USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 38
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From Virginia, the venerable mother of Presidents, the following additions were made to the Indian Creek settlement : Russell Godby, Isaac Snodgrass Fielding Ballard, William Sampson, with, probably, a few others. Godby came in the spring of 1830, and his first winter here was that of the " deep snow," which cast something of a damper (particularly when it began to melt off in the spring) upon the feelings with which he had regarded the fine prairies of Illinois, as compared to the red hills of " Old Virginny." He was the first man in the present precinct of Indian Creek who settled outside of the timber, and he did not venture very far from its shelter. He still lives upon the place of his original settlement, and is one of the prominent and leading men of the neighborhood, and was one of the early Justices of the Peace. Although his bodily health is failing, his mental condition appears as strong as if still in the noontide of manhood, and we acknowledge our indebtedness to him for many facts connected with this precinct and its early settlement. Messrs. Snodgrass and Ballard were brothers-in-law to Godby, and came the same year. The former gentleman lives now in Salt Creek Township, in Mason County. Bal- lard, though originally from Virginia, had emigrated to Indiana, where he resided for a few years before coming to this county, and, upon his arrival here, bought the claim of Joseph Rogers. He died in this precinct. Sampson came to the Indian Creek settlement several years before Godby, Snodgrass and Bal- lard, probably about 1826-27. He remained a resident of the precinct until his death, which occurred about 1870. Philip Barnett was an Eastern man,
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
and a brother-in-law to Godby. These four gentlemen, viz .. Godby, Snodgrass, Ballard and Barnett. married sisters. Barnett died a few years ago in Fulton County.
John King came from North Carolina in 1826-27. He was born in 1775, and died at the advanced age of one hundred and one years and twenty-nine days. A soldier of 1812, and of the Indian wars of the South. under Gen. Jackson, he was a firm believer in and a devoted admirer of Old Hickory to the end of his life. When he first came to Illinois (1821), he settled in the south- ern part of the State, where he resided until his settlement in this section, as given above. Before his death, he and Tarlton Lloyd. of Rock Creek Precinet, were the only relics left in Menard County of the war of 1812. His death leaves Mr. Lloyd like " the last rose of summer, blooming alone." Dedman Powers was an early settler, but of him not much could be learned. William Duff came in 1827-28, but where from no one could tell. He is mentioned as a " hard old customer," rough, profane. and a poor acquisition to the settle- ment, any way. He remained but a few years, and then moved away. John Clary came to the settlement very early. and was attending Onstott's mill when 'Squire Godby came in. He was probably from Tennessee : has a son still living in Menard County, but the old gentleman has been dead several years. This brings the settlement of Indian Creek down to a period when the tide of immigration poured in with such volume and force as to baffle the historian's skill to keep pace with it, and we will not attempt it further, but turn our attention to other items in its history.
EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS.
One of the first moves made by the pioneer, after securing a claim and erecting a cabin to shelter his family, was in the direction of education and religious worship. A school was taught in this settlement as early as the sum- mer of 1830, in a vacant cabin on the premises of Samuel Rogers. It was taught by John Pentecost, who walked a distance of three and a half miles to and from the scene of his labors. The next school was by Dr. David Meeker, who taught in an old house belonging to Coleman Smoot. The first regular schoolhouse built in the present bounds of Indian Creek Precinct was on land belonging now to William Smoot, and was of the primitive pioncer schoolhouse pattern. It was built about 1833, and Silas Alexander was the first pedagogne who presided over the young ideas within its classic walls. In this log cabin, known as the .. Smoot Schoolhouse," many of the youth of the neighborhood (now old men) took their first lessons in Webster's spelling-book, and in the art of shooting paper wads. The precinct now has five excellent brick schoolhouses conveniently located in its territory, in which every child may receive a good English education, sufficient to fit him for the ordinary walks of life.
