USA > Illinois > Lee County > Recollections of the pioneers of Lee County [Illinois] > Part 8
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The most conspicuous trait in our friend's character, was her intense love of home. She was in all respects a most devoted mother.
The society of the gay world had little attraction for her; and when sorrow came to her. as it does to all, and she saw, one after another, her little children go away to the better land, she did not murmer or com- plain. To her friends, she was ever loyal, and those in sickness or sorrow
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knew the kindness of her heart, and the largess of her hand. What high- er honor can we pay her memory, than to quote a few words from the great Solomon, in his beautiful tribute to woman. "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her," and, "Her children shall arise up and call her blessed."
The following interesting letter from Mrs. Lucy (Church) Ramsey, written to her niece, Miss Ella Church of this city, has just been handed in.
MY DEAR ELLA :- You ask me to contribute something to the early history of Amboy, and I will try now.
This is the third time I have been solicited for items for the Lee County History and I have just begun to realize that I am a pioneer woman myself.
We came from central New York to Lee County in the Fall of 1841, and my first Illinois winter was spent near where Amboy now is, teaching their first school - and boarding'round - so had unlimited oppor- tunities for observation.
Where Amboy and adjoining towns now are was called at that time Palestine Grove, and different places referred to as "North Side," "South Side," or "East End of the Grove." 1
A majority of my patrons were from Ohio, Indiana, or states farther south; but their dwellings and manner of life were quite similar, whether they were emigrants from Carolina or Connecticut.
The houses were built of logs, and most of them had floor of puncheon and roof of shakes.
One side of the room was a huge fireplace, and there all the food was prepared in skillet, kettle or bake oven.
On the opposite side was a bed or two-the other sleeping places were in the loft overhead.
One night after we had all retired and were asleep, we were awakened by that hoarse, distressed breathing of a child with croup. The father ascended the ladder, brought down the little lad, held him a little while before the fire, there placed him in bed and all' was quiet again till morning.
When I enquired what cured him so quickly the answer was: "I took my pocket knife and started the blood a little between the shoulders." I never heard of the remedy before or since, but it was effective that time.
I think in looking backward to fifty years ago, we discover more hard- ships than we actually realized when we were actors upon that stage.
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But soldiers like to "fight their battles o'er again" and a story loses noth- ing in the telling.
These people interested me. They were kind, hospitable, and gen- uine. The men were good husbands and affectionate fathers; the women real home makers. They spun, colored, wove, and fashioned the garments for their families. They toiled, of course, but it was for those they loved, and it could not be called hardship.
Every one likes to do as well as his neighbors, and they never come nearer to it than they do on the frontier.
No time or place is entirely exempt from sickness, and almost every one had to suffer with ague and fever; but cancer, diphtheria, and nervous prostration were unheard of.
Perhaps I ought to tell of that little first school house. It was of the same style of architecture as the homesteads-its furniture a desk across one side, a few rough benches, and a chair. But the children were just as precious as those of the present day; and for docility and brightness would compare favorably with those of 1893.
I do not suppose the legend of "Academus' Sacred Shade" had any thing to do with the choice of site for this temple of learning, but it was built among the oaks south of the Inlet, and when summer came with its birds, greenery and wild flowers it was very pleasant.
Religious privileges were not wanting. Besides the circuit-rider of the frontier, there was an Episcopal clergyman, a Congregationalist min- ister, and a Baptist elder settled on farms in the vicinity, who occasion- ally gave out an appointment to preach; and settlers for miles around came to hear and meet their neighbors. All were neighbors then who lived no more than ten miles away.
Well, those days are remembered with those of logs ago. May I never lose the memory of them!
