USA > Illinois > Woodford County > The Past and present of Woodford County, Illinois : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c.; a directory of its tax-payers; war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; general and local statistics etc > Part 22
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Done at Versailles. this 17th day of June, 1843.
J. L. SIIARP. L. A. HANAFORD. JOIIN H. BRYANT.
Commissioners.
THE COURT HOUSE.
The present Court House of Woodford County was built in 1845, by David Irving. The contract was taken by Rockwell and Parks, two prominent citizens of Hanover, and the former a stockholder in the Hanover Company, which com- pany owned some 12,000 acres of land near the town. Its members had taken an active part in getting the county seat removed to Hanover, and made, it is said, liberal donations toward the erection of the public buildings. Neither Rockwell nor Parks being mechanics, they sub-let the contract for building the Court House to Mr. Irving, who at once proceeded to work preparing timbers and material for it. Building facilities were not so good nor so complete then as at the present day, and such a contract was looked upon as an undertaking of stupendous magnitude. Railroads in Illinois, as well as in the United States, were in their infancy, and such a transaction as going to Chicago, buying the material for a large building and receiving it on the spot in a day or two after purchase, was an event beyond the wildest imagination of the most visionary individual of the time.
Irving burned his own brick, got out the timbers in the neighboring forest, cnt logs and hauled them to Parks' saw-mill, at what was then called Partridge Point, from which the lumber was sawed for the joists and the floors. The finishing lumber was white walnut, from Johnson's mill, near Spring Bay, where the logs were cut and sawed. It was covered with shingles made of black wal- nut, in the woods near town, and the lime, with the exception of a small quan- tity burned near the work, was hauled in wagons from the Kickapoo bluffs, beyond Peoria. The contract for building was taken by Irving for $4,400 and was paid for with the lots donated by the Hanover Company for the purpose, and with the surplus revenues of the county for two years. It is a substantial two story brick, of much better material and workmanship than is usually put
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
into a building at the present day, at that modest price, and is a type of the old court houses of forty years ago, still numerous in Illinois. The house used in Versailles, for the sessions of the Honorable Court, has, it is said by some, passed away with other relics, and, by others, that it has fallen from its exalted position and been converted into a stock barn.
After the removal of the county seat to Hanover (now Metamora), and until the Court Couse was completed, court was held in a little house which stood at the southeast corner of the square, where Plank's law office now stands. The September session, in 1843, was the first Circuit Court held in. the new metropolis. . In those days there seem to have been no blue or red ribbon societies as now, as the records of the court for several years show that most of the indictments were for selling liquors, with a few variations occasionally, for " harboring slaves."
In 1849. the Legislature changed the mode of holding County Court, from Commissioners to a County Judge and two Associate Justices. Judge Welcome P. Brown was the first County Judge under this law, with William C. Pointer and W. E. Buckingham Associates, and Edgar Babcock the first Clerk. Their commissions were signed by Augustus C. French, Governor of Illinois, and H. S. Cooley, Secretary of State. The first business on the records of this new court was the granting of a license to one David A. Couch to keep a "grocery " at Spring Bay, he to pay the enormous sum of $6.25 license, after giving bond.
When the county was re-organized under Government survey, in 1850, the list of townships and their Supervisors was as follows, viz. :
Metamora, Simon P. Shope; Montgomery, James Vance; Olio, Joseph Meek ; Panola and Minonk, Robert M. McCleland; Greene, John R. Gaston ; Roanoke, David S. Brown : Linn and Clayton, Isaac Fisher : Cazenovia, John W. Acres; Worth, Jacob Shook ; Spring Bay, Geo. W. Schrubley ; Partridge, Jefferson Hoshor ; Palestine, Allen Hart.
Simon P. Shope was elected Chairman for the ensuing year, at their first meeting, and Edgar Babcock Clerk ; but no business was done other than organization. According to the statutes, it became necessary for the Clerk to record the abstract of taxable property, which, for 1854, the first year the act was in force, was as follows :
Personal property of Woodford County
$ 640,303.00
Real estate of Woodford County. 1,589,926.00
Total personal and real. $2,230,229.00
Total tax levied.
