USA > Illinois > Coles County > The History of Coles County, Illinois map of Coles County; history of Illinois history of Northwest Constitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, &c., &c > Part 50
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
trict tax levied, $2,000. Total cost of schools for the year, $2,700. Estimated value of school property, $2,100 ; apparatus, $125.
Three substantial bridges are found spanning the Okaw within the limits of the township. Two of these are wooden structures, and the remaining one a very substantial iron bridge, spanning the river near the southwestern corner of the townshp. This was erected at a cost of some $2,000, and is in every respect a stanch and secure structure. After township organization was effected, John Hoots was chosen first Supervisor ; William H. Smith, first Township Clerk, and Joel Martin and Jesse K. Ellis, first Justices. This position Mr. Ellis has held almost constantly since ; and it may be said to the credit of the morals of the citizens, that during all these years, but one person has been sent to the County Jail to await the action of the grand jury. A trial occurred in an early day, which afforded no little sport and amusement to the entire settle- ment. Martellus Graham had rented of Samuel Elder, a small parcel of ground, and was to give one-third of the product for rent. Before the division was made, a difficulty arose between Graham and Elder, and on Graham's taking a pumpkin from the field, Elder immediately instituted proceedings against him for theft. The officer, armed with the necessary papers, and accompanied by P. M. Ellis, proceeded to the residence of Graham, and arrested him on the charge of theft. This occurred just before daylight, and, as soon as the morn- ing meal was over, they set out to bring the prisoner before the Court. Haw- kins Fuller was the Justice before whom the case was tried. The whole settle- ment was on the ground to enjoy the sport. The prisoner was arraigned, and pleaded not guilty. The squire and his good wife set about hunting up the law bearing on the case. Mrs. Fuller, who was by far the better lawyer of the two, demanded that the stolen property be produced in court, in order that it might be identified, and, as the pumpkin could not be produced by the prose- cution, the case was dismissed at Elder's cost, amounting to some $10 or $12. It was many a day before Elder heard the last of that trial.
As has already been stated, but few families, comparatively speaking, dwelt in the limits of Okaw prior to the building of the railroads in 1855 and 1856. David McCullough, so far as we can learn, was the only person who went from Okaw Township to the Mexican war. During "the late unpleasantness," however, she furnished her full quota of brave boys, and the bones of many of her gallant sons lie bleaching on Southern soil.
The first marriage was that of John Turner to Matilda Simms. This event occurred as early as the fall of 1836. P. M. Ellis lost a child, July 10, 1835, and, a few weeks later, James Ellis, a brother, died. These were, doubtless, the first deaths that occurred in the township.
Bluff Lodge, No. 605, I. O. O. F, was organized at Cook's Mills in 1875. A charter was granted from the Grand Lodge to J. H. Crumm, Joseph Perry, David Perry, James Hamilton, George Crume and John R. Hamilton as char- ter members. Joseph Perry was appointed N. G. ; James Hamilton, V. G .;
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
John R. Hamilton, Sec. ; and J. H. Crumm, Treas. The Lodge has a mem- bership of sixty. Stated meetings occur Saturday evenings of each week. Present officers, William Hammer, N. G .; John Wilson, V. G .; E. Gilbert, Sec .; J. L. Skidmore, Treas .; and J. H. Crumm, Deputy G. M. for the Lodge. Liberty Lodge, in which is conferred the degree of Rebecca, was organized in 1878, and has a membership of twenty-nine. Regular meetings Wednesday evenings before full moon in each month. These societies meet for the transaction of business pertaining to the order in the lodge-room, over D. A. Crumm's store. The present officers of Liberty Lodge are: Amanda Hougland, N. G .; Eliza- beth Wright, V. G .; La Fayette Alaman, Sec .; and Mary A. Crumm, Treas.
While we have not seen fit to set apart and write up Cook's Mills as a vil- lage, it is no more than proper and just that we should speak of its advantages to the township. The saw and grist mill, with a well-selected stock of goods, the post office, a blacksmith and wagon shop, render it the center of attraction for the township, and the point at which most of the business is transacted ; and but for the lack of railroad facilities, it would, at no distant day, grow into a village of considerable importance. But isolated as it is from all other places of importance, with no avenues of ingress or egress except dirt roads, and these much of the season almost impassable, it must ever remain as it now is, a point of interest alone to the citizens of the immediate vicinity. In closing this section of our history, we can safely say that for industry and enterprise, for social and moral worth, the citizens of Okaw rank second to those of no other portion of the country.
