The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 34

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 34
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 34

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).

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

section into small lots for sale, Mr. Lincoln was their surveyor, and the tall, athletic form of the future President, passing silently through the deep ponds which the others were glad to avoid, is recollected as something edifying. Canterberry and Alexander were both from Kentucky, and settled in the south part of the precinct. Some of the descendants of Canterberry are still resi- dents of the neighborhood in which he settled. Scott . Rawlins settled on the farm now owned by W. L. Rankins. He was a kind of horse doctor and horse jockey professionally, and withal was not very popular with his neighbors. Indeed, his sudden accumulation of large numbers of horses at different times, warranted the suspicion that they were not always obtained by strictly legiti- mate means. His increasing unpopularity led him to dispose of his land in an early day. He moved to an island in the Illinois River, not far from Bath, where he died a number of years ago. McDougal and Bracken are both dead, but have a number of representatives yet living in the precinct. Amberry A. Rankin is still living, and having accumulated a fine competency, has retired from active business pursuits, and is quietly passing his declining years in the village of Athens. During the years 1830-31-32, but few were added to the settle- ments already made. The excitement incident upon the Black Hawk war had a tendency to check emigration for a time. In the spring of 1832, J. Kennedy Kincaid, then a young man, came from Bath County, Ky., and located in the neighborhood where he at present resides. He was a carpenter by trade, and found here a fine field for operating his mechanical genius. Landing at Beards- town, he walked from there to Springfield, in order to save his scanty means for the purchase of a kit of tools. By dint of industry, he soon secured means enough to enter a small piece of land, and this he improved and still owns. He was also one of the early pedagogues of this section. In the fall of 1833, his father, Andrew Kincaid, came through on horseback to visit his son and pros- pect the country. In the fall of 1834, he came with his family and settled where his son Thomas Kincaid now lives. After a long and useful career, he terminated his life in 1872, at the ripe age of eighty-seven. His wife lingered on the shores of time till March, 1879, when she followed that beckoning hand at the more advanced age of ninety-one. They left a large family of children, and their sons are among the wealthy and influential farmers of the section in which they reside. James Rankin, also from Kentucky, settled in the vicinity in 1833. As early as 1840, further settlements were made by Jesse G. Hurt, David and James K. Hurt, Jesse Preston, Josiah Francis, Thomas Hargus, William Strawbridge, Charles Robinson, R. L. Wilson, Neal and Archibald Johnson and others, doubtless, whose names have passed from memory. But time and space forbid that we shall particularize in regard to all these. Suffice it to say that they were all good citizens, and aided in the improvement and devel- opment of the country of which, at an early day, they became citizens.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

EARLY TRIALS AND DIFFICULTIES.

The early pioneers found none of the conveniences by which they are to-day surrounded. Naught but wild waste of country, fertile indeed, yet unsubdued. It was unbroken by the single habitation of civilized man, and was yet the hunt- ing-place of the red man of the forest. Without roads and without bridges, and far removed from the public marts, the incentives to engage in the tilling of the soil were few. Yet surrounded by the manifold annoyances which ever attend the early pioneer, in the love of that liberty which they earnestly desired to transmit to their children, and in the fond hope of one day possessing them- selves of many of these broad, fertile acres, they erected their rude cabins and began their life-work. One thing which contributed largely to the success of the early settlers of this section was the inflexibility of purpose with which they set about making a home for themselves and their families. Though most of them were men of limited means, they were not of that class often found in the first settlement of a country, who, having made a slight improvement, are ever ready and waiting for an offer to sell out and again move forward to the frontier.

There are many here to-day, an abstract of whose title is couched simply in the patent from the Government to their father, and in the deed from father to son. Not a few hold their title direct from the Government, over the signature of John Quincy Adams. The difficulties and inconveniences endured by these early settlers were such as would appall the heart of the stoutest of the present generation. Their milling was obtained at points 100 miles distant, and supplies for the family were obtained from a like distance. Mr. William Primm relates that his father used to go to mill at St. Louis, distant 120 miles. Mills, however, were established in quite an early day on Salt Creek, and at points on the Sangamon. The history of the earliest mill in the precinct belongs in the history of the village of Athens and will be given in that connec- tion.