19,051.44
As showing the county's increase in wealth and in taxes, we append the assessed valuation of property for 1877 and the amount of taxes levied : Total real and personal $7,901,160.00
Total tax levied. 174,732.00
The expenditures for the year ending September 1, 1877. 24,528.73
At the Presidential election in 1844, the first after the organization of Woodford County, the vote stood as follows : Polk Electors (Democratic), 322; Clay Electors (Whig), 159.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Presidential election in 1876: Tilden Electors (Democratic), 2,105 ; Hayes Electors (Republican), 1,733: Peter Cooper Electors (Independent), 237.
At present, Hon. J. M. McCulloch is Judge of the Woodford County Court ; F. M. Bassett. Clerk ; John Leys and Jacob Ray, Deputies, and L. H. Bul- lock, Sheriff. George Thode is Clerk of the Circuit Court, and N. P. Baker Deputy. Hon. John Burns, of Lacon, is the Presiding Judge of this the Eighth Judicial Circuit. David Irving, mentioned as building the present Court House, was the third Sheriff of the county after its organization, and Deputy for the term previous to his election as Sheriff.
THE " ANCIENT CAPITAL."
Versailles, the first capital of Woodford County, was once a beautiful and thriving little village, with the brightest prospects of a prosperous future, and a location favorably adapted (geographically) to warrant the fulfillment of its expec- tations. It had been laid out with much care, upon the most eligible site, equaling, if not even surpassing, " Rome upon her Seven Hills," commanding a view of the surrounding country, its towering forests and vast prairies stretch- ing away beyond the power of vision, and combining a picture of beauty that would have enraptured the heart of a poet or painter. Near the center of the county, and easy of access from all directions, were qualifications that seemed to point it out as the proper place for the seat of justice over all contestants. But with the removal of the county seat to Hanover, the star of its destiny began to wane, and the remembrance of its glory has almost faded from the minds of men. Its decaying buildings show the "ivy clinging to their mould- ering towers," or "hoary lichen springing from the disjointed stones," and, mocked by its own desolation,
" The bat, shrill shrieking, woos its flickering mate,
The serpent hisses and the wild birds scream."
Versailles is no more ; its business is gone, and the place that once knew it as a flourishing village will soon know it no more forever. It is always a mel- ancholy duty to write of death or decay, and we would have fain avoided it in this case, but a faithful historian can be no "respecter of persons " or events of a public character. Taking a disinterested view of the organization of the county and all the attendant circumstances, the originators of the scheme, the name of both county and capital, and the source from which they were derived, it seems a fact to be regretted that Versailles could not have remained perma- nently the seat of justice.
Bowling Green, said to be the first point in Woodford County where goods were sold, like Versailles, was once a flourishing little village, with stores, a post office and a good mill. Business was good, the citizens energetic and industrious, and it bade fair at one time to be a leading town of the county, but
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
the building of railroads carried the tide in another direction, and Bowling Green, too, is rapidly passing away and will soon be numbered with " things that were."
The village of Spring Bay was another of the early business points of the county, before the era of railroads, and was almost an equal of Peoria or Pekin in energy and industry and the amount of business it did. A shipping point of importance, with one of the best steamboat landings on the Illinois River, the business done yearly was truly wonderful. But times with it have likewise changed ; its store and business houses are closed up, its business is dead, and everything around it speaks of decay. New towns and cities have sprung in sections of the county which were "wilderness wastes" when these villages were flourishing in all their pristine glory. The last quarter of a century has reversed the order of things, and these early towns, after enjoying the honor of their day. have given place to others of greater pretentions-the glory of the one has departed, while other is gilded with the bright rays of their morning's prosperity.
Metamora, formerly called Hanover, and at present the county seat, is the only village laying claims to antiquity which has survived the decay of its less fortunate sisters and grown and improved until it has become a place of consid- erable distinction. The village of Hanover dates back almost, if not quite, to the dawning period of those already mentioned, but seems to have not quite so early as they attained to a business prominence and influence.
OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.
