The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 51

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 51

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Supervisors.

Town Clerk.

1870.

Bronson Smith.

E. C. Keeler.

1871

Bronson Smith

G. B. Hogaboom.

1872

Lucian Bullard.

A. L. Gooding.

1873.

J. P. Knight A. L. Gooding.

1874.

Bronson Smith J. B. Hinman.

1875.

E. W. Dickinson

J. B. Hinman.

1876

I. J. Krack.

C. L. Coyner.

1877.

I. J. Krack.

Jas. E. Riley.

1878

Stephen A. Hoyt

Jas. E. Riley.

Other township officers at present are : J. P. Knight and Jacob L. Spoor, Justices of the Peace ; L. Bullard, Assessor : and J. G. Fitch, Collector.

The Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad was built through Forrest in 1857, and its history here is but a repetition of that in other portions of the county as given in the chapter devoted to Indian Grove and Chatsworth Townships. An item, however, gathered in Forrest regarding this road is additional to its history as already received. We learned from good authority that the Illinois . Central constructed the line, or contributed very liberally to its construction,

from El Paso to Gilman, for which they obtained a twenty-years lease of it between those points. thus making a connection between their main line and their Chicago division. From its early troubles it has grown into one of the great thoroughfares of travel and traffic through our country. The town gave no assistance, beyond the right of way, to the Chicago & Paducah Road, which crosses its southwest corner, and which was built through this section in 1872. The people would not agree to pay any interest on bonds until the road was completed, and voted that way. This did not satisfy the Company, as they could not use bonds which bore no interest, and so changed the route to cross the T., P. & W. Road at Fairbury instead of Forrest, as was at first intended. The road has two small stations or shipping points in this township, viz. : Nor- man and Murphy. The former place contains a store, post office, blacksmith and wagon shop. The post office was established in 1875, with W. T. Kerr as Postmaster. F. M. Dwyer is the present Postmaster. The first store was opened by Kerr and Cording, in January, 1875. In 1877, Cording bought out his partner, since which time he has conducted the business. The blacksmith shop is kept by F. M. Dwyer, and the wagon shop by Albert Walter.

Murphy Station is known as McClary post office, and is but a shipping point a few miles north of Norman. The Postmaster at McClary is Geo. W. Nelson, who lives on a farm close by. J. F. Stratton, who keeps a small store and buys grain, attends to the business of the post office.

Forrest Township was named for Forrest Village, and Forrest Village for Forrest Township, and both for a Mr. Forrest, of New York, who was the busi- ness partner of Mr. Frost, President of the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad, when the T., P. & W. was known by that euphonious title. It was first called Forestville,* but at the special request of Mr. Frost, was changed to the name of Forrest, his

* Spelled with one r, but the present name is spelled with two.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

partner, and who, he promised, would do something handsome for the young village-a promise however, which still remains unfulfilled.

Among the more prominent citizens of Forrest we may mention Hon. A. A. Burton, Hon. Lucian Bullard and Messrs. Bronson Smith, I. J. Krack and S. A. Hoyt. Judge Burton was born in Garrard County, Ky., and graduated in Transylvania University, at Lexington, after which he studied law under Gen. Leslie Coombs, of Frankfort, and was appointed Criminal Judge, by Gov. Letcher, the second year after his admission to the bar. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Kentucky many years ago, and sought to have a clause ingrafted in the constitution, looking to the gradual emancipation of slaves ; and was one of the very first men in the State to publicly proclaim abolition sentiments. He was Chairman of the Kentucky delegation to the Convention at Chicago, in 1860, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for Presi- dent, and elector for the State at large in Kentucky during the canvass. Mr. Lincoln appointed him United States Judge of Dakotah, and a few years later, Minister to Bogota in the United States of Colombia, South America, which position he held for six years. After his return from Bogota he resumed the practice of law in Kentucky, with an office in Washington, D. C. And in 1871, from his knowledge of the Spanish language, was appointed Secretary and Interpreter of the San Domingo Commission, and furnished a full report of the proceedings of the Commission to the Government. A few years ago he removed to Illinois and settled in the township of Forrest, near the village of that name, where he died on the 13th of July of the present year. He owned about 800 acres of land in this township, and 1.300 acres in Minnesota ; the latter yielded him last year about 30,000 bushels of wheat. Judge Burton entertained the most unbounded veneration for President Lincoln, and had care- fully preserved in his spacious library a rail draped in mourning, to which is- attached the following certificate :

DECATUR, ILL., June I, 1860.