The first post office, established north of the Sangamon, was at the house of Matthew Rogers, and was known as Rogers' Post Office. The exact date of its establishment cannot now be ascertained, but was probably not later than 1826-27. The mail at that time was carried on horseback from Springfield to Lewistown by way of Rogers, Walker's Grove and Havana, and was known as the Spoon River Route. John Renfro was mail carrier on this route for a long time. At that date, four weeks were consumed in the transmission of a letter from New York to this point. The office continued to be kept at the house of Mr. Rogers until the laying-out of Athens, when the name was changed from Rogers to that of the village, and it was removed there. Henry C. Rogers, after attaining his majority, succeeded his father as Postmaster and held the position a number of years. At this office, among others who received

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mail matter for quite a while was our late martyred President, Abraham Lincoln. He came to the office from Salem on horseback, when he did not make the trip on foot, which he often did. Mr. Rogers says, if he had been at that time commanded to shoct at a future President of America from among the number that frequented the office, he should have turned his gun upon many another before singling out the long, lank youth from Salem.

The first school in the precinct was kept by J. A. Mendall, in a cabin near the residence of Henry C. Rogers. Mendall was an Eastern man, finely edu- cated and a successful teacher. The only drawback to his usefulness in the community was the fact that he was too fond of the flowing bowl, and often indulged in a spree to the annoyance of his patrons. The last account had of him here he had located in Peoria where he was engaged in the study of law. Henry C. Rogers was himself an early pedagogue in this section, and taught in the days when it was fashionable for the "Master " to "board around " and when scraps of old copy-books greased with lard were used for the admission of light. But these primitive temples of learning have long since passed away, and we find the precinct dotted over to-day with houses well adapted to the wants of the age, and more advanced and cultivated tastes of society. The cit- izens in and around Indian Creek, recognizing the need of a higher education for their children than could be obtained at the common schools, conceived the idea of establishing a school of a high grade in their midst. To this end, individual subscriptions to the amount of $3,000 were secured, and, in 1856, the North Sangamon Academy was erected. The building is a substantial brick, two stories high, and situated most eligibly in the edge of Indian Creek timber. Located as it is in a grove of native forest-trees and where there are

" Books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, And good in everything."

one would naturally infer that the enterprise would meet with merited success. Such, we are glad to state, has been its history so far. During the first years of its existence, it drew patronage from points as far distant as Jackson- ville. A boarding-house was erected for the accommodation of foreign students, and for a number of years was well patronized. Prof. D. J. Strain was the first Principal and held the position nine years. The interests of the school have been in charge of Prof. W. B. Thompson for the past year, in whose hands its former good reputation has not been permitted to suffer. A neat cottage residence for the use of the Principal was erected a few years ago at a cost of some $1,400. The first merchant in the precinct was Harry Riggin, who - opened a small stock of goods at his farm residence as early as 1825-26. This was a matter of great convenience, as, prior to its establishment, the nearest trading-point was Springfield. To that point and to Beardstown the produce of the farmer was taken to market and the supplies for family consumption were obtained. But as year succeeded year in rapid flight, population increased, villages sprang into existence as if by magic, conveniences multiplied on every

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hand and the trials and difficulties with which the early pioneer was wont to contend became things of the past.

CHURCHES OF THE PRECINCT.

