USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 23
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Records of the olden time; or, Fifty years on the prairies. Embracing sketches of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the country, the organization of the counties of Putnam and Marshall, biographies of citizens, portraits and illustrations > Part 23
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EARLY SETTLERS.
The first white settler at Senachwine was James R. Talliaferro, who in March, 1835, made a claim on the site of the deserted Indian village. The only white settlers then in this valley besides himself were: Tyrrell Reeves, Jesse Perkins, Wm. Lathrop and Russell Mallory and their fam- ilies. For many miles above and below, on the east side of the river, there were no other settlers.
At Henry there were Major Thompson, Mr. Stacey and Charles Nock. With the exceptions of Mr. and Mrs. Talliaferro, there are now none living of those first settlers of this Township.
George Reeves, famous as "the outlaw," lived in a small shanty north of Talliaferro's dwelling, which is now known as the James Winship place. Reeves' brother Tyrrell at one time lived near the top of the same hill, but he subsequently removed to the lower end of Crow Meadow Prairie. There was a third brother named William, who lived with them a short time, but returned to Indiana. There was still another brother named John, who improved the place from which George was afterward expelled. Tyrrell and William improved the place which was afterward known as the Barnhart place.
When Talliaferro moved to Senachwine he was accompanied by a young man named Asa Mounts, and a young woman, Charlotte Pfief- fer. These persons were subsequently, in the fall of 1835, united in marriage and settled north of Mr. Talliaferro's place, on the Perkins farm.
The next settler was Wm. L. Gilbert, who occupied a part of the Barnhart farm, and near him Dr. Culbertson, a physician who did not practice his profession, also settled and improved the Wm. Wheeler place.
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
In the fall of 1837, Samuel C. Bacon and Thomas Morgan settled upon the Culbertson claim.
The wife of James R. Talliaferro came with her parents to LaSalle County in 1828, when' she was thirteen years of age; was married in 1833, and came to live at her new home at Senachwine in 1836. The first death that occurred here was their son Norris, on August 21, 1836, an infant less than a year old.
Thomas Morgan came to Hennepin in 1835, and was married to Clara Cook, sister of W. E. Cook, deceased, of Lacon, an account of whose wed- ding is given elsewhere.
Peter Barnhart afterward bought Gilbert's claim and settled thereon in 1836. On this place he was prosperous, and there he ended his day's.
C. R. Condit came in 1836, and settled south of the Indian mounds, where he laid out the town of Senachwine, at first calling it Condit. Philip Reed arrived during the same season and made a claim on what was afterward the Drake farm.
Lewis Thompson and Wm. Kidney arrived in 1837, and began improve- ments on their afterward well known homestead. James Buchanan came in 1838, made a claim and sold it to Matthew Hoyt, who occupied it the following year.
William Williams started from his home in Philadelphia in 1837, went to Hartford, Indiana, where he remained till the spring of 1838, when he made a trip as supercargo of a flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and up Red River, returning to Hartford the next year. Later in the year he traveled across the country on horseback to Warford Bon- ham's, above Sparland. He afterward opened a claim in the Snyder settlement, where he became acquainted with John B. White, for whom the town of Whitefield was named. In 1843 he married Miss A. Lyon, having previously moved to Senachwine. He was Judge of Putnam County for six years, and held many different local offices, among them Justice of the Peace, the duties of which office he performed for twenty- five years.
Samuel C. Bacon moved to Senachwine in the fall in 1837, and was the first Justice of the Peace of the precinct, and afterward of the town, an office which he held for over twenty-five years.
John Williams came West in 1837, and settled at Hennepin, but after- ward moved to Senachwine, and settled on his present farm.
Loton Frisbee settled near the bluff, in Senachwine, in June, 1835,
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THE SITE OF AN ANCIENT NECROPOLIS.
near the line of Henry Township. At that time Russell Mallory lived on the prairie, but sold his claim the same year to Colonel Snyder, who pre- viously lived on Guy Pool's place.
LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD.
The first minister who ever preached in this locality was Elder James B. Chenowith, of the Baptist Church. He commenced his labors in 1838, and lived on a place about half way between Senachwine and Tiskilwa.
In 1839 Rev. Mr. Kenyon, a Methodist, came into the neighborhood, and commenced a ministration in holy things. He was the first man to introduce a McCormick reaper in this section of country.
In 1857 the Methodists, having' increased in numbers so that no pri- vate house could accommodate them, built a neat and substantial church. Their first "class meeting" was organized in 1838.
SENACHWINE'S INDIAN VILLAGE.
