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 34
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In 1842 Mr. Glimpse built a house in the southern part of the town, which cost him $600, but as nearly as he can remem- ber it cost him only fifty cents in money in building it. He states that such a thing as money was not in the country. Their prin- cipal stock in trade in those days was lumber. If any one desired to buy a horse, or cow, or wagon, he paid for it in lum- ber or other merchandise. He says he took dry cows for lumber at $5 and $6 a head, and wintered them and sold them to Dr. Painter for $7 a head. In payment, Mr. Glimpse took from Dr. Painter a horse, valued at $50, and a young dog at the same priee as a cow. After various other small and profitable speeu- lations, Mr. Glimpse engaged in 1845-6 in the butcher business, in which he succeeded very well. In 1847 he was elected con- stable, served two years, and was afterwards re-elected for four years. During his second term of office he served only one year, when he was nominated by the Democratie party for sheriff, and was elected. His majority was 138. In the fall of 1852, after his term in the sheriffalty had expired, he went to the land sale with the intention of buying land, taking with him about $1,000 in gold. The land was sold at from $1.25 to $2.50
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an acre, but as he considered the price too high, he came home without buying any. The same land is now worth from $30 to $100 an acre.
In 1857 he entered into the grocery business, in which he lost all he had saved. His good nature induced him to give too much credit, and when hard times came on shortly afterwards he could not collect any of his debts. He was obliged to discon- tinue business on this account, and he says : "I had numerous friends in the days of prosperity, but when adversity overtook me I had no friend to help me." He, however, still possessed two hundred and sixty acres of land on the Mackinaw, and to this land he moved an old frame house, the upper part of which was burnt off. This building, which still stands on the Mack- inaw, was the first court house in McLean County, and Mr. Glimpse thinks it would do Young America good to go down and look at it.
In 1862 he was elected Supervisor of Hudson township, which position he filled with entire satisfaction to the people who elected him.
Mr. Glimpse is not a rich man, but he is happy and con- tented. He does not ask for riches, but believes in the prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." He has had a family of nine children, of whom three are living, namely :
Susanna, wife of C. R. Curtis, who lives in Farmer City.
Lydia, wife of Joseph M. Dalton, who lives in Bloomington. Hattie E. Glimpse, who lives with her father.
In personal appearance, Mr. Glimpse is about six feet in height; appears to be very muscular ; is broad shouldered ; has hazel eyes. His hair is turning gray, but he still has plenty of it. He is a man of quiet manners, and does not believe in much talk.
DR. HENRY CONKLING.
Doctor Henry Conkling was born in April, 1814, at Morris- town, New Jersey. He lived in New York city with his parents until he was seventeen years of age. A queer little incident occurred when Henry was six or seven years old. He had heard a great deal of Lafayette, and when the old Revolutionary sol- dier made his last visit to America, it was one morning
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announced that he was in the City Hall receiving visitors. Little Henry was wild with excitement, and ran at once to the City HIall with his hat off, worked his way through the crowd and grasped the hand of Lafayette. Of course the little fellow was delighted, as it was quite an event in his young existence. Dr. Conkling received a very fair common education. He attended the high school in New York, and went to the academy at Mor- ristown, New Jersey. At the latter place he studied French, Latin and Greek.
In 1831 the Conkling family moved to Ohio. In the spring of 1837 Dr. Conkling was married in Knox County, Ohio, and in October, 1838, he came West.' He traveled on horseback, but the journey was a hard one. The roads were in a very bad con- dition, and the country seemed almost a wilderness. He came to Leroy, where he had a brother living, who laid out the most of that town. He remained there a few months and returned to Ohio. In the following fall he came West with his wife and child. They traveled in a two-horse wagon and camped out on the road. Their goods were sent by water by way of Pekin. Some of them came within six months and some not for a year after they were shipped. At that time the deer and wolves were very plenty, and almost every evening the wolves made music around his dwelling. Dr. Conkling studied medicine with Dr. Edwards at Leroy, and taught school there and at Old Town timber.
