The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 37

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 37

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A coal shaft was sunk near the village of Chatsworth, in 1867. by Capt. Beard, who had some connection at one time with the east shaft at Fairbury. A stock company was formed among the citizens of Chatsworth, of $10,000, but the stock was never all paid up. Enough, however, was collected to pay Beard for sinking the shaft, which was about 218 feet deep. The works were finally abandoned, upon the report of Beard that there was no prospect of coal. It is thought by some that a good vein of coal was found, but for some reason the fact was concealed, or at least never officially reported. One of the men employed in the work said to some friends one day, that they passed through a vein of coal about five feet thick in sinking the Chatsworth shaft. Whether this is true or false, we are unable to say.

The first grain elevator was built by Charles D. Brooks, in 1861, and was burned in 1866. He then built another, which he afterward moved to Piper City. Samuel Crumpton built one next, and then Havercorn & Mette built the one now occupied by A. B. Searing. Joseph Rumbold built one, which is now owned by Searing & Crumpton. The next was an old mill, moved up by the railroad, and changed into an elevator by Chas. Weinland, and is now owned by H. L. Turner.

* Their Principal and teachers for the coming year are not yet chosen.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

The mill above referred to was originally built by Wright, Williams & Crip- liver, and, after several changes, it was disposed of as already noted. Williams then erected his present steam mill, and commenced operating it in December, 1877. It is a frame building, with two runs of buhrs, and is used mostly for grinding corn meal and stock feed.

Another of Chatsworth's manufactures is the Star Wind Mill, which is put up by David E. Shaw. who is also the patentee of the Marvel Feed Mill, which is adapted to wind mills. Also, the wagon factory of L. C. Spiecher is quite an institution. He works seven hands, and make wagons and carriages principally.

Chatsworth has two banks-C. A. Wilson & Co .. successors to the Chats- worth Bank, and E. A. Bangs & Co. Both houses do a general banking and exchange business.

The Chatsworth Plaindealer is a five-column quarto newspaper. published by R. M. Spurgin, and is one of the flourishing papers of the county. It was established in November, 1873. by C. B. Holmes, and in August, 1876, passed into the hands of its present owner. It is an independent paper, and takes no particular side in politics.

The first religious society organized in the village of Chatsworth was the Methodist Church, in 1859, by Rev. M. Dewey. with about forty members. The charge. at that time. included Forrest. Five Mile Grove, Pleasant Ridge. Oliver's Grove and Bethel, with Rev. J. W. Flowers as Presiding Elder of the District. The society held their meetings in the school house, two blocks north of the railroad depot, until the year 1874, when they erected a good church building at a cost of about $2.500, in which they have worshiped ever since. having now upon the church rolls about 100 members. Adjacent, is a comfort- able parsonage, worth about $500, and both it and the church are free of encumbrance. Rev. Samuel Wood is the present Pastor, and Rev. R. G. Pierce. Presiding Elder of the District. The church was dedicated by Rev. T. M. Eddy, D. D., of Chicago, on the 30th day of November, 1864. The Sunday school of this society was organized in March, 1862. W. H. Wakelin is the present Superintendent. and the average attendance is about 100 children.

The Presbyterian Church was built soon after the village was laid out, and the society first organized in the school house, under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Thomas, who preached here and at a school house in Ford County on alternate Sundays. He then lived at Champaign. The first regular minister in charge of the society was Rev. Oscar Park. The present Pastor is Rev. Geo. F. McAfee, formerly of Missouri, but a graduate of the Northwestern Theological Seminary, and has in his charge about eighty members. A very flourishing Sunday school belongs to this church. The Rev. Mr. McAfee is Superintendent, and about one hundred and thirty-five children attend.

The Baptist Church was built in 1871, is a substantial frame building, 32x54 feet, and cost about three thousand six hundred dollars. Rev. A. Kenyon is

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

Pastor, with a membership of over one hundred. and an interesting Sunday school, of which A. II. Hall is Superintendent. There are two German socie- ties. the Evangelical Association and the Lutherans : but they have no church buildings, and we were unable to learn anything definite of their organizations.

