The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 32

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 32

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

dorff farm. In the course of a few years, there was another schoolhouse, on the west side of the Grove.

In the year 1824, a class of Methodists was organized at the house of John Hen- drix, and it was kept up until the year 1838.

The first blacksmith at the Grove was the Rev. Mr. See, who lived in the Price neighborhood, and was here as early as 1826. He did little jobs of such work, though he was a Methodist minister and a farmer.

Thomas Orendorff was born August 14, 1800, at Spartansburg, S. C. He came to Illinois in 1817, when this was a Territory, having been present at the birth of the new State, as well as a prominent actor in its subsequent development. He lived in several different places, having moved from Sangamon County, Ill., to Keg, now Bloom- ing Grove, on the 2d day of May, 1823. Thomas Orendorff was then a single man, and made his home with his brother William, who accompanied him. He made a elaim near the Mason farm, about three miles south of the city of Bloomington.

October 5, 1824, he married Mary Malinda Walker, daughter of William Walker, one of our most prominent pioneers. This was the first wedding in Blooming Grove. The first in the county was the marriage of John Taylor to Temperance Stringfield, at Randolph's Grove in June, 1824. Rev. E. Rhodes married this couple, and at the close of the ceremony published a notice of the intended marriage of the young couple at Blooming Grove. He also posted written notices of their intention, and when the time arrived performed the ceremony. The newly-married pair moved into a cabin on Mr. Orendorff's claim, where they made their home for a number of years, until Mr. Orendorff, in his anxiety to be near the open prairie, convenient to a good stock-range, moved to what was then ealled Little Grove, nearly a mile east of Blooming Grove, five miles southeast of our city, where, with his venerable wife, he is still living, both being in comparatively good health. It is rare, indeed, that we can find a couple who have been married fifty-five years, and when we take into account the severe pioneer life they have led, their good fortune seems almost wonderful.

In Prof. Duis' "Good Old Times in McLean County," we read : "When Thomas and William Orendorff settled in MeLean County, the old chief of the Kiekapoos ( Mr. O. now thinks these Indians were Delawares) came with Machina (afterward their chief ) and ordered them to leave. But the old chief spoke English in such a poor manner that Thomas Orendorff told him to keep still and let Machina talk. Then Machina drew himself up and said in his heavy voice: 'Too much come back, white man, t' other side Sangamon.' Mr. Orendorff told Machina that the latter had sold the land to the whites ; but Machina denied it, and the discussion waxed warm, and the chiefs went away, feeling very much insulted. Mr. Orendorff's friends considered his life very much in danger, and he was advised by Judge Latham, the Indian agent, to leave the county ; but he attended to his business and was not molested. At one time, an Indian called Turkey came to Mr. Orendorff, and gave him warning that Machina would kill him; but no attempt was made to put such a threat into execution." Mr. Orendorff still remembers many incidents in relation to the Indians. He says at one time he was talking with Machina about killing people. "You wouldn't kill a white man would you ?" said Mr. O. "No," says the Indian, " I go hell and damnation," indicating that he knew the penalty as taught by the missionaries. Mr. Orendorff's memory, as also that of his wife, is now somewhat defective; and when we consider

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their early, anxious experiences with the Indians, their pioneer life, and their old age, we only wonder at their being still alive and as comfortable as we now find them.

Mr. Orendorff was always one of the leading men of the infant settlement. When the plans for a new county were fully matured, he was selected with Rev. James Latta, to go to Vandalia to secure from the Legislature an act of incorporation. These county projeets were very numerous at that time, one of the principal matters before the Legislature being the proper consideration of the many county and county-seat projects presented from the newly-settled parts of the State. Our committee urged their elaims so successfully that the bill for the incorporation of McLean County was passed by the house in the forenoon and by the Senate in the afternoon of the same day.

Mr. Orendorff has held several offices, having been the first Coroner of Tazewell County in 1827, when by virtue of his office he took the place of the County Assessor who had failed to qualify, and he assessed the immense territory, making a trip on horse-back to the settlements toward Ottawa and Hennepin, on the Illinois River. He was appointed Assessor and Treasurer for McLean County at its organization, and often acted in prominent positions.

