USA > Illinois > Woodford County > The Woodford County history > Part 18
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Altorfer
Birde
Altshue
Bliss
Madie
Zeigler
Barkow
Blunier
Martenay
Zimmerman
Barrett
Brown
Mathis
Zobrist
Adams
Bauman
Alexander
Bertschen
Letcher
Young
Lewis
Zeemis
Litwilder
Zehr
Detweiler
Dickinson
Phillips Pifer Plank Plattner
Farni
Gerth
Gresham
Sandeman Sauder Saupe
Harlan
Schurter Serpette Sharp Siebert Simpson
Hepperle
Hoffman
King
Lantz
Newell Nichols
History of Olio Township
by BURRU'S DICKINSON
Geography
THE GEOGRAPHICAL characteristics of Olio Township are determined largely by the course of Walnut Creek. This tributary of the Mackinaw River gives most of the western and southern areas of the town- ship a rolling or hilly topography, with many small streams which empty into Wal- nut Creek. Several sections in the eastern part of the township are relatively flat prairie land.
Some parts of the township are suitable for crop farming. Much of the land near Walnut Creek remains in timber, although the walnut trees which gave the area its original name are now rare. Gravel de- posits were found in several places and these have been put to good use. There are coal deposits, but none of the mining en- terprises which were begun around 1900 reached the point of production.
Settlement and Early Growth
The First Settlers. The pioneers chose home sites near the waterways. Ground was first broken in 1824 by Joseph Dillon, at a site three miles south and slightly west of the present Woodford County courthouse.
During the next 15 years other settlers came into the area which became known as Walnut Grove. Among them were Charles Moore, Jonathon Baker, Daniel Meck, John Bird, and a Mr. Wathen in 1827.
William Atteberry, John Davidson, John Dawdy, Joseph Martin, Mathew Bracken, James and Robert Bird, and Nathan Owen came in 1829; Joseph Meck, Henry Meck. William Bird, David DeWeese, Thomas DeWeese. John Oatman. and Mathew Blair in 1830.
Joshua Woosley, Francis Willis, Daniel
Travis, Isaac Black, Caleb Davidson, John Butcher, Cooley Curtis arrived in 1831; Thomas DeWeese in 1832.
James Mitchell, Ben Major, and Thomas Kincade settled here in 1833; William R. Willis, Benjamin J. Radford, and M. R. Bullock in 1831; and Solomon Tucker, Wil- liam Davenport, Elijah Dickinson, and Thomas Bullock in 1835.
Most of these settlers came from Ken- tucky; a few from Indiana and Ohio.
Versailles Platted. The first village was Versailles, platted in 1836. Thomas Bullock was the energetic promoter of Versailles, which was named after a city in Woodford County, Kentucky, from which Bullock had come. It was at the southeast corner of Section 20, about three miles southeast of the present courthouse.
Benefiting from the fact that it was on the stage coach line between Bloomington and Peoria, Versailles began to develop as a trading center.
Thomas Bullock in 1840 successfully undertook to secure the formation of a new county, to be named Woodford. The legis- lation, approved in 1841, provided that Versailles should be the temporary county seat for two years. After the railroads were constructed, it was isolated and lan- guished.
Walnut Grove. Walnut Grove was the name used for a strip along Walnut Creek, ex- tending several miles from the cabins of Daniel Meck and John MeClintock on the south to that of Daniel Travis (now the site of the Mt. Zion cemetery).
The first center of community activity within this area was the Christian Church meetinghouse, built in 18:46 on Ben Major's
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land on the site where the soldiers monu- ment now stands in Olio Cemetery.
Walnut Grove Academy was established in 1848 in a frame building which was erected about 100 yards east of the church meetinghouse. A year later a two-story briek building was erected for the aead- emy. Nearby, at about that time, there was a boarding house for students, a gen- eral store, and a blacksmith shop. Until 1855 it appeared that these developments would be the center of a new village.
Name "Eureka" Chosen. In 1850 the Wal- nut Grove Academy students, who had to send some one to Washington or Metamora for their mail, asked for better postal serv- ice. Asa Fisher, principal of the academy, requested a post office. He was appointed postmaster, but was notified that mail could not be addressed to Walnut Grove because another village (in MeDonough County ) had a prior claim to that name.