The political campaign of 1840 was the log-cabin, hard-cider and coon-skin campaign. Such political excitement was proba- bly never known before. General Harrison's name, his acts and everything connected with his life created the greatest enthu- siasm. The cry of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" raised the wildest excitement. People built log-cabins and covered them with coon-skins and dealt out hard-cider ; and in order to rep- resent "Tippecanoe" they sometimes made a canoe! During this campaign a large meeting was held at Springfield. Dele- gations came in from all over the country. Large parties went to Springfield, camping out on the way, with their varions de- vices. A number of citizens from Bloomington and adjoining towns built a canoe and took it with them to the great meeting. Among them was Dr. Conkling. They camped out on the road at Waynesville and Elkhart Grove. When they came to the
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Sangamon River they found it very high, and were obliged to swim their horses and wagons over. Those who could swim did so, while those who could not, crossed in a flat-boat. They stayed several days at Springfield and had an enthusiastic time. The State capital was then a muddy little village, and the party were obliged to camp out, for the little place could not furnish any accommodation for so large a crowd. The party returned home with enough campaign thunder to last them during the summer and fall.
In 1843 Dr. Conkling moved to Sugar Creek, near Mount Hope in the southwestern part of the county, and practiced medicine there one year. He then moved to Washington, Taze- well County, but here his health failed him and he returned to Ohio. While there he read and practiced medicine five years and received his diploma in the term of 1849-50 from the Ster- ling Medical College, located at Columbus, Ohio. His wife died in Ohio, and in the spring of 1850 he came back to McLean County, Illinois, and settled at Hudson, nine miles north of Bloomington. While there he practiced medicine fourteen or fifteen years. On his return from Ohio, he married the widow of Lucian A. Sampson, who had died of the cholera in 1848. This very amiable lady died October 19, 1873. When Dr. Conkling first practiced medicine in Hudson the country was wild. He was accustomed to ride around Money Creek, Lex- ington, Panther Creek, Mackinaw, and White Oak, and some- times as far as Mount Pleasant. He had many rough adventures while riding his rounds, and sometimes broke through the ice while crossing the Mackinaw. Sometimes he was obliged to swim the river as there were no bridges across it then. Often- times, for amusement, he chased the deer and wolves while riding to see his patients. He rode over that region of country for a distance of twenty or thirty miles around.
In 1856 or 1858 Dr. Conkling had a very lively adventure with a horse-thief, and as a description of it will show much of the condition of the country at that time, it is given here.
The doctor had been on the north side of the Mackinaw where he had been unexpectedly detained, and while coming home late on Saturday night, he passed a man on horseback this side of Kappa, bareheaded, going north on the highway. The
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night was pretty dark, and the doctor could not recognize man or beast. When he arrived home, he found his stable door open and his horse, saddle and bridle gone. The doctor aroused two of his neighbors and obtained the assistance of two young men, one of whom carried a rifle. The party of three then started, the doctor in his buggy and the two young men on horseback. They crossed the Mackinaw where Kappa now stands and crossed the prairie north to Panola and up through it two miles to a point of timber called Brewer's Point. There the party learned by waking up a family that the dogs had barked loudly some time before, and by this they knew they were on the track of their man. The prairie was twelve or fifteen miles across and when they were in the midst of it, they saw a man walking and leading a horse, about three miles distant and about four miles from the timber. When the stranger saw the party he mounted his horse and started for the timber, and the two young men started for him, while the doctor followed in his buggy. The chase was intensely exciting, one of the young men had a racing mare, and all parties seem to shoot across the prairie. Some- times they were in sight, and sometimes they went down out of view, and before long they all disappeared in the timber. Short- ly afterwards the doctor came into the grove and found his horse, for the thief had been hard pressed and let it go. But the thief was considered bigger game than the horse, and some of the citizens of the grove turned out to assist in the chase. After hunting around for some time the doctor peeped into a hazel thicket and there found a stalwart man lying on his back, with his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. They immediately took charge of the gentleman and carried him to Bloomington, thirty miles distant, where they arrived a little after dark. When they came to the jail the doctor went in and brought out the deputy sheriff, and the young men said that while he was gone the thief had tried to get away ; but he protested "by shures, shentlemens, I wouldn't try to get away from a child ten years old." Suddenly, in a moment of inattention, the thief sprang out into the street, and his quick movement scared the horses, which were not tied, and they began to run. The thief and the horses both went down Centre street, and the former sprang into an alley by a blacksmith shop (near Kadgihn's). The doctor
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went for the thief, the others attended to the team. But the thief hid himself so successfully that all parties gave him up, except the doctor, who would never give anything up. He hunted the town over, and at last discovered his man starting out of the alley he had first entered. The thief ran down Washington street, at first keeping the sidewalk and afterwards the road. When near the end of the street he fell, and the doc- tor grabbed him before he could rise. The excitement of the chase brought many citizens, who immediately secured the thief (who wouldn't run away from a child!) and took him to jail. He was put into a cell with four or five other candidates for the penitentiary. Within about six weeks these industrious gentle- men had cut a hole through the floor of their cell, and with a case-knife had dug a hole under the foundation of the building and up to the open air. They left without any formality. They "stood not upon the order of their going but went at once," and were never recaptured.
