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 69
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During the hard times of 1837, he was brought to the verge of bankruptey : but he saved himself in a fortunate transaction. He sold a lot of pork at Pekin, and took his pay in depreciated bills of the State Bank of Illinois, and received more money accord- ing to its depreciation. With this he paid the debts, which Isaac Funk and others owed to the bank, and he afterwards received his own pay in good money, dollar for dollar.
Mr. Funk was a man of great humor, and had a habit of giving nicknames. Once, while driving swine to Ohio, he had a man named Troxell to help him. Troxell could not read or write ; nevertheless, he was anxious to be called by some title to indicate that he was not a common hog drover. Jesse Funk, therefore, called him Squire. While on the route, Mr. Funk had occasion to buy some pigs, and had difficulty as to the amount of money they were all worth, after an agreement had been made as to the price of each pig. The amount in controversy was seven dollars. At last the party selling the pigs offered to leave it to Squire Troxell, and have him look over the figures to see if they were correct. Mr. Funk would not at first agree to this, as he did not wish to expose Troxell's ignorance, but at last he con- sented, being anxious to see how Troxell would get out of the scrape. The latter took the paper of figures and looked at it upside down for a long while. His eye meandered around every «rook and turn of those characters, of which he was as ignorant as a new-born babe. At last he said he had discovered the mis- take, and that the difference amounted to three dollars and a half, instead of seven dollars, and this settled it. "Didn't I get out of that pretty well ?" said Troxell. "Yes," said Funk, "but you don't want to figure me out of three dollars and a half again !"
Jesse Funk was a pretty good-sized man, well formed, had dark eyes and' black hair. He was a kind and generous man, and his humor was of the best quality. But he was a terrible man when enraged : his passion was like a thunder cloud. He was a member of the Methodist Church ; But he always thought it religious to take his own part by physical force, if necessary. Senator Cusey says Mr. Funk would pray like a congressman, ((lo congressmen usually pray ?) but, if necessary, he would fight like a pugilist. At one time, while Mr. Funk was engaged in devotional exercises at a camp-meeting, some one pricked him
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with a pin. He bore the torture patiently until the exercises were ended, and then he proceeded to " clean out" the parties, who were causing the trouble. Mr. Funk died February 6, 1865.
Mr. Funk had eight children, of whom seven lived to be grown. They are :
Mrs. Sarah Jane Brittenham, widow of John Brittenham, lives in Monticello.
Mrs. Nancy Ann Thompson, wife of John Thompson, lives in California.
John Wesley Funk lives at the old homestead near Heyworth. Thomas Coke Funk lives in Normal.
Mrs. Delilah Brown, wife of James Brown, lives close to the old homestead, near Heyworth.
Mrs. Eliza Barger died in Iowa, in 1872.
Absalom Clark Funk lives at the north end of Randolph's Grove.
GEORGE CALLAHAN HAND.
The following items concerning the life of Mr. Hand, were given by his daughter, Mrs. A. M. Stringfield, of Randolph's Grove : Mr. Hand was born in 1790. Mrs. Stringfield cannot tell the place of his birth or give any information concerning his early life. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and for his ser- vices a land warrant was given to his family after his death. In the spring of 1819, he left Ohio where he was living, and came with his family to Shawneetown, Illinois. The journey was hard and adventurous. The family started on a flatboat, but it ran against a sawyer and sank, and the Hand family saved only their lives and the clothing which they happened to wear at the time of the accident. A small steamboat took them from the wreck and landed them on shore. They found shelter in a little cabin near a grog-shop, where they came in contact with the worst ele- ment of western society. The men in the grog-shop made the night terrible with their drunken revels. At one time they be- came so noisy that the proprietor turned them out, and shortly afterwards a storm came up and blew off the roof of the grog- ery. The party took refuge in Mr. Hand's cabin, and during the whole night kept up their drunken revelry. After waiting three or four days, Mr. Hand's family were taken in a boat to Shaw-
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neetown. They went out into the country about eighteen miles, and there Mr. Hand supported his family all summer with his labor and his gun. He built a little round log cabin which, as Mrs. Stringfield says, had cracks in it large enough to sling a cat through. He stayed there four years and then went to San- gamon County. Here he raised two crops. Mr. Hand hauled his hay from the Sangamon bottom. He had ten girls in his family, and they sometimes helped him in his work. In 1825 he came to Randolph's Grove, and there built a cabin and broke prairie. No young man could be found for help, so Amelia drove the oxen to break the prairie. When the land came into market he entered his farm. The country was then very wild, as may be imagined, and the wolves came around the house and made so much noise, that, as Mrs. Stringfield says, "you could not hear it thunder." Mr. Hand opened his house for a preaching place until school-houses were built. Their cabin was also the preach- ers' stopping place. Mr. Hand died in 1845, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. He had a family of ten girls and four boys, and all, except one girl, grew to be men and women. Six of the girls and two of the boys are yet living. Mr. Hand was rather a tall man, fair-haired, fair-complexioned, with very expressive blue eyes, and with heavy shoulders. He was a bold, energetic look- ing man, and was strong and active. He was an exhorter in the Methodist Church, and brought up his children in the way they should go.
