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 66
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On the 13th of October, 1831, Mr. Case married Sarah Hen- dryx, in Huron County, Ohio. He has had five children, of whom four are living. They are :
Mary Ann, wife of Peter B. Price, lives at Downs Station.
Olive, wife of J. W. Savage, lives near Downs.
Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Wesley Savage, lives in Downs township, near the eastern boundary.
Hannah Emeline, wife of Sylvanus Michael, lives in Old Town, near the western boundary.
Mr. Case is five feet and nine or ten inches in height. His head is partially bald, and his nose is Roman. He is a worthy man and thinks much of his family and friends. He is hospita- ble and kind to all. He has succeeded well and has accumulated enough property to make him comfortable; but his industrious habits cling to him, and he continues to carry on his farm as in the days of the early settlement.
HARVEY BISHOP.
Harvey Bishop, eldest son of William Bishop, was born Au- gust 2, 1821, in Virginia. In the year 1833 the Bishop family came to Illinois. William Bishop wished to obtain land for his children, and it cost too much in Ohio.
Mr. Bishop obtained his education in a log school house du- ring the winters, as all the pioneer children did. The school teachers in those days were severe; and Mr. Bishop remembers an instance where the courts interfered, and a teacher was fined for the severity and brutality of his punishment. He went to school for one winter to John Magoun in Old Town and found him a most excellent teacher. He never punished his scholars, and they all liked him, and he had great success. It was then very evident that Mr. Magoun would remain an old bachelor, as he did not pay his addresses to the ladies of Old Town. He was a very conscientious teacher, and his scholars had confidence in him.
Mr. Bishop was never a hunter, and only killed one deer in his life. This was when he was sixteen or seventeen years of age. A light snow had fallen on the ground, and he asked his
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father for his gun to go hunting. The old gentleman allowed Harvey Bishop to take the gun, and promised him a dollar for every deer he killed. Harvey Bishop succeeded in killing one, and received his money. He frequently hunted wolves, and ran them down or caught them in traps. Mr. Bishop entered a part of the land where he now lives in Old Town, and a part was given him by his father. He entered one hundred and seventy acres of prairie and forty acres of timber, and he has been very successful in its management.
On the 25th of February, 1850, he married Mrs. Mary Ann Depew, a widow, who died November 26, 1856. One child, born of this marriage, is now dead. On the first of January, 1861, Mr. Bishop married Miss Mary Ann Hart, of Old Town. Their only child, William Henry Bishop, lives at home.
Mr. Bishop is five feet and eight inches in height, is rather spare in build, has blue eyes, uses spectacles occasionally, has hair light colored and rather thin. He is good-natured and very kind in his manner. He has served in various positions in the township. He has always been very independent in his political affiliations and has usually voted for the best men, regardless of party. He does not belong to any church, but is a man of in- tegrity and correct principle. Mrs. Bishop takes a great deal of pride in her husband, and she is in every respect worthy of him.
FREDERICK RIVES COWDEN.
Frederick R. Cowden was born November 30, 1811, in Allen County, Kentucky. His father's name was James Cowden, and his mother's name before her marriage was Lucy Rives. He is partly of Irish descent. He was raised on a farm and worked in a tobacco field, but had no particular adventure. When he be- came twenty years of age he went to Warren County, Kentucky. There he became acquainted with Mr. John Price, whose sketch appears in this volume. They often hunted together, and killed a great deal of game. They frequently shot at game, both at once, and tramped on each other's toes to know when to pull the trigger. If only one shot took effect it was supposed that Price had missed !
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In the fall of 1833 Mr. Cowden came to Greene County, Illi- nois, where he lived until 1834, when he came to McLean County. He started with Elias Wall and James B. Price, but left them at Ranellville, Kentucky. After traveling two days, he met two of his cousins going to Illinois, and he went in company with them. When he arrived in MeLean County, he went to work sawing lumber with a whip saw. This lumber, sawed by hand, was sold to John Rhodes for two dollars per hundred, and is now a part of his barn. Mr. Cowden sawed finishing lumber of white wal- nut for parties in Bloomington, and also for the first hotel at Mt. Pleasant (Farmer City). He hunted occasionally with John Price, and killed a great many deer and turkeys. Mr. Cowden tells some jokes on John Price, which caused great amusement. Price was a good hunter, but for some unexplained reason he, at times, could scarcely kill anything. Mr. Cowden says that Price once shot some thirty times in one day at deer without hitting a single one. The latter complained of a flaw in the gun, but Mr. Cowden killed three deer in one day with it, and said that the flaw was now gone. Mr. Price could kill game afterwards. Mr. Cowden says that Price was very cautious about approaching a wounded deer, and once killed a buck, which ran into a clump of brush and died; but as Mr. Price had some suspicion as to whether the buck was really dead, he rode around the thicket and fired at it seven or eight times ! Mr. Cowden once wounded a deer, but would not shoot again, for fear of being laughed at, and grappled it. The struggle which followed was so severe that Cowden wished he had given the deer another shot.
