Effingham County, Illinois - Chapter 14, 1883

SUMMIT TOWN\SHIP - INTROUCTORY AND DESCRIPTIVE - TIMBER, SURFACE FEATURES, ETC.- SETTLEMENT OF WHITE PEOPLE - THEIR ROUGH LIFE AND HABITS - HUNTING AS A PASTIME - FIRST SCHOOLS AND PRESENT EDUCATIONAL FACILITIESEARLY CHURCHES - PIONEER PREACHERS, ETC. - TOWNS AND VILLAGES - THE OLD COUNTY SEAT, ETC., ETC.

/~\LD Times! It is a subject that wakes in ^-^ the mind of the aged pioneer a feeling of enthusiasm for the free, wild life of the frontier, when, like the old soldier, he will sit down with you by the quiet fireside, or under the friendly shade tree, and " fight his battles o'er again," and tell you, of the days when he went forty miles to mill, riding on a bag of corn, and had to camp at the mill three or four days, living on parched corn until his "turn" came "to grind;" of the good old days when you could go out in the morning and kill a turkey or deer for breakfast, and when a bushel of corn passed current anywhere for a gallon of whisky. Those were the good old times that the pioneer will tell you were better than the present; that all men were not only " free and equal," but on the most intimate terms of fi'iendship, and the word neighbor had something of that broad and liberal significance given to it by the Man of Nazareth nineteen hundred years ago. As he recalls the pioneer simplicity of the early pei-iod, he will sadly shake his head, and with a sigh, tell you that the world is going to the devil as fast as the " unclogged wheels of time can roll it on." Well, we all have our hobbies, and " good old times " is the pioneer's hobby.

Summit Township, the subject matter of this chapter, lies west of the city of Effingham, and is mostly a fine body of land. It is pretty well divided between prairie and woodland, the latter lying contiguous to the "Wabash River, and the other small water courses, principally in the eastern part of the township, while the weateru part is a broad rolling prairie, and is as fine land " as ever a crow flew over." Along th-i water courses in the bottoms were a heavy growth of walnuts, sugar maple, burr oak, poplar, Cottonwood, buckeye, hackberry, soft maple, etc., while on the ridges were to be found in profusion white oak, pin oak, post oak, red oak and hickory. It is well drained by the Little Wabash and its numerous tributaries. The W^ abash flows nearly south through the eastern part, receiving as a tributary Blue Point Creek. This latter stream rises in the edge of Moccasin Creek Township, and flowing almost southeast through Summit, mingles its waters with the Wabash about a mile north ofthe old town of Ewington, and receiving in its tortuous course several small and nameless streams. Funkhouser Creek, with its tributary of Long Branch, are small streams in the southwestern part of Summit Township. A number of other little branches and brooks are laid down on the maps, but they are too small and insignificant to have names. They contribute their part, however, toward the natui-al drainage of the land through which they flow. Summit originally included the present township of Banner within its limits. It was not until the June term, 1874, of the Supervisors' Court, that Banner was set off from Summit. At present. Summit Township is bounded on the north by Banner, on the east by Douglas, on the south by Jackson, on the west by Moccasin, and, according to the Congressional survey, is Township 8 north and Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian. It is. well adapted to agricultural purposes, and its people are industrious and enterprising farmers, and have some of the best and most productive farms in the county. It is well supplied with railroads, though there are not many shipping points within its borders. The Vandalia lino and two branches of the Wabash pass through it, but only the Vandalia has a station and shipping point.

This township is noted for having contained the first county seat of Effingham - the town of Ewington. At this place once centered the business enterprise of all the surrounding country, and congregated the beauty, the wealth and intelligence of the county. Like it was the glory of Effingham, the common center, around which revolved the business, the intelligence and the moral and social influences. But, like everything human, it had its time to die. The removal of the coi^nty seat sealed its doom, and from that event we may date its " decline and fall." Its mold- ering turrets and broken columns, its ruined palaces and temples, are but another lesson of the immutable certainty of the decay of all earthly glory. We shall have more to say of this old town further on in this chapter, as well as in other portions of this work.