We cannot help regarding Mr. Orendorff with a feeling of veneration akin to rev- erence. Here is a man who came to Illinois when it was a Territory ; who has witnessed the full development of our wonderful State; who was one of the principal organizers of McLean County ; who has seen the full growth of our city; who represents the pioneers of Blooming Grove, being with his wife among the last now living. Bloomington should take delight in honoring these noble people, and should be proud to acknowledge its appreciation of their life-long services.

This couple are the parents of eleven children. John Berry Orendorff, the oldest who lives on the farm adjoining his father's, is one of the best known of the large con- nection of Orendorffs. The others are all well known and all highly respected in their several homes, which are in a number of different States.

Esquire William Orendorff's name will frequently appear in this history, as he was one of the leading men of this settlement, in fact, of Central Illinois. He transacted most of the publie business of this precinet for several years. His children were four- teen in number, of whom three are living in this county. Oliver H. P. and John Lewis live in Blooming Grove, and are among the best known and most popular of our citizens. They have a brother at Cheney's Grove.

The early settlers found here an abundance of game, consisting of deer, turkeys, wolves and the smaller birds and animals. The immense prairies formed most admira- . ble pastures for deer, while the groves were the skulking-places of the large wolves that were very plenty. Some of the pioneers were mighty hunters, while in every family a gun was kept ready for the valuable game that might at any hour come within easy reach. The venison of those early days was a very convenient substitute for the meat-markets of modern times, and though not quite so sure to be found when wanted, was, in many. instances, almost as indispensable.

Deerskins, coonskins and wolf-robes were important articles of commerce, and in the first stores kept a few years later by Allin. Covell and Gridley, these valuables were the leading staples, forming, with beeswax and honey, the most common payment from many a farmer who in after years sold his hogs and cattle by the hundred,

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though at the time we are now alluding to, from 1822 to 1827, there was no reliable market for these articles nearer than Vandalia, or the trading-points on the Wabash in Indiana.

A full statement of the trials and difficulties encountered by our pioneers cannot be given in this place, as we are simply chronicling events; but we might mention a few of the obstacles which they suffered from more than any others. The want of good markets, or, in fact, of any market at all, has been mentioned. The prairie fires were for years dreaded more than almost anything else. In early times, these fires would come rolling before the wind in the fall and spring, often sweeping away fences, farms or grain stacks, and causing severe losses. The settlers generally shared with each other after such disasters, dividing crops with those who had been unfortunate, or turning out day or night to fight fires, without the formality of an invitation.

But the saddest trouble of all was the malarial sickness of the early times. Nearly every family was afflicted, disease and death being faced by all who ventured to remain in this country in the early days when the prairie sod was being broken and subdued. After the prairie land was mostly improved, which brings us down as late as 1855, the health of the settlements grew better, and for the last twenty-five years there has been comparatively little malarial discase.

During the period that elapsed from 1822 to 1827, Fayette County had jurisdic- tion over all the territory now within the present limits of McLean County, and on north as far as the Illinois River. Vandalia, the county seat, was over one hundred miles distant. Blooming Grove could exert but little influence in so large a district, and its inhabitants urged the formation of a new county. For many years, the only official in all this region was Mr. William Orendorff, who was commissioned in 1825, by Gov. Coles, Justice of the Peace of Fayette County. His jurisdiction extended almost indefinitely toward Wisconsin. The distance to Vandalia was so great that very few of the settlers ever visited the county seat, unless it was on business of the utmost impor- tance. There was one important State election while our pioneers were residents of Fayette County-that of 1824.

At this election, there was great excitement on the slavery question. On its result depended the calling of a convention which would make the introduction of slavery possible, and by a close vote it was decided in favor of freedom. The sentiment of Blooming Grove was unanimously for freedom. The canvass of 1824, in the older settled portions of the State, was exceedingly bitter and animated ; but, in the natural course of events, people in a neighborhood which had only been settled two years could have had few opportunities for being acquainted with the politics of the State of which they had so recently become citizens.