PARADISE TOWNSHIP.
This township is situated in the extreme southwest corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by Mattoon Township; east, by Pleasant Grove Township ; south, by Cumberland County, and west, by Shelby County. In its primitive state, before the timber and underbrush were cleared away, for the earliest-made farms, three-fourths of its surface were woodland to one-fourth prairie. Its surface is for the most part rolling, and easily admits of drainage. The Little Wabash, a stream rising a little south of the center of Mattoon Township, flows in a southern direction through the western half of the town- ship, and, with its tributaries, effectually drains the central and western portions. Dry Grove Run, a small stream rising in the northeast corner of the township. and flowing south through a belt of timber of the same name, affords drainage for the eastern half. The extreme eastern and western portions are prairie, while the timber is found lining either side of the Little Wabash. There is, however, a small belt of timber in the eastern portion called Dry Grove, the aver- age width of which does not exceed one-half mile, and its length not more than two miles and a half. How it acquired its name, Dry Grove, we have not been able to determine. The soil, for the most part, is of a deep-black cast, very
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
rich, and produces well. The soil of the woodland, in the eastern portion, reduced to a state of cultivation, exceeds in richness and fertility even the adja- cent prairie. Like the surrounding townships, it is well adapted to the growth of the various cereals, but corn is the staple product. The western portion pro- duces fine wheat, and, for the past few years, quite an amount has been sown. Taking it one season with another, those possessing woodland farms are much surer of a good crop, than those upon the prairie, as the soil is generally more rolling, and of such a character as to withstand either a wet or dry season better. Much valuable timber has been removed from her groves, since the days of the early pioneers, and still there is much remaining. In different parts may be seen large tracts of woodland, from which the underbrush has been removed, well set in blue grass, which yields excellent pasturage. The Chicago Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad enters the township at the northeast corner of Section 3 and passing through in a general southwestern direction, leaves it at or near the center of the southern boundary of Section 21. The Grayville & Mattoon Railroad just touches the northeast corner of the township. Paradise contains no cities or towns, and but two small villages, Paradise and Etna, neither of which is incorporated. Of these, we will speak more specifically at the close of the township history. To offer, as a complete history of this section of the county, only what may be truthfully written of the township since reduced to her present limits, would be an act of great injus- tice to the descendants of her pioneers ; and yet, the early history and settle- ment are so intimately blended with that of the surrounding townships that to separate them with any degree of accuracy will be a task attended with no little labor and difficulty. Soon after the formation of Coles County, the territory comprising it was divided into three voting precincts, Charleston, Woodbury and Paradise. Paradise, at that time, included in addition to its present limits all the territory now embraced in Mattoon and Pleasant Grove Townships, a portion of North Okaw and a large scope of country in the present limits of Cumberland County. Thus we find that the name Paradise, as applied to a portion of the county, was almost cotemporary with the formation of the county itself. At a later date, we find it became necessary, in order to retain it, to submit it to a vote of the citizens. In the division of the county into townships, Paradise was made a full Congressional township; but a few years later, when Cumberland County was erected, she was shorn of her two southern tiers of sections ; this gave her her present limits, four miles north and south by six east and west. When the question of naming the township came before the people, two parties appeared in the field. The one, led by H. B. Worley, proposed the name Wabash, while the other, headed by Aaron W. Hart, adhered to the ancient landmark, and voted for Paradise. Hart and his friends carried the day. It is said by some, that as the village of Etna was just then start- ing up, and Worley was largely interested in her welfare, he designed, if the name Wabash carried, to go before the Commissioners, and, through his
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
personal influence, secure a change from Wabash to Etna. A decided majority in favor of Paradise put a quietus on all further proceedings in the matter of name.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
