The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 74

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 74
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 74

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FIRST BIRTHS, DEATH AND MARRIAGE.

Elizabeth Hampton, daughter of John Hampton, born January 24, 1840, and Mahlon Hibbs, son of Eli Hibbs, born May 8, 1840, were the first births to occur in the township. Hampton's daughter attained to womanhood's estate, and was living a short time ago. Hibbs' son died at the age of nine months.

HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

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The first death to occur was that of Mrs. Thomas K. Falkner, whose death took place in May, 1839. She was buried at the then recently established burying-ground on the farm of Robert McReynolds. The first interment in the cemetery was that of Grandma Fessler in 1838. The honor of the first wedding in this section belongs either to John McReynolds and Catharine Dentler, or to Alfred Howell and Eliza Falkner, but which was first, no one living here, at present, is able to assert with positive assurance. Their example, in that respect at least, has been followed by many others of later years. The war record of Sherman is alike creditable to herself and the county of which she is a part. The patriotism of her citizens was equal to the demands of her country upon her at all times. All calls were promptly filled, and she furnished men even in excess of her quota. At one time, the Republican party was in the ascendancy, but gradually the scales turned, and, for the past few years, the Democratic party has carried the day. M. H. Lewis was the first Super- visor of the township. Alfred Athey guards her interests at present, and has held the office by successive re-elections for several terms.

THE VILLAGE OF EASTON.

This village is situated on the C., H. & W. R. R. about midway between Havana and Mason City. It is very near the geographical center of the county, and from this fact it is thought by many that should the question of the removal of the seat of justice again come before the people of the county, a large vote would be polled in favor of Easton. The town site was surveyed and platted by John R. Falkner for James M. Samuels, in 1872. The original plat contained about twenty acres, to which an addition has since been made on the north and east. Edward D. Terrell began the construction of the first building in the village, in the latter part of November, 1872, but did not get it completed and ready for occupancy until the 1st of March, 1873. He then opened out a stock of general merchandise and has since continued one of the leading mer- chants of the village. Diebold Furrer, in the meantime, erected a small building and feeling that the enterprise needed spirit to make it a complete success, rolled in a few barrels and opened out a saloon. He is at present a citizen - of the village, engaged in the sale of dry goods and groceries. Henry Cooper built the first private residence in the village during the summer of 1873. It was quite ample, designed for a boarding-house, and is now owned and operated by Charles C. Dorrell as the Easton House. A drug store, in name, was started in the summer of 1874, by David Carter, but was in fact little less than a second-class doggery, the life of which was somewhat ephemeral. James M. Samuels built a blacksmith-shop during the summer of 1873, and was the first to set his bellows roaring in the village. A fine steam elevator, costing $7,000, was built by Low, McFadden & Simmons, in 1874. A large amount of grain is shipped annually from this point, the territory from which it "draws" extending north two-thirds of the way to Forest City and south to the mouth

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

of Crane Creek on the Sangamon bottom. Low & Foster, of Havana, are at present engaged in handling grain at this point. A neat frame school building, costing $3,000, was put up in 1877, and is an ornament to the village. A sub- stantial frame church, free to all denominations, is now in process of construc- tion, which, when completed, will cost about $2,000. The post office was estab- lished in 1873, and E. D. Terrell was the first Postmaster. The first physician to locate was Dr. C .. W. Houghton, formerly of Newmanville, Cass County. Dr. L. T. Magill, a promising young physician, formed a copartnership with him in 1876, and these two are the representatives of the medical fraternity in the village to-day. Easton was laid out and recorded by the name of Sherman- ville, but when a petition was sent to the Post Office Department asking for the establishment of an office by the name of Sherman, owing to the fact that an office of the same name already existed in Sangamon County, the petition could not be granted. After various names had been proposed, Mr. Samuels, as proprie- tor of the village, requested O. C. Easton, Postmaster at Havana, to aid in procur- ing the establishment of an office and granted him the privilege of naming it. Easton elected to name it for himself. Soon after the post office was established, the name of the village was changed to correspond, though it stands recorded to-day as Shermanville. . No public sale of lots was ever held, the proprietor preferring to superintend largely the interests of the village himself, and to introduce that class of citizens which gave promise of thrift and enterprise. It is doubtless owing to this, that so few of that objectionable class found in most small villages are to be met with here. It has two general stores, two drug stores, one hardware and two smith shops, a boot and shoe shop, one saloon, one hotel and a citizenship of about one hundred. Situated as it is in the midst of the finest agricultural district of the county, it may yet, at no very distant day, grow to rival the more important towns of the county.

