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 51
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and visited the graves of the dead, and then came home with very little ginseng, but with some experience.
The Kimler family came to Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, during the winter of 1832. In 1833 James was advised by his uncle to enter the little grove where Thomas Orendorff now lives, but James had an idea that all the fine land and pretty spots had been entered before, and he therefore started with James K., Benjamin and Alfred Orendorff to Milwaukee, Wis- consin. There he did pretty well, and took up some valuable claims. They started on this trip in January, 1836, when the weather was extremely cold. Towards evening of the second day's travel they sent James Orendorff ahead with their only horse to a house to order supper. When they came to the house they found Orendorff fencing up the road. He said nobody lived there and no road should lead there! When they reached Chicago they tried to buy each of them a blanket, but not one was to be found. The place was too poor to afford even a blanket. They suffered much with cold, but went on to Milwaukee and there lived through the remainder of the winter with the brother of Alfred Orendorff. In the spring they found half a dozen bee- trees, out of which they obtained a barrel of strained honey, and lived sweetly during the remainder of their stay in Wisconsin. In May of that spring a man named Finch was burning lime near Milwaukee. It was made of blue limestone, which cracks when burnt and makes reports, which sound like the firing of guns. About this time a certain Mr. Scott killed an Indian in the streets in Milwaukee, and great fear was apprehended lest the Indians should attack the place. The three bachelors were waked up on one Sunday morning by a loud popping and thought the Indians were making the attack, but the sounds proved to be the explosions at Finch's lime-kiln.
In the summer William Orendorff came up from Blooming- ton to make his sons a visit and to look at the country. The whole party then started on an excursion westward, intending to go as far as Rock River. They camped one night on the Mc- Quonego River, not far from where a certain Mr. Cox lived. During one moonlight night they were awakened by a great up- roar under the wagon, and found it was a gray wolf fighting Cox's dog. They chased the wolf over a precipice and one of
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them excitedly went over with it. They surrounded it with clubs and killed it.
Mr. Kimler returned after four or five years. On the 28th of January, 1838, he married Miss Cassandra Jane Clearwater, of Leroy. In February of that year he went back to Milwaukee with two ox-teams, but returned in 1840 for the health of his wife. He has lived near Leroy ever since, and has been a very successful farmer.
James Kimler is somewhat less than the usual stature. He is strongly and solidly made, and can bear a great deal of hard work. He is a very safe man in the disposition and control of his property. His neighbors have great confidence in his word and judgment. He has had seven children. They are ;
Mary Jane Kimler was born November 10, 1838. She was first married to William Ross. During the war he enlisted in the Second Illinois Cavalry and was killed at the battle of Boli- var in Tennessee. Two sons were born by this marriage and live with their grandparents. They are: James Leander and John Orlando Ross. Mrs. Ross afterwards married Louis Stout, and now lives at Downer's Grove, near Chicago.
Elizabeth Ann Kimler, born May 18, 1840, died in October, 1843.
Martha Ellen, wife of Joseph Neal, born August 24, 1842, lives in Farmer City.
Harriet Barthena, wife of James L. Silvers, born February 13, 1845, lives in Farmer City.
Sarah Cassandra, wife of Preston Bishop, born December 17, 1847, lives four miles southeast of her parents.
Elizabeth Ann, wife of John Lore, born March 23, 1850, lives at the head of Old Town timber.
Caroline Kimler, born May 20, 1853, lives with her parents.
HIRAM BUCK.
Hiram Buck, usually known as 'Squire Buck, was born March 20, 1801, in Seneca County, New York. His father, William S. Buck, was a soldier of the Revolution. He volun- teered at the age of fifteen, and aasisted at the capture of Gen- eral Cornwallis at Yorktown. Hiram Buck received his common school education in Seneca County, where he was born. He re-
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members very clearly the war of 1812, as three of his brothers were soldiers in it. One of his brothers, Sherman Buck, was captured at Queenstown Heights, where our army was com- manded by General Van Renssellaer. General Winfield Scott, then a lieutenant, was captured there. The raw recruits were frightened at the sight of the wounded at the opening of the battle and were afraid to cross the river to the support of those who had captured the heights. Another brother, James Buck, helped to bury tho dead after the burning of Buffalo. The third brother, William Buck, helped to demolish Fort Erie before its evacuation by our troops.
