Coles County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 10 of 21)

Ten teachers are employed, whose wages, including that of the Superintendent and janitor, amount to $4,740, for eight months of school. The teachers are: C. W. Jacobs, Principal; Miss Lizzie Dorland, high school; Miss Carrie Riddle, Miss Eva Lowe and Miss Lillie Osborn, grammar school, sixth, seventh and eighth grades; Miss Helen Patterson and Miss Lavina Ewing, intermediate department, fourth and fifth grades ; Miss Mollie Phillips, primary department, and Miss Julia Pulsifer, Miss Ida Woods and Miss Mary Oushman, same department, in the first, second and third grades. Grouping the school statistics, we have :

Assuming the first number given to be one-third; the second, one-fourth, and the third, one-eighth, we have a population of about six thousand in the city.

On Saturday, June 7, 1856, Mr. R. W. Houghton issued the first number of the Mattoon G-azette, the initial copy of newspapers in the city. It was a seven-column, four-page paper, one of the original copies of which is now in possession of Mr. Leonidas Chapin. a resident of the western part of town, and who highly prizes this relic of early days. His regret now is that he did not preserve the entire files of the paper.

" We design publishing a good family newspaper - one whose information can be depended upon as reliable. In politics we are independent - committed to no party."

After giving his reasons for this stand, he says: "There are many matters of vital importance to our moral advancement, our educational system and the agricultural interests of this mighty people which demand the attention of the press, giving a broad field for operation outside the political arena."

He goes on to say that he will give particular attention to commercial and agricultural reports, and adds, '"we have now launched our bark, weighed anchor, and hope to accomplish the voyage, even though we have occasionally to contend with tides and adverse winds."

Speaking of Mattoon in an editorial, he notes its geographical position, its railway facilities, its markets and the good country about it. He says the town is a " stripling of less than a year's growth, and taking into consideration the difficulties of procuring building material, and the unusual sickness of the last season, its growth has been rapid. A great many buildings are now in course of erection and many more are projected."

Commenting on the prospects of the village, the paper proceeds: "We know of no place which ofi'ers greater inducements for the improvement of capital than this. Houses of all kinds are in demand at the landlord's rates, and everything else demands good prices. No branch of business seems to lack customers. In fact, we have all the elements necessary for the buildingup of a good inland town, in conjunction with a firm determination on the part of the inhabitants to make it thrive.

" We have now eight or ten good stores, nearly all kinds of mechanics, several warehouses, two good hotels, a printing office, and a population of from four to five hundred."

The editor quotes from the Indianapolis Daily Sentinel the nomination of James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, as President, and Breckenridge, of Kentucky, as Vice President, in the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati. He also notices the election of Directors for the T. H. & A. Railroad, as reported by the Paris Blade, and the robbery of the post office at Vincennes, Ind., quoted from the Gazette of that town. After giving a few other general items, he proceeds to fill the balance of the second page with advertisements.

A. Francis informs the citizens of Mattoon that " he is now opening at the store opposite and nearest the depot, another choice stock of spring and summer goods, of almost every kind and description, and that he will keep on hand constantly the best brands of flour."

Norvell & Brother announce that they have just opened a " saddle and harness shop, west of the Central Railroad, over the Crazette office," and that their terras are " exclusively cash."

A. Engle the " Mattcx>n House now open, and that he is ready to rei'eive the patronage of the public, and afford them a home, at reasonable terms. '

Thomas McKee advertises that " the Pennsylvania House has recently changeii hands, and has been very much enlarged and otherwise improved bv painting and papering it throughout."

Mr W. H. K. Pile says that "the Kentucky House, at the comer of Second and Broadway, will furnish supper, lodging and breakfast for §1, and that he will give one meal for 35 cents."

H M. Tremble & Son '' announce to the public that they are receiving dry goods of every description, hardware and cutlery, groceries, boots and shoes, clothing, cordage, carpenters' tools, farming utensils, rich and fashionable bonnets : all of which we offer for sale cheap for cash, or in exchange for corn, oats, wheat, rye, rags, butter, eggs, tallow, beeswax, and, in short, everything in the produce line, at market prices."

Conley «k Hitehcoi'k have the largest advertisement of anv firm. Thev report uew^ style prints, new style poplins, sugars and other groceries, summer clothing, boots and shoes, and everything to be found in any other store. Thev give market reports, from which we learn prices paid then for different articles bought and sold. Wheat is reported from ^1 to ^1.50 per bushel ; corn, from 12| to 15 cents ; oats, 20 cents ; potatoes, ^1 and ^1.25: timothy-seed, §2.25: eornmeal, 25 cents per 100 lbs.; butter, 12| ; eggs, 10 cents per dozen ; coffee is 14 cents p«r pound ; sugar, from 10 to 15 ; bacon is reported from 7 to 10 cents per pound,^beef at 7 and 8 cents ; chickens are worth i$1.50 and 32 per dozen; rye is worth 50 cents and 60 cents per bushel ; hay, §6 per ton ; whisky. 85 cents per gallon, brandy ^.50. w^ine $4 and gin $2.50, when bought by the barrel.

This description includes almost all noticed in this first issue of the paper, referring to Mattoon. The i-est of the paper is devoted entirely to foreign matters - no local items noticed. Probably Mr. Houghton did not have time to gather any. He appears to have all his paper but one page printed elsewhere - probably in Terre Haute, as much of the advertising is from there, and some of it is inserted twice. The paper is quite creditable for the start, and we are sorry that no second copy was preserved so its advance could be noticed.

The G<jzette was announced to appear every Saturday, and carefully fulfilled its contracts. Mr. Houghton, who had been a printer in Terre Haute, and had published a paper in Greenup until thfe county seat was removed, continued with the Gazette until autumn, when he sold to Dumas J. Van Deren, and returned to a farm near Greenup. He remained there and in the town till the spring of 1857, when he moved again to Mattoon and purchased the Gazette of Mr. Van Deren. He conducted the paper till the fall of 1859, when he sold it to Mclntyre <fe Woods and removed to a farm near Majority Point. Shortly afterward, Mr. Woods sold his interest to W. P. Harding, and the firm of Harding k Mclntyre, who took charge of the G-azette. Mr. Houghton returned the third time to Mattoon after raising one crop, and again secured an interest in the (xazette. He subsecjuently enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentythird Illinois Volunteers, and lost his life in an engagement on the 18th September, 1863. When he went to the arrny, the paper continued under Mclntyre & Harding's control, the latter gentleman as editor until February 1, 1861. July 19, 1865, Mr. Mclntyre sold to J. 0. Harding, and the G-azette came under the charge of Harding Brothers.

When the war broke out, J. 0. Harding enlisted first in the Sixteenth Indiana, afterward in the Seventy-ninth Illinois. He was taken prisoner and confined in Libby eighteen months. On his return from the war, he came again into the Gazette office on July 19, I860, with his brother. The firm of Harding Brothers managed the Gazette until June 20, 1866, when the junior member sold his interest to Mr. C. B. Bostwick, and Harding & Bostwick conducted the paper until May 29, 1867. At this date, Mr. Harding sold his interest to Mr. Bostwick, who managed the Gazette until July 10, 1867. A radical change in the paper occurred at this date. The Democratic party had for some time been desiring a paper, and when Mr. Bostwick sold, it was to a committee of prominent citizens of that political party. They changed the name to the Mattoon Democrat and its politics to their own. They employed Charles W. Dunifer as editor, who remained but a few months, when he was succeeded by a Mr. Crouch, who remained in charge only two or three months. The adventure not proving a success, the committee desired to sell. They found a purchaser in the persons of Taylor k Bowen, who changed the name to Mattoon Clarion. They, however, were not able to pay for it, and, soon after, the establishment was sold at Sheriff's sale, and the materials moved to Sullivan.

When Mr. Bostwick sold in 1867, he contracted to stay out of the printing business five years, and, the time expired, he returned and concluded to revive the old Gazette. He and George B. McDougall purchased a new outfit, and, on the 16th of August, 1872, they issued the first number. They also opened a job office in connection with their paper, and soon had a good business. They continued together until January. 1874, when Mr. McDougall sold his interest to Mr. Bostwick, who has since conducted the Gazette. It is a large-sized, eight-paged paper, and has an excellent reputation and circulation. The office is fitted with a good steam-power press, two job presses, power papercutter, ruling machine, and all the material necessary for doing all ordinary commercial book and blank Avork.

The Journal was established November 1, 1865, by W. 0. Ellis. He, in his editorial " salutatory," defines his intended position ; refers to the fact of the late war; to his position regarding it ; to the desire he entertains for peace ; to the cause of education, which he hopes to see fostered in the town ; to the growth of trade and the encouragement of manufactories, and to the general advancement of the city wherein he has cast his lot.

The editor notices the fine weather of that fall : the discharge of the Thirtythird Illinois, at Vicksburg; the granting of 8,000 pardons by the President, and the fact of there being 20,000 still on file. Many other items of State and national news are given ; a liberal patronage of advertising appears, and, all in all. the paper evidently was issued after a careful canvass was made.

Some one gives a history of the inception of the Mattoon Business College and Female Seminary, and, through successive numbers, concludes arguments in favor of their firm establishment in the city.

