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 43
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POLITICAL AND WAR RECORD.
As a political township, Palestine has ever been Democratic. From its organization down to the present time, it has not given other than a Democratic majority upon national or political issues, where party questions were closely followed.
During the war, it discharged its duty as valorously as other sections of the county and State, and sent forth many of her gallant boys to assist in sustaining the Union their fathers fought to gain. The long list of their names is too much for these pages. Of those who will never more answer roll-call on earth, we say PEACE TO THEIR ASHES.
" For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care."
VILLAGE OF SECOR.
Secor is situated on the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railroad, eight miles west of the city of El Paso, and about 28 miles east of Peoria, and claims a population of 700 inhabitants. It is on the north half of southwest quarter, and south half of northwest quarter of Section 5 of the township ; was surveyed and laid out by D. H. Davison, then County Surveyor of Woodford County, for Isaac Underhill who owned the land on which the village is located. It was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, April 9, 1869, and the first Board of
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Village Trustees were Reuben L. Sidwell, David Gephart, Henry Dierking, Geo. Thode and John Noffsinger, who qualified before William Crow, a Justice of the Peace. The Board organized for business by electing R. L. Sidwell, Presi- dent, and D. C. Smith, Clerk. The present Board is as follows : G. B. Hol- lenback, President ; Henry Dierking, Louis Noffsinger, James Collins and Heye Johnson, Clerk.
THE FIRST HOUSE.
The first house in the village of Secor was built by E. T. Van Alstine, in 1856, the same year the road was built through. Jacob Lahr, a German, who came from Frankfort-on-the-Main, in 1850, and to Secor in 1856, built the sec- ond house in the village. He was a blacksmith by trade, and opened a shop soon after his arrival-the first in the village. He still plies his vocation, in a few yards of where he commenced more than twenty years ago. A man named Cannon, an old settler, and whose widow is still living near the place, built the third house, and boarded the railroad hands, while working on the rail- road through the neighborhood.
The first store was opened by Isaac Underhill, but was managed and attended to by Van Alstine, and was opened as soon as the village was laid out. They also kept the first post office, which was established soon after. G. B. Hollenback is the present Postmaster.
A tavern was opened by a man named Drosper, in 1858, which was the first regular place of entertainment in the village. .There had been some boarding houses previously, but nothing bearing the name of tavern or hotel. The big- gest elephant Secor ever saw, outside of Barnum's show, was the magnificent brick hotel built in 1862, by Isaac Underhill. He owned a great deal of land in the vicinity of the village, and he made such improvements to enhance its value. -
The hotel-which would have been quite a credit to Chicago at the time it was erected-cost, 'including the furnishing, $48,000. It never paid first cost, was sold under trust deed, and in 1874, was burned, with but little insurance on it, and thus the loss was considerable. Another object in building such a hotel, it is said, was an inducement for the county seat to be removed to this place. We do not know how true the report may be, but pre- sume it is correct, as it seems to be a settled fact that every village, town and hamlet in the county keeps out a standing solicitation for the Court House re- moval to its own location.
THE FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE
in the village of Secor was built in 1857, and it is supposed that a man named Hendon taught the first school in it. The building was a small frame, and after a time was sold for a dwelling, and a large school house built in 1860. Two years later, an addition was built to it, at a total cost of about $2,000. Misses
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
Felter and Brown are the present teachers, and through the Winter session the pupils number nearly 150.
Sidwell & Carroll built the fine steam flour-mill, in 1869; and it, together with the excellent grain elevator attached to it, which was built some years pre- viously, cost, complete, $24,000. The mill has three run of buhrs, is two and one-half stories high, frame building, with good stone foundation. The eleva- tor is on a similar foundation, and holds about 20,000 bushels of grain. The mill and elevator is at present owned by Laurence Gassler, an extensive grain dealer.
Peter Crow built a good grain elevator some years previous to the one above mentioned, which has a capacity of about 10,000 bushels. It is at present the property of Mrs. N. R. Smith, whose husband was, some years ago, one of the largest grain dealers in the county, and did a large business in grain and pork at Spring Bay, but met considerable reverses in pork afterward. Thomas Pat- terson rents the elevator, and handles grain quite extensively at this place.
