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 65
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Ida May, James W., Dorothy, George Showdy and William Martin. They all live at home.
Mr. Stubblefield is six feet and two and a-half inches in height and weighs two hundred and twenty pounds. His hair was formerly brown, but now is becoming gray. His eyes are gray and have a pleasant, humorous expression. He is a first class business man, which appears to be a characteristic of the Stubblefield family. He is a man of public spirit and was twice commissioner of highways of Mt. Hope township. He takes an interest in education, and for twelve years has been a school director. He has met with great success as a stock raiser.
WILLIAM HIERONYMUS.
William Hieronymus was born February 13, 1788, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. His parents were of English and Dutch descent. He was raised on a farm and led a farmer's life. When he was a young man, he and his father went to Madison County, Kentucky, to look at the country, and were so well pleased with it, that William remained to raise a crop, while his father returned for the family, which came out in the fall. William Hieronymus married, August 14, 1811,
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Alvira Darnell, probably in Madison County. During the war of 1812, he was drafted, but the situation of his family made it impossible for him to leave, so he hired a substitute. He fol- lowed boat-building for a while, as business of building flatboats was one which grew with the growth of commerce. He was a skillful workman with a broadaxe, and could handle it to per- fection. In the year 1818, he went to Boone County, Missouri, and settled on the Missouri River. The place is now washed away and forms the channel of the stream. He lived three years in Missouri, then went back to Kentucky to his old home, then, after a few years, went to the Big Bone Liek. This lick is a deep lake of mud and water, the water being very shallow. The mud has apparently no bottom. The animals, which in former years went there to drink, sank down and died. Their bones are so numerous that the place is called the Big Bone Lick. The bones of many curious animals have been found there; and par- ticularly curious were the bones of the large mammoth, which was placed in Barnum's museum. Enoch Hieronymus has seen a bone from this lake, large enough for nine men to sit on. The water of the lake was impregnated with sulphur, and people from the surrounding country came there to drink it for their health. In the fall of 1828, William Hieronymus started for Illinois. His family moved with several other families, number- ing in all forty-two persons. The oldest man in the company was George Henline, whose sons John, George, Henry, William , and David, all had families. They camped the last night of their journey in Blooming Grove, at what. is now called the Nathan Low farm, then owned by a Mr. Latta, and the next day went to Hittle's Grove in Tazewell County, where they made arrangements for locations. Old George Henline and Henry and David remained at Hittle's Grove; but John, George, jr. and William, settled on the head waters of the Mackinaw, where they made a permanent location. William Hieronymus went from Hittle's Grove to Hieronymus Grove, in October, 1828, and there threw up a half faced camp. During the winter, he built a small cabin, in which he lived for some years. In the following spring he opened up a small farm, which was carried on by his sons, while he made looms, barrels, stocks of ploughs, etc. He was very skillful in the use of tools. He worked at
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this business more or less until his death, which occurred March 12, 1848.
William Hieronymus was a tall man, standing six feet and two and one-half inches. His bones were large and his features prominent. Hieronymus Grove received its name from him. He had nine children, of whom only three are living. They are :
Enoch Hieronymus, who lives in Mt. Hope township, in MeLean County, in the edge of Hieronymus Grove.
Benjamin Hieronymus, who lives at the head of Indian Grove, in Livingston County, and
William Hieronymous, jr., who lives on the homestead place.
ENOCH HIERONYMUS.
Enoch Hieronymus was born March 7, 1816, in Madison County, Kentucky. He accompanied the family wherever it went, as stated in the preceding sketch of his father. In his younger days he worked a great deal in the tobacco patch, but acquired a distaste for tobacco and never used it. He thinks young men should all have an opportunity to work in a tobacco patch.
In the fall of 1828, the family came to Illinois. Here Enoch worked hard ; nevertheless, he was fond of hunting. He hunted deer and turkeys, and trapped mink and otter. He once came close to a panther while hunting, but did not succeed in killing it. He was watching a deer lick, and heard a deer come plash- ing through the water, and while watching for it, a panther came up on its trail. The panther stopped within two or three rods of Enoch and sat down. He attempted to shoot it, but the flint- lock flashed in the pan, and as he had no more powder in the horn, he stood still, and man and beast watched each other in- tently. The panther was motionless, except a gentle waving of its tail. Enoch called for his dog, and the moment the bull-dog came in sight, the panther fled. Enoch went home for powder, and wished to hunt the panther, but his bull-dog, which never had flinched before, could not be induced to take the lead. Enoch was then only fourteen or fifteen years of age.
