The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 31

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Illinois > McLean County > The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 31

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In the summer of 1845, Mr. Russell Mitchell came to Bloomington and started the publication of the McLean County Register, which survived until the fall of 1846, when it fell into the hands of its indorser, Mr. C. P. Merriman. Thereupon, Mr. Mer- riman immediately commenced the publication of the Western Whig. In 1850, he sold the office to Messrs. Johnson & Underwood. In December, 1851, Messrs. Jesse W. Fell and C. P. Merriman bought the office, and one year thereafter Mr. Merriman bought Mr. Fell's interest therein-its name having been changed to that of Intelligencer,

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and, upon again becoming sole proprietor of the paper, he again changed its name to Pantagraph, the name which it sustains even unto the present day.

In June, 1854, Mr. Merriman commenced the publication of the Daily Pantagraph, as well as continuing the Weekly ; and, one year thereafter, instead of discontinuing the Daily, as has been published in the county, he published also a Tri- Weekly edition- which no other person has ever done in Bloomington. Here is what the Chicago Jour- nal said of it on the reception of the first number of the Daily :

Bloomington Daily Pantagraph .- " Tiny and neat as a new pin comes to us its . first number, with every assurance of success that can be gathered from the evidence of enterprise and skillful management, of which its columns possess a rich endowment. If Bloomington does as much for its first daily, as its first daily, if well supported, can do in return, we shall soon see your sheet enlarged. We do not see how it can be otherwise improved, friend Merriman."

In October, 1855, Mr. Jacob Morris being associated with Mr. Merriman, the Panta- graph office was completely destroyed in the great fire that occurred in Bloomington at that period. Since then it has passed through the hands of Mr. William E. Foote, Messrs. Carpenter & Steele, Messrs. Scibird & Waters, into the possession of its present propri- tor, Mr. W. O. Davis. The paper has now a large circulation, and the Pantagraph office is a valuable piece of property, being conducted with much ability and prudence. The paper has always been an unhesitating advocate of the men and of the measures of the Whig party, during its time, and of its successor, the Republican party.

The Leader .- The publication of the Weekly Leader was commenced in the fall of 1868, by Messrs. Scibird and Waters. In 1870, the publication of a daily edition was commenced, and the Leader office passing into the hands of a company the same year, the paper soon obtained a large daily and a good weekly circulation, and did a very fine job printing business. In 1874, it passed into the hands of its present pub- lisher, M. F. Leland. It has constantly been an advocate of the men and measures of the Republican party.

Democratic Papers .- There have been several efforts to establish a Democratic paper in Bloomington, but none of them have been permanently successful. Either from want of ability and adaptation on one side, or from want of patronage on the other side, or from both causes, no Democratic paper has stood on a sure footing in Mclean County.

About 1848 and 1849, Mr. James Shoaff, under the supervision of Mr. Joseph Duncan, published a Democratic paper here. It passed into other hands and ceased. About 1854 to 1856, Col. Sam Pike published the daily and weekly Democratic Flag, the hottest paper of the kind that has ever appeared in Bloomington. But the old Colonel used to say-and he had tried it many times-that he could make more in starting and selling out papers than in running them ; so the Flag passed into feebler hands, and that, too, ceased. About 1859 and 1860, Mr. H. P. Merriman and Capt. Orme published a Democratic paper; and having a good job office, they did quite well for some time. But it would not last.

In 1868, S. S. Parke, Esq., started the weekly, and afterward also the daily, Democrat. It seemed to be doing well for awhile; but that, too, would not last; so it ceased. From some cause, or causes, the want of skill and industry in the cultiva- tors, or the uncongeniality of the soil, or the character of the seed, Democratic papers

Mmomelounangle BLOOMINGTON

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HISTORY OF McLEAN COUNTY.

have not taken root and prospered in McLean County. Several other efforts have been made to establish papers here, as well in the English as in the German language ; but they have been too numerous and too ephemeral to be individually noticed.