Briggs' Station, three miles west of Easton on the same line of railroad, was laid out in April, 1875, but with the exception of a residence, a small store- room, in which is kept a general store, and a small building for the handling of grain, all owned and operated by Paul G. Briggs, the proprietor, no other improvement marks the site. A post office was established here in 1877, which is a matter of some convenience to the immediate neighborhood. Poplar City, laid out by Martin Scott in 1873, on the extreme west line of the town- ship, has failed to rise into a village of any importance. In its palmiest days, its population did not exceed twenty-five souls, and recently it seems to have entered upon a decline. Some grain is shipped from this point. A post office at one time exeisted here, but latterly has been discontinued.

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

PENNSYLVANIA TOWNSHIP.

On the 27th of October, 1682, there arrived upon the coast of Delaware Bay, a man whose life and character have been handed down from generation to generation as worthy of emulation and imitation. He was noted not only for the purity and rectitude of his life, but also for his integrity of purpose toward his own countrymen, as well as toward the uncouth and barbarous sav- age, whose happy hunting-grounds he came to reclaim from their native wild- ness, and transform into a great and growing province. He came as the pro- prietor cf a vast landed estate, and soon had the satisfaction of gathering around him a large colony that was peaceful, prosperous and happy, almost beyond example. He was at once governor, magistrate, preacher, teacher and laborer. The early prosperity and rapid development of the Quaker State was largely owing to the pacific principles adopted in the beginning, and firmly adhered to by its founder and father, William Penn. To the descendants of its early settlers, the section of Mason County of which we are about to write is indebted for its earliest citizens.

Pennsylvania Township is designated as Town 21 north, Range 6 west of the Third Principal Meridian, and is bounded on the north by Forest City and Manito Townships; east, south and west, respectively, by Allen's Grove, Salt Creek and Sherman Townships. It contains thirty-six full sections, and is one of the two townships of Mason County that exactly coincide with the Congressional survey. Throughout its entire extent it is prairie land. The southern half of the township is rather elevated, while the northern half is low and level. A county ditch crosses the northern portion, through which much of the surface-water of the adjacent land finds an outlet. The C., H. & W. R. R. crosses the southwestern corner of the township, its extent from point of entrance to exit being about four miles. Teheran, a station on the road, is located on Section 32, and is the only village in the township.

1 FIRST SETTLEMENT.

While permanent settlements did not begin to be made, prior to the year 1849, in this township, still, as early as the fall of 1844, one adventurous spirit was found within its limits. Ambrose Edwards, from Kentucky, made a squat- ter's improvement in what was Red Oak Grove, at the date above mentioned. He was the first to erect his log cabin and begin the cultivation of the soil. The grove in which he located was near the center of the township, but has long since faded from view. It was of small extent, perhaps one mile in length by one-half in width, and was consumed by the earliest settlers while most of it was held by pre-emption right by non-resident parties. Francis Dorrell, who had been a resident of the State since 1835, came from Sangamon County and settled on Section 31, in 1849. His was doubtless the second improvement in

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

the township. His widow is still a resident. When he settled, not a human habitation was visible on the north, east or west. Stretching away in the dis- tance, visions were sometimes caught, at sunset, of the village of Delavan, twenty-five miles away. Near the same date, William Briggs settled a short distance from where the village of Teheran now stands, but whence he came or whither he went, no one at present living there is able to say.