He has had great difficulty with the fires on the prairie, which came so swiftly and were so hot that the danger from them was very great.
Mr. Cowden has a lively recollection of the sudden change in the weather in December, 1836, and says that at the time when the ice suddenly formed on the Kickapoo, three travelers came along and attempted to cross, but one of them lost his horse under the ice, as the creek was very high and the water flowed rapidly. Mr. Cowden broke the ice during the following day and assisted the travelers over.
Mr. Cowden married, August 17, 1842, Miss Polly G. Price. He has seven children, all of whom have grown to years of dis- cretion. They are :
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John James Cowden lives half a mile south of his father's.
Mrs. Amanda Jane Dooley, wife of Obadiah G. Dooley, lives two miles northeast of her parents.
William Rives Cowden lives about four miles southeast of his father's, in Downs township.
Mrs. Eliza Ann Downs, wife of John D. Downs, live two miles and a half southwest of her father's.
Matilda Burrell Cowden, Frank Cowden and Elizabeth Gil- lem Cowden, live at home with their father.
Mr. Cowden is about six feet in height, is rather solidly built, has blue eyes, and hair and whiskers perfectly white. His head is becoming a little bald. In his younger days he was very strong, and a good hunter. He is a man of good business qualifications. He is rather humorous, and particularly enjoys a good joke on his respected father-in-law, John Price. Mr. Cowden was for two years supervisor. He has been in poor health for some time, and thinks this is due to the exposure and fatigue which he en- dured in his younger days. While hunting he seldom stopped for any obstacle, but waded or swam creeks and bore every form of hardship, and now he thinks he is paying the penalty.
PADUA.
WILLIAM EVANS, JR.
William Evans, jr., son of William Evans, sen., whose sketch appears in this volume, was born June 3, 1815, in Huron County, Ohio. In the year 1825, the family started for Illinois, intending to make a settlement on the Illinois River. But when they ar- rived at Keg Grove (now Blooming Grove) they thought the country so fine that they settled there. They made their settle- ment about four miles south of Bloomington, where the Oren- dorffs had built their cabins. Nothing of unusual importance occurred until 1827, when a storm came through Blooming Grove, tearing down the timber and scattering the trunks and limbs in every direction. Just after this storm Cheney Thomas wished to sell a claim to Mr. Evans, sen., where Bloomington now stands, for a hundred bushels of corn. But it so happened that the corn which Mr. Evans, sen., had planted, was covered up by
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broken limbs of trees, and was thought to be ruined. He there- fore hesitated about making the bargain. But William Orendorff, who was standing near, said : "Take it, Evans, if you haven't enough corn, I have." Mr. Evans made the bargain, and in order to help him fulfill it, Mr. Orendorff gave Evans five acres of growing corn. The claim now forms a part of Bloomington, and is worth a large amount of money. Mr. Evans, jr., says : "Wil- liam Orendorff was one of the best men that ever lived on the green earth." About nineteen days after the storm, William Evans, jr., James Orendorff, and others, found a hog which had been pinned to the ground by limbs of trees. They cut it loose and drew the exhausted animal home on a sledge. It recovered, and showed its gratitude to its deliverers by making a fine porker.
The Evans family were obliged to go for many years to mill to Attica, on the Wabash, one hundred and twenty miles distant. Afterwards they went to Fox River, eighty miles distant. They frequently went to mill at Peoria and Pekin. Orendorff's mill was put up some time afterwards, on Sugar Creck, about twenty- five miles distant. They could get a little corn cracked nearer home, but not well done. During the winter of the deep snow they ground corn in a coffee-mill, and sometimes pounded it. Before the snow became packed, they went four miles to Bailey Harbert's mill, breaking the road both going and returning, for the drifting snow soon filled up their tracks.
