Grundy County, Illinois - Chapter 12, 1882

~\yETTLE CREEK is tlie name ;ip;>lieil -L^ 1)3' tlio settlers to tlie principal ftreain in this township, and t'roni the stream tlieprc cinct takes its name. The Indians named the stream Little Mazon, frmn the n urn her of nettles which were ionnd -^rowini; luxuriantly upon the rich bottoms. The township whieli bears this name, forms the northwest corner of (Trnndy County, and originally ctjnsistod almost entirely of level prairie land. Along the creek fiom the eastern line of tlie township to the westei'u line of Section 2:'), there was a considerable fjrowth of oak and black walnut, luit the rest w.is open prairie. A number of prairie runs, trii)utary to the maiti stream, cross the township in a southeasterly direction, but they have no valleys, and farmers till the land right up to the margin of the streams. The population is ([uite cosmopolitan in its character, Scotland, England, Ireland and Norway, of the European States, being represented, while no State of the Union can claim great preponderance in the number of her sons and daughters here. The first pioneer was William Iloge. He was of Scotch descent, but was horn in Loudoun County, Virginia; married in 1S'2G. He found himself with a famih' to supjiort and the prospect of acquiring a home in his native State verj' poor indeed. He re- solved on a tri]( to the Westin 1829, and attracted to this region of the country by tlie canal laiuls, bought 960 acres in that year. He returned to Virginia, and two years later, with his family and goods in a Winchester wagon, made the tediouf. journey over hill and stream to what is now Nettle Creek to\vnslii|). His tirst cabin, which is still ])ointel out, was a log structure situated within a few rods of his present residence, which was erected in ISio. Here lie lived with his family, consisting of his wife and thre.j children, with but one otherfamily in what is nowGrundy County. The nearest village was Ottawa. Here he got his mail and bought such supyilies as could not be dispensed with and the country did not aford. When the insurrection of Black Hawk's band occurred, alarmed for the safety of his family, Mr. Iloge fled to Pleasant Grove, opposite the present village of Pekin. Happily the Indian trouble was soon over, and in August of 1832 the family returned to their frontier home. Samuel Iloge had come AVest in 1829 and started a store in Belmont County in company with his brother-in-law, Ilendley Gregg, but after the Black Hawk war, selling out to his partner, he joined his brother in Nettle Creek in 1833. William Iloge lociited his land on Section 2r), ami latei-, as he was able, bought Section 24 and other land until he now owns soraetliing over 3,000 acres of land. Samuel first took up a claim in Erienna, but in 1S35 came into Nettle Creek and bought Sections 21 and 22 and lands adjoining until he died in possession of something over 3,000 acres.

In the fall of 1S37 John Gray, a Scotchman, and George Brouse, an Englishman, came into Nettle Creek together, the former locating on Section 20 and the latter on Section 17, their lands joining. Gray came on to his land in the following season and began his improvements, but Brouse, who was a bachelor and never married, did not come on for a year or two. In 1837 "William Stephen came. He was a young unmarried man, and a native of Scotland. He had known Gray in the old country, and it was through him that he was led to take up his home in Nettle Creek. He was led to emigrate to America, however, by the glowing descriptions of the country, given by a Mr. Smith, Chicago's pioneer banker. Smith had gone to Scotland, his native land, to enlist capital in the formation of a stock company to invest in Illinois land, but while prosecuting this scheme the panic of 1837 was precipitated, and he was hurriedly called back to look after his affairs here. Mr. Stephen had intended to accompany Smith on his return, but the latter was obliged to leave so early that Mr. Stephen was obliged to make the trip later and alone. He came to Chicago, but found the banker absent on business, and being free to go where the inclination of the moment prompted, sought out liis old friend Gray in Nettle Creek. He took up some land and stayed about one year, when, disgusted with the peculiar disadvantages of the phice, he went into Kendall County.

He came right from the civilization of the city to a frontier community without the semblance of a village, and after lireakiii"- sod for a day or two, gave up the business here in disgust. He finally bought and improved a line farm in Kendall County, but has been most of his time identified with Grundy County. About this time George Bullis came from New York and settled on Section 8, where he lived until about 1870, when he moved to Ford County, leaving no descendants here.