I do hereby certify that the piece of rail this day delivered to Dr. G. W. McMillan to be by him sent to A. A. Burton, of Lancaster, Ky , is from a lot of 3,000 made by Abraham Lincoln and myself in this county, and that I have resided in this county ever since that time.

his JOHN X HANKS. mark 1

Attest : R. J. OGLESBY.

He has carefully kept this relic of the honest "old rail splitter," and when he fell by the assassin's hand, he draped it in mourning, and so it remains to the present day. His library contains over a thousand volumes, and to it is added an extensive cabinet of curiosities. Although the place was draped in mourning for its late master, we received permission to visit it and examine the relics and curiosities. In it are many valuable works rarely found in a private library, among them seventy volumes of Voltaire in the French language, and over one hundred years old ; also several volumes in Spanish that bear date away back in sixteen hundred. Among his relies and curiosities we noticed a por-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

trait of the Haytian Liberator, Toussaint l'Ouverture, which bears the following inscription :

A. A. BURTON, Garrard Co., Ky.

Presented by F. L. DUTHIERS,

Port-au-Prince, IFuyti, February 14, 1873.

Engraved from the only genuine portrait of Toussaint Jean Dominique l'Ouverture in the Soulongue Palace, near Port-au-Prince.

He also has a portrait of Pizarro and a piece of his battle-flag, a sketch of Simon Bolivar in Spanish, a piece of rosewood labeled "a piece of Washington's coffin," and a vast number of curious South American relics, together with a large ornithological collection from the same country. Among his pictures is one representing the Savior of the world, at 12 years of age, disputing in the Temple with the chief priests and doctors of the law, painted on wood by Vas- quez, and which is over two hundred years old; also, one of Maria Theresa, by the same artist and of the same age. Another relic, preserved by him with much care, is a silver cross, beaten out of the crude material by a converted Indian and carried to Rome to be blessed by the Holy Father. The degree of LL.D. was conferred on Judge Barton, a short time since, by Center College, of Danville, Ky., one of the proudest institutions of learning in the State. Embraced in the Judge's spacious grounds is a handsome deer park of several acres, and in which are some dozen or more deer of various sizes and species.

Hon. Lucian Bullard, the present Postmaster at Forrest, was elected to the State Legislature, in 1874, on the Republican ticket, where he faithfully served the people of his district.

Bronson Smith has served his township six years as Supervisor. His great- grandfather settled in the old town of Milford, in the New Haven Colony, originally, but in 1773 moved to Washington, Conn. He had ten children, and when the youngest died, their combined ages were 900 years. Mr. Smith attended the centennial of his family in New England in 1873, at which were present 150 members of this Smith family, and it was known of a certainty that there were living at that time 225 members of that direct branch of the Smiths.

I. J. Krack, the present County Treasurer, has been one of the leading spirits of Forrest from the first settlement of the place. He was elected Treas- urer of the county in the Fall of 1877, an office his honor and integrity eminently qualify him to fill.

Stephen A. Hoyt is another of the solid business men of Forrest. He came here before the town was laid off, and almost before there were settlements made in it. Honesty and industry have built up a large business for him. and he ranks among the heaviest grain dealers in the county. He handles lumber, also, and in the early days of the village sold lumber to this entire section. In one year, he informed us, he paid the T., P. & W. Road $10,000 for freight on lumber alone.

Forrest Township is Republican in politics-indeed, has long been one of the strongholds of that party in Livingston County. According to its popula-

C.C. Shaun

PONTIAC

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

tion, it gives larger Republican majorities than any other township. Its war record is on a par with other sections of the county.

THE VILLAGE OF FORREST.

