Effingham County, Illinois - Yiil, 1883

JACKSON TOWNSHIP - INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION - TOPOGRAPHY, ETC. - SETTLEMENT OF WHITE PEOPLE - PIONEER IMPROVEMENTS AND BUSINESS INDUSTRIES - SOME EARLY INCIDENTS - BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES - MILLS, ROADS, ETC. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES - VILLAGES, ETC., ETC.

THE world in its onward rush is now taking time to look back, and the story of the pioneer is becoming one of absorbing interest. Illinois was for years considered " out west," and its people, scarcely out of the brush, took little interest in those traditions relating to a condition of society but little removed from their own. But the grand march of civilization has pressed back the Western frontier, until, instead of bordering the Mississippi River, it rests iipon the shore of the Pacific, and has made the once Northwestern Territory the central link in the brilliant chain of States. This awakening to the true value of the early history of this country comes, in many respects, too late. Most of the pioneers have been gathered to their fathers within the last decade, and one by one the old landmarks have decayed and passed away with those who reared them, while that period is fast rolling on when none can truly say, "I remember them or their works. " Thus while we may, we will rescue fi'om oblivion the facts and reminiscences, so far as attainable, of this section.

Jackson Township is largely taken up with the Wabash bottoms, and hence has much broken and hilly timbered land, with a very little level prairie in the western part. It is southwest from Effingham, and is bounded on the north by Summit Township, on the east by Watson, on the south by Mason, on the west bv Mound and the Congressional survey lies in Township 7 north, and Range 5 east, of the Third Principal Meridian. Its principal drainage is through the Little Wabash and its numerous tributaries. The Wabash flows in a southerly direction through the eastern part of the township, receiving the waters of Big Creek, Second Creek and Funkhouser Creek ; Brockett and Coon Creeks are tributaries of Big Creek. These numerous streams form an excellent system of natural drainage, afford an ample supply of stock water, and if properly utilized would furnish power to numberless mills and other machinery. The original timber was similar to that described in Summit and other townships of the county, and in the bottoms consisted of walnut, papaw, Cottonwood, sycamore, sugar maple, buckeye, soft maple, etc., etc., and upon the plains and ridges, the different oaks, hickory, and other hardy growths. The township comprises considerable good land, and along the river bluffs and hills there may be found some that possesses little value, except for the timber.

The early settlers, the men who first flocked to the hills and plains of Jackson Township; the men whose voices rantr first through its heavy forests while yet the footprints of the red man lingered in the sands; the men whose bullets first pierced the bounding deer that played and hid among the trees, are those around whom linger the most thrilling interest. The most of them are sone to that country where there are no pioneer trials and hardships. Some of the first settlers in the county located in this township; here dwelt and figured some of the most distinguished characters the county has known, and here.was the familiar " stamping ground" of Ben Campbell, to whom Mr. Bradsby has paid a fine tribute in a preceding chapter. To these pioneers and early settlers we will now devote a few pages.

The first settlement in what now forms Jackson Township was made by Isaac Fancher in 1825, and is one of the earliest settlements made in the county. His brother, Byron Fancher, settled a year or two later. They were from Tennessee, and Isaac settled on the place where Judge Gillenwaters afterterward lived. Byron was in the Black Hawk war, and was a good and upright man. He afterward sold out and moved to Texas. Isaac died in the township many years ago. Ben Oarapbell - the David Crockett, the Daniel Boone of the back woods - was the next settler in this towuship. He came about the year 1826-27, and for many years took aa active part in opening up the country and paving the way for the tide of immigration sweeping over the country from the East to the West. He is so fully written up, however, elsewhere, that we can add nothing without repetition. Jesse and Jack Fulfer came also in 1826. They were from the South, but it is not known from what State. They were not very pushing or energetic, but lived mostly by " days' works." They are dead and have no descendants now living in the county. Thomas I. Brockett came in 1828, and was the next addition to the settlement. Two brothers, Fred and William, were also early settlers in the county. They were all from Tennessee. Fred lived on the road to Blue Point, and William lived near the line, but probably in Union Township. Fred had a grist mill and saw mill on the Little Wabash, in Union Township. Thomas was instrumental in having the tii-st school taught in the township. They are all dead and gone years ago.