At that time people were all anxious to catch the thieves, which infested the country, and the whole neighborhood was willing to turn out, if need be, but the insufficient jails allowed prisoners to escape.
During the late war Doctor Conkling was sent to the South by Governor Yates as an additional surgeon, to look after the sanitary condition of the soldiers. He went to Fort Donelson, to Shiloh and other places. While at home he looked after the sick and wounded soldiers on furlough, and extended their period of absence when they were unfit for duty. He was govern- ment pension surgeon for about three years after the close of the war.
In the spring of 1864 Dr. Conkling moved to Bloomington. During this year he wrote a campaign document entitled, "The Inside View of the Rebellion and the American Citizens' Text Book." A great many thousand copies of this document were circulated. Illinois took the first ten thousand, which were printed by the Chicago Tribune. The document was also pub- lished in Cincinnati, and many thousands of copies were circulated in Ohio, Indiana and other States. It was a remark- ably effective campaign document and greatly helped to roll up the large majority which was given to re-elect Abraham Lin- coln.
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We now come to that part of the life of Dr. Conkling which is considered the most important by the people in this vicinity, and that is his connection with the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western Railroad. This road was first called the Danville, Urbana, Bloomington and Pekin Railroad. The first meeting called for the purpose of taking steps to build it was held at Urbana. After some consultation it adjourned to meet at Leroy, McLean County, on the seventh of August, 1866. At the latter meeting delegates were present from the points on the proposed line and the best of feeling prevailed; everyone was hope- ful. Still another meeting was held on the twenty-seventh and was still more largely attended and confidence in the enterprise began to grow. But in the meantime some opposition was mani- fested ; nevertheless the friends of the road effected an organi- zation and elected C. R. Griggs as President, William T. Mc- Cord as Vice President, and Dr. Henry Conkling as Secretary. In the building of a railroad many interests are effected, favor- ably and otherwise, and it so happened that this proposed rail- road interfered with other railway projects and the opposition to it in some places became so strong that its friends despaired of success. Nevertheless, Dr. Conkling clung to the project and worked for it through good and evil report. Many citizens thought the enterprise chimerical, and when the question came up as to whether Bloomington would lend assistance the matter seemed hopeless enough. But the Doctor had " kept his powder dry," and when the day of election came for the citizens to de- cide by their ballots whether they would help the enterprise, the Doctor worked night and day. He spared no exertions and was a host in himself. He carried the day and saw the project at- tended with the most complete success. He went to Springfield and obtained the charter for the road and never rested until the work was complete. The road was consolidated with the Indi- anapolis, Crawfordsville and Danville road, and was called the Indianapolis, Bloomington and Western, which is its title now.
