The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest, Part 47

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co.
Number of Pages: 980

USA > Illinois > Will County > The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest > Part 47

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The first schoolhouse was built in North Plainfield in 1837, and was rather, a small affair. It was burned in 1846 or 1847, and the present two-story frame building erected, at a cost of $1,500. Prof. Giden Bartholf is Princi- pal, and Miss Amanda Dillman, teacher of the Primary Department. In 1851 the village was divided into two districts, and a good two-story frame house erected in the lower district, or South Plainfield, at a cost of $1,200. Prof. John H. Stepman is Principal, and Mrs. M. C. Dresser, teacher of the Primary Department. The first post office was established in Plainfield in 1833, and James Walker was the first Postmaster. This was one of the points on the stage route between Chicago and Ottawa, and, after coaches were put on the

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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

mail was brought to Plainfield over this route. The benighted citizens of Joliet used to come here for their mail, as opportunity occurred. This was in the good old times when Dr. Bowen was Postmaster there, and he would frequently carry the entire mail for Joliet in his hat. It would take several hats to con- tain the Joliet post office now, or even that of Plainfield. The present Post- master of Plainfield is John Sennitt, who has been in the service of Uncle Sam in this department for the past ten years.

Plainfield is sometimes called the " Village of Churches," and, for a place of its size, is well supplied with temples. of worship. This is one of the first spots in Will County where the sound of the Gospel was heard. Here, Father Walker established an Indian Mission, it is said, in 1826, and here, in 1829, he formed a class composed of the following members : Jesse Walker and wife, James Walker and wife, Mr. Fish and wife, Timothy B. Clarke and wife, and Mr. Weed and wife. Father Beggs, in his book, several times referred to in this work, and from which this information is taken, thinks that this was the first class formed within the bounds of the Rock River Conference, and states, further, that when the Mission* was abandoned the class was given up. In the Fall of 1832, Rev. Mr. Beggs succeeded to the charge here, with Father Walker as Presiding Elder. The first church edifice built at Plainfield was by the Methodists, and was erected in 1836. It was a rather small, plain affair, compared to the elegant stone church of the present time. In 1854, Lockport and Plainfield were united, and so remained for a number of years, until the strength of each church became sufficient to admit of their being formed into stations. The fine stone church of the Methodists was erected in 1868, and dedicated by Bishop Simpson. It is built of Plainfield stone, and cost about $22,000. The Church numbers upon her records more than three hundred members, with Rev. J. A. Phelps as Pastor, and John D. Shreffler, Superintendent of the Sunday school.

The Baptist society was organized October 16, 1834, on the principle of total abstinence, and Rev. J. E. Ambrose was the first Pastor. The original members were: Leonard Moore, Elizabeth Moore, Rebecca Carmon, Thomas Rickey, Jane Rickey and Alfred B. Hubbard, six in all. It was one of the four churches that entered into what was called the Northern Baptist Associa- tion. The Church at Plainfield is the only one of these that has not changed its place of meeting. In the Fall of 1836, the first church-house was built, at a cost of $2,500; was 26x36 feet, and is now used as a blacksmith-shop. In giving place to the following anecdote, in this connection, we intend no sacri- lege or disrespect toward this venerable Church : Soon after the completion of their church-building, a Baptist minister of the name of Edwards made his appearance in the village and announced his purpose of holding revival meet- ings. The new church was accordingly placed at his disposal, and he entered upon his work. For an entire week did he labor with that "wicked and

* The Des Planes Mission.

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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

rebellious people." Day after day, he went about among them praying and exhorting ; night after night, he held up to them the joy of the redeemed, or portrayed in glowing words the anguish of the lost. But neither the gentle voice of persuasion nor the terrible thunders of Sinai had the desired effect, and on the last night of his labors, after an impassioned appeal, in which he vainly implored them to "flee from the wrath to come," he declared that they had " sinned away the day of grace;" that "Ephraim was joined to his idols," and that all that remained for him was to " shake off the dust from off his feet." Taking his handkerchief from his pocket, he proceeded to literally carry out the Scripture injunction by wiping the dust from his feet in their presence, strode out of the house, and was seen no more in that neighborhood. The present church edifice was erected in 1857, and cost between $4,500 and $5,000; dedicated by Rev. Charles Button. Rev. A. D. Freeman was the first Pastor, now residing at Downer's Grove. The present membership is 131, and Rev. H. C. First is Pastor, a position he has held for the past four years. Mrs. H. C. First is Superintendent of the Sunday school, which has an average attend- ance of seventy children. There have been 536 admissions to the Church, by baptism and otherwise, since its organization.

