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 28
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301
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Bay. The track made by the surveyors when laying out the village made a path along which the children and young people used to stray in search of wild flowers and wild berries.
There were other old settlers here in these early times, whose history would be given more fully could we obtain it. John Stephenson, Charles Fielder, Jesse Day, the Donohues, Isaac Philips, - Curry, the Bethards, and perhaps others, were all sturdy old pioneers. who bore the brunt and hardships of the times equally with those whose histories are given, but there are none who can tell much about them, and few even remember them. They served out their day and generation, and have gone to their reward.
EARLY PRIVATIONS.
At the time of these early settlements, the people who made them were ignorant of what are at the present day termed the comforts and luxuries of life, and, it may be said, didn't require them. Then there were nothing better than rough log houses : and many, Mr. Blanchard informed us, built their cabins of saplings and covered them with bark, with chimneys made of sticks and clay. These had the ground for a floor. and were devoid of furniture of any kind, save snch rude articles as could be hewed out with an axe. Blocks of wood did duty as chairs, and a slab split out of a tree served as a table. Men wore buckskin breeches and hunting shirts. If one chanced to get a pair of more civilized material, when they began to wear out, Mr. Blanchard says, they would patch the knees and " seat " with buckskin. On one ocasion, when out sur- veying, he patehed his moccasins with bacon skin from the side meat they had taken with them for food, and it lasted better than the buckskin itself. They made hominy by pounding the corn in what they called a " hominy block," and for the lack of lard seasoned it with deer tallow. In these early times they lived mostly on wild meats, except when some hardy pioneer would go to St. Louis and bring up something in the way of pork and bacon. Blanchard himself went down to St. Louis from Peoria in a canoe, and brought back for the settlement a cargo of bacon and flour-rarities at that time. Flax was raised to a considerable extent, and from it the women made most of their own garments, and after the introduction of sheep extended their business to the manufacture of nearly all the clothes worn by their entire families. Thus the buckskin apparel finally became obsolete. Wild plums and berries, and nearly all of the wild fruits, were plentiful, together with wild honey, and afforded a pleasing addition to the often limited larders of the settlers. For several years horses were scarce in the settlement, and oxen were used for hauling, plowing, and, in lieu of horses, were often ridden about the neighborhood. Farm im- plements were few in number, and consisted chiefly of hoes and rude wooden plows with iron points, or "iron noses," as an old settler informed us. Weeds were not troublesome nor much in the way of growing crops ; nettles. however, were rather annoying to the people themselves, and often ereated a severe smarting and itching.
302
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
As the country settled up and farms opened, horses were brought in by new comers, and many improvements made in the manner and mode of farming. But for one or two seasons there was one span of horses alone in the settlement, and the owner of them was offered as much as four dollars a day for " break- ing ground." He made an effort at it, plowing a round or two, and his horses being unruly. he cursed them, the land, and everybody else, and quit in dis- gust. A settler would occasionally trade with an Indian for a pony for horse- back riding, which was considered quite an addition to his primitive establish- ment ; but it often turned out that the Indian became dissatisfied with his bargain, and if the pale face refused to trade back again, he would make it all right and square by stealing his pony.
Crops were good then, and rarely failed to yield well. We have Mr. Blanchard's testimony to raising forty bushels of wheat to the acre; and the year 1819, when he cultivated his corn wholly with a hoe, he raised one hundred bushels to the acre. In the course of progress, log rollings, house raisings. corn "bees" among the men. and quiltings, wool pickings, etc., among the women became numerous, always winding up with a dance at night, which were events of the most intense interest and amusement. An occasional horse race enlivened the scene, at which times whisky flowed lively, and a bloody nose and broken head was sometimes the result of this innocent pastime. A wedding was a grand gala time, and the neighbors were all invited for miles around. The word "neighbor " then admitted of almost as broad a meaning as the Biblical acceptation of it, and included everybody within at least a half a day's journey. Trade was dull, and was done mostly at Chicago, while some went down the river in flat-boats to St. Louis with the extra products of the country, and in return brought back supplies.
THE FIRST MILL.
