The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 54

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 54

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Number of schools. 12

Number of scholars enrolled. 431

Number of persons between 6 and 21 579

Number of persons under 21 846

Number of teachers 19

Amount paid to teachers for the year. $3,410 00

Whole amount expended for school purposes. 4,476 00

This township is quite well supplied with church privileges. Besides those afforded by Streator and in other adjoining townships, there are four very com- fortable and convenient buildings, situated in different parts of the township. In the village of Reading, the Methodists erected a house of worship in 1857.

A year or two later, the Protestant Methodists, in conjunction with the Christian' or Campbellite denomination, built a Union Church at Ancona. A few years later, in 1867, a Union Church was erected at Coalville, which, how- ever, has since been used mostly by the United Brethren society. In 1871-2, the Presbyterians, who had for some years been worshiping in the Methodist Church at Reading, erected a neat little house of worship a couple of miles northwest of the village.

All of these buildings are occupied by flourishing societies of the respective denominations. Sunday schools are kept up at all of them, and also in some of the school houses besides.

No township took a livelier interest in the defense of the Government in the great struggle against those who would have destroyed it in 1861-5. Reading Township furnished men for the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, the Seventy- seventh, and several other regiments, many of whom received deadly wounds, and some fatal ones. Of those who proved their valor by such a precious sac-

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

rifice, the following are remembered : Andrew S. Bradford, S. H. Henion, David Jones, Marion Rush, William T. Boyd, Fred. W. Hall, James H. Chrit- ten, John Roberts and Stephen Shipley.

Politically, until within a few years, this township has been a Democratic stronghold, whose fortifications were impregnable to any assault which the enemy could make. However, lately, on local questions, factions of both Republicans and Democrats have united, and formed the Anti-Monopoly or Greenback party, so that it would not be safe to state positively that it belonged to either of the old parties.

VILLAGE OF READING.

Excepting the county seat, this is the oldest laid out town in the county, having been surveyed and platted previous to 1851. In the year named, it was surveyed by Franklin Oliver for David Boyle and Caleb Mathis, from the southeast quarter of Section 15. Scarcely a prettier location for a town could be found in the whole county than this. The ground is high and dry ; and being on the bank of a fine little stream of water, good drainage is rendered easy. The first house built in the village was put up by L. S. Latham. Dr. Follet built an office near the same time.

The parties who laid out the town were also interested in its business and its early improvement; and David Boyle, who was one of the proprietors, and Jeremiah Mathis, brother of the other, built the first store house. Mathis also built a hotel, and was the conductor of the same. About this time the coal mines in this vicinity were being developed; and people from all sections of the country, within fifty miles, came here for coal. Being unable to make the trip in one day, and sometimes having to await their turn, necessitated hotel accom- modations for those who were obliged to stop here over night. So extensive did this business become in a few years that three hotels were at one time in successful operation. Those times are all passed; and the weary and worn traveler, unless he be so fortunate as to find a friendly villager who will take him in, must pursue his tedious journey a few miles further. Dr. J. Hill came in soon after the town was established, and built a residence and opened an office.

C. R. Kyser, who had been living in the township, came to the village and built a blacksmith shop, and carried on the trade.

Jacob Bussard, in partnership with William B. Lyon, opened up a store a short time after. They afterward dissolved, and each carried on the business independently, thus making at one time three flourishing general stores. Prior to the establishment of Reading, the people in all of this section of country went to Lacon and Ottawa to do their trading; and, consequently, this enter- prise, in connection with the coal banks, drew a large amount of business to this point. The town grew rapidly, and bid fair to be a place of importance; but rail- roads, built soon after in other parts of the country, drew business and capital away from the place, and Reading was left to languish. The town is still a

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

pleasant little place to live in, but the greatness that was anticipated for it has all vanished.

VILLAGE OF ANCONA.

