The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 30

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron
Number of Pages: 884

USA > Illinois > Livingston County > The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 30

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A short time since, Hawkeye Bill. a notorious desperado and murderer, on his dying bed made confession that, at the time of the inurder of Mary Murphy,

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

he was fully cognizant of all of the facts-that he was a confederate of Bill Britt, Jo. Montana and Charles Logue. He says that these three men were on a horse stealing expedition, and were camping for a few days in the timber, near Pontiac, and that the three were the guilty parties. He gives dates and circumstances with so much precision as to leave but little doubt that they were the actual murderers. He further states that Britt and Montana have since been hung for other crimes, and that Logue has died in prison.

The Reform School at Pontiac, though a State institution, is mentioned here for the reason that the city and township of Pontiac were interested largely in securing its location at this place. The Legislature had passed an act allowing certain towns, possessing specified natural and already acquired advantages, to compete for the establishment of the school in their midst. After due examina- tion by the commission appointed for that purpose, and hearing the proposi- tions from each locality, they settled on Pontiac; and the building was con- pleted and ready for occupants in 1870. George W. Perkins, former Warden of the Illinois Penitentiary, was selected as Superintendent, and in his charge the school remained until 1872, when the present efficient Superintendent, J. D. Scouller, was appointed. Through his kindness we are able to give the fol- lowing items in relation to the institution :

There is belonging to the institution, in land, 280 acres, which is worked by the inmates. A system of thorough drainage has been commenced, and $5,000 have been spent for the purpose, including 3,000 feet of sewer from the main building.

The buildings alone are valued at $110,000. Over 6,000 shade and fruit trees have been planted. The inmates have a large play ground of several acres, including an excellent base ball ground.

An additional building, called a Family Building, has recently been erected, where about thirty of the better class of boys will reside apart from the others. Great good is expected from this classification by the managers.

Five teachers are employed, also a farmer, engineer, baker, overseers of shops and others to the number of eighteen employes.

The school was opened for the reception of boys, in June, 1871, and to this date there have been 756 admitted. There are at this time in the school 194.

Between seventy and eighty are employed making shoes in the factory con- nected with the institution. Nearly 300 pairs are turned out daily. The con- tractors, Messrs. Tead & Son, pay eighteen cents per day (of six hours each) for the services of each boy employed.

About sixty of the smaller boys are engaged in caning chairs for the Bloom- ington Furniture Manufacturing Company. This branch is not profitable, but keeps the boys busy, and teaches them habits of industry.

The rest of the inmates are employed on the farm, in the laundry, bakery and garden, and at miscellaneous labor.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

All clothing worn in the institution is manufactured by the inmates. Besides these duties of six hours' labor each day, all attend school four hours. All of the common branches are taught, and several of the boys have taken Latin and Greek lessons. The course of instruction is very thorough, the school being well graded, and competent teachers employed. The library consists of 1,500 volumes, and many of the boys spend all of their spare time in reading. Over twenty magazines and papers are taken for the inmates, and all are read eagerly.

A large number of those committed, on entering the institution, can neither read nor write, but, when discharged, many of them are fair scholars, and have obtained and are holding responsible positions.

Nine hours are allowed for sleep, and the rest of the twenty-four is spent in play and at meals.

The Board of Trustees, at present, consists of Obadiah Huse, Evanston, Illinois ; Solon Kendall, Geneseo ; and J. F. Culver (resident Trustee), Pontiac, Illinois ; Dr. J. D. Scouller, Superintendent.

Visitors are welcome at the school from 1 to 3.30 P. M., on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and on Sunday at chapel services, at 2 P. M.

Pontiac has been honored above any other town in the county, by the number of persons selected from among her citizens for positions of honor, trust and profit.

William T. Russell, who was the first Supervisor of the township, was also the first Sheriff after the " Act for Township Organization " had been adopted. For a number of years, after his term of office had expired, he was a resident of the city. He is now engaged in farming.

S. S. Saul was from Pennsylvania, and came to Pontiac to teach school in 1854 or '55. He was elected to the office of County Clerk in 1857, and held. the position until 1861.