During the winter of the deep snow the Hieronymus family pounded corn, of course, as it was exceedingly difficult to go to mill, and when they did go, they were obliged to travel on horse-
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back. He made snow-shoes that winter out of boards ten inches square, which were lashed to his feet, and with these he could chase the deer. He could travel over the snow with them very well, though sometimes they would go down with him.
The settlers went to Bloomington for doctors. Enoch Hier- onymus once went to Bloomington during the night, for a doctor, and returned the same night.
Enoch was a great rail splitter, and made six thousand four hundred and twenty rails in one lot. He commenced between Christmas and New Years, and worked until the middle of March. During the winter and spring of 1838-9, he made and hauled rails enough to enclose fifty acres of land.
He married, August 22, 1839, Elizabeth A. Thompson, who was born April 14, 1819, in Dixon County, Tennessee. Her parents came to Illinois in 1829, and lived six months in Sanga- mon County; then they moved to the Forks of the Creek settle- ment, in what is now Logan County. There Elizabeth lived until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Hieronymus have never had any children of their own, but raised the orphan children of James Hieronymus, who died in 1848. The wife of James died a few months before her husband. Enoch and his wife took to their house one girl, two boys, and one infant child. Another infant child, twin to the first, was raised by the sister of Mrs. Hierony- mus. The infant taken by Mrs. Hieronymus soon died. The two boys and the girl have grown up, and are happily married and settled in life. They are :
Mrs. Alvira McAtee, wife of Benjamin McAtee, lives in Wasco County, Oregon.
Benjamin R. Hieronymus now lives in Tazewell County, within a half a mile of the homestead.
Thomas H. Hieronymus lives within three-quarters of a mile of the homestead, in Tazewell County.
Both Benjamin and Thomas served about three years in the army. They enlisted under Captain Kinsey, and served in Com- pany E, One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois.
Benjamin was elected a lieutenant, and served for a while as captain.
Mr. and Mrs. Hieronymus thought as much of these children as their own parents could, and now are anxious for their welfare and proud of their success.
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Mr. Hieronymus has done some hard work. He and his wife, after their marriage, determined "to buy first what they needed worst, and only what they could, and afterwards what they would." They lived seven years in a log cabin, which Enoch Hieronymus built. The material for their present substantial house was brought from many quarters. Mr. Hieronymus cut some of the timber and hauled it to be sawed. He hauled the rest of the lumber from Chicago.
Mr. Hieronymus has done very well in worldly matters. He has had about a thousand acres of land, and has now about four hundred and sixty acres. In 1869 he built a Christian Church at Hieronymus Grove, and it is called the Hieronymus Grove Church. He is about five feet and nine inches in height, and is rather slim. The lines on his face would indicate decision of character and kindness of heart. He is perfectly straightforward in his dealings, and is remarkable for his peculiar tenderness of feeling. In this respect his wife is very much like him.
JOHN HOUGHAM.
John Hougham was born November 19, 1810, in Highland County, Ohio. His father's name was Runyon Hougham, and his mother's name before her marriage was Sarah Lamon. His father was of English descent, and his mother of Dutch. John Hougham never cut up many capers in Ohio, but was always a moral young man. He came with the family to the State of Illi- mois, to Funk's Grove, McLean County, in the fall of 1831. They . had a hard time coming through the sloughs, and were once two days in going ten miles. They were sometimes water-bound, and were obliged to make bridges. When they came to the Wabash prairie they found the sloughs without bottom. When he arrived here, he worked on his father's farm. He has never traveled much, and has had very few adventures. He intended to see a great deal of the world, before he settled down, but failed to carry out this resolution. He remembers the sudden change of weather in December, 1836, and says it was the "awfullest, quickest change he ever saw." He was then out hunting turkeys, but came home suddenly. He never hunted much, except after turkeys, and he "reckons he has killed right smart of them."