The Journal starts out evidently well prepared for work, and shows a disposition to maintain and elevate its standard. Mr. Ellis continued as editor and proprietor until June 23, 1866, when he sold an interest in the paper to Capt. Thomas E. Woods. Two weeks before, the Journal was considerably enlaro-ed and improved, showing the year's adventure had been successful. Capt. Woods, in his " salutatof-y " to the readers of the Journal, says he is here ao-ain among the people he had formerly known when he conducted the Gazette, and later, when he had wielded the pen in the sanctum of the Charleston Courier, before that journal, as he thinks, apostatized. He alludes to the fact of his late connection with the war, fairly closed, and avers that, having tried both the pen and the sword, though the former may be " mightier,

The current news of the day are given ; a good local column is maintained, while general ne>vs appears. Mr. Ellis remains with the paper, Capt. Woods acting as editor.

The Journal was run under this arrangement until the fall of 1869, when Capt. Woods purchased the entire interest, and assumed exclusive control. He conducted the Journal alone until March 1, 1876, when he associated with himself his brother, Winfield Woods, and the paper was conducted by Woods Brothers until January 1, 1879, when Capt. Woods received an appointment in the Treasury Department, at Washington, and Avent there. He is still connected with the paper, however, and furnishes much of its editorial matter.

On January 1, 1879, William F. Purtill, who has been connected with the papers of Mattoon as a general printer and foreman for several years, and has been for a lontr time with the Journal, obtained an interest, and now the paper is conducted by Woods & Purtill. It began in 1874 to issue a daily, which it maintains with commendable enterprise, and which is an important factor in the life of Mattoon. It had been run as a tri-Aveekly two or three years prior to the daily ; this was, however, abolished when the daily was founded, and the weekly issue resumed.

The third paper in Mattoon, the Commercial, is the outgrowth of the Radical Republican, a paper started early in December, 1867, by Mr. Ebenezer

Noyes. When the Gazette was sold by Mr. Bostwick to the committee of Democrats, Mr. Noyes determined to establish a strong Republican paper in its stead, purchased materials and opened an office on the north side of Broadway, west of the railroad, in the room now occupied by 'Squire Robb. He employed Charles Robb as printer, and assumed the editorial charge himself. He made the paper what its name implied, and was not at all afraid to freely express his views. He was assisted by Mr. Chittenden in his editorial work, who had the main control in the business office and as a gatherer of news. James Williams was soon after also engaged in the printing department.

Mi*. Chittenden did not remain long in the office, and the entire editorial and reportorial duties devolved upon Mr. Noyes, who took in his sons to aid him. They continued the Radical Repuhlican until sometime in 1871, when they sold the paper to Mr. A. Bookwalter, who changed the name to Commercial. He continued it until the fall of 1872, when he suspended. He soon after sold the office to Mr. R. Sumerlin & Sons, who moved it to its present location. Their first paper appeared on October 8, 1872. Under their management, the paper was made the organ of the Democratic party, and was continued by them until August, 1876. Mr. Sumerlin sold the paper at this time to a stock company, and went to Florida. The company appointed Mr. A. Sumerlin, who had been in the office with his father, editor and manager, and, under this management, it is still continued. The Commercial is a fourpage paper, issued weekly, and has a good circulation among its constituents.

Lodges, Associations, Societies, Etc

Mattoon Royal Arch Chapter, No. 85. Instituted October 26, 1865. First officers: James M. True, H. P.; S. J. Fisher, K. ; W. H. House, S. Present officers : Thomas Davis, H. P. ; James Darnell, K. ; J. H. Clark, S.; J. J. Ayer, Sec. Meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, at their hall.

William H. Lewis, Sec. Present officers: J. B. Durnell, W. M. ; Thomas Davis, S. W. ; J. A. Mulford, J. W. ; George W. Clark, Sec. Meets first and third Wednesdays of each month, at their hall.

K. of P. Endowment. - Section, No. 148. , Instituted in April, 187-'. First officers : Charles B. Fry, President ; Robert N. Gray, Vice President ; John W. Hanna, Secretary and Treasurer ; Henry Wright, Chaplain ; W. Patrick, Guide ; Henry Gullion, Guard ; A. Stewart, Sentinel. Present officers : Charles B. Fry, President; John W. Hanna, Vice President; W. M. Chettle, Secretary and Treasurer ; Henry Wright, Chaplain ; L^. Culson, Guide ; Henry

Oullion, Guard ; Anthony Stewart, Sentinel. Membership, over twenty-five. Meets first and third Thursday evenings of each month, at K. of P. Hall.

Knights and Ladies of Honor - Alpha Lodge No. 28, instituted in April, 1878. First officers: J. F. Drish, Pro.; Mrs. J. W. Hanna, Y. Pro.; L. V. Woods, Sec; Mrs. W. W. Smith, Fin. Sec; Mrs. h-a James, Treas. Present officers : L.G.Roberts, Pro.; Mrs.Norvell, Y. Pro.; Harry Coulter, Sec; John Parmalee, Fin. Sec; Mrs. Yining, Treas. Meets second and fourth Thursdays each month in K. of H. hall.

W. C. T. U. - Organized June 5, 1878. First officers: Mrs. M. J. Hinkle, Pres.; Mrs. Thomas Clegg, Sec: Mrs. Lillie Mulford, Cor. Sec: Mrs. Maggie Duncan. Treas. Meets every Thursday afternoon in their hall. Further particulars of this society, its objects, etc., are given in the history of the city.

This town is pretty well divided between prairie and woodland, the latter, perhaps, predominating to some extent. Its timber is principally oak, hickory, sugar-maple, and a light scattering of walnut. The township is watered by the main branch of the Embarrass River flowing along its western boundary, together with several smaller streams which have their source in its territory, the most important of which is Pole Cat Creek. The sweet-scented name of this stream was derived, it is said, from the fact that a new-comer first learned upon its classic banks the power and alacrity of that species of feline to defend itself against its enemies. Ashmore is bounded on the north by Oakland Township; on the west by the Embarrass River : on the south and east by Hutton Township and Edgar County, and is much larger tlian a regular Congressional township. It is a fine agricultural region, and contains many excellent farms. The Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad passes nearly through its center from east to west, and has been of incalculable benefit to the town. The village of Ashmore, wiiich will be again alluded to in this chapter, is a thriving place, and the shipping point for a large scope of country.

First Settlement

The first white men who made claims in the territory now embraced in Ashmore were the Dudleys. James Dudley entered land here in 1826. He was originally from New Hampshire, but had been for several years a resident of Edgar County before coming to this section. When he entered land here he put his brother, Guilford Dudley, on it, and Laban Burr, a son of Laban Burr, one of the early settlers of Edgar County, and he remained for several years afterward in that county before coming to his new possessions. Guilford Dudley and Laban Burr were both single men, and kept " bachelor's hall " for several years. Coles County, at the time of which we write, was a part of Clark, and the first frame barn erected in what now comprises both counties, was put up on the Dudley farm about 1830. It was a frame structure, as we have said, of the New England pattern, and after the frame had been "raised," a man of the name of McCracken climbed to the top of it to christen it by name, as he said was the custom down in New England. With all due solemnity, and "in the name of the good people present," he pronounced the name of "Bachelor's Delight and the Pride of the Fair," and then threw away the bottle, though, as our informant expressed it, bottles then were rather scarce. What use they had for a bottle in such a ceremony we are unable to conjecture. The romantic name under which the barn was christened appears a little contradictory, and the latter clause a misnomer, as the household at that time was said to have been a bachelor one. The "raising" of the edifice was quite an event, and men came from the "Big Creek" settlement (in Edgar County) to assist in the enterprise.

Guilford Dudley, after taking to himself a wife, entered land a short distance from his brother's place, on which he remained until his death several years after. His youngest son, Elbridge Dudley, now occupies the place. Laban Burr eventually married Miss Melissa Sutherland, of Grand View Township (Edgar County), and entered land south of Dudley's, in what is now Hutton Township. James Dudley, mentioned above as the first to enter land in this section, after living a bachelor until the mid-day of life, married a widow lady named Brown. He sold his farm to a man of the name of Olmstead about 1837, and returned to the East. Adam Cox is supposed to have been from Kentucky, and settled in this township in 1826-27. He located near Dudley's, and, after remaining there a number of years, sold out and removed to Jasper County, and finally to Missouri, where he died. He settled in the " Big Creek " neighborhood before coming to this county.

Job W. Brown was born in the old Nutmeg State, but his parents removed 10 Kentucky when he was ten years old, where they resided several years ; then came to Lawrence County, 111., and, in January, 1825, removed to Walnut

Grove, at that time considered the very outskirts of civilization. In 1838, he, with his father, Jonathan W. Brown, took a contract to build two sections of the Terre Haute & Alton Railroad, which they completed in 1840. and, the same year, he settled in Ashmore Township, on a farm he still owns, and upon which he resided until 1877, when he retired from active labor, and removed into the village of Ashmore, where he at present lives, enjoying a competency won by honest toil. Mr. Brown tells the following story of his "sparking" days: There was living in the neighborhood a family with a grown-up daughter of whom he was rather fond. After a time, the family moved away some distance to the northwest, and he would mount his horse semi-occasionally and ride out to see her. As the country palaces in those times usually consisted of one room, which served as parlor, dining-room, bedchamber, kitchen, etc., " it required a good deal of courage," he said, " to corner his girl under such circumstances," but he " at length got used to it." Upon an observation from us, that, had we lived in those primeval days, we would have done our sparking in the summer time, when, with the fair one of our choice, we might have wandered in the " darkling wood, amidst the cool and silence," or lingered beside the " purling brook, as it meandered over its pebbly bottom," etc., etc., he ((uietly remarked that " where there was a will there was a way," and that " people in a backwoods country could get used to almost anything."

