. Favorite camping places were near Urbana, and in the wooded areas along the Okaw, the Sanga- mon and the Salt Fork and wooded areas.
Corn-hills of the Indians
Judge Cunningham wrote "But a few years since, and plainly to be seen until the white man's plow had turned up the sod and effaced the evidences of their occupation, were many Indian trails across the prairies; and it is well within memory of many now living, as well as at- tested by the well remembered statements heard from early settlers, that the corn-hills of the In- dian occupants were found not far from the site of the Public Square in Urbana, as late as 1832."
Shemanger
Shemanger, a friendly Potawatomi chief, also known as "Old Soldier," was known by many of the first white settlers. Shemanger often visited the site of Urbana after the whites came and for several years after 1824. He claimed it as his birthplace and told many of the early settlers the family home of his birth was near a large hickory tree near a spot north of Main Street and a few rods west of Market Street.
It is remembered that Shemanger would some- times come in company with a large group of his tribe and sometimes with his family only, when he would remain for months in camp at points along the creeks.
Shemanger told early settlers of a very heavy fall of snow, the depth of which he indicated by holding a ramrod horizontally above his head and said that many wild beasts, elk, deer and buffalo and other animals perished under the snow. This was, no doubt, the great snow that fell in 1830-1831.
Shemanger was remembered as a very large, bony man, always kind and helpful to the early settlers. He attended the cabin raising of the early settlers and assisted them in the completion of their homes. It is also known that he helped Mr. Sadorus at his barn raising.
In 1830 Shemanger was about 75 years of age. The Kankakee Valley was the home of the chief during his last years in Illinois, and he was seen by many who made trips to Chicago to sell their grain and obtain supplies.
Following the Black Hawk war his tribe, or what remained of it east of the Mississippi River. went west and then were seen no more.
Told to "Puck-a-Chee"
In the summer of 1832 before the organization of the county, a large number of Indians came and camped near a spring. It caused some ap- prehension among the early settlers and a com- mittee was formed, composed of Stephen Boyd. Jacob Smith, Gabe Rice and Elias Stamey, to talk to the red men. The committee went to the camp and told them they must "Puck-a-chec." which they understood meant "to git." The In- dians gathered their ponies, papooses and squaws and left, greatly to the relief of the settlers.
Indian Legends
Near Salt Fork, Sidney, in 1828, one of the Indian chiefs died just as they were about to move west and the other Indians asked William Nox and Mr. Hendricks to manufacture a white man's coffin for him. They did and the Indians gave them a nicely tanned buckskin. The Indians took the coffincd body with them on their trip west.
Isham Cook, who probably was the first white man to die in this area, came in 1830, bought out a squatter and built a home and then returned to Kentucky for his family. In the dead of winter. on their way back to their new home, upon ar- riving at Lynn Grove, Mr. Cook sickened and died, leaving a widow and four children who were grief stricken and bewildered. Joseph Davis took the remains to Big Grove, where Mr. Cook had erected his home and dumped the body on the ground, and returned to his home. Indians heard the family's crying and came to help. The deceased was rolled in a wide strip of bark, their tribal custom, and they buried him according to the white man's custom.
The Kickapoos of the Vermilion were the last of the Illinois Indians to leave. In 1833 the last of them joined the main body of the tribe in their reservation west of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and were soon afterward moved to Indian Terri- tory.
In 1832-1833 remnants of the Indiana tribes migrated westward.
IV. EARLY SETTLERS
Champaign County Early Settlers
The first white men who were here were prob- ably hunters and trappers.
Surveyors divided the country into townships in the summer of 1821. Townships 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, range 9, including the town of Critten- den, Philo, Urbana, Somers, and part of Rantoul were surveyed in 1821 by deputy surveyor Benja- min Franklin Messinger.
It is generally believed that Runnel Fielder, in 1822, was the first white man to build a house and break sod in Champagin County. William Thompkins was a close second. Between 1826 and 1832 there were about two dozen families at Big Grove, most of them from Kentucky. William Sadorus had settled at the head of the Kaskaskia in the spring of 1824. William Nox was an early settler of Sidney and Mathew Buscy settled there in 1842.