THE CHURCHES.
There are three churches in the village of Secor, viz .: Methodist, Chris- tian and Lutheran.
The Christian Church was the first one built after the laying out of the vil- lage. It is a frame building, cost $1,400, and was built and opened for wor- ship in 1862. Rev. James Robeson was the first preacher, and its only regular Pastor until within the past year, when failing health caused him to resign the charge. Rev. Mr. Gormley is the present Pastor, and has a membership of about 150.
The Lutheran Church was built in 1864-5, under the ministerial labors of Rev. Mr. Stewer, who was its first Pastor. It cost about $1,000. Rev. Mr. Giesecker is Pastor. Has about forty members, and a parsonage which cost $700.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1865-6, at a cost of $2,000. It is a frame building about 36x44 feet, and a well-built, modern-finished edifice. Rev. Mr. Webber is the minister, and he has a large and flourishing membership.
Years ago there was a Masonic Lodge in the village, but in the heavy fire, in which the fine hotel, already alluded to, was burned, the Lodge lost its hall, jewels, furniture, etc., and has not yet recovered sufficiently from their severe loss to even think of resuming work, but have remained dormant since the loss.
PARKS AND CEMETERY.
A feature of interest and beauty in connection with the village is the public square, or park. It occupies about a block, and is thickly planted in silver poplars and soft maples, which have attained to a size large enough to interlock their branches above, thus forming a most delightful shade. Another little
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
park (as they call it), oval in shape, was laid out in front, and just across the street from the Grand Hotel. It is still a lovely spot, with a pretty lattice fence around it, summer house in the center, and elegantly set in flowers and orna- mental shrubbery ; it is altogether a beautiful place.
The cemetery of the village, and just out a little way southeast, is a very pretty little burying ground. In addition to the flowers, shrubs and evergreens, planted by loving hands over departed friends, there is quite a number of young forest trees, which very materially add to the beauty of the place. A substan- tial fence enclose the grounds ; the lots are well set in grass, and the marble columns and slabs show the affection of the living for the dead.
The general business aspect of Secor is about as follows : Three general stores-Henry Dierking, Rudolph Harisien and G. B. Hollenbach, who is the present Postmaster ; two grocery stores-Henry Stewart and Chas. Brauns ; one drug store-Ed. Hereford ; two saloons; two doctors-P. L. Tribbey and R. A. Martin ; two blacksmith shops-Jacob Lahr and Stephen Arnold ; Heye Johnson, butcher shop, and two lumber yards by Hiram Fleshner and Walter Rayburn. A full corps of milliners and dressmakers supply the femininity with all the pretty gewgaws with which to deck their pretty selves.
The name of Secor was given the village in honor of a gentleman who was one of the first Board of Directors of the railroad and who took an active part in putting the project through.
BOWLING GREEN
is another village "that was, but is not." It was in the extreme southwest corner of the township, and some forty years ago was, perhaps, one of the most thriving business places in the country around. But
" The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, Be scattered around and together be laid ; And the young and the old, and the low and the high, Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie."
It has utterly passed out of existence, and not a landmark remains to tell where the village once stood, but its entire limits are a highly cultivated farm . Passe.
MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP.
This town is in the extreme southern part of the county, and is bounded on the south by McLean County, west by Tazewell County, north by Cruger and Olio Townships and east by Kansas, and is well watered and drained by the Mackinaw River, Mud, Rock and Walnut Creeks. It has very little prairie with a great deal of timber, but a good large quantity of very fine farming lands. It is known as Township 25 north, Ranges 1 and 2 west of the Third Principal Meridian ; and had an assessed valuation of property, in 1877, of $306,850.00.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
SETTLEMENTS.
The first settlement in Montgomery Township is supposed to have been made by Jacob Ellis, in 1829. He came here from Missouri, and in the Fall of the year mentioned made a settlement in the southeastern part of the town. After remaining a short time, he sold out his claim and finally removed to Oregon.
John Harbard settled here very soon after Ellis. He came from Missouri also, was a son-in-law of Ellis, and when the latter went to Oregon Harbard went with him.
These parties, it is believed, put up the first cabin in the township, or what is now Montgomery Township.