The Roman Catholic Church was built in 1864, and dedicated, on the 17th of March, to St. Patrick, by Rev. Thomas Roy, President of St. Victor's Col - lege. The building cost about four thousand dollars. is a handsome frame. and was built under the pastorate of Rev. John A. Fanning, of Fairbury. Owen Murtagh, Patrick Monahan and William Joyce were the Building Committee. It was made an independent mission on the 22d of July, 1867, when the Very Rev. Learner Moynihan, formerly of New Orleans, and late of Jersey City, N. J., succeeded the Rev. Father Fanning. A flourishing Sunday school is attached, and the attendance, both at it and the church, are good.

Chatsworth Lodge, No. 539, A., F. & A. M., was chartered October 1, 1867. Jerome B. Gorin. Grand Master of Illinois, signing the charter, and H. G. Reynolds. Grand Secretary. The charter members were George R. Wells, E. L. Nelson, W. H. Jones, D. E. Shaw, E. A. Simmons, A. E. Anway. James Davis. J. H. Dalton, Charles L. Wells, Ira W. Trask, J. S. McElhiny and D. W. Hunt. D. R. Wells was first Master; D. R. Shaw, Senior Warden, and E. A. Simmons, Junior Warden. The present Master is N. C. Kenyon, and W. H. Wakelin, Secretary, with forty members.

Chatsworth Lodge, No. 339, I. O. O. F., chartered October 9. 1866, J. K. Scroggs. Grand Master, and Samnel Willard, Grand Secretary. Charter mem- bers-Arthur Orr, N. A. Wheeler, Peter Shroyer, T. L. Matthews, H. J. Roberts and G. W. Blackwell. Arthur Orr was first Noble Grand, and N. A. Wheeler, Secretary. C. Guenther is at present Noble Grand, and Arthur Orr, Secretary, with thirty-seven members.

Livingston Encampment, No. 123. I. O. O. F., was chartered May 31, 1871; D. W. Jacoby, .Grand Patriarch, and N. C. Nason. Grand Scribe ; J. B. Renne, first Chief Patriarch; Peter Shroyer, Scribe. L. C. Spiecher is at present Chief Patriarch, and P. J. Garhart, Scribe, with about twenty members on the roll.

Chatsworth has a well organized fire department, with a good volunteer company. Their engine is the old "Prairie Queen," formerly used in Bloom- ington, and this village bought it for $1,300, which, with hose and other equip- ments, runs the cost of the department up to about two thousand dollars. The company has been a valuable acquisition, and has saved to the town more than twenty thousand dollars' worth of property since its organization.

The bar is represented in Chatsworth by Hon. Samuel T. Fosdick and George Torrence, Esq. The former was elected to the State Senate in the Fall of 1876, on the Republican ticket, receiving 5,056 votes over C. C. Strawn, of Pontiac, Democrat, who received 4,313 votes. The Senatorial District is com- posed of Livingston and Ford Counties.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

The medical fraternity here are Drs. Charles True, D. W. Hunt, Wm. C. Byington and - Bostock.

John Walter, a merchant of the village, has a very ancient relic, and one to be highly prized. It is an old Bible, printed in 1536. The following is the inscription on the fly-leaf :

Printed in Zurich By

Christoffel Froschouer

and finished on 16 day of March MDXXXVI.

It is printed in the Swiss dialect of the German language, bound in heavy wood backs, covered with leather. with heavy iron clasps and corners. Mr. Walter claims that it is the oldest Bible, but one, in the United States ; and, for a book that is 340 years old, it is in a state of excellent preservation. It is profusely illustrated throughout the Old and New- Testaments with colored engravings of Bible scenes and incidents.

The village of Chatsworth has one of the most beautiful little parks in this section of the country. It embraces just one square, or block, in the village, and is very handsomely shaded with young maples, of which there are over 500 in the enclosure, making it a fine place to pass an hour or two of a warm evening. and a lovely promenade for the boys and girls, who

Find in their wooing much moonshine yearning.

Such as young folks always have when they are learning

to be sweet on each other, and yearn for moonlight, solitude and the "mourn- ful cooing of the turtle dove."

Chatsworth Cemetery was laid out January 4, 1864, and an addition made to it March 2, 1865. It is a pretty little burying ground, and the good order in which it is kept shows a high regard of the living for the dead. The first party buried within its silent shades was an old German laborer who lived, at the time, with Patrick Monahan, of Charlotte Township, and was buried on the spot, before the cemetery was laid out. as noticed in the history of the latter township.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

SAUNEMIN TOWNSHIP.