Philo Named for Philo Hale
Philo Hale, an eastern land speculator, bought the first land in Philo Township in 1837, in Sec- tion 15, Township 18, Range 9 from squatters Gilliland and bought other land later from Van- deveer, expecting the railroad to cross near Yan- kee Ridge. The proposed "Northern Cross Rail- road" which was to be built from Danville to Springfield failed to materialize.
He also bought the west one-half of Section 23 in Philo Township, which contains virtually all the present village from the United States Government, by Patent, dated October 13, 1838, and signed by President Martin Van Buren, by M. Van Buren, Jr., Secretary H.M. Garland, Re- corder of the General Land Office.
He also by certified copy of Patent, dated November 1, 1839, obtained E 1/2 SW of Section 14, containing 80 acres.
Mr. Hale, at the time of his death, owned 1360 acres in this area. He died October 29, 1847, at Decatur, in Macon County.
Early Settlers in Philo and Surrounding Area
The first person to build a home in the Philo area was Giles F. McGee, in 1853, having before then entered the northeast quarter of Section 1. Another early settler was William M. Hooper, who erected a small residence on the northwest quarter of Section 3, lived there a year or two. went to Urbana for a while and from there to Minnesota.
Lucius Eaton and his family and David Eaton and his family were early settlers, coming in 1854 from the cast and settling in Sections 9 and 10.
Others from the east were George and E.W. Parker in 1856; Asa Goodwin, a grain dealer from Vermont: Dennis Chapman, W.P. Whit-
more and in 1859, C.R. Griggs also located on the ridge now known as Yankee Ridge.
David Silver came in June 1854 and brought the rest of his family, including his son Wallace Silver, arriving in Champaign County, October 23, 1854, coming overland from Warren, Ohio, bringing household goods and cattle. He located in Philo Township and in 1855, bought eighty acres of land in Section 3.
Thomas Ennis also located in Philo Township, coming here in 1855, and the next year bought land in Section 4.
"Lynn Grove was first settled in 1828 by Mr. Hedges from Kentucky. The house stood on the east side of the grove." This was stated by John M. Love in a booklet on landmarks. "The first settler in Crittenden Township was William Bowse in 1830 and his cabin stood where Mrs. Postlewaite lived." There was also the squatter Straley, in 1828 at Lynn Grove and Samuel Groundyke at Bowses Grove. As mentioned else- where, Isham Cook died at Lynn Grove in 1830. It is also mentioned that James Johnson who came from Warren County, Ohio in 1855 or 1856, laid out roads in Philo township.
Samuel Love and family, including John M. Love, came to this area in 1852 and on April 20, 1853, moved to a house on the farm they still own in Section 19, in Sidney Township. They came from Coshocton, Ohio.
Nathan Hazen came to the Philo area in 1857 from Massachusetts. He purchased eighty acres in Sidney Township, Section 19, from the Illinois Central Railroad and plowed the virgin soil with oxen.
In 1865, Jesse and William Meharry came and settled on land, bought by their father, Thomas Meharry, in 1855.
John J. Mumm of Sidney Township, Howard H. (Pete) Mumm's great grandfather, emigrated from Holstein, Germany, to this country, in 1854, with a cash capital of $5. He made his way to Cook County, where he worked on farms and in 1856, came to Sidney Township. In 1866 his parents and other relatives also came.
The First Children
The first boy born was William McGee, son of Mr. and Mrs. William McGee, in 1853. The first little girl to be born in Philo Township was Ada Eaton Allen.
Miss Emeline Keeble, who taught school in the Yankee Ridge area, was married to a Mr. Collor in 1857 or near that time.
Courage of the Pioneers
The first pioneers came from the New England states, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio and other places. At first they built a cabin, cleared some land in the wooded areas and broke the sod so that they could plant. They had to be self-sufficient, hunters, carpenters, blacksmiths, farmers and had many other occu- pations.
It must have taken a great deal of courage to come, with a fear, at first, of the Indians, with much sickness, many times bad weather, snakes and other things to contend with.
It is said that as many as forty rattlesnakes were killed in one day. And later a resident, Will Thrash, increased his sparrow record to 1322 in two and a half days, with a $26 bounty, and, it is said, he killed fifty-five at one shot.
Not much has been said about the courage and fortitude of the ladies, who came with their families, not knowing much about the country they were coming to and having to cope with the barest essentials. Nor is there much of anything ever written about their part in settling this raw land; how many buckets of water they must have carried, often a great distance, for drinking, cooking and washing; nor of their immense help and courage and faith that helped the men build homes, farms and businesses for the betterment of all.