The Congregational Church was organized in September, 1834, by Rev. N. C. Clarke, who had been preaching in the vicinity as early as 1832 and 1833. The original members were James Mathers and wife, Deacon Ezra Goodhue and wife, Andrew Carrier and wife, and Oliver Goss and wife. The first regular Pastor of the Church, was Rev. Alfred Greenwood, mentioned elsewhere as the first preacher in Lockport Township. He remained with the Church but a year or two. A resolution appears upon the Church records at an early date, requiring members "to abstain from drinking ardent spirits, manufacturing, trafficking in it, or otherwise using it, except for medicine." The first case of discipline was that of a brother, reported as having sold whisky to the Indians. During the first two years the Church did little more than maintain its existence. It suffered much from trouble among its members, growing out of land claims. A council was finally called to aid in settling the difficulties. As the course most likely to bring peace and harmony, and agreeably to the advice of the council, the Church disbanded, and out of its elements a Presbyterian Church was formed in 1836, by Rev. Mr. Gould. This organization continued about · seven years, when the form of government was changed, and it again became a Congregational Church, with Rev. E. W. Champlin, Pastor. The Rev. Daniel Chapman succeeded him, and through his energetic efforts the present church edifice was erected in 1850, at a cost of $2,200, exclusive of the foundation, and was dedicated in June, 1851. The present membership of the Church is near eighty, and since August, 1878, at which time the Rev. Mr. Ebbs closed his pastoral labors, it has been without a regular minister. The Sunday school was organized about 1843, with Jonathan Hagar as Superintendent. About sixty scholars are in attendance, and Mr. Hagar is still Superintendent.

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THE LIDGARY OF THE USTERETT OF ILLINOIS

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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

The Universalist Church was built in 1868, at a cost of $6,000, and is one of the handsomest church-buildings in the village. It was dedicated by Rev. W. S. Balch, of Galesburg, and the first regular Pastor was Rev. Mr. Howland. The present membership of this Church is small, but flourishing for a small village like this. Rev. Mr. Tibbitts was their Pastor until within the past few months, when he resigned, since which time they have been without one. The Sunday school was organized in 1868, and has a large attendance.

The Evangelical Church was built in 1855, and cost about $3,000. It was dedicated by Rev. Mr. Tobias, Presiding Elder, and the first Pastor was Rev. John Kramer, now of Watertown, Iowa. The present Pastor is Rev. Henry Messner, with a membership of 113. The Sunday school was organized cotem- poraneously with the Church, and the first Superintendent was David Shreffler. The average attendance is about ninety-seven, and P. Y. Dundore is the Super- intendent. The Northwestern College was located here in 1851, under the auspices of this Church. The building was a stone basement, with a frame, two stories high, 46x66 feet in size, and cost $10,000. The founder and originator of the school was Bishop Esher, and its first President A. A. Smith, with a general average attendance of 180 students. The College was destroyed by fire in 1873. Until the year 1869, it was under the patronage of the Evan- gelical Church, as above stated. In that year it was removed to Naperville, and the building in Plainfield lay idle until 1871, when it was re-opened, and changed to the Fox River Union College, and was under the direction of the Congregational Church. In March, 1872, it passed into the hands of individ- uals, with Mrs. J. D. Field as Principal, under the name of Plainfield Academy, under which organization it remained until destroyed by fire.

The Plainfield Echo was established in 1876, by H. A. Tounshendeau, as a family newspaper, and was an excellent little paper during its brief existence. It was one of the half-dozen newspapers embraced in the Phoenix confederation, as noted in the history of Joliet. The former editor of the Echo is now the Plainfield correspondent of the Lockport Commercial Advertiser and has charge of the Plainfield department of that paper. Plainfield Lodge, No. 536, A., F. & A. M., is located in the village, but we have received no information in regard to its organization. The stone quarries of Plainfield are of con- siderable importance. While not comparing with those of Joliet, Lock- port and Lemont, either in quality or quantity, yet they furnish a very fair build- ing stone, which is being much used in the immediate neighborhood. But without facilities for shipping, there is no demand for it beyond home supply. A rail- road would make Plainfield, in a little while, quite a business town, and a fine grain point. Why the Michigan Central does not extend her " cut-off" railroad through to Aurora, via Plainfield, is a conundrum, and we give it up. Such a movement would prove a paying enterprise beyond any shadow of doubt.