Through the instrumentality of Saul, J. F. Culver removed to this place in 1859. Previous to his coming, he had been employed by the County Clerk to assist in the office. After the expiration of the term of office, Mr. Culver was elected Justice of the Peace, which office he resigned in 1862, to enlist in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment. He was elected Captain of Co. A, and served through the war. On his return, he was elected to the office of County Judge. He still resides in Pontiac, and is engaged in banking and real estate business. Mr. Culver has probably done more work, physically, relig- iously and politically, for his age, than any other man in the county, having held alnost every office of honor and trust in the gift of the people.

John W. Smith came from Ohio, and engaged in teaching in this town in 1859. In 1861, he was elected to the position of County Superintendent of Schools. In the discharge of the duties of the office, he was one of the most active and faithful servants the county has ever had. He too, resigned his office to take part in putting down the rebellion, and received a wound, from which a man with less pluck would have died. He, however, lives, and is engaged in the drug and book trade in this city.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

E. R. Maples is a synonym for " good fellow." He was one of the most genial, warm-hearted men that Pontiac ever knew. He held the office of Sheriff from 1860 to 1862. He died about a year ago: his residence prior to his coming to Pontiac was Chicago.

Job E. Dye was an early resident of the county, and made a good Sheriff. Since then he has been engaged in the grain business.

Time and space will allow only the mere mention of others, of whom we can only stop to say, they have filled their places in a manner that has given the county no cause to regret their elevation to their several places of trust.

J. W. Strevelle, member of Legislature, two terms ; L. E. Payson and Jonathan Duff, cach County Judge, one term ; J. E. Morrow, John A. Fellows and William H. Jenkins, each Circuit Clerk, one term; C. C. Strawn and William T. Ament, each State's Attorney, a term ; O. F. Pearre one, and H. H. Hill, County Superintendent of Schools, two terms ; James II. Gaff, Sheriff, one term ; M. E. Collins one, and William B. Fyfe, Treasurer, two terms.

The first coal was raised at Pontiac January 12, 1866 ; the first lump taken from the shaft being now in the possession of Jacob Streamer, with that date attached. The shaft was sunk on contract for the Directors of the company, by Isaac Custer. This work, with the buildings, cost the company $10,000. The shaft was sunk to the depth of 253 feet, but a vein at 175 feet is the only one worked to advantage. The charter members of the company were: S. C. Crane. President ; J. Duff, John Dehuer and Thomas Wing, Directors. The enterprise has not, on the whole, been very successful. Over $100,000 has been spent, and owing to fires and other misfortunes, it has scarcely in its his- tory been on a paying basis. In February of 1871, the shaft and all of its interests were sold to Messrs. Franz, Campbell & Bullock, of Woodford County, for $45,000. It is now under control of W. H. Levers, who has operated it for several years past. Statistics in regard to its present workings are not obtainable. and are necessarily omitted.

The Chicago & Paducah Railroad, at first called the Fairbury, Pontiac & Northwestern Railroad, was built through this part of the county in 1871. The city of Pontiac and township took a lively interest in procuring its location through this part of the county, and voted the company a donation of $50,000 to effect the purpose. While some may doubt whether the interests of the city have been enhanced by the location of a second railroad at this point, it will hardly be disputed that the farming community has been greatly benefited. Much has been saved in the way of freights, as by means of this line, competi- tion has produced lower rates than otherwise would have prevailed. Small towns have sprung up along the line, and, while they have taken some trade from Pontiac, they have proved to be a great convenience to the sections in the midst of which they have been located.

As an indication of the amount of business done in this city, no page could be written that would give the reader as good an idea as the follow-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

ing items, furnished by the agents of the two railroads at this place, for the year 1877 :

CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD.

Received from freights forwarded. $26,233.30

Received from freights received. 20,703.33

Ticket sales 14,641.49

$61,578.12

CHICAGO & PADUCAH RAILROAD.

Received from freights received.