A committee was appointed to choose a new name. At a meeting in the home of John T. Jones, a preacher, the committee voted to accept Eureka at the suggestion of John Lindsey, a young teacher in the academy. Thus the name Eureka came into use four or five years before there was a city or college bearing that name.
Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was in Olio Township many times from 1841 to IS56, when, as an attorney, he made the circuit of the 18 eounty seats in the Eighth Judicial District. He appeared in cases be- fore the court when it was in session at Versailles, and was lodged overnight in the home of R. M. Clark. After the county seat was moved to Metamora, he stopped in Eureka occasionally for meals.
Lincoln's one publie appearance in Eureka was in October, 1856, when he spoke in the chapel of the Walnut Grove Academy building, at a spot where there is a permanent historical marker near the home of Prof. and Mrs. J. A. Rinker. He spoke in behalf of the infant Republican party, but no record of his address was preserved.
Transportation
Railroads were the chief means of trans- portation from 1855 until about 1925. The Peoria and Oquawka (now the T.P. & W.) was constructed to Cruger in 1855 and through Eureka the following year. Pro- moters of the Chicago, Pekin and South- western (now the Santa Fe) sofieited con- tributions for right-of-way as early as 1865 and in 1869 the Olio eitizens were asked to give the road $40,000 for assurance that it would go through Eureka. Farmers in the western part of the original Olio Township were so opposed to this proposal that they disconnected their land from Olio and formed Cruger Township. After their with- drawal the bond issue was approved.
Highways. Highways originated in the pioneer period where they were needed. Volunteers cleared the land and felled trees to bridge waterways. In 1909, farmers south of Eureka subscribed funds to gravel the main road. Shortly after that the town- ship began graveling other roads. Major steps in the improvement of township roads were a gravel bond issue in 1933 and a blacktop bond issue in 1956.
The first concrete paved highway in the county was a single lane strip a mile or so long, just north of Eureka. It was con- structed in 1914 with state funds. In 1917 the state designated the road east and west through Eureka as a state highway. This road, now Route 24, was paved in 1923 and 1924. The north and south road, now Route 117, was paved as a state highway a few years later.
Post Ofice. During the Walnut Grove era mail came to Eureka via horseback. After the Illinois Central railroad was built, the horseback route was from Kappa to Meta- mora. Soon after the railroad came to Eureka the post office was moved from the academy to a small building just north of Abishae Myers' hotel. Rural mail delivery began in 1902 and eity carrier service in 1911.
The City of Eureka
Late in 1855 John Darst, who owned most of the land which is now Eureka,
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learned where the Peoria and Oquawka railroad tracks would be laid. He had a survey made immediately and on Decem- ber 29 recorded the plat of the Original Town of Eureka, covering an area extend- ing four blocks south from the railroad right-of-way and two blocks on each side of Main street.
Darst sold the lots in this original town at an auction on January 1, 1856. Most of the lots in the present business district were sold at prices ranging from $25 to $40 a lot. Nearly all of the land was then in timber.
The first buildings were Abishae Myers' hotel and R. M. Clark's store, both at the northwest corner of the square. Other stores were built on the west side of the square. John Major built the first house (still in use ) on the east side of the square.
Darst reserved Block 1 (now owned by Eureka Facilities, Inc. ) for industry. Shortly a flour mill and a sawmill were in operation there.
Eureka Incorporated. Three years after John Darst began selling lots in the Origi- nal Town of Eureka, Robert M. Clark took the leadership in getting municipal govern- ment organized. The charter was granted by the state legislature on February 23, 1859. Clark was elected president of the trustees and Asa Fisher, clerk. The hotel proprietor, A. M. Myers, was chosen police magistrato.
The original municipality was a rec- tangle covering exactly two square miles. Between 1900 and 1905 several areas at the north and south ends of this rectangle were disconnected by initiative of the property owners.
The basis of the Eureka city government was changed twice. On August 30, ISSO, the citizens voted to become a village under the general law of Illinois. On April 16. 1595, another election authorized the change to the present form of city govern- ment.
County Seat. Between 1867 and 1893 there were several unsuccessful bids to remove the county seat from Metamora. El Paso
tried once, Roanoke twice. and Eureka once. A second attempt by Eureka was made in 1894. with a hard-working cam- paign committee led by Roger B. Dickin- son, a Republican, and Lyon Karr, a Demo- crat. They were successful, the vote being 2,595 for removal to Eureka, and 1,960 against. After a legal test of the election, the state Supreme Court in 1896 ordered the removal to Eureka and the county of- ficers were housed temporarily in various buildings.