Among the arrivals of 1829 were Samuel Bratton, Andrew Lilly, Henry Tucker, William Stephens, Jacob Nelson and his sons. Bratton came from some one of the Southern States. He settled in Jackson, but afterward moved into Douglas. He has no descendants in the county. Lilly was also from the South, and is long since dead. He used to "shove the queer," it is said, and was a great "chum" of Hull, who was finally sent to the penitentiary for making and passing counterfeit money. Tucker was from Tennessee, and settled down in the river bottom, where he died. He has two sens, John and James, still living in the township, both of whom were in the Mexican war. Mr. Tucker was an honest and honorable man, and highly respected in the communitv. William

Stephens settled in this township, then moved into Watson, and later moved away from the State. Nelson came from Tennessee and settled in White County, 111., in 1828, and the next year came here. He^iirst settled on Limestone Creek, and then in this township, on the place where Calvin Mitchell now lives. He "cut the first stick'' on that place, improved it and afterward entered it. He had a son named Peter and another named Wash. All of them are dead - Peter probably excepted. He moved up north, came back, and finally moved away again, and was living the last known of him.

The year 1830 brought a few more settlers to the township, among whom were Jesse White, Alfred AVarron, Hemy P. Bailey, George and Enoch Neaville, Micajah Davidson and James Tm-ner. White was from Tennessee, and was a single man when he came. He married soon after, however, and settled down on the river, but afterwai-d moved out on the prairie. Bailey was also from Tennessee, and was the first Sheriff of the county He still has quite a number of descendants in this and the sm-rounding townships. Neaville was a Frenchman, and came from Alabama George, who was the father of Enoch, moved to Missouri, and finally died on the Gasconade River. Enoch moved into Watson Township, and died there. Davidson fii'st settled here and built a little mill, then sold out and moved over into Mason. Warren settled on the place where Ben Campbell died. He then moved aci-osa \ the Wabash onto the place where Tom Aus- \ tin now lives, and there died. '

James Turner, one of the last members of the old guard, and with Judge Broom, Judge Gillenwaters, and Mr. John Scott, the oldest settlers now living in the county, is a native of Virginia. He emigi-ated to Tennessee in 1823, and in the fall of 1830, came to Illinois, locating in Jackson Township. He still lives on the place where he originally settled, and can tell many stories, and relate many interesting incidents of frontier life; of how the pioneer left the civilization of the older States behind him, located in this wild region, far removed from the influence of the schoolhouse and the chui'ch, drove back the savages, and paved the way for the blessings of to-day. "Uncle Jimmy," or "Grandpap," as his intimate friends call him, will tell you how for years he tanned his own leather m troughs, and made the shoes for his own family and children. And a large family he had - nine sons and two daughtera. The sons all grew to manhood, and six of them are still living; one of the daughters lives in the township, and the other in California. Mr. Turner is the only one of the early settlers of this township, except Mr. Scott, now living. His memory is excellent, and his descriptions of pioneer life vivid and interesting. To him we are indebted for much valuable information, not only of this township, but of other portions of the county.

The Gallants settled in the township in 1831, but of them few facts were obtained. John O. Scott came here in 1832. He was a single man, but a few years later he married, as all true men should, thus carrying out the divine injunction to "multiply and replenish the earth." He and his good wife, who was Martha Parkhurst, are both living, honored citizens of the city of Effingham. Their recollection of early times and hardships is clear, and has been the means of preserving many historical facts fi-om oblivion. Mrs. Scott's father, Jonathan Parkhurst, was a native of New Jersey, but had ived some years in Tennessee, some real's before moving to this State. He first settled in White County, 111., where he remained some years, then came to this county, and settled in Mason Township; a few years later, he moved into Jackson. Thus, slowly the settlers came in, until all the available land was taken up and occupied.

While the pioneers had many soui'ces of pleasure and pastime, their early years here were years of toil. They had no mills near by, no agricultural implements, except a few of a very crude character, and, indeed none of the luxuries and but few of the comforts of life. Their clothing was made at home, of cotton and flax, grown by themselves, and of the skins of wild animals, moccasins incased their feet, and their food, if not ' ' locusts and wild honey," the latter at least was included in the bill of fai-e as one of the main staples of food, and was plenty in the forest. Wild beasts were plenty, and sometimes dangerous to cope with, if ravenously hungry; add to this the insects and 'reptiles, which were as thick as the leaves upon the trees, and the reader will conclude that pioneer life was not all sunshine. But with the increase of settlements, and the advance of civilization, improvements were made in the way of living from time to time, better implements and tools wei'e brought in, and life became more endui'able and enjoyable.

