Cass County, Illinois - Chapter 29: Chandlerville Precinct, 1915

For Business

BOUNDARIES - WELL WATERED - JOB'S CREEK - PANTHER CREEK - PANTHERS ONCE NUMEROUS AND DANGEROUS - PANTHER CREEK STATION FIRST POSTOFFICE - CHANGED TO CHANDLERVILLE IN 1851 - FOUNDED BY AND NAMED FOR DR. CHARLES CHANDLER - A NOTABLE MAN - CAME ALMOST ALONE TO THE SANGAMON BOTTOM - BUILT LOG CABIN - SECURED ENTRY CERTIFICATE IN 1832 - CIRCUMVENTED A LAND SHARK - HIS MANY ACTIVITIES - INTERESTED IN FIRST SCHOOLS - ENCOURAGED SETTLEMENTS - PROMOTED RAILEOAD PLANS - FOUNDED MERCANTILE AND MEAT PACKING CONCERNS - POSTMASTER AT PANTHER CREEK - APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT POLK - LIST OF SETTLERS IN VILLAGE IN 1S4S - SUBSEQUENT RAPID INCREASE - CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ORGANIZED - NAME OF CHANDLERVILLE ADOPTED - FURTHER DEVELOPMENT - ILLINOIS RIVER RAILROAD - BUSINESS LIST oF - i1n 1861 CHARTERED AS A TOWN - LIST OF FIRST TOWN OFFICERS - MILLS BUILT - INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE IN 1874 - ALL TRADES AND PROFESSIONS REPRESENTED - AN ADMIRABLE PLACE FOR RESIDENCE AND EQUALLY FOR BUSINESS.

River; on the east by Richmond Precinct; on the south by Oregon and Virginia precincts, and on the west by Hickory Precinct. It contains about twenty-six square miles, a third of which lies in the Sangamon Valley, and the remainder is the bluffs and some uplands that were formerly covered with a sparse growth of timber, but are now largely barren and used for pasturage. There are, however, some fairly good productive farms in what are known as the "barrens." The precinct occupies a portion of four congressional townships, 18-9 and 18-10, and 19-9 and 19-10. It has two principal water

Panther Creek Station

From the very earliest recollection of the white settlers the large creek running northwest, south of the village of Chandlerville. has been known as Panther Creek. but who bestowed the name cannot be ascertained. In earlier days it was by the natives called "Painter Crick." but it was named after the most ferocious of the wild animals that infested the timber and hottom lands along the streams until a very late day after the whites began to form settlements. Farmers suffered the loss of many a pig and lamnb., and not infrequently a calf from the depredations of these animals. and it is prohable that on account of so many panthers making their homes along the big creek where it had washed deep gullies through the hills, the name Painter or Panther was given to that classic stream. For years the site of Chandlerville was known as Panther Creek Station; even the post office later located there. bore that name until 1851, when the government at Washington was called upon to exchange it for that of Chandlerville. The new name was given in honor of Dr. Charles Chandler. who had made the first settlement near the creek on the Sangamon bottom.

A Notable Man

Dr. Charles Chandler was born July 2, 1806, at Woodstock, in Windham County, Conn. After a common school education in his native town, he attended Dudley Academy in Massachusetts, and then taught school for a year or two, the proceeds from which enabled him to take a medical course at a college in Pittsfield, Mass. He was graduated from that institution, and received his diploma in June, 1827. Returning to his native town of Woodstock, he began the practice of his profession there, and succeeded fairly well. He was married, May 15, 1529, to

It. I., where he was very successful in his practice, and by 18381 had built a fine two-story residence. The sequence will show why this incident in his life is mentioned.

About that time interesting stories of the great west, and particularly Illinois, were being circulated, and the young doctor with several of his neighbors concluded to come west and investigate for themselves. A colony was formed and the doctor sold his residence. much against the Wishes of his wife. who did not relish the idea of leaving a nice, comfortable new home for an experimental life of hardship in the wilderness of the great west. The doctor promised that as soon as they were well settled in their new home, and he was financially able. he would build for her a house exactly like the one he wanted to leave. Yielding because of this promise, she consented to go, and the little colony packed their necessary belongings and started by stage and river for their destination, which

