The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 71

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 71

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gave his right to a neighbor who had children to send, and received in return two baskets. Thus trade was carried on, and the children educated. The first school taught within the township did not occur until so comparatively recently that its time and place are not of much importance.

The present condition of the schools is good, so far as we were able to learn. The following will illustrate the growth of the public-school system in the township: Num- ber of persons under twenty-one years, 568 ; number of persons between six and twenty- one years, 364; number of scholars enrolled, 278; schoolhouses, 7; amount paid teachers, $2,218.64 ; total expenditures, $4,107.61 ; estimated value of school prop- erty, $7,350; highest wages paid per month, $50.

WAR RECORD AND POLITICS.

We were unable to learn of any in the Black Hawk war, except William Lash and James Phillips. Mr. Lash was a noted fighter. He was also in the Mexican war. He would never take any insinuations in regard to the demeanor of the troops among which he was serving. It is related, that at one time in Bloomington, a man insinuated that the Mexican soldiers did much else than fight. He had directed his remark to Mr. Lash; but had not more than finished his remark until a heavy rejoinder from the soldier's fist landed the man in a place of quiet, from which he scrambled up and left the company without bidding them a last adieu. Mr. Lash was the only man in the Mexican war from Dale, so far as we were able to ascertain.

In the war of the rebellion, there was the proportion from Dale that was required from all. Many brave soldiers who fought in the Union cause, looked back to their homes in Dale. They seem to have been fortunate, most of them, for the list of the unre- turning is not so long as that furnished by many townships in our fair State. We did not hear of a single person shot in the field; but there were some who suffered that worse fate, death in the hospital. Wallace Kinkaid died of the small-pox, and Thomas Stanton died of the measles. Charles Morgan, William Harvey and Edward Harvey also died in the service of the United States. If there were others, we failed to find their record. The full details of these horrible wars can never be learned on earth. If, in the hereafter, there shall be a reckoning of the affairs of this world, may the unknown braves who sleep in deep oblivion, with their deeds unsung and their names unkuown, receive a just recompense of reward.

In political matters, Dale Township stands very close. For some time, the majori- ties have not been large. It cannot well be said to be Republican or Democrat.

RAILROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, main line, was built through the south- east corner of the township, in 1854. Shirley was made a station, and the township had means of shipping from that early date. But thirteen years after this, the Jack- sonville Division of the same road passed almost directly through the township from east to west. Covell was made a station immediately, and, being near the center of the township, offered better means for shipping grain, cattle, hogs, ete.

The publie highways are numerous enough to answer all the purposes of the farm- ing community. The roads do not cleave to the section lines with the tenacity often noticed in prairie townships, although quite a number of section lines are authorized

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highways. There is a highway that follows the track of the C., A. & St. L. through the southeast corner. It leads from Bloomington southwest. On the second section line from the south, there is a public road which comes in from Stanford, on the west. On the east side of the township, it turns north, then east, and then northeast through the woods to Bloomington. It is the Stanford road to Bloomington. On the north side, there is a well-traveled, important road, leading from the south side of Twin Grove to Bloomington. It cuts through the center of the north tier of sections. It was on this line that the first settlements in the township were made. Then there is a road from Shirley west. There are quite a number of small streams that are crossed by these roads. At these places, bridges are generally found, but none of iron. In some places, it is difficult to make a good road, on account of the difficulty of draining, but most of them are in good repair.

ORGANIZATION OF DALE TOWNSHIP.

When MeLean County adopted the township system, Dale was organized with the present name, and held its first election for township officers April 6, 1858. The result, as recorded in the County Clerk's office, was as follows : Richard Rowell, Supervisor ; Oliver J. Fish, Town Clerk ; John D. Lander, Assessor; Edward Wilson, Collector ; Jacob Johnston, Overseer of Poor; Daniel Kent, Henry Merriman, Isaac Mitchell, Commissioners of Highways; John Mitchell, Alfred Fowler, Constables ; James M. Ward, E. Moberly, Justices of the Peace; A. D. Benjamin, Overseer of Highways.

