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 61
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The pigs that were raised by the early settlers were " prairie rooters." They could root up anything with their long noses, climb anything and run anywhere. The Hefner family were once short of meat in harvest time, and the old gentleman decided to kill the only pig they possessed. He said : "Boys , you shall have some meat for supper," and sharpened his knife for the bloody work, and started for the pen. The intelligent pig saw what was coming, and as the old gentleman climbed into the pen on one side the pig climbed out on the other and ran off switching de- fiance with its tail ! The old gentleman was left to meditate on the uncertainties of life, and the pig was not found for six months.
Mr. Hefner had his experience in the deep snow. When the heavy snow fell in December of the celebrated winter of 1830-1 he was coming with two others from the house of Louis Sowards on Money Creek, with a load of corn and a hog on a sled, drawn by four horses. They were so blinded by the falling snow that they could not'see the lead horses, and they unhitched and rode back to Sowards. There they kept warm during the night by building a great fire, though the weather was intensely cold, and the cabin was unchinked. In the morning they returned home safely.
Traveling in the early days was not always safe, as may be supposed. Mr. Hefner tells of a trip to Danville, to show the difference between the old days and the new. He went first to Newcom's Ford, where he was followed by a pack of wolves. There he stayed over night, and the wolves were so ferocious and bold that they drove the dogs into the house. The next day he crossed two sloughs, and in each case was obliged to wade waist deep in freezing water and break the ice for his horse. On his return he swam the Sangamon at Newcom's Ford, and as the weather was bitterly cold and a west wind was blowing, he thought he had a good chance of freezing to death; but he reached a settler's cabin, thawed himself out and went home.
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At one place where Mr. Hefner stopped, about sixteen miles this side of Danville, was a clever, good-natured gentlemen, old General Bartholomew. Peter Hefner, being an active lad, brought up the general's horse, and the latter was so pleased by the little favor that he paid Hefner's bill. When Hef- ner inquired the bill the landlord said nothing. The old general, who was looking on, said : "Well, sir, now I learn the custom of this road; the man who eats thirteen buckwheat cakes for break- fast, has his bill free !"
Peter Hefner married, March 27, 1833, Betsy Flesher. He has had nine children, of whom five are living. They are :
Harmon, who lives on the old place on Mackinaw, in Money Creek township.
Mary, wife of J. P. Curry, lives in Lexington.
Adeline, wife of John Campbell, lives in Lexington township.
John A. and George M. Hefner live in Money Creek town- ship.
Mr. Hefner is about six feet in height, weighs two hundred and thirty-five or forty pounds, has black hair and dark eyes, is plain spoken and fond of humor and practical jokes. In Janu- ary, 1870, he moved from Money Creek to Lexington. He was always a hospitable man and never charged travelers anything. But afterwards he varied a little from this rule and made peddlers "come down with their stamps." Mr. Hefner is a man of great strength and nerve, and the exposure of a frontier life has not injured his constitution in the least. He is a straightforward man in his dealings and prompt to meet his engagements.
JOHN DAWSON, (of Lexington.)
There are two John Dawsons in McLean County; the one lives in Bloomington and the other in Lexington. They are not related to each other, because they happen to be John Dawsons, any more than if they happened to be John Smiths; though the relationship of either would be an honor, for they are both gen- tlemen. John Dawson was born December 4, 1820, in Madison County, Ohio. His father's name was James R. Dawson and was of English and Welch descent. The great, great grandfather of John Dawson was one James Dawson, who came from Wales, and settled on the north fork of the Potomac in Virginia. This
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gentleman was married twice and had sixteen children by each marriage, making thirty-two in all. At the time of his death, his youngest child was twenty-four years of age, and the old gentleman was himself one hundred and twenty-eight years old. His thirty-two children were all living at the time of his death. His death occurred while he was moving about, carrying corn to his horses, in which he took great pride. This liking for horses has ever been a characteristic of the Dawson family.
The grandfather of John Dawson was born in Virginia, moved to Kentucky at an early day, and was there killed by Indians.
The father of John Dawson was James R. Dawson, who was born October 10, 1794, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. At the age of fifteen he left Kentucky and went to Ohio, and there mar- ried Mary Ogden in the year 1816. She was a lady of English and Irish descent. On the 26th of September, 1832, the Dawson family came to Mackinaw timber, McLean County, Illinois. There the old gentleman bought three eighties of land and began farming. During the fall after their arrival the Dawsons, senior and junior, made a visit to Chicago and there saw General Scott and the troops and cannon brought on account of the Black Hawk war.