Was Fort Clark. now Peoria. on the Illinois River. A number of the original company, however, backed out. and would not even start, but several families did go as far as St. Louis. but there learning of the great excitement on account of the Black Mawk war, they too turned hack and left the doctor with his wife and a sinall child, a daughter, to proceed on his way. The little party took an Illinois River steamboat for Fort Clark, but when they arrived at Beardstown, they found a great army there assembled, prepared to follow after the noted Black Iawk, Indian chief, and expel him and his band from the state. As the Indian uprising appeared to he fraught with more danger the nearer Dr. Chandler came to it. he prudently stopped at Beardstown. While waiting there, he learned of the country now comprising Cass County. and made investigations by riding over on horsehack, and finally concluded to locate near the mouth of Panther Creek on Sangamon bottom, ahout eighteen miles from Beardstown. So he Jaid.a "claim" to 160 acres of government land, being the east one-half of the southwest onequarter, and the west one-half of the southeast quarter of section 31, township 19, range 9, west. He built a log house near the center of the tract about the site of the present Congregational church of Chandlerville, and there established his family, but was himself called to attend the settlers professionally before he could get a stable built for his horses. The doctor, however, came near losing his claim, through the sneaking meanness of a "land shark'? who had come into the neighborhood and had been kindly treated by Dr. Chandler, who was more than glad to welcome any new settler who would become a member of the colony on the creek. This fellow, learning that the doctor had not yet entered the land to which he had laid claim, thought he would cut in ahead and enter it himself. but being only cunning instead of intelligent, like many other mean people. he was not wise enough to keep his evil intentions to himself. but let it be known to one of the doctor's friends, who, as soon as he could, communicated the fact to Dr. Chandler. Teady cash, coin, was not very plentiful, but the doctor soon gathered up enough by borrowing, temporarily, from the other settlers. and mounting his horse set out fur the Springfield land office, riding all night through the timber and underbrush until he reached the open prairie, within ten miles of Springfield, where he overtook two gentlemen also viding towards Springfield, who, observing the tired and jaded appearance of his horse, inquired of him as to his errand and destination. Dr. Chandler explained the situation, and thereupon one of the gentlemen offered the exchange of his fresh horse to the doctor, which was gladly accepted, and by this means he was enabled to reach the land office ahead of the contemptible "shark" and secured the entry certificate for his land. The records show that this Was on June 2, 1832. Later he entered the forty acres adjoining hiS west eighty. Dr. Chandler was not the only person in those early days who was imposed upon by disreputable persons, Some were not as fortunate as he, but were beaten to the land office and lost all their labor and improvements because of being less active than the tricksters. Silas Freeman, who came here from Tennessee in 1835, and laid claim to a part of section 2, township 17, range 10, west, just east of the present site of Virginia, had a similar experience. He, too, beat the "shark" to the land office, and saved his entry.

however, in Dr. Chandler's case that will have to be eliminated to conform to the facts. It is told by all his other biographers, in relating this story, that being desirous of having his land surveyed he inquired about a surveyor and learned of one residing at Salem, and upon engaging him he was surprised to find it was the man who had exchanged horses with him to enable him to get to Springfield on time, and that the man was none other than Abraham Lincoln. The story is easily believed on account of the well known characteristics of Mr. Lincoln, but unfortunately for the story, Abraham Lincoln was at that very time with his company in the northern part of the state engaged in driving Black Hawk and his band of Sacs across the Mississippi River.

Dr. Chandler was very much in demand by the settlers in a professional way, his practice extending throughout a range of country for fifty miles or more each way. By 1836 he felt he was able to redeem his promise to his wife and did so, building a house exactly like the one they had left years before. This house is still standing and is in pretty fair condition. It was the first frame house with the exception of the one built by Dr. Hall the year previous, outside Beardstown, in the entire county.

In 1533, Dr. Chandler's brother, Marcus Chandler, with his wife and son, Knowlton <A., came to the settlement on Panther Creek, and Henry L. Ingalls and wife also joined the settlement. In 1834, the settlement was increased by Squire Bonny and family, George Bonny, a nephew, and Dwight Marey and family. By this time several families had settled within a mile or two of Dr. Chandler's place, most of them having a number of children of school age, and although there was no public school, it was thought imprudent to neglect the children, whereupon, after due conference and consideration of the matter, Mrs. Ingalls, who was a highly educated woman, opened a school in her own home in the spring of 1835. There were the Bonny children, the Marcy family of six children, Robert Leeper's children, besides the Chandlers, Wings and Plasters, and others whose names are not now known or remembered by anyone and have not been preserved in any of the records, but there were enough pupils to make quite a_ respectable school, although some of the children had quite a distance to walk to reach the school. Dr. Chandler opened his own house to the children of the community, with his sister, Emily Chandler, as teacher, when, in the next year, Mrs. Ingalls closed her school. Dr. Chandler was a very liberal man, and encouraged the maintenance of schools and churches and everything that tended towards the betterment of the moral and intellectual condition of the people who were now gathering and settling on all sides of him. He built a house at his own expense for the express use of the pupils, and gave tracts of land and contributed liberally to the building of the various churches erected at Chandlerville. He also looked after the material advancement of the settlement by inducing mechanics, artisans and tradesmen to locate here. Among others, be succeeded in getting Levi Mckee, a wagon maker, to come to the settlement by donating to him a lot on the principal street for his shop, and another lot for a residence.

