USA > Illinois > Livingston County > The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 21
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It was several years before the pioneers erected a church edifice, but they were not heathens. For miles around, the community would, on a Sunday, assemble at the house of John Terhune, who possessed a book of sermons, and who would read to them on these occasions. Terhune was a man of education, who quietly came among these pioneers, and, after remaining a few years, departed as he came. His destination was not known, and the date of his departure is not fixed ; and, as he was of a retiring and unobtrusive disposition, but few facts concerning him can be obtained.
In 1834, William Royle, a Methodist preacher, established a mission in this locality ; but, as his circuit embraced such distant points as Waupansee, Ottawa and Mazon, he could only hold service here on a weck day ; yet men would
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
leave their work and come ten and even fifteen miles to attend religious service.
In the Fall of the year, the whole community-men, women and children- would yoke up their ox teams and go over to Mackinaw to attend camp meeting. This was considered the event of the year, and was eagerly anticipated by the young people, who had not many opportunities of enjoying each other's society and forming new acquaintances. Joseph C. Morrison, of Avoca Township, and now one of the wealthiest and most respected citizens of the county, was, at this period, one of the rising young men of the community. He says that the enjoyment of these trips could only be appreciated by a community placed in like circumstances.
Yet these pioneers were not without their amusements and recreations ; but they generally contrived to combine business with pleasure. James McDowell came twelve miles, with his father, to assist in raising the first cabin that was erected in Pontiac ; and he remembers it as a day given to pleasure.
Another popular amusement was to assemble the community for the " grand circular hunt." Having selected the territory, which embraced as large a tract as the number of hunters could command, they placed themselves in a circle, on the outside, and drove the game toward a common center. The game thus encir- eled consisted mainly of wolves and deer, which were always captured or killed in great numbers. The hunt, and especially the closing up of the circle, was exciting in the extreme, and no small amount of skill was displayed in the man- ner of disposing of the animals as they attempted to break through the lines of their persecutors.
The State paid a bounty for wolf scalps in those days, and this was a source of revenue to the settlers.
On one occasion, while Nicholas Heffner was both Sheriff and Tax Collect- or for the county, and Washington Boyer was School Commissioner, Heff- ner was taken sick, and requested James McDowell to go to Springfield for him and make a settlement with the State, and the School Commissioner, learning that he was about to make the trip, called on him and requested that he should bring back with him, from Springfield, the amount due the county from the State school fund.
McDowell mounted his horse and, taking a huge bag of legal tender, in the shape of wolf scalps, before him, set out on his journey, and, arrived at the State Capital, he not only paid the entire amount due the State in wolf scalps, but exchanged a sufficient number of the remainder with the State Treasurer, to cover the amount coming to the county from the school fund. Notwithstanding this remarkable instance of the profit derived from rearing wolves, their propa- gation is now entirely neglected in this county, and a wolf found occasionally is viewed as an object of curiosity.
James McDowell still flourishes in his pristine vigor, though upward of 60 years old. He owns over 2,100 acres of choice farming land in the vicinity where he first located, and is enjoying the competence he has so justly earned.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
It is a matter of wonder to many now living in the county, how the pioneers managed to live and rear large families where there was no money in the country, and no market for produce. In the first place, they did not go in debt, for they «could not do so; then game was abundant, and if it would not bring a price, it filled a very important place in the household economy. They raised their own .coffee, which was prepared from parched corn ; they made their own sugar, and :as for store tea, that was dispensed with. Then, again, a dealer from some of the earlier settled portions of the State, would occasionally ride through this region on horseback, and purchase a few steers at a very low price, but a little money went a great way with the fathers. Deer skins and the skins and furs of smaller animals always brought cash when they could be got to market, and occasionally a pioneer would collect these and push through to some distant point and, disposing of them, return with their value in money.