Forrest village was surveyed and laid out by Alfred C. Huetson, County Surveyor, for I. J. Krack, the original proprietor of the place, on the 11th of December, 1866. It originally embraced parts of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter, and parts of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter, and the northeast quar- ter of the southeast quarter of Section 3. He has since made two additions to it. and Bullard has made one addition, February 9, 1876. Forrest is situated on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad, about equidistant between Fairbury and Chatsworth, and has about five hundred inhabitants. The first house was built by Mr. Krack, and he was the first Postmaster and Station Agent of the railroad. The post office was a diminutive affair then, and it is still remem- bered by many how Krack used to carry the entire office in his hat. Hoyt. who in those early times used to make frequent trips to the village of Eureka dear hunting, says that he would ask Krack to look over the mail, after it was thrown off the train, and give him his, and Krack would empty the mail bag on the ground, sort over the letters, hand out those belonging to him, and he would step on the train before it pulled out.

The village was organized under the incorporation act, in 1870 ; the first meeting held on the 20th of February of that year. At this meeting C. W. Wilson, J. F. Dennis, W. D. Lce, M. Clement, E. Shaw, J. Keller were elected a Board of Trustees, and organized by electing Elias Shaw, President, and John- son Keller, Clerk. The Board qualified before S. A. Hoyt, Justice of the Peace. The present Board is L. Bullard, President; H. C. Twitchell, Clerk : and J. A. Coyner, J. L. Delatour, D. Duckett, S. A. Dunham, P. W. Burgess.

The first hotel in Forrest was built by William Umberfield, in 1870, and is now known as the "Forrest House," and is kept by Robert Russell, while Mr. Umberfield, the original proprietor, keeps a hotel and restaurant on the north side of the railroad. The only mill in the village or township was built by R. B. Wilson, about six or seven years ago. It is a frame building, and cost $1,500; has two run of buhrs, and is used mostly in grinding stock feed.

I. J. Krack built the first grain elevator put up in the village, about 1861-2, to which Hoyt & Beebe have made large improvements and additions. It is provided with "grain dumps," and is run by steam, and is one of the best appointed elevators in the county. Hoyt & Beebe handle annually about 300,000 bushels of grain-mostly corn-the larger portion of which they ship east. They likewise handle stock extensively. Miller & Kelly built the East Elevator, now used by Burgess & Son, who do a large grain business. It is estimated that Forrest handles annually over a half million bushels of grain, as well as being quite a stock market.

530

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, the first church edifice in Forrest, was built in 1868. The first preacher was Rev. Myron Dewey. When he first came to the charge, Mr. Krack says, he presented a rather unministerial appear- ance. He was riding an old gray horse, with a blanket, and without saddle or stirrups. He rode up to his place, alighted from his horse and came into the yard, where he (Krack) was dressing a hog; informed him that he was the preacher sent by conference to that charge. Krack looking at him, replied, "Are you ?" and continued at his work, thinking, as he says, that he was rather a hard-looking specimen for a preacher. But he was a good man, and labored faithfully in the church at this place. The next minister was Hiram Popejoy. of Avoca Township, who, according to his own story, was rather a hardened youngster in his youth, but being converted at Fairbury, finally decided that he was called to preach, and was sent to the charge at Forrest, where he re- mained two years. Contrary to the saying that "a prophet is without honor in his own country," he was very successful in his pastorate, and left the church in a flourishing condition. The edifice is quite an elegant affair, and cost $8,000. It was dedicated by Rev. Alexander Meharry, of Cincinnati, on its completion, and is, at present, under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Eignus. The church numbers about 150 members, and maintains a flourishing Sabbath school, with an average attendance of about seventy-five children, under the superintendency of E. R. Francis.

The Congregational Church was organized in June, 1866, with an original membership of six persons; but the church building was not erected until sometime afterward. It was dedicated June 4, 1874, by Rev. Dr. Roy, of Chicago. Rev. H. G. Pendleton, now of Chenoa, was the first Pastor, and was succeeded by Rev. W. E. Catlin, who continued in charge until 1871, when Rev. David Sherrill became the Pastor, and still remains in charge. The membership, at present, is eighty-six. The Sunday school was organized about the same time as the church society ; at present, it is attended by about ninety children, in charge of E. P. Beebe, Superintendent.