The incidents that gave zest to frontier life were frontier weddings - these were times of general rejoicings, and all within a large circle was invited and attended as -punctually as when the occasion was a house-raising or a corn-huskinsr. Several weddings occuiTsd in Jackson Township while it was yet in the pioneer period of its existence. Of those were Enoch Neayille and Lam3_Pagh, Mike Robinson and Delilah Pugh, Jesse White and Kate Neaville and John Scott and Martha Parkhurst. We cannot, like the modern Jenkins, give a full description of these fair brides, their trousseaus and wedding traps generally, but have no doubt it corresponded with the happy events celebrated. Ever since that wonderful triumph of millinei-y art long ago, of manufacturing an entire feminine wai'drobe from fig leaves, female ingenuity has been equal to any occasion when a display of brilliant costumes was required, and it would be superfluous to say that her resources did not fail upon these occasions.

An incident to the point, and illustrative of the times, is related by Judge Gillonwaters: Fred. Brockett's wife died, and some years afterward he made up his mind to marry again, and began to cast about him for a suitable helpmeet. He went into the matter much as he would have embarked in any other business enterprise. He mounted his horse and traveled from neighborhood to neighborhood, and everywhere his inquiries were for some " good looking, middle- aged widow 'oman, who wanted to marry," that he was " out on the hunt of a wife, and would like to find such a 'owan." Some distance south of here he made his usual inquiries, and was infortaed that about twenty miles back was the very woman who would fill the bill; that she was sensible, practical, and had plenty of the world's goods. He turned and retraced his steps, and went to see the woman. Afterward, when asked why he did not marry her, he said " she wouldn't do at all," that he " didn't want any such a little, crooked, chied-up 'oman as that." But we are told that " time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things," so he finally succeeded in finding a woman to suit his tastes in all respects.

In the regular com-so of human nature, births follow marriages, and the drst birth in the township was a pair of twins with different fathers and mothers. They wore, however, born in the same house, on the same night, and was a son of Stephen Austin and a daughter of Thomas I. Brockett. The circumstances attending this " j)henomenon " are detailed in a preceding chapter. They were soon followed by others. With so many pioneer weddings as we have accredited to Jackson, an increase of population is but a natural consequence. We were informed that the crop of children in the community was sare and large, honce it follows that these new married couples essayed to follow. or rather to carry out, the Biblical injunction - to " multiply and replenish the earth."

The first death in the township was the result of an accident. Isaac Fulfer, in cutting a bee tree, was caught in some manner by a falling limb and crushed to death. The accident was a melancholy one, and the violent death it involved cast a gloom over the entire settlement. The first person who died a natural death was a young man named Cummings, a nephew of Rod Jenkins. He came to the neighborhood with the intention of making it his home, and was taken sick soon after his arrival and died. He was buried at Jenkins', in a quiet spot where no graveyard had been laid out then, nor has been since. The first graveyard was near Freemanton. and was laid out in a very early day. A number of private , graveyards, or family burying grounds, have been made and peopled by the the "pale nations of the dead."

Mills were one of the first improvements in which the people took an interest, after becoming settled down to work. Brockett had a mill down on the river, but there is some question as to whether it was in Jackson, Mason or Union Township. Funkhouser had a horse mill a little east of Freemanton. It would be thought a poor excuse as a mill at this day, but then it was considered a grand improvement. Tucker had a mill veiy early. It was on the Little Wabash, and had what was called a tub wheel. A man named Meeks built it for Tucker. He was a sort of a millwright, and an early settler of the township, but no one knows now what became of him. Jonathan Parkhurst had a little horse mill, with stones about fifteen inches in diameter. Some mischievous fellows, without the fear of God before them, stole them one night, and carried them off by running their arms through the hole in them, and they were not found for three months. It happened that this mill was the only " dry weather " mill then for a circuit of many miles. Mr. Turner says that during all that time they had to " grit" meal; and when the corn got too dry for that process, they would boil it in water until it got tight enough on the cob to enable them to " grit " it into meal.

Roads and highways were not laid out for several years after settlements were made in the townships. The first roads were trails through the forests and prairies, made by the Indians. These were improved upon by the white people, and served as highways until roads were laid out and made by county authority. The old National road passes through a corner of Jackson, and is fully wi'itteu up in preceding chapters of this work.