Having alluded briefly to the principal settlements made in Woodford County at an early day, and followed it through its organization from its first formation, contrasting its present prosperity with the feeble beginning of its existence as a county, we return to the old settlers, and some of the events pertaining to the early settlement. In the latter part of 1874, the idea was conceived of form- ing an association of the old settlers still surviving, for the purpose of keeping up the old associations of the pioneer days, and preserving the reminiscences of the wilderness, where they planted their homes so long ago among the Indians and wild beasts. With this end in view, a few of the veterans met in Eureka, in December. 1874, and made the preliminary arrangements for the organization of a permanent society. After appointing an Executive Com- mittee, also a Committee to draft a Constitution and By-laws, they adjourned to meet again in one month. On the 12th day of January, 1875, the Association met in Eureka, and proceeded to perfect their organization by the adoption of a Constitution and the election of officers. As we have been wholly unable to get sight of the books of the Association, we are indebted to the Eureka Journal for the proceedings of this meeting. The Executive Committee re- ported the order of business to be :
1st. Reading of the Minutes of last meeting.
2d. Adoption of a Constitution.
3d. The Election of Officers for the ensuing year.
249
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The following is the Constitution and By-laws, as reported by the Com- mittee appointed to draft them, and unanimously adopted by the Association at this meeting :
ARTICLE 1. This Association shall be called the Old Settlers' Association of Woodford County.
ART. 2. The objects of this Association shall be the collection and preservation of the history of Woodford County. the renewal of old associations. and such other business as the Association may see fit to adopt.
ART. 3. Any person may become a member of this Association who was a resident of Woodford County. or any adjoining county, when Woodford was organized. in September, 1841. subscribing to this Constitution, and paying one dollar initiation fee.
ART. 4. The Officers of this Association shall consist of one President. one Vice President. one additional Vice President from each township in the county. one Secretary, one Corre- sponding Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by ballot and hold their offices one year, or until their successors are elected.
ART. 5. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings of the Association. and to perform such other duties as may devolve upan him as such officer. .
ART. 6. It shall be the duty of the Vice President to assist the President in keeping order. and. in case of the absence or death of the President, to act as President.
ART. 7. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a faithful record of the proceedings of the Association. in a book to be furnished by the Association for that purpose. The Corresponding Secretary shall attend to all correspondence of the Association and preserve the same.
ART. 8. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of all moneys belonging to the Association. to receive and pay ont the same upon the order of the President and Secretary.
ART. 9. This Association shall have power at any regular meeting to assess a sum, not to exceed one dollar, upon each member, which shall be used to defray the expenses of the Association. €
ART. 10. This Association shall meet at the place designated by the previous meeting, on the last Tuesday in September of each year : the first meeting to be held in Eureka. on Tuesday. September 28, 1875.
ART. 11. Any person may become a member of this association, who sustains a good moral character, and who was born in the county, or who has been a citizen of the same since 1852.
ART. 12. The election of officers of this association shall be held at the meeting in Septem- ber, 1875, and at each annual meeting thereafter.
ART. 13. This Constitution may be altered or amended at any regular meeting by a vote of two-thirds of the members present.
The following officers were elected for the first term of the association :
John Summers, President ; W. R. Willis, Vice President ; R. N. Radford, Secretary ; B. D. Meek, Corresponding Secretary : P. H. Vance, Treasurer.
The following additional Vice Presidents were elected for their respective townships :
Montgomery Township, H. A. Robinson, Cazenovia Township, Jesse Hammers,
Metamora John W. Page.
Linn
George Hallenback,
Cruger M. E. Davidson, Clayton 44 Harvey Davidson,
Palestine L. P. Hereford. El Paso H. W. Bullock, Panola M. R. Bullock,
Kansas 66 A. W. Carlock,
Greene 66 Thomas A. MeCord.
Roanoke Jacob Banta,
Olio Thomas Bullock, Sr., Spring Bay Dr. J. G. Zeller,
Worth
Charles Molitor,
Minonk 66 E. D. Davidson.
Partridge
Isaac Snyder,
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IIISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
On motion, the President, Secretaries and Treasurer were appointed an Ex- ecutive Committee, to prepare a programme for the Fall meeting, at which time it was decided to have a grand picnic. The county papers were requested to publish the proceedings of the meeting. As the books are non est inventus, we are unable to give the names of the original members of the association, further than is given in the above list of officers.
At the Fall meeting, the time of holding the next annual meeting was set for July instead of September, and on the 4th of July, of the Centennial year of American Independence, they met in Eureka, as pre-arranged. Extensive preparations were made for a general good time and the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the nation's existence, by these old veterans of Wood- ford County, seemed peculiarly appropriate.