John Dawson was particularly skillful in killing wolves, and pretty sure to finish one at a single stroke of his club. He describes the manner in which a dog catches a wolf in the chase. The dog takes the wolf by the hind legs, while both are running at full speed; this throws the wolf from its feet, and the dog catches it by the throat before it can recover from the fall. Some- times dog and wolf will turn a complete somersault in the air. The vicious wolves were put to death in the most convenient way. Mr. Dawson killed one by thrashing it on the ground. John Ogden once came up to a wolf, which was whipping his dog, threw a blanket over the wolf and pounded it to death with his fist.
John Dawson married, February 25, 1844, Araminta Adams. He has had eight children, four boys and four girls, but only two are living. These are:
Thomas A. Dawson, who lives on a farm on the northeast corner of Lexington.
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Orlando Francis Dawson lives at home with his father.
John Dawson is six feet and an inch and a-half in height and weighs one hundred and ninety-five pounds. He is very mus- cular and is good natured and kind in his manner. He is a man of steady nerve and understands what he is doing, no matter how much excitement is raised. He is a most conscientious man, both in his religious opinions and in his dealings with his fellow men.
The following are the children of James R. Dawson, the father of John Dawson:
Albert Dawson, who lives on the south side of the Mackinaw, about two miles from Lexington.
John, whose sketch appears above.
Croghan and Samuel, live in Lexington.
Cynthia, wife of Shadrach Kemp, lives in Kansas, near Fort Scott.
Margaret, wife of William Roe, lives in Lexington.
Washington and James Marion Dawson are twins and live in Chenoa township.
The children by J. R. Dawson's second marriage, with Mrs. Sarah Robbins, are:
Lafayette Dawson, who lives in Missouri.
Philander and Mary, wife of Daniel Underwood, live in Lexington.
CROGHAN DAWSON.
Croghan Dawson, son of James R. Dawson, was born October 10, 1822. When he was ten years of age, the family started for the West. and arrived at Money Creek timber, September 26, 1832. They went to Mackinaw timber about the first of Decem- ber, 1832. He there worked for his father until the age of twenty, when he began the work of farming and catching wolves. In the latter occupation he went into partnership with his brother John. They had great sport and were pretty sure to bring down their game. If a dozen men were after a wolf, either John or Croghan was pretty sure to get the scalp. He has killed wolves with steel traps and with strychnine. The latter was most effec- tual. In one winter he killed twenty-six wolves with this poison.
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Croghan Dawson has also had his sport in chasing deer, and par- ticularly the fawns which run faster than full grown deer. He remembers a particularly lively chase after a fawn, near Patton's Creek. The parties to the sport chased it far and fast enough to catch a deer. At last it hid in the high grass, and two of the hunters, Isaac Haner and Valentine Spawr, were thrown from their horses in the slough, while trying to catch it. Mr. Dawson at last caught it with his hands, holding its fore and hind legs, stretching it out helpless. He has caught quite a number of fawns, by springing from his horse and holding them in this way. Mr. Dawson has occasionally chased wild hogs, and they have occasionally chased him. He once went after two of his father's hogs which by neglect had become wild, and they turned on him savagely. He tried to climb a tree, but the tree was simply a little bush and broke down, and his situation seemed a bad one ; but his dogs came to his rescue and occupied the attention of the ferocious hogs.
The Dawson family are great lovers of stock, and it seems natural for them to manage cattle and horses well ; but Mr. Daw- son once had great difficulty with an ox belonging to his father. Good management and kind treatment had no effect upon it. It would not be broken or trained, but would hook and kick and even bite. If it had lived in the days of the Jews, it would have been supposed that the evil spirits, which were then so numerous, had entered into it.
Croghan Dawson married, February 2, 1847, Elizabeth Haner. He has had nine children, of whom eight are living. They are :
Merritt Dawson, lives in Chenoa township.
James B., Ellen, Ezra, Azor, Dolly and Captain J. Dawson, live at home.
Emma died in infancy.