The settlement of Summit Township dates back more than half a century. So far as we can definitely learn, the first whites who straggled in here came about the year 1830 Those who, it is claimed, settled within the present limits of Summit in that j'ear, were Alexander McWhorter, Robert Moore, John Trapp and the Rentfros. The latter were from Tennessee, and consisted of T. J. Rentfro, Matt, Jesse, John, Joseph and Eli, all brothers. T. J. and Matt Rentfi-o are still living in the towasliip, but the others are long since dead and gone. They brought with them when they came here a four-horse team and an ox team, which conveyed all their worldly wealth to the land of jsromise. They settled in the Little Wabash bottom, a short distance north of Ewington, or rather, where that town was afterward located. Until they could provide shelter for their families by the erection of cabins, they occupied a deserted Indian camp, which was on what is since known as the old Reynolds place. This camp was made of linn puncheons pinned to the trees with woodea pins, and at the time it was occupied by the Rentfros, although in March a heavy snow covered the ground, which rendered it rather an airy habitation. They built cabins on the hill above the river bottom at a spring, as the Tennesseans knew nothing of wells, and would have expected to die of thirst unless every cabin was supplied with a never-failing spring. They tapped a number of sugar trees as soon as locatincr, and made considerable sugar. Joseph was appointed the " bread finder." and if he did not, like his namesake of old, go down into Egypt for corn, he at least went as far as Paris on horseback, and brought back corn or meal in- sacks. During the first summer the Rentfros lived in the township, they cleared a small piece of ground and planted a " patch" of corn, and also of cotton. The latter, however, did not mature, but the corn did well. They used to pound corn in a mottar, and use the finest for bread and the coarser for hominy. Often, when pounding meal for breakfast, they would be answered by wild turkeys, gobbling in the woods, so plenty were they in those days. This was much the experience of all the early settlers of the county, as well as this particular section.

Robert Moore was from the South, but it is not known whether from Kentucky or Tennessee. He was careful and prudent in his dealings, and accumulated considerable property - mostly land. Judge Gillenwaters has now in his possession a grindstone that was brought to this county in 1830 by Mr. Moore. He died many yeai's ago, and his widow married a man who spent her money as rapidly as Mr. Moore had made it. John Trapp was from Tennessee, and belonged to the first importation of settlers. He was the second Sheriff of the county, and finally located in Effingham, where he died. Alexander McWhorter, who completes the list of those settling in the township in 1830, was from Tennessee, and came here a young man. Soon after coming, however, he married a Miss Loy.

The next year, 1831, added a few more families to the little settlement. Amonc these were the Loys, William J. Hankins, John Galloway, William Clark, Gilbert, who was a liquor dealer and tavern keeper, Seymour Powell, the Reeds, Shorts, etc., etc. The LovB were from Alabama, and afterward moved into what now forms Watson Township, where many descendants still reside. Hankins came from Tennessee and settled first in Fayette County, but in that portion which was cut off into Effingham at the time of its formation. He had a large family, many of whom still live in Summit Township, but he himself is long since dead. Mr. Hankins worked on the. old National road and built the bridge where it crossed the Little Wabash in this township. He is more fully noticed, however, in a preceding chapter of this work- John Galloway was a noted fiddler, and we may add that, like the majority of this class of individuals, he was good for but little else. He did not remain long, but, with his fiddle under his arm, he started, like Ole Bull, for a " farewell tour" of the country, and was never more heard of. "William Clark came fi'om the South and lived in the township until his death, which occurred long ago. Gilbert kept a saloon or grocery, as they were then called, the first shop of that kind perhaps in the township. He was an Eastern man and quite a noted character in his way. One day he borrowed a horse from Judge Gilleawaters to ride to a certain place, and on his return asked Mr. Gillenwaters what he charged him for the horse, to which he replied in true Southern style and with pioneer liberality that he loaned him the horse and did not charge him anything. But true to his New England instincts, he insisted upon paying for the use of the hcrse, while Gillenwaters as steadily refused to accept pay, and in the end he had his way about it.