One of the inducements which had been offered by Eureka was the donation to the county of the city square which had been set aside for public purposes by John Darst in 1856.
P. A. Felter of Olio township was chair- man of the supervisors committee to build a new courthouse. After interviewing 16 architects who wanted the job, the com- mittee in January 1897 gave the contract to Bell and Kent of Council Bluffs, lowa. Four months later the construction contract was awarded to H. C. Bruning, of Havana. for $60,762.
The sheriff's residence and jail were con- structed in 1901.
Streets. Until ISSO streets and roadways were dusty or muddy, according to season, and streams were bridged with logs which washed away periodically. Around ISSO stone arches were built, one over Bracken's branch at the north edge of Eureka and one over Walnut Creek, a few feet south of the present state highway. A few years later narrow iron bridges came into use.
Talk of paved streets began in the Eureka City Council in 1895, but it was not until 1909 that any materialized. That year. some seven blocks of Main street were paved with brick. Other streets were oiled annu- ally. In 1926 and 1927 special assessments were used to finance concrete paving of most of the streets in Eureka.
In the earliest period of Eureka's history there were few sidewalks. In front of cach store there was a wood platform. One wood sidewalk extended from the business dis- trict to the college; at a point near the present Davenport School playground this
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walk was on posts about five feet above the marshy ground. Better sidewalks came after 1883 when the first Portland cement was imported and when brick also came into use.
Public watering troughs for horses were built as early as 1865 and continued in use until about 1920. There were also iron posts and a chain around the courthouse, so that farmers who came to town could tie up their horses.
Fire Protection. The most notable of fires in early Eureka history were the two flour mills, in 1882 and 18SS, and a college dormitory, the first Lida's Wood, in 1894.
Fire protection became urgent when C. HI. Barney's livery barn and dining room burned on February 2, 1898. Enough hose and a sufficient water supply were avail- able to keep the fire from spreading into the business district, but the margin was close.
The result was the organization of a volunteer fire company, under Chief M. E. Danahay, with regular meetings, rules, and assigned responsibilities. Through the years this volunteer company acquired equip- ment through donations, benefits, and ap- propriations of the county council. Hose- carts, a ladder wagon, and chemical tanks were taken to fires by horses or manpower until 1921. That year the firemen put on a benefit ball and raised funds for the first self-powered fire truck. A second truck was purchased in 1931, with funds contributed by farmers with the understanding that one truck would be available for rural area fires.
Broader coverage and better equipment became possible after the organization of the Eureka Fire Protection District in 1953. It serves 63 square miles of area, including Goodfield.
Notable fires since 1900 have been the older grain elevator, March 27, 1919; the college tabernacle, July 12, 1923; the Chris- tian Church, March 6, 1932; and the Wal- nut Grove apartments, December 13, 1956. Eureka "Dry". Eureka has been "dry" under local option except for one two-year
period. The sale of intoxicating liquors was banned by the Eureka government which was chartered in 1859. In 1882, the newly elected village trustees removed the prohibition, but two years later the citizens elected trustees who restored the ban. A petition for repeal in 1961 resulted in an election which resulted in 768 votes to continue to ban the sale of liquor in Eureka and 246 votes to permit the sale.
City Planning. An ordinance providing for zoning in the City of Eureka was adopted December 2, 1957. Zoning was extended to the rural area after a planning study by the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission and the enactment of a county-wide zoning ordinance in 1963. Further provision for orderly growth was made in 1967, when the Eureka City Planning Commission was established and city funds were appropri- ated to match a federal grant for a full scale city planning program.
Education
Teacher-sponsored subscription schools were operated in the Walnut Grove area as early as 1831 by Joshua Woosley and William Hoshor. When Woodford County was formed, the way was open for the establishment of public school districts. The public school system developed in Olio Township with six country schools and several city schools. The first public school in Eureka was near the southwest corner of the college campus, In the city in the 1870's there was a west side school and also one on the north side. In 1885 the Dis- trict 88 board constructed a two-story brick building at the south end of Callender Street and provided for both elementary and high school courses,
Expanding needs led to the construction of the Davenport School building in 1910, but for five years only the first story was used; the upper grades were still quartered in the old building. When the Township High School District, Number 123, was authorized by an election in 1915, its board leased the old building exclusively for high school use. In 1926 the high school board purchased the property, dismantled
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the old building and constructed the first unit of the present high school plant.