In 1818 the Buck family moved to North Bend, Hamilton County, Ohio. The journey was made from Seneca County to the head waters of the Allegheny River on sleds. At Olean Point they took a covered flat-boat about ten feet long and thirty feet wide, and started down the river. They began their journey on the water on the 13th of April, and floated nine hundred miles down to Cincinnati, where they landed on the 1st of May. During a part of their journey they lashed their boat to a raft, but at a place called Dead Man's Island the raft was staved to pieces and the boat cut loose from it. They landed at Cincin- nati and went from there to North Bend, where General Harrison lived. The General was a very popular man and was almost worshipped by his neighbors. He was a very wealthy man and kind-hearted and benevolent, but had a high temper, and was sharp spoken when provoked.
Mr. Buck taught school for five winters in the southern part of the county at the mouth of the Miami River. When he went there he expected a hard time in managing the scholars, for their previous teachers had been driven out of school for two winters. But fortunately Mr. Buck attended a corn-husking previous to entering the school and wrestled with the leader of the insur- gent scholars and threw him. The young man's arm was unfor- tunately broken in the fall, and Mr. Buck regretted this very much, but the school was at peace that winter. This was in 1823. He kept the school for six months.
In 1825-6 Mr. Buck was a flatboatman on the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Rivers. His flat-boat was loaded with cattle, pork and corn, which he took down to New Orleans. This life on the
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water was hard and adventurous. In the latter part of January, 1825, his flat-boat was jammed into the ice about eighteen miles above Louisville, and remained there twenty-six days, being left high and dry by the falling water. But during the latter part of February the water rose and took them off.
In 1826 Mr. Buck moved to Switzerland County, Indiana.
Mr. Buck married, April 4, 1827, in Hamilton County, Ohio, Mercy Karr, the youngest child in the family of Captain John Karr. John Karr had served in the Revolutionary war as a captain in Wayne's Legion, and had fought in many battles. In accordance with a queer statute of Ohio, Mr. Buck was ob- liged to give security for his wife's maintenance. His brother- in-law was married about the same time, and the two happy bridegrooms went security for each other.
In 1833 Mr. Buck came to McLean County, Illinois, to Ran- dolph's Grove, just east of the present town of Heyworth. The journey was quite interesting. He went from Cincinnati to St. Louis and there changed boat for Pekin, but could only go up as far as Beardstown, for there they grounded on a bar. He left his family there and came to Bloomington on horseback to find teams to bring them across the prairie. During the latter part of his journey he made the acquaintance of Isaac Funk, who showed the road, and traveled more than a quarter of a mile out on the prairie to point the way. He went back to Beardstown with two teams and brought his family. This was in the fore part of April, when the country was so dry that the horses could hardly wet their feet in traveling the whole distance. The season was dry until June, when a freshet came, and everything was flooded. The people on the way seldom thought of charging anything for their trouble in entertaining the travelers, and Mr. Buck's bills for meals and lodging during their journey from Beardstown to Randolph's Grove amounted to only three bits. The people said : "We were strangers once, and we ourselves once needed accommodation." Mr. Buck's family lived for a while in a cabin just east of 'Squire Campbell Wakefield's house.
Mr. Buck tells some curious things connected with the sud- den change of the weather in December, 1836. He had been to the house of a neighbor, and when the cold wind came threw a
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wet overcoat on his shoulders and started for home. When the cold wind struck him, it blew out his overcoat and froze it im- mediately in the shape it took when extended. When he arrived home, he had difficulty in pulling his coat through the door. This great wind-storm came from the west to the Mississippi River at about ten o'clock A. M., came to Leroy about three P. M., and reached Indianapolis at about eleven P. M. It will thus be seen that it moved from the Mississippi River to Leroy at about the rate of thirty miles an hour, and from Leroy to Indi- anapolis at about the rate of twenty miles an hour.
In 1837 Mr. Buck went to Leroy and there opened a hotel. The usual price for supper, lodging and breakfast, for man and horse, was half a dollar, but this came near breaking the land- lord.