Joseph B. Appleton was the oldest child of Joseph and Hannah (Knowl- ton) Appleton, of Dublin, New Hampshire, and was born March 9, 1819. He was a nephew of Samuel Appleton, of Boston, Massachusetts, one of that city's "merchant princes." Of this noted uncle there is an interest- ing sketch from which the following is taken for the encouragement of Amboy boys: "A few weeks previous to his death he was heard to say that, before he began the business of a merchant, he worked chopping down trees on one of the lots of land which his father had purchased in Dublin, New Hampshire, and that he then thought of settling upon it. But as it was in the month of June and the weather very hot he was not
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satisfied with that kind of labor, and concluded to procure a living in some other way. Accordingly he left the woods and engaged in trade. The result is well known." From a letter written in his 87th year to the committee of arrangements in response to a letter requesting his personal attendance at the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the settle- ment of Dublin, New Hampshire, the following is extracted. After ex- pressing regret that age and bodily infirmities compel his absence, he says: " I have always taken an interest in the town of Dublin. In or about the year 1786. I resided there four months, and was engaged, during that time in teaching two different schools, say of two months each, at eight dollars per month. * In one district it was arranged for the schoolmaster to live with the family that would board and lodge him the cheapest. Having been informed where I was to board, I set out for my new home on foot, carrying the greater part of my wardrobe on my back, and the remainder tied up in a bandanna handkerchief. On arriving at the place of my destination, I found my host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks ready and apparently glad to see me. They were to receive for my board, lodging and washing sixty-seven cents per week. Their house was made of logs with only one room in it, which served for parlor, kitchen and bedroom. I slepton a trundle-bed, which during the day was wheeled under the large bed, where the master and mistress of the house re- reposed during the night. Every morning and evening there were family prayers and readings from the Bible,in which I sometimes took an active part. After spending two weeks at Mr. Fairbank's, I removed to Mr. Perry's. He was a good farmer, his wife an excellent house-keeper; and I finished my school term very pleasantly to myself and, I believe, very satisfac- torily to my employers. Since that time great improvements have been made in the public schools of Dublin. I am informed that it contains as good schools, and turns out as competent teachers as any town in New Hampshire. In consideration of the "good and healthful condition " of its public schools, and of the "spirit of improvement" which appears to animate those who are engaged in them, I am induced to send to the town of Dublin my check for the sum of one thousand dollars, to be ap- propriated to educational purposes in such manner as the superintending school committee shall deem expedient." Mr. Appleton sent the follow- ing toast: "The Common Schoolsof Dublin .- Uncommon in Excellence." This letter was written in 1852 and the school which he taught was in 1786, more than a hundred years ago. When Amboy shall celebrate her centennial, which of our children's children will remember her in this way?
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4
So Joseph Appleton was not the first one by the name to try pioneer life. He came to Illinois in 1842, stopping at Batavia, New York, and teaching school awhile. He bought land In this place from the Sawyers. remaining little over a year before returning east, and tarrying with his aunt, Mrs. Cyrus Davis, while here. He came to own several hundred acres, a part of his land being the homestead known as the Appleton Place, on Main street, West. He married Miss Abbie H. Hunt, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, on September 17, 1844, and they started for Illinois the next month. On arriving in Chicago they met Asa B. Searles, with a lumber wagon, who brought them to Palestine Grove. The same fall Mr. Appleton built a log cabin on his farm, and afterwards a good frame house which was destroyed by fire a few years ago.
Samuel E., Isaac J., Abby R. (Mrs. Charles Thayer) who lives at Wa- verly, Iowa, and Maria N. (Mrs. George Woods), of Canton, Illinois, are thelr children living. Julia, an infant daughter, died August 17, 1855, and on the 28th of the next month Mr. Appleton died He was one of the most capable, active and prominent citizens of the town.
Mr. Appleton's widow married Dr. T. P. Sleeper, of St. Albans, Maine; and they have two daughters, Anna A. and Emma A.
Our fellow townsman, Samuel E. Appleton, was born September 7th, 1845, served in Co. I, 134th Regiment Illinois Volunteers in the war, do- ing garrison duty in Missouri and Kentucky. He has, at this writing, just been elected town collector by his friends, of which he has and de- serves many.
William Rolf reached Amboy in 1842, and a few years afterwards married Mary S. Pyle, a daughter of Samuel Pyle. Mr. and Mrs. Rolf lived in Rocky Ford and for a time the postoffice was in their house. When the mail carrier arrived all the contents of the mail bag would be dumped upon the floor, and the letters and papers which belonged to this office selected from the rest, which were put back into the sack to be assorted in life manner at the next postoffice. Soon after the city of Amboy was laid out Mr. Rolf bought a lot here and built a house, where he lived several years. They now reside in Albany, Illinois.
