The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 35

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 35
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 35

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).

1. The first public school kept in the village was, probably, presided over by Rev. Carman Clark, though some are inclined to award that honor to a Mrs.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

Rowe. It was taught in a diminutive farm house which formerly stood on the site of Charles Salzenstein's store. A large frame school building was erected southeast of the present edifice, and served the double purpose of schoolhouse and church for a number of years. In 1873, a substantial and commodious brick building was constructed, at a cost of $7,000, which is an ornament to tlie village and a source of just pride to her citizens. James Steel was the first Principal, and Prof. Nye at present holds the reins of government. Among her early physicians were Drs. Winn, Abbott, Lee and Eatey. Of these, all but one are long since gone. Dr. Lee is yet in the precinct, and resides on his farm near Indian Creek. The medical fraternity is at present represented by Drs. T. J. Primm, E. D. Thomas and William F. Roberts. Each enjoys a reputation for skillfulness and proficiency in his profession.

Floral Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 647, was organized under dispensation, November 16, 1877. A charter was issued from the Grand Lodge, bearing the signatures of John Lake, G. M., and N. C. Wason, G. S., in October, 1878. The charter members were C. C. Scott, T. B. Turner, Jacob Boyd, Louis Sal- zenstein, Charles Bair, W. C. Fisk and Julius Kerst. The first officers were : C. C. Scott, N. G .; T. B. Turner, V. G .; Jacob Boyd, Secretary, and Louis Salzenstein, Treasurer. The regular meetings of the Lodge are holden on Friday evening of each week, in a room in the school building. A new hall, 26x60, will soon be erected. Present officers are : Jacob Boyd, N. G. ; John Ekberry, V. G. ; Henry Heilhower, Secretary, and Louis Salzenstein, Treas- urer. The present membership of the Lodge is twenty-five.

VILLAGE INCORPORATED.

At a meeting of the citizens held at the cabinet work-shop of James Mott, January 25, 1859, John M. Ward was chosen President, and Joel Hall, Clerk. The vote being canvassed, it appeared that thirty-one votes had been cast for, to eight against an act incorporating the village. February 8, the following Board of Trustees was chosen : Seneca Winters, Nathaniel F. Stone, Stephen England, Levi Gibbs and Robert C. Arnold. February 25, the Board organ- ized by electing Seneca Winters, President, and Joel Hall, Town Clerk. March 7, the Board met and elected the following officers : John M. Ward, Town Attorney ; John V. Freeman, Town Treasurer ; John F. Whitney, Constable ; Joseph W. Center, Street Commissioner. In its corporate capacity it did much in the way of improving the village. Since the building of the Spring- field & North-Western Railroad new life has been infused into the village, and her business has revived to a considerable extent. Some substantial improve- ments have been made in the past year or two, both in the erection of business houses and private residences. The ravages of the remorseless tooth of time are, however, plainly discoverable on many of her fast decaying buildings. Her business interests at present comprise four general stores, two drug stores, one cabinet shop, one saddle and harness shop, two or three general wagon and

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

repair shops. Quite an amount of grain and live stock is also shipping from this point. The moral status of the place is not surpassed by any of her sister towns. Such is the Athens of Menard to-day, venerable for her age, and for the important part she played in affording conveniences to the early settlers of this portion of the county.

FANCY PRAIRIE,

a village in embryo, is located in the northeast corner of the precinct, and is surrounded by a beautiful belt of prairie bearing the same name. In the fall of 1867, a neat little church was erected here by the Cumberland Presbyterian society. In 1875, a general store was opened by B. Fulkerson. About the same date, T. Baker opened a blacksmith and wagon shop. The post office, Fancy Prairie, was established in 1875, with B. Fulkerson as Postmaster. The present Postmaster is A. B. Waters, who also operates the store. L. Shuck at present shapes iron for the villagers, and those living in the vicinity. These improvements, with some half-dozen private residences, make up the village, which is simply a point of interest to the neighborhood in which it is situated.

GREENVIEW PRECINCT.