Dr. Conkling held the position of secretary of the road for eighteen months, and then, as the offices of the company were removed from Bloomington, he resigned. He has ever since been a director of the road or special agent. The Doctor has made no money out of this road. This may well seem a matter
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of astonishment. How is it possible for a man to work night and day for the success of his enterprise, without hesitating or relaxing his efforts, and finally bring it to a glorious conclusion, and not make any money ? But so it is. The Doctor was anxious for the development of the country and for the public welfare, and, having once undertaken the work, he never allowed it to flag. On the first of May, 1870, he drove the last bolt which tied it together from Pekin to Indianapolis. On the second of May the citizens of Bloomington presented him with a fine gold watch as some slight testimonial of their appreciation of his efforts to build the road and develop the interests of the city. The watch has in it a pretty design of a locomotive and tender, with the letters I., B. and W. Above this design is an inscription, "Presented to Dr. H. Conkling by the citizens of Bloomington, May 2, 1870."
Dr. Conkling has been connected with the Methodist Church for the last thirty-three or four years. He has taken an interest in the growth of the church as well as in the development of the material interests of the country. From the nature of his busi- ness he became well acquainted with the country and watched its development. He saw the farms opening out, the houses springing up, and later he saw the old buildings give place to the new. Very few men are held in such high esteem, and it would be well if all would act from motives as pure and honor- able.
Dr. Conkling is a tall man and rather slim. His hair and whiskers are becoming gray as age creeps on. His eyes are gray, but they have a very clear expression. He would never be taken for a railroad man; he does not seem to possess a material nature. He does not have the appearance and expres- sion of a man who works for money; but seems one who would rather have a clear conscience than any amount of wealth. But, in looking over this sketch, we can see pretty clearly that his will-power, his disposition to hold on and never relax his grip, is very large. He hunted down the thief who stole his horse, and he carried through, to final success, the project of building the I., B. & W. Railroad, when it would most certainly have failed had it not have been for his efforts.
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CHENEY'S GROVE.
JONATHAN CHENEY.
Jonathan Cheney was born September 13, 1785, in Free- man's Fort, on Booth's Creek, in Virginia, in what was then called New Virginia. His parents were born in New York, and were Americans as far as can be ascertained.
Jonathan Cheney married, March 22, 1805, Catherine Owen. They were raised together. She was born October 16, 1787, in Edward's Fort, (she thinks). She is of Welch descent. The people in those days, (1787) were obliged to live in forts nearly all the time, and go out to work protected by a company of men as a guard. They were oftentimes short of provisions, and Mrs. Cheney, who gives these items, remembers when they were obliged to live two weeks on boiled nettles, as no bread could be obtained. The Indians were a constant source of annoyance and trouble, and oftentimes lay in wait for the settlers, as they left the forts in the morning and went to work. Mrs. Cheney's great uncle was killed by Indians while on his way to work.
Mr. and Mrs. Cheney, after their marriage, moved about fif- teen miles away to some land, which they owned, and remained there eighteen months, when they moved (in the fall of 1806) on horseback to Champaign County, about ten miles from where Urbana now stands, and thirty miles from Columbus. Ohio. Mary Cheney, afterwards Mrs. Stansberry, was born two days after their arrival. They lived there until the fall of 1817, when Mr. Cheney moved to Southern Illinois. He crossed the Wa- bash and went out on the main road from Vincennes to St. Louis. When they came out on the prairie, where nothing could be seen but the level earth and the blue sky, Mary Cheney remarked that she had " never been so far from land before." The country was soft and quicksandy, and sometimes the horses would sink in up to their fetlocks. The Cheney fam- ily was obliged to get provisions some miles away across a swamp called Purgatory. This swamp was impassable except by a bridge. But a high water came and washed the bridge away, and they were left for three weeks with very little to eat, as it was impossible during that time to get provisions. They then started back to Ohio. There were at that time five chil-
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dren in the family. They crossed the Wabash River when it was very dangerous, and the water plashed in. The weather was then very cold, so cold that the horses were whitened with the frost of their own breath. Mr. Cheney walked and drove the horses while the family rode in the wagon on a feather bed with a feather tick over them as a cover. One child, Keturah, was very troublesome, and had to be tied down. They made good time in traveling, and returned to their old place in Ohio. There Mr. Cheney bought seven hundred acres of land of Gen- eral McArthur, and put up a saw mill and grist mill, and seemed to be in a flourishing condition, so far as his worldly prospects were concerned. But he was unsatisfied, and he determined to come to Illinois. The family started September 21, 1825, and arrived October 16, at Blooming Grove, at John W. Dawson's place. The family had by this time grown to eight children. They lived two weeks with Mr. Dawson. On the fourth of No- vember they came to Cheney's Grove. Their cattle were grazed for a while at the head of Old Town timber upon blue grass, but soon a fire came and burned it off, and the cattle were brought to Cheney's Grove.