A man named Winston Barton built a little horse mill in 1827-called in those days a corn-cracker-near where Crocker's mill now stands, and was the first mill in this section, and probably the first in the county. It was a small affair, and never amounted to much, but was an improvement, however, to pounding corn in wooden blocks into hominy.
Crocker's mill was built in 1833-4, and was the first mill* in this township, or in this section, run by water power. It was commenced in the Fall of 1833, by Austin Crocker and his brother Horace, and was completed in 1834, and has continued in running operation ever since. They had the assistance; in building it, of Allen and Thomas Donohne, who were partners in the enter- prise for a while: but the whole of it finally passed into the hands of the Crockers, and is now owned by Rowland Crocker. It is still standing, is in good condition, and is run by water from several large springs in the immediate neighborhood, which burst out of the ground and flow toward the Illinois River, but a short distance away.
Mentioned in the general history as one of the first water mills in the county.
303
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
William Hoshor built a mill, for grinding corn, near Crocker's mill, in 1835, which drew custom from a large scope of country for many years. It is still in operation, and under the management of Mr. Hoshor's son, but, with the present competition in the mill business, is not crowded to its utmost capacity, as in the days of yore. Hoshor built a distillery in connection with the mill, which did a large business for a number of years, but ceased opera- tion about 1866-7.
The first physician who practiced in this section was Dr. Langworthy, of Peoria, whose large practice extended over on this side of the river, and he is spoken of as a good physician for that early day.
In the Fall of 1824, the first experiment was made in fruit growing, by Austin Crocker, who planted an orchard on Section 25 of Spring Bay Town- ship. This is alluded to in the general history as one of the first orchards in what is now Woodford County. Charles Fielder planted an orchard, in 1826, on Section 24, in this township. Many of these trees are standing at the present day. Most of them were " seedlings," and are still sound, healthy trees, and bear heavily, with few exceptions, every year. In this, as in most of the townships on this side of the county, the culture of the grape has proved quite successful, and many farmers devote considerable attention to it.
THIE INDIANS.
There were plenty of Indians in this section at the time of the first settle- ments and for several years after settlements had been made. This was one of the early Indian settlements-had been their home and hunting grounds in all probability for centuries before the coming of the white man. Owing to the sheltering timber and the almost innumerable springs of pure water, bursting out in nearly every part of the township, presented many attractions and ren- dered it a desirable spot to the roving bands of Indians. Mr. Blanchard says the Indians here, when he came, were mostly Ottawas and Pottawatomies, with a few Sacs and Foxes, and, when kindly treated, were far more of a help than a drawback to the whites ; during the Winter of the "Deep Snow," were of considerable benefit to the settlers in furnishing them with venison and other wild game, withont which their boards, scanty at best, would have been utterly exhausted before the Winter passed. But, as the whites came in, the Indians were crowded ont, and are now almost forgotten by the generation who have converted their hunting grounds into farms and prosperous villages. Their camp-fires, which onced blazed on every hill in Spring Bay Township, have long since faded away in the sunlight of civilization. and the persecuted Indian is remembered by few now living in Woodford County.
CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.
The first religions services in this township were held perhaps by the Meth- odists, who sent their ministers here at a very early day. But who preached the first sermon, no one now living can tell. A Methodist minister-a Rev.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Mr. Lattey-was among the first, but of him very little information could be obtained. There are no churches in the township, and religious services have always been held at farm houses and in the school houses. Interesting revivals, then as now, often occurred, aand many turned from the error of their ways and united with the church.
Of the early schools of this township, not much information can be obtained, and the question as to who taught the first one is wholly unanswerable. They consisted of a few children collected together at some of the larger and more pretentious cabins, where they were instructed in "reading, writing and cipher- ing."
Mrs. McQueen, whose husband is mentioned in this chapter, as one of the early settlers, taught a school at her own house, in 1840. But it is altogether probable that similar schools were taught long before the one just mentioned.
For years after the organization of public schools, no records exist. Mr. John Ege. the present Treasurer, and who has held the office for ten years past, has no records previous to 1862, and he informed us that they had all been destroyed previous to that date. From his last report to the County Superin- tendent of Schools we extract the following information :
Number of males, under 21 years, in the township.