The history of Ancona is quite similar to that of Reading. With the change of dates and names, the remarks which apply to the one, might with propriety be repeated. Ancona was, however, founded on a different basis. The Great Air Line Railroad, from Fort Wayne to Council Bluffs, had been projected, surveyed and partially graded through this section, and there was not a doubt entertained that it would be completed. Accordingly, in 1854, the town of Ancona was surveyed for Orson Shackleton and Joseph Gumm. Depot grounds were set apart, and a street for a track surveyed. True to expectation, the road was graded through the village, and then Ancona real estate was held at high figures. Lots were sold out rapidly, and buildings went up as if by magic. Stores were opened and a hotel was built. Orson and Benjamin Shackleton built the first house, a store, and occupied it with a stock of goods. The Shackletons were form New York, and remained here until about eight years ago, when they removed. L. B. Smith, who had been living in the township, and who was formerly from Pennsylvania, built the first dwelling, which was the second house in the place. He is still a resident, and occupies the same old house. William Boatman, also a Pennsylvanian, soon after erected a hotel, and as this was but a short distance from the coal banks it was well patronized. Boat- man afterward sold the hotel to Joel Willet, who had been living in the town- ship. Boatman still resides in the village. Willet is dead, but the hotel is still kept open by members of the family.

Johnson Bradley came here in 1854, from Ohio, and started a wagon shop, and still carries on the trade at or near the old stand. C. R. Kyser, who had been living in the village of Reading, this year sold out his possessions there to Jacob Bussard, and came to Ancona and opened a blacksmith shop. Joseph Gumm had also been in business in Reading, and, seeing a bigger thing here, removed his store to this point. Gumm and Kyser have both gone further west.

The enterprise that did most to actually develop and give solidity to the town was the flour mill erected by Erastus Loomis, who came here from Ohio, in 1857. At this time there was no such convenience in this vicinity, or for miles west, and it naturally drew a large amount of trade from the surrounding country. Wheat was then considered a good crop, and a great deal of flour was made, not only for home use but for the purpose of shipping abroad.

After a while, the railroad seemed to be a delusion ; and, though it was a severe blow to the little village and the neighborhood, they did not continue to mourn. A few years subsequently, however, the mill was removed, and their hope of making this a town of any great consequence went out.

Streator was built a few years ago, and has quite overshadowed this place and Reading. The Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad was constructed

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

through here in 1872, and stations being made of these two places has given to them new life, and they are now convenient local trading points.

VILLAGE OF COALVILLE.

This is a little town, laid out by L. H. Mallery, October 6, 1865, near the coal beds, on Section 2. The town is occupied almost wholly by parties interested in the mining of the coal, of which immense quantities are taken out here. As much as 2,000 tons are mined per year ; and before the works at Streator were established, more than double this amount was mined. The mines are owned by L. H. Mallery and others, who allow them to be worked by other parties, who pay the proprietors a percentage of the products.

Reading is a fractional township, consisting of Congressional Town 30 north, Range 3 east, except Section 1 and part of 2 (which are cut off by the Vermil- ion River), and Sections 30 and 31, and parts of Sections 18 and 19, of Town 30, Range 4. It is traversed by Moon Creek, from the west, and another small tributary of the Vermilion, flowing from the southwest.

The Western Extension of the Chicago & Alton Railroad crosses the north- western corner of Section 6 ; and the C., P. & S. W. R. R. divides the town- ship into two nearly equal parts, from northeast to southwest.

The land is of a very rich and productive character, well adapted to the raising of corn, oats, rye and vegetables, large crops of which are produced.

SUNBURY TOWNSHIP.

This, according to the survey, is denominated Township 30 north, Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian. It is a full Congressional town, being six miles square and containing 23,040 acres of land. With the exception of about one section in the southwest corner, and the little groves planted by own- ers of the land, it may be said to be without timber. The surface of the land, especially in the southern part, is quite rolling, perhaps more so than any other township' in the county. The only stream of water flowing through any portion is Mud Creek, which in reality rises in the township.

The western branch of the Chicago & Alton Railroad passes through the northern part, on the half section line of the second tier of sections.