The severest punishment, he said, that he ever received at school, was given him by his father when going to school to him. The boys and girls were allowed to " sit around the room promiscuously," and " all mixed up together." He was quite a large boy, and one day a pretty little French girl chanced to be sitting next him, when, upon the spur of the moment, he put his arm around her, drew her to him and kissed her - "for her mother." His father did not see the performance, but the titter that ran round the room "gave him away." The old gentleman forced some timid little fellow to tell the cause of the laugh, when he walked him and the little girl out in the middle of the room and compelled him to repeat the operation. He braced himself for the ordeal and Avent through it like a little man, but he observed that his '' heart was not in it as it was the first time."

John Carter, Pearson and John Wiley, John Wright, Thomas Reed, James Wells, John K. Spears, William H. Galbraith, C. L. Duncan, William Woods, Joseph Epperson, Charles'D. Phelps and Fountain Turner were from the old Blue- Grass State. Carter was from the Crab Orchard country, and came to Illinois in 1830, arriving in this township on the 13th of April, and settled a short distance east of the present village of Ashmore. He has two sons living - Shelton Carter, in Ashmore Township, and Joseph Carter, in Morgan Township ; both are honorable, upright citizens. A daughter married John Austin, and lives on the place where Mr. Carter built his first cabin. Mrs. Joseph Reed is also a daughter, and Mrs. Catharine Young, living in Washington Territory. Mr. Carter died in July, 1841. The Wileys came in 1829, and settled some two or three miles from the village of Ashmore. Pearson moved to Parker Prairie, and John to Douglas County, where he died. Wright settled near the Wileys, and came about a year afterward. They had all first settled on Big Creek, before coming to this settlement, but had not remained long in that locality. Reed came in 182!', and settled about one and a half miles northeast of the village of Ashmore, and has been dead a number of years. He died on his original settlement, and where his son Caleb Reed now lives. Mrs. Walton, a* daughter, lives in the town, and Mrs. Galbraith, another daughter, lives in Hickory Township. James Wells settled about three miles south of the village of Ashmore. His father was a native of Maryland, and removed to Bracken County, Ky., at an early day ; Avas one of the very earliest settlers in that part of the State. James Wells, alluded to above, came here in 1830, and still owns the original place on which he settled, but for a year or two past has been living with his son-in-law, Mr. O'Brien, in the village of Ashmore. John K. Spears was from Jefferson County, near the city of Louisville, and came to this township in 1834, settling near Hitesville, He died in 1888; a son. Dr. A. K. Spears, is living in Charleston. Woods came to Coles County in 1834, and located in the east part of Ashmore Township, and died in 1878. He has but one son living, Thomas Woods, residing on the old homestead. Joseph Epperson settled in the township the same year as Woods, and came from the same county (Madison) in Kentucky. He died in 1850, leaving several children in this part of the country to perpetuate his name. Phelps came in 1830, and settled in Ashmore Township. He had a large family of children, most of whom still live in Coles County. Mr. Phelps died in 1856. Turner settled in the township in 1834, where he still resides, one of the solid men of the county. He and his wife have been living together for more than sixty years, and are hale and hearty for their age. Galbraith came to Coles County in 1830. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, but removed to Kentucky in an early day. He was a soldier and an officer of the Revolutionary war, and served seven years under Washington ; was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and one of the guard of that noted prisoner for some time. He removed from Kentucky to Indiana in 1816, and the son above mentioned to Coles County, as noted, in 1830, where he still lives. Coleman L. Duncan, though but a few years in Coles County, has lived just over the line in Clark since 1830, and can give as vivid accounts of the privations of the early settlers as any man now living. He resides with his son-in-law. Dr. Steele, of Ashmore.

Hezekiah Ashmore came from Middle Tennessee, in 1830, and settled in what is now Oakland Township, and, in 1836, removed to this town. It, together with the village of Ashmore, was named for him. Mr. Ashmore landed here with 37 J cents in his pocket, but, realizing that fortune smiles on those who help themselves, he went to work, and, as fast as he accumulated a little money, invested it in land, so that, at the time of his death, he owned

1,600 acres. He was one of the early Justices of the Peace, and one of the County Commissioners for a number of years. He died in 1872, leaving a numerous progeny in the county. William Austin was also from Tennessee, and came to Illinois in 1829. He settled where the village now stands, and, the ground occupied by this thriving little burg was the first land which he cultivated after settling in the neighborhood. His original log cabin is still standing, though its identity is nearly lost in the modern improvements made to it, since it first served to shelter a pioneer family from the inclemencies of the weather. It has been weather-boarded and otherwise improved, and is occupied by Mr. O'Brien. Mr. Austin has been dead a number of years, but has numerous descendants still residing in the county, to perpetuate an honored name. Christopher Sousely is another of the early settlers, and came to this township in 1828. He is still living, but has grown feeble as well as aged, and is waiting in patience for the summons to come. Joseph Henry and his son, Dr. A. M. Henry, Isaac Hill and a Mr. Forrest, were also early settlers, but of them not much could be learned. William Birch came from England, in 1833, and stopped in Pennsylvania, where he spent three years. He occupied an old house near Philadelphia, once the residence of William Penn. In 1836, he came to Illinois, and settled near Hitesville, in this township, and died in April, 1864. He has a son living near Charleston. Enos Barnes came from North Carolina, and settled two miles north of the village of Ashmore. He was a soldier of 1812, and was with Old Hickory, at the battle of New Orleans. He emigrated to Kentucky, where he remained until 1830, when he came to Illinois, as above. His original cabin stood until 1877. He died in 1872 ; his wife died in 1855, but one or two sons still live in the township. William H. Brown and Thomas W. Hallock were from New York; the latter settled in 1837, and Brown in 1839. Both are still living and are successful farmers.

John Mitchell was a native of the Palmetto State, but had lived successively in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, before immigrating to Illinois. He settled in Coles County, in 1828, in the edge of the Embarrass timber, in Ashmore Township, where he died some fifteen years afterward, and his wife a year later, leaving a family of eight children, only two of whom are now living, William B. Mitchell, in the State of Kansas, and Mrs. Galbraith, Avife of James Galbraith, in this township. The condition of the country at the time Mr. Mitchell settled here, is illustrated in the fact that one of his sons, Robert Mitchell, went to Darwin, on the Wabash River, a distance of forty miles, for a marriage license. Rev. S. J. Bovell is a son of one of the pioneer preachers of Illinois. He was born in Washington County, East Tennessee, and came to this county with his mother's family, in 1835. His father was a native of the Old Dominion, and a graduate of Washington College, and, in 1825, received a call to the Presbyterian Church at Paris, 111., but died in three months after taking charge. His widow removed to Coles, as above noted, and located southwest of Charleston. Mr. Bovell remained on the farm with his mother until he was twenty years of age, when, after completing his education, he taught in various States, and, in 1861, was licensed to preach, and, at present, is Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the village of Ashmore.

Elder Peter K. Honn came from Kentucky in 1835, and stopped for a short time in Edgar County, and from there went to Sangamon County, where he remained about six months, working at his trade (blacksmith), after which he came to Coles County and located at Hitesville, in this township, and opened a blacksmith-shop, which he continued for several years. In the mean time he purchased a quarter-section of land, which he improved in connection with his trade of a blacksmith. He eventually abandoned his shop and devoted his attention to his farm, until 1875, when, having accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods, he retired from active labor, and removed to the village of Ashmore, where he at present lives in the enjoyment of a well-earned competence. Some five years after coming to the county, he was ordained a minister of the Christian Church, and his experience as a pioneer preacher is vast and varied, sometimes bordering on the extremely ludicrous, as is but natural in a backwoods country. With no intentional disrespect to the Gospel (for of it we entertain the profoundest veneration), but as an illustration of the state of the country at that time, and by way of embellishment of dry historical facts, we give some of the experiences of the old soldier of the Cross, as related to us by himself. Upon a certain occasion, when this country was the very center of the backwoods, he and another preacher, whom he denominated Brother E., made a missionary or preaching tour, at the latter's special request, through Clark, Crawford, Jasper and Cumberland Counties, and through the southern part of Coles, to their homes. The stipulation was, that wherever they stopped they should preach alternately. After swinging around the circle into Jasper County, Brother E. informed him that they would stop at Brother So-and-So's to dinner, the leading man of the neighborhood, a pillar of the church in that section, and where, it seems, Brother E. had been before. He told Mr. Honn that they were good people, but not as tidy and neat as they might be, and he would have to harden up a little. Upon their arrival, Mr. Honn found that this nabob lived in a mansion composed of one room, which served all purposes a residence is usually subjected to, and very soon dinner was begun "for the preachers" by a grown-up daughter, while the lady of the mansion sat on one side of the fire-place smoking a cob-pipe, and the lord and master on the other side indulging in a like luxury, the preachers occupying seats in front of the fire, looking on, Mr, Honn admits, with some interest. After a while the girl lifted a pot off the fire, and opened it apparently to see the state of its contents, while the odor was quite strange to him, and he nudged Brother E. and asked him what it was, who replied that it was stewed coon. He at once thought of the hardening-up process, and being a little particular as to his food, was somewhat doubtful as to whether he should enjoy a very hearty dinner or not. He discovered eventually, however, that his stomach was not quite so sensitive as