William Evans, jr., and his brother, took great pleasure in catching wolves. During one winter they trapped forty-five of these troublesome pests.
The education of William Evans, jr., was attended to as well as possible in the West. He went to school to old Billy Hodge, and says that this gentleman was a very good teacher, though a little severe with the scholars.
On the 8th of April, 1836, Mr. Evans married Mary Jane Murphy, daughter of Thomas Murphy. He has had ten children, of whom seven are living. They are :
Oliver Perry Evans lives on his father's place.
William Evans, jr., also lives on his father's place.
James Evans lives on the edge of his father's land.
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Jane, wife of Ezra Dodson, lives about a quarter of a mile east of her father's.
David and John live at home.
Morris lives one and a half miles northeast of his father's.
William Evans stands six feet high in his stockings, has gray hair and whiskers, and clear gray eyes, with an honest expression in them. His voice is firm and clear, with an honest ring to it. He is very accommodating, and left his business, which was some- what urgent, for the purpose of giving information for this work. He is one of the most reliable of men, and loves humor, of course, as the genuine old settlers do.
DANIEL JACKSON.
Daniel Jackson was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, Janu- ary 16, 1808. His parents were not in good circumstances, and his opportunities for obtaining an education were limited. His time was required for work to assist in supporting the family. When he was twenty years of age he came to Champaign Coun- ty, Ohio. There he worked for two years, for eight dollars per month. He came to McLean County, Illinois, in October, 1830. He made a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land in the present township of Empire, in the present county of McLean. During the winter of the deep snow he lived with John W. Dawson. They pounded their corn as the settlers all did, and sometimes parched it, by way of a change, until the snow was gone and the roads were clear. Mr. Jackson built a cabin on his claim, and soon broke ground. With a little help he attended to fifty acres of corn. His grinding was done at Baker's horse-mill, at Blooming Grove, and at Cunningham's mill, at Cheney's Grove. He volunteered, during the Black Hawk war, but was sent back to his home, as he was not needed.
On the 12th of February, 1832, he married Margaret Walden, of Springfield. They worked carefully and well, and succeeded in their labor. Mr. Jackson hauled all his grain to Chicago, re- turning with groceries and lumber. He dealt a good deal in cattle, always keeping a drove on hand. Chicago was his market for cattle until the railroads were built, bringing the market to his door. He acquired, by his care and industry, five hundred acres of land. He did not take much interest in political mat-
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ters, but was, for some years, supervisor of highways. He was a good citizen, and was one of those who worked hard for the development of the county of MeLean. He died March 20, 1861.
The items given above, were furnished by his widow, Mrs. Jackson, who still lives on the homestead place in Empire town- ship.
JEREMIAH GREENMAN.
Jeremiah Greenman was born August 8, 1794, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was of Welch descent. His father, Jeremiah Greenman, sr., served in the Revolutionary war for eight years, and during that time kept a journal of his life, and his sufferings and adventures. The mother of Jeremiah Greenman was Mary Eddy, wJh was born and raised in Providence. When Jeremiah Greenmas Evas twelve years of age, the family moved to Wash- ington County, Olio. This course was taken at the earnest solieitation of Mrs. Greenman, who did not wish her children brought up to a seafaring life, as their father had been. The parents of Jeremiah Greenman were not members of any church, but were remarkable for their integrity and correct principle. His father drew a pension for his services in the Revolutionary war until the day of his death. The son, Jeremiah, of whom this sketch is written, received a fair education. He married Letitia McCoy, November 26, 1818. She was born in Washing- ton County, Ohio.
On the first of June, 1830, the Greenman family started for the West. They floated down the Ohio River in a family boat, until they came to its mouth. From there they came to Pekin, by steamboat. From there they came by ox-team to where Waynesville now is. There they spent the winter of the great deep snow, but were not subjected to as many privations as many others, for they lived near a mill where their corn could be easily ground. In the fall of 1831, they came to Old Town timber, to John W. Dawson's place, and in the following spring came to the place where they now live, in the present township of Padua. He entered two hundred and twenty acres of land, engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising, and was quite successful. His health was
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quite delieate. He died October 17, 1843, and was buried at Dawson's graveyard, in Old Town.