Mr. Dawson is about five feet and ten inches in height, and nearly all that is said of his brother John's disposition and char- acter will apply equally well to Croghan. He is a kind man and talks in a homelike manner, and he is blessed with a family of very intelligent children.
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JAMES ADAMS.
James Adams was born February 3, 1826, in Boone County, Kentucky. His father's name was Matthew Adams, and his mother's maiden name was Jane Black. His father's descent was Irish, and his mother's was English. Matthew Adams was raised in Pennsylvania, and was a soldier in the war of 1812, just after Hull's surrender at Detroit. He was a man somewhat peculiar in his ideas. If he had money he would sometimes lend it, but would never charge a cent of interest. He raised corn, but would never sell it for less than twenty-five cents per bushel, as he thought that a fair price, and if he could not get this price imme- diately, he kept his corn until it rose in the market. On the other hand, he never charged more than twenty-five cents per bushel, no matter how high it rose in the market, as he thought the acceptance of a larger price would be extortion. During the year 1844, the year of the great flood, when all the crops failed, Matthew Adams had on hand about a thousand bushels of old corn. He could have sold it for a very large price, but would accept only twenty-five cents per bushel, and would never sell to anyone more than that person needed for his family. No specu- lator was allowed to buy his corn. People came from Old Town, Cheney's Grove, Buckles' Grove, and from all over the country, to get some of Adams' corn. James Adams lived in Kentucky until October, 1834, when the family came to Illinois. The journey was pleasant until they came to the black swamps of Indiana. There it rained four days, and they traveled over the corduroy roads slowly, going fifteen miles in two days. After twenty-six days of travel they arrived at the house of John B. Thompson, who then lived in what is now Lexington township, on the north of the Mackinaw. There Matthew Adams bought a claim of Harrison Foster, entered it two years afterwards, and it still belongs to the family.
When James Adams arrived at the age of fifteen, he took great interest in hunting, and made a specialty of shooting tur- keys. At one time he killed fifteen in a single day. Ile also hunted deer. The first he killed was a little spike-horn buck, which he creased on the neck, so that it was stunned and fell, and he killed it with his knife before it could recover. He was a
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tireless hunter, and once chased a deer all day after breaking into the Mackinaw and having his wet clothes frozen. He experienced some of the dangers as well as the excitements of the chase. At one time while chasing a deer his horse stepped into a badger's hole, turned a somersault, and sent the rider rolling. At one time James Adams and his brother Thomas were chasing deer on horseback. The horse which the former rode was shod as to its fore feet, but the horse ridden by the latter had no shoes at all. Unexpectedly they came to a slough overflowed and covered with ice. The horses were on the keen run and could not be reined up, and they crossed the slough of ice without slipping.
James Adams speaks of a strange circumstance which hap- pened while one of his neighbors, John Spawr, was chasing a wolf. The horse which Mr. Spawr rode had been accustomed to step on the wolves, when it overtook them, but was once bitten and refused to step on them afterwards. While Spawr was chas- ing the wolf, he became so anxious that he shouted, and at last eagerly pitched headlong from his horse on the wolf, crushed it to the ground, tied its mouth with a suspender and brought the wild creature home.
The early settlers were toughened and made hardy by their exposures. Mr. Adams speaks of the Foster family particularly. During the winter of the deep snow the family of Harrison Fos- ter had their cabin nearly covered with snow on the outside, and nearly filled on the inside, and they were obliged to leave it and go to the cabin of William Foster, a mile and a half distant, and were all more or less frost-bitten. But the Fosters became very tough and could endure much cold. Mr. Adams has seen the children sliding barefooted on the ice. Little Aaron Foster often ran about in the snow, with no garment to protect him but a shirt. He was once lost and was found curled up in a snow-drift fast asleep, with nothing but his shirt and the snow to keep him warm.