NATHAN LOW.
Nathan Low was born on a farm called Ringold's Manor, in Greenbrier County, Maryland, near Williamsport, January 6, 1791. His father's name was Nathan Low, and his mother's Nancy Wright, before her marriage. Nathan Low, jr., at the age of fourteen, came to Licking Town, Licking County, Ohio. Here he finished his education, which was very limited, as his chances for learning were not good. He followed the river for some time between the Kanawha Salt Works and Zanesville, Ohio. He married, February 12, 1814, Miss Sarah Brooks, a lady of fine sense and decision of character. She is still living, although Nathan Low has long since passed over the river.
From 1814 to 1829, Mr. Low was a farmer and drover. He
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drove cattle over the mountains to Harrisburg, Pa., and worked hard to carry on the farm. In 1829, he came with his family to Blooming Grove, starting in June and arriving in July. He brought a carriage with him, but this was too novel for the West, and was sold and taken back to Tennessee. It was the first in McLean County. The Indians were then plenty, and called on the Low family very often, but never disturbed them in any way. Mrs. Low, who observes matters pretty sharply, says that some of the Indians in these parts ran away from their tribe and joined the forces of Black Hawk during the great war, which the latter carried on. One of them came all painted to Mr. Low's cabin and took dinner with the family and piously asked a blessing at the table; but notwithstanding all his apparent piety, Mrs. Low was convinced that he was bound for Black Hawk's band, and that his paint was put on for war, though Mr. Low thought it was only the Indian's mode of dressing. He had a horse and a gun, which went through the Black Hawk war. The horse was ridden by Isaac Murphy. Mr. Low followed farming and stock raising until 1844, the time of his death. He had some property in 1829, when he came to the grove, but most of it he afterwards acquired by hard and patient toil. At the age of thirty-five, he was much broken down in consequence of hard work. During the winter of the deep snow he had thirty hogs to feed, and was obliged to pack corn for them on horseback for a distance of three miles. He made the trip through the timber every other day. During this severe winter it was impossible for farmers to go to mill, and they pounded their corn and wheat in blocks and sometimes ground it in a coffee mill.
Nathan Low's home would not now be called luxurious. It was a shanty with a single room twelve by fourteen feet, and this was the home of a family of ten persons! When the children came home from school, they were obliged to put the chairs and tables out of doors in order to make beds on the floor. A second bed was made under the large one. But these little difficulties amounted to nothing, when compared to the vexations they sometimes endured. For instance, on one occasion during this same winter, there came a storm, which carried off the roof of the little shanty and lifted it over the horses, which were tied to a wagon near by. Then they tried to fix the roof and the snow
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blew over them and melted like rain. We tell this incident without any further comment; it is as hard a condition as we have heard of for some time.
The early settlers visited each other oftener than people do at present, particularly from a distance. They had no neighbor- hood quarrels or neighborhood jealousies. People were always glad to see each other, and all stood on the same footing. But after a while the country became prosperous and thickly settled, and the old warmth of feeling gradually died out. The pros- perity of later days has destroyed, in some measure, the good feeling of the early times. But the kind feeling of the early settlers has had a good effect, which still remains The hospital- ity of the pioneers who are now living is of the same generous kind as that for which they were first distinguished, and its effects are felt by the whole community. We are inclined to think that people are now naturally as well disposed towards each other as in early days; the difficulty is that if they exercise charity and hospitality and keep the " latch string always out," some disagreeable and shiftless folks will take advantage of good nature. During the early settlement of the country, this latter class of people was very small. Everybody was welcome every- where, and all people who lived within twenty miles of each other were neighbors.
The early settlers made their own furniture. They had ovens of clay in which they baked their bread. Across the fire place was stretched a chain, and sometimes two or three, on which the pots and kettles were hung.