Surrounded by an amphitheater of hills, near the mouth of Little Senachwine Creek is a beautiful and romantic spot, whereon for ages stood a famous Indian village bearing the name Senachwine. This was the name of a prominent Indian chief who for nearly a hundred years had dwelt in this region. Between this historic place and the Illinois River there is a beautiful lake, celebrated for the abundance and excellence of its fish. The Indian chief gave his name not only to his village and this lake, but also to the creek which enters the valley here; and the town of the white people, the voting precinct and the township have all been hon- ored with the same title. This was also the name of the postoffice until some ambitious person with an unpoetic soul desired a change in the name of the office to make it conform with that of the railroad station near the old town, and had it called Putnam.
In unknown ages past, this county was the bed of a great inland lake, and the bluffs northwest of the village, an island, which, as the waters subsided, became the wooded range of hills we now see. These mark the southeastern boundary of the small valley which afforded a site for the Indian village of Senachwine. These hills are separate and distinct from the Illinois River bluffs, and stand out upon the plain to the East, a marked feature in the landscape.
In the vicinity are numerous mounds and remains of an ancient civil-
.....
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
ization, and on the top of a ridge east of Mr. Talliaferro's residence is a series of mounds in which some trace a resemblance to certain animals, and claim they were originally constructed for worship.
The dwelling and a portion of the farm of James R. Talliaferro are in this beautiful valley, wherein stood Senachwine's village. Even as re- cently as 1835 the country around was strewn with the relics of Indian wigwams, and there were visible evidences of the existence of at least 300 of their rude houses. Early French traders mention the existence of an Indian village there which numbered 500 lodges.
The large number of mounds found upon the hills around this little valley can be accounted for on no other hypothesis than that this was once densely populated by the aborigines, and probably had been for many years an Indian burial ground.
When Mr. Talliaferro first visited this locality, now more than fifty years ago, the grave of the old Indian chieftain, Senachwine (then not long dead), was shown him. The stakes which had been placed at each end of the grave were there still, and a high pole which had been placed near the spot to indicate its locality, still had fluttering at its top a small flag, which the old chief's followers had placed there. Mr. Talliaferro's residence stands on the site of a once large and thriving town, inhabited by a race of peo- ple whose characteristics were entirely different from ours. Where wig- wams stood, the plowman regularly drives his team afield to cultivate the soil. The burial places of the red man of the forest are also utilized for similar purposes, and the mounds which were made to indicate their rest- ing places are being converted by the plowshare of modern civilization into corn and wheat fields.
THE INDIANS AT SENACHWINE'S GRAVE.
Senachwine, the famous Indian chief, of whom we have frequently made mention, died in 1830 at the Indian village which bore his name, and his body was buried with the pomp and ceremony which became his station. For many years his grave was an object of interest, not only to the white people, but to the Indians also, who came from long distances to visit it.
In 1835 a large number of Pottawattomie Indians came to pay their tribute of respect to the memory of this dead chief. When they assembled around the mound they were greatly and justly indignant at finding the
Hutchison Groft.
(DECEASED.) WENONA.ILL.
.
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SENACHWINE BRANCH U. G. RAILWAY.
remains had been molested. Some worthless hunters, searching for valua- bles, had rifled the dead chief's grave and scattered his remains. Deep was their grief and lasting their resentment. It was an insult and outrage difficult to endure. They opened the grave and proceeded with much ceremony to re-inter his bones. This done, they made a new mound over the spot, placed substantial posts in the ground at either end, and about a rod away toward the south-west erected a pole, with a small flag at the top. When this was accomplished they bitterly turned their faces'to the setting sun and departed, never to look upon his grave again.
HOW A WOMAN SHOT A DEER.
The following incident, related by Mrs. John Williams, shows what the sex were capable of in the olden time, and that though woman may faint at the sight of a dangerous mouse and go into "conniptions " at the explosion of a Fourth of July squib, she can, under other circumstances, exercise courage, judgment and self-possession of the highest order.
One morning in 1846, during the absence of the "men folks," she saw from her cabin window a fine looking deer pass by, and taking her hus- band's loaded gun from its rest, endeavored to bring him in range, but without effect. She had two dogs that came at her call and attacked the deer, but after a short run and fierce fight they were disabled. Finally she shot the animal in the head, without, however, dispatching him, and while she returned for a knife to cut its throat, a disreputable charac- ter named Cy Bowles, who had quietly watched the performance, hastily dispatched the game, and being a large, powerful man, shouldered and carried it off before her return.
A RUNAWAY.