At the time of the formation of Livingston County, Saunemin, Sullivan, Pleasant Ridge and Charlotte Townships were comprised in one election precinct, and it so stood until the second year after township organization, when Pleasant Ridge and Charlotte were struck off, as noted in another place. When all four of these towns were embraced in one, it was called Saunemin, after the old sachem of the Kickapoo Indians, and was given to the precinct by Oliver, of the present township of Chatsworth, who settled there when Indians were plenty in the country, and knew the old chief well. The present township of Sannemin is about seven-eighths prairie to one-eighth of timber. The prairie lies in gentle swells, just sufficiently rolling to drain well, but not enough so to wash, or to be termed knolly. The native timber is embraced in Five-Mile Grove, lying along the borders of Five-Mile Creek. and is a body of very fine timber but in the midst of a prairie country. like that by which it is surrounded, it is too small in quantity to be of any material benefit, or very profitable for building purposes.

The first settlement was made in Saunemin Township in 1845, on Five-Mile Creek. in the northern part of Five-Mile Grove. The honor of making this first settlement is given to David Cripliver and his two sons, Joseph and S. P. Cripliver. Joseph. who had settled in Wolf's Grove several years prior, came to this section and made the claim. and then the family came on, as stated above. in 1845. They came from Indiana, and on their arrival in Five-Mile Grove. went into and occupied the old " Survey hut," until they could erect a cabin of their own. Joseph Cripliver says when he first settled in Wolf's Grove in 1841, there were but eighty-two voters in the entire county. Criplivers sold their original elaim to John Ridinger, then took up the claim where they still live. The elder Cripliver is dead. but his wife is still living, and makes her home with her sons.

John Ridinger was the next settler after the Criplivers, and, as already stated, bought their original claim. He was also from Indiana, and settled here in the latter part of 1850, and is still on the place where he first located. The following settlers were also from Indiana, viz. : Thomas and Robert Spafford and Samuel Scott. The Spaffords were originally from England, but had lived some years in Indiana before settling in this township in 1858. They had made their first settlement in Avoca Township, where they remained two years, when they came to their present settlements. Scott became dissatisfied soon after his settlement, sold out and removed to Missouri. Being discontented there also, he returned to this township within three months from the time he left it, and died in 1874.

Samuel L. Marsh is a genuine New England Yankee, and came from Wor- cester County, Mass., in 1856. He settled first in La Salle County, where he remained two years, when he removed to Saunemin, and settled where he now

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

lives. He is an enterprising and thrifty farmer : has a good farm, and is well prepared for a "rainy day." whenever it may come. When he settled here. he found quite a number already in the township. among which were the Cripliv- ers. Ridingers. Scott. and the Spaffords. who have already been noticed in the early -ettlements. There were living here at the time. also. the following families. viz : T. W. Bridia. Jason Tuttle. Thomas. Oliver and John Smith-three brothers-Joshua Chesebrough. Thos. Cleland. Rev. Felix Thornton. Wm. Young. Robert Miller. John S. Thomas. James Funk and a young man named Walter Good. Of these. T. W. Bridia came from the Green Mountains of Vermont originally. but settled first in Green County. in this State. in 1837. where he remained for twenty years before coming to this neighborhood. He male a claim here. upon which he still lives. His wife. however. why shared with him his early toils. has been dead several years. Jason Tuttle came from New York about 1854. He settled in Michigan. where he remained some years. when he removed to this township. where he still lives. Thomas. Oliver and John Smith, and Joshua Chesebrough were from Ohio. and settled here-the Smiths about 1854-5. and Chesebrough a year or two later. Thomas Cleland settled here about the same time. He was a blacksmith. the first in the township. and is now living in Pontiac. Rev. Felix Thornton. who is noticed as one of the early settlers of Sullivan. and as the first minister in that town. settled here in 1858. and some years later sold out and removed to Iowa. William Young came from New York in 1855. and bought the place where Mariner now lives. He is dead. and his widow is married to Mariner. James Funk settled in the neighborhood in 1852-3. and came from McLean County to this town. He opened the place where 'Squire Bridia now lives. and. becoming dissatisfied. sold out and removed to Missouri. but after a time came back to this settlement. and died in 1807. His widow lives in the south- ern part of the township. near the iron bridge over the Vermilion River, between this and Indian Grove. Robt. Miller came from Marshall County. near Lacon. to this settlement in 1856. John S. Thomas was an Englishman. and

.. Had roamed through many land -.