Brother E.'s. After the coon was cooked to her satisfaction, she brought forth some side pork, very fat, placed it in a skillet and fried the grease all out of it, leaving a pint or so of lard in the skillet. Next she produced a " crock " full of buckwheat batter, which she poured into the skillet (not all at once), and he had noticed that a portion of the hem of some of her undergarments had been torn from its native place and was dangling within an inch or two of the floor, and as she would move about the fire, it would now and then draggle in the frying batter. Brother E. looked at him and he looked at Brother E., and he noticed that the latter had grown rather pale, so that when dinner was announced a little later, he could eat but a few mouthfuls. He kept his eye on Brother E. and, shortly after dinner was over, noticed that he appeared quite uneasy and looked very pale. Finally he rose rather hastily and left the room, and upon following him out, found him behind the house "calling New York" lustily. That evening he had to preach for Brother E.*

He was once called upon to perform a marriage ceremony at the house of one of the well-to-do pioneers. When he arrived at the cabin, he found the bride in waiting, dressed in all the glory of backwoods beauty and fashion, and the groom ditto. Among the "assembled guests" were two very large and ungainly curs, walking about the room with as much liberty as (to use a slang expression) blind dogs in a meat-house." After the marriage, all were" invited to a sumptuous dinner, the dogs included ; or, if the latter were not invited, they cheeked it, and went in on their own responsibility. When the repast was well under way, some one dropped a bone, or threw it down to the dogs for the purpose of creating a little excitement. If for the latter purpose, they succeeded beyond their most sanguine expectations. They clinched in battle (the dogs) with savage ferocity, rolled under the table growling, biting and chawing each other generally. Said Mr. Honn ? " And what did the fair bride, faint ? Not much. But sprang on to a chair, and in a high state of excitement, clapping her delicate (?) hands, she yelled at the top of her voice, ' sick 'em ! sick "em ! sick 'em !' " After the guests succeeded in separating the dogs, dinner was finished in peace and quiet.

One other episode from Mr. Honn's pioneer experience, and we will pass on. A young man of the neighborhood, who was addicted to sowing wild oats with a profuse hand, finally concluded to marry and settle down, and to this end, succeeded in persuading a girl living some miles away, to unite her fortunes with his. The mother of the bridegroom elect, who was a highly respectable lady, thinking or at least hoping, that marriage would work a reformation in her wayward son, had exerted herself to bring about the union, and had prepared a wedding feast for the occasion. He had brought the girl to his mother's, where the marriage was to take place, and all things being in readiness, he posted off to Charleston for the documents that were to bind together

But at Charleston the devil tempted him, or perhaps he met with some of his old chums, got drunk, and finally got in jail, where he was detained two or three days in "durance vile." When set at liberty, he struck out for home, came by Mr. Honn's, and asked him to go to his mother's with him as he was going to be married, and wanted him to tie the nuptial knot. Thinking the fellow was jesting, he demurred, as it was then getting dusk, but he stoutly asserted that he was in earnest, so Mr. Honn said, "Well, you show me the marriage license and give me a dollar, and I will submit to being fooled, and will go with you. " To this he assented, paying over the last dollar he had, and Mr. Honn mounted his horse and away they went. Upon arriving, the house was dark, and everybody apparently abed. Mr. Honn told him that did not look much like a wedding, but he said it was all right. When they went in they found all abed, sure enough. A married daughter was living with the old ladv, and into the room where she Was in bed, he was conducted bv the young man, handed a chair and asked to take a seat. The expectant bridegroom inquired of his sister where the girl was, calling her by name, and was informed that she was sleeping in the next room. "I'll bring her out," said he, Mr. Honn sitting by all this time, taking in the ludicrous position in which he was placed. The young man went in where the girl was in bed, and for a long time he heard them in earnest conversation, he begging her to get up and be married, and she refusing. She told him he had "gone back on her," that she had sent her clothes home and had nothing to wear (unwittingly quoting Flora McFlimsey) but an old, dirty calico dress. But as it usually turns out, the stronger prevailed over the weaker vessel, and she agreed to "get up and get married." provided his sister would loan her a dress. This modest request being granted, she arose, arrayed herself in her si=ter-in-law's (as was soon to be) "good clothes,"" the knot was tied. The pair was spliced, and the officiating minister returned to his home, with a consciousness that, if he had earned his dollar, he had at least enjoyed the earning of it.

The Noble Red Man

In common with other portions of the country, this section was at one time in possession of the Indians, and these forests the hunting-grounds of "ye noble red men." They were plenty here long after the whites began settlements in the country. We have heard of no outrages committed by them in this immediate vicinity on the white people, but elsewhere in this history, is told how " war's fierce conflict raged," and battles are described that were fought on the " sacred soil " of Coles County, between the savages and their pale-faced enemies. But these events belong not to this chapter. Mr. J. W. Brown, mentioned among the early settlers of this township, gives us the following Indian experience: An Indian settlement, adjacent to his father's, was under the administration of a chief named Ka-Nee-Kuck, a fine-looking specimen of the "noble red man,"' somewhat intelligent and very religious. He sometimes tried to preach, would go into a trance and see visions, which he would detail to his people. In his tribe was a warrior whose mind had lost its balance, and he was at times dangerously crazy. On one occasion he was shown some pictures of Bible scenes, among them a serpent representing the devil. Upon looking at the frightful picture, a shudder appeared to thrill his entire frame, . and, seizing a rifle, he shot an Indian named Black Beaver dead in his tracks before he could be restrained, or before anv one seemed to realize his intention. The chief, Ka-Nee-Kuck, with a deputation, came to Mr. Brown's father, Jonathan W. Brown, for his opinion as to what ought to be done with a man under such circumstances. Mr. Brown explained to them that the man was not responsible for the deed, as he was insane and ignorant of the great crime he had committed, and they should properly secure him to prevent a repetition of the deed. They took him to a grove of timber and tied him to a tree, but with the inordinate cunning, common to crazy people, he succeeded in making his escape. Black Beaver, the man killed, was buried in Mr. Brown's pasture, but, in that early day, as well as in the present age of refinement, the graves of the dead were not always left in undisturbed repose, and the body of Black Beaver was resurrected (it was supposed by a medical student named Smith) to promote the cause of science. These Indian scenes are all long past, and the very existence of Indians in this country is almost forgotten. Very few are living who remember them from personal knowledge. They have faded away in the mists of the past, just as the pioneer's hut, with its yawning fire-place extending across one end, its puncheon floor, and its cracks chinked and daubed with mud, have passed away. These old relics of the by-gone days, and the ox-teams, the old barshare and Gary plows, the scythe and cradle, and the reaphook will soon be nothing more than fire-side tales. As we view the flying railroad train, the patent reapers and mowers, the plows now in use, the magnificent residences dotting the plain, and the beautiful villages scattered here and there, we are forced to acknowledge that the strides of invention and improvement of the past fifty years have far exceeded the wildest stretch of human calculation, and we turn from contemplating the world's progress, to muse on what the next half a century may produce.

Schools, Churches, Stores, Etc

The first schoolhouse in the township was built on che hill near " Pole Cat Bridge," about 1832-33, and was the usual type of the backwoods schoolhouse, viz., built of round logs, covered with clapboards, chinked and daubed with mud^ the fire-place taking up one end of the building, a puncheon floor - sometimes mother earth furnished the floor. This was the ordinary temple of learning in those days, and the school commonly consisted of a dozen or so dirty urchins, presided over by an old-fogy schoolmaster, as represented in the following lines :

" Then Anthony Blair, with mortified air, With his head down on his breast. Took his penitent seat, by the maiden sweet, That he loved, of all, the best.

" And Anthony Blair seemed whimpering there. But the rogue only made believe ; For he peeped at the girls with the beautiful curls. And ogled them over his sleeve." *

The first school taught in Ashmore Township was by a man named Foster, before building the schoolhouse above named. Who first taught in the house mentioned, our informant had forgotten. The educational facilities have increased, however, since the days of these old-time schools, in proportion to the increase and improvement in everything else. The town is advantageously laid out in school districts, elegant and comfortable houses erected, competent teachers employed and the cause of education liberally supported.

Kev. Isaac Hill is supposed to have preached the first sermon in Ashmore Township, He and his son, I. B. Hill, were among the early settlers of the county, and the elder Hill was a local preacher. Rev. John Steele was another of the early preachers, and is further alluded to in the history of Hitesville. Elder P. K. Honn is also one of the pioneer preachers of the town. The only church edifice in the township outside of the villages and hamlets, is Enon Missionary Baptist Church, in the southern part. It is quite an elegant brick edifice, and cost between §2,000 and $2,500, and was erected in 1875. It was dedicated by Rev. Mr. Riley (now of Paris) soon after its completion. The first Pastor was Rev. Mr. Thornton ; the present one is Rev. A. Jones, and the society numbers about fifty members. Its numbers have been considerably lessened by death and removals. A flourishing Sunday school is maintained during the summer, but is usually disbanded at the beginning of the winter season. Other church history is more fully given in that of the villages.