Both the Masons and Odd Fellows are represented in Forrest by flourishing lodges. Forrest Lodge, No. 614, A., F. & A. M., was chartered October 5, 1869, by H. G. Reynolds, Grand Master, and the official warrant is signed by O. H. Miner, Grand Secretary. William D. Lee was the first Master. At present Fred. Duckett is Master and W. D. Corrie is Secretary, with forty names on the roll of membership.

Good Will Lodge No. 379, I. O. O. F., was instituted January 9, 1869, by J. W. Ellis, Grand Master, and Samuel Willard, Grand Secretary. The first officers were J. A. Fulwiler, Noble Grand, and S. A. Hoyt, Secretary. At present James E. Riley is Noble Grand and R. M. Odell is Secretary.

The elegant village school house was erected in 1869 at a cost of $6,000 : is a two-story frame building, and a model of architectural beauty. The full corps of teachers for the coming year are not yet selected, but, so far as chosen.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

are Prof. H. H. Grafton, Principal ; Miss Alice Clement, Teacher. The average attendance of pupils during the school term, is about 140.

We have written of fires in Livingston County, until it has become an old song. Forrest, as many other prairie villages which have sprung up like Aladdin's castle in a night, as it were, and built almost or wholly of pine lum- ber, has been deluged in fire. In the early part of the Winter of 1868-69. its citizens,

Newly risen from troubled sleep, Stared with uncomprehending eyes, On homesteads smoldering, black and bare, Beneath the dreary Winter skies.

About six buildings were burned, mostly business houses, and some of the largest in the village, including the East grain warehouse. The loss was esti- mated at between sixty and seventy thousand dollars, which was but partially covered by insurance. However, with that indomitable energy characteristic of the western people, their buildings were at once replaced, and soon all traces of the fire-fiend were completely obliterated.

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP.

Although the history of this township has quite an ancient flavor, being almost contemporary with the oldest settled neighborhoods in the county, yet we are not left in uncertainty as to the foundations of its growth, as the very first settlers within its limits are still among us. and their memories being yet unim- paired by hardships or age, we are privileged to draw from them the stories of its earliest life.

Probably no township in the county numbered, in its early days, so many men of earnest and stern purpose, or of such positive character, as did this. They were men whose aims were not solely to make homes for themselves, with- out a thought for the welfare of the balance of humanity; but it seems to have been a characteristic of them that their chief desire was to benefit oth- ers. Accordingly, we find its first settlers engaged in such enterprises as would be of mutual benefit. In morals, education and religion, this community took the lead. The first attempt at newspaper publishing was made here ; the first church building was erected in this township; the first and only school designed for a higher course of instruction was organized in Newtown Township. This, too, was the very center for that class of philanthropists then reproached with the epithet "Abolitionist." Not only were many of the citizens members of the society, but all of their institutions, including their church and school, had the reputation of being organized and conducted in accordance with the ideas which their founders promulgated. Doubtless, most of the leading citizens were ultra on the subject, and doubtless, if tradition is to be relied on, much aid and comfort was given to the colored man, especially to such as were so fortunate as to make their way this far on their road toward freedom, and thus causing much

532

HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

sorrow to his former master, or his agent, the pursuer. There is but little doubt that the vicinity was well known and described to the dissatisfied slave in many localities in the South, as a station on the underground railroad, and that the name of the agent, conductor, and other officers of the institution, located at this point, were minutely given to such as desired passage.

Somewhat previous to the development of the peculiarities of the community, however, two or three persons had come into the neighborhood and located, the first of which was Emsley Pope, mentioned more at length on a former page. He was a native of North Carolina, and, as has already been hinted, was a man of much more than ordinary combativeness. This seemed to be his peculiarity, as long as his physical ability warranted him in cultivating the propensity. It is, however, notorious that he always contended for right, and was seldom adjudged second best in the result. He is still living on the old place, of which he has been a resident forty-five years.

Ewin Houchin was the second settler. He came to this part of the State in 1835. He had, however, lived in what is now Logan County, for five years previous to coming to this place. He located in the northwest part of the town, about two miles from the present site of Streator. He claims to be the only man now living who built a house or cabin in the county previous to the Fall of 1835. Mr. Houchin has been a very successful farmer, and, by industry and economy, has accumulated a large property. He says that when he came to the county, a young man of 21, he worked many a day from sunrise till sunset for 25 cents per day, and was glad to take his pay in goods at prices that would be deemed exorbitant at the present day. He split more than 100,000 rails ; has hauled oats to Chicago for 10 cents per bushel, and pork at $1.50 per hundred, and went to mill twenty-four miles distant, waiting five days for his grist.