The Little Watchman, a Sunday-school paper, had quite a circulation, and flour- ished for awhile. The Alumni Journal, by the students of the Wesleyan University, has been published several years. The Banner of Holiness, a religious paper, and which is said to have quite a circulation, has been published here since 1872. There is also the Democratic News, published in the city, which has not yet gone the way of its predecessors. The Sunday Eye is now published in Bloomington, and it is a success. Nor has the press neglected other points in the county. The Times has been published at Chenoa for ten or twelve years. Its existence for so many years makes it evident that it has been well conducted and liberally patronized for so small a place. In Lexington,'Saybrook and Le Roy papers have also been published undex various names and with varied fortunes. Upon the whole, it may be said that the press has been respectably conducted in McLean County, and with fair success.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS.

McLean County is a Sunday-school county. Below we give a few facts showing that such is the case. There are, in round numbers, varying but slightly from exactness, 175 Sunday schools in the county, of which 125 are open all the year. Teachers and officers, 2,000; scholars, 13,000. There have been, during the current year, 222,000 papers distributed, and there are 14,000 volumes in the libraries, and there have been expended, during the year, nearly $6,000 in promoting the interests of these schools.

These schools are not merely allowed to exist, as if upon probation, but they are encouraged in every way by many of our best citizens, and no pains are spared to make the exercises pleasant and profitable to the scholars who attend them. At the proper season, re-unions and excursions are greatly enjoyed by the young folks and by the older as well. The frequent meetings promote acquaintance and friendliness among teachers and scholars and attachment to the objects sought to be accomplished.

The officers of the MeLean Sunday-School Association are : President, F. J. Fitzwilliam ; Secretary, A. Aron; Treasurer, T. J. Willever, all of Bloomington. Executive Committee-William Bone, Chairman ; J. S. Roush, Prof. H. C. DeMotte, J. W. Compton, Rev. J. E. Kumler, all of Bloomington; C. C. Rowell, Danvers; L. P. Scroggin, Lexington, and Prof. M. L. Seymour, Normal. Vice Presidents-J. N. King, J. L. Arbogast and S. H. Jennings, Saybrook ; R. A. Warlow, Ira Abbott, Danvers ; J. R. Mason, Andrew Forbes, V. W. Thompkins, Bloomington ; James Scott, Thaddeus Crostwait, Belleflower; R. G. Jordan, Chenoa; J. C. Arnold, Potosi ; Byron Covey, W. M. Morris, LeRoy ; William B. Anthony, Shirley ; G. P. Brown, J. Langstaff, G. W. Kirker, Lexington ; J. A. Moats, Towanda ; J. H. Ritchie, Arrow- smith ; J. C. Bascom, McLean ; R. M. Brown, Normal; George Fogle, Holder ; H. M. Ham, Ellsworth ; O. C. Rutledge, Heyworth ; Daniel Bishop, Towanda ; A. J. Mc Williams, Oak Grove.

CONCLUSION.

We have thus rapidly sketched some of the features of the history of McLean County. It was organized in 1831 from territory previously embraced in Tazewell

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County. It is one of the most picturesque and beautiful bodies of land in the West, because its scenery is made up of rolling prairie interspersed with forest groves of ever- varying size and form. It is one of the wealthiest counties in the State, because it is the largest; because the character of its soil and of its climate is such as to be adapted to the production of a great variety of the necessaries and luxuries of life. and because it has one of the most industrious and intelligent set of people in any county to develop its capabilities.

Its facilities for transportation and for travel are scarcely rivaled anywhere; as from every nook and corner of its territory some railroad is easily accessible, and its surface is ent by a multiplicity of good, common roads, and its numerous small streams spanned by many excellent bridges. It is one of the healthiest counties in the country, because its surface is elevated and rolling, and its many streams are rivulets of clear, running water. While its gentle swells are excellent grain lands, its broad vales and sweeping lowlands furnish rich pasturage in summer, and grateful food in winter for multitudinous flocks and herds.

It has several public institutions, large and flourishing, many public and private buildings that would be an honor and an ornament to any county. Its churches and its schoolhouses are in every locality ; and many of its business houses would be models of their kind in large cities. On the subject of education, leaving out the great city of Chicago, it is undoubtedly the first county in the State, as on that subject alone more than $400,000 are annually expended within its limits. Its religious teachers are every- where and always at work.

In the late civil war, this county sent into the field more than four thousand vol- unteers-constituting more than one-half of the population liable to do military duty ; and thousands upon tens of thousands of dollars were privately and publicly poured out annually upon them like water, to encourage those men to do their duty, and to make them and their families comfortable. In this respect, McLean County acknowledges itself to be second to no county in the State.