The first minister who proclaimed the Gospel in this section was the Rev. John Berry, a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher from the Rock Creek
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
settlement. He was Pastor of the New Lebanon Church, near the line of the pre- cinet, which was one of the first places of worship of the people of this settlement. In 1843. a society of this denomination was organized at New Market, a village now extinet, but at one time entertaining rather lofty pretensions. This soci- ety was organized by Revs. J. R. Torrence and A. H. Goodpasture, with the latter preacher as its first spiritual director. It was known as the " New Market Congregation " for a period of five years, and increased during the time from a membership of thirty to seventy communicants. It was then moved to the Knowles Schoolhouse, and from that time until its removal to the village of Greenview, about 1858-60, was known as the " Bethel Con- gregation." The remainder of its history is given in the chapter devoted to Greenview. A society of Baptists was organized in the precinet before the Cumberland Presbyterian organization, above described, by the Rev. John Antle, who was the first divine of that denomination in this section. It was originally held in a schoolhouse. but, like the Presbyterians, removed to Greenview upon the laying-out of that village. These are all the church organizations of Indian Creek Precinet. Although there are no church edi- fices within its borders, there are a number scattered around it in other and adjoining precincts.
The first mill in this immediate vicinity was built by David Onstott. away back in the twenties, but just what time we could not learn. Squire Godby says it was in full blast when he came to the settlement in the spring of 1830, and had a small copper still attached, such, perhaps, as are used by the " moonshiners " of the present day in Tennessee and North Carolina. It was a small affair, and worked up the superfluous corn into spiritus fru- menti, which was consumed by the pioneers nearly as fast as it was made, as an antidote (!) for snake-bites. The mill was propelled- by horse-power, and served the purpose of making hominy and meal for the neighborhood. This, we believe. is the extent of the mill business in this precinct. Since the burning of the Greenview mills. most of the people of this community patronize the mills of Petersburg.
The first birth and marriage are forgotten, but as everything must have a beginning, these had a beginning in Indian Creek Preeinet, as the present population will go to show. The first death is supposed to have been the mother of Fielding Ballard, who came to the settlement in 1830. He brought his mother with him, who was quite aged, and who died the next year. The first physician in the settlement was a Dr. Walker, but he did not remain very long. Whence he came or whither he went, we did not learn. Dr. David Meeker was the next doctor, and combined school teaching with the practice of medicine. In those days, people did not send for a doctor on all occasions, as they do now ; consequently had less siekness-no offense to the medical fra- ternity intended -- and fewer doctors' bills to pay. The first blacksmith-shop in the neighborhood was opened in the now extinet village of New Market by
-
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
two men named George Saunders and William F. Rogers. Coleman Smoot was the first Justice of the Peace, and Russell Godby the second in the pre- cinet. The name of Indian Creek was obtained from the creek flowing along the southwest boundary, and emptying into the Sangamon River at the corner of this precinct. Sandridge and Petersburg. The name was applied to the creek in memory of some of the tribes of Indians that once occupied the country.
Politically, Indian Creek Precinct is Democratic. During the late war, it was patriotic, as all other portions of Menard County, and turned out a large number of soldiers-shoulder straps as well as muskets. Company K, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, was raised principally in this precinct. The Captain of the company was Samuel Estill; Lucian Terhune, First Lieutenant, and Henry Roggy, Second Lieutenant. Company F. of the Twenty-eighth Regiment of Illinois Infantry, also drew a few men from this precinct. William J. Estill, of Petersburg, a brother of Capt. Estill of Com- pany K. mentioned above. was Captain of a company, and was wounded on the second day's fight at Pittsburg Landing, and came home, leaving the com- mand of the company to Isaac Estill, the First Lieutenant, also a brother. The latter was killed in the battle of Hatchie, Tennessee. Capt. Estill's wound not permitting his return to the army, he finally resigned, and a gentleman from Athens Precinet became Captain of the company.
THE VILLAGE OF NEW MARKET.