Religion was one of the first interests that claimed the attention of the early settlers of this section, and the first religious society formed was upon a voluntary basis, to meet the existing spiritual wants of the period. As early as 1820, Joseph Smith and wife, James Haynes and wife and William Holland and wife organized themselves into a class of the Methodist order, under the leadership of Mr. Holland. This was the first religious society formed in this entire section, and constituted the basis of the first M. E. Church in the county. Soon after its formation, Rev. James Simms, the first " circuit rider," took charge of this interest. The Cumberland Presbyterians were in the field in quite an early day. The first church building erected in the present limits of Athens Precinct was the Lebanon C. P. Church in the extreme northwest corner. The first was a log house, quite primitive in style of architecture and in its various appointments. This building was constructed near the close of 1824 or early in the beginning of 1825. Having served its day and genera- tion, it was removed out of the way and superseded by a commodious frame structure. This in turn gave place in 1866-67 to the present substantial brick building which occupies the spot to-day. Rev. John M. Berry, the great apostle of Cumberland Presbyterianism in Menard County, was the first min- ister and labored for the congregation a number of years. Revs. Thomas Campbell and Gilbert Dodds also preached here in an early day. Among the early communicants were the families of Robert White, William B. Short, Francis Rayburn, James Williams, Harry Riggin and Martin Higgins. The North Sangamon Presbyterian society was organized at Springfield in 1832. Among the first members of the organization were John Moore and family, Elijah Scott, John N. Moore, a Mr. Stillman and J. Kennedy Kincaid. The members from Indian Creek attended services for a time at Springfield. After the building of the frame house above alluded to, the society worshiped some years with the Cumberlands. Finally, they erected a substantial brick building about two miles east of the old Lebanon Church, in which the society has since held its meetings. As a full and complete history of the Church has been prepared for the general county history by Rev. William Crozier, the present Pastor, we deem it unnecessary to trace it in detail in this portion of the work. A Cum- berland Presbyterian Church was organized at the residence of Richard Fulker- son, in the summer of 1867, by Rev. J. C. Van Patton, of Springfield. R. Fulkerson, James Estile and William Price were chosen Elders, and A. A. Fulkerson and John Woods, Deacons. A neat church building was erected in the fall of 1867 and has been regularly occupied since the society was organ- ized. The present membership is about fifty. Rev. George Flowers was the first regular Pastor for the congregation. Rev. J. Stephenson is laboring for

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the society at present. Not only have the citizens in and around Indian Point manifested an interest in whatever has had a tendency to increase the happi- ness and welfare of the living, but in the provision made for the dead they have exhibited a spirit of enterprise not often met with in the country. Indian Point Cemetery, as a corporate body, was organized February 14, 1870. It incloses seven acres, beautifully situated for burial purposes. It occupies a commanding position overlooking Indian Creek and the surrounding country. It is tastefully laid in blocks, drives and avenues, and the lots are ornamented with various kinds of shrubbery. All moneys arising from the sale of cemetery squares or lots, by the terms of the organization, are kept in an endowment fund, the interest thereof to be expended in improving and ornament- ing the cemetery. The present value of this fund is not far from $3,000. The object of those engaged in organizing this cemetery has been to endow the corporation and not themselves, to provide and leave guarded a fund for its maintenance through all future time. Many of the early pioneers of this sec- tion have here found a last resting-place, and the chiseled marble shaft erected by surviving love to their memory attests the veneration in which they were held while living. The interests of the cemetery are intrusted to the hands of a board of directors, who are chosen at stated periods.

Among the first to sit in judgment upon matters of litigation between their fellow-citizens were Matthew Rogers and John N. Moore. Henry C. Rogers, following in the footsteps of his father, has long held the office of Justice of the Peace. The first death of which we have been able to obtain any reliable information was that of Capt. Hathaway, which occurred in 1822. John Jen- nison and Martha McNabb were the first to plight their vows to each other before the hymeneal altar. The first birth has been lost in the mists of antiq- uity though it is an event that doubtless occurred. While the railroad interests of the county have been given in detail in the general county history, yet the prominent part taken by Col. John Williams, a citizen of this section, in the completion and operation of the Springfield and North-Western Railroad, by means of which he has placed the citizens of this precinct under lasting obli- gations to himself, renders it altogether proper that mention of it should again be made in connection with this part of the history. The original charter for the road leading from Springfield via Petersburg, Havana and Lewistown to Keithsburg or Rock Island on the Mississippi, was granted in 1853. Sanga- mon County failed to vote her allotted amount of the stock, and this in con- nection with other untoward events so discouraged the company that the enter- prise was wholly abandoned. By special act of Legislature, the charter was revived in 1869, and late in the fall of 1870, work was commenced at Havana, and vigorously pushed tlirough Mason and a part of Menard. It was completed to Petersburg in 1872, and, in the fall of 1873, reached Athens and Cantrall. At the last named point (eight miles north of the capital) the panic struck the company, and further operations looking to the completion of the road ceased.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