In less than sixty years, the territory of the county has been changed from a wild and luxuriant waste, marked only by the paths of roaming savages, into a highly-cultivated section of the civilized world, furnishing all the necessities and many of the refinements and amenities of polished society. Its territory now contains more thousands of inhab- itants than it has been years in acquiring them ; and for integrity of character, for industry in their callings, and for ability and success in their enterprises, we commend those inhabitants to the good graces of all people.

NOTE .- The compiler of these pages takes this opportunity to return his hearty thanks to all who have assisted him in gathering the materials ; and were it not that it might appear invidious, he would take pleasure in thanking several of them individually. He will also remark that the name of Hon. L. H. Kerrick should appear in the list of Representatives in the State Legislature. It was omitted by an oversight in the report from Springfield.

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BLOOMINGTON TOWNSHIP.

BY CAPTAIN J. H. BURNHAM.

The territorry now included in the township of Bloomington is a part of our common county, and as such entitled to its share in the interest attaching to the general history of our State and nation ; but when we take it upon ourselves to learn the history of the six miles square called Bloomington, we find it almost impossible to divest general history from the local interest of the tract of land under consideration. It would be pleasant to go back to the time when all the country, north of the Ohio, was a French possession ; to glance at its first American baptism, in the year 1778, when Gen. Clarke with his Virginians captured the whole region from the British, who had taken it all from the French in 1763; to learn something of its early history as a portion of Virginia after Gen. Clarke returned from his expedition, at which time the whole tract was a dependency of Virginia, called Illinois County ; to look at the same country years later, when it was called the Northwest Territory, and to follow its fortunes as the Territory of Indiana, then as the Territory of Illinois from 1809 down to 1818, when the State of Illinois entered upon its independent career. In all these varying changes, the little spot of land we are now examining had a territorial share, but was peopled only by wild and savage Indians, who may have been intelligent enough to know the French from the English, but who were not citizens of whatever power for the time being was in possession of the land. It was not till 1822 that the territory now known as McLean County possessed a single white inhabitant; and when, in that year, the families of John Hendrix and John W. Dawson made a selection of sites for homes, they were the first permanent settlers in the county, and were also the first in Bloomington Township, of which we now propose to give an historical sketch. We have a right to suppose that long previous to the date we have mentioned important events transpired here, in which white people took important parts. It was here in this very region that Gen Hopkins' army was embarrassed in 1813, in his fruitless expedition from the Wabash toward the fort which was then standing at Peoria. It is probable that many a party of French and friendly Indians have camped in our old woods when on their way from Lake Michigan to Cahokia and Kaskaskia. Possibly the early Indian traders and hunters may have built trading-stations and occupied them for long periods, at points where our first settlers found partial clearings in the original forests. But perhaps it is not best to indulge ourselves in much speculation or supposi- tion on these topics, as we shall find our path obscure enough, following as we go the best authenticated records that are now available.

BLOOMING GROVE, IN FAYETTE COUNTY.

We find that the first white men who made marks which have in any manner entered into history were the Government land surveyors, who commenced the work of dividing and subdividing the fertile acres of McLean County in the year 1821. The final survey was not completed until October, 1823, when Blooming Grove Township was surveyed by P. M. Hamtramack.

Our township has been situated in allegiance to many different counties. In 1817, Illinois being then a Territory, the county of Crawford was in power here. In 1819,

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a year after the State of Illinois had been admitted into the Union, Clark County had jurisdiction, while, in 1821, Fayette County was organized, extending northeast as far as the Illinois River, and to Fayette our first settlers owed allegiance. As under- stood at the time, Fayette reached to the Wisconsin line. This was the meaning of the act incorporating Fayette County, but as, by a previous law, Pike County included all north of the Illinois River, Fayette County could not enforce its claim to its most north- ern territory.

