USA > Illinois > McLean County > The good old times in McLean County, Illinois : containing two hundred and sixty-one sketches of old settlers, a complete historical sketch of the Black Hawk war and descriptions of all matters of interest relating to McLean County > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
142
OLD SETTLERS OF
Mr .. Hendrix was therefore the first white settler with a family, and Mrs. Hendrix was the first white woman, who set foot upon this soil. Mr. Segar also made a claim and commenced work upon a place which he sold to William Orendorff. Mr. Dawson brought his family shortly afterwards and settled where Mr. Cox now lives. This was just north of Segar's, afterwards Oren- dorff's claim. The Hendrix and Dawson families lived about one mile apart, and visited each other every Sunday. Indeed they seemed two branches of one family. They could see no one else and they formed a world for themselves. The Hendrix family was very religious. Mr. Hendrix was a member of the Methodist Church and his house was for many years a preach- ing place for that denomination. The first sermon preached in what is now McLean County was delivered in 1823, in Mr. Hen- drix's house, by James Stringfield from Kentucky, an uncle to Squire A. M. Stringfield of Randolph's Grove. Mr. Hendrix was for many years previous to his death a class-leader in the church. He was an industrious man and accumulated enough property to enable him to live in comfort. He never became wealthy, for he died before the land became valuable. Mr. Hendrix had eight children, of whom five lived to be grown. They are :
Nathan Evans Hendrix, who now lives in Monroe County, Iowa.
William Hendrix, who lives in Placerville, Eldorado County, California. He has been there since 1850.
Elizabeth, wife of Hiram Harbert, who died in 1842.
John Britton Lewis Hendrix, who lives in Monroe County, Iowa.
Sarah Lovina Sales Hendrix, now Mrs. Orendorff, lives at Blooming Grove.
Mr. Hendrix was rather above the medium stature and weighed perhaps one hundred and sixty pounds. His hair was rather dark and his eyes blue. He was very quiet in his man- ner, was always ready to do a favor, indeed always glad to do so. He died on the farm where he made his early settlement and was buried there.
143
M'LEAN COUNTY.
JOHN WELLS DAWSON.
John W. Dawson was born March 9, 1792, on a farm near Maysville, Kentucky. His father was of English descent and his mother was of Welch. He belonged to a family of eight children. His parents died when he was quite young. He served in the war of 1812 as a wagon-master. A few months after peace was declared he married Ann Cheney, who was born September 17, 1794, in Kentucky. John W. Dawson lived for some time in Alabama and afterwards in Clark County, Ohio. From the latter place he came with John Hendrix to Sangamon County, Illinois, in the fall of 1821, arriving about Christmas time. Their journey lasted six weeks. It was at times unpleas- ant because of the swamps, the wolves often came howling around them, particularly while cooking, but they came through safely at last. On the road they killed turkeys, prairie chickens and deer. In April, 1822, John W. Dawson came with John Hendrix and his family to Blooming Grove. The family of Mr. Dawson remained in Sangamon County at the house of Evans Britton, an uncle of Mrs. Hendrix. This was on account of the sickness of Mrs. Dawson. Sometime in June the family came on to Blooming Grove and made a permanent settlement on a farm now owned by David Cox about one mile from Hendrix's place. Here he remained four years, and the settlers came in rapidly. In March, 1826, he sold out for four hundred dollars and moved to Old Town timber. The land was not then in market, and when he sold his farm it was simply the claim and improvement to which he gave title. He made a settlement at Old Town timber on one hundred and sixty acres ; but when the land came in market he entered nine hundred. It is now all ent up into farms.
Mrs. John W. Dawson was a jovial and witty woman. At one time while Harrison and Van Buren were candidates for president, an opponent of General Harrison declared that the latter had mismanaged his men at the battle of Tippecanoe, and that they were nearly all killed. "Oh no," said Mrs. Dawson, "enough are left to elect him." The stranger gazed at her for some time and then concluded to drop the discussion of political questions. Mrs. Dawson thought a great deal of her neighbors and liked to visit them. People, who lived a long distance
144
OLD SETTLERS OF
away, were neighbors. On a very cold day Mrs. Dawson mount- ed a horse and started with her babe in her arms to visit a friend ten miles distant. On her way she met a stranger, who came to look over the country. "Arn't you afraid of freezing ?" said the stranger. "No," said Mrs. Dawson, "I am only going over to the neighbors."