The introduction of a few sheep by Maj. Darnall helped matters very much. "The carding, spinning and weaving were done at home, and cost no money. This industry was first introduced into the community by the good wives of Maj. Darnall and A. B. Phillips, and was soon copied by other matrons. Taxes were very low; and if a settler of this period received from all sources an income of $15 or $20 per annum, he had sufficient to pay his cash expenses. The amount of money now paid for a new bonnet, or a Spring overcoat, would have sufficed to support a family at that time for six months." There were few schools for the children, and they were required to help carry on the farm work, and everything was made to count for what it was worth.
But what was already a difficult financial problem was made doubly so by the general crash which the year 1837 brought to all business and monetary affairs.
During the very year that saw our county legally organized, the State Legislature passed the bill for internal improvement at public expense ; and on the passage of this suicidal law, near ten millions of dollars were appro- priated for building a network of railroads all over the State, and work was actually commenced on them at various points. The scheme bankrupted the State, and, for nineteen years, Illinois paid neither principal nor interest on her indebtedness.
Emigrants avoided a State thus incumbered ; and one chief source of ready money (that brought by new comers) was denied to us. But the pioneers of Livingston, in this extremity, showed pluck and energy worthy of record. There being no market for anything in the interior of the State, they, with their ox-teams, hauled their produce to Chicago. and even drove their hogs across the pathless prairie to that point.
Joseph C. Morrison, who frequently made the trip with a drove of logs, tells us that it was accomplished in the following manner : A number of farmers would collect their hogs and start on the journey, agreeing to feed the hogs at night by turns, each in succession returning to his home for a load of corn,
Your's Tinly Q. F. Pewnie PONTIAC
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
from which the hogs were fed upon his again coming up with the drove; and thus, by relieving each other, they accomplished what would otherwise have been an impossible task.
When the slaughter house was reached, the hogs were dressed for the offal, and the dressed hogs were put upon the market : those weighing 200 and over generally selling at $1.50 per hundred, and those weighing less at $1.00 per hundred. A farmer made but one such trip during the year, and brought home with him the absolute necessaries of life.
The first mill erected in the county was run by horse power. It was built by Garrett M. Blue, near his residence, in Rook's Creek Township. This was justly considered by the early settlers, as a most valuable acquisition to the institutions of the county. The bolting was done by tacking a yard of fine muslin on a frame, and through this was rubbed, by the hand, small portions of the crushed wheat.
In 1838, the saw-mill at Pontiac was erected by C. H. Perry and James McKee, but a grist-mill was not attached for some years.
John Foster, who resides with his son Robert, at Pontiac, is the oldest set- tler in that part of the county. He reached that point from Cayuga County, New York, in 1836. Two deserted cabins were then the only buildings on the site of the now flourishing city. The land was then considered too low and swampy to be habitable. Foster saw the town laid out, and took the contract for building the first Court House, the price agreed upon being $800. The building is still standing near the M. E. Church, and is owned by Jacob Strea- mer and leased to the city for various purposes. Foster also kept the first hotel, and, in the early days, he entertained the Judge, attorneys, juries and litigants to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
In order to maintain his reputation as a landlord, he would, when a term of the Circuit Court was approaching, go out into the country and borrow bed- steads, beds and bedding, and what crockery there was to loan. This manner of procedure worked very well for a time, but on one occasion, the portly Judge David Davis, who had perhaps retired to rest with a heavy case on his mind, occupied one of the borrowed bedsteads, and he quashed it. The Judge was rescued from the debris by friendly hands; but the bedstead, as a bedstead, had lost its usefulness, and thereafter Foster found some difficulty in inducing his neighbors to loan furniture.
Foster, on these occasions, entertained Douglas, Lincoln, and other distin- guished lawyers, for the attorneys followed the judge from county to county. Lincoln, during one term of court paid his hotel bill by attending to a suit, in which Foster, as Constable, was concerned in the replevin of some goods taken on execution. Lincoln gained the case, and Uncle John formed a high opinion of his new boarder. Foster's recollections of these early days are vivid and interesting.
The amounts of revenue levied and collected during the first four years of the county's existence, commencing with the year 1837, are as follows: First
B
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
year, $113.71; second year, $109.80; third year, $180.56; and the fourth year, $166.26.
When it is recorded that the levy in the county for the year 1877 is about $400.000, the figures in the former years are as astonishing as the fig- ures in the latter year are astounding.