In the 1940's there were a number of proposals for consolidation of school dis- tricts. None materialized until March 5. 1949, when the voters approved Unit Dis- triet 140. By 1951, the last of the country schools had been phased out. The high school plant was expanded with a new gymnasium and other facilities in 1956, at which time the junior high school division was established.
Eureka College. The predecessor of Eureka College was an academy which originated in 1848 when Ben Major and several other citizens of the community guaranteed the salary of a teacher, Asa Fisher, and had a small building constructed.
The academy attracted not only local students but many young people from Christian Churches throughout the state. Its success led in 1855 to the chartering of Eureka College, with a board of trustees consisting of both Eureka citizens and men
who were leaders in Christian Churches of Illinois.
A 15-acre campus was donated by Elias B. Myers and James Conover. The Admin- istration Building, still in use, was built in 1857 and 1858. Other educational build- ings have been the Chapel, 1869; Burgess Hall, 1892; Pritchard Gymnasium, 1916; Vennum Science Hall. 1917; Melick Li- brary, 1967. Residence halls and dining facilities have been provided by various buildings.
The liberal arts curriculum has resulted in most of the college's graduates entering the teaching field, other professions or en- gaging in business. A large number have attended graduate schools. Coeducational from its beginning. Eureka was one of the first colleges in the nation to admit men and women to the same courses to study on an equal basis.
The enrollment never exceeded 200 prior to Work War I. It has since grown to more than 500.
A silent witness to the worthy services of Eureka College in the interest of Christian Education for 110 years is the Administration Building, created in 1858, and still center of life on the campus,
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Community Institutions
Churches. The first church in Olio town- ship was the Christian Church, organized in 1832 in a cabin a half mile northeast of the present railway station. The congrega- tion built a meetinghouse in 1846, on Ben Major's land ( now the cemetery ), but moved in 1864 to the present site on Main street.
The Eureka Methodist Church was or- ganized in 1858 through the efforts of Zadock Hall of Worth Township. Presby- terians who had moved into the community began meeting in 1867 and were officially recognized the following year.
Mennonites began settling along the Mackinaw River in the 1830's and later in the eastern and northeastern part of Olio Township. They became members of the group which built the church in Roanoke Township in 1875.
Members of the Apostolic Christian Church entered the county in the 1850's.
Some residents of Olio were in the group which constructed the first church in 1873 in Roanoke Township. As early as 1896 members of this congregation had an aux- iliary meeting hall on Myers street in Eureka, used primarily for evening serv- ices. In 1957, members living in Eureka were responsible for construction of the new church on Cruger Avenue.
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church was organized in 1927, the Eureka Church of the Nazarene in 1942, and the Baptist Church built south of the city in 1961.
Cemetery. The Olio Cemetery originated in 1848 as a burial ground of the Christian Church. When the church moved to a new site the cemetery came under the jurisdic- tion of the City of Eureka. In 1905 a town- ship cemetery was organized, and addi- tional land was purchased. In 1906, title to the original cemetery was transferred to the township by the city and the heirs of Ben Major. The cemetery has since been
When chautauqua was a big institution in Eureka life, it was opened each summer with a parade-band, autos, and horse drawn vehicles.
under the jurisdiction of the township trustees,
Chautauqua. During the period when the chautauqua was a popular medium of cul- ture and entertainment, Eureka had two
series. The first, known as a "camp meet- ing", was held annually from 1890 to 1898 at a site near the present Maple Lawn Homes. The week-long program attracted people from El Paso, Washington, Meta-
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mora, Peoria, and other nearby communi- ties; many of them had tents on the grounds.
In 1907 a chautauqua corporation was organized. It held forth annually on the college campus from that year to 1930, bringing such well-known personalities as William Jennings Bryan, Carrie Nation. and "Billy" Sunday.
Library. The Eureka Woman's Club, in 1930, organized a library which was sup- ported by donations and volunteer labor. It was so well received that in 1936 the city council took over the project, appropri- ated funds and appointed an official library board. A tax rate was established by a referendum in 1942.
