The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 32

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848

USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 32
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 32

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Within sight of the station is the Methodist Church, built about 1849-50, on land given for the purpose by Judge Tice. It is a frame building, and cost, perhaps, about $1,000 or $1,200. Rev. Mr. Eckman, of Athens, is the present Pastor, the Church being included within the Athens circuit. A Sunday school is maintained during the summer season, of which Seneca Winters is Superintendent. The Rev. Mr. Curry, the veteran Baptist Minister of Menard County, resides in this immediate neighborhood.

TALLULA PRECINCT.

This is sometimes termed the banner township of Menard County. The section of country lying within its borders is one of the finest in this part of the State; mostly fine rolling prairie, and, without being hilly or broken, is sufficiently undulating to drain well. Besides Clary's Grove, there was orig- inally little timber in what is now Tallula Precinct. It is likewise nearly devoid of water-courses. Clary's Creek and Rock Creek have their source in the central or southern part, but are so small as scarcely to deserve even the name of creeks. The Jacksonville Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad runs diagonally through from northeast to southwest, and has been of incalcu- lable benefit, as elsewhere noted. Tallula is the southwestern precinct of the county, and contains three sections less than a regular Congressional town. It is divided into four parts by the township and range lines which cross each other one mile north of the village of Tallula, thus throwing a tier of sections more in the two southern. divisions than in the northern, the west one of the latter being three sections short, owing to a jog in the line. The precinct is bounded on the east by Petersburg and Rock Creek Precincts, on the south by Morgan County, on the west by Cass County, and on the north by Petersburg Precinct. No large cities or towns, nor extensive manufactories exist, but farming and stock-raising are the principal sources of business enterprise. The beautiful little village of Tallula is the only town in the precinct, and will be noticed more fully farther on in this chapter. This section produces coal of an excellent quality, and mining is carried on to some extent in the vicinity of the village.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

Notwithstanding Tallula Precinct is the very perfection of civilization, and the home of wealth and refinement, the time was when it might have boasted of the other extreme. Something over half a century ago, the name of Clary's Grove was synonymous with all the deviltry and mischief that occurred within a radius of fifty miles, and the few honorable men whose mis- fortune it was to live among the " border ruffians ", of that remote date, say they were ashamed to tell where they were from when they went to Spring- field. The settlement was composed chiefly of the "rag, tag and bob-tail " who leave the more civilized sections for their own and the country's good, seek the frontier where they are unrestrained by law and order, and again take up . their line of march as the star of empire wends its way westward. So it was here. As civilization advanced, these roughs pulled up stakes and moved on to other frontier localities, and Clary's Grove developed into one of the most quiet and respectable neighborhoods in all the surrounding country, and to-day . it is looked on as the very paradise of Menard County. The ill name given it by the lawless deeds of the ".Clary's Grove boys " is almost forgotten, or remains only as the last lingering memories of a hideous nightmare. But we would not have our readers impressed with the idea that we include the Clary family, than whoin none better exists in the county, with these hard characters. As we have stated, they were the rough element always found in frontier settlements.

SETTLEMENT OF THE PRECINCT.

The first settlement made in Tallula Precinct was in Clary's Grove, by a man named John Clary, from whom the grove derived its name. Clary was from Tennessee, and squatted here about the year 1819. For three years, he spent the winters in a kind of camp, made of poles, with three sides built up, the fourth left open, and where a huge log heap was kept burning night and day during the winter season, while his family reposed and were sheltered in the camp attached to this burning pile. He sold his claim to a man named Wat- kins, and he sold it to George Spears, who now lives upon the site of this original settlement of Clary's Grove. After selling his claim to Watkins, Clary removed to Arkansas, but many relatives and descendants are living still in the county. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and participated in many of the fierce battles with "King George's red-coats." By nature a pioneer, he sought the wilds of Illinois, and, as people crowded him too close, removed to Arkansas as above stated. Thomas Watkins was from Kentucky, and settled in Clary's Grove as early perhaps as 1820-21, and bought the claim of Clary, as stated above. He sold out to George Spears upon his arrival in the country in 1824, and removed into the river timber near the present city of Petersburg, where he died at a later day. He has two sons and per- haps other descendants living in the county. Absalom Mounts was here also about 1820-21. He built a mill here in a very early day, which was of the

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

most primitive pattern, dimensions and capacity. Whence he came, no one seems to know, but he afterward went to Mason County, as we hear of him there in the milling business very early.