Occasionally a fugitive slave would find the road to liberty through Senachwine, sent upon this out-of-the-way trail to avoid pursuit.
Once a negro, hotly pressed by his enemies, was disguised by his friends as a woman, and passed through Senachwine in a lumber wagon, in charge of George Cone, who lived between this village and Henry.
On another occasion a fellow came to the house of Asa Cunningham, near the village, and begged his assistance. He was an escaped slave, from Missouri, and while resting by the roadside discovered in the dis- tance an approaching horseman, whom he at once knew to be his master.
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
The negro said : "I was so skeert dat I shet my eyes, afeerd he'd see 'em, and didn't dar to draw my bref, afeerd he'd smell 'um, for I'd a ben eatin' wild ingens (onions)." The master was at the hotel, and the slave dare not move, for it was in the middle of the day. Mr. Cunningham was the village undertaker, and rightly believing no one would hunt a runaway in a hearse, hitched up his blind horse and loading the " darkey" into a coffin, drove through Senachwine at a melancholy amble, the busi- ness gait of the ancient nag. The master saw the cavalcade as it passed, and was amused at the oddity of the turnout, while the driver headed his course for Hennepin and safely delivered his lively "corpse" into the hands of trusty friends, who kept him concealed until the pursuers left the country.
THE MURDER OF M'KEE.
A number of years ago a man named Anderson McKee was the keeper of an inn at Henry. He had as a guest one Williams, a drunken, worth- less fellow, who never found it convenient to pay his board bills. This delinquency was the cause of frequent disputes between the parties, and Williams, becoming angered at McKee's continued demands, determined to do him bodily harm. He told McKee if he would procure a horse and buggy and go with him to Boyd's Grove, where he said money was due him, he would liquidate the debt. McKee consented to the arrange- ment, and they started off, not, however, directly toward the place they proposed to visit, for they were seen riding about the bluffs beyond Senachwine, on the road leading to Princeton. It was while in a thick piece of woods on these bluffs that Williams, with a knife with which he had that day provided himself, while McKee's attention was diverted, deliberately cut the throat of his companion. There was a profuse flow of blood from the wound, and the injured man immediately lost con- sciousness. Williams, supposing he had fully succeeded in his murderous work, dragged the body from the buggy and placed it behind a large log lying some distance from the road. Finding water near by, he removed the blood stains from the buggy and his person as well as he could, and instead of continuing forward on the Princeton road, turned in the direc- tion of Henry. When about half way between that place and Senach- wine he was met by a man who had seen him and McKee together in the buggy before they left Henry, who asked where McKee was. Williams gave an evasive answer, and the man continued his journey. Approach-
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DEXTROUS SURGERY IN THE OLDEN TIME.
ing a farm house a short distance beyond, he found the people there in great commotion. It seems that McKee, after having been thrown behind the log and left for dead by Williams, revived sufficiently to drag him- self to the farm house, not many rods away, and with his remaining strength tell his pitiable tale. A physician was summoned, but when he arrived it was too late. The vital spark had fled.
The man who had met Williams, on learning these facts and seeing the bloody body of McKee, took a circuitous route, hurried to Henry, and procured the issue of a warrant for the arrest of the murderer. An officer immediately went in pursuit, readily found the man he was in search of, and lodged him in jail. In due time a trial of the case was had, the cul- prit was convicted of manslaughter, and served out a term in the peniten- tiary therefor.
SICKNESS.
The early settlers had many hardships and privations to contend with, but their worst foes were ague and malarial fevers. Bad as these complaints are now, they were infinitely worse then, while the remedies now most used were then unknown. Physicians were few, and reliance was mainly upon roots, herbs, and good nursing. The year 1838 was particularly un- healthful, and numerous deaths occurred among the children. In two neighboring families in Senachwine, twelve persons were prostrated at once, and only one person to wait upon them. Dr. Montfort, of Henry, was the only physician available, and his labors were incessant. Mercury in its various forms was largely used, often entailing great and untold suffering, as in the case of a Miss Reed, one side of whose face was eaten away by the poison, leaving the bare and fleshless jaw exposed; her teeth fell out, and her jaws became set so that it was with difficulty food could be forced into her mouth. Her sufferings were intense, yet she recovered, and modern science restored her fearfully mutilated face into at least a semblance of humanity, after which she enjoyed good health for many years. This was done by removing the skin from a portion of the arm, binding the arm to her face, and then retaining it with bands until it grew there, when the piece so attached was cut off and rounded into form. The operation was painful, but the woman's will and endu- rance made it a success.