All this region of country now known as McLean County, east of the Third Prin- cipal Meridian, was situated in the county of Fayette, and thus remained until the development of the country several years later rendered it absolutely necessary that this immense tract should be subdivided into several counties. We will attempt to give the names of only a few of the first settlers of this township, mentioning some of the most prominent, but may, through inadvertence, omit others equally deserving. In 1822, John Hendrix and John W. Dawson, with their families, settled in the southern por- tion of Blooming Grove. There was with them in the same year a single man of the name of Segur, who, however, did not stay long in the settlement, he having sold his claim in 1823 to Mr. William Orendorff. Mr. Dawson remained four years, when he removed to near the site of the old Indian town in Old Town Timber. During these four years, while his family lived at the Grove, there were no less than fifteen different families who made their homes here, so that Blooming Grove very soon became a well- settled community. Mr. Hendrix is entitled to the honor of being the first settler, as Mr. Dawson's family did not arrive till after Mr. H. had been here some weeks. Of the family of John W. Dawson, who came in 1822, we will here remark that two are now living in the city of Bloomington, having moved from Old Town many years ago. The oldest is Mrs. William Paist, whose first husband was Maj. Owen Cheney. She was about eight years old when her father moved to the Indian town. She was a great favorite with the Indian squaws, who often carried her to their homes, keeping her for days at a time, where the little girl was greatly pleased and interested. Mrs. P. does not even yet appear aged-scarcely elderly. She takes a great interest in society, and it seems hardly possible that this active lady has seen the full growth and development of Blooming Grove, of Bloomington City and of McLean County. Her brother, John Dawson, is the next oldest pioneer now living in our city. .

Mr. John Hendrix is deserving of mention, having been a consistent, devoted Chris- tian, who planted early good seed that has borne many fold. He has been honored by having the railroad station on the Central in the Orendorff neighborhood named after him, as well as the post office, and the true spelling of the name should be Hendrix, it being named for this good old pioneer. The first sermon in Blooming Grove was preached at the house of Mr. Hendrix, by Rev. James Stringfield, in 1823. Mr. Hen- drix labored in the settlement as a true Christian should, and very few who have lived in this county have left such a noble record. Men like Mr. Hendrix and Mr. Dawson should always be held in grateful recollection by our people, both of them having been men of great worth. With their two families, they accomplished a great deal of good in forming and molding the tone of society during the first two or three years of the infant settlement. They labored in every manner possible to induce the best class of emigrants to settle as neighbors and used all the skill they possessed to persuade unde- sirable persons to move on or look further for more congenial neighborhoods. The

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strict, almost Puritanic, ways of the religious Mr. Hendrix naturally had the effect of impressing new-comers who were reckless and irreligious, with an aversion to his society, and would as naturally attract pious men, like Rev. E. Rhodes, who came in 1823 or 1824, and the influence of all these early settlers was of lasting value.

The influence of a few of the early pioneers in determining the class of settlers who were attracted to cast their lot in the same community, has often been referred to, but we find that in the case of Blooming Grove a great deal was accomplished in this direc- tion, in the first two or three years of its development, and in this manner we account for the fact that at the time of the location here of the county seat, there was no settle- ment of equal power and influence anywhere between Vandalia and the Wisconsin line.

In the year 1823, William Orendorff and wife arrived, with Mr. Thomas Orendorff, then a young man of twenty-three. In 1824, Mr. Goodheart and W. H. Hodge settled at the Grove, and about the same time Mr. William Walker and family, and enough others to bring the whole number of families up to about fifteen by the end of the year 1824. There were no exceptions to the general good character attributed to all of the first families, thus giving illustration to the old saying in regard to " birds of a feather."

Our sketch, imperfect as it is, must not omit all mention of the Rhodes family. Ebenezer Rhodes came to the Grove in April, 1824. He was the first minister who settled at Blooming Grove, having been ordained in the Separate Baptists, before com- ing to Blooming Grove. Mr. Rhodes organized a small church at his own house, con- sisting at first of eight persons. This church held meetings at the house of John Benson and that of Josiah Brown, at Dry Grove. There had been occasional preaching before his arrival, but from this time forward he kept up regular ministrations. He appears to have been a natural missionary, and labored in all the young settlements within thirty or forty miles. No doubt he was induced to settle here by the presence of such men as John Hendrix, and the prospect that Blooming Grove would be the first settle- ment able to maintain a church and school ; and we thus see the good effect of the high character of the pioneers of 1822, who attracted men like Mr. Rhodes, who in turn exerted a similar influence upon later arrivals. In addition to his service as pastor, Mr. Rhodes was a man of mechanical knowledge-could make spinning-wheels, seats and chairs, and, as early as the first year of his arrival, set up a hand-mill for grinding corn, and in the next year built one that was run by horse-power.