During the sudden change in the weather in December, 1836, so often described in this volume, Mr. Low was at Bloomington, in the office of the County Clerk. The cape of his coat was wet, and when he stepped out of doors the wind flared it out and im- mediately it was frozen in that shape.
Mr. Low brought the first sheep to Blooming Grove and sold them to farmers. His business as long as he lived was working with stock. He drove and sold cattle to the laborers on the Illinois and Michigan canal, and was shrewd enough always to see where he could find a market. He took rather a discourag. ing view of the western country and thought that, notwithstand- ing its fine land, it would never have the advantages of so good
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market as in Ohio. If he had lived to hear the engine's whistle, he would have changed his mind.
Nathan Low was one of the best of the old settlers. He worked hard, and in the decline of life saw the fruits of his labor in the prosperity which surrounded him. At the time of his death, which occurred April 17, 1844, he was possessed of nine hundred acres of land. He had seven children, of whom five are now living. They are :
John Low, who lives in Washington Territory.
Mrs. Catherine Coffey, who lives in Davis County, Missouri.
Mrs. Elizabeth Karr, who lives at Blooming Grove.
Mrs. Eliza Scoggin, who is now dead.
Mrs. Eliza Ann Vanordstrand, who lives in Heyworth.
Nathan Low, jr., who lives in Heyworth.
Shrewd observers give usually a great deal of the credit of a man's success to his wife, and this seems to have been the case with Nathan Low. Mrs. Low now lives at Heyworth, and leads a very pleasant, independent life. She complains that her memory has failed, but the information she has given of the old settlers has been very accurate. She has raised a family of re- markably intelligent children, in whom she has a right to take a motherly pride.
Nathan Low was a heavily set and rather fleshy man, of medium height, with blue eyes and not very heavy, dark hair. He weighed perhaps one hundred and eighty pounds. His eyes were sharp and expressive, and in his later years were shaded by spectacles. He was rather stoop shouldered, on account of an injury received by the falling of a tree in 1832. He worked hard for his family, was always anxious for their comfort, and happy while in their presence. At his death, he was buried at Blooming Grove, in Seoggin's cemetery.
THE PASSWATERS FAMILY.
PURNEL PASSWATERS, SR.
Purnel Passwaters was born in 1782, in Sussex County, Dela- ware. His father, Richard Passwaters, was an Englishman, and his mother was of Dutch descent. He was a man of limited edu-
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cation and a farmer. In about the year 1806, he married Com- fort Short, a lady who was partly of Welch descent. In 1811 he moved to Monongehela County, Virginia. During the war of 1812 he enlisted as a soldier, but never was called into the field. In about the year 1814, Mr. Passwaters went back to the State of Delaware on business, traveling on horseback. While crossing the Allegheny Mountains, he was once traveling in the night, and was followed by a panther for seven miles. The animal often came close to him and seemed inclined to spring, but Mr. Pass- waters would jump from his horse and throw stones at it. It followed him until he came near a tavern, and then it disappeared in the woods.
In 1816, Mr. Passwaters emigrated to Hamilton County, Ohio, where he followed farming. In the fall of 1829, he started with his family from Hamilton County, Ohio, for Illinois. When he reached Hamilton County, Indiana, the cold weather set in, and he was obliged to stop. In the following spring he came to what was then Tazewell, but is now McLean, County, Illinois. He came, during a part of his journey, in company with Lieutenant Governor Moore. When he arrived here he rented a small piece of land, and lived in a little cabin on the place now occupied by his son, Enoch Passwaters. He commenced farming, and steadily followed it until the day of his death, which occurred in February. 1852. He and his wife were both consistent members of the Methodist Church. Mrs. Passwaters died in 1844.
Mr. Passwaters had twelve children, of whom five are now living.
Mrs. Levina Burdsell, wife of Jefferson Burdsell, lives in Randolph's Grove.
Richard Passwaters lives in Randolph's Grove.
Purnel Passwaters, jr., lives with his brother Enoch at the old homestead.
Enoch J. Passwaters lives at the old homestead at Randolph's Grove.
Clement Passwaters lives in Randolph's Grove.
RICHARD PASSWATERS.