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IIe used to wrestle a great deal, as all the early settlers did, and was thrown only once in his life, " best two out of three."
Mr. Hougham is not much of a traveler, though he once drove hogs to Galena. But he said it hurt his feet terribly, and that " if God would forgive him for going that time, he would never go again."
In the year 1840, Mr. Hougham found the woman of his choice. He married Miss Eliza Ann Brock, on the 4th of April of that year. She is yet living. He says he was only married once, that was enough for him; it was necessary to have some woman to take care of him.
In politics, Mr. Hougham is an old time Democrat. In answer to the question as to how he came to be a Democrat, he said that his father was a Democrat and all the family likewise, and that he came to be a Democrat as a matter of course. He voted first for General Jackson, and continued to vote for him three times, and has ever since voted for Jackson's friends. He says he never pulled wires in his life, or wrote a political document, or made a stump speech. He does not approve of stump speaking, and will not patronize it, as he thinks it does more injury than good. His opinion of Petroleum V. Nasby is, that the latter has done more harm than good to the Democratic party. He thinks the Chicago Times is the best paper printed, and the only objection to it is its fine type. He now takes the Bloomington Democrat, because it costs $1.50 per annum, and he wishes to patronize "home con- sumption." Mr. Hougham did not vote for Horace Greeley du- ring the last campaign, though he considered Greeley a very smart man. But his objection was, that the latter brought on the war of the rebellion. He was the disturbing cause and responsible for it, though the South did not do altogether right. It was Mr. Hougham's opinion, after considering the matter carefully, that Greeley was nominated for the purpose of "running in Grant," so he determined to vote for " nary a one of 'em."
Mr. Hougham has taken very little interest in religious mat- ters, though he once contributed ten cents to the Universalists.
In personal appearance Mr. Hougham is six feet and one inch in height, and weighs two hundred and fifty-six pounds. He very much resembles Horace Greeley, though the latter did not have the winning smile which Mr. Hougham's countenance wears, and
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an acute observer might detect several points of difference in their intellectual development. Mr. Hougham is a kind man, and a pleasant neighbor. He is anxious that his name shall be spelled correctly, and is annoyed to think that a " heap of people spell it Huffam."
The author would have been glad to have written a sketch of Lamon Hougham also, but the latter refused to give any items of his life, as he " did not wish to encourage speculation in books."
WESTLEY HOUGHAM.
Westley Hougham, the brother of John Hougham, was born March 3, 1820, in Highland County, Ohio. He was always a moral boy, and never cut up capers or shines. He came to Funk's Grove in November, 1831. He had no particular adven- ture on the way, except difficulties with the mud, which delayed the family for some time, as they were obliged to make a great many bridges. On his arrival he immediately commenced farm- ing and shaking with the fever and ague. Sometimes he farmed for his mother and sometimes for himself. When he became a "chunk of a boy" he ran wolves and deer and turkeys, and sometimes was successful in catching them and sometimes they won the race. When the sudden change in the weather in De- cember, 1836, came, he was chasing turkeys about four miles from home, but made good time back, as may be supposed. He was obliged to swim Sugar Creek.
He married, September 5, 1845, Miss Ellen Smith, and by this marriage has had four children, of whom three are living. His wife died in 1854. He married, February 18, 1857, Mar- garet Ross, and by this marriage has had four children, of whom three are living. Two of Mr. Hougham's children are married. They are :
James Thomas Hougham, who lives within half a mile of his father's house.
Mrs. America Ann Boler lives within a mile of her father's house.
Mr. Hougham lacks half an inch of being six feet in height, when measured in his stocking feet. That was his measurement
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at Springfield, when he went to see if he would do for a soldier. He weighs three or four hundred pounds, he does not know pre- cisely which. He is stout and pretty active.
JOHN LONGWORTH.
John Longworth was born September 2, 1809, in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. His father's name was Robert Long- worth, and his mother's name before her marriage was Nancy Reilly. Robert Longworth was of English descent and his wife Nancy was of English and Irish. Her father died a soldier in the Continental army, when she was only a child.