It would be pleasant to follow this good man in his various enterprises, but space forbids. He was the father of Capt. John H. S. Rhodes and Jeremiah Rhodes, both of whom came here in 1824, and who were among the best of our pioneers. The latter is still living, a hearty old gentleman, a connecting link between the past and the pres- ent. He remembers well the condition of the country in those early days. When his father arrived, the Kickapoo Indians were plentiful in this neighborhood. Their chief, Ma-Shee-na, ordered the Rhodes family and others to the south side of the Sangamon River, declaring that he had never signed the treaty which gave the whites possession of Blooming (then called Keg) Grove. It appears that the old chief was sick at the time the treaty was signed, but had sent his son to treat with the whites and sign the articles. Ma-Shee-na threatened to burn the houses of the families here, but finally compromised by allowing them to remain until fall. When one regards the treacherous nature of the Indians, it looks as if the pioneers of 1824 ran a great risk in remaining, under the circumstances ; but the chief appears to have been a pretty good sort of an

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

Indian, worthy of the confidence reposed in him, and, in the end, the settlers either com- pletely won his good-will or, as is quite probable, so increased in numbers as to overawe the whole tribe. It has been a matter of some surprise to us that the name of this Indian chief, which we spell as pronounced, Ma-Shee-na, has not been preserved in this settle- ment. So far as we know. there is not in this neighborhood a single Indian name, with the exception of Kickapoo, which is the name of the creek that flows through Blooming Grove.

The Kickapoos, a few Delawares, and some Pottawatomies were very plenty from 1822 to 1829, and were generally very kind and friendly. The settlers became acquainted with them, knew their names, and in some cases formed friendships as perma- nent and kindly as many existing between the whites themselves. When the Indians left they were missed, and their absence as much regretted by some, as if they had been old friends. Most of them left before the end of 1829, though as late as the summer of 1832, there were enough in this region within one hundred miles of the Grove, to cause grave apprehensions, this being the year of the Black Hawk war.

Very few Indian traditions have been preserved, owing, probably, to the fact that the aborigines found by our early settlers were of a roving class, who came here from the eastern part of the State, taking the places of other Indians who had preceded them. Had our pioneers fallen in with Indians whose ancestors long resided here, we should probably be able to gather some interesting Indian legends. The Grove was known as Keg Grove until 1824, and, in fact, the old name clung to it at a much later period. It is said that what are now called Sulphur Springs-formerly known as Hinshaw's Springs -formed a common camping-place for hunters and travelers long before the first set- tlers arrived. It was usual for parties to travel from the Wabash River to the fort at what is now Peoria, or from Chicago to St. Louis. In either case, these springs were a convenient stopping-place.

Tradition asserts that at one time a party of white men hid a keg of rum at this point, probably intending to return for it in a short time. It was found by some Kiek- apoo Indians, who, no doubt, then possessed the richest " bonanza " of their whole lives. The remarkable " find " was reported to the Indians all through this region, who named this locality " Keg Grove."

The " first families " of our ancestors were not of the class who had any fancy for a name which suggested drunken Indians, rum, whisky or anything of the kind, and they believed it for the interest of the infant settlement that it should be rechristened, and to Mrs. William Orendorff is generally aseribed the credit of suggesting the name of Blooming Grove, which proved a very suitable and acceptable name. This was about the year 1824.

The first white female child born in McLean County was Elizabeth Ann Hendrix, daughter of John Hendrix, born May 3, 1823. The first death occurred in the family of Thomas Orendorff, it being one of his children, who died in 1825. Mr. O. laid out a family burying-ground at that time, which has become an established cemetery-the oldest in the county. The first white male child born in this county (now living) is John Lewis Orendorff, son of Mr. Orendorff, who was born January 30, 1825. The first school was taught by Miss Delila Mullen, in the house of John W. Dawson, in 1823, and it consisted at first of only five pupils. About the year 1825, a log school- house was built, the first in this county. The site is on what is now the Oliver Oren-

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 31

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Le Baron, Wm., Jr. & Co., Chicago, Pub
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : W. Le Baron, Jr.
Number of Pages: 1092