The Reeds and Shorts did not remain long in the township, but, like little Joe, "moved on. " Seymour Powell came from Tennessee. A son. Wash Powell, still represents thiis old pioneer in Summit Township.

prior to 1835; Joe Gillespie, Samuel Parks, John C. Spriggs, Thomas J. Gillenwaters, Dr. John Gillenwaters, William H. Blakely, Byron Whitfield, Michael Beem, Samuel White and others. Gillespie Was from Alabama, and was the first County Clerk of Effingham County. Samuel Parks was from Tennessee and settled here in 1834. He was one of Effingham's first County Judges. Spriggs was the first Circuit Clerk, but afterward moved to Springfield. Judge Gillenwaters came from Tennessee in 1833, and is now a resident of Effingham, and is well known throughout the county. He settled on the old Cumberland road near Ewington, vyhere he kej^t tavern many years. Dr. Gillenwaters was also from Tennessee, and was a p)hysician, the first perhaps in Summit Township, or in the county. He came here before there were enou h people in the surrounding country to support a doctor, and so he had to turn his attention to other pursuits to make a living, and became the first pedagogue in the neighborhood, as well as the first physician. He has been dead many years. Death is no respector of persons, but takes the physician as well as his patient, and " six feet of earth make us all one size. " William H. Blakely came from New York, and is said to have been a man of more than ordinary intelligence. He was the exact opposite of much of the larger portion of the pioneers who had preceded him, and was very precise and methodical in his habits and business transactions. The county sent him to the Legislature and also elected him to the Constitutional Convention. He kept the first store in Summit Townshiji, and has been dead for a number of years, but his widow still lives on the homestead just west of Ewington. Judge Gillenwaters says the first cooking stove he ever saw was brought here by Mr. Blakely, and so great a cm'iosity was it that people came for miles and miles to see it. Whitfield was an early settler near Ewiagt(5n, where he carried on a store, which was owned, however, by a man named Lynn. Samuel White was a pioneer school teacher, and taught the second school in the township. Michael Beem came from Ohio. He lived here some twenty-five years, then moved to the north part of the county, and now lives in the city of Effingham.

This brings the settlement down to 1835, a period when people were pouring into the county so rapidly that it is impossible to keep up with them. The rich lands attracted the farmer and agriculturist, the profusion of game brought the hunter, while the law, or rather the absence of pretty muah all law, rendered it for a time a kind of safe resting place for those fleeing from justice. The latter class, however, did not remain long in the community, but left it for its good. As the better elements of society prevailed, the rough class were forced ^o flee farther West. Thus the hard characters are kept upon the verge of civilization. Fifty years ago, when the first settlers came to the countj' of Effingham, it was not the civilized land that it is now. There were no railroads, no productive farms, no pleasant homes, no churches, no school - houses, with their refining influences, bat on every hand an almost impenetrable wilderness, in which wild and savjige beasts roamed at will and disputed the white man's right to the country. The rod sons of the forest still lingered in numbers loath to give up their rich hunting-grounds, and, though comparatively friendly toward the whites, were scarcely to be fully trusted. With all these obstacles to be surmounted, and the numerous difficulties suiTouuding them to be overcome, it seems needless to say that the first years of occupation by the whites were years of toil, privation and self-denial. When they left their homes beyond the Ohio, they left comfort and civilization behind them - bade farewell to ease aud luxury and entered upon a life of hardship^ that must at the least last for a number of years. Their first years here was a struggle for existence - a fight with beasts, reptiles and insects, and verily, the latter were not the least dreaded foe. None, whose recollection extends back forty or fifty years, but i-emember the green-head flies, those little monsters that rendered stock frantic, and prevented the farmer from plowing a large portion of the day because his horses became unmanageable under the tormenting power of the flies. Other troubles and annoyances beset their paths and met them at every turn. To procure the necessaries of life often taxed their utmost capacity. The forest furnished an abundance of game, but meat without bread or salt, while it may satisfy hunger, is far from palatable. Breadstuff was scarce and not easily obtained. Many went to the " Big Prairie, " as it was termed, beyond Paris, for corn, which was then pounded in a mortar, for there were no mills near by. Clothing was another tax upon the settler's ingenuity. Much of that worn by the men were made of the skins of wild animals, while that of women was manufactured at home, from cotton and flax raised by their own hands. Everything else was in keeping and was as primitive in style as the food and clothing. But with passing years, improvement came in every degree of life and in every line of industry. The country has grown wealthy and productive, the wilderness has " rejoiced and blossomed as the rose," and the people are civilized, refined, intelligent and happy.