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP.
CHAPTER XXXII.
TOPOGRAPHICAL.
HE Township of Granville was so named by Ralph Ware, after the town from which he came in Massachusetts. It is situated in the- north-east corner of Putnam County, and is bounded on the north by the Illinois River, on the east by La Salle County, on the south by Magnolia and on the west by Hennepin Township. It contains forty-four sections or square miles of surface. Along its northern boundary are the bluffs of the Illinois River, while wooded points extend into the prairies along either side of such streams as flow toward the river. With the exception of the wooded lands referred to, and the "bot- tom " lands adjoining the water-courses, the surface of the country is rich and level prairie, covered with fertile, well cultivated farms.
FIRST SETTLERS.
The first settlers in Granville Township were the brothers James and George B. Willis, who came in 1827; Stephen D. "Willis, who afterward (in 1853) went to Oregon; and John Robinson, a celebrated hunter, in 1828; George Ish and his son Bazdale, a youth of fourteen years, James D. Ross, Roswell Blanchard, Hugh Warnock, - Creswell and Leonard Ross in 1829. In 1830 came Burr, Daniel Jones, - Thomas, Williams, - Daniels. Hendricks and John D. Blake came in 1831. Henry Schooler and James Vintiner arrived in the settlement in 1832. In 1833 the population was increased by the arrival of Thomas Ware, James Mills, - Shepard, Robert, John and Alexander Moore, Mrs. Mary Mills, Mrs. Ellen Lundy, Mrs. James Harper, Albert Harper and Samuel Brown. In 1834, Daniel and J. F. Shepard, Anthony Smith, A. D. Hayslip and William Sherman came and settled. In 1835, J. W.
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GRANVILLE-APPEARANCE AND SURROUNDINGS.
Hopkins, George B. Hopkins, Luther D. Gunn, Alanson Whitaker and August Brenneman came; and in 1836, Isaac Sprague, Amos Dewey and
Benshauer.
Some of the old settlers of the Township whose names are not given above, who either died or moved away, are James G. Lawton, Joseph, James and Simeon Warnock, who came in 1829 or 30, and subsequently went to Iowa; John Burrows in 1829, dead; Isaac Archer in 1830, dead; Thomas Wafer in 1830, went to Texas and is dead
The first interment made in the cemetery at Granville was the body of Levi Shepard, in January, 1837.
In 1838, Luther D. Gunn settled two and a half miles from Granville; Hugh Warnock lived at Union Grove in 1833, and James Warnock in the vicinity.
THE VILLAGE OF GRANVILLE.
The village was surveyed and laid off April 7, 1836. Its first settler was a man named Creswell, who built a cabin there in 1832-3. The sec- ond house, a frame structure, was erected by Thomas Ware, in 1834. In April, 1836, an addition was made to the village by Thos. Ware, James Parr, William Smith, Clarissa Ware, Archer and Margaret Hay- slip. It occupies a commanding site upon the prairie, affording a fine view of the surrounding country, approached in all directions by good roads. Few localities present scenes of such varied sylvan beauty. The farms are highly cultivated, the houses are elegant, the roads are bor- dered with hedges, and a profusion of shade and fruit trees beautify the landscape and add to its attractiveness. The fathers of the settlement " built for all time," and laid its foundations broad and deep in the eternal principles of truth and rectitude. Early attention was given to schools, and the morals of the country were not overlooked. It is to the credit of the citizens that no saloon has ever been licensed in the town, and what- ever drunkenness there may have been was imported, and not "to the manor born."
In early times Granville was a bustling, go-ahead place, with a promis- ing future. Its merchants were enterprising, and carried large stocks of goods. Its public school was known and noted all over Central Illinois, and young men came from long distances to avail themselves of its ad-
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
vantages. Its ministers of the Gospel were eloquent; society was refined and courteous; newspapers and books circulated freely, and on all ques -- tions of public interest the people were well informed and voted intelli- gently.
Among the earliest merchants were the Laughlin Brothers, who were better farmers than merchants, and allowed their sympathies to get away with their judgment. They sold goods on time, and soon had to abandon the business. They commenced, too, at an ill chosen time, amidst the gen- eral crash of 1837.
Of late years the town has measurably declined. Peru on one side and Hennepin on the other have drawn upon its resources, and as they grew and increased Granville seemed to decay.
RELIGIOUS SERVICES.