Plainfield Cemetery is a beautiful spot, and is eligibly located about half a mile southeast of the village. Much care has been exercised in laying out

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HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY.

and beautifying the grounds. They are inclosed by a substantial fence, and many fine monuments and marble slabs, with flowers and shrubbery, testify the affection of surviving friends for their beloved dead. It is a beautiful spot, and the care taken of it by the citizens, is an honor to them, and to their pretty little village.

NEW LENOX TOWNSHIP.

In New Lenox Township was embraced the larger portion of what, in the. early times, was termed the Hickory Creek Settlement-a neighborhood cele- brated for its hospitality, and for more pretty girls, perhaps, than any section of the county, unless we except Homer's famous Yankee Settlement, and with it, Hickory Creek was, in this respect, a foeman worthy of its steel. There are many old grizzled fellows still to be found whose countenances become animated, and whose eyes kindle with pleasure, as they recall the pleasant. reminiscences of Hickory Creek Settlement-of the quilting parties, " kissing- bees " and miscellaneous gatherings of young and old. How, at those little parties and upon those interesting occasions, they followed the poet's advice,

" We won't go home till morning, Till daylight doth appear,"

and throughout the long Winter night kept up the fun, untrammeled by society rules or modern etiquette. A newspaper correspondent, writing under the name of " Styx," describes a " kissing-bee " he attended there in the good old days of the long ago. With such interesting and innocent little plays as " Old Sister Phobe," "Green Grow the Willow Tree," "Johnny Brown " and all others of like character, laid down in the programme, the night waned, and as the first faint streaks of dawn began to gild the eastern horizon, they decided to wind up the affair with one grand kiss all around. The girls were placed in line, and the boys were each to begin at the head of the line and kiss all the girls. As the business proceeded, one little dark-eyed lass, who stood at the foot of the line, exclaimed, impatiently, " Why don't you kiss at both ends of the line, and get through quicker." This remark brought the performance to a close rather abruptly, by some one remarking at the moment, that it was " broad day- light and time to be off home."

New Lenox is known as Township 35 north, Range 11 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and is well drained and watered by Hickory Creek and its North Fork. These streams, at the time of early settlement, were lined with fine forests, much of the timber of which has since been cut away. Perhaps one-fourth of the town was timbered, while the remainder is prairie, much of it rolling, while some of it is so uneven as to be termed knolly. It is intersected by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and the Joliet Cut-Off of the Michigan Central, the history of which is given in another department of this work. The township is devoted almost entirely to farming and stock-raising. Corn and oats are the principal crops and are grown in abundance, while much

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attention is devoted to raising and feeding stock, of which large quantities are shipped from this section annually. Taken altogether, New Lenox is one of the wealthy towns of Will County. Its population, in 1870, was about 1,120 inhabitants.

The first whites to erect cabins in the Hickory Creek timber, were, prob- ably, two men named, respectively, Joseph Brown and Aaron Friend, but of them very little is known. They were here as early as 1829, and Friend was a kind of Indian trader. He always had a rather rough set of French half- breeds and Indians around him, and when the latter moved West to grow up with the country, he followed them. Chicagoans used to come down, and they would get up a ball at Friend's ; and once upon a time, some young fellows from Chicago had their horses' tails shaved there. He went to Iowa after the retreat- ing Indians, and died there, when his wife came back to Illinois, and went to live with her daughter, on what was then called Horse Creek. Of Brown, still less is known beyond the fact that he died here in the Fall of 1830. In 1830, the Summer and Fall preceding the deep snow, several new-comers settled on Hickory Creek. Of these, perhaps, the Rices were the first, and came early in 1830. They were from Indiana, and consisted of William Rice, Sr., his son William, and their families. They laid claim to the place where William Gougar afterward settled, and where his son John Gougar now lives. They built a log cabin on this place and had broken five acres of prairie, when John Gougar came on in the Fall of 1830 and bought them out. After selling out to Gougar, they made a claim where the village of New Lenox now stands, put up a shanty, and, after a few years, moved out somewhere in the vicinity of the town of Crete, where some of the family are still living. In September, 1830, John Gougar came from Indiana and, as stated above, bought Rice's claim. A man named Grover had been hired by the elder Gougar to come out with his son and assist in preparing quarters for the family, who moved out the next June. William Gougar, Sr., was a native of Pennsylvania, but moved to Ohio in 1818, and, in 1822, to Indiana, where he resided until his removal to Illinois, and to this township, in the Summer of 1831. As already noted, he settled on the place where his son, John Gougar, now lives. William Gougar, Jr., another son lives within a mile of the village of New Lenox. He went to California during the gold fever of 1849-50, and remained about three years and a half, during which time he did reasonably well in the land of gold. The elder Gougar died in 1861. John Grover, who, as stated, had been hired by Mr. Gougar to come out with his son in 1830, brought his family with him and remained with the Gougars a year or two. He then made a claim in the Haven neighborhood, where he lived four or five years, then sold out and moved down near the present Will County Fair Grounds. Here he made a claim upon which he lived several years, when he finally sold out and removed to Iowa, where he died. Mrs. Stevens, a daughter of Mr. Kercheval, men- tioned below, remembers Grover and of his being out on the prairie one cold