One of the greatest trials was, no doubt, the sickness, ague and fever, caused by the swamps and undrained land. It is said that every summer and early fall there was much sickness. There was malaria, at times cholera and many other diseases also.
When we think of the productive farms, the abundant life we have today, and the progress the men and women have made over the years, we again thank the pioneer.
On April 25, 1841, Mr. Hale gave a mortgage for $1,000 to Eunice Buckingham of Muskingum County, Ohio on 1360 acres he owned in Philo Township, including that tract later to become the Village.
Mr. Hale wrote his will on July 23, 1847 at De- catur, Illinois and died October 29, 1847, leaving his property equally to his two children, Edwin B. Hale and Caroline E. Hale. Edwin B. Hale, Executor, repaid his father's mortgage on July 25, 1849.
On December 21, 1853 Caroline Hale deeded her one-half undivided interest in all their lands in Philo Township to Edwin B. Hale, her brother.
Next in 1862 Edwin B. Hale platted the ori- ginal town of Philo which that 40 acre area bounded by Adams Street on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, Lincoln Street on the west, and Washington Street on the north, and recorded his new town at the Court House on September 3, 1862, the day it was certified by L.T. Eads, County Surveyor. His new town strad- dled Yankee Ridge at crossing with the Railroad consisted of nine full size blocks and three small lots that were adjacent to the Great Western Railroad, and there were 105 lots in total. The official designation was "Village of Philo." The surveyor set stones to mark lot corners.
On March 24, 1869, Edwin B. Hale filed at the Court House a 40 acre subdivision which he called Hale's First Addition to the Village of Philo, after it had been certified the day previous by Charles H. Van Vleck, Deputy County Sur- veyor. This tract now known as "the North Side" was also 40 acres situated immediately across the railroad (now called the T.W. and W. Railway) from the original town. There were 105 lots in 11 blocks, and additionally, Mr. Hale dedicated all streets and alleys in both the original town and his new subdivision to the public.
In 1888. Mr. Edwin B. Hale engaged Thomas B. Kyle, County Surveyor, to survey and out his third 40 acre area, and called it Hale's 2nd Addi- tion to Philo. It consisted of 95 lots in 12 blocks bounded by Washington Street on the north, Cleveland Street on the east, Van Buren Street on the south and bounded the Original Town on the west at Adams Street. They recorded this subdivision on April 24, 1888.
Mr. Edwin B. Hale died July 9, 1891 at Cleve- land, Ohio, leaving his wife Susan C. Hale, four daughters and three sons. Many of his unsold lots were taken as part of his share of inheritance by son Edwin Victor Hale, also of Cleveland, who sold them to settlers and other purchasers as time passed by.
Following the death of her father Edwin B. Hale, Helen Hale Bolton, a widow of Cleveland, Ohio became owner of a strip of land one-half mile long from east to west and one-eighth mile wide from north to south lying immediately south of Van Buren Street. Mrs. Bolton sold it to Julia B. Mowry June 7, 1900. Mrs. Mowry and her husband platted the east half of this tract on November 7. 1901, and it was certified by Newton Wimmer, Village Clerk of Philo,
November 7, 1901 and recorded at the Court House November 2, 1901. It was 20 acres, bounded by Van Buren Street on the north, Cleveland Street on the east, Hazen Park on the south, and Adams Street on the west, and con- sisted of 45 lots, and was called Mowry First Addition, which Mrs. Mowry sold as homesites as purchasers came along. Mrs. Mowry died No- vember 10, 1909.
In her will, Mrs. Mowry bequeathed 20 acres south of Van Buren and between Lincoln and Adams Streets to her son Lyman D. Mowry of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. On August 24, 1910 Mr. Mowry platted Mowry's Second Addition of one square block where the Zion Lutheran Church now stands, which was certified by Vil- lage Clerk Richard M. Franks on November 4, 1910. The north half of this one block subdivi- sion was platted as one large lot with dimensions of 160' x 289' where Zion Lutheran Church and parsonage were then built, and four normal size lots.
The remainder of Lyman Mowry's 20 acres went first to Eli and Katy Grove and then it was divided between John H. Plotner and Jerry Plot- ner. This area is now completely subdivided and built up, the subdividers being Richard E. Franks, Harold E. Plotner, and James Rubenacker.