Owing to the scarcity of timber and water, but little of the township was settled until a comparatively recent date. A few sections had been selected in the southwest corner, in the vicinity of Mud Creek, prior to 1850, but the larger portion was yet unsettled five years later.

When rapidly growing cities have become so compactly built that there no longer remains ground on which buildings may be placed, or when lots have become so dear that newer comers can find no suitable location, corresponding to their limited means, on which to erect them a habitation, they are necessarily compelled to seek room at a distance from the occupied portions of the city. In this way, addition after addition is made to the original plat of the city,

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

and suburb after suburb follows, until what was at first considered a long way out in the country becomes the very heart of the city. Suburban towns thus grow and thrive from the simple overflow, until some of them even rival the parent corporation in wealth, population and power. By this means, Brook- lyn, which is truly a suburb of New York, has become the third city in popula- tion in the United States, containing half the number of inhabitants that does the city of New York. This is the history of the old world and the new. The people are being perpetually pushed off, thrust out and led forward as the hu- man race multiplies. It is the history of societies and families. When the chil- dren are grown, though their love for the paternal fireside is not less, their love for independence and freedom is greater, and, one by one, they build their own tenements and erect their own altars. Human beings, like some of the lower orders of animals, love home, and, but for the hope of bettering their condition, would be loth to change their habitations. There is no better illustration of this idea than the settlement of the prairies of the West. The Eastern States were full: There was no land there for the increasing population, and young men and women, with the constantly-arriving emigrants from foreign shores, must seek homes on the borders of civilization. So they came. The first ones settled in the timber tracts, because, perhaps, it reminded them of the well remembered scenes of their youth. The later emigrant, however, was not per- mitted to rest his feet even here, but was obliged to locate at a greater or less distance on the open prairie ; and now, the cmigrant finds not a foothold there, but is advised to continue his journey toward the setting sun.

The groves along the Vermilion River and along Mud Creek were pretty well occupied by 1850 ; but yet, at that time, all to the north and east, including all of Sunbury Township and many other whole townships, was but an open plain on which not a house or a fence or any other evidence existed to indicate that a white man had ever visited the region.

The Indian troubles of 1832 had been removed by the removal of the Indians to their reservations beyond the Mississippi. The panic of 1837 and '38 had passed, the credit of the State was beginning to recover from its effects, and settlements were again being made in this section ; and, as they found the land along the creeks already occupied, shanties, here and there on the open prairie, began to appear.

The first actual settler of the township was Andrew Sprague. He came to the township in the year 1835. Mr. Sprague was from the wooded part of New York, and was doubtless pleased more with the timber feature of the town- ship than with its rolling prairie, and therefore selected his farm on the bank of Mud Creek. He is still living, but has moved his residence to the village of Cornell. He has seen many changes, not only in the appearance of the town- ship, but in the county, as he was one of the first settlers of this part of the State. Soon after his arrival, a great financial panic swept over the country, and especially over this State; and emigration, for several years, was materially

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY ..

checked. For the next nine years, Sunbury did not have a single permanent addition. The few who came to the neighborhood settled in the timber ; and as this belt in Sunbury was quite limited, Sprague occupying the largest and (then considered) the best portion, they were constrained to look elsewhere for their ideal of a farm.

The financial crisis, however, had passed by 1844; the Michigan & Illi- nois Canal project was again on foot ; and the eyes of emigrants were again on the central part of Illinois. In the year named, Jacob Longnecker made his appearance. Longnecker was a native of Pennsylvania ; but, when but a boy of ten years, went to Kentucky, where he lived until of age, when he married and removed to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and finally, in 1844, as stated, to this township.

Ephraim Sprague, brother of Andrew, though not a permanent resident, had bought land in the neighborhood, and had built cabins thereon. Into one of these cabins the Longnecker family removed, and worked the land for a year, and then, having pre-empted land and built them a cabin, moved to it. In this house the family, or members of it, resided until 1865, when the building was turned into a blacksmith shop. Mr. Longnecker died in 1861.