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day when the piercing wind caused his eyes to water, which froze on the lashes, until he became totally blind for the time, causing him to lose his way, and to nearly freeze to death before he succeeded in reaching home.

Lewis Kercheval came from Ohio and settled in this township, arriving on the 19th day of October, 1830. His wagon was the second that crossed the prairies south of this section of the country. In his trip to the new country, in which he designed making his future home, he had no way-inarks across the trackless prairies but his own natural judgment as to the direction of this promised land. The compass, then unknown, except to a favored few, he did not have, and thus was forced much of the time to travel by guess. Upon his arrival here, he erected a tent in which to shelter his family until he could build a house, or cabin, as the habitations of the early settlers were usually called. This tent was simply four posts driven in the ground, with slabs or puncheons laid across for a covering, and quilts hung around the sides. He cut logs in a . short time, and raised a cabin when his wife and daughters, who were anxious for a more substantial house than the tent, "pitched in" and assisted the hus- band and father to "chink and daub" this primitive palace. Perhaps it did not deserve the name of palace, but it was their home in the wilderness, and as such a palace to them. In two weeks from the time of their arrival, their house was ready and they moved into it. Mr. Kercheval seems to have been a man of the strongest sympathies and the most tender heart. Mrs. Robert Stevens, a daughter of his, now living in the suburbs of the city of Joliet, and from whom we received much of the information pertaining to the early settle- ment of her father in this section, says she has often seen him shed tears over the hardships his wife and little ones were forced to undergo in these early times. - His first Winter in the settlement was that of the "deep snow," the epoch from which the few survivors who remember it, date all important events. During the time this great fall of snow remained on the ground, and which was four feet deep on a level, he used to cut down trees, that his horses and cows might "browse" upon the tender twigs. With little else to feed his stock, from sleek, fat animals in the Fall of the year, they came forth in the Spring- those that survived the Winter-nothing but "skin and bones." He would sit down and weep at the sufferings of the poor dumb beasts, and his inability to render them material aid in the way of nourishing food. But it used to exhaust his wits to provide food for his family at all times during that first Winter. Once they run out of meal, and though he had sent to Chicago for a barrel of flour (the mode of communication with Chicago not then being equal to what it is at the present day), it was long in coming; and before its arrival the larder had got down to a few biscuits, laid aside for the sinallest children. Mrs. Ste- vens says her father declared if the flour did not come he would take as many of his children as he could carry on his back, and attempt to make the settle- ments, but good luck or Providence was on his side, and the barrel of flour came before they were reduced to this extremity.

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. A sad story was told us by Mrs. Stevens, who, though but a little girl of fifteen or sixteen years of age at the time, remembers the occurrence distinctly. It was of a family who had settled near the present village of Blue Island, and during this deep snow their store of provisions became exhausted, and the hus- band and father started for the settlements to procure fresh supplies. Being unavoidably detained by the snow, the last crumb disappeared, and the mother, in the very face of starvation, started for Chicago, as is supposed, to get food for her children, and got lost on the prairie and was either frozen to death or killed by wolves. The former supposition is probably the correct one, and after freezing was devoured by wolves, as nothing was ever found but her bones, which were recognized by her shoes. Her children were discovered by some chance passer-by when almost starved to death, and were taken and cared for by the few kind-hearted people in the country at the time. The husband's return was a sad one. His wife dead and eaten by wolves, and his children cared for by strangers, it would almost seem that he had little left to live or care for. The reader will pardon this digression, but it is given in illustration of the privations experienced by the few settlers in the country during the time of the deep snow; and to return to the original subject, Mr. Kercheval, we are informed, hauled most of the provisions consumed by his family during the first year, one hundred and fifty miles, from the Indiana settlements. He died in February, 1873, a man honored in the community where he lived, and a much-respected citizen.