When the county was organized, one of the fiist voting places was at the house of Thomas I. Brockett, and even before the county was formed, while it was yet a part of Fayette County, it was a voting place. The last election, before the organization of EfiSugham County, there were but thirteen votes polled at Brockett's - and they were solid for Gen. Jackson. We may add, that a majority of the voters in that neighborhood are still voting (figuratively) for Old Hickory.

The first goods sold in the township was by John Funkhouser, about the year 1833. He opened a store on the place where he settled, which is claimed by many to have been the first one established in the county, while others reject the authority. If Fuukhouser's was not first, it was among the first. It certainly was the first in Jackson Township. He carried on an extensive business in eai-ly times. Besides his store and mill, he was a great trader, and bought all the surplus products of the people. But so much has already been said of this pioneer business man that we can add nothing without repetition.

By reference to the chapter on education it will be seen that the first school in the county was taught in this township by Elisha Parkhurst, then a boy but twelve years old, and that his schoolroom was a quarter section of Thomas I. Brockett's stable. Brockett was the sponsor or godfather of this school, and what the boy Elisha could not do in manageing it, Brockett did for him, and between them they carried on a jiretty good school for the time.

Another of the pioneer schools, and which Judge Broom believes to have been the first in the county, was taught by Col. Houston in the south part of the township, neai- the line between it and Mason Township. It was tauglit in the fii'st regular schoolhouse erected, perhaps, in the county, llr. Turner says he helped to build it, and that it was constructed of round logs and had a wooden chimney, puncheon floor, etc. As pojiulation increased, and children likewise, other schools were established in the different neighborhoods, and schoolhousos built to accommodate them, until, at the present time, the township enjoys the most liberal educational facilities.

settlement of the township by white people. The Baptists were the pioneers of religion in this neighborhood, and mingled their hymns with the screams of the j).".uther and the howl of the wolf. The first preacher here, and jjrobably the first, at least among the first, in the county, were Elders Whitely and Surrells, regular Baptists, or as they are sometimes irreverently called "Hardshells," or "Ironjackets." Rev. Surrells was the gi-andfather of Mr. \V. P. Surrells of Efiingham. They preached at people's houses long before there were any churches built in the county. James Turner's house was for years, a preaching place for these and other pioneer ministers. Old Sulphur Springs Baptist Chui'ch, and the old Methodist Chiu'ch at Freemauton were the first churches built in the township. Sulphur Springs Baptist Church stood near the center of the township, and was built very early. It was burned in 1879. Its destruction resulted from a defective flue ; there had been services, and scarcely had the people reached their homes, when the house was discovered to be on fire; many rushed back but were too late to save the building, or anything else, except a few benches and other little things. A young man, at the risk of his life, entered the burning building, and saved the church bible, which was a very fine one, and highly prized by the congregation.

The Sulphur Springs Baptist Church was rebuilt, and is now knovm as the First Baptist Church. It stands on what is called "Little Prairie," near the site of the old one, and was built during the winter of 1881-82, at a cost of about $1,000. It is a comfortable and substantial frame building. The present momborship is over one hundred and is under the pastorate of Elder T. M. Grifiith. A Sunday school is kept iip all the year around.

Salem Methodist Episcopal Church South is located in the soiithwest corner of the township, and was built some twenty years ago. It has a strong membership and a good but plain frame chm-ch building. Rev. Herbert Reed is the present pastor. A Sunday school is kept up regularly.

Union Baptist Church, a kind of offshoot of the Sulphur Springs Baptist Church, is located on Section 9, and the building was put up in the spring of 1882. The organization of this chui'ch resulted from some dissensions which arose in the parent church, and the dissatisfied members withdrew and built this church. It is a iinion church, free to all orthodox Christians; is a substantial frame building and was put up at a cost of about §700. There is no regular preaching at present, but a good Sunday school is maintained. These, with the chiu-ch at Dexter, and the one that formerly stood in the village of Freemanton, comprise the religious history of the township. The people have never wanted for church facilities, and if they are not moral and religious, it must be their own fault, and not for lack of Christian influences; neither was it for lack of these that the early years witnessed much dissipation and wickedness in the country.