During the winter of the deep snow the Dawson family lived happily, pounded their corn, of course, but had flour which lasted until March. Mr. Dawson amused himself during that long winter by teasing an elderly maiden lady and a bachelor by making propositions to unite them in the holy bonds of matrimony. His efforts were unsuccessful.
Mr. John Hendrix sometimes hauled goods for James Allin from Pekin. At one time, when he arrived at Bloomington, Mr. Allin examined the bill of lading and asked "Where is the box of fish ?" " The fish were spoiled," said Mr. Hendrix, "and smelt fearfully, and I threw off the box at Mackinaw timber." "Why, Mr. Hendrix, they were codfish. Don't you know that codfish always smell." Hendrix returned for the box.
In about the year 1853 Mr. Dawson moved to Iowa about four miles from Fort Dodge. Ouly his wife and his youngest daugh- ter went with him. He died there on the 7th of October, 1865, and his wife died during the fall of 1871.
John W. Dawson had ten children, of whom nine lived to be growu. They are :
Henry Dawson, who lives in Indianola, Iowa; Maria, who married Owen Cheney, who died some years ago. She is now the wife of Mr. William Paist of Bloomington.
John Dawson, whose sketch appears in this volume. Isaac Dawson, who was born in Sangamon County, when the family first came to Illinois. He is now dead. Naney Jane, wife of William Harrison of Old Town, died some years since.
Lucinda, wife of Dr. A. H. Luce, lives in Bloomington.
Mary, wife of Daniel Stine, lives in Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas.
Clarinda, wife of Alexander Miller, lives in De Sota, John- son County, Kansas.
Lewis Dawson died six or seven years ago.
Martha Ann, wife of Sillman Sherman, lives at Fort Dodge, Iowa.
145
M'LEAN COUNTY.
John W. Dawson was of medium size, was heavy set, had black hair and black eyes and weighed one hundred and sixty or seventy pounds. IIe was very hospitable, and strangers always found a home there.
JOHN DAWSON, (of Bloomington.)
Among the earliest and best known settlers in McLean County was John Dawson. John Dawson was born August 14, 1819, on Buck Creek Farm, Clark County, Ohio. His ancestors were from old English and Welch stock, his grandfather, Henry Dawson, having emigrated from the old country at a very early day. Both his grandfather and his father, John Wells Dawson, were farmers, and from their out-of-door life acquired healthy, rugged constitutions. There were ten children in the Dawson family, six girls and four boys. One of the boys, the eldest son, now resides at Indianola, Iowa. He, too, is a pioneer.
John Wells Dawson came with his family to Sangamon County, Illinois, in the year 1821, about Christmas time, young John Dawson being then only three years old. In April, 1822, John W. Dawson and John Hendrix and family came to Bloom- ing Grove about four miles from the present city of Blooming- ton and built three shanties. The present farm of David Cox and that of the widow of John Cox were Mr. Dawson's property. Hendrix settled one mile west of this, at a place now known as the Orendorff farm. It was here that they had a lively experi- ence with " Lo," the poor Indian. The Kickapoo Indians were jealous of the incoming white men and their chief, Machina, ordered Mr. Dawson's family to quit the country before the leaves fell. This he did by throwing leaves in the air. By this and other signs he gave them to understand that if they were not gone when the leaves in the forest should fall, he would kill all the bootanas (white men). Mrs. Dawson replied to him that the time he had given would be sufficient to call together enough bootanas to exterminate all the Indians. The old chief was very "wrathy" at this and made some terrible threats which he had the good sense never to carry out. At the close of the summer of 1822 some Indians, about fifteen hundred in number, encamped in front of Mr. Dawson's farm-gate and remained during the following winter. Contrary to expectation they were
10
146
OLD SETTLERS OF
the best of neighbors and were on terms of perfect friendship with the Dawson family. The youthful John was highly de- lighted with his copper-colored friends and was a great favorite with them, especially with the squaws. Two of the old squaws, called aunt Peggy and aunt Nancy, dressed him up in a heavy suit of buckskin and made a fine looking papoose out of him. But the Indians could never stand before civilization, and in the winter of 1833 and '34 they were paid at Chicago the money due them from the government and removed to the far West.