Rev. John Ingersoll, the father of Robert G., followed Rev. Joseph Gardner, and preached for two years in the Wasson school-house, divid- ing the time between Amboy, Inlet Grove and Bradford. He, with a daughter and two sons, Clark and Robert, boarded for a time in the family of Asa Searles. He afterwards lived just north of the Chicago
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1
road and supplemented his meager professional income with the proceeds of farming. He used to speak with reverence and tenderness of the mother of his children who had died previous to his coming to Illinois.
Mr. Ingersoll was a stern Presbyterian of the old school. He is said to have borne a striking resemblance to Gen. Jackson's pictures; and he was a warrior, too, ready to fight Apolyon whenever his Majesty appeared with young or old.
"The Elder" transmitted not his form and features to his jovial son, who was even at that age irresistably charmning to some of his playfel- lows, so that some boys forgot their work when he was near.
One day, on his way to school with other scholars, there was a place to cross where the water had overflowed the rustic bridge, and there was no way to pass except to wade through the cold and ice-laden water. Little Clara Frisbee was one of the number, and the kind hearted boy took the little girl up and carried her carefully over. Mr. Wheat, the teacher, already at the school-house, was looking from the window and witnessed the gallant service, and when the children arrived he looked at Robert with a roguish smile which would have annoyed some boys, especially as the other scholars joined in the mirth. But Robert, as he dried his wet clothes and warmed himself at the fire, looked as if nobody enjoyed the fun better than hedid; and the little maiden, all unconscious of anything droll in the picture from the window, wondered what pleased them so. Robert was, at that time, about fifteen years of age, very "self sustained" and sociable. Years afterwards, when the notoriety of Rob- ert G. Ingersoll first reached Amboy, his old schoolmates here were sur- prised to learn that it was the veritable Bob. of the old log school-house.
One who knew his father well, and had often entertained him, re- marked that it was not surprising that Robert swung to the other ex- treme in matters of a religious nature, for although he was not the boy of whom it was said that his father kept him tied up all day Sunday and made him sing "Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love," yet Bob's exper- ience was not altogether unlike that boy's.
Mr. Ingersoll owned a horse named Selim which he traded for cattle, the result proving that either the minister or the owner of the cattle was not a judge of horse flesh.
He was a strong advocate for temperance and on one occasion when he was in company with Mr. Slyvester Frisbee, he was invited by an ac- quaintance to a barn raising. The Elder asked if they were to have whiskey there. On being answered in the affirmative, he replied that he could not attend. Mr. Frisbee followed the example.
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It is related by one who used to attend his meetings, that if any of his hearers arrived late, he would stop, and then begin the sermon again; and that his discourses were rather prolix.
Among those who moved here in 1844, was Orres Adams, of Milford, Otsego county, New York. Mr. Adams was then fifty-two years old, and his wife, Mrs. Mehitable. two years younger.
Himself and wife and their two youngest children, aged eleven and nine years, Henry and Ellen, constituted the family. They lived, for sev- eral years, near the Wasson School House, at that time, the center of the settlement. The school house was newly builded, and people came from all directions to attend church. Mr. and Mrs. Adams soon became acquainted with all their neighbors. Rev. Luke Hitchcock, Rev. Mr. Harris, Rev. Charles Cross and other pioneer preachers were callers at their home and were always given a cheerful welcome. Mrs. Adams was one of the early members of the Methodist church and was ever ready to speak a good word for the cause of Christianity. Those who knew Mr. and Mrs. Adams, speak of them as kind neighbors, enjoying the conti- dence and respect of all. Their married life was nearly three score years and ten. Sixty-seven years they walked together and died at a ripe old age at the home of their son, Henry Adans at Binghamton. Their daughter Ellen who married Jay Andruss. died when about thirty-seven years of age. No kinder woman ever lived.
Mr. J. W. Beresford has kindly consented to furnish some of his recol- lections of early times. Although a resident of Amboy but 36 years, he came to Illinois with his parents in 1822, at the age of seven years; and it is probable that very few people are living in Northern Illinois who came here at that early date. Mr. Beresford attended the Old Settler's Pienic at Ottawa last fall, and among them all, none except himself could go back farther than 1829; Mr. Beresford being seven years in advance of them. His brother James was one of the number murdered in the historic Indian Creek Massacre.