142
Number of females, under 21 years, in the township.
147
Total. 289
Number of males between 6 and 21 years.
89
Number of females between 6 and 21 years 83
Total 172
Number of males attending school. 56
Number of females. 19
Total. 105
Average number of months taught.
8
Number of public schools in the township.
Number of male teachers employed.
Highest monthly wages paid teachers.
$60 00
Lowest monthly wages paid teachers
40 00
Township fund for support of schools.
2,973 00
Estimated value of school property in township
4,500 00
Tax levy to support schools. 400 00
Whole amount of teachers' salary for 1877 820 00
This is a fractional township and has but two school districts, both of which have good, comfortable school houses. The one in the village is an ornament to the place, and will be appropriately mentioned under that head.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
When Woodford County was laid off into townships, this fractional part was called Spring Bay from the village of that name situated at the north end of its limits. The first election for township officers resulted as follows :
For Superisor, G. W. Snibley ; Assessor, Dr. John Hazard ; Collector, C. A. Genoways ; Town Clerk, C. S. Shults.
305
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
The following gentlemen comprise the present Board :
Supervisor, C. A. Genoways : Town Clerk, E. Fredricks ; Assessor, John Ege ; Collector, Abraham Loveless ; Justices of Peace, Dr. J. G. Zeller and John Ege : Constable, Oliver Davis.
Politically this township has always been largely Democratic, even from the very earliest period of voting. As it commenced in the early days of Whigs and Democrats, so it still remains, and the Republican candidate finds it a poor field in which to inaugurate political issues.
THE WAR RECORD.
This township. though small. was no laggard in furnishing soldiers in the late war. Among the volunteers were the following : John McQueen, Augustus Brandon, Willis and Abraham Burt, Alexander, George and John Hodge, W. D. Long, Frederick and Henry Henfling, David Stratford, Wm. Spillman, . Joseph and Herman Ahrens, Isaac and Thomas Phillips. Eighty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Thaddeus Shottenkirk. Frank Myers, Thomas and Robt. Blanchard. James Vantine and Silas Staples, Seventy-seventh Regiment Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry.
Several of these were among the killed. wounded and missing, viz .: The two Henfling boys, Augustus Brandon, Alexander and George Hodge were killed, and some others who never returned were doubtless killed, or captured and died in prisons.
The land of Spring Bay Township is mostly river bottom, but in some local- ities rises gradually to the bluffs a little distance from the river, which is the / western boundary. There are some low, marshy lands next to the river, which are valueless at present. It affords plenty of timber for all building and farm purposes, though the best of it, such as walnut, is being rapidly thinned out.
SPRING BAY VILLAGE.
This little village is situated on the Illinois River, about ten miles above Peoria. It was surveyed and laid out in 1838 for Day, Matson & Brush, who owned the land, and had purchased it from one Jacob Woodcock, an old settler, of whom but little deffinite information could be obtained.
The first house in the village of Spring Bay was built by a man named Ben- jamin Merithew. who, it seems, had once owned the land or had pre-empted it, or something of that kind, and was built before the village was laid out. It was a small log cabin. and stood where Genoways' store-house now stands. The first store-house put up was the one now occupied by Lewis Williams. and was built in the, early part of 1838, and only weather-boarded and covered when Genoways came to the neighborhood. When he returned from Ohio to this place, in 1840, nothing further had been done, nor did the village begin to im- prove to any great extent until about the year 1843. A man named Rice had a little store up in the brush, just within the present limits of the town, which consisted chiefly of whisky and tobacco-articles that have remained staple in
1
306
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
this section down to the present day. This was not only the first store in the village, but the first in what is now Spring Bay Township. In 1843, Ira Y. Munn came to the place and opened a store in the building above alluded to, as belonging now to Williams, which was finished up for the purpose Munn, Peter Willard and William Scott had a store in Fremont,* which place was rather overdone in mercantile business. Mr. Genoways chanced to meet Munn and Scott in Washington, some ten miles distant from Spring Bay, and they told him they were looking for a good location for a store. He at once set to work to try to induce them to go to Spring Bay, and, obtaining their consent, conducted them in a roundabout way to the village, that they might be favora- bly impressed with the populous neighborhood. After taking a look they decided to locate, and engaged Genoways to go immediately to Fremont for a load of good -. Munn & Scott conducted the business at Spring Bay, while Willard remained at Fremont to close up and settle affairs there, after which he opened a branch of the Spring Bay house in Metamora, of which further notice is made in that part of this work. Scott was soon taken siek and returned to Fremont, where he died, and his brother, George Scott, came to Spring Bay and took his place in the store. This firm continued in the mercantile business here and at Metamora, and also handled grain extensively for a number of years. After amassing quite a fortune, Munn and Scott went to Chicago, and there embarked in grain ; but in attempting to make "a corner " in wheat, got beyond their depth and sunk disastrously. Rising again, they went to Denver and started a quartz mill, where, it is said, they failed again. Peter Willard lives in Chicago. a prosperous and enterprising merchant.