He came from Plainfield. in this State. and settled in this township about 1855. As stated. he was from England. and seems to have been a kind of roving character. as it is said that he had been all over the world. But he per- manently settled here. and died in 1573. but his widow still lives on the old homestead. Walter Good. a single man. is among the early settlers of this town. but of him little is known bevond the fact that he enlisted in the army during the late war. lost a hand in battle, and never returned to this neighborhood. These names comprise the settlements made up to a period so modern that all who have come since cannot very well be placed under the head of early settlers.

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

The sound of the Gospel is almost coeval with the first settlements of Sau- nemin Township. The Rev. Felix Thornton was the first regular preacher. although there had been sermons preached and religious service- hell before he settled in the neighborhood. The first permanent church society was formel by the Methodists. in the school house. near where the Bethel Church now stands. Through the influence and untiring energies of Rev. John Wilkerson. Pastor, at that time. of the congregation. funds enough were raised to buill a church. and the work was commenced. Rev. Mr. Wilkerson. however. wa- transferred to another field of labor before the building was finished When completed, it was dedicated by some eminent divine from Chicago, whose name our informant had forgotton. It is an elegant frame, and was finished an opened for worship in 1872. It is known as the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. and numbers eighty members. A Sabbath : chool. under the superinten I- ence of Mr. C. C. Boys. has been established by the church, and is. at the present writing, in a very flourishing condition and well attendedl.

A society of the Christian Church was formed in 1871. in the same school house in which the Methodist Church was organized. They have no church building, and still hold their meetings in the school house. Rev. W. P. Carith- ers organized the church. and is still its Pastor. with a membership of eighty-six. A large and flourishing Sunday school is maintained. with William Watts as Superintendent.

The United Brethren formed a church in this township in 1867. under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Elliott. Rev. Mr. Robinson was the first United Breth- ren preacher in the neighborhood. The Rev. Mr. Mitchell is the present preacher. and the school house is used as their sanctuary.

There has also been a society of the Presbyterians recently organized in this school house .* Formerly. there was a Congregational Church in the township. but it dwindled down to a handful and then died ont. and this Presbyterian Church has been organized on its ruins. Rev. D. A. Wallace is the present Pastor. A Union Sunday school of this and the United Brethren is carried on at the school house. where the churches hold their religious meetings.

The first school house was built of logs, about the year 1854. and Miss Julia Hamlin is supposed to have taught the first school in it, which was the first in the township. The first school house built by public funds was in 1863, and Mrs. Bridia, nee Lilly, taught the first school in it. She commenced her school in the little log school house. before this was finished, but, on its completion. moved into the new edifice. where she finished out the session. The first School Treasurer in the township was Thomas N. Smith. The first school record we were able to find dates back to April 7. 1862. On this date, the Trustees held a meeting. The Board, at the time, was composed of Jason Tuttle. John Cotrell and S. P. Cripliver. There seems to have been but little business transacted. save the apportionment of the funds on hand. which amounted to $556.72.

*Bethel Methodist Church is the only church building in the town.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

among the three school districts then in the town. Two new districts were created at this meeting, as previous to this date the entire town was one school district. Samuel L. Marsh was elected School Treasurer at the regular meet- ing, April 11, 1864, an office he still holds. At the annual meeting, April, 1867, we find there were five districts, and there was the additional sum on hand of $222.03, which was apportioned among the five districts as follows, viz. : District No. 1, $102.13; District No. 2, $64.60; District No. 3, $21.71; District No. 4, $20.02; District No. 5, $13.52. From Mr. Marsh's last annual report we take the following :

Number of males in township under 21 years.

Number of females in township under 21 years. 244

240

Total. 484

Number of males between 6 and 21 in township.

169

Number of females between 6 and 21 in township. 156

Total. 325

Number of males attending school. 166

Number of females attending school. 122

Total. 288

Number of male teachers employed.

Number of female teachers employed. 14

Total 20

Estimated value of school property. .$4,000 00

School fund of township. 8,071 25

Tax levy for support of schools. 1.529 84

Highest monthly wages paid teachers. 45 00

Lowest monthly wages paid teachers 28 00

Whole amount paid teachers. 2,088 33

There are at present nine School Districts in the town, in eight of which there are good. comfortable frame school houses. and the coming Winter there is a house to be put up in District No. 9, which has recently been created. The Board of Trustees at present is composed of the following gentlemen : William C. Burley, Wm. T. Bridia and James M. Rhodes.