Doubtless many of our readers are ignorant of the fact that a village bear- ing the above name once existed in their midst. It not only did exist, but even aspired, we are told, to the dignity of becoming the seat of government for the State of Illinois, as well as the capital of Menard County. It was laid out by Dr. Ballard and a man named Specr. Ballard put up a large two-story building, intended for a tavern ; but the glory of the new town waned so soon that it was never needed or used for the purpose. A store was opened by one Clarke, who afterward sold out to Ballard & Speer. A blacksmith-shop was opened. as before noted, by George Saunders and William F. Rogers, and the place presented quite as much the appearance of a town as did Petersburg at the time the county seat was located there. In establishing the county seat, it was " entered for the race" against the latter place for that dignified position. and it is even stated that it was a competitor with Springfield for the State capital. This may be a joke, but we give it as we heard it. If true, it played for a high stake. and-lost. With the location of the seat of justice at Peters- burg. it faded away into nothingness. It became a village of the dead rather than of the living : " a grave for ambition-an antidote for pride." The ruins of Baalbee are in many respects a mystery ; Pahnyra, at least in vastness, sur- passes even Baalbec : Athens. Rome, Jerusalem, and other scenes of decay. appeal to our pity and touch our hearts ; but for New Market, the " mighty city
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
of lofty aspirations," we can only, like the Hebrew captives of old, " hang our harps upon the willows" and weep. It owed its origin to a rather wild ambi- tion, and waned to its extinction when fate decided adversely to its hopes and wishes.
" Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn,
Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn ; Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, And desolation saddens all thy green ; One only master grasps the whole domain, And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain ; No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way ; Along thy glades, a solitary guest- The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest ; Amidst thy desert-walks the lapwing flies, And tires their echoes with unvaried cries. Sunk are thy howers in shapeless ruin all,
And the long grass o'ertops the moldering wall,
And trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, Far, far away thy children leave the land."
Finally, when the fact was ascertained beyond any shadow of doubt that it was " born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness upon the desert air," it was vacated, by legislative enactment, and nothing now remains to point out the spot where once it stood. Its .original site is a productive farm.
SANDRIDGE PRECINCT.
This division of the county lies in the extreme northwest corner and com- prises within its limits a little more than fifty- four sections, or a township and one-half. It is designated Congressionally as Township 19 north, Ranges 7 and 8 west of the Third Principal Meridian. It is bounded on the north and east by the Sangamon River, south by Petersburg Precinct, and west by Cass County. Originally, its surface was about equally divided between woodland and prairie. The timber was of a fine quality and, untouched as yet by the woodman's ax, was heavier than the third or fourth growth of our day. Much of its surface is sufficiently elevated and rolling to obviate the necessity of artificial drainage. Small portions contiguous to the Sangamon on the east and north are subject to overflow, but afford excellent pasturage. Concord Creek on the east, Clary's and Little Grove on the southwest, tributaries of the Sangamon, afford outlets for the surface waters of a large area. The Spring- field & North-Western Railroad crosses the precinct in a general northwestern direction. The Jacksonville branch of the C., A. & St. L. R. R. touches the southeastern boundary of the precinct. The villages of Oakford and Atter- berry. whose history will be given at the close of this chapter, are stations on the first-mentioned road. A belt of woodland extending in a general north- eastern direction, elevated considerably above the adjacent prairie, and with quite a sandy soil, gives to the precinet the name which it bears.