Just after Munn commeneed business, a man by the name of Thornton built a residence, which was the first one erected in Spring Bay Village. C. A. Genoways and Samuel S. Burt built the first grain warehouse in 1844, and after finishing it sold it to Munn & Scott for $400. It was a frame building, 30x60 feet, with a capacity of 8,000 or 10,000 bushels. Richard Dement built a grain warehouse soon after; also, Lewis and Jackson Williams, and for many years did a large business in grain, pork paeking and general merchandise, and in which they made a small fortune. Lewis Williams owns, in addition to his other property, the old homestead in Worth Township. Hoshor and Dement
built the warehouse now standing on the river bank. The one now owned by Genoways and used as a storehouse was built by Moses MeManus. None of these warehouses are standing at the present day, except the last two mentioned ; the others have not survived the day of their usefulness. For about twenty years, beginning at 1844, the grain trade at this place equaled any point on the Illinois River. In its most prosperous day, Munn & Scott, Dement, MeManus, William Hefelbower, were all handling grain, and all doing a heavy business. Nearly the whole county hauled grain to this place, and a hundred wagons on the streets in one day was a common occurrence. The amount of grain shipped
A village in Tazewell County.
307
HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
from this point, before the era of railroads, was truly wonderful. and more than one handsome little fortune was made in this unpretending village.
A POST OFFICE
was established in 1844, and is the only one in the township. C. S. Shults was appointed the first Postmaster. The mail was carried between this place and Peoria, and after the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, a weekly mail was established with Kappa. It was some time after the establishment of the post office, before the Government would allow a contract for carrying the mail, and whoever chanced to go to Peoria brought it back, tied up in his hand- kerchief. With many changes in the administrations of the affairs of the office, it has passed into the hands of Charles Keolcher, who is the present Postmaster, with a semi-weekly mail to and from Peoria.
David Couch built a hotel here in 1850, the first ever erected in the village. In the days of its prosperity, the town boasted of three hotels at one time, but they are all gone now. C. A. Genoways entertains the few travelers who chance to stray this way.
Dr. John G. Zeller, one of the prominent men of the village and township, came from Bavaria, Germany, in 1847. Two years later, went back to the old country, and attended school for four years, where he graduated and returned to America. He studied medicine, and commenced the practice of the profes- sion in this place, in 1854, where he has remained ever since, with the excep- tion of five months, when attending his last session at the St. Louis Medical College, where he graduated as a physician in 1856. A man of intelligence and education, he has always taken an active part in everything calculated to promote the advancement of his town. He has a large collection of Indian relics, gathered in this immediate vicinity, in which he takes considerable inter- est ; also bones and large portions of human skeletons, likewise found here. From these bones he recognizes two distinct races of people, and very unlike each other. Hence, his theory, that the Mound Builders occupied this country previous to the Indians. Among his Indian relics are many of their rude im- plements and tools of domestic use and of war : such as axes, hatchets, toma- hawks, spear and arrow heads, pipes, etc. They are of many kinds of material, some of them rare specimens, and others of wonderful workmanship. We noticed an arrow-head of the most beautiful agate, and a pipe made of a material found only in the Missouri River country. But neither our space nor our geological information will admit of a particularization of all these specimens and relics. From relics and bones in his possession, believed to be of the Mound Builders, he holds to the opinion that they were a much larger race than the Indians, and further advanced in civilization.