The village of Freemanton was laid out June 21, 1834, on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 7, of this township. It was surveyed and platted by William J. Hankins, surveyor, for the proprietors of the ground. William and John Freeman were early residents and business men of the place, and from them the town took its name. It was originally called "The X Roads," and if all the reports rn circulation concerning it are true, then Nasby's " Coufedrit X Roads, wich is in the State of Kentucky," was a moral, dignified and circums2')ect place, as compared to Freemanton in its palmy days. It was a great place for drinking and fighting, and its reputation abroad was anything but enviable. Meii were killed in Freemanton, but such incidents are better forgotten than perpetuated on the page of histor}'. It was on the old National road, a few miles west of Ewington, and when that great thoroughfare (the road) was in the course of construction, the hands engaged upon it would assemble regularly at Ewington and Freemanton, and filling themselves with the "craythur," the lively "scrimmages" of Donnybrook would be re-enacted with compound interest. Many of the denizens, too, of the Little Wabash Blufifs and of "Fiddler's Ridge" would come out semiperiodioally, and then the fun between them and the road hands would be lively, and carried on in earnest. But as the country grew older, society improved, the rough and lawless characters that frequented Freemanton, to the terror of the more quiet people, left for other fields and for the country's good.

As will be seen fr«m the date of its survey, Freemanton is an old place, or was, for, like several other towns of Effingham County, it has passed away and is " numbered among the things that wei'e." But it was once quite a business point, as well as a noted place morally, and - socially. The fii'st store is believed to have been kept by Mr. Johnson. A store was opened very early by Toothacre and one by Bishop. A man named Jenks had a blacksmith shop, and later there were several other shoj)S opened of diflerent kinds. "Dr." Bishop had a carding machine, which was run by horsepower. He afterward put in mill machinery and had a grist and saw mill, carrying on quite an extensive business. A post office was established at Freemanton, and Milton Flack was Postmaster. This was afterward discontinued, or removed to Dexter. A tavern was kept by Toothacre; he also kept the stage stand, when those vehicles (the stage-coach) got to running over the National road.

A church was built here very early, by the Methodists. It was a log structure, and stood down by the graveyard. It was never used by any other denomination regularly except the Methodists, who once had a strong church here. "When the schoolhouse was built, it was used for church purposes by all sects who so desired. Rev. IVIr. Lowry was a local Methodist preacher about Freemanton in an early day.

The village of Freemanton flourished as all such places do, until the building of the railroads. The building of the National road gave it birth; the building of the Vandalia Railroad sounded its death-knell. The construction of these modern internal improvements has overwhelmed many a puny village, as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions overwhelmed cities of old. When the Vandalia Railroad was built and opened for business, Freemanton ' ' wi-apped the drapery of its couch" about its "disgruntled" shops and stores and "laid down to unisloasant dreams." The site upon which it stood is now a flourishing farm. Quantum sufficit. The village of D(,'xter, if a collection of half a dozen houses can be called a village, is on the Vandalia Railroad, but a-few hundred yards from the original site of Freemanton, and is merely a railroad station. It has never been laid out as a town, and probably never will be. The tirst store was opened by H. H. Brown, soon after the completion of the railroad. Brown sold out to Joel Blakely, and he to J. H. Said, and the latter sold to McClure & Pope. There are now two stores in the place; one kept by J. W. Mc- Clure, and the other by Pantry. A hotel, the ''Ohio House," and a few shops, comprise the business of the place. The post office was moved from Freemanton.

A Methodist Episcopal Church was built at Dexter in 1S75, and is a handsome frame building, costing about $1,500. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Walker. The church is strong and flourishing, with an interesting Sunday school, which is kept up all the year round. A district schoolhouse has been built here, and is occupied for the usual school term.

Granville, to which reference has been made elsewhere, is one of those towns that has disappeared from the very -face of the - map. The exact place of its location is somewhat doubtful, and it is claimed both for Summit and Jackson Townships. From the reoords, however, it appears to have been situated on Sections 4 and 5, of Townshiji 7, and in Range 5 east, which j)]aces it in Jackson, near the Summit line. It was surveyed by Samuel Houston for John Funkhouser and M'^illiam Clark, the proprietors. As to whether the town covered the two sections named, the records are indefinite, but we venture to give it as an historical fact that it did not, and that it never got beyond a few shops and stores, and a half dozen or so of dwellings. It was finally vacated by legislative enactment, when "its glory departed forever," and its sun went down in darkness.