Mr. Greenman had nine children, of whom eight lived to be grown. Thomas MeCoy Greenman and Sarah Ada, wife of Wil- liam Moran, are dead; Emaline, wife of Alvah B. Dimon, lives at Thompsonville, Marion County, Iowa ; Henry Clay Greenman served in the Ninety-fourth Illinois Volunteers, and was killed at the battle of Prairie Grove ; George Washington Greenman lives in Dixon, Kansas; Sarah Jane, wife of Solomon Gregg, lives in the southern part of Old Town; Jeremiah Greenman, jr., lives at the homestead with his mother. He served in the army during the rebellion, being fourteen months in the Eighth Illinois and twelve months in the One Hundred and Fiftieth Illinois. He was at the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh. He was wounded at Fort Donelson. Mary L., wife ~ Mr. Van Gundy, is now dead. One child died in infancy.
Mr. Greenman was about five feet and ter inchescon height. His son Jerry appears much as his father did, though the latter had rather darker hair. Mr. Greenman was a kind husband and a good father. He paid great attention to the education of his children. He was not a member of any church, but was a man of strict integrity, and his word was sufficient without any bond. Ilis widow, Mrs. Greenman, still lives on the homestead. She is a very kind lady, and thinks much of the " good old times." She possesses much natural shrewdness.
JOHN BISHOP.
John Bishop was born February 9, 1799, in Fleming County, Kentucky. His father's name was James Bishop, and his mother's name, before her marriage, was Chloe Lake. Both were of Eng- lish and Welch descent. In 1804 the Bishop family moved to Ohio, to what is now Clark County, but was then Green County, and had formerly been included in the county of Champaign. During the war of 1812, James Bishop entered the army, and had charge of some teams belonging to the wagon train of Inll's army. When the war opened, General Hull was governor of Michigan. He went to Urbana, Ohio, and took command of the army, which was passed over to him by Governor Meigs. John Bishop, then a lad of thirteen, was present at the time, and re-
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members General Hull as a gray haired, heavy set man. James Bishop served under General Hull, and was at the surrender of Detroit. The captured soldiers were carried on shipboard to Cleveland, and there paroled and sent home. James Bishop afterwards served as quartermaster under General Tupper, in General Harrison's command.
John Bishop lived in Ohio until the fall of 1830, and then went to Fancy Creek, Sangamon County, Illinois, where he ar- rived October 22. The first winter after his arrival was the one of the deep snow. It fell there as deep as in McLean County. Mr. Bishop had then a wife, three children, three cows and four horses, which all needed care and attention : nevertheless, he looks back to those days as the happiest of his life. During the winter of the deep snow the wheat and corn was carried to mill from four to eight miles on horseback. Before the snow was packed, Mr. Bishop and three others went three miles to mill across a neck of prairie. They took two horses to carry the corn, and eight horses to break the way. The horses walked in single file, and when the foremost was tired, it was placed in the rear and another took the lead. It required all day to go three miles and return. After the snow became packed men could walk over it anywhere, and even horses were borne on the drifts.
In March, 1832, Mr. Bishop came to Old Town timber, Me- Lean County. In May of the same year he entered his land at the office at Danville, and commenced an improvement on the northwest point of Old Town timber. But as he did not learn precisely the boundaries, he unfortunately built his house and barn on unentered government land, which was next adjoining. This land was afterwards entered by another party, and he lost the house and barn. He built another house on his own land. lived on it fifteen years, and then moved to the south side of the timber.
On the 31st of March, 1825, Mr. Bishop married Sally Viney, in Ohio. He has had twelve children, of whom seven are living. They are :
Aquilla Bishop is a farmer, and lives at Farmer City.
James Bishop is a carriage trimmer in Hay's carriage shop, in Bloomington. During the rebellion, he was in the Ninety- fourth Illinois Volunteers, under Colonel McNulta.
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Martin Bishop was in the same regiment. He now lives in Washington County, Illinois.
John Bishop, jr., was in the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Illinois. He was discharged from the army because of sickness, and died eight days after arriving home.
Chloe Ann, wife of Henry Jacoby, lives in Farmer City.
Sarah, wife of George W. Thompson, lives in Washington County, Illinois.
Catherine Bishop lives at Farmer City.