Richard Passwaters was born November 3, 1812, in Monon- gehela County, Virginia. In 1816 he came with his father's
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family to Hamilton County, Ohio. They moved in a flatboat from Wheeling, Virginia, to the landing at North Bend, in sight of General Harrison's house. There young Richard was put to work as soon as he became possessed of muscle sufficient to make his work of any value. He worked during summers and went to school winters. He started for Illinois with his father's family in the fall of 1829, but did not arrive at his destination until the spring of 1830. He worked for his father on a farm until his marriage, which important event occurred February 4, 1836. His bride was Miss Sina Misner, a step-daughter of Governor Moore. They were married by Cheney Thomas, a justice of the peace. Mr. Passwaters then began farming on the place where he now lives, at Randolph's Grove. When the Black Hawk war broke out, Mr. Passwaters volunteered as a soldier, but on his march to the Rock River country was taken sick near where Lexington now is, and was unable to continue his march. He returned home, but afterwards volunteered as a ranger for sixty days to guard the frontier. During the fall after the war he made a visit to Ohio with his companions, Elias Gibbs and Garrett Mis- ner, but had no particular adventure. Mr. Passwaters has been much of a hunter. He once had a run of fifteen miles after a gray wolf, which had been eating Jesse Funk's pigs, and he killed it with a stirrup. The wolf died game and showed fight to the last.
Mr. Passwaters had a severe experience during the sudden change of December, 1836. He was returning home on horse- back from his father's house; he had come to the spring branch which empties into the Kickapoo, and there, as his horse refused to take the water, he was obliged to wade up to his waist; but in doing so his horse broke loose, and Mr. Passwaters was obliged to proceed home on foot, a distance of a mile. When he had gone a short distance from the creek the sudden change came on, the cold wind from the west struck him, and before he had proceeded a hundred yards farther, his clothes were frozen on him stiff. He succeded in reaching home, but was sick for a long time after- wards.
Mr. Passwaters has followed farming all of his life. He has often hauled wheat to Chicago, and has had all of the adventures
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of the pioneers. He has raised a family and supported it well by his labor and foresight. ' He has had twelve children, of which five have lived to be grown.
William Passwaters was in the Ninety-fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, and died at Vicksburg.
Mrs. Amanda Ryburn, wife of Edward Ryburn, lives near her father's house at Randolph's Grove.
Lee Passwaters now lives with Edward Ryburn.
Albert Passwaters lives at home with his father.
Mr. Passwaters is about five feet and eight inches in height, is not heavily built, is a very pleasant gentleman, is very kind- hearted, and must have many friends. He has lately been afflicted with a stroke of paralysis in the left leg, but remains as cheerful as ever. His wife is a lady of fine sense, and their pioneer life has doubtless been a happy one.
PURNEL PASSWATERS, JR.
Purnel Passwaters, jr., was born September 12, 1815, in Monongehela County, Virginia. When he was only one year old his father moved to Hamilton County, Ohio. In the fall of 1829 the Passwaters family started for Illinois, but on account of cold weather they wintered over in Indiana. There young Purnel killed his first deer. The Passwaters family reached Randolph's Grove on the sixteenth of May, 1830. In 1833, Purnel began to hunt " right smart." His first excursion was to the Mazon River and to the sandridges between that and the Kankakee. Three hunters went with him, but they found little game, as other hunt- ers had recently preceded them. Mr. Passwaters shot at a badger and broke its fore leg. The animal ran into its hole and was caught, but two men could not pull it out, although they pulled until it seemed that the animal must be torn asunder. They were obliged to kill it or it never could have been taken out.
In 1856, Mr. Passwaters went to Kansas, but had no particu- lar adventure. He saw a great many Indians, and did some trading with them. One Indian was pointed out to him as the son of the celebrated Black Hawk; but if this was the case, old Black Hawk neglected to train up his son in the way he should go, for the young man was drunk.
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Mr. Passwaters is about five feet and eight or nine inches high, has a careful, considerate, honest expression on his counte- nance, has nearly always been successful in hunting, has killed great numbers of deer and turkeys, is a very kind-hearted man and much respected.
ENOCH JONES PASSWATERS.
Enoch Jones Passwaters was born September 15, 1822, in Hamilton County, Ohio. He came with his father's family to Illinois in 1830, as stated in his father's sketch. He has not led a very adventurous life, has hunted deer and wolves as nearly all of the old settlers did. He used to keep greyhounds and fast horses to chase the game. He has often caught two deer out of a gang during a single chase. Only once did he know a deer to show fight, but he killed it with a stirrup while the dogs held it. He remembers an exciting wolf chase when he rode an unshod horse on slippery ground, and came up with the wolf after chasing it for seven miles. After his horse had made many turns, and the wolf had made many dodges, Mr. Passwaters crippled it by running over it, and the dogs came up and finished it.