Dr. Zeller has devoted considerable attention to grape culture, and was the first to introduce the Concord, Delaware, Hartford and the Virginia Seedling in this section ; for which, he says, the Concord is the only serviceable one for this climate.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Another of the solid men of Spring Bay is Mr. Gottfried Jung, who came from Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1852, and commenced business as a mer- chant and lumber dealer. Having made quite a fortune, he has retired from the turmoils of business, to spend the remainder of his days in quietude, in his ele- gant home, one of the finest in the village.
SPRING BAY MILLS.
This mill was built, first as a steam saw-mill only, by Jo Hilenbrand in 1862. About a year after, William Burt bought an interest, and put in burrs and machinery for a grist-mill, when its value was estimated at $1,000. It is small, has but one run of burrs, and is devoted chiefly to custom work. After chang- ing owners several times, Ernest Fredericks has become the proprietor.
The brewery of Peter Eichhorn is a large establishment, and was built in 1851. It was built by Mr. Eichhorn, and is a frame structure of a capacity to make about 2,000 barrels a year, most of which is shipped to Peoria, and the remainder sold in this county. It cost, including cellars, fixtures, machinery, etc., about $25,000, and is still owned by Mr. Eichhorn.
The Town Hall was built in 1853 by a special tax levy for the purpose, and cost $700, but shortly after its completion, was blown from its foundations by a gale of wind, and cost $200 more to restore it to its former grandeur. It is the most serviceable building in the place, and devoted to a variety of uses. Almost every religious denomination in the calendar, at some time or other, has used it as a tabernacle of worship, while upon its floor the stump orator rises in his majesty to harangue the people on the political questions of the day. And thus, for all meetings, public or private, sacred or profane, the Town Hall is called into requisition.
The first school house in the village was built in 1846-a frame structure of very rough workmanship, and cost $300. This did service for more than twenty years, and in 1868 was replaced by the elegant brick school house " up on the hill," which is an ornament to the village. It cost about $3,000, is two stories high, and thirty by forty feet in size. O. L. Tucker is the present teacher, and has a daily attendance of about fifty pupils.
During the ordinary Winter stage of water, steamboats land daily at the wharf, which is said to be one of the best steamboat landings on the Illinois River. In 1851-2, a levee was built extending out five hundred yards into the river, or rather through " the bay," to the river proper, and where boats land during the low stage of water. Mr. Wm. H. Delph, of Metamora, was the engineer in charge of the work, and the expense of the improvement was borne by the county, the total cost of which was about $4,000. The dirt and gravel for this levee was taken from the ridge or bluff rising some hundred or two yards from the river. It was in this work that so many human bones and almost entire skeletons were exhumed, alluded to in connection with Dr. Zeller's collection of bones and Indian relics on another page.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.
In the days of Spring Bay's pristine glory, the magnates of the place put their heads together, and decided on a certain occasion to appropriately celebrate the anniversary of the day on which " our fathers threw off the rotten yoke of Britain." An old-fashioned, backwoods barbecue was inaugurated, with all its attending accompaniments of "fatted calves," young porkers and delicious muttons, and a good supply of liquor was procured from a neighboring still- house to " season it." All the surrounding towns and villages were bidden to the feast, and many accepted the invitation. A man named Curry had been appointed orator of the day, and mounting an ox cart, which had been drawn up and improvised into a " speaker's stand," he entertained the audience for an hour with the repetition of a speech (copied verbatim, and prepared for the pur- pose) delivered in the United States Congress by a member from Massachusetts during the bitter debates in that body, referring to " the Embargo." previous to the war of 1812. With all the fiery eloquence of Patrick Henry, this back- woods orator hurled the old embargo tirade at the " corrupted government." and pictured the imminent danger of the " old ship of state being engulfed in the threatening billows," unless a " most rigorous (rigid) reform was enforced."
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