James V. Phillips was born in Overton Co., Tenn., and came to Illinois in 1828, and settled, first in Dry Grove, then Tazewell, but now McLean County. In 1832, after the close of the Black Hawk war, he removed to this township, and settled in the east part of it. He first settled on government land, but after- ward and as soon as it came into market, entered 40 acres at the regular gov- ernment price, $1.25 per acre. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died of sickness while in the service. Mr. Phillips himself was in the Black Hawk war, and served under under Gen. Stillman. He participated in the battle of Sycamore, or Old Man's Creek, which has passed into history as " Stillman's defeat." The battle ground was a little north of the present city of Dixon. He served only forty-four days, but says he received his satisfaction of a soldier's life in that short time, and won all the glory of battle he desired at Stillman's defeat ; that such close quarters was not at all to his liking, as he could see no good place to dodge bullets, and that their keen whistling in close proximity to his ears was not just the music he most enjoys.
Daniel Allison, from Ohio, settled in this township north of the present village of Farnisville, in 1831, the year before the Black Hawk war, and where he lived until his death, which occurred some ten or twelve years ago. A son lives on the old homestead at present.
A man named Wilson, whose first name could not be ascertained, settled at what is called Slabtown, about 1830, where he remained for a number of years, built a cabin and made a clearing.
Lewis Stephens came from Ohio, in 1833, and settled near Phillips, where he entered land and spent the remainder of his days.
A son now lives on the place where his father settled forty-five years ago ; and another son, Adam Stephens, the present Supervisor of Montgomery Town- ship, lives in the immediate neighborhood.
William C. Moore, another Ohioan, settled at what was called Buffalo Heart's Grove, in Sangamon County, in 1812. About 1826-27, he settled near the present village of Eureka, and, after about four years, moved to the mill near Bowling Green, in Palestine Township. He remained here a short time then removed into El Paso Township, and finally settled in Montgomery,
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
where he died, and where two sons, James and Josiah, live at present; another son, Adam, lives in Kansas Township.
James Vance came from Christian County, Ky., and settled in Montgomery Township in the Fall of 1835. He had but two sons, Andrew and Peter H. Vance, the former of whom is at present living in McLean County, while the latter lives near the old homestead of his father. The elder Vance was the first Supervisor of the township, and a man much respected by all who knew him. Peter H. Vance was but 19 years old when his father removed to Illinois, and, some years later, went to the Galena mines, where he was quite successful in making money. He finally returned to this township, married a danghter of Rev. Peyton Mitchell, the pioneer Presbyterian preacher, and permanently settled where he now lives. He is what may very justly be termed a successful farmer-owns 1,600 acres of land, is very highly esteemed, and is one of the solid men of his neighborhood and of the county. He has been a Justice of the Peace for twenty-four years, and was Supervisor of the town seven years.
When the Vances settled here in 1835, they found already, in what now comprises Montgomery Township, the following settlers, viz .: Jacob Ellis, Isaac Stout, John Harbard, Lewis Stephens, James V. Phillips, John and Thomas Brown, Christian and Peter Farni, Daniel Allison, Joseph Gingerich and James Harlan. So far as can now be remembered, these were all then living in the present limits of the township. Isaac Stout and the Browns were from Ten- nessee, and settled in this township as early as 1832-3. John W. Brown settled east of " Uncle Jimmy " Phillips, and, about 1840, removed to Missouri, where he died a few years ago. Christian and Peter Farni came here from Canada, but were natives of France, and were born in either Lorraine or Alsace. Peter died early, but Christian was quite a prominent man in the settlement, and amassed considerable property, but through mismanagement lost much of it. Joseph Gingerich came from Germany, and settled at Farnisville abont 1833, built a mill, and engaged extensively in that business.
James Harlan was from Kentucky, and came to Illinois in 1833-4, and settled in Montgomery Township, where he lived many years. A son of his is at present an extensive grain dealer in the village of Cruger, in the township of same name.