In 1874, Col. Williams, who had been Treasurer of the road since the revival of its charter, by the use mainly of his own private means, completed the line to Springfield. It was operated under the management of contractors until 1875, when it passed into the hands of G. N. Black as Receiver, and was thus controlled until 1878, when it was sold and bid in by Col. John Williams, who thus became President, and under whose efficient direction and management it is in a flourishing condition, and operated with care.

ATHENS VILLAGE.

In that classic land which holds the most conspicuous place in the pages of early history, a land abounding in fine natural objects and picturesque scenery -alternate mountain peaks and ravines, hills and valleys, wooded headlands and shaded torrent streams, sat-

" Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence, native to famous wits."

While, under the all-conquering hand of Rome, she saw every trace of her political importance vanish, she rose to an empire scarcely less flattering, to which Rome itself was compelled to bow, and she became to her conqueror the teacher and arbiter of taste, philosophy and science. It is not our purpose to trace the history of the far-famed city, but of one of far more humble pre- tensions, and which, though bearing the same name, is different in every other respect. The village of Athens is situated in the southeastern part of the county, and, next to extinct Salem and Petersburg, is the oldest town in Menard. The village site is an eligible one, the country adjacent being finely adapted to agricultural and horticultural pursuits. Woodland, comprising as fine oak timber as can be found in any section of Illinois, adjoins the place, and coal of a superior quality abounds in almost inexhaustible quantities, at a depth of less than one hundred feet beneath the surface upon which the town is founded. It was surveyed and platted in 1831, by James Stevenson, County Surveyor, for Rev. John Overstreet. The original plat contained about forty acres, to which some four additions have subsequently been made. Two cabins, one for a residence, and the other for a blacksmith-shop, had been erected by Orimal Clark, who had laid a claim here a year or two previous to the lay- ing-out of the town, and from whom Overstreet purchased the original town- site. A small band-mill, operated by horse-power, was also here at the date of the laying-out of the village. About the year 1832 or 1833, Col. Matthew Rogers became a citizen of the town, and made the first permanent improve- ments, the large and commodious building now occupied by L. Salzenstein as a store being one of the results of his enterprise. John Overstreet was the first merchant of the village, having purchased the remnant of a stock of goods which had been kept by Harry Riggin, at his farm residence ; he made some . additional purchases, and opened out a small stock, soon after the laying-out of the village. Jonathan Dunn was the second merchant in the field, but