That 120 acres situated south of Hazen Park and north of Roosevelt Road began passing out of the Hale family soon after the death of Philo Hale, being broken down in 5 and 10 acre tracts by Edwin B. Hale, who sold to a number of dif- ferent persons, and most of these properties have exchanged hands several times in the period over more than 100 years. The east part of the area evolved into the Knolls subdivision beginning in 1959, and most recently the Hewing subdivision in 1974. The west part consisting of 60 acres now consists of seven tracts from 5 acres on up, much of which continues to be farmed.
The Rubenacker's Subdivision was developed in three tracts, the first beginning June 7, 1961. with 22 lots. The Rubenacker Second Subdivi- sion was May 8, 1969 and the Third Subdivision was August 2, 1972.
The Hales Estates First Subdivision, developed on McCoy land, began on June 4, 1969 with 10 lots.
The Hewings Subdivision began on June 6, 1973, with 13 lots.
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V. TOWNSHIP, COUNTY AND VILLAGE
Judge J.O. Cunningham said of the work of the government surveyors who marked the line that now divides our townships, even before the white settlers came to Champaign County: "It will thus be seen that shortly following the treaty with the Indians which extinguished forever their claim upon the territory now known as Champaign County, came the United States sur- veyors, those pioneers of civilization whose work was to last through all time and be law to all future dwellers. The lines as then fixed and marked by these surveyors are the lines which now divide the townships school districts and farms of the county, and which determine its boundaries and the locations of most of its pub- lic roads." Surely there are few people today who give these early surveyors the credit they deserve. These townships were six miles square, sub- divided in thirty-six sections of 640 acres each.
Champaign County was a part of Vermilion County, which was created in 1826 and included Iroquois, Ford, Champaign and, of course, Ver- milion. The first post office was on the farm of Mathias Rhinehart, near Big Grove. It was called Van Buren, after Martin Van Buren, who was then vice-president of the United States.
Champaign County was established in 1833. John W. Vance, who was elected to the Illinois State Legislature in 1832, introduced a bill for the creation of Champaign County. It was to be named after his home county in Ohio. The County seat was called Urbana, also named after the county seat in Champaign County, Ohio. This was approved on February 20, 1833 by the legislature. Champaign County as we know it came into existence.
The first court house was erected in Urbana in 1836. In 1860 the fourth court house was built and forty years later another one was built.
One of the greatest improvements that led to settling this area was the building of the rail- roads. In 1854 the Illinois Central, running north and south, was built through Champaign, two miles west of Urbana. The settlement around this railroad begun in 1855 was first called West Urbana. Later it was called Champaign and was incorporated in 1860.
Hale Township Changed to Philo
Up until 1859, Champaign County was governed by a County Court. In the year 1859 the township plan was adopted. Original townships were East Bend, Hale. Middletown, Middle Fork, Newcomb, Pleasant Hill, Peru, Rantoul,
St. Joseph, Sidney, South Homer, Sadorus, Tolono, Urbana and West Urbana.
In 1861 changes were made. Middle Fork was changed to Kerr, Hale township was changed to Philo, Pleasant Hill to Somer and West Urbana to Champaign. Some of the others were changed later, in 1868 Peru was changed to Ludlow; in 1871 Middletown changed to Mahomet.
In February 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln made his last speech to the people of Illi- nois and became president a month later. That brief address was given in Tolono, where a boulder marks the spot.
The Land Grant of 1862 made it possible to have the State Agricultural College in Urbana. Jonathan B. Turner was the man who was influ- ential in making the plans for the Illinois Indus- trial University. In 1867. Urbana offered the most and the state granted a charter for this uni- versity. It opened in 1868.
The struggle for the location of the University at Urbana was a long one, but was greatly influ- enced by the election of Clark R. Griggs, of that place, as a representative in the lower house of the Legislature and an enthusiastic contender for the Champaign County location. Mr. Griggs was a Massachusetts boot and shoe manufacturer, who came in the spring of 1859, purchased a farm on Yankee Ridge, but on an account of an accident had to quit farming. He had his right hand crushed in a corn sheller. He then moved to Urbana, became a merchant and land dealer, and was elected to the Legislature in the late '60's.
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