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Few, indeed. in the county antedate the first settlements made within the limits of this precinct. An apparent mist of doubt appears to gather about the answer to the question. " Who was the first settler in Sandridge ?" Jesse Armstrong, William Sampson and Royal Potter were the first to make perma- nent settlements, but just which of these three pioneers was first on the ground is a matter not very readily determined. All were in the precinct in 1819. If there be a preponderance of evidence in favor of either, it points more clearly to Armstrong than either of the others, and, for this reason, we are inclined to confer upon him the honor of making the first improvement. Armstrong was from Tennessee, and laid a claim in the southeastern part of this section on land now owned and occupied by Grady Rutledge. After a few years, he moved to Arkansas, and thence to Texas, where, some years later, he died. William Sampson was from Kentucky, and made an improvement not far from where John A. Clary now lives. He kept bachelor's hall for a time. but was married as early as 1821-22, to Hannah Schmick. After living and making improvements at various points in Sandridge, he finally crossed the Sangamon and settled in Greenview Precinct, where he died. Some of his immediate family are still citizens of this section. Potter was from Tennessee or Kentucky, and made an improvement on land now owned by Henry B. Shipley. This he afterward sold to Sampson and he to Reason Shipley. George and Jesse Miller were here not later than 1820. and established them- selves in the northeast corner of the precinct. They kept the ferry across the river known to this day as Miller's Ferry. The town of Huron, the history of which is given in the general history of Mason County, was located at this point. Bannister Bond came from Tennessee and made an improvement on what is known as the Dolman place, in 1821. Here he lived but a short time, and next located in Clary's Grove. He finally moved to lowa, and, at last accounts, was living. If still an inhabitant of terra firma, he is not far from his centennial birthday. He was a man of powerful muscular development and great physical endurance. Ile would ent his timber and manufacture rails by day and then carry them upon his shoulders and make them into a fence by night. George Kirby and William Watkins became citizens the same year. Kirby came from Madison County. His father, Cyrus Kirby, was a native of Kentucky, and came to this State in 1811. The first settlement of the family was at Clary's Grove. The exact year of removal to Sandridge we have not been able to ascertain. Watkins, who by way of distinction is known as " Fiddler Bill," acquired his citizenship by birth, and is the oldest living native-born citizen of Menard County. His finely improved farm and the large accumulation of this world's goods by which he is surrounded, afford abundant evidence that life with him has been a grand success. George Hud- speth, from Monroe County. Ala .. came in 1828, and though now quite feeble,
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
is still an honored and highly esteemed citizen of the precinct. Elias Hohi- mer, Reason Shipley, Jacob Slfort and his sons Obadiali. James and Harrison, were added to the settlement during 1824. Hohimer and Shipley were from the " dark and bloody ground," and became permanent settlers of this section from the time of their first arrival. Short and sons were from Madison County, and settled in Petersburg Precinct, whence they came to this section. The elder Short died the year following his removal to this section. Of his sous, Obadiah died at Nauvoo, James in Iowa, and Harrison here. Jacob Short, as were a number of the other carly pioneers of this part, was a ranger in the war of 1812, and did good work in the service of his country. The year 1825 brought in a large number of settlers. John Clary, who had settled at Clary's Grove in 1819 with his sons, John A. and Hugh, still citizens of the precinct, came in at this date. William Armstrong and his brother Pleasant, Isaac Colson, William and James Rutledge, John Cameron, Charles Revis and his sons Isham and Alexander, Absalom Mounts and his son James, Rob- ert Davis, and doubtless some others, were here before the close of 1825. The Armstrongs were from Kentucky, and had settled prior to coming to Sand- ridge on Indian Creek. Pleasant, who maintained a state of celibacy, died here a number of years ago. William moved to Fulton County, and is still living. Colson was from Maine, and settled in the northwest corner of the precinct. The Rutledges and Cameron were originally from South Carolina, but they lived some time in White County before coming here. Cameron was a brother-in-law to William Rutledge, and, with them, settled in the southeast- ern part of this section. They remained citizens till removed by death, and many of their descendants are yet to be found here. The Revises were from Tennessee. Alexander became an early citizen of Crane Creek Township, Mason County. Absalom Mounts, whose name has become inseparably con- nected with pioneer milling in Menard and Mason Counties, came into the pre- cinet during the year. He finally moved to Arkansas, where he engaged in his favorite pursuit, and, during the late civil war, lost his life at the hands of federal soldiers. James Pantier and his son David M., came in the winter of 1826. The elder Pantier was a native of Kentucky, and was the second male white child born in the State, his father having accompanied Daniel Boone in his earliest adventures in hunting and warring with the savage red-skins on the " dark and bloody ground." He settled near the site of old Concord Church, purchasing a claim of William Armstrong. Here he continued to reside till near the close of his earthly career, when he made his home with his son. He died in 1859, and, with many of the other pioneer settlers. lies buried in the cemetery, on land owned by W. Goodpasture. Among the arrivals of 1827, we note the names of Thomas Dowell. John and James Yardley, Solomon Nor- ris, James Runnels, George Bowman and John Braham. Dowell was from the South, and settled on the Sangamon bottom not far from where the village of Oakford now stands. The Yardleys and Norris soon crossed into Mason