In 1835 Mr. Buck was County Surveyor and helped to lay out Waynesville, Lytleville, Mt. Pleasant (now Farmer City) and an addition to Leroy. He was busy surveying for two or three years. He was postmaster at Leroy from 1838 to 1844 under Postmaster General Amos Kendall. In 1839 he was elected justice of the peace, which office he held for eighteen years al- most continuously. He was elected County Commissioner in 1851 and held his office until the township organization in 1858.
Mr. Buck is rather less than the medium stature. His coun- tenance shows the effect of age, though he is still strong and in good health. The lines on his face seem to show resolution, hon- esty and sound judgment. He is a humorous man and sometimes slightly eccentric. He says he has been a subscriber to the Star of the West for forty-six years and always paid his subscription. He has received two presents for being one of the oldest subscri- bers. He has lived all this time with one woman, without a divorce ! He says he has never laid a claim against a deceased person's estate. For fifty-six successive years he has been a hand in the harvest field, and can work again quite as well. He takes a great interest in educational matters, and last winter was commissioned by the Governor of the State as Trustee from the Eighth Congressional District, of Lombard University.
He has had six children, five of whom are living. They are : Amanda Melcina, wife of James H. L. Crumbaugh, lives three-quarters of a mile south of her father's. She was born July 10, 1828.
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Thomas Lee Buck, born October 23, 1831, lives a half mile south of his parents.
Elizabeth Rebecca, born February 21, 1834, died February 13, 1837.
Martha Ellen, wife of John McConnell, born December 14, 1838, lives two miles west of her parents.
Nancy Joanna, born February 19, 1843, wife of Isaac Frank- lin Dawson, lives at home.
Charles Albert Buck, born August 19, 1849, lives at home. He attends Lombard University and intends to study law. He is a young man of good promise.
HON. MALON BISHOP.
Malon Bishop was born December 25, 1810, in Clark County, Ohio. His ancestors were Virginians. His father was a well educated and plain-spoken man, and insisted in spelling his son's name Malon, leaving out the "h." Malon Bishop .was raised a farmer, and early accustomed himself to work. He ob- tained his early education at a common school. He was a good scholar and behaved himself well. It was the custom in those days in Ohio to bar out the teacher on Christmas days; this was the fashion, and of course Malon Bishop used to follow the fashion.
On the twenty-third of March, 1831, Mr. Bishop married Catharine J. Foley. He has had a family of eight children, four of whom are living, two boys and two girls.
After living for a while in Clark County, and afterwards in Champaign, Mr. Bishop started for the Far West. He came to Old Town timber in the fall of 1834, and in the following spring moved to Buckles' Grove, now Empire township. His land had been entered during the previous January. In September, 1835, Mr. Bishop attended the land sales; there the settlers formed lines to keep every one from coming near until they had bought what land they'wished ; the remainder was left for specu- lators.
In June, 1835, Mr. Bishop had the roof of his house carried away by a hurricane, at midnight, and the rain came pouring in. His wife was sick at the time and delirious, and it was not until the next morning that reason returned to her. Then she looked
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up from her bed and saw the blue sky above her and everything wet with the rain and she almost questioned whether reason had indeed returned. The roof was soon replaced and Mr. Bishop, who had been somewhat depressed, again took courage.