Mr. Passwaters married, May 19, 1842, Almeda Savage, who died February 12, 1865. He married, September 7, 1871, Mrs. Ann Eliza Atchison. He has been very happy in his domestic life. He is about five feet and six or seven inches in height, has a bright expressive eye, is a pleasant, companionable man, and is industrious and hard working.
Enoch J. Passwaters has had nine children, and Mrs. Pass- waters had two children by her first marriage. The children are :
Martha Jane, wife of Tubal Iseminger, lives in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Ann Maria, wife of Hiram Miller, lives in Randolph's Grove.
Rhoda Comfort, wife of Aaron S. Vanvaley, lives in Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Irvin Purnel, Lucy Alice, Sarah Elizabeth, Mary Lovina, Enoch Halleek and George William Passwaters, live at home. Sarah Gertrude Atchison and Charles Newton Atchison, the children of Mrs. Passwaters by her first marriage, also live in the same household.
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CLEMENT PASSWATERS.
Clement Passwaters is the youngest living son of the Pass- waters, sr. He was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, March 17, 1825. He is of medium height, and has rather a dark complexion, and is one of the most honored members of the Passwaters family. He was married, June 1, 1848, to Miss Rebecca Yocum, daughter of Jacob Yocum, of Sangamon County, Illinois. He has had a family of seven children, of whom six are living. They are :
Emily Jane, wife of Samuel Miller, lives in Downs township. Stephen H. Passwaters lives just east of his father's.
William F., Enoch D., James C., and John L. Passwaters, live at home.
JACOB BISHOP.
Jacob Bishop was born June 25, 1797, in Maryland. His father, John Bishop, was of English descent, and his mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Cooper, was of German. When Jacob was only four years of age, he came with his parents to Fayette County, Pennsylvania. In about the year 1812 or 13, the Bishop family came te Perry County, Ohio, near the line between that and Licking County. Their journey was not re- markably adventurous. While crossing the Ohio, the waves rolled so high that their boat came near capsizing. The family was passed on its way by armies going westward to fight the British and Indians. Every regiment was accompanied by women, who were resolved to follow their husbands even to the battlefield. Mr. Bishop's elder brother was drafted into the army. When the Bishop family arrived in Ohio, they took a seven years lease of land in the woods. Jacob Bishop worked hard until he was twenty-one years of age aad then hired out to John Strawn, for whom he worked one year for one hundred dollars. Then he farmed Mr. Strawn's place for one year. Jacob Bishop married Mary Ann Weedman, and commenced keeping house in 1820. He started for Illinois, August 15, 1830, and came to Blooming Grove, where he arrived on the 15th of September. He had then very little property, and his father-in- law, George Weedman, had only a few hundred dollars with
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which to bring the settlers here. Deer, turkey and bee trees were then plenty ; he found the richest bee trees and largest quantities of honey in Old Town. He worked hard and had good weather until the great fall of snow between Christmas and New Years. During the latter part of the winter, people could go through the woods anywhere and find the carcasses of deer which had died because of the severe weather. The first heavy fall of snow came waist deep, and shortly afterwards a crust formed on it, which prevented cattle from traveling, for it was not hard enough to bear them up. The settlers broke roads from one house to another, but the wind filled up the tracks with snow; the roads were broken again and again until they gradu- ally became packed and rose higher than the snow on either side. Mr. Bishop's family had enough breadstuff's to last until the tenth of February. On that day, Mr. Bishop started with four others to Scott's mill on Kickapoo creek, about fourteen miles distant. They traveled from one house to another, where tracks had been broken and packed. At one place they walked over bars six feet high. They traveled with horses and took with them an additional packhorse. If they stepped from the track, they went down into the deep snow. They succeeded in getting their meal ground, and returned the following day. Just before the snow fell, Mr. Bishop and his father went to the edge of Old Town to get some pork and a cow. They brought home the pork, but the cow remained until late in February. When they went for it, they counted the car- casses of nine deer that had perished in the snow. Some were lying untouched and some had been partly eaten by wolves. The pigs had a hard time of it; they were accustomed to run wild and live on mast, but the snow prevented them from finding acorns. Jesse Funk's pigs ate the bark from the elm trees, as high as they could reach. The wolves were the only animated creatures which really seemed to enjoy themselves. They could run around on the crust of snow and could kill all the deer they wished, and were not afraid of anything, for they seemed to know that nothing could catch them.
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