When the Dawson family settled at Blooming Grove in 1822 there was not a single house between their place and Chicago ; the whole country was wild prairie. Springfield, Danville and Peoria were their nearest neighbors. Mr. Dawson lived on the Blooming Grove farm until the spring of 1826, when he moved to Old Town timber or Dawson's Grove about fifteen miles east of the present city of Bloomington. Two miles southeast of his farm was the Indian village of the Kickapoo nation. The old Indian fort is still to be seen, and curiosities of all kinds, such as brass kettles, Indian brooches, etc., are still found there. The early settlers were anxious for the education of their chil- dren, and indeed a plentiful crop of school children is better for the material interest of the country than a crop of wheat or corn. There were many difficulties to be overcome, but the pioneers had learned never to hesitate at trifles. The school-houses were not the little palaces of learning in which the children now study their lessons ; they were not so comfortably heated in winter, but on the other hand there was no lack of ventilation, for the fresh prairie breezes could come through the chinks between the logs without any patent appliances. There were no pale students driven into the early stages of consumption for want of pure air.
In 1828 Mr. Dawson (senior) built the first school-house in McLean County. It was made of logs and lighted with win- dows of white paper instead of glass. The first school-teacher was Delilah Mullen, who taught her young pupils at Mr. Daw- son's house before the school-house was finished. The first house where the city of Bloomington now stands, was built by William Evans in 1827. But this house was not in the original town. The south part of the city was then seattering timber,
147
M'LEAN COUNTY.
commencing from near Gridley's residence and running up to the Court House.
In the winter of 1830 and '31 Bloomington was chosen county seat of McLean County. Judge Lockwood held the first session of court in 1832; but as far as Mr. Dawson ean re- member there were no cases on the docket. The first Court House was a frame building twenty by thirty feet and stood on . the site of the present Court House, but was afterwards moved away to make room for a finer building. The first sale of town lots in Bloomington took place on the Fourth of July, 1831. It was then that John Dawson bought a lot which was sixty feet by one hundred and fifteen for four dollars and thirty cents. In 1848 he built a house on it and sold it to a Rev. Mr. Perry for $800. It now belongs to Dr. II. Schroeder who purchased it of Perry for $5,500. The lot and house are east of Schroeder's Opera House and belong to the Postoffice Block. Of the origi- nal town of Bloomington only forty acres were laid out: all of the other parts are additions. The streets of the original town running east and west are Washington, Jefferson and North streets ; those running north and south are East, Main, Center and West streets.
In early days the modes of travel were more picturesque than convenient. On land were ox-teams and on water were flat- boats. The railroad was a "down east" institution. Pullman had not then invented palace cars, and if he had done so, the carly settlers could not have enjoyed their magnificence. The forest and the prairie were occasionally marked by solitary In- dian trails, and these were all the guides from point to point. Old Town timber and Peoria, which was then called Fort Clark, were connected by an Indian trail.
The first train of the Illinois Central railroad ran into Bloomington from La Salle in the spring of 1853 and the Chica- go and Alton road was finished in June of the same year. Bloomington had at that time fifteen hundred inhabitants and its progress has been rapid ever since.
The weather was a matter of greater moment to the pioneers than to us, as they were always exposed to its changes, and all of them have sharp recollections of the frosts of winter. The year 1830 was perhaps the most remarkable for the severity of'
148
OLD SETTLERS OF
weather. During that year the snow commenced falling on the last day of December, until in the timber it laid three feet in depth while on the prairie the drifts rose to great heights. The wild animals became ferocious and the wolves killed nearly all the deer; the few deer that remained could scarcely find any- thing to eat. They were so poor and hungry that they could be caught by hand. They could be attracted by felling a tree and when the poor creatures came to pick the leaves they could be easily caught. Since that time deer have been comparatively scarce. But the year 1836 was perhaps the most remarkable for its sudden changes. Mr. Dawson relates that during that year he had a very severe experience. During the winter he went to William's mill which is located on Salt Creek, six miles south of Le Roy. He had two yoke of oxen drawing a load of wheat and corn to be ground. The snow was two feet deep; in the afternoon it commenced raining and continued until noon the next day. On that day Mr. Dawson started for home and at about three o'clock in the afternoon he was one mile from Henry Crumbaugh's place. Suddenly he heard a noise like the roar- ing of distant thunder and on looking around could see the approach of a storm. An intensely cold wind then came, freez- ing everything almost immediately. He had scarcely gone one hundred yards with his ox-team before the frozen slush would bear his weight, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he succeeded in getting back to Crumbaugh's and in preventing his team from slipping.
Of course Mr. Dawson has been married. This interesting event took place in the year 1842 at Albana, Champaign County, Ohio. The name of the happy bride was Caroline Wiley:
Perhaps the reader who has taken some interest in the expe- rience of this pioneer may wish to know something of his per- sonal appearance. John Dawson is well formed and is a little above the medium size. He has a very honest and intellectual countenance and his nose is sometimes ornamented with spec- tacles. He is not a man of much book learning, as the pioneers did not have the best facilities for education; but he has, as much as possible, educated himself. He possesses a jewel which we are sorry to say is somewhat rare, and that is good common sense. He is a man who commands respect among his fellows and is able to clear the way and contend with difficulties.