Peter Speice, from Ohio, came early in 1850, and located on Section 20, and was shortly afterward followed by George Sweigert, his father-in-law, who settled in the same locality. They both made improvements, and, after a few years' residence, sold out and moved to Mackinaw in Tazewell County. A year or two later, quite an influx of population was added to the citizenship of this section from the Keystone State. The settlement became so large in a few years, and the additions made were so uniformly from the same section of coun- try, to the exclusion of almost all others, that it early acquired the distinction of Pennsylvania Settlement, a name yet in use to designate a certain portion of the township. In the fall of 1848, Henry Cease, from Luzerne County, Penn., came and stopped a short time in Havana. He soon purchased a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. During the spring and summer of 1851, Joseph and Abraham Cease, Jimison H. Wandel, John W. Pugh and Benedict Hadsall all came in from the same section of country. The Ceases were men of family, while Wandel, Pugh and Hadsall were single men. All were in what is now Havana Township a short time. In December, 1851, Henry Cease, J. H. Wandel and Abraham Cease went- east across Crane Marsh to explore the country, and, on reaching Section 22, in what is now, Pennsylvania Township, determined to locate and begin the making of their farms. They each entered a quarter-section and pre-empted the same amount. During the summer of 1852, Abraham and Joseph Cease each built a frame house and began opening up their farms. In April of the same year, Pugh, with whom the climate did not seem to agree, and who had disabled himself by hard work, prevailed upon Wandel to accompany him back to his former home. Wandel, whose favorable impressions of the great and growing West liad led him to write back such glowing accounts of the country to his kinsmen, found, to his utter astonishment, upon the day of his arrival, a sale in progress at his fath- er's and uncle's, both of whom, with their families, were on the eve of starting for Mason County. After a short sojourn among his native hills, in company with James Wandel, his father, Isaac Huneywell, a brother-in-law, George Wandel, an uncle, and their families, he again turned his face westward. The entire journey was made by water, and the time consumed in coming from Pittsburgh to Havana was seven weeks. With bright hopes and eager expecta- tions of what their future Western homes would soon be, these families had severed the ties that bound them to their native land, to battle with the thou- sand difficulties incident to pioneer life. But alas for human expectations, the shadow of a great grief accompanied them on their journey. The decease of

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

Mrs. Huneywell, who had sickened on the way, occurred on the very night of their landing at Havana. Heart-broken and discouraged, with the care of five small children upon his hands, Isaac Huneywell, with J. H. Wandel as a com- panion, retraced the course so lately passed over. For a time, at least, it seemed that Wandel was destined to belong only to the floating population of the county. During his stay in Pennsylvania, he prepared himself more fully for citizenship in Illinois by taking as a helpmeet Sarah E. Depue, and, in the fall of 1852, with his father-in-law, Aaron Depue, and family, he again came to Mason County. In the summer of 1853, he erected his house and improved forty acres of his farm. He remained a citizen of the township until a few years ago, when he became a citizen of Mason City, in which he at present resides. The others mentioned all settled in the eastern portion of the county, though not all in Pennsylvania Township. Phillip Cease came to the county in 1852, and settled south of Wandel on Section 22. George Wandel pur- chased an improved farm on which he settled near where the village of Teheran now stands. This, doubtless, was the farm owned and occupied by William Briggs, whose early settlement has already been noted. James Wandel entered and improved a farm on Section 27. James Depue and his family, con- sisting of George, Henry, James, Jr., Moses, Isaac and one daughter, Mary, settled just across the line, in what is now Salt Creek Township. During the spring and summer of 1853, we find the following settlers added to the list already given: George W. and Alexander Benscoter, William Legg, Asa Gregory, D. V. Benscoter and Joseph Statler. The Benscoters and Gregory were from Pennsylvania, Statler from the Buckeye State and Legg from Cass County, Hoosierdom. Legg entered the land pre-empted by J. H. Wandel, and made an improvement in the summer of 1853. The sum- mer following, he sold out to George W. and Alexander Benscoter. Asa Greg- ory settled in the northwest corner of the township, remained a few years, then sold out and returned East. Joseph Statler settled in the south part, a short distance north of the present village of Teheran, on land now owned by J. McClung and J. H. Matthews. The records of the county show that he (Statler) was chosen Assessor in 1858 and 1859. He was also ex-offi- cio County Treasurer, as these two offices were combined in one prior to the adoption of township organization, in 1862. A man of strict integrity and fine business abilities, it is needless to say that in these positions of public trust his duties were promptly, faithfully and ably performed. Some years since, he became a resident of Mason City, and the citizens of that thriving and prosperous city, recognizing his worth, have honored him with the office of City Judge.