The officers of the township at present are as follows : A. J. Wilson, Supervisor ; Jacob Brigham, Town Clerk ; Edward Wilson, Assessor ; A. R. Freed, Collector ; Vassal W. Tompkins, James W. Quinn, Aaron J. Moore, Commissioners of Highways; Charles Dunk and C. M. Reed, Justices of the Peace, and William A. Campbell, Con- stable.

SHIRLEY.

This little village is situated on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, six miles southwest of Bloomington. It is located in the prairie. To the west is Harley's Grove ; on the south, some distance, is Funk's Grove, and northeast is Blooming Grove. The spot on which it is located is higher than much of the surrounding country, partic- ularly that to the north and west. When viewed from these directions, Shirley seems high and dry. The surrounding country is fertile and the farming community seem in easy circumstances, but the little village of Shirley does not grow very rapidly. It is too near to Bloomington, no doubt, so that most of the farmers go up to the city to do their trading.

There was a switch put down at Shirley when the railroad was first built, but the ' village was not surveyed till a much later date. In the summer of 1859, the west half of Section 36 and the east half of Section 35 were laid off into lots, irrespective of half-section lines. This was done by George P. Ela, who was then Deputy Surveyor for McLean County. Ela's certificate is dated July 8, 1859. The plat of the village, filed in the Recorder's office, bears the certificate of George P. Ela, County Surveyor, and is dated September 14, 1866. The village was laid out and surveyed for John Foster. This survey included 2,5% acres in Lot No. 2, and 23 acres in Lot No. 7 of Section 35, east half.

But there were some improvements long before this. The first residence was built by Emly Moberly. It is still standing, but Mr. Moberly now lives in Bloomington.

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HISTORY OF MCLEAN COUNTY.

The second dwelling was erected by Hiram Quinn. The first house that was used for storehouse is now occupied by the Methodists and Presbyterians as a place of worship. It is called the Union Church. The Funks and the Quinns were the most important element in the early history of Shirley. They are still interested here.

Beside the Union Church, mentioned as being the first storehouse, there is another, erected by the Christians. The Union Church has no regular services at present. The two societies-Methodists and Presbyterians-united their strength and fixed this build- ing up so that it affords tolerably comfortable apartments, but the societies are not strong.

The Christian Church was first begun by Rev. Alexander Hutchinson, who held meetings in the schoolhouse at Shirley in the fall of 1868. There was quite a revival inaugurated, so that they began to build, and finished their church in 1869. At this time, the society of Christians, formed at the California Schoolhouse ten years previously, were transferred to the village and united with those just beginning. The church is 36x56 feet, and cost $2,800. At present, there is no regular Pastor. Jonathan Park still lives just north of the village, but does not now preach. The society has a good membership for a country church, and a pleasant house of worship.

We did not learn the particulars of the first school, nor the name of the first teacher. The school-building now standing was erected in 1869. It is a large, two- story frame. It has a large room and two recitation-rooms on the first floor, with a large hall up-stairs. The good people of Shirley must have calculated on a more rapid growth than time has furnished, so far. Only one teacher is employed now, and ten years have gone by since the house was built.

There are quite large elevators in the village, owned by Funk & Douglas. There are two storehouses-one brick and one frame. The brick store is not operating now. It is owned by John Foster. The other store is owned by William B. Lane. Hiram W. Quinn and Benjamin F. Quinn have the house rented and keep a general country store.

The post office is kept in the station-house, by J. L. Douglas, who is also the. agent for the railroad. A blacksmith-shop is run by R. M. Browning. Charles Dunk runs a carpenter shop and metes out justice to the community.

Foster's brick residence, on the east side of the railroad, is the most prominent dwelling in the town, as the Fosters are the big men of the place.

COVELL.

A little cluster of residences on the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, near the center of Dale Township, is called Covell. The only buildings of a public character are a blacksmith-shop, a store, the elevators and a church. The station is situated in the level prairie that occupies so large a portion of the center of the township. Although the place consists of but few houses, yet it must be a lively place for shipping. If it ships other things in proportion to the amount of corn we saw cribbed up there, it certainly does a heavy business for a placo of its size. We understand that there is now one-third as much corn here as there is in Bloomington. The elevators are owned by Linebarger & Brother, of Stanford.