Mr. Bishop is rather less than the medium height, is rather light in build, has a sanguine complexion, seems a very honest man, and perfectly straightforward in his business transactions. He now lives at Mrs. Ireland's place, near Stumptown, in Old Town timber, in the township of Padua. He seems to lead a very contented life after so many storms and changes of fortune. Mrs. Bishop died in the fall of 1865.
ADOLPHUS DIMMICK.
Adolphus Dimmick was born in Tolland County, Connecti- cut, January 13, 1791. In the year 1816, he came to Ripley County, Indiana. There he set out a nursery, the first in that part of the country, and raised a great many apple and peach trees. On the 9th of October, 1832, he married Esther Living- ston. On the first of November following, he started for Illinois, traveling in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen and a horse. On the 25th of that month he arrived at Old Town timber, made a claim and commenced farming. He bought a cow and calf, and from this beginning raised a herd of forty or more cattle, besides selling a great many. The cabin was one of the little log huts of the early days, with a pounded clay fireplace, a stick chimney and a floor of linn puncheons. These puncheons were made of rails split thin and shaved with a drawing knife. The windows were of greased paper, and the table was made of a large pun- cheon. The land, where they lived, did not come into market until 1836. They had very little company. The wild animals came around them and kept them company. The raccoons came up under the window at night; the wolves ate the bones thrown from the house, and the wild turkeys picked up the crumbs near the door. The deer often came around them, and their society was principally that of the wild animals.
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Mr. Dimmick died on Christmas day, 1845. He had three chil- dren, all of whom are now dead. His stature was somewhat less than medium. He was stoutly built, had a light complexion, was careful and attentive to business and succeeded well. He had a common school education, and taught school in Ohio and Illinois. He was always hospitable to strangers and willing and ready to entertain them. He had always good fortune in life and pros- pered well. His lady afterwards married Mr. Stephen Ireland, but has been a widow for the last sixteen years. She is a pleas- ant old lady, and her house is a stopping place for a number of elderly people and seems almost an old folks asylum.
JOSIAH HORR.
Josiah Horr was born October 9, 1807, in Lewis County, New York. His father's name was Jacob Horr, and his mother's name, before her marriage, was Hannah Pierce. Jacob Horr was descended from the Puritans who landed on Plymouth Rock. He was a farmer, and died in Ohio in about the year 1850 or 51. His wife Hannah was born in America, but was of English-Irish descent. She died in 1839, while on a visit to Cheney's Grove. Jacob Horr had eleven children, of whom ten lived to be grown, but only three are now alive. They are, William Horr, of Mechanicsburg, Champaign County, Ohio; Elijah Horr, of Car- thage, Jefferson County, N. Y., and Josiah Horr, the subject of the present sketch. William Horr was the youngest son.
Josiah Horr received his education in Lewis County, N. Y., where he attended a common school during the winter months until the age of twenty. In the summer time he worked on his father's farm. While only a boy, he resolved to come to the West. At the age of twenty-one he moved to Champaign County, Ohio, where he remained nearly eight years. He worked on a farm and in a woolen factory. In 1836, he came to the West, arriving at John W. Dawson's place in Old Town timber on the first of October. He had made three previous trips to visit the country, enter land and make a few improvements. The family passed through Cheney's Grove, visiting a few days with Jona- than Cheney, an uncle of Mrs. Horr. They lived two months in a house belonging to John Dawson, by which time they made a cabin on the place where they now live, in the present town-
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ship of Padua. The first experience which the Horrs had of an Illinois winter, was with the sudden change of December, 1836. This was indeed a frightful experience and they were much ter- rified, but it never came again.
Mr. Horr was chosen justice of the peace and held this office with some interval for about fifteen years. He married William Harrison and Nancy Jane Dawson, and many years afterwards he married their daughter to C. H. Hobart. Mr. Horr always tried to settle amicably the cases which were brought before him, and often guaranteed the constable's costs in order to do so. He has been township trustee and school director, and for ten or twelve years he was supervisor. He is a member of the Metho- dist Church. Mr. Horr employed Abraham Lincoln to manage the first and only case the former ever had in McLean County Circuit Court, and Lincoln carried it through successfully. Mr. Horr belonged first to the Whig party, and afterwards to the Republican. He voted against Jackson, and after the latter retired from political life voted against Jackson's friends.
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