Dr. Chandler was a man of sound judgment and not in the least visionary, yet he favored any and all projects which held out any promise of advancing the interests of the community. When it was proposed to build a _ railroad through the village, his name was among the first on the list of promoters or of those seeking incorporation of a company, and it was very largely due to his efforts some years later, that the Illinois River Railroad came through from Pekin to the county. He also desired very much to have railroad connection with the river traffic at Beardstown, and readily joined with others in three different attempts through incorporated companies to build a line of railroad from Beardstown along the Sangamon bottom to Chandlerville, and some point berond, but it required large capital, and the farmers along the proposed route would not consent, without the payment of large damages, to have their land cut up by a railroad.

In order to accommodate the other settlers in the neighborhood, Doctor Chandler, in 1835, erected a small store building and filled it with a stock of goods and endeavored to personally conduct the business, but his time was so occupied with professional calls from all directions that he found he could not give sufficient personal attention to the store, and in 1837 sold to Cc. J. Newberry, who did not succeed very well in merchandising, and in a very short time he sold it to a Mr. Chase, who continued the business for several years, and then sold it back to Dr. Chandler and his brother, Marcus. The firm did a prosperous business not only in mer- chandising, but also engaged in the packing business and for a time annually slaughtered about 3,000 hogs. In 1849 they met with a loss by fire which burned their store buildings, but they soon rebuilt and were if possible more prosperous than before. It is said that at one time they shipped 400 bushels of pecans to St. Louis, receiving for them $3 per bushel, which Was double the price they had paid for them.

In 1847 Dr. Chandler secured the establishment of a post office at Panther Creek, and was by President Polk appointed postmaster. Prior to that time the mail was brought from Beardstown by the doctor's sons, and from his house distributed to the neighbors.

In 1840 Mrs. Mary Chandler died, leaving a small son, less than a year old, whom the doctor had named Harrison Tyler, and four older children, namely: Mary, the little child who had made the long journey from Rhode Island, who married John Shaw; Emily Webster, who became the wife of Gen. Charles E. Lippincott ; Maria Louise, who became the wife of David Frackleton: and Charles Emmett.. Dr. Chandler married (second) Miss Clarissa Child, a sister of Mrs. Henry Ingalls. She, too, predeceased the doctor, but only a short time, and left two sons. John T. and Linus C. Chandler.

Tribute As Man And Physician

It would be interesting to follow and record in detail the incidents in the life of Dr. Charles Chandler, for they practically tell the early story of this section, but the limits of this work Will not permit. Of the several excellent biographies extant, one of the best was written by his acquaintance and friend of many years standing, Dr. J. F. Snyder, of Virginia, from which the following is selected as a fitting conclusion of the above brief notice of one of Cass County's most worthy and exemplary citizens.

"Dr. Charles Chandler was a highly creditable representative of the sturdy stock from which he was descended. He was a strong man physically, intellectually and professionally. In stature he was six feet tall, a Daniel Webster in figure, robust and well proportioned, with dark auburn hair and hazel colored eyes, high, broad forehead, and features expressive of his benign, unselfish nature. Animated by an indomitable spirit of progress and enterprise, be was remarkably active, energetic and industrious. Devoting himself for many years with zeal and efli- ciency to professional duty in his sphere, yet he found time to plan, promote and prosecute various industries. His energy and power of endurance were marvelous, his labors being limited only by the limits of his fortitude. No fanatic was ever more a slave to the service of his religion than was Dr. Chandler to the duties of his profession. He never halted to inquire about the ability or honesty of those in sickness and distress who required his assistance, but went to their aid at any and all hours of the night or day. Dr. Chandler was a very able, clearheaded physician who would have been accorded a position in the front ranks of the medical profession anywhere. Well grounded in book lore and theoretical knowledge, his quickness and clearness of perception and fine judgment in the analysis of symptoms rendered him almost infallible in diagnosis. He was deservedly a very popular physician. not only because of his superior ability, but also because of his kind, sympathetic nature, his exalted humanity and genuine Christian spirit."