Joseph Cripliver was the first party living in Saunemin to perpetrate the act of matrimony. He married in Grundy County in 1851. The first marriage ceremony solemnized in this township was Miss Scott (now Mrs. Mariner) and William Young, but the exact date of it we were unable to learn. Catherine Ellen, daughter of Joseph Cripliver, was the first birth in the township, and occurred in January, 1852. The first death was probably the wife of John Martin, in March, 1855. A couple of twin children of John Ridinger died in March, 1855, also, and some are of the opinion that they died before Mrs. Mar- tin, while others believe to the contrary.

A sad occurrence which took place in this township will come in appropri- ately in this connection. In the Summer of 1858, a woman was drowned in Five-Mile Creek, about one mile from the present residence of S. L. Marsh.

James derunter PONTIAC

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

She was traveling through the country alone, and had called at the house of Mr. Thomas the evening before she was drowned, but had not, it seems, given a very definite or satisfactory account of herself, and had left late in the evening. The next day she was found in Five-Mile Creek, "cold in death." Who she was. whence she came, or whither going, none ever knew beyond mere supposi- tion, which was, that she belonged to a company of emigrants who had passed that way some time before; had become dissatisfied and homesick, and was try- ing to get back to the old home of her childhood, when fate overtook her, and her destiny was brought to an abrupt close. The people generously and kindly took the remains and decently interred them in their little grave yard in Five Mile Grove. There they still repose, and her friends, if she had any, are igno- rant of her fate to the present day.

Saunemin Post Office, the first in the township, was established in 1869, and A. W. Parks was the first Postmaster. He held the office for two years, when George D. Paddock became Postmaster, an office he still holds. The first store was opened by Paddock in the Fall of 1871, and is still in successful operation. It is located in the little village of Bethel, or, more properly speaking, Saunemin. The Methodist Church, which is located here, is called Bethel, and hence the name is often applied to the village, while the name of the post office is Saune- min. Another store was opened here in 1874, by J. H. Richter, which still exists, but the stock has run down, it is supposed for the purpose of quitting business. In addition to the two stores mentioned, and the church, there is a good, comfortable school house, a shoe shop kept by Homer Tiffany, a black- smith shop by A. W. Young, and some half a dozen residences. These items comprise the hamlet or village of Saunemin.

T. W. Bridia was the first Justice of the Peace in this township, and the first Supervisor after Sullivan was separated and set off. Thomas Cleland was the first blacksmith, and for a number of years the only one in the township. The first bridge in the town was a rude wooden affair, built over Five Mile Creek. In the Fall of 1876, an elegant iron bridge was put up over Five Mile. Creek, where the principal road crosses leading to Pontiac.

Mr. Cripliver informed us that, when he settled in Five Mile Grove, there was not a family living nearer than five miles. They used to go down in Indian Grove, visiting, and thought that but a short trip. The small body of timber in Five Mile Grove did not present many attractions to those in hunt of homes, and the value of the prairies was yet undiscovered.

When Sauncmin included Sullivan, Pleasant Ridge and Charlotte in its territorial limits, and after the county had adopted township organization, Isaac Wilson, now of Pleasant Ridge, was the Supervisor. After they had been divided up, and Saunemin became a township of itself, T. W. Bridia was the first Supervisor and Joshua Chesebrough the first Town Clerk. At present, the township officers are as follows : Thomas Spafford, Supervisor ; Thomas Spafford and Geo. D. Paddock, Justices of the Peace : O. II. P. Noel, As-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

sessor ; George Dally, Collector; C. F. H. Carithers, Town Clerk. George Langford, of this township, was elected Clerk of Livingston County, and held the office for the term preceding Mr. Wait, the present incumbent, discharging the duties with entire satisfaction to himself and the county.

The little cemetery in Five Mile Grove was laid out in the early settlement of the township. The first of the grounds was one acre donated by John Ridinger, and afterward the town bought one acre more, and then had the cemetery incorporated. As stated in another place, Mrs. Martin and Ridinger's twin children were among the first burials in it.

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The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 37

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