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
County, and a notice of their early settlement is found in the history of Crane Creek Township. James Hudspeth. Mathias Young and John B. Colson were here prior to the "deep snow." Hudspeth and Young may possibly have come as early as 1827. but Colson did not locate prior to 1829. The fall and winter sneceeding the " deep snow," quite a large settlement was made in and around the site of the present town of Oakford. Julius Simmons, Legrande Winton, Amos Ogden, Isaac White. William Edwards, Alvin Smith, Matthew Lownsberry and sons Jonathan and Matthew, Jacob and Lee Brown were among the arrivals. Nearly all the early settlers before mentioned were from the South. These, however, were from the Northern and Eastern States, and the settlement made by them was termed " Yankee Settlement," by way of distinction. They were a thrifty, industrious and energetic class of citizens, and many of them acquired a competency for themselves and family. Most of them have followed the beckoning hand across the "dark waters." while a few yet linger on the shores of time. During the two decades immediately suc- creding the first settlements, many were scattered here and there throughout the length and breadth of the precinct : some became permanent fixtures, while others improved a small claim, sold out at first offer, and moved farther out on the borders of civilization. As was the invariable custom, the first set- tlers reared their cabins in and near the timber. The rich prairie lands out of which farms could be made in a day. were left for those coming at a later date. Passing down through the years, we find the list already given increased by the names of William B. Cloe, Samuel Lownsberry. Isaac Ogden. Hayden Thomas, John Waldridge, John Kirby, Milton G. Combs. James Altig. George R. Watkins, J. L. Short, James Potter and E. C. Stith. These were all here prior to 1840, and many of them settled in the prairie. Many of these yet remain citizens of the precinct, and some on the very farms on which they began life's battle forty-odd years ago. Passing now from the carly settle. ments, we come to notice some of the inconveniences and disadvantages with which the pioneer was forced to contend.
Some one has asserted that the pioneer settlers of almost every section have been men of a roving disposition, given largely to hunting, fishing, and such like amusements, with strong aver-ions to agricultural pursuits. While many an old pioneer refers with a just pride to the gala days of yore, when all was " fun and frolic." when hunting and trapping was his daily occupation, we must not for- get that the comfort and welfare of the family depended largely upon the skill and prowess of the huntsman. Most of the pioneers of every seetion are men of limited means, and, in opening up their farms, underwent many hardships. It is related of Mr. Kirby that he planted his first erop of cereals by digging up the ground with a common mattock. The " wooden mold-board plow " which merely rooted up the surface was a luxury at that period that was not within the reach of many. Farming. in those days, we are assured, was comparatively a slavish occupation, and when we take into consideration the
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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.
indifferent implements with which they were compelled to labor, we can pardon much of the evident aversion of the hardy pioneers to farm labor. Reaping wheat with a sickle, threshing it with a flail, or tramping it out with horses, win- nowing it with a sheet, and grinding it in a hand-mill, or, in the case of corn, beating it in a mortar, were not operations in and of themselves that were cal- culated to impress the early farmers with a fondness for agricultural pursuits. In those early days the women dressed almost exclusively in home-made woolens, cottons and linens of their own manufacture, and wore moccasins (when they wore anything) on their feet. Men wore leather shoes considerably, with pants of buckskin, and generally a hunting shirt. Dandies affected a blanket coat and a fox-skin cap, with the tail turned up over the top. We mention these incidents that the youth who con over these pages may understand something of the habits, customs and inconveniences to which the first settlers were subjected, and that those who read may, by comparison, more fully appreciate the grand strides that have been made in our civilization within the last half-century. While the senior members of our population, against whom we jostle in our daily walks, are, for the most part, unskilled in "book larnin," they have a fund of wisdom gathered from experience and observation which would do credit to the head and heart of many a book-worm of the present day. They were scrupulously honest, and had not learned the "tricks of the trade." When the Rev. Thomas Plasters was called upon to recommend a horse which his son-in-law had for sale, he said to the would-be purchaser, " The horse has two pints about him that well nigh spiles him in my estimation. The first is, he is very hard to ketch, and secondly, when you have ketched him he is of no earthly account." It is needless to add that this brilliant recommendation, coming as it did from the reverend old gentleman, completely put an end to the trade.
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