The first post office was that established in Pontiac, in 1837, and Cornelius W. Reynolds was the first Postmaster.
Letter postage was then twenty-five cents, payable either on mailing the let- ter or at the office where it was received.
No inconsiderable number of letters came to the office unpaid, and such was the scarcity of money that some of them would remain in the office for weeks and even months, before they could be taken out and paid for.
Martin A. Newman was the first Route Agent. He traveled on horseback from Ottawa to Bloomington, by way of Pontiac and Lexington, and made a trip in two weeks.
The first Court House was erected in 1839-40, by Henry Weed, Lucius Young and Seth W. Young. It was accepted from them, and a bond of $3,000 surrendered, in which they had stipulated to erect the house at their own expense, provided the county seat was located on the land selected by them.
The second Court House was erected under the county judgeship of Billings P. Babcock, and was as good a building as could be erected at that time for the money expended. Judge Babcock gave the same particular care to every item of its material and construction that he displays in his own financial affairs.
The previous year, Judge Henry Jones erected, at Pontiac, the first brick building ever erected in the county. It is the one that has recently been remod- eled. and is now occupied as a residence by Joseph P. Turner. The brick of which it was composed were purchased at Bloomington and hauled to Pontiac ; and, in stipulating with the contractors, Judge Babcock required the brick to be of as good quality as the material used in the building of this house. This opened up a new industry, and the first bricks were made during the same year.
The building was two stories high, having offices for the Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Sheriff and Treasurer on the first floor, and the court room and jury room on the second floor. In 1871, a fire-proof vault, in an added wing, was completed.
On the 4th day of July, 1874, this building was destroyed by fire, together with Union Block and the Phoenix Hotel.
The present Court House was erected the following year, and was com- pleted in the month of December, and dedicated by the first Old Settlers' meet- ing. This structure is one of the finest in the State. J. C. Cochrane, of Chi- cago, was the architect, and the contract for building was awarded to Colvin, Clark & Co., of Ottawa.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
To the Building Committee of the Board of Supervisors is due an honora- ble mention for the honest and satisfactory manner in which they discharged their duty, in this connection. The names of these gentlemen were James E. Morrow. Edson Wilder, Jacob Phillips, E. G. Greenwood, Wm. S. Sims and J. B. Parsons. The entire cost of the building and furniture was $75.000.
The first jail was built at Pontiac in 1866. Previous to that time, the pris- oners of the county were kept at Joliet, Ottawa or Bloomington, where such conveniences of civilization existed. In that year, a good substantial stone jail was erected at a cost of $18,000.
The first county election was at the residence of Andrew McMillan, a mile northwest from Rudd's Mill, on the north bank of the Vermilion.
The first County Commissioners and the first Sheriff performed the duties of their offices without any authority from the State, and, as they are all dead, the manner in which they obtained any authority to act will, perhaps, remain a mystery
The ancient archives of the county contain no certificate of election or other evidence that they held their offices by virtue of either election or appointment. The records of the Secretary of State, have also been ransacked to discover, if possible, a clue to the matter ; but nothing appears to indicate that either these or any other officers, previous to 1833, were legally qualified to act. In this year, Nicholas Hefner was duly elected and qualified to act as Sheriff.
It is known, however, that the form of an election had been observed, and that Joseph Reynolds had been declared Sheriff, and the Board of Commission- ers had appointed him Collector of Taxes ; and as no one desired to hold office in those days, no investigating committee inquired into the irregularity. The first marriage license issued in the county was made out by H. W. Beard, Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court, and it was, no doubt, intended to authorize Mr. Williamson Spence and Miss Mary Darnall to solemnize a marriage : but so far as the record goes, it only authorized the marriage of Williamson to Miss Mary Darnall ; so that, so far as the record has anything to do with the matter, the descendants of Spence are all Williamsons. It is not improbable that this clerk-H. W. Beard-was an old bachelor. and took delight in mutilating mar- riage licenses ; for the next license authorized Simeon Mad, instead of Simeon Madden, to marry Elizabeth Rutherford.