149
M'LEAN COUNTY.
WILLIAM ORENDORFF.
William Orendorff was born March 26, 1792, in Georgia. He is of German descent. His father's name was Christopher Oren- dorff' and his mother was Elizabeth Phillips before her marriage. William Orendorff was the oldest of a family of twelve children, eight boys and four girls, all of whom grew up to manhood and womanhood and all, except one, were married. He visited Illi- nois first in 1816 and emigrated to the State with his family during the following year, to St. Clair County and lived there and in Clinton County until the fall of 1822. During the winter of 1822 and '23 he lived in Sangamon County. In the spring of 1823 he moved to Blooming Grove, Fayette County, in what is now the county of McLean, and arrived there on the second of May, 1823. Soon after his arrival he was ordered away by Machina and others of the Indians, but refused to go and was not molested. Mr. Orendorff was a man of first-rate judgment and very popular and in 1825 was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Coles. It is seen by his commission that he was first nominated by the House of Representatives, confirmed by the Senate and commissioned by the Governor, and held the office during good behavior. The following is the commission :
" Know ye that William Orendorff, having been nominated by the House of Representatives to the office of justice of the peace for the County of Fayette and his nomination having been confirmed by the Senate, I, Edward Coles, Governor of said State, for and on behalf of the people aforesaid, do appoint him Justice of the Peace for said county and do authorize and em- power him to execute and fulfill the duties of that office accord- ing to law. And to have and to hold the said office with all the rights and emoluments thereunto legally appertaining during good behavior. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the State seal to be affixed this sixth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, and of the independence of the United States the forty-ninth.
By the Governor :
[SEAL. ]
EDWARD COLES:
M. BIRKBECK, Secretary of State."
He did not take the oath of office until the following Decem-
150
OLD SETTLERS OF
ber. When Tazewell County was cut off from Fayette, Mr. Orendorff was re-commissioned during good behavior, but when the new constitution of Illinois making his office elective went into effect, Mr. Orendorff' was, at the first election held in Taze- well County, chosen justice of the peace and was commissioned Sept. 29, 1827. This election was held at William Orendorff's house.
The great hurricane, which passed through Blooming Grove, came late in the afternoon of the nineteenth of June, 1827. Mr. Orendorff returned soon after, and when he saw the destruction it caused and the trees in the timber piled up twenty feet high, he declared that he would sell out everything for $200, if he could get it, and move away. This great hurricane covered seven acres of land, which William Evans had planted in corn, with limbs and brush and it was considered utterly ruined. Then William Orendorff, who was one of the most generous and kind- hearted of men, gave Mr. Evans five acres of growing corn, pro- vided only that the latter would cultivate it. Evans' corn, which was so injured, afterwards produced something of a crop, and he sold it for $100, and entered with the money eighty acres of land which he lived on near Bloomington and which is now included in the city. Mr. Evans always gave the credit for his start in the world to William Orendorff.
During the winter of the deep snow he helped Major Baker to build his mill, with " nigger head" stones for grinding. In the fall of 1832 Mr. Orendorff was sick with the cholera, so sick that his physicians gave him up. At one time he arose in his bed and said: " What is the use of a man's being dead and alive again," and from his flightiness it was thought he had but a few moments yet to live, but he rallied and recovered from the jaws of death. The disease was accompanied by a troublesome hiccough, and when the hiccough ceased the dis- ease was broken up.
Mr. Orendorff was married four times. He first married in Kentucky in about the year 1811 Miss Sally Nichols. By this marriage he had three children, James, Elizabeth and William. She died not long afterwards. He next married in Illinois Miss Lovina Sayles, in about the year 1819, and by this mar- riage had five children, two boys and three girls. They were
151
M'LEAN COUNTY.
Sarah, Oliver, Lewis, Mary J. and Nancy. His wife Lovina died November 9, 1831. In 1834 he married Miss Susan Ogden, and by this marriage had two children, Christopher and Mar- garet. She died not long afterwards. On his sixty-second birth-day Mr. Orendorff married Miss Naomi Abel and by this marriage had four children, Francis, Orrin, Emma and William. Four of his children are now living in McLean County. James K. Orendorff, Oliver H. P. Orendorff and John Lewis Orendorff live at or near Blooming Grove. Christopher Orendorff lives near Cheney's Grove.