Mr. Beresford says: Perhaps for a better understanding of what fol- lows, it would be well to describe the part of Illinois referred to, and its inhabitants, as found in the spring of 1822. The vast and beautiful agri- cultural region of country from Peoria to Chicago, a distance of 160 miles; and from near the Wabash river on the south, to near the Mississippi on the west, there were no permanent white settlements at that time. The land (or most of it) belonged to the Government and was not organized , into counties, but was attached to Tazwell county, Peoria being the coun-
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TA
MRS. ORRES ADAMS.
ty seat. Over this large scope of country were various tribes of Indians. Among them was the Pottawattomie tribe, peacable, friendly and well. disposed toward the white people. To this tribe it was resolved by the Methodist Episcopal Conference, at one of their annual meetings of the St. Clair Conference, to send a missionary for the purpose of educating and christianizing them. Rev. Jesse Walker, a member of that confer- ence was appointed Missionary, and large contributions and supplies were entrusted to him for this mission.
Two ox teams and wagons, eight or ten cows and calves, a few young cattle and pigs, flour, bacon, corn, buckwheat, potatoes, groceries, cloth- ing, farming tools, carpenter and blacksmith tools, etc., etc., were turned over to Mr. Walker with instructions to establish a mission at or near the mouth of Fox river, or where the Fox river unites with the Illinois, about eighty miles above Peoria, midway between Peoria and Chicago.
To carry out these instructions, a large keel boat was chartered, the supplies put on board, together with the household goods of two families etc. The teams were loaded and driven overland together with the loose stock. The party at this time consisted of Rev. Jesse Walker, Aaron Hawley, wife and two small girls, Pierce Hawley, ( brother of Aaron ) wife, and daughter Caroline about 16 years old, and two small boys, John and George.
At Peoria they were joined by Robert Beresford and family, consisting of his wife and two small boys named James and John, also a school teacher Allen. Being thus re-enforced, together with four or five hired men, the party proceeded to their place of destination, where they arriv- ed, after many hardships and privations, in the month of June 1822. They were here met by about two hundred Indians, also a white man named Countryman, who had lived with the Indians a long time and who spoke their language fluently, acting as their interpreter. Here we also met Shabbona the head chief of the tribe, who afterwards, in 1832, render- ed such valuable service to the settlers by warning them that Black Hawk, with his band of savages, was coming to kill all the settlers in the country. Here the Indians remained and held a Pow-Wow lasting two or three days, and received presents from their white friends.
Every thing was arranged satisfactorily. Some of the men were set to work erecting shanties for shelter for the families, and storage for the contents of the boat. Other men "started breaking team," planted sod corn and potatoes, and sowed buckwheat and turnips, in all about fifteen acres. Others of the party were preparing timber and erecting log cabins on the South side of the Illinois River near the new noted Sulphur
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Spring. When completed they were occupied by one of the Hawley fami- lies and the Beresford family.
About this time it was discovered that the place was not on the Reser- vation, and it was thought best to erect permanent buildings on the East side of Fox River, about fifteen miles up that stream. Here were erected large and comfortable log houses. To this place most of the Mission party moved, and spent the following winter preparing to fence a large farm in the spring; the Hawley and Beresford families remaining in the first houses built.
Here we record the first birth and death of a white child in the country. There was born to Robert and Mary Beresford a daughter, who lived only two or three months, and was buried not far from the cabin.
About this time a few settlers came ;- a Mr. Brown and son settled on the South side of the Illinois River, about one mile above the mouth of the Fox River. Mr. Bailey settled at Bailey's Point, John Ramsey and family, near the cabin first built; also the Pembroke family and a few others settled near these two Mission Stations.
In the fall of 1825 the families of Hawley and Beresford moved to what is now called Holderman's Grove, three miles from Mission Grove. About this time was solemnized the first wedding in the country. A young man, named Williard Scott, frequently going and returning be- tween Chicago and Peoria, and stopping at the Mission, formed the ac- quaintance of our Mission girl, Caroline Hawley. In due course of time arrangements for a wedding were made; and Williard Scott and his brother Willis, accompanied by a young lady from Chicago, came to the Mission, where Willis and his intended remained while his brother went to Peoria and returned with marriage licences for all four of the high con- tracting parties. They were married at the Mission Chapel by our worthy Missionary, Rev. Jesse Walker.