About 1840, a Mr. Coup came to Nettle Creek. He had bought a quarter section of land near Chicago, for which he had given his notes. He found it a hard matter to raise the money to make his payments, and his creditors seizing upon some |)roperty left on the place, took possession of his land. Giving up hopeof prospering in that region became to this township, entered into contract with Brouse to dis a division ditch, about a quarter section of land for another quarter section. To the fulfillmeut of this contract he brought an untiring energy, digging when the season permitted until far into the night, and in the meanwhile living in a sod house and practicing all sorts of economy. He achieved his task and started in the nursery business, with a fair prospect of success, but his old time creditors still holding his notes, learned he had got some propertyhere, were about to levy on his land to satisfy his notes, and he was obliged to sell out to one of his neighbors to save anything out of his hard won property. In 1841 or '2, Thomas Loughhead came in from Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He was born of Scotch parents, in the north of Ireland. and emigrated to Canada durinj; the Na-

])oleonic wars. The vessel in wliicli he eiiiburked fell in with ,a French privateer and barely escaped capture, losing his chest of cliitlies and the hat from his head. lie soon afterward met Mary Donley and married her, a little later coming to Pennsylvania. His wife was the daughter of a laih-, the daughter of an Irish nobleman, wim iiad eloped to this country witli an Irish teacher. In the war of 1812, Mr. Loughhead was drafted, and served tlirou^iiiout tiie struggle as a private. Ilis wife died before his coming into Illinois, but he l)rouglit a family of two boj's and four girls, none of whom were then married. For three or four years he rented tiie farm of George Brouse, which he bought in 1847. The boys subsetjuently bought farms near by, and the girls engaged in teacliing sciiool. They enjoyed the advantages of liberal study, Iiaving attended the seminary at Hudson, Ohio. Another son, James, came to Nettle Creek subsequently, and stayed there about two j-ears, buying the interest of the other heirs in the paternal estate, and finally selling it to a Mr. Moody. A year or two later, James P. Tliompson, who had married one of the Loughhead daugliters, followed his latlierin-law to Illinois, and settled on the northeast quarter of section 19. The iiead of the Loughhead family died about 1855, and the diflerent members Iiave one by one gone to different parts of the countr\', leaving no descendants here.

Oliver Dix came here in 1814, from Oneida County, New York, and settled on section 8, and about the same time came Minard Waterman from tiie same State and settled on land which his father boujrht of Mr. Stephen, on section twenty. In the following year the Mossmans came into the township, William settling on the southeast quarter of section 17, and Hugh on the northeast tpiarter of section nine. About the same time came Simon Fry, from Maryland, and settled on section 7, where he is still living. In or about 1848, came Thomas and Joim Agan, buying land on section 31, where they now reside; in 1849, Isaac N. Brown came from .Saratoga County, New York, and settled on section 4. and soon after iiim David Jamison, li-om Pennsylvania, and settled on tiie northwest quarter of section eighteen.

About 1S45, the Norwegian element began to come into the township and it is astonishing to observe how rapidly they jiave supplanted the original settlers. Among the earliest of this class of foreigners were John Peterson, Ben Thornton, Ben Hall, Lars and Erasmus Sheldall, John Wing, G. E. Grunstead and others. In 1849, the population of the township was divided as follows: On section 1, H. A. Furd; on section 3, Baker Knox and R. Carpenter; on section 4, Isaac N. Brown, Lars and Ei-asmus Sheldall, John Win"- and G. E. Grunstead; on section 7, John Peterson, Ben Thornton and Simon Fry; on section 8, Lars Likeness, Ben Hall, Edson Giftord and George Bullis; on section 9, Hugh Mossman; on section 10, Morgan Lloyd and S. II. Rider; on section 12, John Gibson, Alex. Bushnell, Ben Sears and Daniel David; on section ]4, Charles McCann; on section 17, John and Thomas Loughhead, Oliver Dix and William Mossinan; on section IS, David Jamison; on section 19, James P.Thompson; on section 20, John Gray and Minard Waterman; on section 22, Samuel Hogc; on

The lirst settlers of Nettle Creek were almost to a man of very limited means and cut off by the natural situation from any prospect of a village. The Iloges and Mr. Iloiderman early went into cattle raising, feeding them on the public lands, whereever water and grass afforded the most eligible site. The scarcity of timber here made fencing an expensive burden to the already sufficiently handicupped farmer, and some quite serious dilTerences arose out of this combination of circumstances. The gradual development of the country, liowever, has long since removed these cau.-es of irritation. Messrs. Iloge and Holderman still make cattle raising their principal occupation, some of this stock being high grades. Samuel Iloge came to the township rather " full handed," and has given more attention than others to the growing of line blooded stock.