List Of Seitlers In Village

The growth of the settlement was not very rapid in the immediate village. In 1S4S there were but the following families: Dr. Chandler, nex. S, Sinithe OO) Hicks: J2-BF Shaw, Etisha Olcutth D> Marer, Levi Mcisee, H: L. Ingalls; Mrs. Iarbison. a widow. and Myr. Chase. In 1849 Dr. Charles E. Lippincott. afterwards General Lippincott. came to Chandlerville. and established himself in practice. From that time on from some unaccountable reason the population increased rapidly and by 1851, a village of about 200 people was gathered at Panther Creek. A Congregational church had been organized, and was now quite flourishing and influential. Private schools were regularly kept up with efficient teachers in charge, and in 1848 Dr. Chandler had secured the services of J. W. Sweeny, the county surveyor, to Jay out and plat his village. He gave it the name of Chandlerville. and filed his plat April 29, 1848, in the recorder's office of the county. By 1851 Dr. Lippincott had centered his affections on Dr. Chandler's daughter. Emily, to whom he was married on Christmas eve of that year. In that same year Dr. Lippincott had interested himself in the matter to such an extent that he secured from congress a change in the post office from that of Panther Creek to that of Chandlerville.

Further Development

The village of Chandlerville made rapid and permanent growth. In 1859 the Illinois River Railroad came through from Hayana, and by 1SCO, the following business interests were there, as exhibited in a business directory published with a map of the county that year, it being the first authentic record to which reference may be had indicating the material progress and growth of the various settlements in the county: Sylvester Padock & Brother, merchants; W. L. Way, merchant; H. McKee & Co., merchants; L. P. Renshaw, dealer in grain; Levi McKee, postmaster and justice of the peace; K. H. Chandler, police magistrate; A. Englis & Co., plow makers; Englis & MclIxee, carriage and wagon makers; J. Robinson, miller; R. Ward & Company, saddle and harness makers; C. L. Robinson, builder of Gilmore's patent bee house; J. W. Gladden, carriage and wagon maker and sign painter; G. Mayries, boot and shoe maker; W. T. Sprouse, blacksmith: Charles During, bakery and saloon; J. Raworth and A. J. Bruner, attorneys-at-law; R. Boles. merehant tailor; Thomas J. Brook, carpenter and joiner; Charles I. Chandler, physician and druggist; N. S. Read, physician; and Charles E. Lippincott, physician. A wall map, upon which appears the above list of merchants and professional men, also contained a number of pictures of residences and husiness houses in the yarious parts of the county, among them being the handsome home of Dr. Chandler, built in 1836, and the threestory brick huilding of Sylvester Padock, which was burned in 1911.

Chandlerville Chartered As A Town

The above array of merchants convinced Dr. Chandler. who had spent twenty-eight years of the best period of his life in building up a town, that now was the time to safely apply for an act of incorporation. Therefore he secured from the state a charter of the town of Chandlerville, hearing the date of February 21, 1861. and including a mile square of territory within its corporate jurisdiction. The first officers of the town board were: Dr. Charles Chandler, J. W. Gladden, W. L. Wary, Elisha Oleutt, Levi Melxee. and Dr. C. E. Lippincott, clerk.

business, they were sold to James Abbot and William Haworth. In 1874 the boiler of a mill exploded, doing great damage to the building and machinery, and killing the engineer, Joseph Davis, who was an experienced man, but the cause of the explosion was never ascertained. In 1875 another gristmill was built by Skagg Brothers, but they sold in about two years to James Tantum, and later the plant was purchased by Smith and Carr, and was known for years as the Smith & Carr Mill. These mills were within the limits of the town, but in earlier days there were two or three different water mills built up Panther Creek. That stream was unreliable, rising rapidly with apparently the least provocation, from rain falling into the small tributaries in the uplands, and rushing in great torrents down through the hills. carried the small mills away one after the other, until the idea of maintaining a mill on Panther Creek was finally abandoned.

Chandlerville Incorporated As A Village

Chandlervile outgrew its old town charter by 1874, and on July 21, that year, received its certificate of incorporation as a village under the new general state law. It now has a population nearly sufficient to entitle it to become a city under the same general law. A number of additions to the village have been made until it now has spread over a large tract of land. Its substantial growth is evidenced by the fact that it now has an excellent high school, with an equally fine graded school. employing seven teachers and a principal; six churches, the Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, Christian, Tutheran and Catholic: two banks, the Chandlerville State and the Peoples State; four physicians and surgeons, Drs. N. H. Boone, Howard B. Boone, John G. Franken and Dr. Eversole; one lawyer, A. T. Lucas, state's attorney of Cass County, who maintains his private office and residence at Chandlerville. although his public office is at Virginia: a flouring mill, several groceries, two boot and shoe stores, two hardware stores. three dry goods stores, a jewelry and repair shop, a harness store and shop, several meat markets and general stores, several elevators and grain dealers, a large lumber yard with all kinds of building materials. barber shojis, clothing stores, millinery and furnishing stores, furniture store and undertaker, livery, feed and sales stable, an electric light system,

A large plat of ground was left vacant in the business center. which is now a_ beautifully shaded park, which, together with the many handsome residences, makes Chandlerville one of the most attractive villages in central Lllinois.