M. A. Newman came to the country in 1838, and was traveling merchant for all this part of the country, and for many years was personally acquainted with every family in the county. In 1850, having frequently visited this neigh- borhood, he located at the place now occupied by the village of New Michigan. A settlement had been made in this vicinity, which bid fair to be a thriving community, and Newman conceived the idea of establishing here a town ; so, proceeding to Danville, he pre-empted the land, the claim of which he had already bought. On the 7th of November, of the year named, E. B. Oliver surveyed for Newman the plat of the village, from the northeast quarter of Sec- tion 22. At about the time that Newman commenced his peddling operations, several families moved to the community.

Enoch, John and Amos Lundy and their brother-in-law, Thomas Copes, came from Logan County. They proved to be first-class citizens, whose words were counted to be as good as their notes. Samuel Broomfield came from Ottawa. He was somewhat peculiar in some respects, more especially in his notions on the subject of religion. He greatly deplored the wickedness of the world, but,

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

curious as it may seem, placed the responsibility on the Creator. He reasoned that if God created everything, He was also the author of sin. Further, that if God is omnipotent, He is not only able to control sin, but to abolish it; and that He is, therefore, directly guilty of all of the wickedness in the world. He made frequent appointments to preach his peculiar doctrine, and discoursed on the subject with much ingenuity, but with poor success in the way of conver- sions. A favorite method of presenting his faith was to arraign the Author of the Universe as a criminal before a bar of justice, and then bring witnesses to prove Him guilty. On other subjects Broomfield was sane, and transacted busi- ness with the utmost precision. Jacob Phillips came, with his father. from Ohio. The elder Phillips was a very zealous Methodist, and practiced the religion he professed. Jacob Phillips is still a resident, and is one of the old- est settlers in this part of the county.

From 1840 to 1850, Charles Paget, John and M. A. Smith, Charles Dixon, Zephaniah Schwartz, James Calder, Wm. Bowman, James and Malley Brown, Charles, Harvey and Samuel Thompson made their appearance. Charles Pa- get's advent into the township marks the beginning of that decided agitation of the Abolition movement which has not only made this town notorious, but has had great influence in molding the public sentiment of the whole county. He was perfectly fearless, and made assaults on the institution of slavery in every place and under all circumstances; and neither threats nor bribes were sufficient to cause him to hold his peace. The ground of his agitation has now passed away, and Paget's voice is not heard advocating the cause of the down- trodden race ; but the work of liberation is credited to him, with others who were bold enough to speak his sentiments in that time. Mr. Paget is still a resident of the township, and is engaged in buying and selling cattle. The Smith families are still represented in the town, though the two original settlers of that name are both dead.

Zephaniah Schwartz came here from Magnolia and lived until a dozen years ago, when he moved to Streator, and opened the hotel now known as the Streator House. James Calder came to the township nearly forty years ago, and still resides here. John Calder, father of the above, was originally from Scotland. He died recently at the advanced age of 93, and at the time of his death was the oldest Freemason, with two exceptions, in the State. His wife, to whom he had been married sixty years, still survives, at the age of 82.

The Browns, with their father, were from Magnolia. The elder Brown died years ago, but the two sons still reside in the township. Charles Harvey was a hunter and trapper, and made his home for several years in the timber, making the business of hunting his only occupation. In the time of which we write, game of all kinds was very plenty, and old settlers are wont to tell how they killed a dozen deer in a day, sometimes bringing down two or more at a single shot. Wild turkeys and prairie chickens were so plenty as to become almost an annoyance. Harvey moved further west some years ago.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

Samuel Thompson lived here a few years, and then changed his residence to Reading, where he still resides. Moses Rummery still resides here. He came to this vicinity in 1853. Mr. Rummery is known as one of the old " wheel horses " of anti-slavery, and has never been known to let an occasion slip of punishing his opponents when words would tell upon them.

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The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 51

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