The library received a permanent build- ing in 1944 when Miss Annie E. Davidson clied. She provided in her will that the city library board would receive her residence property if citizens of the community con- tributed $10,000 to an endowment fund to maintain the building. This fund was raised later that year.
Parks. After successfully sponsoring the construction of Lake Eureka in 1941 as a public water supply, the civic progress committee of the Eureka Community As- sociation took steps to assure the develop- ment of the lake area as a public park. Petitions were circulated and the voters, on April 20. 1943. approved the first levy of a city or park district tax in the county.
A second park was the outgrowth of the golf association which dates back to 1921. It rented land owned by Ben J. Kaufman. In 1945 Mr. Kaufman deeded the 49 acres to five trustees, to be used permanently as a park or public golf course for the benefit of the people of Eureka and the surround- ing territory.
Bands. The brass band has long been a favorite aspect of culture in Olio Township. As early as the 1850's, bands played in the meetinghouse of the Christian Church. There was a bandstand in the Eureka pub- lic square before it became the courthouse site. Eureka College had a band in the 1890's and Eureka High School had a band
as early as 1917. The town bands were privately sponsored and supported until 1926 when a band tax was voted.
The Eureka Choral Society, organized in 1915, sponsored music festivals and pre- Christmas oratorios for nearly 10 years.
Another musical organization was the mandolin club organized in 1911 by Dr. R. II. Smith, with more than 40 children participating. It was active for several years.
Community Associations. Various organiza- tions for community improvement flour- ished at various times: a Home Improve- ment Society in 1901. a Eureka Improve- ment Association in 1903, and several business associations, the most active of which was a Commercial Club formed in 1913.
The Kiwanis Club. formed in the carly 1920's, retired from the scene in 1939 so that its members could become a part of the Eureka Community Association which has since been active. This organization has promoted such improvements as Eureka Lake, the library, the sewage disposal system, street signs. zoning, youth recrea- tion programs, the choice of the lilac as the city plant, and the organization of the United Fund. Its most ambitious project was the sponsoring of twelve Pumpkin Festivals from 1939 to 1961. The parades and free entertainment at the courthouse square attracted large crowds to these festi- vals. After 1961 this project was dropped because the raising and canning of pump- kin in Eureka was discontinued.
Hospital and Nursing Homes. Hospitaliza- tion began in Eureka in 1922 when Dr. R. Il. Smith enlarged his residence-office property to provide a few rooms for patient care. Alter his death Mrs. Smith provided for the patients of other physicians. Some years later a corporation was formed to operate the facility. In 1959 a community committee helped with the sale of a $190,- 000 bond issue to provide funds for a mod- ern fireproof addition to the original build- ing.
The Mennonite Home for the Aged was constructed in 1922. With capacity for
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about 40 residents, it provided shelter care, with nursing care facilities for a very few. In 1960 this institution began a program of constructing cottages for retired persons who were able to care for themselves. The institution's name was changed to Maple Lawn Homes. A major expansion was un- dertaken in 1965 when the institution con- structed a 64-bed nursing home, financed by a government grant and funds sub- scribed by people in the Woodford County area and by Mennonite churches through- out the state.
Also completed in 1965 was the Apostolic Christian Home with facilities for about 48 residents.
Athletics. As early as 1850 Olio residents were playing games similar to baseball. An independent ball team in 1870 played a season against teams from Peoria, Bloom- ington, and elsewhere without losing a game. Some games were played at the public square which is now the courthouse site.
In 1892 Eureka College had a football team which defeated just about all of the college opposition in the state, including the University of Illinois, but lost one game, 12 to 6, to the University of Chicago. A town football team went through the 1903, 1904 and 1905 seasons without de- feat.
The college began playing basketball about 1900, and the high school in 1907. Both used a 28 x 40 room at the college until Pritchard gymnasium was built.
Horse racing had a following around ISSO to 1890. John Van Fossen had a track at his farm.
Professions and Business
Professions. Ben Major, one of the Walnut Grove pioneers, was a physician, who died in 1852, a victim of an epidemic which also took several of the patients he was treating. At least three other physicians practiced in Eureka before 1870. The best known was Dr. N. B. Crawford, who came in 1864 and lived in Eureka until his death in 1928. The first dentist was probably P. Boyle, who was practicing in 1875.
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