The population of Illinois increased from 55,000, in 1820, to 157,445 in 1830, an addition in ten years of 200 per cent. Population was then most dense on the Ohio River and along the Mississippi in Southern Illinois. All of Northern, Western, and a portion of Central Illinois, was in the possession of the Indians, of whom those in the northern part were hostile, or in a quasi-hostile condition. When our pioneers arrived here, the Indians intimated plainly that they preferred to have no white men north of the Sangamon River. North of the Illinois River, the settlers did not dare to locate ; and, from 1820 to 1830, the region of Central Illinois was almost debatable ground, only occupied by the most daring and hardy pioneers.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

These pioneers flocked in rapidly, and took up the most desirable locations along the edge of the timher, holding every inch of ground once occupied, going forward with improvements and making homes for themselves and their families, giving this settlement, in the course of the few years during which we have watched its development, the name of being one of the best regulated of any in the State, and of possessing a remarkably enterprising population.

Fayette County was evidently too large to be convenient, and, in 1826, it was divided, Vermilion County having been erected in that year, including the territory now under consideration. No wonder that this division was called for, when Vandalia, the county seat of Fayette County, was distant over one hundred miles. No wonder that the first couple married on the Mackinaw dispensed with a license, and in its stead posted notices of their intention and called on a Justice to perform the ceremony with- out the authority of the too great county of Fayette! Blooming Grove, for one year was in Vermilion County, though very little county business was transacted during that year by citizens living in this locality.

Blooming Grove contained about six thousand acres of the very finest timber to be found in the West. Nearly every acre was covered with tall, heavy trees, while the soil was of unrivaled fertility. It has been remarked, frequently, that nowhere in this State is there to be found such a large body of rich timber-land, as the general character of the soil, which is covered with a natural growth of trees, is not of the best for farm- ing purposes. The sudden development of this beautiful grove is shown by the fact that, in 1827, it was the happy home of no less than twenty families of industrious, well-behaved settlers, most of whom were surrounded by all the actual comforts, even if they lacked most of the luxuries, of life.

These families formed at Blooming Grove a very important settlement, and began to be restive under the jurisdiction of Fayette County. In 1826, Vermilion County was formed, and its territory seemed to include the eastern part of what is now McLean. Our settlers, however. had little to do with either Fayette or Vermilion County, and it is difficult to state the exact condition of affairs during this year. The records of the State Department at Springfield show that the most of the territory of McLean County was included in Vermilion County in the year 1826 ; but we find from a careful inspec- tion of the official records of Fayette County that during the year 1826 this portion of MeLean was recognized as being within the limits of Fayette. The old settlers state that their being included in Vermilion was some kind of a "fraud," and that they never were properly citizens of the latter county. It is an historical fact that Fayette claimed jurisdiction here down to the time of the organization of Tazewell County in 1827, and also that our citizens recognized the demand, and hence we do not see much force in Vermilion's " technical " claim. It appears that at the March term of the Fayette County Commissioners' Court in 1826, it was "ordered that all that part of the county north of Township Seventeen (17) shall compose an election district, to be known by the name of the Orendorff Precinct, and the election therein to be held at the house of William Orendorff, in said precinct ; and further, that William Orendorff, John Benson and James Latta be appointed Judges of Election of the same precinct." An election was held on the 7th of August, 1826, and, on September 4, at the County Court, the proper fees were allowed these judges, and also to the clerks of the election-William See and William H. Hodge " in State paper at two for one." William Orendorff was

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allowed his fees for returning the election to the county seat at Vandalia-125 miles- at the rate of 10 cents per mile, also " in State paper at two for one." The records of this county do not show that our settlement had any county business until 1825, when Joseph B. Harbert was appointed Road Supervisor, and these few entries which we have given are all the items of business that appeared to be of any interest to the inhabitants of Blooming Grove, who were so far removed from the county seat. It is interesting to note how large a district was comprised within the "Orendorff Precinct " organized by the above-mentioned order of Fayette County. It included the northern portion of the present county of Macon, most of De Witt, Piatt, McLean, and, in fact, a strip of country of the same width from east to west in Fayette County, and extending north as far as the Illinois River, or to the Wisconsin line, in Fayette County, was generally understood at that time to include all the territory between its southern boundary and the northern line of the State. It would be of great interest could we give the list of voters who attended this first election, but the papers have been lost or mislaid.