The first stores in the town will be mentioned in the history of the villages and hamlets, as will many other points generally occurring in the township histories. The first regular blacksmith in the town of Ashmore was Peter K. Honn, one of the early settlers, and who opened a shop at Hitesville soon after coming to the settlement. John Carter was a blacksmith, but did not follow it as a regular business, and Avhen Honn opened a shop, quit it altogether. The first death in the settlement it is supposed was a child of Adam Cox's, and occurred about 1831. It was buried in the grave-yard laid out near Mr. Wells', and was the first occupant of that little city of the dead. The first marriage and the first birth are alike forgotten, but that ''such have been," the present population stands as incontrovertible evidence.

Vii,Lage Of Ashmore

Ashmore is situated on the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad, about seven miles east of Charleston. It was surveyed and laid out February 14, 1855, by

H. J. Ashmore and James D. Austin, and for the former of whom it was named. The entire villao;e stands on the oriorinal Austin farm ; Ashmore had bought out some of the Austin heirs, and hence owned a part of the land when the village was laid out. The first store was opened by John Hogue, on the laying out of the place. McAllister k Ashmore, who had a store on the road, half a mile southwest of the town " before it was," moved their store to the new village, and became the second house of the kind in Ashmore. Van Dyke & Hogue put up the first dwelling in the little village. The first blacksmith-shop was kept by William English. The Waters boys started a wagon-shop about the same time. The first mill in the village was built by J. A. Brown in 1856, and was burned some three or four years afterward. A brother of Brown's was the first railroad agent at Ashmore. The present mill was built by Clement k Fish, about 1866. It stands near the railroad track, just east of the station, is a frame building, with two runs of buhrs and does a good business. It is owned at present by Chris Miller, an efiicient man, who thoroughly understands the milling business. The first tavern was kept by H. J, Ashmore, is still standing and kept at present by A. B. McDavid. The village boasts of another hotel, the Franklin House, kept by John Franklin. The first post office was established on the laying out of the village, with Thomas O'Brien as Postmaster. Elias Monroe represents Uncle Sam in the post office department here at present. The first schoolhouse was built in 1857-58, and was a kind of partnership aiFair with the religious people. It was finally purchased for school purposes, and so used until the building of the present edifice. Washington Boyer and Charles P. Scott were the first teachers in the village, but which one has the honor of teaching the first school cannot be ascertained. Prof B. H. Chase is Principal of the school at present, and Miss Roma Carter, assistant teacher. The present fine brick schoolhouse was built in 1871, is two-stories high and cost about §3,000.

A summary of the business of Ashmore presents the following showing : four general stores - Zimmerman & Monros, F. M. Waters, Waters Brothers & Davis and J. R. Snyder ; three grocery stores - Joshua Rickets, Peter Shleppy and George O'Brien ; two drug stores - A. F. Robertson and W. R. Comstock ; five physicians - Drs. Van Dyke, Steele, Robertson, Hobart and Honn ; one hardware store - Austin, Brown k KimbaU, who also handle lumber, furniture and agricultural implements; stoves and tinware, J. A. Brown; shoe-shop, J. H. Poulson ; harness-shop, James C. Coulson ; marble-shop, Charles E. Cox ; four blacksmith-shops - Charles W. Waters (both wood and iron), P. B. Parcell, John Melland Woodworth k Ault; two wood-shops - Thomas Kincade and 0- D, Stoddert. It is a flourishing little village, with a set of wide-awake, energetic business men. In addition to the above business directory, there is a grain warehouse, which does quite a business. Considerable grain is shipped from this point, mostly however, by the merchants of the place, who buy in a small way. A good deal of stock, cattle and hogs, is also shipped from this station.

The Churches

The village of Ashmore boasts of three very stylish church edifices, viz., Methodist Episcopal, Cumberland Presbyterian and Old-School Presbyterian. The first religious society organized in the village, or now located in the village, was the Methodist. It was originally organized in the neighborhood in 1831, by Rev. Joseph Henry, a local preacher, with the following members : Dr. West and wife, C. Sousely and wife, Joseph Mclntire and wife, Robert Modrell and wife, J. H. Modrell and wife, Matthew McLain and wife, James Hubanks and wife, William Austin. Sr., and his daughters, Frances and Mahala, Samuel P. Burr, George Modrell, Margery Modrell, Sarah Hubanks, Ruth Clark, Jennie Clark and Elizabeth Clark, and perhaps some others. The name of the first preacher, or circuit-rider, was Rev. Mr. Rhimon. The first church was built in 1869, in the village, and cost about $2,500. About 1838, in conjunction with the Presbyterians, they built a log church some two miles west of the village, Avhich they used for a number of years. This log church, schoolhouses and settlers' cabins were their places of worship, until the building of their church in Ashmore, and the organization has been kept up ever since first established in 1831. The present membership is thirty-five, and J. A. Burke, Pastor. The first Sabbath school was organized in 1831, by Methodists and Presbyterians, William Austin and James Hite, Superintendents, and has been run as a union school ever since, until last summer, when the Methodists organized a separate school. It numbers about eighty or ninety scholars, with L. C. Fell, Superintendent.

Hebron Church, of the Old-School Presbyterians, was organized on the 19th June, 1841, by a committee appointed by Palestine Presbytery, consisting of Revs. Isaac Bennett and James Reasoner, and Ruling Elders J. Balch and William Collom. The original members who went into the organization were Robert Brooks, Mary Brooks, James H. Bovell, Jane M. Bovell, Alfred J. L. Brooks, Mary Brooks, Robert A. Brooks, Samuel Hogue, Letitia Hogue, Sarah Moflfett, James Moffett, Thomas C. Mitchell, Isabella A. Mitchell, Margarist J. Mitchell and Cynthia Moffett. The first Ruling Elders were Thomas C. Mitchell and Robert Brooks. Rev. Isaac Bennett preached occasionally for the Church for one year. He was succeeded by Rev. John McDowell, who preached twice a month for two years, beginning in May. 1842. Rev. John Steele was stated supply for the Church from 1844 to 1849, giving it one-half of his time. He was succeeded by Rev. Joseph A. Jams in February, 1849, who supplied the pulpit for two years. From 1851 to 1855, Rev. James Cameron, who lived in Charleston, preached occasionally. For the next ten years, from 1855 to 1865, various ministers were connected with the church as stated supplies, giving it a part of their time from their other charges in the following order : Revs. John McDole, A. J. Cameron, R. A. Mitchell, James A. Allison, H. I. Venable and Nathaniel Williams. In October, 1865, Rev.

S. J. Bovell was called to the charge as stated supply, and has without any interruption continued to hold this relation up to the present time. Since its organization, 160 persons have been received into membership, about 60 now constituting the membership, the depletion being caused by death and removals. Only three of the original members are nojv living, viz., A. J. L. Brooks, James Moffett and Letitia Hogue. I. S. Wright, I. M. Moffett, T. J. Bull and A. J. L. Brooks are the Ruling Elders. The first church-building was located two miles west of the village of Ashmore, near the former residence of James Galbraith, and was a log structure, and built in connection with the Methodists. In 1867, a neat and commodious church-building was erected in the village, at a cost of $3,300, but the organization still retained the name of Hebron, and was known as Hebron Church, under the care of Mattoon Presbytery. The church was dedicated on the 20th of October, 1867. The history of the Sabbath school is similar to that of the Methodist Church above given, and was a union school with that church until the past summer, when the school was divided.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in 1858, under the ministerial charge of Rev. James Ashmore, who was the first regular Pastor. The church was commenced in 1866 and completed the following year. It is an elegant brick edifice and cost about $7,500, and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. A. B. McDavid, with a membership of about one hundred and twentyfive. H. J. Ashmore, one of the benevolent citizens of Ashmore, contributed to the building of this church edifice $3,500. While it was in process of erection, the agent of the Cumberland Presbyterian College at Lincoln, 111., came to the village, and hearing of Mr. Ashmore's liberality, called on him to know how much interest he wanted in the Lincoln College. " Two hundred dollars," replied Mr. Ashmore, and paid over the money. A Sunday school was organized by this church in 1860, and has an average attendance of 120, under the superintendence of 0. F. Ashmore.

Ashmore Lodge, No. 390, was organized in the fall of 1863, with the following charter members, viz. : A. N. Graham, W. P. Ferris, Caleb Reed, Hamilton Bennett, J. A. Brown, M. W. Barnes, John Campbell, 0. D. Hawkins, W. S. Vanmeter, W. N. Young and Robert Boyd, of whom the following were the first set of officers : W. S. Vanmeter, Worshipful Master ; A. N. Graham, Senior Warden ; Caleb Reed, Junior Warden ; John Campbell, Treasurer ; M. W. Barnes, Secretary ; W. P. Ferris, Senior Deacon ; W. N. Young, Junior Deacon, and Robert Boyd, Tiler. The present roll of officers are : P. B. Parcell, Worshipful Master ; W. R. Comstock, Senior Warden ; John Woodworth, Junior Warden ; P. M. Shleppy, Treasurer ; L. C. Fell, Secretary ; W. E. Franklin, Senior Deacon ; Christian Miller, Junior Deacon, and I. N. Moon, Tiler, with the names of twenty-nine members on the records.