At this meeting, the old officers were all re-elected, and the next meeting appointed to take place at Metamora, on the second Tuesday in September, 1877. On this occasion, the orator of the day was Prof. B. J. Radford, who entertained the audience with an eloquent speech, in which he vividly portrayed the development and resources of our great country, and followed it through its eventful history, from the Revolution down to the one hundredth anniversary of its independence.
After the regular address, the following toasts were given :
"Our Country : " Responded to by Rev. MI. P. Ormsby.
" The Day we Celebrate: " Responded to by .J. A Briggs.
" Army and Navy :" Responded to by W. Bennett.
. " Woodford County : " Responded to by Col. B. D. Meek
" The Heroes of '76 : " Responded to by J. L. Ferris.
According to programme, the Old Settlers' Association met in Metamora on the 11th of September, 1877. Says the Woodford Sentinel : "The band sum- moned them to the beautiful park at the appointed hour, when the President called the meeting to order, and Adino Page, Esq., took the stand and invited all the old settlers to come forward and take the seats prepared for them. Judge W. P. Brown, the orator of the day, was introduced and delivered an interesting address." The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows :
President-Adino Page, Metomora.
Vice President-W. R. Willis, El Paso.
Secretary-R. N. Radford, Eureka.
Corresponding Secretary-B. D Meek, Eureka.
Treasurer-P. II. Vance, Montgomery.
The following additional old settlers registered as members of the Association : W. C. Watkins, Rev. Zadoek Hall, B. Kendig, A. Page, D. Kendig, W. Lamson, Geo. Arrowsmith, Thos. Clark, Wm. H. Delph, Benj. Grove, John Warren, Abner Mundell, Simeon Mundell, Jesse Hammers, Sam'l Mundell, W. Dremen, John Tanton, Richard Tanton, Jno. W. Page, Thaddeus Page, N. Dutton, W. P. Brown, D. D. Fairchild, L. P. Morse, J. G. Bayne, Jos. Morley and Dr. J. S. Whitmire.
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251
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The Sentinel continues : " And just here we would say, it was the finest looking erowd we ever saw, the best behaved and the most intelligent. A great deal of credit is due to Dr. J. S. Whitmire, A. Page and Henry Martin, for the success of the meeting. Taken all in all, it was one of the most pleasant affairs we ever attended, and we take leave of the subject and the old settlers' with regret, and hope to meet them again next year."
The Association are making extensive preparations for their annual re-union this year, and anticipate a meeting of much interest. Indeed. it seems to be growing and increasing in interest and importance, and will no doubt exist as long as the old settlers themselves.
THE FIRST POST OFFICE.
The first post office established in Woodford County was in 1836, and was kept by James Boys at his own house, about three miles north of the village of Hanover. It was called Black Partridge, after the old Indian chief of that name, whose wigwam, at one time, was not far from the place. The office did not last long. Rev. William Davenport petitioned for another office to be called Hanover, but there being already a Hanover office in the State, he had to suggest some other name, and finally settled on Partridge Point instead of Black Partridge, as. Boys' office had been called. The office was kept at Parks' mill, about a mile from the present village of Metamora, and its affairs administered by Mr. Parks, though the Rev. Mr. Davenport, it is said, was the commissioned Postmaster. The office was called Hanover, and after R. T. Cassell came to the place, in 1838, he was prevailed on by Parks to take the post office. Upon his consenting to take it, he informed us that Mr. Parks brought the entire office over to the village,* tied up in his pocket handker- chief. The mail was carried by the four-horse stage-coach running between Bloomington and Ottawa. The mail for this point, with the exeption of an occasional letter, was three newspapers and one magazine. Rev. Mr. Daven- port took the Louisville Journal and the Illinois State Register; John Page, Sr., the New Hampshire Patriot, and a Mrs. Dutton took a little blue-back pamphlet, called the Mothers' Magazine. John Brotherhood drove the stage, and passed the Hanover post office between midnight and daybreak. Mr. Cas- sell remembers an occasion, when, one very dark night, John got lost on the prairie, and, after driving hours and hours, at daylight, found himself but a mile from Hanover. This stage route was probably the first road through Woodford County, and the trail was originally marked out, as Mr. Thomas McCord informed us, by dragging a log through the tall prairie grass.