The first birth, death and marriage are always matters of considerable importance in a new settlement. They cannot, however, always be given with certainty. The first birth in Summit Township is lost in the mists of obscurity, but that there was not only a first one, but that it was followed by many others, is indicated by the present population. The first marriage is supposed to have been Alexander McWhorter and a Miss Loy. He came to the township, a young man, in 1830, the year the first settlements were made, and, in 1836, married Miss Loy, as above noted, and no one remembers an earlier marriage. The angel of death came first to old " Grandaddy " Hankins, the father of William Hankins. He was an old man when he came to the settlement, tottering on the brink of the grave, and survived the rigors of the climate but a short time. He was the first one buried in the graveyard at Ewington, since the resting-place of many of the pioneers. Most of the first settlers have followed him to the land of dreams, and the few that are left, stand among their fellows " like the scattered stalks that remain in the field when the tempest has passed over it."

The old National road, or old " Cumberland " road, as better known, passed through the southern part of this towns\iip, near where the Vandalia Kailroad now runs. Along this old National road the first business enterprises were begun. On this road the first taverns were kept, the first goods nold and the first shops established. A man named Reed, mentioned among the early uettlers, kept the first tavern. At least it was as near approach to a tavern as the keeping of a few boarders could be. From keeping boarders, he got to taking in the wayfaring man and travelers generally, and finally his place was called a tavern. Judge Gilleuwaters kept a tavern on this old National thoroughfare, a little west of Ewington, from the time of his settlement there in 1833 until his removal to Effingham. Charles Kinzie kept a tavern later in the town of Ewington. He was, as will be seen by a sketch on another page, a man of eccentricities and peculiarities. The first goods sold in the township were sold here by William H. Blakely, who opened a store soon after his settlement. A man named Fisher is believed to have been the first blacksmith, or among the first. He was not much of a workman, but sufficient for that day. Henry Bailey " tinkered a little at smithing," about the same time. Other industries sprang up, and then Ewington was laid out and business was then concentrated in the town instead of being scattered for miles along the National road.

Mills were a necessity that was not supplied for several years after the first settlements were made. Says Mr. Rentfro: " The corn was pounded in wooden mortars, or in a stump which had been scooped out for the purpose. A pole was attached to this, wliich worked something after the fashion of a wellswoep." They would rise in the morning and make meal by this " patent process " for bi'eakfast. In a few years a horse-mill was built on the Okaw, thirty -five miles distant. To this mill Mr. Rentfro says the people used to go from this neighborhood to get corn ground, and sometimes had to remain four or five days, sleeping in the mill at night and living on jiarched corn. The journey to mill was made by ox team across the prairies and on horseback. It often looked like a campmeeting at the mill, with so many people en camped about it. The first mill built in Summit Township was a saw-mill, about 1832-33, and stood near Ewington. It is not Icnown now who biiilt it, but it was being run by a man named Mcintosh when Judge Gillenwaters came. Reed built a horse-mill in Ewington, the tirst grist mill, a few years later. There were never any mills of much note, except saw-mills, in the township, and the people had to go elsewhere for their milling. A niimbor of good saw-mills and several steam saw-mills have flourished at different periods.

The first road laid out through Summit Township was from Ewington to the county line in the direction of Witherspoon's Mill, in Shelby County. The next was a road running from Fairfield to Shelbyville, via Ewington. The old Cumberland or National road passed through the township, and was a great thoroughfare in its time. A full history of it is given elsewhere in this volume. The first bridge was built over the Little Wabash when this road crossed it. It was a poor affair, and was soon washed away. Another bridge was built about 1838-40 and was a toll-bridge. That is, all living outside of the county had to pay toll for crossing on it. In 1847, it was made free by act of the Legislature, to take effect ten years later. This bridge was washed away about the year 1872-73, and has never been rebuilt. - A good bridge spans the Wabash some two miles north of where this one was washed away, and is used extensively during high water. The first mail which came to the citizens of Summit was a weekly mail over the National road from Terro Haute to St. Louis. Another mail was soon established from Fairfield to Shelbyville. which passed through Ewington.