Mackinaw Creek, where Mr. Adams lives, is nearly always difficult and dangerous to cross in the spring of the year or during a thaw in the winter. The following incident shows what risks young men will sometimes take under peculiar circum- stances. In January, 1846, Mr. Adams had an engagement with a young lady, who afterwards became Mrs. Adams. The Macki-
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naw was full of water and ice from bank to bank; nevertheless, he crossed it by stepping on a cake of ice, then pushing it over to another and stepping upon that. On his return, at four o'clock in the morning, he re-crossed it in the same way. Mr. Adams says that the Mackinaw was never so high as to prevent him from crossing, though he was once stopped for a short time. He at- tempted to cross it on horseback, and his horse begun plunging and kept it up for half an hour. He was obliged at last to build a raft. He sometimes took passengers over on it, and at one time ferried over a certain Mr. Samuel Shurtleff. The logs rolled a little and Mr. Shurtleff was much frightened, and sat in the middle, calling out, "Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord !" but was safely landed. About six years ago, while the Mackinaw was high, in February, Mr. Adams had a raft with which he ferried people over. He made several successful trips, but once came very near being carried under the ice, for it was piled up six feet high along the banks.
If the West has been troubled with wet seasons, so it has also been troubled with dry. Mr. Adams speaks of a dry fall when he went to Chicago, and his oxen gave out on the prairie on ac- count of thirst and refused to travel for some time. At last went forward to the Mazon River, but found it dry, with the exception of a puddle of water, in which about two hundred of Isaac Funk's cattle had been wallowing.
Church-going was, in early days, quite a journey. The Adams family went to church to Indian Grove, twelve miles distant, and to Money Creek, nine miles distant. They were obliged to be at church by nine o'clock in the morning for love-feast, and found the congregation more punctual than at the present time.
Mr. Adams married, February 9, 1847, Margaret Foster, a woman who bore the trials of a pioneer life bravely. She died in 1855. Three children were born of this marriage. They are :
Lee Adams, who lives just east of his father's.
Thomas B. and William W. Adams live at home.
Mr. Adams married, February 28, 1856, Miss Annie Ransom, one of the most agreeable and accomplished of women. She is a lady who commands the respect and admiration of all who are so fortunate as to be numbered among her acquaintances.
James Adams is five feet and ten or eleven inches in height, 44
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is somewhat slim, has clear, blue eyes, and a rather prominent nose. He is a very companionable gentleman, and loves to talk of the good old days. He is very courteous to all with whom he converses, and is widely known and respected.
SHELTON SMITH.
Shelton Smith was born February 27, 1825, in Switzerland County, Indiana. His father's name was John Smith, and his mother's name was Cassandra Wiley. John Smith was of Scotch descent, and his wife Cassandra was of English, and, perhaps, partly of Welch. In 1834 the Smith family came to the Henline settlement in Mackinaw timber, Illinois. They made their jour- ney in the fall of the year, and had a pleasant time. When they came to the prairie they followed the Indian trail ; but at one time lost it and wandered out of sight of timber. They returned on their own track for some distance, and employed a guide to take them through. When they came to Mackinaw timber they bought a claim of George Henline and commenced farming.
During the winter of 1836 Shelton Smith commenced going to school. His first teacher was an Irishman, who made the scholars study at the top of their voices. As they shouted their lessons he stood in the middle of the floor slapping his hands and saying: "Whoop! boys, I'll take ye through the arithmathic in four weeks !" This Irishman taught school until the day after Christmas, and then suddenly disappeared and was never seen again. It was supposed that he left because the scholars gave him to understand that they would bar him out and make him treat, between Christmas and New Year's. The last day of school that season was in December, 1836, on the day of the great " sudden change." When school was dismissed, the water and snow had just commenced freezing. While he and some larger boys were on their way home, they came to low ground covered with running water a foot or more in depth, and fifty or sixty yards wide. The tall boys started across it while a thin scale of ice was freezing. When they were coming out of the water on the opposite side, they had some difficulty in breaking the ice, as it partially bore their weight. Shelton stood watching them and they hallooed to him to come across, and if he could not wade through they would pull him out. He started, and the ice bore him up all the way over.
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In the winter of 1834-5, when the Smiths came to this coun- try, Shelton Smith and his younger brother John set traps for the prairie chickens. These traps were set near the house, where some flax, belonging to George Henline, was rotting. The chick- ens came there in great flocks to cat the flaxseed, and the little Smith boys watched them as they filled up the traps. The chickens were taken out, and the traps were filled again and again. During that winter these boys caught seven hundred and fifty chickens. The breasts of the chickens were salted away in barrels, and the other parts were eaten. The family obtained enough meat from these chickens to last during the following summer.