No little difficulty has been experienced in the attempt made to determine when, where and by whom the first settlement was made in the township. The statements of the oldest citizens of the present day are very much at variance on this point. The claims of one Daniel Drake seem to be more fully established than those of any other, and perhaps to him may be justly accorded the honor of building the first cabin and making the first improvement in what is now Paradise Township. Thomas Hart, son of Miles H. Hart, still resides in the village of Paradise, and from him we have gained the following statement of facts: In the fall of 1826, the Hart families came from Hardin County, Ky., to Wayne County, Ill., with a view to settling there. Silas Hart had settled in Wayne County as early as 1822. Disappointed in their expectations, the Harts determined to prospect the country further north, with the avowed inten- tion of returning to Kentucky should they fail in their attempts to find a desir- able location. In the winter of 1826-27, Miles H., Moses and Thomas Hart, Jr., left Wayne County and came north. On reaching that portion of the Little Wabash timber now included in Paradise Township, they determined to locate. Moses and Thomas, both single men, remained, and, during the winter, con- structed a cabin, near the site of the present residence of W. B. Ferguson, on what is now known as the Cunningham farm. Miles H. returned to his family in Wayne County, and, in March, 1827, Uncle Tommy and wife, Miles H. and family, came and occupied the cabin erected by Moses and Thomas. Soon after coming, they found, about four miles west of them, on the bank of the Little Wabash, about one mile south of the site of the present village of Paradise, Daniel Drake, from Tennessee, and from the appearance of his improvements, Mr. Thomas Hart is of the opinion that he must have come as early as the fall of 1825 or the spring of 1826. Settlements were made, no doubt, at an earlier date on the South Kickapoo, in what is now Pleasant Grove Township, east of the Hart settlement ; but the evidence is pretty conclusive that Drake was the first man to make an improvement in Paradise Township. It is maintained by some that one Thomas Wilmuth, a sort of second-rate shoemaker, had built and occupied a cabin or half-faced camp east of the Hart settlement, and prior to their coming, in March, 1827, and that he made the first settlement in the town- ship. His claims, however, seem not to be so well authenticated as those of Drake. In June, 1827, Charles Sawyer, who is recorded as the first settler of Mattoon Township, stopped a few days at the Hart settlement, and then moved north and west to his place of settlement. The settlers of 1827 were Daniel Drake, Uncle Tommy Hart and his sons Miles H., Moses and Thomas. There may, indeed, have been two or three other families, but, if so, their names have been lost or are incorporated with those of a later date. In February, 1828,
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
Silas and Jonathan Hart, the two remaining sons of Uncle Tommy, came up from Wayne County, and settled near their father. During the year, there was quite an influx of population. Among the number dating back to that period, we find the names of Jefferson Coleman, Jacob Slover, Isaac Slover and his son Jacob Slover, Jr., then a young man, Ichabod Radley and his sons Nicholas, Samuel, Hiram and Barney, familiarly known as Shoot, Jacob Bales and his sons Jonathan, Mace and Levi. Most of these were men of families. The Slovers, Radleys and Coleman were from Kentucky ; the Bales families came from Tennessee. These all settled in the timber east of the Little Wabash. In the fall of 1829, Dr. John Apperson and family, George M. Hanson and David Hanson came in. Dr. Apperson came direct from Virginia, while the Hansons, brothers-in-law, had come from the south part of the State. Apper- son purchased a small cabin from John Graham, a son of Rev. James Graham, one of the early pioneer preachers, whose history is given in connection with Mattoon Township. This cabin stood in the timber about one hundred yards east of the roadbed of the I. C. R. R. He paid for it the magnificent sum of $21, an amount of ready cash not possessed by one in twenty in that early day. Here he lived through the winter of 1829 and 1830. In the spring of 1830, he moved his cabin to the edge of the timber and broke and put in cultivation thirty acres of prairie. George M. Hanson located the farm now owned by John E. Trem - ble, and David Hanson the farm on which Dr. Apperson passed nearly fifty years of his life. And here an incident of pioneer life occurred which is well worth preserving. David Hanson, desiring to move to the National Road, which was then in process of construction, offered to sell his improvements to Dr. Apperson. The Doctor made the purchase, with the view of entering both Hanson's and his own improvements, so soon as the land should come into market. Before this was done, however, a man of the name of Ike Walker, encouraged by Sylvester Dunbar, his brother-in-law, having learned of Dr. Apperson's purchase, and that his own improvement was not yet entered, posted off to Van- dalia, the seat of government, and, taking the necessary steps, "entered him out." Soon the fact became noised abroad, and, in their indignation, the set- tlers, a few nights afterward, came with their teams, loaded up the Doctor's goods, tore down and loaded up the cabin, with every other vestige of improve- ment, and moved all to his late purchase. They even went so far as to kill a dog and throw its body into the well, with other rubbish. Having severed its head from the body, they placed it upon a pole and set it up in front of Dunbar's cabin, where Walker was stopping. This simple device was full of mean- ing, and, as it was a work in which the very best men of the entire neighbor- hood had played a leading part, Walker felt that, for the sharp game he had played, he had been ostracized. He made no improvement, and soon left the country. Dunbar tarried a few years later, and then also left.