The name of " Summit " was bestowed on the township at the time of township organization, on account of the elevated nature of the larger portion of the land within its limits, and because in reruin natura, everything must have a name, and " Summit " appeared to the " Committee on Internal Relations " as well adapted to this township as any name in their vocabulary. GThe settlers of Summit Township gave their attention early to education. The first school was taught by Dr. John Gillenwaters. He came to the country a full-fledged physician, for the purpose of practicing his profession, but there was nobody for him to experiment on, owing to the sparsely settled country, so he taught the few children within reach. He was a good scholar, and Judge Gillenwaters told him to go ahead and teach, and he would see that he was paid for his services. The schools were all supported by subscription until 1838, when we find on the township records the following edict:

The reaitlentsof this township shall each piiy the Slim of two dollars per quarter for each scholar they send to school, and non-residents shall pay the sum of two dollars and fifty cents per quarter for eacli scholar they may send.

Dr. Gillenwaters taught until his medical practice justified him in devoting his whole time to it. Samuel White was the next teacher after him. Mr. White taught two terms in a part of Judge Gillenwater's house, before the neighborhood had become sufficiently strong and able to build a schoolhouse. As the settlements increased in population and the township in wealth and prosperity, educational facilities expanded to suit the wants of the times, until at the present day we find a numbHr of good comfortable schoolhouses dotting the township at intervals, and of capacity to satisfy the wants of the youth of the respective neighborhoods. The houses and districts support excellent schools bj^ competent teachers for the usual period each year.

Church history, like the educational history of the township, dates back prior to the building of churches. The first preacher in the settlement was an old wheel-horse of the Methodist Church, whose name is forgotten

He was succeeded by a rather young man named Chamberlain, who worked zealously in his Master's cause and preached " in season and out of season " for the purpose of building up the cause of religion in the wilderness. Hia appointment to this frontier field came about in this wise: The old preacher first mentioned left the circuit before his year was out, and some time after a man stopped at Gillenwaters' tavern who bore a kind of ministerial appearance, but, like many of his kind, was somewhat reticent in his manner. Gillenwaters finally asked him if he was not a preacher on his way to conference, and after a moment of hesitation the man acknowledged that he was the Presiding Elder of the district. Gillenwaters then asked him to send them a preacher, for they needed one badly. He promised to do all he could for them. The result was that Chamberlain was sent. His circuit extended as far north as Paris and to Shelbyville, and east to Greenup, and equally as far in other directions. The first society was organized by Rev. Chamberlain at the residence of Judge Gillenwaters. His house was used as a preaching place for four or five years, when the society moved to the court house in Ewington. Afterward a camp ground was occupied for a number of years norih of the present city of Effingham. After Chamberlain, an old-time Methodist prerxher named Blondell was on the circuit for a time, but he has been dead for years.

The first church edifice built in the township, perhaps, was a log structure in the north part, on Section 2, and was free to all denominations; likewise was used for school purposes. It was a log building and erected in 1852. It was long used for school and church pm-poses, then sold and moved away and converted into a bai-n. In the meantime, Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church had been organized, and after the old log church had been sold and moved away, they set about the erection of a new church. This was accomplished in 18(59, at a cost of SG44 in money, and donations in material and labor sufficient to increase the cost to about $1,000. The membership is about sixty, and the present pastor is Rev. H. K. Jones. An interesting Sunday school is maintained.

Good Hope Methodist Episcopal Church was built in the fall of 1868, and cost some $600. The church grew out of a Sunday school which was organized the previous spring by Mrs. Capt. Hyden under an ajiple tree at her home. The Sunday school was held there for a few times, and then moved to a sehoolhonse near by, where it thrived so well that it was resolved to build a church. This resolution led to the organization of a church society and the building of Good Hope Church. It was a frame building and was burned about the year 1871. The next year another house was built upon the same spot, also a frame, and costing about $600. It, too, was burned in 1875 or 1876. Both it and its predecessor were supposed to have been fired by an incendiary. When the last one was bu.rned the society had about ceased to exist. No regular preaching was had and no Sunday school. A man was going to move into it, and thus convert it into a residence. The night before this sacrilege was to be committed, the church burned down and to this time it has not been rebuilt.