When Shelton Smith was fourteen years of age he often took his father's gun and went out to hunt. On his first hunt he dis- covered a deer, which came close to him, but instead of shooting, he climbed a tree from fear, and the deer ran off. Little Shelton determined to be more brave the next time, and not long after- wards, on another hunt, he saw a deer and laid his gun on a log, took deliberate aim and fired. The deer fell, and with boyish excitement little Smith dropped his gun and ran up. But when he approached the deer it rose to its feet, threw its hair forward and sprang towards him. He went up a tree in a mo- ment, and the deer came near and laid down. Little Shelton re- mained in the tree for several hours, shivering with fear and cold, and throwing down branches to frighten away the animal below. At last, being fearful of freezing to death, he descended and found the deer cold and stiff. The deer were very plenty. At another time little Sinith shot a very large buck on the side of a hill, and was much excited and jumped on it with his knife to cut its throat. But as he caught hold of the large antler he thought he would first count the prongs, and he counted seven ; just then the deer doubled up and gave little Smith a kick, which sent him rolling down the hill, and as he looked up, the deer was running away. It was never seen again by little Smith.
When Shelton Smith became large enough to chase wolves on horseback he had great sport. He once tired out a wolf after a long chase, and his horse stumbled over it, and Smith was thrown. In the struggle he succeeded in getting hold of the wolf, choked it down, tied its mouth with a suspender and
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brought it home alive. Mr. Smith tells a story on Samuel Og- den, which has often been related by political speakers to illus- trate their points. Samuel Ogden had a fine greyhound, called Sharp, which was fleet after deer. Once, while Sharp was coming up to a buck, which was running with all its might, the latter became frightened and confused and ran in a zigzag course. Then Samuel Ogden exclaimed : "Oh, you may gee and you may haw, but Sharp will take you at last." This incident has often been told by political speakers to illustrate the zigzag courses of their adversaries, and that justice will overtake them at last.
Shelton Smith married, November 16, 1851, Melinda Powell. He has had seven children, of whom five are living. They are :
Emma, Lucinda, Charlotte, Shelton, jr., and Albert. Those who are dead, are : Harper and Cassandra.
Mr. Smith is five feet and ten inches in height. He is straight in build, and pleasant in his manner. He loves fun, though he is somewhat slow of speech. He appears to have suc- ceeded well in life, and has an interesting family. He is a very reliable man and much respected in the community where he resides. He likes to play croquet, which is a favorite game in Lexington.
MILTON SMITH.
Milton Smith was born February 19, 1808, in Franklin Coun- ty, Kentucky. His father's name was William Smith, and his mother's name was Obedience Brown. He thinks he is of Irish, Welch and English descent. The father of Milton Smith died when the latter was eight years of age. Milton grew up in Franklin County, where he was born. He had many lively ex- periences, as he was a lively boy. There was a species of insect called the yellow jacket, which was quite common in Kentucky. This insect was long, with yellow stripes or bars running around its body, and was something between the bee and the wasp. It had a fearful sting in its tail ; and when it was angry this insect would take hold, with its bill, of the object of its wrath, curl up its body and sting again and again. It was dangerous business to disturb a yellow jacket's nest. But the troublesome insects often made their nests in the pastures and the cattle were some- times made crazy by their stings. It was often an interesting
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problem how to destroy these nests of yellow jackets ; but Mil- ton Smith was a bright boy and his ingenuity never failed him. He would shell a few quarts of corn, come up slyly to the nest. and pour the corn into it and around it. Then he would call the pigs ! The swine would come running up, giving satisfactory grunts, and would at once begin eating the corn and tear- ing up the nest to get more. The yellow jackets would come out, of course, and sting the pigs, and the latter would flap their ears, shake their tails and squeal ; but they were pretty sure to eat up the corn and tear up the nest until they found the last kernel.
In the fall of 1835 Milton Smith came to where Pleasant Hill now stands, in the township of Lexington, McLean County, Illi- nois, and he has lived there ever since. He helped to build the first house in Lexington, which was put up by Gridley & Covel. Thomas Fell had the building contract. Mr. Smith succeeded well in the new country, as his motto was "keep striking." He bought land, exercised good judgment, and has become very well to do in life. He bought some land after the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad was built, when the last unentered land was taken up. He would have bought more, but he had a lively recollec- tion of the unfortunate speculations of men who entered land, and after holding it for many years, sold it for less than the gov ernment price.
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