D. V. Benscoter located on Section 26, east of Statler's, and, with many others of the family, is still a citizen of the township. Jack Conroy, from Ohio, made an improvement in the summer of 1854 on the southeast corner of the school section, where James Hurley at present resides. About the same

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

date, Daniel and James Riner and David E. Cruse became citizens of the town- ship. In 1856, J. Phink, from the Keystone State, made a farm in the south part of the township, and was soon followed by Jacob Benscoter, his father-in- law, who located in the same vicinity. While very many of the early settlers have passed over the river, to the land of shadows, many of their descendants remain citizens, and not a few occupy the farms entered and improved by their fatliers.

Of others who became citizens of the county prior to 1860, and located in this township, we find the names of Andreas Furrer, A. J. Cates, Alexander Blunt, Charles Hadsall, J. L. Ingersoll, T. L. Kindle, Joel Severns, W. K. Terrell and John Van Hoon. Furrer was from Germany, and settled near the western limits of the township. Cates was from Tennessee, and Blunt from Kentucky. They both settled on Section 32, where they at present reside. Hadsall, Severns and Van Hoon were from Pennsylvania; Ingersoll, from Ohio ; Kindle and Terrell, from New Jersey. Ingersoll settled in the north- west corner of the township, and the remainder in the central and eastern por- tions, except Terrell, who located in the southwest corner, on Section 30. From the year 1860 forward, changes occurred so frequently, by removals and new arrivals, that any attempt to point out the order in which citizens came in and took up their residence would necessarily be a vain and useless task. John W. Pugh, a citizen of later date, has been so prominently identified with her interests as to be worthy of more than a passing notice. He is mentioned as having come to the county in 1850. He did not locate in Pennsylvania Town- ship until 1864, since which time he has served his fellow-citizens eleven years, in the capacity of Supervisor. He is the present incumbent, and his influence and sound judgment have much to do in the legislation of the affairs of the county. In 1874, he was chosen a member of the General Assembly, and here his influence was felt, and his votes stand recorded creditably to himself and his constituents. His entire official career has been alike creditable to his head and heart.

The earliest settlers of Pennsylvania Township were not wholly exempt from the inconveniences and difficulties which are ever attendant companions to those who pioneer the way in the settlement and improvement of a new coun- try. The snorting of the iron horse had not at that date been heard within the limits of the county. Mason City and the villages in the eastern and southern part of the county had not yet been born. Havana was the only point for the shipment and sale of their extra produce. A large and, for the most part of the year, impassable swamp lay between them and it. In order to " fetch " their grain to market, the unloading and reloading of it five or six times was by no means an unusual occurrence. So accustomed to miring did teams become that the moment a halt was made, even though it might be on solid ground, they would lie down, through fear of finding the bottom some distance below the surface if they remained standing. Much of the early

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

settler's time was consumed in marketing his produce, and the feat of crossing the swamp successfully with a good full load could only be accomplished during the severity of winter.

Those coming in since the era of railroads in different portions of the county know but little, by experience, of the difficulties and trials that the set- tlers of 1849 and the early fifties endured .. Their early milling was done on the Mackinaw, and, of later years, at Simmonds' and McHarry's, on Quiver. Their nearest post office was Havana, distant some fifteen or eighteen miles. The township has never had a post office established within its limits, save the one at present existing at Teheran. No grist-mill, so far as we have been advised, has ever been erected in any portion of it.

SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, ETC.