$11,250.00

Received from freights forwarded. 6,100.00

Ticket sales. 4,250.00

21,600.00

Total from both roads .. $83,178,12

One of the results of the late war was to bring to the North a class of people previously but little seen north of the Ohio River, and, in Pontiac, almost a curiosity. Soon after the proclamation by the President which struck the bonds from several millions of these people, they made haste to profit by that act. The North had been almost drained of its laborers who had gone to accomplish indirectly this very result. Peculiarly so was this the situation in this vicinity in the year 1864. Harvest was coming on. It was great, and " the laborers were few." A few of the leading farmers in this vicinity sent a committee to Cairo, where a number of these emancipated people had gathered, and induced them to come to Pontiac. Quite a large number of families came, and were quartered for a year or two on the farms of their employers. Grad- ually they have concentrated in the city, until, with the additions made by sub- sequent immigration, nearly three hundred have found homes in Pontiac. Though their educational and moral progress has not been so rapid as was hoped by their friends, yet, taking their poverty and their former condition into account, it must be admitted that their condition is quite satisfactory. Many of them have built and furnished little homes for themselves ; their children attend school; and, as for piety, they certainly excel.

THE VILLAGE OF RICHMOND.

The reader will not be troubled to wade through statistics, as to this item, as the only thing to record is its history, and that of an ancient nature. Still, it is history, and not fiction, that we write; for, though the reader may never have heard of it, the town of Richmond did exist. Not only so, but it was the rival of Pontiac, and but for a very small circumstance would doubtless have been by to-day the most flourishing city in the county. Richmond was located two miles east of Pontiac. It was regularly laid out and platted, by Franklin Oliver, County Surveyor, for Henry Jones and Henry Loveless, June 23, 1851. Rumors of a railroad through this section were afloat; and that being a nice location for a town, and that point in the river being a good one for a railroad crossing, it was not doubted by its friends that this would be the favored point.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

Stores and shops and a school house soon sprang into existence ; lots were dis- posed of for good prices ; dwellings were built, and everything indicated a rising town. But alas for human hopes and desires ! The road lacked just two miles of passing through the historic village, and its bright anticipations burst like a bubble and vanished almost as quickly. Some of the buildings were moved to Pontiac, some did service afterward as stables and granaries, and the only monument that now exists of the once sprightly little village is an open space just south of Philip Rollings' house.

INDIAN GROVE TOWNSHIP.

The magnificent body of timber called Indian Grove, from which this town takes its name, and which extends from Belle Prairie into Avoca Township, is one of the earliest settled portions of Livingston County. Indeed, the very first settlement made in the county was at the head of this grove, as noted in the history of Belle Prairie Township, and, a few months later, white men were found in that portion of the timber lying in Avoca ; while not until the Fall of 1831 was there a settlement made in what is now Indian Grove Township.

The first to locate in this immediate vicinity was Joseph Moore. He came from Overton County, Tenn., and arrived here in the Fall of 1831, as already stated above. Ilis journey to the new country was not accomplished with all the ease and pleasure that would attend a similar one at the present day. When we reflect upon the improvements made in the mode of transit in the last forty or fifty years, we look back to the period of the early settlement of this section of the country with a kind of pity for what the pioneers had to undergo in making it what it now is. This man came through from Tennessee on horse- back, or rather his wife came on horseback and carried their only child, an infant, in her lap, while he trudged along on foot. He staked out a claim in the timber bordering Indian Creek, on which he permanently settled. He lived an honored and respected citizen of the neighborhood, and died in Octo- ber, 1851.

A. B. Philips, commonly known as Barney Philips, settled here the next Spring. He, also, was from Tennessee, and an old neighbor of Moore's in the "land of cotton " before removing to the West. Mr. Philips is still living, a thrifty farmer, in the vicinity of where he settled forty-seven years ago. A son of his is mentioned in the general history as the first white child born in Livingston County. Judge McDowell relates the first meeting with his father's family, of Philips, which is referred to in the history of Avoca Township, as showing the quiet manner in which the people lived in those early days, and the interest a new comer in the neighborhood excited. Philips, who was hunting some hogs that had strayed away from his place, came unexpectedly on the McDowell Camp, and seemed speechless from wonder in finding white people so near, while, from his backwoods dress, the McDowells did not, at first, know

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

whether he was a white man or Indian; but soon learned, however, and a pleas- ant acquaintance was formed, which proved of mutual satisfaction.

Rev. John Darnall, a brother of Martin Darnall, the first settler of Belle Prairie, came to Indian Grove soon after Barney Phillips, and in the same Spring. The first preacher in the new settlement, and a man of a good deal of native intelligence, he was a kind of leader in all religious, social and political affairs.