Covell was surveyed by George P. Ela, County Surveyor. Date of certificate of survey, October 15, 1867. This survey included 52-58% acres from the northeast corner

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of the northwest quarter of Section 21. The plat was filed, and town laid out by John L. Rowell. This was just at the time of the completion of the railroad through the township.

The first residence here was built by Mrs. Campbell, in the fall of 1867. In the same fall, A. P. Hefner built a shop and lived in one part of it for awhile. His daughter was the first child born in the place. The first building of any kind was a warehouse. In this same fall of 1867, W. G. Witherow built a house and kept a grocery store. Piper & Soulty now own this building, but Mr. H. G. Bomgardner keeps a general country store in it. Mr. Bomgardner is also station agent. A. P. Hefner still runs a blacksmith-shop. There is no schoolhouse in the village. The district is large, and a number of the patrons live to one side, so that the schoolhouse is some distance to the southwest.

There is a very pretty country church at Covell. It was built in the summer of 1867, by the united efforts of the Methodists, Baptists and Old School Presbyterians. Each was to have the church one-third of the time. Prominent among the Methodists were William Rogers and Martin Newton. Their first minister was Elder Barger. Their present Pastor is Col. Johnson. Among the Presbyterians may be mentioned Robert and Crawford Campbell, David Hart and Dr. Mills, now of Normal. The Rev. Robert Criswell was their first minister. Thomas Cutting, John Freed and Mr. Ballard were Baptists. They had preaching occasionally, but no regular pastor. There has been one noted revival since the building of the church. This occurred under the labors of Revs. Criswell, Byerly and others. Criswell continued to preach for the Pres- byterians for some time. Byerly was a Methodist. The Rev. Mr. Evans now preaches for the Baptists. The building is 32x48 feet. It cost $2,500.

FUNK'S GROVE TOWNSHIP.

To write the history of this township without making the Funk family the central group would be like an attempt to present the play of " Hamlet with Hamlet left out." We are therefore sure our readers will not feel disappointed or displeased if this chapter partakes largely of the biographical with members of this family mentioned most prominently. Indeed, we are quite certain that those acquainted with the history of the town will fully appreciate the propriety of such a presentation and would criticise us justly were we to write otherwise. The Funk estate, at the death of Isaac Funk, who is the central figure of this group, covered about 20,000 acres, or nearly two- thirds of the township. For this reason, therefore, if for no other, should the name figure prominently in the history of this part of the county. But, as we shall presently see, the name extends as high as the lands do in length and breadth.

Two years after the first settlement had been made in the county, this region had not yet been occupied by any white man. In the spring of 1824, Isaac Funk and his brother Absalom came to McLean County, and they, with William Brock, with whom they had resided for a short time in Sangamon County. Brock had been in McLean County (or rather in what is now McLean, as the county had not then been formed), and by his representations of the fine country about Old Town Timber and Blooming Grove, a tour of inspection was taken, resulting in the selection of the grove

BLOOMINGTON

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now bearing the Funk name as their future home. On their arrival at the grove, the Funks declared that this location was all that could be desired, and, though by persua- sion of Brock they continued their survey of the country to Old Town, yet their first impressions of this grove were not changed, and even Brock was forced to acknowledge that he had either overestimated his former choice or that Funk's Grove was so much superior that part of the charm of the country further up the creek had been obscured. It was finally agreed to settle here, and arrangements were at once made to lay claim to large tracts of the lands lying in and about the grove. The Brocks erected a little log cabin at the south end of the grove and began keeping house in the pioneer style, and Absalom Funk, being then unmarried, boarded with them. The land in this part of the State was not then in the market, and settlers simply squatted on the lands which they designed afterward to purchase of the Government. Land was plenty then, and no one thought of disputing the slender title. Brock and the Fuuks claimed as much as they thought they could enter and then went to work to prepare for its entry when it should come into market. None of them had any means, but all had plenty of ambition and a good amount of well-developed muscle. The father of the Funks had been very wealthy, but, during the war of 1812, had loaned large amounts of money to different persons, and the hard times which always follow a war coming on, his debtors were driven to bankruptcy, and he was, in consequence, ruined. In the fall of the year named, Robert Stubblefield, a brother-in-law of Isaac and Absalom Funk, also from Ohio, came out and settled at the north end of the grove, and then the Funks went to live with them. The Stubblefields have been an influential family in this part of the county and second only to the Funks. The family is a large one and, without an excep- tion, they have been remarkably successful in their various callings.