Mr. Bishop has occasionally held office. In 1837 he was elect- ed justice of the peace, and in 1842 he was sent to the legisla- ture. During the latter year the Whigs first nominated Matthew Robb and afterwards James Miller, and the Democratic central committee put up Malon Bishop. The latter was very active in the work of electioneering and was voted for by many Whigs and elected as an honest farmer rather than as the nominee of a party. The country was then in a desperate condition; the banks had failed and many thought the legislature responsible for the sad situation. Mr. Bishop, when elected, felt himself in a very trying position; everything was expected of him and he was supposed to be able to accomplish impossibilities. Political mat- ters were still further confused by the Mormon question and the Mormon war. The country was infested with horse-thieves, counterfeiters, burglars and murderers, and they made their headquarters at Nauvoo, the Mormon capital. The people were terribly excited and thought the Mormons should be driven out of the country. Great depredations were committed by the Danite band and it is supposed that Governor Boggs of Missouri was shot and severely wounded by them. A requisition was made upon Governor Ford for Joe Smith and Iliram Smith, but these leaders of the Mormon church could not be found until Ford offered a reward for them. When this was done they im- mediately gave themselves up and claimed the reward of their own capture. They were finally examined, but it appeared that they had not been out of the State of Illinois and certainly did not personally assist in the shooting. The Mormons were so ter- rified by the threats of the settlers that they began arming for defense ; but this only stirred up the settlers the more. Gov- ernor Ford called out the militia to keep the people quiet, and to one company was assigned the duty of guarding Joe Smith and Hiram Smith ; but instead of guarding them, the company allowed them to be killed at Carthage by a lot of desperate men who wished to exterminate them all. At last the Mormons agreed to leave the country and prepared to do so; but the set-
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tlers became impatient and arose in arms and drove them off. All of these troubles increased the difficulties of the legislature ; and the responsibilities which Malon Bishop felt resting upon him were indeed hard to bear. At that important session the State Bank of Illinois at Springfield and the Bank of the State of Illinois at Shawneetown were put in liquidation, and these two rotten corporations, which issued so much worthless money and assisted so much to bring financial ruin, were forever closed. The Illinois and Michigan canal also gave much trouble to this overburdened legislature. The canal required $1,600,000 to com- plete it, but this amount was finally raised and the work done. It was this legislature, which should live in history, that pre- vented the State of Illinois from repudiating its bonds, and gave them ever afterwards a firm standing in the money markets of the world. Never before in the history of the State was so much expected of a legislature, and never before were expecta- tions so perfectly realized. It may be indeed a matter of pride to Mr. Bishop to have belonged to this publie body which did itself and the State so much honor. Mr. Bishop tells of a queer incident which happened while he was in Springfield during the session. The State of Illinois received three per cent. of all the sales of public lands, and its money, which was kept at St. Louis, increased to thirty-seven thousand dollars. The legislature au- thorized James Shields, the state auditor, to go to St. Louis, buy a safe, and bring the money to Springfield. He took a two-horse covered wagon and an Irishman as a guard, went to St. Louis, bought a safe, locked the money in it, put it in his wagon and came to Springfield. The legislature adjourned to meet him. He and his Irishman came following the wagon and carrying their muskets through the mud until they arrived at the portico of the State House. Here Shields gave the order to "ground arms," and he and his Irishman "grounded arms," while the members of the legislature unloaded the wagon. Shields was very tired and did not become rested for several days.
The members of this legislature received for their pay three hundred and ninety-two dollars in depreciated money, certificates of bank indebtedness and auditor's warrants. They used their auditor's warrants for taxes and sold their certificates of bank indebtedness to be used by those who were indebted to the banks.
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Mr. Bishop has been a hard worker all his life. He has held many township offices, was supervisor in 1863 and '64.
Mr. Bishop remembers an incident of the Mexican war. When volunteers were called for in 1846 the whole community was very naturally excited and notice was given at a camp-meet- ing that volunteers would be called for. But when the volun- teering commenced the government could not accept half of the men who were anxious to go.
Mr. Bishop has, of course, a very lively recollection of the sudden change in the weather which occurred in December, 1836. When the freezing west wind came after a thaw and warm rain, the weather became immediately most intensely cold. He saw a short distance from his house John C. Bradley and Aaron S. Williams with teams bringing loads of live hogs, and when the storm struck them, they went to Mr. Bishop's house for shelter. Their clothes, which were wet, froze on them instantly, and when they came to the house, Williams' overcoat, when pulled off, would stand on the floor. The harness on the horses were froz- en so stiff that, when the traces were unhitched, they stood out straight. A bridle rein was thrown over a post, but it stood out from the post without falling down. The cold was so severe that the harness could not be removed from the horses for two days. John Bradley succeeded in reaching home with his sled and one yoke of oxen, the other oxen he turned loose in the timber and did not recover them for two days.
Like all the early settlers, Mr. Bishop speaks warmly of the good feeling which formerly prevailed among all Western people. When they met a stranger they were always anxious to take care of him and assist him and his family, if he had one.
Malon Bishop is the picture of good humor. He is of me- dium stature and not heavily built; his face has on it all the good-natured lines, and his voice has a pleasant ring to it, and even his Roman nose may be described as a good-natured nose. He has a great deal of shrewdness and is quick to see both sides of a question. He is always on the alert, and gets up at five o'clock in the morning to see that everything is moving right- He has never been troubled with any of the diseases of the coun- try, but has always enjoyed the best of health. He has always
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been on the most friendly terms with his neighbors and no man ever complained of him for want of a warm welcome.