James White and Robert Conover were brothers-in-law to George Spears, and came from Green County, Ky. White settled here in 1820, and Conover in 1822. They both married sisters to Spears, and they, as well as their wives, are dead. They died on the farms they originally settled, but have left behind them numerous descendants. Solomon Matthews was another of the early comers, and was from Tennessee. He came about 1821 or 1822, but was one · of the transient settlers to be found in all new countries, who, as game thins out and becomes scarce, follow it. Matthews left after a few years, and what became of him no one seems to know or care. Another of these very early ones was Bannister Bond, who was also from Tennessee. He remained here ' some twenty or twenty-five years, when he sold out and removed to Iowa, where he lived at the last account of him. Cyrus Kirby came from Kentucky about 1822 or 1823, and settled in the grove. He was rather poor, and had no team to plow and break his ground, but took a mattock and dug up two acres of prairie, and planted it in corn. Think of this, ye " silk-stockinged " farmers, as you ride over your broad fields upon your sulky plows, and watch with pride your reapers and " headers " gliding through the golden grain, and remember that half a century ago, perhaps, some indigent farmer was toiling upon the same spot, like Cyrus Kirby, to make bread for his little ones. When Kirby died here some years ago, this memorable mattock was sold at his sale and bought by one of his sons, who still keeps it as a relic of the pioneer days. Solomon Speer is another of the pioneers who came to the grove in 1820. He came with White, and was a brother-in-law to him. After remaining here a number of years, he moved to Cass County where he died. He has two grand- daughters living in the village of Tallula; one of them-the amiable landlady of the Wathen House, and the other-Mrs. Lovesey. Jacob and Jesse Gum came in 1821-22, and were also from Kentucky, where most of the early settlers of this section came from. Jesse died in the neighborhood where he settled; Jacob moved to Knox County and died there some years ago. William Clary was here as early as 1822-23, and came from Tennessee. - He sold his claim to George Spears when he came in 1824, and removed to Arkansas. Andrew Beard came about the same time, and also sold out his claim to Spears, -is the place where John Q. Spears now lives. He came from Kentucky, and after selling his claim to Spears, moved over on the west side of the grove, where he remained a few years, sold out and started to remove to Oregon, but died on the Gulf of Mexico, on his way to his intended home. Burton Lytton, another Kentuckian, sold his claim to Spears in 1824, and removed to what is now Cass County. It is not known what year he settled in the grove, but he was here when Spears came. William Revis came here about 1822-23, but did not remain long. He sold out to Conover and followed the star of empire.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

Mrs. Jane Vaughn, a widow lady, came about the same time as Revis, but sold out some years later and moved to Knox County. Joseph Watkins was also here as early as 1820-21. He moved to Little Grove, where he afterward. died. John Gum, Sr., came in 1822, and was from Kentucky. He afterward removed to Knox County, where he was living at the last known of him.

The pioneers named above settled in the grove previous to 1824-the year that George Spears came to the settlement. Some had even moved away before he came, and others left soon after. They were mostly of that character who squat in the wilderness where game is plenty, and when that begins to fail, they, like the Arabs,

" fold their tents, And as silently steal away."