Malachi Spence and his son, James Spence, and Richard Moore settled here a year or two after those already mentioned. The latter was from Overton County, Tenn., and the Spences and Darnalls from Kentucky. Mrs. Glenn Phillips, a widow lady, came from the same neighborhood in Tennessee, and about the same time that Richard Moore and the Spences came to the settle- ment.

This comprised the first batch of settlers in what is now Indian Grove Township; and some of them are still living on their original homesteads, while those who have died or removed to other States have left honored representa- tives behind them. Rev. John Darnall sold out some years ago and removed to Oregon. Malachi Spence is dead, but a son lives at the old home. Mrs. Phillips is also dead. Richard Moore and Barney Phillips are still living in the township.

In 1834, another delegation of Tennesseeans came out and settled in Indian Grove, viz .: Francis J. Moore, Jonathan, a brother; Lewis Moore, a cousin, and David Travis, who was quite an old man at the time. These came together, and were from the place before noted-Overton County, Tennessee. Several other families came with them, but settled in what is now Belle Prairie Township, where their history is given. Francis J. Moore first settled on the west side of the grove, but in a year or two " swapped" claims with a neigh- bor, and moved over on the east side, about five miles from the present village of Fairbury. He is still living, an active man for his time of life and the rough scenes through which he passed in the early days of the country. David Travis, not liking the outlook of frontier life, after a year or two, returned to Tennessee, where the remainder of his life was spent. Lewis Moore followed him in a few years ; Jonathan Moore died in 1841.

This section of the country, at the period of which we write, was embraced in McLean County, and the land was not yet in market when these settlements were made. Mr. Moore says it was the custom to blaze out a claim and squat wherever one was suited, provided no one else had a previous claim ; then it was not always pleasant or healthy to intrude. For many years, all new comers settled in and around the timber, without the remotest idea that the prairies would ever amount to a "pinch of snuff" for anything but pasturage. And to talk with the old settlers now, who came to the country forty or fifty years ago, nothing in the way of its development seems to surprise them so much as the settling up of the prairie land; that where, at the period of their first

Yours Respectfully

CHATSWORTH

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

acquaintance with the country, grew the rank grass and weeds, and wild flowers, should now be the most productive and flourishing farms, is a point that puzzles them to the present day.

A few years later, probably about 1835-6, a man named Donohoo, and two sons, Wilson Y. and Jefferson Donohoo, settled in this neighborhood. The old gentleman and Wilson Y. are dead, but Jefferson is still living on the old homestead. Rev. Robert Smith, a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher, settled in the township about the same time. He was originally from Kentucky, but came from Sangamon County to this place. This includes all the settlers in Indian Grove Township, until the virtues of the prairies were discovered and the people began to settle away out from the timber, on the great plains.

When the first white people settled here, they had to go some distance to mill-to Green's mill, on Fox River, near Ottawa, and on Crow Creek, below Peoria. To the latter mill Mr. Moore informed us that he made his first mill trip, and was gone a week. The distance was sixty miles, and was the best chance for grinding in their reach, until a mill was built on the Kankakee River, at Wilmington, which was about as far away as the one on Crow Creek. It was sometimes about as hard for the new comer to find grain as to get it ground after he had got it, for no one had been in the country long enough to have an over-supply. There was no mill in this township until the erection of one in the village of Fairbury, except a little horse-mill built by one Smith, about the year 1840.

For many years, Bloomington was the post office, and, at the time of the first settlements in this section, contained but one little store, which was kept in a small log house, and in it also was kept the post office. The postage on letters was twenty-five cents, a sum not always at the command of the fortunate one to get a letter; and as a consequence, their mail would sometimes have to lie in the office a considerable length of time before the much-wished-for twenty-five cents could be procured.

The first road through Indian Grove Township was the State Road leading from the east line of the State to Peoria, but has been obsolete for many years. In those early times, the settlers hauled wheat to Chicago, and congratulated themselves highly if they were so fortunate as to get fifty cents a bushel for it. Chicago proper was not. The city had not yet risen from the bogs and marshes of Lake Michigan, and the great grain market there was not what it is to-day. Several farmers would join in a company, and, with their wagons loaded with wheat, drive through to Chicago, camping out at night, as their load of wheat would hardly have justified the paying of a tavern bill. Times, since then, have changed.