The year 1830 brought into the settlement a number of families. From Kentucky, came William Bryant, James T. Cunningham and his mother-in-
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
law, Mrs. Yocum, with her sons Ambrose and Thornton, and her daughters . Fanny and Mary Jane. Her other daughters, Catharine, wife of Miles H. Hart, and Eliza, wife of Jefferson Coleman, had preceded her. While these settlements were being made along the eastern edge of the Wabash timber, and in the vicinity of what is now called Dry Grove, we find settlements multi- plying ; also on the west of Wabash River. As early as 1828, a man of the name of Joseph Smart made an improvement near the present village of Para- dise. Whence he came, or what became of him, no one seems to know. Farther west, we find as early settlers, the Currys, Moores, McIntoshes, Alex- anders, Crosses, Brinegars, Champions and others. Some of these came as early as 1828 or 1829, and all were among the early settlers of the country. A very large percentage of these early pioneers were from Kentucky. A few, however, came from Virginia, some from Tennessee, and still others from North Carolina. About the years 1831 and 1832, the Gannaways, Norrises and Nabbs put in their appearance. From this date forward, additions were con- stantly made to the various settlements, and to attempt to give the exact date, the names of parties, or the order in which they came, would be a work of supererogation.
Of the early settlements, it may not be out of place to remark that all were made either in, or very near, the timber. The monotony of the vast stretches of prairie on either hand were unbroken by the appearance of a single human habitation. Indeed, the early settlers never expected to see these broad and fertile plains reclaimed from their native wildness and reduced to rich product- ive farms. But, in a few short years, the tide of emigration swept by, and far away from timber on the open prairie, where once it was thought impossible that man should abide and gain a sustenance, the humble cabin was erected, the tough and matted sod was overturned and the golden corn rustled and waved in the autumnal breezes.
The people of to-day living in comfortable homes, equipped with the many improvements and inventions of modern times and beautified and adorned by art, have but faint conceptions of the difficulties and privations endured by the early settlers of this Western country. Most of them were men of large fam- ilies, and poor in this world's goods ; but they were men of stout hearts and willing hands, and, leaving the older-settled portions, came here in the fond hope of bettering their condition. The first care of the early settler, on arriv- ing at the end of his wearisome journey, was to provide for himself and family a suitable shelter from the bleak winds and pelting storms. Their homes, as a a matter of course, were of rude construction, but, by certain appliances well known to the pioneer, they were made very comfortable, and to-day many an old pioncer recounts as among the happiest days of his life those spent beneath the clapboard roof of his little old log-cabin. The homes of the early settlers presented to the eye much the same appearance both internally and externally ; their chief difference consisted in size, most of them being single, while a few .