Since. that period, 6,000 marriages have been authorized by the various County Clerks.
Samuel C. Ladd came to Pontiac from Connecticut in October, 1842. Only two houses remain in Pontiac, which had been erected previous to his coming. One of these, is the old Court House, and the other is the building now occupied · by Samuel Mossholder as a dwelling. Seth W. Young was the first man to erect a house on the site of the city of Pontiac. He died at this place, as also did his brother, Lucius Young. They were interested with Henry Weed in securing the location of the county seat at this point, and after their death, C H. Perry, Henry Stephens, Samuel C. Ladd and some others became interested
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
C. H. Perry brought the first stock of goods to the county, but before he was established in business, S. C. Ladd bought him out. About this time, Mr. Ladd entered into partnership with Willet Gray, and they purchased James McKee's interest in the mill. Their store stood on the banks of the river near where Robert Aerl's feed yard now is. Ladd soon after erected a frame business building on the present site of Gunsul's livery stable; and, for several years, he and Gray, were the only resident merchants of the county. These mer- chants secured the services of John A. Fellows as salesman, and he was so popular that it was said of him that "he drew all the trade of the Vermilion Valley, and would have drawn more if the valley had been longer." C. H. Perry was then the capitalist. He brought to the place the first piano, the first "store carpet " and the first looking glass. His residence was a log cabin, and it used to be told how a horse once walked in at the open door, and stood surveying himself in Perry's looking glass, while he fought flies with his natural protector. The piano remained the only musical instrument of its kind in the county until Perry removed to Iowa and took it with him, and it was many years before its place was filled.
Samuel C. Ladd was, at once, an able and popular man. He has held the offices of Circuit Clerk, County Clerk, Recorder and Postmaster; and, in later years, he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue and filled the office accept- ably, from 1863 to 1869.
Emsley Pope, the pioneer of Newtown, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in the year 1797. and removed with his father to Champaign County, Ohio, in 1810. His father enlisted in the war of 1812, but was prevented from serving by siekness. Young Pope, then but 15 years of age, begged permission to go as his father's substitute, and, permission being given, he shouldered his musket and served during the war.
When peace was restored, he resided with his father until 1836, when he was married and came to this State, and located upon the identical piece of ground upon which he has ever since resided. His house, a double log cabin. erected forty-three years ago, still serves him for a residence; and, with the exception of repairs to the roof, it has remained without alteration from the date of its erection to the present time. The only tools used in its construction were an axe, a saw and an auger. The boards composing the roof are held in place by logs upon them, through which wooden pins are passed into the raft- ers. The flooring is also seeured by wooden pins, as are also the door and win- dow frames. The flooring and ceiling were hewn out : and the chimney was built of stone taken from the stream near by.
Pope's Spring, from which hundreds of red men have slaked their thirst, furnishes the family with an abundant supply of excellent water.
For a number of years after his arrival, his family, together with the families of Daniel Barrackman, Samuel Brumfield and Amos Lundy constituted the entire community. Their market was Chicago.
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
In the Fall of the year, Pope, Brumfield, Barrackman and Lundy would form a company for mutual benefit and protection ; and each man, with his rifle and ox-team drawing a load of corn, wouldl start for this distant market, making calculations to be absent from home for ten or twelve days. On the route, the company camped where night overtook them, and they never slept under a roof from the time of their departure to the time of their return. There was at that time not even an Indian trail leading from that point to Chicago, but these pioneers took their way over the unbroken prairie, guided by signs and indica- tions which never led them astray. Thirty bushels of corn was their average load : and for this, on their arrival at market, they received 12} cents per bushel, and only on one or two occasions did they receive as high as 15 cents. They rarely made more than two such trips in a year ; and the $6, $8 or $10 which they thus received was all the money they handled during the year, and most of this was spent in purchasing supplies in Chicago.
Pope was intimately acquainted with old Shabbona, the Pattawatomie chief, and holds his memory in great respect, and says that no white man was more welcome at his cabin than this Indian.