The records show that James Allin was one of the Fayette County Commissioners from 1822 to 1825, and judging from the frequency with which his name appears, he must have been a valuable member. He thus acquired influence and position, and when he moved to Blooming Grove at a later date, he was, of course, well known to our leading citizens. The books of the Circuit Clerk's office at Vandalia do not show that a single case of either criminal or civil action ever appeared there from this settlement, neither do the records give any evidence of the recording of deeds or mortgages. As the land-sales had not then taken place, there could, of course, be no use for such records. There are a few records of marriages, the last one being that of Jacob Spawr to Eliza Ann Trimmer, who were " published," no license having been asked for, and they were married by William Orendorff December 30, 1826. Blooming Grove, it appears, became known at the county seat in rather a vague and indefinite manner, but was too remote to receive much attention, 125 miles being too far even for those pioneer days. Fayette County was destined to be subdivided, and in its division our territory was to undergo several important changes of jurisdiction.

In the year 1827, the county of Tazewell was organized, and the career of Blooming Grove while under its control will form our next chapter.

BLOOMING GROVE IN TAZEWELL COUNTY.

When the new county of Tazewell was organized, in 1827, Blooming Grove was its most important settlement. We find its inhabitants had now no cause of complaint, as they were among the most influential of the leading citizens. The records of Taze. well County show that its first County Commissioners' Court was held April 10, 1827, at the house of Mr. William Orendorff. This Court consisted of James Latta, of Blooming Grove ; Benjamin Briggs and George Hittle, from other parts of the county. Of the new county's first officials, John Benson was Treasurer; Thomas Orendorff, Coroner ; and W. H. Hodge, Sheriff-all of Blooming Grove. The next meeting of the Court was held at the house of Ephraim Stout, at Stout's Grove, and the first piece of probate business transacted in the new county related to one of the residents of Blooming Grove-Mrs. Benjamin Cox.

Among the pioneers of Blooming Grove, we find no one more worthy of men- tion than Mrs. Benjamin Cox. Her husband had come here in 1825, had purchased

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of John W. Dawson an improved claim with a log cabin; had returned to Ohio for his family and died within a few weeks after his return. His widow, the mother of eight children, determined on emigrating, and with this large family braved the dangers of the long road, and arrived at Blooming Grove, September 23, 1826. When we consider the difficulties which the stoutest men encountered at that day, the bravery of this lady entitles her to the front rank among our pioneers. April 25, 1827, we find from the Tazewell records, Mrs. Felina Cox, widow of Benjamin Cox, was appointed guardian of Aurelius, Benjamin, Nancy and David Cox, with William Orendorff and William Walker as securities in the sum of $1,800. Mrs. Cox came here when Indians were plenty ; when only the bravest men had courage to penetrate into this wilderness, and she deserves to be mentioned among the heroines of Illinois.

The first blacksmith on the south side of Blooming Grove was a man of the name of Dow, who came in 1829. The neighbors turned out and built him a shop, rejoicing at now being able to obtain blacksmithing near their homes. Mr. Dow only remained a short time. The first stock of goods was kept by Mr. Black, in 1828 or 1829, at the house of Mr. William Orendorff. The first shoemaker seems to have been Mr. Will- iam Orendorff, who frequently made and mended shoes for his neighbors, who would gather corn or do some other farm work for him in payment. The first blacksmith and carpenter work was accomplished in the same manner by the more ingenious of our pioneers, as during those early times, the mother of invention, " necessity," was ever present to stimulate all to deeds and works the actors hardly supposed themselves capa- ble of performing. In fact, this statement is true even in these times, when our states- men, our generals and our capitalists arise from the most humble surroundings, brought to perfection by necessity, or in other words, by the genius of our free institutions.