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were built double. As the manner of constructing them has been accurately portrayed in other portions of this work, we deem it unnecessary to particularize. A house provided, next came the necessity of laying in supplies for man and beast. Game of all kinds abound on every hand. Deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, quails and such like, were here in plenteous profusion. The faithful dog and the unerring rifle seldom fail to bring the fat buck and plump, rich turkey to the cabin-door. Meat is easily supplied, but bread, the mainstay of life, is not so readily obtained. Corn is far away in the older settlements and must be brought by that fast express of early times, the ox-team. And when at hand, often the settler must make a pilgrimage of twenty-five to thirty miles to mill and wait a day and night for his "turn." And, gentle reader, should you wonder why the old pioneer speaks so often of the " johnny-cake " and hoe-cake, to the utter disregard of the snowy, light bread and flaky biscuit which you so much enjoy, let me remind you that one biscuit to each member of the family on Sunday morning of each week, or, perchance, once a month, was a luxury that few families enjoyed. Around the rude table, often consisting of a goods- box turned on its side, loaded with venison or fat turkey, with his johnny-cake, smoking-hot from the board, and that added luxury, wild honey, obtained from the bee-trees near his cabin, the pioneer, with his family, sat down and fared sumptuously every day. Generally speaking, the pioneers were men of simple habits, noted for their hospitality. They knew how to receive and bestow a favor. In this age of cultivation and refinement, they would, doubtless, be regarded by many as rude and uncouth ; but this was not the fact. The latch-string of their cabin-doors hung out by day, and this was a standing invitation to enter and share their comforts. Often a simple act of kindness has resulted in the establishment of a friendship between those who were strangers at the time which has remained unbroken throughout remaining life. Such an instance occurred in Paradise Township in an early day. Soon after the coming of Dr. Apperson, Silas Hart, in passing near his cabin, concluded to call and form the acquaintance of the new-comers. Riding up to the cabin, he discovered Mrs. Apperson weeping and in great distress. Exchanging the usual salutations with the Doctor, Hart inquired, "How are you prospering, and how do you like your new home ?" The Doctor replied that he was well pleased, but that his wife was fearful that starvation would overtake them, as their only supply was a small amount of meal. Without a word of encouragement or sympathy, Hart turned about his horse and rode away. In speaking of this in after years, Dr. Apperson often remarked that, at that time, he looked upon Hart as a man in whose soul there was no sympathy. Hart had not been long gone when the clear, ringing report of his trusty rifle resounded through the woods. He had sighted a fine, fat doe, and the game was his. Hastily removing the entrails, he placed the deer on his horse, in front of his saddle, and, in half an hour from the time of his departure, he again rode up to the Doctor's cabin, and, tumbling off his load, quietly rode away, leaving the Doctor in full possession. From
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HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY.
this simple act, there grew up a firm friendship between these two men which remained unbroken for almost half a century. Dr. Apperson was Hart's family physician as long as he lived, and for all his services he would never receive one cent of compensation.
But from this digression, we must hasten back to the main thread of our history. The early settlers of Paradise Township were highly favored in many respects, above others who settled in other parts of this and adjacent counties. About the year 1830 or 1831, Jacob Slover, who had settled in 1828, opened a store in one department of his double log cabin, then standing on what is now known as the Moffett farm. This was the first store opened in Paradise Town- ship, and, indeed, in all this section of country. Here the settlers came for miles around to barter their products for such wares and merchandise as they most needed. Wild honey was abundant in those days, and was taken in exchange for goods at the rate of eleven pounds to the gallon. In speaking of this honey, Mrs. Dr. Apperson, who is still living, says it had a much better flavor than any produced at the present day, and that, in appearance, it was so pure and white that strangers before whom it was placed often mistook it for lard. Some time after the opening of the store, Isaac Slover, a brother to the merchant, built a horse-mill in the immediate neighborhood. In point of speed, this was a great improvement on the grater and hominy-mortar. In a few years, these became obsolete, and were only preserved as relics of the past. Though the horse-mill, as has been said, was a wonderful improvement on the former methods of obtaining meal, yet it by no means equaled the water or steam mills of to-day. To grind out a grist of two bushels required a full day. Para- dise was blessed with a steam-mill as early as 1838; but as its history belongs more properly to the history of Paradise village, we will defer writing it till the village history is reached.
The spiritual and intellectual culture of themselves and their children was by no means neglected. Many of them were men of deep religious con- victions, and not a few were acceptable proclaimers of the Gospel of Peace. Among the early preachers may be mentioned the names of Revs. James Graham, George M. Hanson, Daniel Bryant, Miles H. Hart, Hiram Tremble, Dr. John Apperson, Clemence Goar and others, who are worthy of being here recorded, but whose names have passed from memory. Meetings were held in an early day in the cabins of Miles Hart, Dr. Apperson, John Sawyer and others, and when they met, the men clad in their homespun and the mothers and daughters in their linsey-woolsey, it was not for the young sisters to discuss and criticise the latest fashions, or for the boys to ogle the girls, but to engage in solemn devotion to the Giver of all good. Simplicity of manners was characterized by simplicity of dress, which, though plain, was always neat. After a week of hard, laborious toil, it was esteemed a blessed privilege to be permitted to ride five or six miles, on horse-back, to engage in hymning songs of praise to God and to hear the sweet words of Gospel truth, as they
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