A short time before this marriage, a young chief offered Mr. Hawley ten ponies and a large amount of furs for his daughter Caroline. To this proposal the young lady demurred, her father informing the savage that it was not the custom, and it was contrary to the religion of the whites to sell their daughters for wives.
Late in the autumn of 1829 three families from Ohio, viz., John Green, R. Debolt and Henry Baumbach settled at and near where the town of Dayton is now located. During the following two years, other families from the same place in Ohio, came and settled near the first comers in Dayton. Some of their names we will enumerate. Wm. Strat-
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MARIA ADAMS. (MRS. YOCUM.)
ton, Mathias Trumbo, Mrs. Pitzer and sons, the Govens, the Donovans, the Armstrongs and Doctor David Walker and family, two sons and three daughters-all grown persons.
From these points settlements spread in all directions; some on Rock River, Desplaines, DuPage and Fox River and their tributaries.
Shortly after this the country was organized into counties; elections were held, county officers elected and courts of record established. This brings us up to the spring of 1832, when the Black Hawk War broke out. Settlers scattered all over the country, heeding the warning given by our friend Shabbona and his sons at the risk of their own lives. The settlers had barely time to gather at a central location, build fortifications and organize for mutual protection before Black Hawk was on the war-path in full force. The first outrage was the massacre of the Davises, Halls and the Pettegrew families on Indian Creek, on the 20th day of May, when thirteen men, women and children were butchered. Two of the Hall girls, young ladies, were taken captive. A month later, near this place, James Beresford was killed and two men named Schermerhorn and Hasseltine on Fox River were killed .. The history of the Black Hawk War is so familiar to many that the outrages committed need not be repeated here.
David Searles and wife moved from Otsego County, New York, to Lee County in 1844 and located in Crombie Lane on the farm now owned by Hiram Bates. His family consisted of his wife, Eliza Ann, daughter of Mr. Orres Adams, and daughter Eugenia. Mr. Searles was a prominent citizen and considered quite wealthy for those days. When land first came into market, many settlers were not able to pay for their claims, and they came to him for assistance. He held the office of Constable and afterwards Justice of the Peace. When township organization was adopted, he represented Amboy as its first Supervisor. About 1850 he bought out the dry goods and grocery store of Wasson & Crocker at Bing- hampton. Soon afterwards he was appointed postmaster; the office was kept in the store. Mr. Searles died in May 29th, 1857, and his wife fol- lowed him the next year, January 12, 1858. Mrs. Searles was blessed with an amiable disposition and she had the spirit of a true christian. She spoke ill of no one. Eugenia Searles, the daughter, now Mrs. Booth, re- sides in Chicago.
Addison Brewer was married to Miss Maria Adams, daughter of Mr. Orres and Mrs. Mehitable Adams, in Milford, Otsego County, New York, in 1844, and arrived here in the spring of 1845. He bought the 160 acres
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in Section 12, which is now owned by Mr. Josiah Little. Henry Adams, who drove breaking plow for Mr. Brewer, bare-footed, says that the kill- ing of a rattlesnake was almost a daily occurence. Mr. Brewer was the first town collector of Amboy. His widow is now the wife of T.D. Yocum and resides in Amboy. Of her hospitable home and generous traits, her friends are not weary of telling. Her only son, Harlan L. Brewer, en- listed, when only sixteen years of age, in the 12th Illinois Infantry and served through the war. He now resides in Rock Falls.
Mrs. Yocum can tell of many of the hardships of pioneer life and of the kindly ministrations of the pioneers to each other which brightened the dark days, when both herself and husband were sick, yet obliged to work, he fainting away over the wood he was sawing.
J. Henry Adams, son of Mr. Orres and Mrs. Mehitable Adams, came here with his parents in 1844, at the age of eleven years. He worked on the farm and attended school, improving such educational advantages as he had at that time. He lived near the Wasson school house, which was a central location then. Mr. Adams relates, from his great memory, pleasing incidents of "Uncle Ben Wasson" and others. Robert G. Inger- soll, then a neighbor, was a playmate, who, with his father, then a preacher here, is elsewhere mentioned in these sketches. Mr. Adams has always remained in Amboy, taking care of his parents, who lived to a good old age. He married Miss Catherine M. Crafts of New York, for- merly a teacher, and who is a relative of the present Speaker of the House by that name at Springfield, Illinois.
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