Greenview, as a precinct, is one of the youngest in Menard County. Until some six or eight years ago, it was included in what is now Sugar Grove Precinct, with the voting-place at the village of Sweetwater. The latter was remote from the people in the extreme northern part, and the intelligent voter, from this little drawback, often neglected to exercise the right of franchise. Hence the result was a division of Sugar Grove, or Sweetwater, as it was then called, and the creation of a new precinct, now known as Greenview. This precinct lies in the extreme northeast part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Mason County, or Salt Creek, on the west by Indian Creek Pre- cinct, on the south by Sugar Grove, and on the east by Logan County. At least three-fourths of the precinct is the finest of prairie land, the timber being confined to. the creek bottom and to Bee Grove, Ash Grove and Irish Grove, about half of the latter grove lying in Greenview. It is well drained by Salt Creek and its tributaries, of which Pike and Greene Creeks, with other smaller branches and brooks, flow through it, carrying away the surface water. As an agricultural region, Greenview is not surpassed in the county, and its farmers are among the most thrifty and energetic in all the surrounding community. The completion of the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, which runs through the western part of the precinct, capped the cli- max of their prosperity, by placing the market for all their surplus produce at their very doors. The village of Greenview, the metropolis of this flourishing region, is an enterprising little village in the southwestern part of the pre- cinct on the railroad mentioned above, and will be more fully described in another page.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

THE EARLY SETTLEMENT.

Although the youngest precinct in Menard County, white people were within the present limits of Greenview as long ago as 1823. Fifty-six years stand between then and now, and, in that period, what changes have been wrought, not only in this spot but throughout the world. Ancient palaces, in whose spacious halls the mightiest monarchs proudly trod, show "the ivy clinging to their moldering walls." Thrones, tottering, have crumbled into dust ; empires have fallen, and their place on the map been blotted out forever. In our own great country, the war of revolution has raged with a tornado- like fury, shaking the republic from its center to its circumference, and threat- ening for a time its total destruction. Four millions of human beings have been liberated from a worse than Egyptian bondage, and placed upon an equality with the enlightened citizens of the " greatest country upon which the sun ever shone," together with hundreds of other mighty events beyond our limited space to chronicle. And in these fifty-six years the territory of Green- view Precinct, one of the small particles that go to make up our great country, has, from a wilderness, been metamorphosed into a paradise as compared to its original state. In the year above mentioned (1823), James Meadows settled in the present limits of Greenview on the place now owned by Mr. Marbold. He came from Ohio to the neighborhood of Alton in 1818, the year that Illinois was admitted into the sisterhood of States. The next year, he removed to what is now Sugar Grove Precinct, where he resided until 1823, when he removed into this precinct as already stated. A son of this early pioneer, Alexander Meadows, now lives in the village of Green- view, and has an excellent recollection of early scenes and events. He came to Illinois sixty-one years ago, a mere boy ; now he is an old man, broken down in bodily health by a life of toil. The history of this family is more particularly given in Sugar Grove, where they first settled after coming to the county. The elder Meadows built a mill on the Marbold place, which was the second mill in the eastern part of Menard County, and is again alluded to in another page. Soon after the settlement of Meadows in this precinct, George Blane and his mother came here. Like Meadows, they first settled on the other side of Sugar Grove, but sold out there to Leonard Alkire in 1823. They are mentioned further in the history of Sugar Grove Precinct, where they first located.

Most of the first batch of settlers in this precinct were Buckeyes, and set- tled in Irish Grove, a body of timber already mentioned in this chapter. From Ohio, the native State of the chief magistrate of the nation, the precinct received the following recruits, viz., Joseph Lucas, George Borders, John Martin, George and Peter Price, John Waldron and John Hamill. Lucas squatted down in the grove about 1825-26. He was a genuine frontiersman, and remained in this community no longer than game abounded. When that