This kindly feeling was doubtless reciprocated on the part of the red man, for he frequently pitched his tent near Pope's cabin, on his hunting excursions along the banks of the Vermilion.
Wild turkeys and deer abounded, and when Chief Shabbona was successful in the chase, the spoils were generously divided with his white friend; and his coming was looked forward to with pleasant anticipations of a good time, and his departure was regretted.
On one of these occasions, Shabbona and the twelve Indian hunters who accompanied him, killed fifty deer, within a circuit of three miles, taking Pope's cabin as a center. This Chief must have been, in many respects, a remarkable man, as every pioneer who was acquainted with him bears witness to his char- acter for upright and honorable dealing. This speaks volumes for Shabbona, as the whites at this time were not disposed to regard the Indians with a favorable eye. Pope is still a hale and active old man, and will tell you, in speaking of the early period, that the pioneers enjoyed themselves fully as well as people do at the present day. His early friends and neighbors have long since passed away. while he remains, a link connecting the present with the past. He is cheerful, hopeful and perfectly contented with his lot. He is the father of four- teen children, many of whom are living and are honorable members of society. Pope is much respected in his neighborhood, and he will doubtless spend the remainder of his days in the county which he has seen transformed from a wil- derness to one of the finest agricultural districts in the State.
Martin A. Newman, of Newtown, justly claims to be the pioneer merchant of the county. He was born in Vermilion County in 1818, and removed to Ottawa in 1838. In the year 1847, he made a tour of discovery through Livingston County, and found that there was not a store of any kind within its borders. He returned
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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
to Ottawa and fitted up a peddling wagon, filling it with a great variety of merchandise, from a needle to a wash tub, and, with this traveling establishment, he visited every family in the county, once in every month of the year. In exchange for his goods, he took from his customers deer-skins, mink-skins, ginseng root, feathers and many other articles. He was a great favorite, and soon built up an extensive and Incrative business. When he was on his rounds, couriers would be sent out to ascertain when he would be at a particular point, so that the products of the country might be gathered. in readiness for exchange.
In the Fall of 1847, he purchased of John and Theodore Popejoy the skins of fifty-four deer, which they had killed in Avoca Township. In July of the same year, Joseph C. Morrison, who has before been mentioned, and who was the young man of the period and the leader of fashion, gave Newman an order to bring him, from Ottawa, a full suit of real linen clothes. It was strictly stipulated that the clothes should be delivered by the 3d, as there was to be a grand ball in Avoca on the 4th, and the dress suit was ordered for that occasion. Newman made the trip, executed the commission, and duly arrived in Pontiac on the 3d. Morrison was so well pleased with the fit and the price that he gave Newman an invitation to the ball ; and his attendance was most opportune, for the violinist hired for the occasion got tired, and Newman had to fill his place, which he did, to the satisfaction of all parties. When Newman now mects one of his old customers, it is pleasant to see the kindly look and hearty hand- shake that passes between them as the recollections of the past are called up.
There is much that might be added concerning many others who helped to develop this great county, which is necessarily omitted.
There was Nelson Buck, who loved his profession as he did his life; and Jacob Streamer, who has long been a resident, and is well known throughout the county. He has collected all local statistics and incidents sufficient to fill a volume. O. B. Wheeler commenced business by buying a steer for $5, taking it to Chicago, dressing it and selling the meat for $7.50. This started him in business, and he is now one of the wealthy men of the county.
The mention of Morgan L. Payne must not be omitted, as he was an old and well known resident. He was Captain of a company in the Black Hawk war, and performed distinguished service. He was a Texas Ranger when the war between Mexico and this Government was declared, and was in the first battle under Gen. Taylor, on the Rio Grande. When the time of his enlist- ment as a ranger expired, he returned to Greenboro, Indiana, and raised a company of militia ; and returning to Mexico, he served during the war. He was at the taking of Monterey, and the battle of the City of Mexico. He received an honorable discharge, and afterward filled many positions of public trust. When the war of the Rebellion was inaugurated, he raised a company of men in this county, was again elected and commissioned Captain, and served his country faithfully. This hero of three wars died at Pontiac, of cancer, in
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