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remained in the mercantile business but a short time. In the latter part of 1832, or the beginning of 1833, Harry Riggin and Amberry A. Rankin opened a store, and, after two years, sold their stock to Martin M. Morgan. During the year, James D. Allen and Simeon Clark became merchants of the village as did Abner and Elisha Hall. In 1836, Sebastian Stone became a partner with Allen, and that firm remained in business a number of years. The early merchants received their goods from St. Louis, a distance of 120 miles, by ox team, a master means of transportation at that day. The arrival of a new supply of goods for the merchants created almost as much excitement among the villagers as the pageantry of Barnum's own and only show on earth does in our cities at the present day. The bustle and hum that was seen and heard upon her streets at one time, betokened for her a bright and glorious- future. But alas for human hopes and prophecies ! The tidal wave of adver- sity set in hard against her in the spring of 1839. She entered the list for county seat honors, and, though she played her hand skillfully, Petersburg over-reached her and left her to weep over blasted hopes and blighted prospects. The failure to secure railroad communication with the outside world, until quite recently ; the establishment of the county seat at Petersburg, and the capital at Springfield all contributed to check the growth of Athens and to give to her, as early as 1841, the appearance of a finished town. But to return to her early history. As early as 1826, Elijah Estep had erected a small band- mill on the present site of Petersburg. Owing to the high rates charged for grinding, and the difficulty oftentimes experienced in reaching the mill, those living in the immediate vicinity of the present village of Athens, in the fall of 1829, joined in the purchase and removal of the mill to this point. After the mill was brought and put in running order, John Overstreet took charge of it, taking toll from each and every one using it, the same as if he had been the individual owner. He was to keep up the necessary repairs and superintend the " mammoth concern " for the term of four years, at the expiration of which time the property was to pass into his hands. Two classes of individual inter- ests were represented in the mill, viz., money-signers and work-signers. There were rules and regulations governing the rights of each, and so strictly were they observed that but few difficulties ever occurred. The moneyed aristocracy in those days, as well as at the present, belonged to the privileged class. If A had contributed $5 in work toward securing the mill, and B had contributed fifty cents in cash, it was B's privilege, whenever he came to the mill, though A might be using it at the time, to take full possession as soon as the hopper was empty, and grind out his grist. If, in the mean time, no other money- signers came, A could resume operations, but not otherwise. It thus hap- pened that sometimes a work-signer would go early and remain all day, returning home at night without having had the privilege of cracking a grain of his grist. While this worked a hardship to many, yet none knew better how to observe both the spirit and letter of the law than did the early

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pioneers. About the year 1834, Overstreet ground a flat-boat load of flour on this mill, and, in company with Jesse G. and David Hurt, took it to the New Orleans market. Some two or three months were consumed in manu- facturing the load, the bolting being done by hand. From that trip, Over- street and David Hurt never returned. Both were stricken with disease and died in the Crescent City. Jonathan Dunn built a steam grist-mill here in an early day, and, after operating it a year or two, sold out to Strawbridge & Croft, who attached a distillery and ran the two conjointly for some time. This enterprise, however, has long since become a thing of the past. In 1856. John Overstreet, a relative of the pioneer, and Alexander Hale, built a brick steam grist-mill, at a cost of $11,000, and began operating it in 1857. It has a run of two buhrs and is capable of grinding fifteen bushels per hour. It is at present in successful operation. Charles P. Smith opened a blacksmith shop in 1832, and soon afterward Thomas Tabor and William Brown followed in this business. Smith was the first on the ground after the laying-out of the village. After a short residence, he moved to Texas, and later, started for the gold regions of California. Like many others, he failed to reach what he no doubt deemed the land of promise, and his bones were left to bleach on the sandy plains with those of others of his unfortunate companions. A pottery was established here in quite an early day by John Pierson. and for a time did quite a paying business. Goble & Sackett and likewise Ramsey followed in a like enterprise at a later date. Tradition informs us that a cotton-gin was once operated here, and, if so, it must have been not later than 1827-28, as this article of merchandise was not cultivated in this section subsequent to the win- ter of the "deep snow."

CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, ETC.

The Methodists were the pioneer organization of the village. Their house of worship, erected in 1835, is still standing, though, from outward appear- ances, it is rather the worse for wear. The original organization was effected by Rev. Asahel E. Phelps, with seventy members. It has always held a lead- ing position in the religious element of the village. Rev. J. W. Eckman is now completing his second year as pastor. The Christian Church was built in 1851, and is the only brick church building in the town. The congregation has never been large, and has prospered indifferently well. Among the early ministers were Elders Robert Foster and John A. Powell. The Church is at present without a regular Pastor, though Elder Claiborne Hall often officiates in that capacity. The Free Methodists have recently erected a neat frame building, and the congregation connected therewith, though small, is in a flourishing condition. A Sunday school is held in connection with each of the churches.

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 34

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