Samuel Russell came from the Nutmeg State among the very early settlers, and bought land of Gurdon S. Hubbard, of Chicago. He settled in this town- ship and lived here for a number of years. Judge John I. Davidson came out in the Fall of 1830, and bought Friend's claim. He was originally from New Jersey, but had lived some time in Indiana, and after purchasing the claim of Friend, returned to Indiana, and removed his family to the settlement in the Spring of 1831. He had two daughters, one of whom married a Mr. Thompson, and still lives in the township, while the other married.a man named Higgin- botham, of Field & Leiter's, Chicago, and is living in that city. Joseph Norman was from Indiana, and settled here in 1830, before John Gougar, of whom much of this information is obtained, came to the settlement. He eventually re- turned to Indiana, and died there a number of years ago. A man named Emmett was here during the Winter of 1830-31, but where he came from, we do not know. He went off with the Mormon Prophets and Elders, and perhaps became one of their "big guns." A man of the name of Buck also spent that Winter here, and he, too, turned Mormon, and followed the elect to Nauvoo. The Winter that Buck spent in this settlement, which was that of the deep snow, he had nothing in the way of bread during the entire Winter except that made from two bushels of meal, and yet he had a wife and three children. He had two cows, one of which he killed for beef, hung her to the limb of a tree, and when he wanted meat, would take an ax and chop off a piece of the frozen

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cow. John Gougar gave him half a bushel of corn, which, with his two bushels of meal and cow, was all that he is known to have had to keep his family during the Winter. Gougar once found him during the Spring in the Woods gather- ing what he called "greens," and asked him if he was not afraid of being poi- soned. He replied that one would act as an antidote to another. John Stitt was another Indianian, and settled here in 1831 or 1832. He moved to Missouri, where he died a few years ago. Col. Sayre settled here probably about 1829, as he was here when John Gougar came, in 1830. He lived alone, was either a bachelor or widower, and as he had few associations, living a kind of hermit- life, little was known about him. He built a saw-mill near where the Red Mills now stand in Joliet Township, though he lived in New Lenox Township. Mansfield Wheeler, who settled on Hickory Creek in 1833, went into partner- ship with him in this mill.

Cornelius C. Van Horne came from New York, and settled in this township in 1832. He was a man of considerable prominence and intelligence, and is noticed elsewhere as holding many positions of importance. He died in Joliet several years age. The following incident is given in " Forty Years Ago " as illustrative of Van Horne's bold, outspoken way of giving vent to his honest convictions. In 1840, an old man, over six feet high, came through the settle- ment, making his way to his former home in Pennsylvania, on foot. He was troubled with some kind of nervous affliction which often ended in fits of a rather serious character, rendering him entirely helpless and at the mercy of whoever might find him. He was found in a fit in an old blacksmith-shop near where Samuel Haven lived, when it was discovered that he had a considerable sum of money upon his person, and he was taken to the house of one Mclaughlin. After recovering partially, he went on his way, and nothing more was heard until he was found in another fit, near "Skunk's Grove," and in his mutterings were something of having been robbed, and search revealed the fact that his money was all gone. In a few days he died and was buried by charity. Sus- picions rested upon Mclaughlin as having robbed the old man. Van Horne was outspoken and made no hesitation in avowing his belief as to McLaughlin's guilt. The matter was taken up by the grand jury and a bill found against old McLaughlin's son, principally through the instrumentality of Van Horne. The young man gave bail for his appearance at court, and when the term came on he started on foot for the town, as he gave out, but he never made his appearance at the Court House. The Van Horne party said he had run away to avoid trial-the Mclaughlins alleged that he had been foully dealt with, and charged it upon the Van Hornes, whom they charged as being the real robbers of the old man, and were afraid to have young Mclaughlin's case tried, lest the truth should come out. The excitement run high. Old Mclaughlin spent days in traveling up and down the creek and searching in the woods, ostensibly for his lost son, while others, feeling some sympathy for him, assisted in the search. In the old mill-pond, just above where the Rock Island Railroad crosses Hickory

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The History of Will County, Illinois : containing a history of the county a directory of its real estate owners; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics.history of Illinois history of the Northwest, Part 47

Author: Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co. Number of Pages: 980

Author:
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago : Wm. Le Baron, jr. & co.
Number of Pages: 980