The first settlers by no means neglected the intellectual culture of their children, and so we find that as soon as a half a dozen families were located in the same neighborhood, a temple of learning was erected. The first school- house in this part was built on Pennsylvania Lane in 1853 or 1854. Miss Martha Randall is credited with being the first teacher. At present there are seven school districts in this township, each supplied with a good frame building, and the annual amount expended for educational purposes compares favorably with that of surrounding sections. The earliest ministers in this part of the moral vineyard were Revs. Mowrey, Randall and Sloan. They were ministers in the M. E. Church. The early meetings were held in the schoolhouse. After a few years, through the death and removal of members, the society became so reduced in numbers that the field was abandoned, and remained unoccupied till 1873, when the Presbyterians organized a society and erected a church build- ing. What is known as the Pennsylvania Presbyterian Church was built in the fall of the last mentioned year. It is a neat frame building with arched ceiling, 30x40 feet, and cost, at the time of its construction, $2,150. Rev. S. J. Bogle was the first Pastor, and gave his first year's labor to the church free of charge. While his regular labor is with the Church in Mason City, he still continues to preach for this congregation on stated occasions. The early com- municants of the Church were John Vanhorn, wife and daughter, Mrs. M. J. Cavern, John W. Pugh and wife, and Mrs. Mary Pottorf. The present mem- bership numbers about thirty. A few members of the Baptist Church are resi- dents of the neighborhood, and Rev. Mr. Hobbs, of Mason City, discourses to them on the second Sunday of each month in this building. This is the only church building in the township outside of the village of Teheran. Dr. J. P. Walker, now a prominent physician of Mason City, was among the first to practice the healing art in the township. The first death among the settlers of this section was doubtless that of Mrs. James Wandel, whose decease occurred at the residence of her son, Jimison H. Wandel, in the spring of 1854. The wife of Joseph Cease died a few months later. We have not placed these facts,

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HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.

viz., the appearance of the physician in, and the coming of death to the settle- ment, in juxtaposition in our history, in order that the inference may be readily drawn that the debut of the medicine-man in a community necessarily augurs the speedy demise of some of its members, and lest some noble and devoted disciple of Esculapius might feel aggrieved at the order of facts given, we here enter our disclaimer to any such intention. And- yet the sight of a doctor always sug- gests to our mind the idea of disease, sickness and death. The first to enter the connubial relation was Jimison H. Wandel, whose marriage to Sarah E. Depue was celebrated in the fall of 1852. Many others have since been mar- ried and given in marriage, as is common throughout the length and breadth of this goodly land. Whose was the first birth in the township cannot now be definitely ascertained. That there have been first-born males and first-born females in many families of this section, is fully evidenced by the fact that bright-eyed lads and lasses render joyous and gladsome the hearts of parents in many a household. Among the early Justices of the Peace in this quarter, the invincible Jimison H. Wandel leads the list. He was called upon to discharge the functions of this important, though often belittled office, as early as 1858. He was also commissioned the first Justice for the township after its organiza- tion. As originally set off, it contained a large portion of what is now included in Sherman Township, two sections of Forest City and four of Manito. Alto- gether, it embraced fifty-eight full sections. In 1867, it was reduced to its present limits. The political complexion of the township has always been Democratic. Whenever a strict party vote has been cast, she has never given forth any uncertain sound, but has always raised her voice lustily for the Democratic party. During the "late onpleasantness " she furnished her full quota of war-boys to the rank and file of the army, and was, at no time sub- jected to a draft. Taken throughout its whole extent, it compares favorably with the adjacent townships as an agricultural district. The low or marshy lands, when a little more effectually drained, will constitute the most productive portions within its limits.

VILLAGE OF TEHERAN.

This village is situated in the southwest corner of the township, and is a station on the C., H. & W. R. R., about seven miles west of Mason City. It was laid out in 1873, on land belonging to Alexander Blunt. Soon after the village was located, A. J. Cates put up a building and opened a grocery store. D. L. Whitney at one time had a good general store, but has not been num- bered among her merchants for some years past. David Everett at present operates the only general store in the place. The post office was established in 1874, with W. T. Rich as first Postmaster. The present incumbent is David Everett. A warehouse, built some years previous, was, in 1876, converted into an elevator by Low, McFadden & Simmons. The amount of grain handled here, annually, ranges from 75,000 to 125,000 bushels. A neat frame

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 74

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