When John Longworth was three years of age, his parents moved to Muskingum County, Ohio. He was not old enough to remember anything of the war of 1812. He only recollects hearing of a young woman who was captured by Indians. When they were about to kill her, she called on the Great Spirit, by the name which the Indians knew it, and this so astonished them and so awakened their superstition that they released her. Du- ring the war of 1812, Robert Longworth was stationed on the river, and it was his duty to hail all boats that passed, especially all that came down. He stayed about seven years in Muskin- gum County, and there worked very hard, and made money enough to enter one hundred and sixty acres of land in Morgan County, to which place he moved.
John Longworth grew to manhood in Ohio, and received there the common school education, which the country afforded. When he was old enough to be of service, as a workman, he went to the Muskingum River and there engaged in the salt business, and sent the salt up and down the river in flatboats.
He married, February 24, 1831, Prudence P. Edwards.
In March, 1832, the Muskingum River was very high, and inundated everything along its banks. Houses and fences were floated off. At one time during this flood, two men found float- ing down the Ohio River, a cradle with a baby in it. They had considerable strife to decide who should have this little Moses from the bullrushes.
In the spring of 1836 he came to Johnson's Grove, McLean County, Illinois. He came by steamboat to Pekin and across by team to Johnson's Grove in the present township of Mt. Hope.
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Robert Longworth, the father of John, had come out the year before, had bought a hundred and sixty acres of land, which Johnson had entered, and the latter's claim on eighty acres of timber. When John Longworth came, he made a claim on one hundred and sixty acres of land, and settled on eighty acres more.
In December, 1836, a company came on from the east, and entered eight thousand acres of land, very nearly in the shape of a square ; and as the company had twenty-five shares, this left three hundred and twenty acres of land apiece. They also en- tered other land and gave the earliest settlers each a premium of forty acres. This land comprised the greater part of the town- ship of Mt. Hope. This land was surveyed in the summer of 1837. Mr. Longworth assisted in the survey. They tried to find the corners, which had been laid out by the governmental sur- vey. These were marked by stakes, holes and pits of charcoal. On the up-land, these corners could usually be found, but on the low-land they were sometimes wanting. This Mt. Hope com- pany entered the land which Mr. Longworth claimed. It was the custom among the settlers never to enter a piece of land on which one of them had made a settlement, but the company en- tered all of its land together, and knew nothing of Mr. Long- worth's settlement. But he succeeded in making terms with the company, by paying about what it cost to enter and survey the land.
In December, 1836, the sudden change in the weather occur- red. Mr. Longworth was then at his father's house, about a quarter of a mile distant, and when the windstorm came, he went home, and was sheltered by timber on the way, but thought he did well to get to his house. His brother had been riding that afternoon and was wet by the rain. When the sudden change occurred his boots were frozen into his stirrups, and when he arrived at his father-in-law's house, the stirrups were knocked loose before he could dismount. All of Mr. Longworth's chickens were frozen to death, except one tough old rooster. Much of his stock was frozen. He saw one cow, which seemed to have been frozen as she stood in her tracks. This terrible change seemed to frighten all animals, and take away their original natures, for they all huddled together, their fear of each
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other being overcome by their greater fear of the elements around them. A man named Houser had just come to the country with horses, cattle, sheep, and other stock, and they all huddled together in a log stable, and the next morning were covered with a white frost, which was .the frozen moisture of their breath.
Mr. Longworth has experienced nearly all of the hardships to which the early settlers were subjected. He broke prairie and raised sod corn for the first crop. The corn was dropped just ahead of the plough as the sod was turned over. The dropper rode on the plough. The corn was planted in every third furrow.
Mr. Longworth has raised a family of intelligent, happy chil- dren, three sons and three daughters. They are full of humor and pleasant, practical jokes. They are :
Mrs. Sarah Ann Farnsworth, wife of E. H. Farnsworth, lives three quarters of a mile west of MeLean.
Mrs. Belinda MeCormiek, wife of Marion MeCormick, lives two miles and a quarter west of MeLean.
Augustus Longworth lives a mile and a half east of MeLean.