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

failed and the Indians left the country, he followed in the wake of the red men and died a few years later in the Mackinaw settlement. The next settlers found his cabin, with three acres of ground cleared around it and fenced. He had two sons, Peter and George, who settled in Logan County ; the latter is still living, but Peter died there some years ago. Abraham, another son, settled near his father in Irish Grove, where he died at an early day. Borders . ' and Martin came in 1827. The former died about 1872, on the place where he originally settled, and the family is nearly extinct. One daughter was liv- ing in Logan County at the last account of her, and is the only surviving member of the Borders family, so far as known. Martin remained here a few years and then moved to Logan County, where he died .. His son Samuel, liv- ing in the city of Lincoln, is the last survivor of this family, so far as the pioneers of this section know to the contrary. George Price came to the grove in 1826, and his brother, Peter Price, in 1829. They were of the reg- ular frontier type and followed the Indians and the game, as they meandered on toward the setting sun. William Walker bought Peter Price's claim when he came to the settlement in 1830. Waldron settled here in 1827-28, and was another frontiersman who folded his tent and moved away on the trail of the Indians. John Hamill came about 1842, and is still living in the settle- ment, a prosperous farmer.

Following close upon the heels of this delegation of Buckeyes, comes an importation from the "dark and bloody ground." From Kentucky came William Walker, his son Joseph M. Walker, his brother-in-law David Walker,. William Stotts, William Patterson, Alexander Gilmer, William A. Stone, John W. Patterson and Robert Rayburn. The latter gentleman was born in the Old Dominion, but emigrated to Kentucky when it was the hunting-ground of numerous tribes of hostile savages. From Kentucky he came to Illinois, in 1827, and settled in Irish Grove, now in Greenview Precinct. His son, Joseph H., came here with him, and he is now an old man. Next to Alexander Meadows, he is the oldest living resident of this precinct, and resides upon the old homestead where his father settled fifty-two years ago. The elder Rayburn died in 1836, and Joseph is the only one of his family now living. His mother, the wife of Robert Rayburn, was a Logan, and of the family of Logans so celebrated in the Indian wars of Kentucky. She died in giving birth to twin boys-Joseph and David L. Rayburn. Robert Rayburn is else- where mentioned as the pioneer school teacher of this section of the country. Walker came to Illinois in the fall of 1828, and stopped in Morgan County, and, after spending three weeks on horseback, in search of a cabin to shelter his family for the winter, and failing in his endeavor, went back to Clarke Co., Ind., and wintered there. In the fall of 1829, he returned to the Rock Creek settlement in this county, where he spent a part of the winter in his wagon and about a month in a vacant cabin. In February, 1830, he came to this neigh- borhood, and, as already stated, bought the claim of Peter Price. He died here

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

on the 29th of August, 1836, and his son, Joseph M. Walker, lives on the place where his father then settled. His residence stands upon the identical spot his father's cabin occupied. David Walker, a brother to the wife of Will- iam Walker, and who came to the settlement soon after the latter, bought the claim of Joseph Lucas, upon which he remained until 1837, when he removed to Iowa, where he died in 1876. Capt. William A. Stone was also born in Virginia, but taken to Kentucky by his parents when quite young, whence he emigrated to Illinois in 1830. His father, Moses Stone, came to the settle- ment at the same time, and was the head of a large family. Both he and his wife died the next year, leaving their twelve children, of whom William A., men- tioned above, was one, to battle with life alone. Five of the twelve children are still living, but none, except William A., reside in this precinct. John W. Patter- son came in 1830, and William Patterson about 1832. The latter gentleman bought the claim of John Martin upon his arrival in the neighborhood. He did not remain long, but sold out and removed to Iowa in 1837, and now lives in the city of Keokuk. John W. Patterson bought the claim of George Price, upon which he lived until his death, which took place about 1844. The farm upon which he originally settled is still owned by his family. Gilmer came in 1833-34, and made a permanent settlement. He had been here, however, several years before, and married a Miss Walker, as noticed in another page, after which he returned to Kentucky, remaining until the date given above. He died upon the place of his settlement, as did all of the family, except one son, who is still living, and resides on the old homestead. Stotts came to the settlement in 1830, and removed to Iowa in 1840, where he was still living at the last account of him. William Eldridge came to the grove in 1840. He was from the chalky cliffs of old England, and is still living in the precinct.