Three years after the coming of Longnecker, E. G. Rice and Luther Smith settled here. Rice was a native of Maine. He had left that State, however, two years before, and had spent a year in Michigan and another in Kendall County of this State. He is now a resident of the southern part of the State. His son George, who was, at the time of his father's coming to the township, but a boy, is now a resident of Pontiac. Luther Smith was the first man who had the hardihood to settle on the prairie. He selected his home in the north- west part, near the present site of the village of Blackstone. His farm has always been known as "Smith's Mound." Smith died about fifteen years ago, but the Mound is still occupied by representatives of the family.

Philip Hilton is now the oldest living resident, having come to the township a short time after Sprague.

Gabriel and Joseph Brown were also early settlers. They removed to Iowa a few years ago.

For five years after the arrival of Smith and Rice, though the timbered por- tions of the county received accessions yearly, no others had the temerity to settle on the open prairie. However, in 1852, characteristic of the man, con- trary to the advice of his friends, who added ridicule to solicitude, Asa Blakes- lee took up a claim in the central part. He was laughed at by those who lived in the timber, and was told that he would certainly be eaten up by the wolves, and that, should he live out there till he was old, he would never have any neighbors. But Blakeslee comforted himself with the reflection that he would, in that case, like Robinson Crusoe, be "monarch of all he surveyed." He bought 200 head of young cattle, and had no trouble to find plenty of pasture for them, as the adjoining sections were all vacant. Soon after coming to the

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

neighborhood, he went with his team to Ottawa, and bought a load of lumber. On his return, as he passed through the timber, he cut two forked saplings and one long pole, which he brought with him. The two saplings were planted at a distance of fifteen feet from each other, and the pole laid in the forks. The boards were then placed one end upon the pole and the other end on the ground, thus making in appearance a habitation resembling the roof of a rough stable. In this simple shelter he lived while his house was being built. For six months he did not see the face of a white man .*

He lived, for the first six months, on corn meal, pork and turnips. These items are given not on account of any peculiarity in the mode of living, but, on the contrary, because it was the usual manner with the first settlers. Mr. Blakeslee is a native of Litchfield County, Connecticut ; he has been closely identified with every public and political movement of his township, and, at an advanced age, he resides in the vicinity of his first settlement.

Very soon after the advent of Blakeslee, Isaac Ames, from Maine, settled a little northeast from the point of timber on Mud Creek, and built a log cabin, in which he resided for a time, until he had erected a better house. Isaac Ames, Jr., now of Streator, had been teaching school in Michigan, and had practiced medicine there and in La Salle County in this State. He lived on the Ames place until about ten years ago, when he sold out, removed to Streator and engaged in the hardware trade.

James L. Hadley was a Methodist preacher. He came from Ohio at about the time that the Ameses made their appearance. The first preaching, except an occasional sermon, was done by him and Jacob Hoobler, of Newtown.

In 1854, the two great railroads, the Chicago & Alton and the Illinois Cen- tral, had been finished through Central Illinois, and not only conveyed immi- grants to this part of the State, but some of the contractors and laborers on the works became some of our very best citizens. During the two preceding years, Thomas F. Norton, J. O. Corey, Erastus Corey, Ansel Gammon and brothers. and Perry Corbin came to this part of the State. Thomas F. Norton was from Maine, and settled in the northeastern part of the township. He first settled in La Salle County, a little north of Ottawa, where he taught school a year before making this his permanent residence. After a short residence in the county, he was elected County Surveyor, the duties of which office he performed in a very satisfactory manner. In 1862, he was ordained as a minister of the Baptist Church, and preached at New Michigan and other points until his death, in 1866.

J. O. Corey and his brother Erastus were from Pennsylvania. The former was a man of no ordinary ability. He had been an officer of high rank in the Mexican war. At the close of the war, having distinguished himself as a soldier, he was proposed by his friends as a candidate for the office of Sergeant- at-Arms of Congress, and, though not elected, received a very flattering vote. He was the first Supervisor of this township, being elected in 1858. He

*In the meantime, Shabbona (see Page 149) paid him a visit.