Blue Point Bajstist Church was built in 1872. The land on which it stands was deeded to the Trustees by P. C. and S. F. Hankins for church purposes. The chiu'ch was organized several years before the house was built, in a schoolhouse which stood about a quarter of a mile from the church. It is a frame building, and cost, in money and work, perhaps $1,200. Elder T. M. Griffith is the present pastor of the church, and the membership is about seventy-five or eighty, many having died and others moved away. The Sunday school is kept up all the year.

Dowell Methodist Episcopal Church South was built about 1874-75, and is a frame structure. A. B. Dowell was instrumental in its organization and erection, and hence it has always been known as the " Dowell Church." The land upon which it stands was deeded to the church by William Blakely for that purpose. The cost of the building was about $000 in money, while nearly as much more was contributed in work. There are now no regular church services or Sunday school. The Rev. Mr. Jones preaches occasionally to the congregation.

Villages. - More than one village has been laid out in Summit Township since its settlement by white people, but all, except one, have disappeared, leaving little trace to show us where or when or how they went. Upon their ruins the word " Ichabod " is written, and tells to the passing traveler their story in brief.

Ewington, the original county seat of E£Bngham County, was situated on Section 35 of this township, and was laid out on the land donated to the county by Joseph and James Duncan for public buildings. It was surveyed and platted September 5, 1835, by William J. Uankins, County Surveyor, and was named for Gen. W. L. D. Ewing, one of the tii'st lawyers who practiced in this county.

The first house erected in Ewington was a little like Bradsby's first birth in the county: it was several - log cabins or shanties - which had been put up by the hands engaged in building the National road. This cluster of cabins, perhajjs, led to the town being located upon that particular spot. A store was opened as soon as the town was laid out, by William H. Blakely, and who, it is contended by some, had the first store in the county. He had opened a store a little farther west, near the present village of Funkhouser, and when Ewington was laid out and become the seat of justice of the county, he moved his store to the new town. He carried on business here for a number of years. The next stores were kept by Judge Parks and Judge Gillenwaters. After them came Lynn, who opened the largest stock of goods yet brought to the town. He did not live in Ewington himself, the store being operated by Mr. Whitfield. Other stores followed as they were needed, and Ewington became quite a business town.

A tavern was opened by Eli Cook, the first in the village, and was really kept as such before the town was laid out. The next was kept, perhaps, by Samuel Fleming, well known as a pioneer tavern-keej)er of the county, and whose widow now owns the Fleming House of Effingham. One of the popular hotels of Ewington was kept by Charles Kinzoy, but he came upon the scene at a later date.

Kinzey, who was a remarkable character, deserves more than a casual mention in the history of Ewington. He came to the county some time before work was commenced on the Hiinoig Central Eailroad, in 1852. He was from the city, was city born and city bred, and brought with him all the airs of city life. He was arrayed in "purple and fine linen and fared sumj^tuously every day," or, in other words, wsre good clothes, a plug hat, patent leather boots and had the appearance generally of having just dropped out of a bandbox. He was of medium heiglit, had a commanding form, drove fast horses and the finest " rigs " hitherto seen in the county, and prided himself iipon all these good things and enjoying them as only one can do who has been brought up with them. He opened a hotel in Bwington when it was in the zenith of its glory. It was marvelous in its metropolitan character, and it was as elegant and sumptuous as Kinzey was in his dress and habits. His first wife was an elegant and handsome English woman, and, according to all reports and traditions, somewhat of a shrew. When Charley, as he wa^ familiarly called, took his lordly sprees, she would follow him and beard the lion in his den, and in the saloon, gambling room, or wherever she happened to light upon him, she collared him and trotted him home, as a mother would do a truant child caught in some petty mischief. Sometimes she stepped in on him unceremoniously, with a long car riage whip in her hand, an instrument she could handle with groat dexterity, as he knew to his cost, and with this she would larrup him all the way home, or, after getting him home, would lock him in a room, strip him to his shirt, then give him what Paddy did the drum, the devil, until he cried for quarter, or buried himself in the bed clothes.