It may not be generally known that Adam Funk, the father of Isaac, Absalom and the other pioneers of that name, ever came to this country, as he died in 1832; and but few now reside in this part of the country who lived here at the time. Adam Funk was a native of Virginia, but had lived for a number of years in Fayette County, Ohio. In 1824, his wife having died, he removed, with his other two sons, to this place, and resided, until the marriage of his son Isaac, with his son-in-law, Robert Stubblefield. In 1826, Isaac Funk was married to Miss Cassandra Sharp, of Peoria, then called Fort Clark. From the very first, Isaac Funk was the acknowledged leader in politics and every public enterprise, and his reputation as a shrewd business man was not long confined to McLean County, or even the State. Though he met with some reverses and was obliged to undergo many hardships incident to a new country, his energy and pluck were always equal to every occasion. He believed in the old saying that, what is worth doing is worth doing well, and having fixed upon stock-raising as a business, he pursued it with the same spirit that, had his mind been turned specially to politics or religion, would have made him one of the foremost in either. Mr. Funk never left even the details of his business to hired help, but looked after the most trivial matters. His own eye saw that his stock was well cared for, and when they were to be marketed, always accompanied the herd to their destination. In the carly times, it was essential that the strictest economy should be practiced by all, and whether this trait was natural with Mr. Funk, or whether he acquired it by the force of habit, he always practiced it. He was distinguished by his plain clothes after he had acquired a fortune. His outfit in this respect would not compare favorably with that of most young men

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who receive a salary less in amount than would have fed a dozen of Mr. Funk's steers. As a result of all of Mr. Funk's economy and industry, at the time of his death he was one of the wealthiest men and largest land-owners in Illinois.

Until the organization of the Republican party. Mr. Funk was always a strong Whig, and as such was, in 1840, elected to the Legislature of the State from this dis- trict. The agitation resulting from the organization of the Republican party, brought out in Mr. Funk a latent power, of which few were aware that he possessed. In his career as a legislator, he showed no special marks of prominence. He was always accredited with performing the work assigned him with the same care with which he attended his cattle, but it was not dreamed that the plain, plodding farmer would yet make the walls of that same house ring with applause, and that hundreds in every State should acknowledge his strength of character, as well as his goodness of heart. He sympathized deeply with the downtrodden race, and when the war of the rebellion was inaugurated, his great and loyal heart was stirred to great deeds and words. In 1863, he was in the State Senate, when a bill was before that body having for its object the aid of the Sanitary Commission. There were in the Senate at the time several members who were opposed to the bill, and Mr. Funk had set his heart on its passage. The opposition, though not openly antagonizing the bill from avowed hostility to the real object of the appropriation, yet urged economy, and by various pleas and pretenses, well known to legislators, sought to deprive the measure of some of its most important features. Though Mr. Funk was an uneducated man, he was yet quick to detect the real grounds of the opposition, and this so worked upon his mind that, though he had never attempted a speech before, his natural eloquence burst forth, as it were, spontaneously in one of the most telling speeches of the session, a few extracts of which are here given. Mr. Funk said :

MR. SPEAKER : I can sit in my seat no longer and see such boys' play going on. These men are trifling with the best interests of the country. They should have asses' ears to set off their heads, or they are secessionists and traitors at heart. I say there are traitors and secession- ists at heart in this Senate. Their actions prove it. Their speeches prove it. Their gibes and laughter and cheers here nightly, when their speakers get up in this hall and denounce the war and the administration, prove it. I can sit here no longer and not tell these traitors what I think of them, and while so telling them I am responsible myself for what I say. I stand upon my own bottom. I am ready to meet any man upon this floor from a pin's point to the mouth of a cannon upon this charge against these traitors. I am an old man of sixty-five. I came to Illi- nois a poor boy. I have made a little something for myself and family. I pay $3,000 a year in taxes. 1 am willing to pay $6,000. aye $12,000; aye I am willing to pay my whole fortune, and then give my life to save my country from these traitors that are seeking to destroy it.