The village of Ashmore was incorporated April 19, 1867, and the following Trustees elected to look after its welfare : Jacob A. Brown, Thomas O'Brien,

William Bass, William P. Ferris and A. F. Robertson. The Board organized by electing Jacob A. Brown and A. F. Robertson, Clerk. The present Board is as follows, viz. : Adam Coon, President, and Thomas O'Brien, William T. March, William L. Cox, Thomas Austin and John G. Parker. J. 0. Brown is Clerk, A. F. Robertson, Police* Magistrate, and Thomas W. Hogue, Town Marshal.

Village Of Hitesville

Hitesville is an old village, or would be, if still in existence, but it has passed away, "among the things that were." It was laid out April 15, 1835, by James Hite, for whom it was named, and who appears to have been an enterprising citizen. At one time, it was quite a village, with stores, shops, and every appearance of becoming a town. But, railroads passing near, new villages have sprung into being, which have literally swallowed up Hitesville, leaving scarce a trace to tell where it stood. At an early day, a Presbyterian Church was organized at Hitesville, by Rev. John Steele. The church was built almost entirely by Mr. Hite, the neighbors ' contributing but a small amount of the means toward its erection. Hite finally moved away, sold the church, which was converted into a dwelling, and used as such for awhile, and then torn down. Prior to its discontinuance as a church, however, the Christian denomination organized a church, and erected a building at this place, about 1840. It soon became too small for the increasing membership ; was sold, and a larger one built during the late war, at a cost of $2,500, and is a handsome frame building. Its present membership is something over 100, and has, since its organization, numbered 200 members, but has been thinned out by death and removals. The present Pastor is Elder James Steele, but Elder P. K. Honn has been the minister in charge of it almost from its organization, until age compelled him to retire from active labors. This is about all there is left to tell where Hitesville once stood.

St. Omer was never laid out as a village, but at one time was a collection of perhaps half a dozen houses, a store, post office, blacksmith-shop, etc. The Ashmores opened a store at the place many years ago, and a man named Hogue kept one on the road, about half a mile from St Omer, at the same time. But, like Hitesville, and from a similar cause, St. Omer has disappeared. A church and two or three dwellings are all that is left. The church belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterians, and is one of the pioneer church organizations of Coles County. The society was originally organized in a schoolhouse near the present village of Ashmore, with thirty-seven members, on the 30th of May, 1842. John Mitchell, William Austin, Sr., and Alexander Montgomery were the first elders. Though originally organized near Ashmore, its membership was largely of St. Omer, and the church-building was erected at the latter place, about 1857, at a cost of $1,200, not including the lot on which it stands. It is a frame building. 30x40 feet, with a membership at present of about one hundred, under the pastoral charge of Rev. A. B. McDavid. Its aggregate membership since organization is about three hundred and seventy. The present Elders are John Dollar, Josiah Bitner, J. Keran, Daniel Wicker and Milton W. Barnes ; the latter is the Clerk of the Board. The deacons are Joseph W. Bitner and John F. Childress.

Politics And War

Ashmore village and township, taken together, are Republican in politics. The war record of the town is good. In all of our little " scrimmages," Ashmore has participated, to a greater or less extent. The war of 1812, the Black Hawk Avar of 1832, the Mexican war, and our last unpleasantness, all had representatives from this section, and even one or two soldiers in the Revolutionary struggle afterward wandered to this region. In our last war, the great rebellion, many of the citizens shouldered their muskets and offered themselves to their country. The following are among the enlistments from this township so far as we have been able to gather them : Dr. A. F. Steele, Company C, Sixty-second Illinois Infantry ; Nathaniel Davis, Company H, Third Missouri Cavalry, as Sergeant ; William T. Moore, Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana (100 days); Elias Moore, Company H, Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteers ; F. M. Waters, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers, as Chief Musician ; Joshua Rickets entered J. W. Bissell's Engineer Regiment of the West, as private, and was promoted to Second and then First Lieutenant, served twenty months, and resigned ; William C. Kimball, Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Volunteers ; Sidney Epperson, Company H, Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteers, promoted to Quartermaster; Rhodes Epperson, Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers ; Martin Turner, Company - , One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers, killed in battle of Perryville ; Thomas J. Bull, Company C, Iowa Cavalry ; Adon Wiley, Company E, Seventy-ninth Illinois Volunteers. There were, perhaps, many others from the township, but we have been unable to learn their names.

This township is the middle one in the southern tier of townships in the county. It is a little irregular in shape, being bounded on the east by the Embarrass River, which follows a southern course, slightly inclining westward. The township is eleven sections long and four wide. This will give it forty- four sections, or 28,160 acres. As a part of the eastern sections are, however, in Hutton Township, there is probably not that amount of land by two thousand acres. The land is, in the main, excellent for farming purposes. It originally was nearly all covered with a dense growth of good timber, hence the township is among the earliest settled in the county. The only prairie of any size is one known by the very unclassical name of " Goose-Nest Prairie." It was probably a fine-look in_o- piece of country to the eyes of the first white man who saw it; but whether he gave it that name from finding a goose's nest there, or from its fancied resemblance to that repository of goose eggs, or whether he had been a classic student in his day, and had read of the fabled goose which laid a golden egg every day, and made it so valuable, is a matter of some dift'erence of opinion. Some say the primeval white man here looked upon the scene spread out before him and exclaimed, " This is the very goose nest." Others affirm he found a goose's nest here, and hence the name. If any of our readers care to pursue the subject to its end, and settle the point, we refer them to several old residents in the "Goose Nest" whom they can examine, and with whom they can argue the point. Which of the three origins is correct matters but little now ; one thing is certain, that name, so illustrative of the disposition of frontier life, will always stay.

The timber originally found in this township, much of which yet remains, is composed of all varieties indigenous to this part of Illinois. The most valuable is now nearly all gone, that remaining consisting of a more common kind, and used chiefly for fire-wood and fencing. As much of this abo.unds, but little, if any, coal is used in the township.

No streams of water traverse this part of the county, save a few small tributaries of the Embarrass and Muddy Creek. The largest is the little Indian Creek, which rises in Section 36, in La Fayette Township, and flows southeasterly almost entirely through Pleasant Grove. It has one small aftluent, rising in Section 3, Neither the main creek nor its branch is of a size to be of any practical use, save drainage. Two little creeks flow southward through the western part of the township, affording, like the Little Indian, a partial drainage to that part of country. The principal one is known as Big Muddy, from the character of its waters. Near it was an early settlement in this part of Coles County. The main surface of Pleasant Grove Township is somewhat undulating in appearance. There is not much wet land to be found in its borders. A few swamps are here and there to be seen, but these admit of easy drainage, and will, in time, all be brought under cultivation.

On Section 23, in this township, exists a natural curiosity. On a spot of ground, covering about one-half acre in extent, are ten springs, each sending forth a stream of remarkably cold water, highly impregnated with diff"erent medicinal qualities. What is strange, is that no two springs are alike in the quality of water they emit. One spring will be highly impregnated Avith car-- bonate of soda, while near it will be another impregnated with iron, another with chloride of sodium, and so, on - as many diff'erent waters as there are springs. As all are medicinal in their qualities, many persons resort here for the cure of various diseases which these waters are supposed to benefit. Indeed, many ai"e bettered by coming here, and it is the intention to fit up a place, so that accommodations can be furnished those desiring to come. The springs are now owned by Dr. Ilalbrook, who keeps, temporarily, many patients in his house, near the springs. The place evidences being a favorite resort of the Indians, as a great abundance of relics of these aboriginal inhabitants are found here.

" Their whitened sails were neatly spread, And slowly on their course they sped, As, westward still they kept their way, Toward the setting orb of day."

The picture presented by Mr. George Balch of the coming of the emigant, in the above lines, is vividly true of the arrival of the first settlers to Central Illinois. No railways then existed in the great West. Indeed, they were only known in the East, and were more dreaded in England, where they began, than liked. They were then in crude infancy, and were not thought of in the West. Hence, the picture of their "whitened sails neatly spread,"' as the wagons of the pioneers came Westward, is not in the least overdrawn. They came chiefly from the South - from Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama - as the sequel shows in the mention of each one.

Emigrants coming from these various Southern localities, at that day, generally converged at a point on the Ohio River, at or below Louisville. From there they came north, through Western Indiana, to Vincennes, the oldest settlement on the Wabash. From this place, sometimes they came directly west to their various localities, or went on north to Terre Haute, and from that place went to their chosen homes. Sometimes, however, they went on down the "beautiful river," on llatboats, to old Shawneetown, where they disembarked, reloaded their goods and themselves into their wagons, and came north to Carmi or Mount Carmel ; from either of which places they could find routes northward. While on the way, they encamped wherever night overtook them, generally making some grove of trees and stream of water their halting-places. Mr. Balch in his poem, from which two verses are already quoted, further describes their mode of camp-life. We subjoin it, as better descriptive of that scene than anything we have found :

" Four hundred miles behind them lay Their native land, so far away - Their childhood's home, their place of birth, Their father's and their mother's hearth.