He was passionately fond of horse-racing, and, indeed, of all kinds of gambling. Often he would get a few sports and kindred spirits in a room of his tavern, and play " draw " as long as he was successful. But no sooner did luck turn against him than by some intuition his wife stepped in, and, with the long carriage whip, sent him howling from the room like a whipped cur. Such incidents led to the insinuation that his wife had a " peeping place," and as long as " Charley" scooped in the ducats, she suffered the game to go on; but no sooner did fortune frown upon him than she summarily blocked the game as above described, and sent him smarting to bed.

here, in what was then the most intense backwoods community to be found. The people could not understand him, and he looked down upon them with the most unbounded contempt. He was extremely fond of practical joking, and in this it was a game of "give and take." The following is an illustration: A man with whom he was at bitter enmity called him up once at midnight on a very cold night, and made a long apology for asking his enemy for a favor, but was compelled to do BO, assuring him that he was a man of too much sense uot to understand the needs of the case. Kinzey eagerly inquired what h6 wanted, and when the fellow could no longer delay, he answered: "I'm a candidate for Constable; have to have it; it's a ground-hog case, and now if you will only aoree to vote against me it will elect mo certain siure." Kinzey enjoyed this joke immensely, and good-naturedly asked the fellow who sent him and who made up the joke for him. So cunningly and skillfully did he work upon him that the fellow confessed the boys of the village had concocted the joke, and he had only carried out instructions.

The young folks of Ewington one daj' took advantage of the first snow to have a sleigh ride, and numberless sleighs of all kinds were out enjoying the sport. Kinzey was full as a tick, as the saying goes, and hitched up his splendid trotters, putting every bell, cow-bell, dinner-bell, etc., he could raise on them, until he had a dozen or two of different sizes and tones. He then hitched his team to an old dry cow-skin, with the hairy side down. On this he squatted, Indian fashion, and dashed into the streets under whip. In five minutes he had run off every horse and sleigh that was out; some of the horses were so frightened that they tore everything to pieces tumbling the young folks out into the snow drifts. Here and there and everywhere went Kinzey, sometimes sitting flat on the cow-skin, sometimes dragging on the ground, then bouncing back on the skin and whooping and yelling, pell-mell through the town, until the " storm was spent through the force of its own fury."

His hotel was finally burned, and, having a great many enemies, the fact of its destruction gave rise to stories rather detrimental to his honor and credit in the community, but what grounds there were for the reports is not known.

In company with Sam Winters, Kinzey took a company of about 400 men to the army. He went to St. Louis with them, where he made strong efforts to get them into different Missouri regiments. After many failures and disappointments, he left St. Louis, and under promises of Illinois Colonels, went to Springfield, whei'e he was arrested and kept in prison for months. He was finally released at St. Louis, where he fell into the hands of Frank Blair, with whom he went to W^ashington City. Blair had him appointed Lieutenant in the regular army, secured his liack pay, amounting to some $5,000, together with an order for him to go and take his men wherever he might find t' em, and fill up his regiment, if ho could, for the regulai- service. Here we will leave him, and retornous a nos moutons, or, as we might say in English, return to other mutton-heads of Ewintrton.

The first "grocery" - what we call in this enlightened day, "saloon," "gin-mill," "whisky shop," "groggery," etc., was kept by one Charles Gilkey. It is told of him that in order to make a barrel of whisky last as long as pos sible, he would keep filling it up with water and putting in a little tobacco to color it. This plan might be followed now, not only with success, but with beneficial results, as tobacco is said to be an antidote for some of the strongest poison.

A post ofiSee was established about the year 1835, and William J. Hankins was appointed Postmaster. Hankins at one time held all the offices in the county, and, like Alexander the Great, he wept that there were no more offices for him to hold. He was a Justice of tho Peace, Surveyor, Postmaster, Clerk of the Court, and held a number of other offices " too tedious to mention." Judge Gillenwaters says he was a great hunter, and when meat run short in the neighborhood, Hankins would mount his old "sway-backed" sorrel horse, take his old fliut-lock rifle on his shoulder, and, starting out at daylight, would usually return in a few hom-s with two or throo deer, or as many turkeys as his old horse could carry.