Mr. Speaker, you must excuse me ; ] could not sit longer in my seat and calmly listen to these traitors. My heart, that feels for my poor country, would not let me. My heart, that cries out for the lives of our brave volunteers in the field, that these traitors at home are destroying by the thousand, would not let me. My heart, that bleeds for the widows aud orphans at home, would not let me. Yes, these villains and traitors and secessionists in this Senate are killing my neighbors' boys, now fighting in the field. 1 dare to tell this to these traitors to their faces, and that I am responsible for what I say to one and all of them. Let them come on right here. I am sixty-five years old, and I have made up my mind to risk my life right here on this floor for my country.

Mr. Speaker, these traitors on this floor should be provided with hempen collars. They deserve them. They deserve them. They deserve hanging, I say. The country would be bet- ter off to swing them up. I go for hanging them. and I dare to tell them so right here to their

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traitors' faces. Traitors should be hung. It would be the salvation of the country to hang them. For that reason I would rejoice at it.

Mr. Speaker, I beg pardon of the gentlemen in the Senate who are not traitors, but true, loyal men, for what I have said. I only intend it and mean it for secessionists at heart. They are here in this Senate. I see them joke and smirk and grin at the true Union inan. But I defy them. I stand here ready for them, and dare them to come on. What man with the heart of a patriot could stand this treason any longer ? I have stood it long enough. and I will stand it no longer. 1 denounce these men and their aiders and abettors as rank traitors and secession- ists. Hell itself could not spew out a more traitorous crew than some of the men who disgrace this Legislature, this State and this country. For myself, I protest against and denounce their treasonable acts.

I said I pay $3,000 a year taxes. I do not say it to brag of it; it is my duty-yes, Mr. Speaker, my privilege to do it. But some of these traitors here, who are working night and day to get their miserable little bills and claims through the Legislature, to take money ont of the pockets of the people, are talking about high taxes. They are hypocrites as well as traitors. I heard some of them talking about high taxes in this way who do not pay $5 to support the Government. I denounce them as hypocrites as well as traitors. The reason that they pretend to be afraid of high taxes is, that they do not want to vote money for the relief of the soldiers. They want, also, to embarrass the Government and stop the war. They want to aid the seces- sionists to conquer our boys in the field. They care for taxes ? They are picayune men. They pay no taxes at all and never did and never hope to, unless they can manage to plunder the Gov- ernment. This is an excuse of traitors.

The whole effect of the speech is impossible to describe. Frequently, his ponder- ous and honest fist came down upon his desk with a crash that made the walls resound, and that made the objects of his wrath wince. The speech was received with applause and cheers, which the speaker was unable to suppress, and, when he sat down the gal- leries and the floor joined in a prolonged applause. The speech in full was printed in most of the papers throughout the North, and Mr. Funk received the hearty congrat- ulations of loyal men from all parts of the nation.

During the whole war, while he lived, his whole mind was given to aiding his country in its struggle for preservation. But he did not live to witness the triumph of the principles for which he so earnestly pleaded. He died on the 29th of January, 1865, a few months before the surrender of the rebel army. His wife, with whom he had lived happily for nearly forty years, died within a few hours of her husband, and they were both buried in the same grave, in the Funk's Grove Cemetery, in which the father of Isaac Funk had been interred thirty-three years before, he also being the first.

At the time of Mr. Funk's death he was a member of the Senate, which was then in session. Upon the public announcement of the sad event to that body, Hon. J. W. Strevell, then a member of the same House from Livingston County, pronounced the following appropriate eulogy :

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The History of McLean County, Illinois; portraits of early settlers and prominent men, Part 71

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