Mr. Spears came from Kentucky in 1824, and, as already noted, bought the claims of several of the parties, whose setttlement in the grove has been mentioned in the preceding pages. His father and mother came here with him, far advanced in years at the time, and died in a ripe old age, as noticed in the biographical department of this work. George Spears bought the claims of these squatters, which were squatter's claims only, and then entered the land when it came into market. He has, since he came here in 1824, entered and opened up over three thousand acres of land and settled his children around him upon good farms. He has seen the wilderness transformed into the excel- lent state of cultivation we find to-day. When he came here, the few scat- tering voters had to go to Springfield to exercise that right of American free- men. He built the second brick residence, in 1829, erected in Sangamon County, which then embraced Menard, Cass, Mason and perhaps as many others. That brick residence has been his home for fifty years, and in it, a few years ago, he celebrated, with his beloved helpmeet and a circle of friends, their golden wedding. Since then she has left him for a home up yonder. He is still in vigorous health, both mentally and physically, and to him we acknowledge our indebtedness for many facts pertaining to the early settlement of this section. An earnest and zealous Christian of the Baptist type, he has contributed liberally to the support, and to the building of the ele- gant church in Tallula. Coleman and John Gaddie, with their widowed mother came in 1824, and were from Kentucky. John Workman was among the early settlers who came in 1824-25. He died soon after, and a man named Simpson bought out the widow. Simpson died some years later, and his family remained on the place until last year, when they sold it and removed to Kansas. John Jones was another of the pioneers of 1824. He came from Kentucky, and died in Little Grove a number of years ago. Mrs. Rebecca Spears, a widow lady, came here with her family about 1826, and settled in the grove, where all the first settlements were made.

Elias Conover was the first man who settled out on the prairie. He built his residence four miles from the timber, and was supposed at the time to be

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

crazy. He was from New Jersey, and possessed the idea that by locating out on the prairie he would always have an uninterrupted range for his stock on "nature's waving meadows," as it was the universal supposition that those then living would never see the prairies settled up. How nearly correct they were in their estimation of things, the present state of the country goes to show. Mr. Conover settled his family around him and died some years ago on the place of his original settlement. Thomas Arnold was from Tennessee, and came to the settlement in 1826-27. He was very poor when he came, and lived on Spears' land until able to buy land, and finally accumulated a fair property. John Sewell was a brother-in-law to Arnold and came at the same time. He brought his aged mother to the settlement with him. William Tip- pett came about the same time, and both lived on Spears' land until able to buy land. They are mentioned as extremely honest, hard-working men, and finally secured comfortable homes.

Samuel B. Neely came from Tennessee and settled in the grove in 1828. He removed to Mason County, where he died recently. Abraham Burgin was from New Jersey and came to the settlement in 1825-26. He was a man of some prominence and died near Galesburg several years ago. Abraham B. Bell came from Kentucky in 1826 and settled in the neighborhood, where he died a few years ago. He has two sons who are merchants in the village of Tallula and among the live business men of the place. John Kinner was from Virginia and came to the settlement at the same time as did Bell. He is still living in the grove. William T. Beekman came from New Jersey. He is a son-in-law of George Spears, and is still living near the village. Robert Conover, brother of Elias Conover, came a few years before the latter and set- tled in the grove. Other early settlers in what is now Tallula Precinct are George, Jacob and Jesse Greene, William Smedley, Samuel Colwell, Joseph Cot- tington; Theodore Baker, Isaac N. Reding and William G. Greene. The latter is a native of Kentucky and came here at a very early day. with his parents, who settled near the village of Old Salem, where they died many years later. William G. Greene has spent most of his life in this section and has accumulated a large fortune. As a full and complete history of his career is given in the biograph- ical portion of this work, we will not repeat it here. There are probably other old settlers who deserve mention in this chapter, but a long period has ' elapsed since the first settlements were made in what is now Tallula Pre- cinct, and so few of the early pioneers are left, that it is simply an impossibility to collect the names of all who, by right, come under the head of early settlers.

EARLY PRIVATIONS.

As we look back over a period of sixty years to the beginning of the century which is now rapidly reeling off the last quarter of its existence, we are struck with wonder at the great change wrought in this flourishing region. In 1819, the first Anglo-Saxon pitched his tent in the little, grove of timber in