Henry M. Robinson came from Ohio, in 1838, and settled first in Tazewell County, and in 1842 settled on his present beautiful place. He has about two thousand six hundred acres of land, and is the largest land owner and the most extensive cattle dealer in the county. Mr. Robinson says that " Uncle Joe" Meek, of Olio Township, is the only man he ever knew of whom no man could with just cause speak a disrespectful word. His father, James Robinson, was born in Virginia, and was a Colonel in the War of 1812. His grandfather was one of the proprietors of the town of Clarksburg, Va., and the first merchant in the place. He was also the first merchant to introduce the sale of coffee in that section of the State.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
THE SOWARDSES.
We have heard of this people in nearly every section of Woodford County, and among the earliest settlers. In Montgomery, as in almost every other town- ship, we find traces of this ubiquitous family, and hear of them away back at a very remote period. " The Sowards cabins" seem to have been for years a kind of landmark in this settlement, but no one can tell much about the family-when they came to the neighborhood, where from, how long they remained, or where they went on leaving.
There may have been other old settlers in what is now Montgomery Town- hip, who came here at an early date and are entitled to special mention, but their names, if such there be, have escaped our notice.
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
The first religious society organized in this town was of the Baptist denomi nation, and was formed at the residence of Mr. James Vance, in the Spring of 1838, and is supposed to have been the first Baptist organization in Woodford County. It was formed under the pastoral charge of Rev. Isaac Newell, the first Baptist minister in this part of the country, and consisted originally of nine members, five of whom are still living, viz .: Widow of James Vance, Andrew and Peter H. Vance, Mrs. E. B. Mitchell and Mrs. F. H. Boggs. After the society had been organized a little while, they had services alternately at the residence of Mr. Vance and Mr. Henry Clarke, an old settler in the neighborhood of Versailles. The society finally divided, and those living up near Versailles formed another society nearer home, while the other portion con- tinued to worship at Mr. Vance's and in the school house, until about three years ago, when they built a church in the village of Danvers, in McLean County.
A church of the New Ormish Society was built at Farnisville four years ago. It is a frame building, and quite a neat little edifice. Rev. Michael Zimmer- man is the Pastor in charge, and is assisted by one or two local preachers. The United Brethren, as they are called, built a church in the western part of the town about 1866-7, where they have quite a large and flourishing society. Rev. Mr. Lord was the Pastor in 1877. The first sermon ever preached in Montgomery is supposed to have been delivered by Rev. John Dunham, who was one of the pioneer preachers of this section of the country. Mr. P. H. Vance informed us that, in an early day, when churches were somewhat scarcer than now, they used to go to Washington, Bloomington, Walnut Grove and Roanoke to church regularly. They would harness up their wagons and drive to church on Sunday mornings and home again in the evening.
SCHOOLS, SCHOOL HOUSES, ETC.
Mary Ann Brown taught a school in 1843-4, in a little log house built for a residence, but vacated, which stood near where James V. Phillips lives, and
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IIISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY
is set down as the first school kept in the township. Wm. C. Moore taught in the same house soon after, and is thought by some to have taught before Mary Ann Brown, but " a preponderance of the evidence," as the lawyers say, is in favor of Mary Ann Brown, and we give her the credit. Another school was taught after this, in a little house that stood near where Adams Stephens now lives. The first regular school house in the township was bought at Bowling Green, and moved into Montgomery, where it was for some time used for school purposes. The school records show that the first Board of School Trustees was James Vance, James V. Phillips and - Kessler ; that they elected Will- iam C. Moore, Treasurer, and surveyed and valued the school lands of the town.
The last annual report of Christian Imhoff, School Treasurer at present, shows the following facts :
No. of males in township under 21 years of age. 189
No. of females in township under 21 years of age. 175
Total. 364
No. males in township between 6 and 21 years.
136
No. females in township between 6 and 21 years 117
Total 253
Whole No. of males attending school in township ..
105
Whole No. of females attending school in township 83
Total 188
No. of School Districts in township
6
No. of public schools taught in township
6
Average No. of months taught ..
6,3
No. male teachers employed in the schools
5
No. female teachers employed in the schools
Total. 7
Estimated value of school property $1,800.00
Township fund for support of schools 1,057.43
Interest on township fund received. 104.71
Special tax received. 1,459.97
Total amount received from all sources to September 1, 1877. 2,522.50
Highest monthly wages paid male teachers 50.00
Highest monthly wages paid female teachers 40.00
Lowest monthly wages paid any teacher. 35.00
Average wages paid male teachers 41.40
Average wages paid female teachers.