Chart Ers Songs Hickory -Precinge

SITUATION AND BOUNDARIES - FERTILE SOIL OF GREAT DEPTH - GRAIN, CLOVER AND TIMOTHY DO WELL - DRAINAGE HAS RECLAIMED LARGE TRACTS OF LAND - MAIN HIGHWAY THE OLD BEARDSTOWN AND PETERSBURG ROAD - LAID OUT IN 1SS7 - THE "BARRENS" USED PRINCIPALLY FOR PASTURAGE - NAME OF HICKORY GIVEN BY COUNTY BOARD - HICKORY CHURCH - FINE BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE - VOTING PLACE - PROSPERITY EVIDENT.

Situation And Boundaries

Hickory Precinct lies directly west of Chandlerville Precinct. and has Mason County bounding it on the north with the Sangamon River between. Virginia and Bluff Springs precincts are on the south, while the western boundary is East Beardstown Precinct. <A large portion of the precinct lies within the Sangamon bottom. and since the small lakes and ponds have been drained by the Drainage District organization, has as large a portion of valuable farming land as any to be found in the county.

Fertile Soil

FERTILE SOIL, The fertile soil is of great depth. and it appears to be almost inexhaustible. Cereals of all kinds are grown in great abundance, while the land produces excellent clover and timothy. In earlier days the hottom lands were thought to be of less value even than the upland prairies. The whole bottom from bluffs to the river was covered with a dense growth of native grass that grew from 6 to S feet high. and seattered throughout the length and breadth of the bottom were numerous clumps of blackberry, crabapple, wild roses and thickets of persimmon, while many sloughs, small lakes and depressions filled with stagnant water except in the very driest time of the year, during the summer months were infested with such numerous swarms of mosquitoes and great green-head flies as to make it utterly impossible for either man or beast to inhabit it. By the cutting out of the thickets and briars, and burning off the grass and draining and cultivating the lands, the sloughs and ponds were dried up, the miasma and green-head flies disappeared, and even the mosquitoes sought more desirable quarters. Now, as has been said, these lands are very valuable, and have for years been very productive, enabling the owners to become extremely wealthy. <A ride along the principal highway of this precinct, which is the old Beardstown and Petersburg road laid out in 1837. running along the foot of the bluffs, will convince anyone that the soil of the Sangamon bottom lands had yielded bountifully to the farmer, and handsomely rewarded him for his efforts to reclaim it from its primitive condition. The southern part of the precinct is composed of what is known as the 'barrens,' and since the timber has been removed, these lands and the bottom lands are used almost exclusively for pasturage for horses, sheep and cattle.

The precinct was originally named Bowen, but was later changed to Husted, and remained known officially by that name until it was changed to Hickory by the county board. It has never had a town or village within its borders. but the central part had a group of churches, which have all disappeared except the Presbyterian, known as the "Hickory Church," which has now an excellent brick building of modern design, standing upon the same tract of land occupied by the original church there built in 1549.

A modern brick schoolhouse stands just east of the church. the church and school yard together being of sufficient size to form a splendid play ground for the children. The school at Hickory is one of the best and most progressive, as well as one of the most thoroughly and sensibly taught in the county. The district adopted the plan of employing a competent teacher and then keeping her from year to year. Thus Miss Emma Suffern has been the teacher

The voting place for the precinct is at the Hickory schoolhouse, on the north one-half of section 17, township 18, about five and one-half miles northwest of Virginia, and although not a large vote is cast, yet Hickory Precinct can always be relied on to return a majority in favor of the moral side of every question.

Prosperity Evident

The early history of this community has been told in the general history of the county. Reference has been made to all the early settlers, the schools, churches, and noted citizens, and much in detail will be found in the biographies of the men of the present day, and the references therein to their ancestors. The farmers of this precinct, for it is exclusively an agricultural district, are nearly all well to do men, have excellent houses furnished with the most modern of conveniences, electric lights, steam or furnace heat, and water supply. and many owning automobiles, all of which, together with the telephones and free delivery of mail at their very doorstep, makes life in Hickory Precinct very desirable, and very different from what it was in rural districts not so very many years ago.