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

this portion of the county, standing in the prairie like an oasis in the great desert ; while far beyond, to the east and the west, and the north and the south, naught met his eye but the vast. and gloomy wilderness, infested with wild beasts and savages. As other white people flocked to the grove with undaunted courage, they met the ancient possessors of the soil, whether savage beasts or savage men, and, despite their strongly contested right to it, succeeded in gaining a foothold that has developed into the state of civilization we find around us to-day. These people knew nothing of railroads ; they had never heard of a locomotive, and had any one prophesied the railroad system of the present day, he would have been treated as a lunatic. Steam threshers, sulky plows, mowers and reapers were alike unknown to these pioneers, and are inventions that had never entered into their wildest dreams. The old sod, or Cary plow, drawn by two or three yoke of oxen, was their mode of subjecting the soil to cultivation. Their nearest trading-point was Springfield, and the supply of goods kept there was limited, and often, for the lack of funds, beyond their means to obtain. Springfield was likewise their post office, and a letter from the old home cost 25 cents, and sometimes laid in the office for months before the requisite " quarter" could be obtained to compensate Uncle Sam for its transportation, as the old gentleman had a peculiarity of usually requiring his little fees in advance. Milling was a great source of inconven- ience, to say the least, and, at times, it was almost impossible to obtain meal except by pounding the corn in a mortar, sifting it, making bread of the finest and hominy of the coarser part of it. When they went to the horse or ox mills, it was with an uncertainty as to when they would get their " grinding." The prairie fires, and the prairie-wolves, the "deep snow," the sudden " cold snap," and hundreds of other troubles and trials met them, of which the present generation know nothing, except as they gather around some old grand- mother or grandfather and listen to their stories of the pioneer days. But little more than half a century has passed, and lo ! the change that has come over all. Upon the face of nature the rolling years have written their record, and the wilderness is transformed into a very garden of Eden. The railroad train has supplanted the ox-wagon ; in fact, the country is a perfect network of rail- roads, as an evidence of which an old settler, who has witnessed all these changes, informed us that he could stand in his dooryard and hear the locomo- tives whistle on five different railroads. The horse and ox mill have given place to magnificent steam-mills, while inventions and improvements in farm machinery have kept pace with everything else. What the next fifty years ·may produce we dare not conjecture ; but, judging of the future from the past, it is not extravagant to predict that, fifty years hence, we will be flying through the air as we now fly over the prairies at the heels of the iron horse.

The first mill in this section of the country was built by Absalom Mounts, and was a rather small affair, but was of great convenience to the few residents then in the country. Its capacity was limited, the buhrs being not larger in

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

diameter than a half-bushel measure. This supplied the people until the erec- tion of the mill at Old Salem, described in another page. The precinct of Tallula, as bounded at present, has not a mill within its limits, and its citizens patronize the mills of Petersburg and Pleasant Plain. The village of Tallula, situated, as it is, in the midst of a fertile region, seems to us to present an excellent opening for a first-class mill, and that some enterprising individual will, erelong, discover the fact, we have no doubt.

The first practicing physicians in this section of the country were Dr. Allen, of Petersburg, and Dr. Renier, who settled in this precinct about 1828-29. The latter was a bachelor when he came here, and, for a period of some four years, boarded with George Spears. He then became a Benedict, and went to housekeeping. In those early days, people could not afford to get sick, and hence doctors were not such important personages as they are now. A man who owned a mill or a blacksmith shop was a " bigger man " than any doctor, as it was supposed that the good wives could do all the " doctoring " with cat- nip tea and "varbs."

Robert Armstrong was the first Justice of the Peace, and, as we are informed, possessed but little legal knowledge. His familiarity with legal technicalities was limited in the extreme, and his courts the theater of many humorous scenes, as the following will show : A case came before him one day, upon which a couple of lawyers were employed. After the case was decided, the defeated lawyer gave notice that he appealed the case from his decision, when the other lawyer nudged him, and whispered in his ear, "Don't allow an appeal." The Justice drew himself up with all the dignity embodied in the ponderous form of David Davis, and replied, " There is no appeal ; I allow no appeal from this court, sir."

The first blacksmith in Clary's Grove is not now remembered, although the blacksmith is usually a necessary character in a frontier settlement. The first stores in the present limits of the precinct were opened at the ancient and now extinct village of Rushaway, as will be noticed further on. The first post office established was also at this village. The first birth, death and marriage are now lost in the lapse of time, but are supposed to have occurred among the early set- tlers who came here, and many of whom left the settlement previous to 1824, at which date we reach a period within the memory of those still living.

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS.