Mr. William Orendorff was made Justice of the Peace in Tazewell County, and filled the office for many years. Judging from the early records he married a large number of young couples. He married the first couple that wedded in this region after Tazewell was organized, Abram Hobbs to Elizabeth Evans, June 25, 1827; Miss Evans was a daughter of the William Evans who afterward settled in what is now the city of Bloomington. The same year, he married Amos Lundy to Susannah Copes, August 16, and the next year, on the 1st of January, 1828, John Kimler to Mary Cox. The lat- ter were residents of Blooming Grove, as were John Cox and Elizabeth Walker, who were married March 18, 1828. October 23, 1828, James Hodge was married to Minerva J. See. All these were married by Mr. Orendorff, who seems to have carried on a lively business. Blooming Grove was gay with weddings in those times-as James Benson married Polly Hinshaw, November 16, 1828; while January 1, 1829, Henry Miller married Temperance Evans, daughter of William Evans. This last was a real Bloomington wedding, the first, probably, that ever occurred within the present limits of the city of Bloomington. The bride of that day, now Mrs. Jane Whitcomb, is still living at Old Town, in this county. Three more weddings took place in the year 1829-Richard Grass to Elizabeth Maxwell, William Maxwell to Mrs. Elizabeth Hobbs, and James Walker to Jane Brock. Within a little over two years, we thus find there were eight or nine marriages of Blooming Grove couples, indicating a degree of enterprise that has not been surpassed by any of the later inhabitants.

June 25, 1827, it was ordered that a new voting precinct, to be called Blooming Grove, be formed of all that part of the county, east of Range 3, and north of Town

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22. This voting precinct was therefore thirty-six miles from east to west, and extended from the south line of Bloomington Township, to the northern line of Tazewell County on the north. The first election was held at the house of John Benson, and the first Judges of Election were E. Rhodes, Henry Vansickle and William Orendorff. This immense territory was erected into a road district, and Joseph B. Harbord was made Road Supervisor.

The first grand jurors from Blooming Grove Precinct were William Orendorff, John H. S. Rhodes, William Walker, L. Hurst, Peter Mccullough and William Gil- ston, whose names were drawn August 7, 1827. From this time until the year 1831, when the new county of McLean was organized, the residents of Blooming Grove trans- acted county business at Mackinaw, the county scat of Tazewell, only about twenty miles away, and the transition from the far away county seat at Vandalia was found most convenient and agreeable. There was, in those days, but little business to be attended to, but it was promptly despatched. We find that the first road in this region was laid out in 1827, from "the upper point of Kickapoo and Salt Creek, to the northeast corner of Blooming Grove, thence to the Dry Grove, thence to Mackinaw to the east end of Main street." This was the first legal road in Bloomington.

One of the great difficulties of the pioneers, was the want of mills for making flour and meal. Most of the streams of this region are liable to go dry in summer, and were always a poor dependence ; but at this early time, very few good mills had been erected in this vicinity. It was no uncommon thing for teams to go to mill all the way to Attica, on the Wabash, in Indiana, distant 120 miles, or to Perryville, 110 miles. They often went to the Sangamon, over 50 miles, to the Kankakee, 70 miles, and to Green's mill, on the Fox River, above Ottawa, over 60 miles. When Whistler's mill was built on the Mackinaw, in Tazewell County, it was considered quite a convenience, although over 20 miles from Blooming Grove. Various were the expedients for dis- pensing with these long trips. One of them was pounding corn in a piece of hard wood, hollowed out on the principle of the pestle and mortar, and another was the horse- mill. These mills were erected in nearly every settlement ; one being made here, a hand- mill, by Ebenezer Rhodes, in 1824, and one in the winter of 1830, a horse-mill, by Isaac Baker. The mill-stones were common "nigger-head " stones, from the surface of the prairie, held in a frame in such a manner, that a horse traveling in a circle would set them in motion. After the wheat was ground, the flour was separated from the bran by sifting it through a bottom of two cloths, by which the flour was separated. It was rather a wasteful method, and very slow, but it generally happened that the flour thus obtained made good bread. Possibly our modern " new process " flour, from the best Kan- sas wheat, tastes less sweet to our palates than did the home-made article of fifty years ago. Crushing corn, however, was the principal work of these mills. Small water- inills were constructed, wherever there was an opportunity ; mostly, however, at a later day. There was even one on Sugar Creek, near the present city of Bloomington, built by Samuel Lander, which did good service for several years, but later than the time of which we are now speaking. It stood but a short distance below the old Pekin road, and the old dam is still to be seen. A mill was built on the Kickapoo, and several on the Mackinaw, but the settlers, in 1829, longed for a reliable steam-mill that would never go dry. All these difficulties were met, however, by a cheerfulness peculiar to these pioneers. They were almost surrounded by Indians, of whose friendship they

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 32

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