38.08
Whole amount paid teachers during year.
1,631.58
The schools of nine sections of Montgomery are reported with Deer Creek Township in Tazewell County, into which this little corner of Montgomery Township extends. Good, substantial frame school houses, conveniently located, and comfortably furnished, and with the best of teachers, the schools of the town cannot be otherwise than in a flourishing condition.
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
BIRTHS, DEATHS, MARRIAGES.
Margaret Phillips, a daughter of James V. Phillips, born January 5, 1864, was probably the first white child born in Montgomery Township. The first death which occurred in the settlement is supposed to have been one of the Far- nis. The date of his death could not be ascertained, but was so long ago that all the old settlers surviving to-day can scarcely remember it. Among the first marriages may be noted those of James V. Phillips, Martin Ellis, both of whom lived in this township, but neither one married here. Philips and Ellis were in the Black Hawk war, and married soon after their return home, which was in the Summer of 1832. The first marriage solemnized in the township, the high contracting parties were Ebenezer Mitchell and Rachel R. Vance, and the mar- riage ceremony was performed by Rev. John Dunham on the 26th of May, 1836. John Harbard, noticed as one of the very earliest settlers, was a black- smith and the first in the town to work at that business. He kept a shop at his own house, and for several years was the only blacksmith in the neighborhood.
STORES AND MILLS.
The first store in the township was kept by the Minor Brothers, at what is now called Farnisville, about 1850. Soon after this store was opened by the Minors, Frederick Niergart, now of Bloomington, opened one at the same place, and an old man, whose name could not be learned, opened a store across the river from the others, and the section became quite flourishing. A mill, the first in this part of the country, was built at this point on the Mackinaw River, in 1835, by Joseph Gingerich and Christian Farni. At first it was a saw-mill only, but afterward an addition was made to it and machinery put in for grind- ing wheat and corn. Years after, the Minors got hold of it, rebuilt it, and put in . a great deal of new machinery, with three runs of buhrs, and made a No. 1 mill of it. A firm by the name and title of Carey & Butkin, from St. Louis, put up a distillery here about the year 1847, which did a large business for several years ; they also put up a grist-mill to grind their own grain for the distillery. But having no capital of their own, Farni endorsed for them to a large amount, and had to pay it, which erippled him financially to a considerable extent. The distillery, together with the mill attached to it, was burnt before the war, which was another heavy loss to Farni. A few years afterward, Farni opened a dis- tillery on the underground plan, was detected, arrested and taken to Chicago, where the whole course of red tape to which he was subjected cost him some- thing like a thousand dollars more.
THE VILLAGES
of Montgomery Township are Farnisville and Slabtown, both of which are situated on the Mackinaw River, with only that turbid stream rolling between them. Neither of them will compete in size with New York or Chicago, but
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HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY.
are the largest this township boasts. Farnisville is on the south bank of the Mackinaw, and was named for the Farnis, who owned the land upon which it is located. In point of size and importance, it has not yet reached the dignity of town or village, and scarcely that of a hamlet. One little store, kept by A. Habeck, a school house, an elegant little church, of the New Ormish persuasion, mentioned in another page, and some half dozen residences comprise the town. The mill is gone, the distillery has disappeared, all the stores, save the one above alluded to, are passed away, and the little hamlet looks as lonely as a weeping willow tree by moonlight. A magnificent iron bridge spans the Macki- naw here, connecting Farnisville and Slabtown. The latter place received its name from the first and only store kept in the place, and which was opened soon after those across on the other side, by an old man, who kept bnt a small stock of goods, in a little cabin, weather-boarded with slabs from the saw-mill. Hence the name of Slabtown. Years and years have passed since goods were sold in the little slab cabin, and there are now but two or three honses on this side of the river, but the name of Slabtown is just as well known in this imme- diate section as the name of the township itself. In the flourishing days of the Minors, a post office was established by them at Farnisville, which continued some four or five years, and was then suspended, and at the present time there is not a post office in the township.
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