During the earh' history of this commnnity, the nearest store and post-oftice was at Ottawa, and the nearest market at Chicago. As the country settled np, Morris founded, and with Marseilles on the southwest divided the local trade so that Nettle Creek could not afford sufficient patronage to justify a store here. A log saw-mill was constructed by William IToge on Nettle Creek, about six rods from liis house, which did a moderate business for some ten years, but the dam washed out one winter and the mill was allowed to i-ot down. Later, during the constrnction of the canal, a steam mill was erected on canal lands in section 23, which furnished material to the contractors, but passed awajMvith the occasion that brought it. The onlv approach to a store was attempted in 187(1, when Zach. Severson added to his boot and shoe shop on section 8, a small stock of ^-roceries. This was too late a date for such a ventiire to succeed, and it has been discontinued.

The leading social event Avliich may bo noted, is the first white Inrth in the township, that of James, a son of William Huge. He is probably the first white child born in the county, and is now living in Saratoga township. The first death in Nettle Creek was a child of Warren Chapin, who lived on section 8, and where in the absence of any cemetery, the child was buried.

In 1835, the IToge brothers feeling the necessity of a school for their childi-en, built a split log house for the purpose, on the land of William Hoge. It was a neat structure for the time, the roof formed ot shakes, the floor of sawed planks, and plank desk and benches. The first teacher here was Maria Southworth, from the Fox River settlement at Milford. She taught two winters and had about nine scholars, receiving for her compensation $2.50 per week, which was paid b}' William Iloge. The building is still standing abont 125 yards from Mr. Hoge's dwelling. Schools were held here until about 1S57. The second school-house was erected on section 10. It did not serve long as it was not conveniently located. The next one was built near !Mr. Brown's present residence, and this was subsequently abandoned and the single school of the township was taught in tlie town house, by Oliver Dix. In 1849, the township was divided into four school districts which have been since increased to seven.

The first start for cluircli orj^anizatiuii was abdut 1S4!> hy the Cons^rej^atioiial society under the hiljors of James Loui;hhead. lie came to Illinois in 1S45, on a call to tlie Big Grove churcli. He was a graduate of tlie "Western Keserve College at Hudson, Ohio, and for several years after his graduation, took part in the slavery agitation, lecturing in favor of emancipation. He subsequently studied theology and preached several years in Ohio, when he accepted the call to Big Grove. Here he preached for two yeai-s, but in the meantime acting as an appointee of the Home Missionary Society, and establishing churches in various parts of the county. He had brought his father to Nettle Creek some years before; and was well acquainted with the character of the work needed to be done here. He was a man of great force of character and good practical judgment, and was the originator of the Congregational influence in Grundy County. On his first coming in ISio, he was impressed with the gj-eat need of evangelical work in Morris, and determined at the first opportunity to open up a field of labor here. He seems never to have lost sight of this determination, and in 1847 he moved to Morris and began by organizing a church here. While located here he preached in other parts of the county, and was instrumental in establishing churches in Mazon, An Sable and elsewhere, beside in Xettle Creek. The church in tliis township was organized b}' members from Big Grove church, among whom were his brother.s and sisters, John, Thomas, Margaret and Hannah, and Mr. and Mrs. J. W. AVashburn. The church never built a ]ilace of worship, using the school-houses for this purpose until about 1868, when it became extinct as an organization. The church organized a Bible Society, and did good service for years.

The Methodist Church organized a society here about 1850, in which the three Mossman families, Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Thompson, Mrs. Fry and Keuben Aylesworth were leading members. The church used the residence of Oliver Dix as the first place of worship, and later held their meetings in the school-house as they now do. The membership now numbers about thirty persons, and holds services once in each fortnight, depending upon a " supply" from the Kock River Conference.