During that winter Mr. Cheney went back to Ohio to settle up his business and sell that part of his land which he had not previously disposed of. While there he suddenly changed his mind and determined to bring his family back to Ohio. He wrote to them to come back; but fortunately his letter never reached them. During that winter Mrs. Cheney remained alone with her family, and saw, during the whole time, four white people, two men and two women. This was from January 1 until April. The family lived in a cabin, which Mr. Cheney had put up before he left, and their cattle lived on the twigs of trees, principally Linn brush ; but the milch cows received a little corn in addition. The stock went through the winter and came out in good condition in the spring, without the loss of a single animal. The family ground their wheat in a coffee-mill and their corn at a horse-mill, twenty-five miles distant. When the boys made arrangements to go to mill, they calenlated how much provision would be necessary to support the family until their return, and they usually started in time to prevent the sup- ply from being exhausted. But at one time they met with delay
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and Mrs. Cheney had to bring down her coffee-mill and grind wheat to support the family until the boys returned .. She first ground the wheat with the coffee-mill set coarse, and then ground it again with the mill set fine. The flour made the best of bread. The family raised their first corn on the south side of the timber without any fence, while the stock was kept with the family on the north side. On the south side of the grove some Indians were camped with a hundred head of horses, and they ran and capered over the ground, which Mr. Cheney had plowed and planted. He ordered them to leave, and at last told them that if they did not make themselves scarce by a certain time, he would bring the white men down on them. Then he pointed a fire-brand at their wigwams in a significant manner, and they left in haste.
During the winter of the deep snow the Cheney family num- bered seventeen persons in all, and they were obliged to be lively in pounding corn in order to have something to eat. Mr. Cheney picked the corn from the crib and prepared it for pounding. Ebenezer Cheney, Jonathan's nephew, who had been a black- smith, pounded corn ; Thomas Cheney, (Jonathan's son,) Elijah Britton and George Spore, cut and drew the wood and fed the cattle shocked corn; Henry Ball fed the horses and calves ; Owen Cheney went to school at Blooming Grove, and Mrs. Cheney, Mary, Keturah and Emilia did the housework and spun the tow. Everyone had plenty of work. The snow came and covered up the pigs, and they had to be spaded out. They could be found by little holes in the snow, where their breath had thawed up through. The family all had good health and were not made sick by rich fare or over-eating.
Jonathan and Catharine Cheney's children and children's children to the third generation have grown to be legion. They are :
Mary Cheney, who was born September 13, 1806, in Ohio, was married to Abraham Stansberry, and died in 1867. She had five children (two of whom lived to be grown) and five grand children.
Thomas Cheney, born October 6, 1808, in Ohio, married Susan Maxwell, and lives in Sonoma County, California. He 25
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has six children, all of whom are living, and all but one have families. He has thirty-one grand-children.
Owen Cheney, born September 2, 1810, in Ohio, married Maria Dawson, and had five children, three of whom lived to be grown and have families. He has four grand-children. He died at the age of thirty-eight.
Rebecca and Elizabeth Cheney were twins, were born in Ohio January 6, 1813, and died in infancy.
Keturah Cheney was born February 16, 1815, and died Jan- uary 14, 1834.
Emilia Cheney was born January 29, 1817, in Ohio, was mar- ried to Ashley D. Horr and had five children, three of whom are living. She has had seven grand-children. She died June 12, 1862.
George Cheney was born February 18, 1819, and died August 17, 1866. He married Cynthia Ann Hall, had eight children and four grand-children.
One unnamed child died in infancy.
William Haines Cheney was born February 18, 1822, married Mary Jane Orendorff and had nine children and one grand- child.
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