The first school in Ewington has already been described under the schools of the township. It was taught in a room of a private residence. Some years later, a schoolhouse was built in connection with the Masonic fraternity, the upper story being used by the Masons as a lodge room, and the lower story as a schoolhouse. The Masonic Lodge was organized in l854, mainly through the instrumentality of Dr. James M. Long, who was the first master. It was organized as Ewington Lodge, U. D., but was chartered as Ewington Lodge, No. 149. After the removal of the county seat, together with most of the town, the lodge was also moved to Effingham, where it still flourishes and is more fully mentioned.

The history of Ewington's manufaetm'ing interests is brief and soon told. They consisted of a horse-mill and acarding-machine, the latter run by Anthony Rhodes. These, with a few blacksmith, wagon and other shops constituted, outside of its mercantile trade, its entire business industries. As a flourishing trade center, though, equal, perhaps, to a majority of towns of its size at that day, it amounted to but little.

Ewington was incorporated as a village under the law, and, on the 10th of April, 1855, the first Board of Trustees was elected as follows: D. S. Mitchell, H. H. Wric^rht, A. G. Hughes, W. T. N. Fisher and Josephus Scoles. The following iron-clad oath was administered to the Trustees by Thomas Loy, Clerk of the Court, before they were allowed to take upon themselves the dignity of the "city fathers." " I " (here follows the names of each) " do hereby solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States and of this State, and that I will discharge the duties of trustees of incorporation of the town of Ewington tn the best of my ability, and further swear, that I have not fought a duel, nor sent a challenge to figb t a duel, the probable result of which might have been the death of either party, nor in any manner aided or assisted in such dael, nor have been knowingly the beai'er of such challenge or assistance since the adoption of the constitution, and that I will not so engage or concern myself directly or indirectly in or about any such duel dui'ing my continuance in office. So help me God." This good wholesome document was subscribed and sworn to by the Trustees before Loy, the Clerk. The board organized by electing D. S. Mitchell, President, and B. F. Kagay, Clerk. At the first meeting of the board, W. T. Myers was elected Assessor; Thomas M. Loy, Treasurer, and J. H. T. Lacy, Constable.

The Trustees met quite regiilarly for most of the first year, but after that appeared to become rather lukewarm and met less punctually, and finally met at rare intervals. On the 7th of February, 1857. some three years before the removal of the county seat, they mot for the last time. The principal business transacted at this last meeting was the imposing of a fine of $1 on Mr. Coopei', President, for non-attendance upon the meetings of the board. The last Board of Trustees were William B. Cooper, President; A. G. Hughes, W. J. Sparks and Samuel Moffitt. They still remain in ofiice. Cooper to this day holds the office of President of the board, an office which Brad says he discharges with maiked ability.

Ewington, although the capital of the county from the time of its organization up to the removal of the county seat in 1859, more than a quarter of a century, yet it at no time had over two hundred inhabitants, according to the United States census, during its existence as a town, and, upon the removal of the seat of justice to Effingham, it be;:^an rapidly to decline, From this period dates its waning prosperity. The population followed the capital to its new location, and the spot that knew the old town now knows it no more. Like ancient Rome, the " spider weaves its web in her palaces, the owl sings his watch-song in her towers." Troja fuit ! The old coiirt house was still retain ed in the service of the county, and converted into a poor-house, in which capacity it served until the county purchased a poorfarm a year or two ago. The establishment was then moved to the new purchase, and the old temple of justice, with a few dilapidated buildings, marks the spot where once stood the town. Its fate is described by Bryant:

The village of Granville is claimed by some to have been in Summit Township, while others locate it in Jackson. From recent investigation the latter is probably more correct, but as it has wholly disappeared, even from the maps, it is no easy matter to point out its site, and doubtless the precise spot is of but little interest to our readers. In Jackson Township we will allude further to its history.

The villageof Funkhouser was surveyed and laid out September 20, 1869, by C. A. Van Allen for John J. and William L. Funkhouser, on a part of the southeast quarter of Section 34 of Summit Township. Wilson Funkhouser had a store here, and at one time bought grain extensively. He kept the post office, which had been established, or moved from some other place. John Funkhouser handled grain here for several years, and built a grain warehouse. But lately, the business has been moved to other points along the railroad, and at present there are but some halt a dozen houses remaining to point out the place.