This comprises all of the early settlers of this precinct whose names we have been able to obtain. As Greenview contains but little timber-land, it was not settled until the virtues of the prairies were discovered, which was at a date. so recent as scarcely to entitle the people to the name of " old settlers." And then, too, Irish Grove, where most of the first settlements were made, is partly in the present precinct of Sugar Grove, and the history of that portion of it is there given.

THE HISTORY OF THE PAST.

The winter of the " deep snow " (1830-31) is an era of the past that is vividly remembered by the few survivors of that gloomy period. The snow began to fall about the middle of December, continued until nearly four feet deep on a level, and remained on the ground until the following March. Much of the game in the country starved to death, and many people came near sharing the same fate. We were informed by Joseph Walker that, in his father's family, the snow caught them without meal or flour. They had laid in their winter's supply of meat, and this, with corn pounded into hominy, sustained them for six weeks. Their corn was standing in the field in shocks, and every

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day they would shovel away the snow to a shock of corn, in order to procure their supply of hominy and to feed their limited amount of stock. The sudden freeze of 1837 is another event that will be remembered by all who were of a sufficient age to note such an occurrence. It was in the month of November, and several inches of snow had already fallen. The weather had become rather warm, the snow was melting, and, aided by a drizzling rain, it was a perfect mass of slush, when, without premonitions of its approach, a great " Manitoba wave " swept over the country, and apparently in the twinkling of an eye, the slush congealed, and, in the language of the Song of Hiawatha :

" As hard as stone became the waters."

The suffering was great. We have heard of no loss of human life in this sec- tion; but in other localities where our duties have called us, people were not so fortunate. In this " cold snap " much stock perished from the sudden change and the intensity of the cold. Another event of the past history of this part of the country, was the great hailstorm of 1851. It came in the month of May, and we were informed by one old settler that they had plenty of it to cool their mint-juleps on the 4th of July. In its course, it left the trees with the appearance (in their nakedness) of midwinter, and all vegetation was literally beaten into the ground. It was destructive to stock, where exposed to its fury, and many animals, hogs particularly, were killed outright.

In further illustrations of past history, we will take a glance at the early mills of this section. James Meadows built a small grist-mill on his place (where Marbold now lives), which was the second or third mill in the eastern part of Menard' County. This was in 1831, the year following the " deep snow." He was a millwright by trade, and built this mill himself. It was of the old-fashioned tread-mill style, but was much better than pounding corn into meal in a mortar, as many an old settler can testify. It continued in active operation about eight years, when mill facilities were much improved by water-mills, and this primitive affair became obsolete. The mill at " Old Salem " received most of the patronage from this section after its erection, but even it had its inconveniences of low and high water, etc. Many people went to Springfield to mill after the erection of a steam mill at that place, and when a mill was built at Petersburg it brought accommodations to their doors.

The pedagogue and the Methodist circuit-rider were in the field in an early day. Robert Rayburn taught the first school in Irish Grove. He had taught in Kentucky before coming to this section. It was a subscription school and taught in a little log cabin in the grove, before the building of regular schoolhouses, or before the adoption of the present system of free schools. Greenview Precinct has now six schoolhouses besides the elegant building in the village. Four of these are comfortable frames, and the other two are brick. In these temples of learning, schools are conducted for the usual period each year by competent teachers. No precinct in the county pays more attention to education, nor has more extended educational facilities than Greenview.

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

· That old Methodist pioneer, Peter Cartwright, is supposed to have preached the first sermon in Irish Grove, at an early period of the settlement, probably as early as 1830. He used to preach at the cabin of Mr. Stone, not only before the building of churches, but also before there were any schoolhouses in the neighborhoods. Many stories and anecdotes are still told of the eccentric old preacher. The following, related to us a few days ago, is characteristic of the man : He was present at the dedication of a certain Methodist Church in the county, and preached one of his peculiar sermons. At the close of it, before taking up a collection (the church was not quite paid for), he said : " The people of the country are excited over the erection of a monument to Abe Lincoln at Springfield (it was about the time that move was on foot) and are contributing liberally of their means for its completion. This is all very well ; but, my friends, I am engaged in building a monument to the Lord Jesus Christ. This monument is the house in which we are assembled, and I want you to contribute enough to complete it." Revs. Hargus and McLemore were also Methodist itinerants, and were early in the field.