His children are:
Nancy Jane, born in Clark County, Ohio, May 1, 1832, mar- ried Mark M. Craig, October 13, 1853, and resides in West town- ship.
Stephen Lewis, born January 14, 1835, was twice married, but is now a widower. He resides in Leroy.
James F. was born December 6, 1836, and died August 6, 1862.
Elias was born January 12, 1839, and died March 11, 1864.
Catherine, born April 4, 1842, married William Hammond, December 12, 1861, and resides in West township.
Elizabeth, born June 22, 1845, died August 24, 1869.
Sarah Ann, born April 1, 1848, died in infancy.
Malon, born June 13, 1649, lives at home.
THOMAS DAVIDSON GILMORE.
Thomas D. Gilmore was born November 18, 1814, in Warren County, Kentucky. His father's name was Andrew H. Gilmore, and his mother's name, before her marriage, was Margaret Price. The former was of Irish descent, and the latter was probably of Scotch. Mr. Gilmore, sr., lived to the advanced age of ninety- eight, and died in 1870, in Old Town timber. He possessed a strong mind, and was active and a worker to the last. He worked a little too hard, or he would have lived longer. His son made great efforts to preserve the old gentleman's life for two years longer, to make him a century old, but this was not to be.
Mr. T. D. Gilmore lived in Warren County, Kentucky, until October, 1836, when he came to Old Town timber, McLean County, Illinois. Here he put up a log house with a puncheon floor, a clapboard door, a bedstead with one leg, in a corner of the room, and the other furniture to match. He had moved into this little cabin with his family only a short time before the sud- den change of December came. It seemed for a while as if the Gilmore family would be frozen out, and they wished themselves back to old Kentucky; but they stood the storm and protected their stock, so that nothing froze. After Leroy was laid out, Mr. Gilmore moved there, and followed for some years his pro- fession as a blacksmith.
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He did not make the trips to Chicago as the other settlers did, but sent his wheat and corn by other parties and paid them in blacksmithing.
Mr. Gilmore never was a hunter. He once took his gun and went after deer, shot six times and missed continually. He returned home and laid his ill luck to his gun, but never hunted more.
In 1846, Mr. Gilmore went to Kentucky on a visit, but be- came interested in business and stayed until 1850, when he returned to Old Town timber, near the northern boundary of Empire township, where he has lived ever since.
On the second of January, 1834, he married Matilda Saw- age, in Kentucky. She died October 5, 1839. By this marriage he had three children. They are :
Martha Francis, wife of James W. Wright, lives in Leroy.
Mary Matilda, wife of John Swan, died about eight years ago.
Joseph P. Gilmore has a furniture store in Streator.
On the eleventh of December, 1840, Mr. Gilmore married Mary Jane Brannaman. They have had six children, of whom five are living. They are :
Andrew D. Gilmore died in infancy.
Ira F. Gilmore lives in Streator.
Lucinda Margaret, wife of Richard C. Charleston, lives in Streator.
Kentucky, Elizabeth Ada and Augusta Maud, all live at home.
Mr. Gilmore is nearly six feet in height, weighs about one hundred and seventy pounds, is very muscular, and must have made a good blacksmith. He has a bald head, with a good development of brain, has dark eyes, a nose slightly Roman, and whiskers nearly white. He is a humorous man, very accom- modating, very honest and fair-minded. He has been quite successful ; has a good home and enjoys life. He likes his resi- dence in Old Town timber, but has warm feelings for old Ken- tucky, and for this reason named one of his children after that dear old State.
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FUNK'S GROVE.
HON. ISAAC FUNK.
Isaac Funk was born November 17, 1797, in Clark County, Kentucky. His ancestors were of German extraction, his grand- father, Adam Funk, having emigrated from Germany at an early day. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Moore, was also of German descent. Adam Funk, jr., the father of Isaac, was raised in Virginia, and was, at one time, quite wealthy ; but misfortunes came and he lost his property and died poor. Isaac Funk was one of nine children, six boys and three girls. He had very little schooling, but was prepared for the struggle of life by the roughest out-door education, where his muscles were developed, and his practical good sense was brought into ex- ercise.
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