" Before them stretched the boundless West, In all its native grandeur dressed ; Where, fresh from the Almighty's hand, There lay a second Promised Land .

" But now the sun, adown the west, In crimson clouds was robed for rest ; While in the east, with hidden sheen, The Goddess of the Night was seen,

" Too modest to unveil her light Until her lord had passed from sight. The weary day being almost spent, The pilgrims halt and pitch their tent.

" Beside a limpid, babbling rill, With shady groves along the hill Where savage bands, in other days, Had seen their sparkling camp-fire blaze ;

" And round it danced in savage glee Like beasts, as wild, like birds, as free. But as they now far west had fled. The pilgrims had no foes to dread.

" Their jaded steeds were loosed, at will To crop the herbage from the hill ; Their sparkling camp-fire's cheerful light Kept back the gathering shades of night,

" Which drew their sable curtains round The pilgrims' lonely camping-ground. While cheerful chats and cheering song Soon whiled a pleasant hour along

" In which their meal had been prepared. And by each one was gladly shared. Then, ere the pioneers retire. They gather round their cheerful fire,

" And talk of scenes. in other years. Of rising hopes and boding fears, Of childhood's happy hours, now fled. Of once loved friends, who now are dead,

" Of kindred dear, they left behind When starting west, new homes to find. In fancy saw the schoolhouse still, As once it crowned their college hill,

" While in its shady groves they strayed. And ' hide-and-seek ' in fancy played ; Or gathered round their grape-vine swing And heard their comrades' voices ring.

" Those comrades too, had left their plays - Forever gone their childhood days - And now, with trusty sword and shield, Like them were on life's battle-field.

" Some talked of ' mother's ' earnest prayer ; Some of ' father's ' anxious care : These, too, they feared they ne'er would meet This side the ' city's golden street.'

" The little church, to them so dear, Engaged their thoughts and claimed a tear ; They prayed that God would bless the place Where first they tasted of his grace.

" They called to mind their pastor's care, His counsel wise, and faithful prayer ; Rejoicing that they had a friend Whose prayers for them would still ascend

" To God, who, though enthroned on high. Will hear the lowly when they cry. And now to Him their thoughts are turned, While in their hearts for Him they yearned :

" For man is sure, when left alone, To think of God, and heaven and home. But darker grew the shades of night. The evening star had passed from sight,

" And there, around that lone camp-fire, Before the pioneers retire, They bow beneath the solemn grove And chant to God these lines of love.

" With heart and voice, and bended knee. Our Father, God, we come to Thee; No temple built by human skill, No ritual made by human will, Have we to bring.

"Our hearts shall be Thy temple home, Where Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone; And in these temples built for praise. Our humble notes of song we raise. Thy love to sing.

"We praise Thee for Thy constant care; For grace, the ills of life to bear ; For streugth to help us on our way. And bread of life from day to day, AVhich we partake.

" And now, we give ourselves to Thee, Oh, keep Thy trusting children free ! And guard us through the shades of night. And wake us with the moruing light. For Jesus' sake.

"Thus trusting on a Sovereign Lord, They rose from otf the grassy sward, And soon retired to peaceful rest. With naught but love within each breast.

"Their jaded steeds rest on the hill. Their tinkling bell is hushed and still, And silence reigns throiigiiout the earth, Like that which reigned before its birth."

Mr. Balcli continues in this poem to note the rise in the morning of the pioneers ; their search for a home ; their success in finding one in a forest through which a stream courses its way, and the erection of their cabin-home. It is very strikingly portrayed, and .«peaks well for his native genius. Had he had the advantages of an education, he would take rank with many writers widely known. As it is, we understand he intends publishing a volume of his poems, in which the remainder of the poem we quote will appear. Its length precludes further quotation in our pages.

Just who was the first settler in Pleasant Grove - often called Pleasant Prairie - is now hard to determine. Mrs. Chowning states that her father, John Gordon, came to the Kickapoo settlement in 1826, and the next year, she thinks in the spring, he moved down to Pleasant Grove, where she is now living. There he found an unfinished log cabin, built by an old Baptist preacher, called " Daddy " Barham. This cabin Mr. Gordon completed and used as a residence. Others, however, differ from this statement. Some assert that the first settlement was made in this township in 1827, by Isaac Fancher and Buck Houchin, near the head of Muddy Point Creek. This is the generally accepted view, and is given as true by Capt. Adams in his Centennial Address. Still, others claim that Jack Price came here prior to Fancher or Houchin, and that to him belongs the honor. From a pretty close investigation of the subject we are inclined to the opinion given by Capt. Adams. The weight of testimony is in favor of Fancher and Houchin. Price must have followed them closely, however, and may have been with them.

It is likely that these persons are all that settled in this township that year. If they brought their families as Mr. Gordon did, there were four settlers and four pioneer homes in the township that fall.

The next year, Mr. Joseph Glenn, then a young man, visited this settlement. After satisfying himself as to its desirableness, he determined to locate. He informed Mr. George Balch afterward, that Avhen he came here, there were five families in this settlement, and that he thought no others existed in the township. He says Dorcas Tulley, who lived near the south line of the county where John T. Jones now resides, was among the number. He also mentions Mr. Fancher. He named all of them, but the names have escaped Mr. Balch's memory. Those that we have mentioned would make just this number, and are, probably, the families Mr, Glenn referred to. Mr. Glenn lived here until a short time since, when his death occurred. He was rather widely known, and was blessed with an excellent memory. It is to be regretted now that he did not write down for preservation his recollections of the days he first lived here, and the events passing at the time. He, like many another, did not realize their value, and thus much of the early history of this part of Illinois is lost.

Mr. Glenn went to Lawrence County in the fall of 1829. He married Ellen Reynolds in 1830 or 1831, who was born in Illinois in 1808 or 1809, and is yet living. She is one of the oldest native-born citizens in this county. Mr. Glenn's farm was long known as the "Glenn Place," and was brought by its owner to a high state of cultivation.

In the spring of 1829, quite a number of settlers came. " Goose-Nest Prairie " was settled this spring by Rev. Daniel Barham (" Daddy " Barham, already referred to) and his sons John and Nathan, and Thomas Barker, who erected the first cabins there. If these were the first cabins built by the good minister, then the statement that he erected a cabin near the Gordon grave-yard in 1827, or before, is evidently an error by a year or two. As there is now no one left who lived through this time and is cognizant of it all, in all its details, it is extremely difficult to settle the point of the first settler. Rev. Barham was an efficient Baptist minister, and labored earnestly in his Master's calling, and may have been here as early as Mrs. Chowning thinks ; but, from the best testimony we are able to gather, it is two years later, i. e., in 1829. " The same spring that ' Daddy' Barham, his sons and Mr. Barker came," says Capt. Adams, "Michael Taylor and son, Elijah, John and Patrick Gordon and Dow Goodman located in the ' Goose Nest.' " This is further proof that Mrs. Chowning's father came in 1829, instead of 1827.

The first settlement on Indian Creek was made this same year. At the head of this creek, was an old Indian camping-ground, evidencing use in many generations past. It was a convenient spot for pasturage and water, and, as such, was regarded favorably by the pioneers. It is in the north and northeast part of the township, and may be considered the third settlement in the township. Its pioneers were Zeno Campbell, Gershom, William and Thomas Balch, who, as stated, located in 1829.

This same year, the Muddy Point settlement was augmented by the arrival of Joseph Glenn, Daniel Edson, Daniel Beals and his two sons, Oliver and Jesse, and William Dryden and Alfred Balch, who came to view the country. The next year, William Gammill and his sons Andrew and Samuel, and sons-in-law, A. Balch and Isaac Odell, also Abner Johnston, whose son is now President of the First National Bank at Charleston, came to Indian Creek and Muddy Point settlements. The year before, Jesse Fuller and his family came from Virginia and bought the farm now known as the " Sell " place. Mr. Fuller remained here until his death. Mr. Theron E. Balch located with his family this season, also. Mr. Balch became a very prominent man in his time. He was the first school-teacher in the township, was a firm friend of religion and was one of the best men in the pioneer days of the community. He arrived with his family in October, and settled in the timber, near the " Goose-Nest Prairie." Here he built him a small pole cabin, and during this winter, it is thought, taught the pioneer school in the township, in a small pole cabin, in Muddy Point settlement, near where the Cumberland Presbvterian Church is no'w situated. He and his wife were strong Abolitionists, liberating their slaves in the South before they came, bringing sorae with them. Mr. Balch was one of the earliest adherents to that party, and is said to have been one of the first seven men to vote that ticket. Mrs. Balch is yet living in Wisconsin, eighty-six years of age, blind and deaf. She has been a most remarkable woman in her time. She lives with one of her daughters, and has with her one of her liberated woman slaves, who is almost as old as her mistress.

The reader will observe that quite a number of persons located in the first two years of the settlements here. As many of them belonged to the Cumberland and Regular Presbyterian Churches, they united in August, 1830, and formed a Presbyterian Church under the care of the Old-School body - as it would be better known by that name - and began to hold services. As immigration was rapid during the next three or four years, however, a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized, and those professing that creed drew off from the other Church as soon as this opportunity afforded them a chance to join a church of their own choice.