In the vicinity of Granville and Union Grove the blessings of Chris- tianity were taught by missionaries at an early day. Every three weeks in the fall of 1829, Rev. William Royal, a Methodist preacher, gathered his little flock at the house of George Ish, and also about the same time, or perhaps a few months later, performed the same pious duty for the settlers about Union Grove and the neighborhood where Florid was afterward mapped as a town site. Among the pioneer ministers in the same faith were Rev. Mr. Parker and Rev. Edward Haile, the latter being described as an incorrigible "old bach " of sixty-two years, and almost a woman hater, so marked was his aversion to or terror of the sex.
GRANVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH.
Elder Thomas Powell was the first Baptist minister who ever preached in Granville. He came there in 1836, and preached to a few people gath- ered at the house of Mr. Shepard. A few weeks afterward he returned and preached again, his audience including all who could get into the building- a small unfurnished frame store erected by James Laughlin. The congregation was composed of Presbyterians, "Seceders," Congrega- tionalists and Baptists.
The people generally were so anxious to have regular religious exer-
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SLAVERY DENOUNCED AS A SIN.
cises that they invited Elder Powell to divide his time between them and his other appointments. He had been sent as a Missionary of the Baptist Home Mission Society, to Putnam County. His first stopping place was at John Robinson's, between Granville and Hennepin. The Elder, when he visited Granville on the occasions referred to, was a resident of Vermil- ionville, and his duties there prevented him from accepting the proposal of the people of the former place. His appointments were at Hennepin, Clear Creek, Payne's Point, Magnolia, five miles east of Sandy Creek, and on the Vermilion River, where Streator now stands. There were then thirteen Baptists in Hennepin and Granville, whom he organized into the Baptist Church Society of Granville, which organization still exists and has a place of worship. It has furnished four young men to the ministry, one of whom, Samuel Whitaker, finished his course in the Asiatic department of Foreign Missions in Burmah, and died there; another, E. O. Whitaker, died while a Chaplain in the late war; the third, Charles Button, is now pastor of a church in Wisconsin, and the fourth, - Robinson, established a church at the mouth of Columbia River, Oregon, which was said to be the first Protestant church on the Pacific coast.
"The Baptist Church of Hennepin and Granville" was organized April 15, 1837, by Thomas Powell, Daniel Shepard, Alanson Whitaker, Joseph M. Fairfield, Nancy Winters, Elizabeth Winters, Lydia Ann Winters, Cynthia Ann Winters, Ruth Ann Gould, Lucy Ann Simpson, Delia Per- kins and Ruth Whitaker, who met at Hennepin for that purpose. Daniel Shepard was chosen Moderator, and J. M. Fairfield, Clerk.
At a meeting held by the members of this church in July, 1843, the slavery question having became an exciting topic all over the Union, the following resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That slavery is a sin against God and an outrage on human rights, and that we as a Baptist Church cannot conscientiously admit a slaveholder to our pulpit or communion table.
At a meeting held December 3, 1843, it was resolved to build a church at Granville, and W. A. Pennell, J. W. Eames and Harrison Rice were appointed a committee to take the matter in charge, measures also being taken to incorporate the Society according to law.
A frame structure, thirty-six by forty-six feet, was promptly built, and a bell weighing 1260 pounds was soon after procured and placed in the belfry of the church. This is said to be the first church bell put up
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RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME.
anywhere in Putnam County. The church building cost about $2,000, and is a very respectable and handsome structure.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The Presbyterian Church of Granville was organized April 27, 1839. On that day George W. Elliott, of Lowell, James H. Dickey, of Union Grove, and Mr. Spaulding, of Peoria, who had previously been appointed by the Peoria Presbytery for the purpose, met at a house in Granville. With them were associated James Mears, Polly Mears, Ralph Mears, Lucinda A. Ware, John Pool, Thomas Ware, Nancy L. Ware, James G. Laughlin, Ruth Laughlin, Asenath Nash, Hannah Ware, Thomas Wafer, Elizabeth Wafer, Harriet N. Wafer, James H. Wafer, John Short, Eleanor Short, Cyrus H. Short, Prior M. Short, William H. Short, James Hale, Marena Hale, J. W. Laughlin, Alexander M. Laughlin, Philena Kidder, George Perry and David L. Child. These latter named persons were ad- mitted to take part in the organization by reason of their being members in good standing in the Church, each of them producing letters of dis- missal, or other satisfactory evidence to that effect. After the usual preliminary exercises were had the meeting organized. James Mears and Ralph Ware were chosen as Ruling Elders, whose terms of office were to continue until September 3, next ensuing, and John Pool and Thomas Ware were chosen to the same office, their terms to begin on - the expiration of the time for which their predecessors were chosen.
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