The first birth in this township was that of John R. Phillips, a son of Bar- ney Phillips, and occurred May 9, 1832. He is mentioned in another page as the first white child born in Livingston County, and received a touching tribute from the fact of having died in the army during the late war. The first wed-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

ding solemnized was that of John Darnall and Keziah Spence. They were married by 'Squire John Thompson, of Mackinaw, in the early part of 1832. Esther Spence died in 1832, and was buried in the little graveyard situated on the line between Indian Grove and Belle Prairie Township, near where Martin Darnell originally settled. This was the first death in the Indian Grove settle- ment, and perhaps the first in the county. Her coffin was made of walnut slabs split out of the tree, hewed down and then dressed smooth. The first Justice of the Peace was Rev. John Darnall, who, in addition to being a preacher, was a Justice of the Peace, Postmaster, and a man of considerable importance in the neighborhood. He was the first Postmaster, and was commissioned some years after the post office had been established in Avoca Township. His appointment came about in this wise : As the country settled up, the people of the neigh- borhood concluded they must have a post office, and accordingly petitioned for one. The name of Robert Smith was mentioned in the petition for Postmaster, but as he was the only Whig in the settlement, and Long John Wentworth, of Chicago, then a strong Democrat,* and Representative of this District in Con- gress (and this, it is said, was about the center of his district), thought it would not do to have a Whig Postmaster, and so, without leave or license, had John Darnall appointed instead of Smith.

It is not positively known who the first doctor was to practice medicine in this township. Some are of opinion that Dr. John Davis, mentioned elsewhere as the first physician in the county, used to extend his professional visits to this section, while others think that Dr. Ostrander, an old physician of Avoca, who, in the early times, practiced all over the eastern part of the county, was the first regular physician. It is altogether probable that the latter supposition is correct, for at that period there were very few families living in Indian Grove timber but had had occasion for Dr. Ostrander's services. It is told of him that a patron objected, one day, to the amount of his bill, when the Doctor informed him, very confidentially, that if he knew the cost of the medicine he had used in his case, he would not be surprised at his bill being so large. Upon his patron's expressing some curiosity, the Doctor told him that the medicine he had used cost $2,700 an ounce ; that it required the services of ten men four months to gather one ounce, and that nine out of the ten lost their lives while at it.

The sound of the Gospel was heard in Indian Grove Township almost as soon as the pioneer's axe. Rev. John Darnall was a Baptist preacher, and the first to proclaim the word of God in the new settlement. Rev. Robert Smith, a Cumberland Presbyterian, was the next preacher. He made an effort, soon after he came to the settlement, to establish a Sabbath school, but was opposed by Rev. Darnall, who took ground against it, denouncing the measure as a kind of speculation, and drew a ludicrous illustration from the story of the Good Samaritan ; though just where the analogy came in, no one was able to discern.

*Some of his old Democratic friends here have lost faith in him since he has turned Republican, and don't swear by him as they did twenty-five or thirty years ago.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

Mr. Darnall seems to have been quite a remarkable man, and possessed a very independent way of his own. It is related of him that he was preaching one day to a large congregation, and had occasion to quote a passage from St. Paul, after which he emphatically remarked : " But I do not agree with Mr. St. Paul." And upon another occasion, he made a lengthy quotation from the man of Tar- sus, when, in a spirit of the most unbounded liberality, he observed : " And I partially agree with St. Paul." The only churches in the township, outside of Fairbury, are the Union Church, in the southern part, and the Ormish Church, in the southeastern corner. Of the latter, we have been unable to obtain any definite information. The Union Church was built in 1857. and is occupied principally by Baptists and Christians, who have their regular days, and both have established societies. As long as he lived in the country, Rev. John Dar- nall was the leading light of the Baptists, while the Rev. David Sharpless was long a leader among the Christians. Rev. John Miller organized the first society of Christians about the year 1858, and soon after the completion of the church. Rev. Dr. Green preaches for the Christians at present, and Rev. Mr. Thompson, of Ottawa, for the Baptists.

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The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 30

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron Number of Pages: 884

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron
Number of Pages: 884