Daniel Meek, who settled in Walnut Grove in 1827, in what is now Cruger Township, was commissioned a Justice of the Peace in 1827, and was the first of which we have any record in Woodford County. The first water-mill, as
There was no village but the site of the future village of Hauover, now Metamora.
252
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
already stated, was built by the Moores at or near Bowling Green, on Panther Creek, in 1830. Previous to this, there had been some "little corn crackers," as the settlers called them, operated by horse-power, but they were hardly deserving of the name of mill, and the procuring of meal and flour was a far more serious affair than at the present day.
Peter Engle, Sr., kept a tavern where his son, Peter Engle, Jr., now lives, which was the first place of " refreshment for man and beast " in the county. It was on the stage route above alluded to, and was one of the regular stands where they changed horses. Mr. Engle commenced the business in 1833, and as it was on the direct route from Chicago to Springfield, he was often called upon to entertain the official magnates of the land in their jour- neyings to and from the State Capital. Peter Engle, Jr., remembers, on one occasion, the Governor and his staff remaining over night in this humble hostelry.
The first account we have of mercantile traffic dates back to 1836, and gives the honor to the village of Hanover. Wilson Tucker, a son of the Solomon Tucker mentioned in the early settlement of Walnut Grove, and who was termed by his intimate friends the "South Carolina Yankee,"* owing to his rather close dealings, opened a store at Hanover in 1836, and was followed in a short time by Israel & Weeks, whose store was near where the Congregational Church now >tands. Tucker did not continue long in business, when he sold out, and with the intention, it seemed, to carry out the title of " Yankee " given him by his Southern friends, went to Massachusetts, where he still lived at the last account had of him. In 1837, J. & A. Richardson opened a store at Bowl- ing Green, and soon after, James Robinson commenced the same business. Durritt & Calloway also opened goods at Versailles about the same time. Pre- vious to this, the settlers had traded mostly at Washington, in Tazewell County, going occasionally to Peoria to make their simple purchases.
The first school is supposed to have been taught by William Hoshor, in 1831, in a small log cabin built for the purpose at the head of Walnut Grove, within the limits of the present township of Cruger. There are some, however, who claim that a Mr. Ellmore taught a school in 'Squire Benjamin Williams' barn, in 1830-31, and previous to the one tanght by Hoshor ; but from all the infor- mation to be obtained, we are disposed to give the credit to Hoshor. The first high school was taught by A. S. Fisher, and commenced in 1850, with Miss Susan Jones as Assistant. After passing through many changes and grades of promotion, it finally, in 1855, became Eureka College, a full history of which is given in connection with Olio Township and the village of Eureka. The first school taught in Northern Illinois, paid for out of the public fund, is said to have been taught by Miss Love K. Morse, in the Winter of 1836-37, a daughter of Parker Morse, one of the early settlers in this section.
*South Carolina was his native State.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES.
A true record of these events is impossible to obtain at this distant day. There have been " marriages and giving in marriage:" many have crossed the " dark river " and received their reward, while many more have been born, to take np their trials and troubles in the world.
" Angels weep when a babe is born, And sing when an old man dies."
But to get the exact date of the first birth, death and marriage is a difficult task. Caroline, a daughter of Daniel Meek. born January 15, 1828, is the first birth of which we have any reliable account. It is altogether probable, how- ever, with settlements extending back several years prior to this date, there may also have been births previous to the one above recorded. William Blanchard, of Spring Bay Township, is of the opinion that the first death, occurred in the Darby family (alluded to in another page, as making the first settlement in the county), as one or two members of the family died during their first or second Summer in the wilderness, which was that of 1823-24. A marriage also oc- curred in this family in a few years after their settlement here. A daughter of Darby's married a young man named Henry Race, who had worked with Mr. Blanchard, and is the first wedding of which we have been able to obtain any definite record. Jacob Wilson and Emily Donohne were married about 1826-27, and William Blanchard and Elizabeth Donohue soon after. Mr. Donohue, the father of these girls, died, it is said, in 1824, which was probably very nearly as early as those mentioned in the Darby family. But with more than half a century standing between then and now, many dates of those early events must be left to conjecture.
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