On the 19th of November following the organization of the Church at Indian Creek, the settlement in Pleasant Grove was joined by a colony of sixteen grown persons and eleven children from Bedford County, Tenn., about fifty miles south of the city of Nashville. They came, like their predecessors, in the old Virginia wagons, drawn by two and four horse teams, making the journey of 400 miles in a few months. Now it is made in a day and a night. They camped out on the way, and while in Indiana, about fifteen miles south of Vincennes, they were obliged to stop and bury one of their number, a child, a son of Isaac and Mary Odell. A number of years ago, George D. Prentice, the veteran Louisville editor and poet, stood, he records, at the grave of a little child in Arkansas, buried from an emigrant wagon. He embalmed the incident in verse, which is so touching, and which applies to the burial of Mr. and Mrs. Odell's little child so well, that we reproduce a verse here :

"Not in the church-yard's hallowed ground, Where marble columns rise around, By willow or by cypress shade, Are thy poor little relicts laid. Thou sleepest here, all, all alone, No other grave is near thine own. ' Tis well, 'tis well; but oh, such fate

But yet it matters not, poor child. That thou must sleep in this lone wild ; Each springtime, as it wanders past, Its buds and blooms will round thee cast ; The thick -leaved boughs and moonbeams pale. Will 0 er thee spread a solemn veil, And softest dews and showers will lave The blossoms on the infant's grave."

The colony mentioned, coming in the fall of 1830, were headed by William Oammill (already noticed), who knew something of the country, and, with Alfred M. Balch, was one of ^ the projectors of the move. In addition to these two, there were Mr. Balch's children - Ann Jane, who afterward became the wife of H. J. Reynolds, of Neoga; Nanny Caroline, who died in Mai'ch, 1853 ; Rhoda E., who died at thirteen years of age, and whose memory her brother Oeorge B. has touchingly preserved in verse. George B. was then very young, and has lived all his life in the township, noting all its changes, and has recorded many of them in poetry. Another family (and we shall name each family of this colony) was J. J. and Martha Adams, and their one child, W. E. Adams, then eleven days old. On his arrival, Mr. Adams, like the others, hastily erected a pole cabin, into which he moved. Before he could properly inclose it, the winter set in exceedingly cold, and with great difficulty could they preserve themselves and their child from freezing. The covers of the wagon were taken off, hung inside the cabin walls, and with one device and another, aided by the huge fire kept constantly burning in the great chimney, they managed to live through the winter. Many of their neighbors were no better oft". The next year, he and all the colonists raised a very good crop, putting it in with the old-fashioned barshare plows, remodeled and repaired their cabins, and by winter were prepared to stand the rigors of a Western winter. It will be recollected that the one before was made memorable by the ''deep snow," and the great freshet in the spring consequent upon the melting of the snow. It is fully noticed elsewhere, and need not be repeated here. It was the same over all the country, only of a greater depth in the northern part of the State. As a portrait and full sketch of Col. Adams' life appear elsewhere in this volume, we will omit any further mention of his deeds here. They are all worthy a place in the annals of Coles County, and when the Colonel died a few months since, he left behind him a record worthy of imitation by all.

Isaac and Mary Odell, son-in-law and daughter of Mr. Gammill, were also of this company. It was their child that died in Indiana and was left sleeping on the roadside. Their next son, George W. Odell, was the first child born in Charleston, which town was laid out the next summer after the colony's arrival. Col. Adams and A. M. Balch cut logs and built some of the first houses in that aspiring town. One of these may yet be seen on a hill in the western part of town, just east of where the Ashmore mill was burned. Of all the members of that colony who were men and women when they came, Mrs. Odell - " Aunt Polly " - is the only survivor.

The next family was Andrew and Jane Gammill and their three children, all of whom are living yet. One is Mrs. Caroline Shoemaker, of La Fayette Township, another Mrs. Adaline Hendricks, now in Missouri, and the third Mrs. Lucinda Whetstone, of Pomona, Kan. Mark and Matilda Baker with their two children, Joseph and Matilda, are the next family mentioned. Both the children are now dead. The father died in about two years after coming.

from malarial diseases. His wife aftei-Avard married M. Tyra Hays, and gave fame to Pleasant Grove by giving existence to three boys at one birth, all of whom are yet living.

Andrew Clark and wife were also in this colony. They had no children when they came. Mr. Clark was afterward well known in Charleston in the hotels there, being one of the early landlords of the town. In this colony were two young men, Philip Odell and S. K. Gammill, who should be noticed here. The first named, Odell, died in Charleston, about 1835. In the early issues of newspapers there, his obituary was published, wherein some friend embalmed his memory in verse which we now recall, and which many of the old people will doubtless remember:

The other young man, S. K. Gammill, afterward beca\ne prominently known in the south part of the county. He married Elizabeth Dryden, who yet lives. Mr. Gammill died about twelve years ago, of cholera.

The majority of the persons coming in this little colony, were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in their native State. They found no church of their own here, and the majority went into the Presbyterian Church at Indian Creek. They remained here, however, but a few years, when, being joined by more of their own profession, they formed a church at Muddy Point, and began services there.

The winter following - 1830-31 - Avas, as has been observed, one of great severity. The intense cold, the deep snow, the scanty provisions and poor accommodations made the pioneer's life one of privation, and to those who had enjoyed the milder serenity of a more southern clime, it called for the strongest powers of fortitude and courage. The following spring, owing to the great snoAV, was very wet, and it was late before crops could be planted. The cabins were repaired, or new and better ones built, fields were cleared, and preparations to found that home they all desired went steadily on. They Avent to the Wabash Point timber for mail, where George M. Hanson had the year before obtained a post office, and where quite a number of families, chiefly Methodists in religion, were settled. Those of Pleasant Grove also came here to mill, for Slover's Mill was about the only one in this part of the country. It was during this summer, it is thought, that C Campbell opened a blacksmith shop in the township. His shop was near the residence of Zeno Campbell. He was a good workman, making excellent axes, Cary plows and various other implements, Avhich could not have been obtained nearer than Paris, in Edgar County, or equally as distant places. It might be well to mention of Zeno Campbell that he was run for the Legislature on the Whig ticket, from this part of the county. He was an excellent man, but quiet and a little eccentric in his manner, refusing to go out and "stump" the field. This was very likely the cause of his defeat, as he was well respected wherever known. He gave the ground on which the Presbyterian Church was erected in 1832, and with his wife lived to the good old age of more than fourscore years. It will be remembered they came to Pleasant Grove in 1829.

The summer of 1831, brought with it a new influx of immigration. Those who stayed in this township were chiefly Presbyterian in religious views, while those who went to the Wabash Point settlement were largely Methodist. It was a kind of common understanding between the two settlements that persons coming to the new communities were to be mildly drawn to whichever settlement their religious sentiments favored. This they were always ready to do, ias all desired to keep up the home practices and felt easier and more content among their own church people. Among the emigrants of this season may be mentioned John and Michael Whetstone. John settled the farm where the mineral springs were found, supposed to have been known to the aboriginal inhabitants for ages. We have already described these springs and forbear any further mention of them. Other settlers were Hezekiah and Mary Balch and a son Walter AV., who is yet living in the neighborhood. They were from Alabama, from the same community that had before sent out Theron E. Balch and his wife. With Hezekiah and his family came Dr. Emmett Balch, who is now at Buckley, 111. John W. and Louisa Rodgers came with Dr. Balch from Alabama and settled with him here. Thomas and William Jeffi'ies, twa prominent men, with their families, came this same season from Kentucky.

The old storehouse, in the possession of Mr. Azariah Jeffries, has a history in itself which is Avell worth narrating. It is thus told by Mr. Jeff'ries : " The old storehouse is situated on Section 10, on land entered by Thomas Jeffries, the first Justice in this township. His children are Sallie Dieahl, James, John and Azariah. His house was built in September, 1852, for a store by T. A. Marshall and Milton True. Afterward, Mr. Marshall was elected to the State Senate, and afterward a colonel in the army. Mr. True was elected to the Legislature, and was a general in the army. Gideon Edwards, their clerk, was elected County Judge. When the two proprietors left the store, they sold to I. H. Johnston and Abram Highland, and the singular luck for office-holding seemed to fall upon them. Mr. Johnston was elected Sheriff" and Mr. Highland County Treasurer. They sold the building to Clay Worthen and Jefferson Doren. Mr. Worthen was twice elected Circuit Clerk. The mantle failed to fall on the shoulders of Mr. Doren, it seems, as it is not recorded he succeeded in being elected, though twice he ran for County Treasurer. While they owned the building. Dr. C. H. Brunk, a prominent physician in Shelby County, had his office with them. They sold to W. L. Funckhouser and John Hackley. Mr. F. is the largest land-owner in the township, and Mr. H. was Postmaster some time. These men sold to John W. Crawford, who was Postmaster, and who, with Dr. T. A. Kemper, a prominent physician, who had his office in the store- house, kept the building till he sold to the present owner, Azariah Jeffries. He has, as a consequence it seems, been elected School Trustee three years ; Director, nine years ; Commissioner, two years ; member of Legislature, two years ; a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Baltimore that nominated Horace Greeley ; been Chairman of the County Democratic Convention, Foreman of grand jury, on the petit jury, and a variety of other minor oflfices."