Rev. John G. Burgin, of Springfield, organized the Old School Presby- terian Church in Irish Grove, about 1831-32, in a little log schoolhouse built about that time. The society thus organized is still in existence, and worships in the brick church located on Section 23, in the midst of which the early set- tlements were made. The present brick edifice was erected in 1865, and cost from $2,500 to $3,000. It has about one hundred members, and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. Mr. Braden. The Church supports an excellent Sun- day school, of which Robert Gilmer, the last survivor of the Gilmer family, is Superintendent. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is on Section 24, about one and one-half miles from the church mentioned above, and was built about 1850, at a cost of $1,000 ar $1,200, and is a neat frame edifice. It was built at a time when labor and material were as cheap as they are now. Ten or twelve years later, it would have cost nearly twice as much. It has a large congregation, of which Rev. Mr. May is Pastor ; and a flourishing , Sunday school is maintained during the summer season. Charles Reed is its present Superintendent.

BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES, ETC. -

The first death in the settlement remembered with any degree of certainty was Mary Ann Walker, who died September 8, 1830. But there are supposed to have been deaths among the earlier pioneers prior to this date. A son of Mr. Lucas died here very early, though the date of his death is not definitely known, but is thought to have been before that of Mr. Walker's daughter. Moses Stone and his wife, mentioned in the catalogue of early settlers, died in 1831, within two weeks of each other. They left a family of twelve children, two of whom died soon after the parents, and two others died the next year. These burials were in Irish Grove Cemetery, a regularly laid-out burying-ground on Section 24, and where most of the pioneers of the grove, "sleep the sleep

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HISTORY OF MENARD COUNTY.

that knows no waking." The grounds have recently been enlarged, put in excellent order and Trustees appointed to care for them.

The first birth in the neighborhood was George Borders, but the date could not be obtained.

The first marriage on record was that of Alexander Gilmer and Jane Walker, November 4, 1830. They were married by Rev. Mr. Burgin, and went to Kentucky immediately after their marriage, resided there several years, and then returned to this settlement, where they spent the remainder of their lives.

Dr. Morgan, at " Old Sangamon Town," was the first physician who prac- ticed medicine in this neighborhood. In those days, there was not a doctor's shingle swinging in the breeze at every cross-roads and country store, as at the present day. Nor did the hardy pioneers get sick so often or so easy as we do now. They fought the malarial fevers with little aid from the medical frater- nity, and, if they did not conquer, succumbed without the expense of doctor's bills. The fever and ague was looked upon as a natural consequence, and received but little attention at their hands. The first Justice of the Peace was John W. Patterson, but several years before his appointment to the office, there were some of these dispensers of justice in that part of the Grove, now in Sugar Grove Precinct. The Jacksonville Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad was completed through this section in 1867. It had been running from Petersburg south several years before this portion of it was finished. It enters the precinct on Section 23, near the village of Greenview, and from thence in a direction almost due north, passes out through Section 31, giving Greenview about five miles of road. It has proved quite valuable to the com- munity as a highway of travel, and a means of transportation of their "exports and imports."

Politically, Greenview Precinct is Republican, usually giving a small Repub- lican majority. In the late war, it did its whole duty, turning out a large number of soldiers. An entire company was raised in Irish Grove at an early period of the war, but, by some means, was credited to Logan County. By failing to get credit for recruits in this manner, the precinct had to stand a draft, as a result of its negligence. The draft, however, was small, as most of the quotas were filled in advance. Samuel Blane enlisted as a private, and rose to the rank of Captain in. Company K, of the One Hundred and Sixth Regiment of Illinois Infantry. Owing to ill health, he was forced to resign, and G. S. Gritman was promoted to Captain in his place. Both of these were from Irish. Grove, in this precinct, and, so far as we could learn, were the only com- missioned officers it claims. The private soldiers were of the sturdy sons of the soil, who gallantly sustained the reputation of Illinois' soldiers on many hard-fought fields.

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 35

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