Mr. Orendorff was a man of great popularity and had many friends. He took great pleasure in entertaining everyone who came to his house. He loved to see their friendly faces and probably thought that the most perfect happiness consisted in giving the people of the earth a good dinner and enjoying their smiles and friendly greetings. He had indeed a generous disposition, too generous for his own good. He was always ready to help and assist. This disposition made him a man of great popularity and influence. He became, not long before his death, a member of the Methodist church; he had pre- viously inclined to universalism. He died May 12, 1869, in the seventy-eighth year of his age.
THOMAS ORENDORFF AND JOHN BERRY ORENDORFF.
Thomas Orendorff was born August 14, 1800, in Spartan- burg, South Carolina. His father's name was Christopher Orendorff and his mother's, before her marriage, was Elizabeth Phillips. His father was of German descent, and his mother was American. His father had a family of twelve children, all of whom grew to be men and women. The Orendorff family left Spartanburg before Thomas was seven years old ; neverthe- less he remembers much of the place, and particularly calls to mind a fire in the thickly wooded pine forest. This fire was grander than any prairie fire he has ever seen in the West. Impressions made upon children are sometimes very lasting. Mr. Oren- dorff remembers a preacher by the name of Golightly, who did indeed go lightly upon his religion, for he became very worldly minded. Mr. Orendorff remembers very well the ne-
152
OLD SETTLERS OF
groes of South Carolina, who were very kindly treated and lived in comfortable quarters.
In about the year 1807 the Orendorff family moved west of the Cumberland Mountains, to Franklin County, Tennessee. The land there was owned principally by speculators, and had been surveyed in large tracts, so the Orendorff family took a new departure, and in 1811 came to Kentucky. The country was then very wild. He remembers that two little boys were lost in the mountains, one a white and one a negro, and were not found until nearly starved to death. Religious excitement sometimes became very high in Kentucky, and at revivals the most out- rageous antics would be performed. People would dance and jerk and run and fall on the floor.
It was in the year 1811 that the earthquake of New Madrid occurred and the shocks were plainly felt in Kentucky. They felt the earth shake and heard noises similar to distant thunder. Mr. Orendorff afterwards saw many chimneys, which had been shaken down on the American bottom opposite St. Louis, but the earthquake did no particular damage in Kentucky. After raising one crop in Christian County, the Orendorff family moved to Henderson County, Kentucky, near the site of the present town of Hendersonville, and remained there until the spring of 1817, when they came to Illinois. They stayed one year on the Little Wabash, and in the spring of 1818 came to St. Clair, east of Belleville. In the spring of 1819 Thomas Orendorff went to Sangamon County, and the family followed in the fall. It was then called the Saint Gamy country, but the words were afterwards united by common usage and became Sangamon. Their occupation was fighting mosquitoes, breaking prairie, splitting rails, &c. At that time very few settlers had come to Sangamon County ; but during the year 1820 they came in very fast. That part of the country was then very wet, and Thomas Orendorff determined at once to find a better loca- tion. In 1823 he and his brother William mounted their horses and came to Blooming Grove, then called Keg Grove, where they found two settlers, Dawson and Hendrix. They looked over the country for some time, and at last Thomas found a spot at Blooming Grove that suited him, and said: "There's my claim," and took it. This is the place now owned by Stephen
153
M'LEAN COUNTY.
Houghton. William Orendorff bought a claim for fifty dollars in the southeast of Blooming Grove and settled there. Thomas Orendorff returned twice to Sangamon County, and the last time brought the family of William Orendorff from there to Blooming Grove, where they arrived on the second of May, 1823.
When Thomas and William Orendorff settled in McLean County the old chief of the Kickapoos came with Machina (af- terwards their chief) and ordered them to leave. But the old chief spoke English in such a poor manner that Thomas Oren- dorff told him to keep still and let Machina talk. Then Machina drew himself up and said in his heavy voice : "Too much come back, white man. T'other side Sangamon." Mr. Orendorff told Machina that the latter had sold the land to the whites ; but Machina denied it, and the discussion waxed warm, and the chiefs went away feeling very much insulted. Mr. Orendorff's friends considered his life very much in danger, and he was advised to leave the country by Judge Latham, the Indian agent, but he attended to his business and was not molested. At one time an Indian, called Turkey, came to Mr. Orendorff and gave him warning that Machina would kill him ; but no attempt was made to put such a threat into execution.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.