David Newton Longworth (called Newt !) and Albert Long- worth, live at home, though both have farms. Newton is con- nected with the drug store in McLean, which is carried on by Longworth & Palmer.
Mattie J. Longworth lives at home. Her name is not changed yet.
Mr. Longworth lacks one inch of being six feet in height. He is a man of very good humor, appears to be very fair-minded, and has the perfect confidence of the community where he re- sides. He has been school treasurer, and has assessed the township more than all of the other assessors put together. He has been elected constable, and re-elected against his will, andat last refused to qualify.
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OLD TOWN.
LEWIS CASE.
Lewis Case was born, February 27, 1809, in Ontario County, New York. His father's name was Abner Case, and his mother's name before her marriage was Olive Rolland. Both were full blooded Connecticut Yankees. Abner Case was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a private and served under Generals Scott and Harrison. He saw the burning of Buffalo, the blowing up of Fort Erie, and was at the battle of Lundy's Lane. During the latter fight he was stationed in an orchard. During his ser- vice under General Harrison he was slightly wounded, having three fingers of his left hand shot off. Mr. Case drew a pension until his death, which occurred January 6, 1854. His wife died on the day following, and both were buried in the same grave in Wisconsin, near Madison.
Lewis Case lived in Ontario County until he was sixteen years of age. There he received his education, which was that of the common school. The scholars in that section of country complied with the custom of those days, which was to bar out the schoolmaster on Christmas day. At one time they barred out the master and the contest lasted three days. They fortified themselves in the schoolhouse and stood the siege. The people near by gave the scholars plenty to eat, lots of cake and cider and fuel to burn in the fireplace. The schoolmaster tried to smoke them out by covering the chimney, and for a while it seemed that he would succeed ; but the scholars put out the fire by pouring on cider, and stopped the smoke. After three days the contest ended in breaking up the school.
In the year 1824, the family moved to Huron County, Ohio. They lived in the woods among the large timber wolves, which were very plenty. At one time a timber wolf was caught by the fore leg in a trap, and the dogs were collected from all over the country to fight it, but it whipped them all.
In July, 1833, Lewis Case came with his wife and child to McLean County, Illinois, and settled on Kickapoo Creek, on the north side of Old Town timber. When they first came, they went to Bloomington, and the first man to welcome them and
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give them their dinner was General Gridley, who then boarded at James Allin's. During the following winter, the families of Lewis Case, Abner Case, Charles Lewis and Thaddeus Case, fifteen persons in all, wintered in a little house fourteen feet square. Their household goods were put up around the sides of the room on pins. They had two bedsteads and two trundle beds. A part of the folks were obliged to retire at night before the remainder could make their beds on the floor. During that winter Mr. Case cut, split and hauled logs for a house. In the spring the house was built, and in April they moved into it. It was a small cabin, but Mrs. Case had room in it for a spinning wheel and a loom. She spun and wove the clothing for the family, and when her girls were large enough they also were taught to spin and weave. She made linsey, jeans and linen, and the family lived happily in the rude cabin with their home- spun attire. For three years they remained in the little cabin and then moved to where they now live.
For thirteen years, the house of Mr. Case was used as a preaching place by the Methodists. This was the first denomi- nation here. After a while the Cumberland Presbyterians came in and joined with the Methodists and built the Union Church. But the old church having served its time, the Methodists built a new one called the Hopewell Church. The old building was sold for eighty dollars in money, which was divided between the two denominations that built it. George Gar now uses the old church for a barn. The people seemed to enjoy themselves very well at the meetings held at private houses. The congregation often filled the house, and sometimes the bedding and furniture were carried out to make room.
The early settlers were always anxious to have their children educated, and were willing to make all sacrifices. School was kept during one summer in Mr. Case's barn. Mrs. Case was careful to see that her children attended punctually and regu- larly, and says that one of her children missed only two or three days in the year.
Mrs. Case was an industrious woman. She made clothes for people and took her pay in work. She made coats for the men, and they in return made hay or ploughed for Mr. Case. She made a coat for Senator John Cusey, and he made hay for a
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week to pay for it, and worked well. Mr. Case was also indus- trious and made shoes and cobbled for the neighborhood.
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