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

removed to Iowa two years ago. Erastus was a carpenter, and worked most of the time at the trade. He came to this part of the State in the employ of the railroad company, in 1853. Hc afterward returned to his native State, where he was killed by falling from a building on which he was working.

The Gammons were from La Salle County. They lived here for a few years, and then removed to different portions of the State.

Perry Corbin, a relative of one of the earliest settlers of Rook's Creek, came here from Virginia. He and his brother Anderson, who came a few years later, were both blacksmiths, though only Anderson worked at the trade after settling here.

Enos Thatcher, H. H. Brower, and John Gower and son, B. A. Gower, though not among the earliest settlers, are deserving of mention as men of more than ordinary character. The first was an early settler of La Salle County. He still resides in this township. Brower came from Ashtabula County, Ohio. He was a lawyer, and practiced in the courts of this county. In 1860, he was a candidate for Representative to the Illinois Legislature, but was not elected. A few years since, he removed to Nebraska, where he now resides. Gower and son were from Maine, and being men of education and ability, have proved themselves valuable accessions to the social and business wants of the community.

The first school to which the children of Sunbury had access was established in the edge of the timber of Mud Creek, just outside the limits of the town- ship, and near the Sprague property. It was taught by Catharine Sprague, mother of Andrew and Ephraim. This was about the year 1836, and twenty years before the public school system of the State was adopted, hence was a private affair, maintained by subscription. In 1855, the Hilton school house was built, and the next year the Ames house. The report of the first School Treasurer, Thomas F. Norton, shows that in 1855 there was but one school, thirty-four scholars in attendance, ninety-two children in the township, and one teacher ; the highest wages paid was $12 per month, and the whole amount paid out for school purposes was $38.75. He also reports that a canvass of all the town- ship discloses the fact that there are 107 school books in all of the houses, sixty-five of which are elementary spellers. But few townships made more satisfactory progress during the next ten years. The one school had been multiplied by seven, each of which had a comfortable house ; the number of scholars had increased to 217; the average monthly wages paid to teachers was $28.50; and the total amount paid out for the support of schools was thirty- three times as great, being, in 1865, over $1,300.

The following extract from the report of the Township Treasurer will indi- cate the condition of schools at the close of 1877 :

Number of schools ..

Number of scholars enrolled.

385

Number of teachers.

Amount paid teachers.

$2,569 00

Total amount paid for support of schools.

4,629 00

Amount raised by special tax

1,855 00

Principal of school fund

7,798 00

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HISTORY OF LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

The first post office for the benefit of this community, like the first school, was established in Esmen Township, was called Sunbury, and kept at the Brown residence. It was afterward moved to Andrew Sprague's, and has since had a migratory existence, like all country post offices, going from one house to another, as different persons could be found who were willing to be bothered with it. At last, when the village of Blackstone was established, the post office was moved there ; and, as its name was changed, it can hardly now be said to exist.

Though preachers have had a permanent residence here, and though many pious Christian people have lived here, neither church house nor organization existed in the township, until the village of Blackstone began to build. Sab- bath schools held in the public school houses, with preaching at the same places, have been as common as in other parts of the county; and the morals and religion of the people are as well cultivated as in other towns.

The township of Sunbury was organized April 6, 1858, by the election of J. O. Corey, Supervisor; J. S. Cummings, Clerk; T. F. Norton, Assessor ; A. S. Blakeslee, Collector; A. Sprague, John Gower and R. C. Myer, Com- missioners of Highways: Isaac H. Ames and A. J. Collins, Justices of the Peace; A. A. Blakeslee and Win. M. Hopkins, Constables. The whole number of votes cast at this first election was but nineteen, and as most of them were elected to an office, it will be seen that, by 1858, but few new names appear to the old settlers' list.

The following list gives the names of the principal officers elected at each successive meeting, to this date (1878), which list has been kindly furnished by Geo. H. Blakeslee, present Township Clerk:

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The History of Livingston County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., Part 54

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