The first school in the grove was taught by James Fletcher, in a little log cabin erected on the land of George Spears, about 1824-25, for school purposes. Fletcher taught a school in this cabin the first winter after it was erected, and which was the first in Clary's Grove, as noted above. He was not an efficient teacher, according to the standard rules of the present day, but we are informed that he could spell in two syllables, and read a little, by jumping over the hard words. He was the best, however, to be obtained in those

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early times, and with him the people were forced to be satisfied. This log cabin served the grove as a temple of learning several years, when it was burned to the ground. The people then erected a hewed-log house, which was used many years for church and school purposes. Now the precinct has some half-dozen neat frame schoolhouses, besides the elegant brick one in the village of Tallula, in which good schools are conducted by accomplished teachers for the usual period each year.

The first church organized in what is now Tallula Precinct was the Clary's Grove Baptist Church, and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, church organization in Menard County. In regard to this venerable Church, we make the following extract from the "County Atlas," which Mr. Spears informs us is as correct as is possible to get its early history, after the lapse of so many years :

" This Church was organized on the 25th of December (Christmas Day), 1824, the Ordaining Presbytery consisting of William P. Crow, William Rol- lin and James Bradly. The constituent members were thirteen in number, viz. : George Spears, Sr., Mary Spears, Rev. Jacob Gum, Samuel Combs, Sr., Jane Combs, Ezekiel Harrison and wife, M. Houghton and wife, Elijah Houghton, Catharine Houghton, Robert Conover and Hannah White. The first Pastor of this now venerable Church was Rev. Jacob Gum, with Robert Conover as Clerk of the Session. The first church-book was made of foolscap paper, and bound with pasteboard. The early meetings of the society were held, for the most part, alternately at the residences of George Spears, Sr., and Robert Conover. From a period a few years after its organization until 1845, a log schoolhouse (the one referred to above) was used by the society as a place of worship. During the year last mentioned, the society erected a substantial frame building, thirty by forty feet in dimensions, which was used as a church building until 1871. This building is thought to have cost about $2,000, and was built under a contract with W. T. Beekman, who did the prin- cipal part of the carpenter work."

After the building of the new brick church, the old frame building was sold to Mr. Bell, of the village of Tallula, who converted it into a residence. The new church will be noticed in connection with the village, as it stands within the corporate limits. The Rev. Mr. Berry was also an early preacher in this vicinity, and of the Cumberland Presbyterian faith. He lived in what is now Rock Creek Precinct, but preached in Clary's Grove occasionally.

A Christian Church was organized in the grove in October, 1834, with the following members : John Wilson, William G. White, Jane White, Jesse L. Trailor, Obedience Trailor and Lydia A. Caldwell. Services were held in private residences until 1847, when a comfortable little church was built on the farm of William Smedly. In this house they worshiped until 1864, when they sold it and erected a church in the village, as noticed in that con- nection.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

The Methodist circuit riders used sometimes to pass this way, but seem never to have obtained a foothold, as there is no Methodist Church, nor ever has been, in the present limits of the precinct. We believe there is a society of " sanctified " Methodists, or some members of that peculiar faith, but of them we know nothing. They have no church building.

Tallula Precinct is Republican in politics, in fact it is one of the Republi- can strongholds. During the war, and for some time after, there were but eight- een Democratic votes in the precinct. It was, as a natural consequence, and as one would judge from the color of its political faith, loyal to the core, and fur- nished many soldiers to the armies of the Union. Failing, however, to get credit for all of its recruits, it was subjected to a draft before the struggle was over, though we understood that but one man was drafted, and he, with a loyal devotion to his country, furnished a substitute. In addition to the rank and file from this precinct, we have the names of the following commissioned offi- cers : J. W. Judy, Colonel of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infan- try; R. V. Black, Captain of Company H, same regiment ; J. T. Workman, Lieutenant in Company F, same regiment, and J. F. Wilson, Assistant Surgeon of same regiment. Also, Capt. Gibson of the Sixty-first Regiment Illinois Infantry, but the letter of his company could not be obtained. The Fourteenth, as well as the One Hundred and Fourteenth, drew many recruits from this pre- cinct. What the history of these regiments was during the war, it is not our purpose to give in this connection. We have not taken the trouble to look it up, but doubt not it was glorious as that of all Illinois soldiers.

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 32

Author: Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 848

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848