Grundy County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read), 1882

forming bottom lands, nearly two miles in width in some places; the road which follows the general coarse of the river, marking the general line of the high lands. Immediately south of this line the land sinks somewhat into what was originally low wet meadows, marked by broken ontcroppings of liinerock and bowlders. On the northern iialf of sections 9, 10, and 11, is Goose Lake, a relic, probably, of the great watercourse that once overflowed this region and carried the waters of Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River. This body of water is a sedgy lake of swampy tendencies, measuring some three miles from east to west, and little more than a half mile wide. In seasons of high water this lake finds an outlet into the Kankakee. South of this is a ridge extending east and west throngh the central part of the township, originally covered with a considerable growth of timber; and again, south of this, another space of swamp land succeeds, which in turn is bounded on the south by a sand ridge. Claypool Run drained this swamp into the Mazon, and more recent cultivation has lengthened this run and improved the lands. The natural drainage is slight, the various runs finding their way into the Mazon from the western end of Goose Lake, and the swamp lands, in the southeast corner, and another draining the eastern middle portions of the township into the Kankakee River. These

"-TTTII/VT'S in a name?" Certainly, V V not very much when it stands for a designating mark only; as country hostlers are wont to chalk numbers on vehicles to identify them in the payment of the reckoning. "Infoli.K" would have been more suggestive of impressions derived from an early experience in this section of Grundy County; but the early "powers" held Felix Grundy, Tennessee's brilliant advocate, in high es'^eem, and this precinct, the youngest of the fourteen, was selected to bear the Christian name of him whom the county honored. There was little appropriateness in this selection and the name serves rather to emphasize the unpleasant peculiarities of the precinct than to do honor to its namesake. This township lies in the eastern tier of the county; is bounded on the north by the Illinois River, on the east by Will County, on the south by Braceville Township, and on the west by the meandering line of the Mazon River and Wauponsee Township. Its outline is quite irregular, and measures seven miles in its widest part, and from the moat northerlypoint on the river to the southern boundary, it stretches out some seven and a half miles. The general surface is low. In the northeast corner the high land abuts upon the river, and trom this point gradually recedes, niiis are but sluggish streams, and scarcely do more than to mark the lowest ])ortion of the low grounds. The soil is princi])ally a low wet clay, a deposit near the western end of the lake proving admirable material forthe man ut'acturc of coarse potter^'. While !i considerable part of the townsliip is niider a good degree of cultivation, the greater part is devoted to grazing, Mr. Holderman giving especial attention to stottk raising. Among tiiose earliest identified with the interests of this township, was Peter Lampsett. He was a "character" in his way jukI was a relic of that large and at one t me influential class of pioneers, the Canadian voy;igeur. lie trapjied through this country as early as ISiiO, and this lucatiuii es])ecialh' suiting his jnirsuits, atti-;u-fed and held him here long after the rest of his class had moved further north. lie was known among the earliest settlers as " Specie," a name given him by the residents of the county, bca\ise he invariably refused to accept paper money in his dealings, lie seems to have accepted this name good-naturedly, and his descendants, still found in this region, have adopted it as their surname. " Specie Grove" in Delvalb County was named for him, and is likely to prove his most enduring monument. He lived on the JIazon, but never owned any land there, maintaining a homestead by right of his squatter sovereignty, and cultivating only a small jmtch for gaidening purposes. He first discovered coal in the county and picking out such as showed itself where the Mazon uncovered it. sold it to the blacksmiths of the vicinity. W. A. Holloway came into the township from "Wauponsee in 1S35, bought land on section I'i near where the wooden bridge was put across the Mazon. He was not satisfied with the country here, however, and in 184:0 left this county for Blooinington, Wis. Mr. Abram Holderman bought land in the nurtiiern part of the township about 1S35. He p'aced his son Henry on the farm, but he stayed only a year or two when lie became tired of the place and went further west. Then another son. Barton, took possession, but in a short time he left for Missouri in search of brighter fortunes, and in 18-47 or 184S Samuel Holderman took possession. He ibund here the materials tor building up a fine fortune, and gradually added more land to his place until he owned some five thousand acres on which he ])astui-ed droves of some of the finest cattle in tlie country. This large I'arm has but recently been sold to Mr. Jerry Collins. In 1S39, Abram White, from the Fox liiver settlements, Mr. Kelso and Martin Luther, came to the township.

Among the earliest settlers of the countv, though not so early in Felix, was John Beard. He was a southerner by birth and early emigrated from Maryland to Pennsylvania, thence to Indiana, and later to the mouth of the An Sable. Lie was a man of about fifty-five years of age when he came to this country, and was probably induced to come here by the brigiit prospect for speculation which the canal lands promised. To these early pioneers the lands along the route of the proposed canal offered inducements similar to the western lands which now lie along the rapidly constructing railroads in the west. The government sections were no sooner in the market than they were taken up b}' settlers and s]ieculators, and real estate in this region early rose to fabulous prices for the time and place. The lands were known far and near among moneyed men and many wlio had means and a taste tor pioneer life, put both funds and ]>ersonal comfort into the speculation. Mr. Beard had a large family, several of his children being married, and though there were few considerations urging liim at his age to take upon himself the further privations of frontier life, he could not resist the temptation to try his fortune here. He came overland in a three-horse wagon, without incident, and settled at the mouth of the Au Sable River about 1S33. Here he remained one or two years, when he conceived the idea of founding a city at the head of the Illinois between the I)es]ilaines and Kankakee Kivers. This it was hoped would be the head of navigation, and here, situated on a hill with admirable natural advantages, was destined to grow a bubble similar in kind to the South Sea and Great Mississippi schemes. In the meantime Mr. Beard liad been joined at the mouth of the Au Sable by his son-in-law, James McKean, with his family. They came from Pennsylvania with a wagon drawn by three yoke of oxen, and driving several cows and 150 hogs. The progress of such a caravan was necessarily slow, making about fifteen miles per day. The Indians were found in large numbers all along their journey, but always friendly and frequently renderintr valuable assistance in getting the herd of swine out of the bushes. As it was, some forty were lost on the journey, and it is probable that while the "noble red man" would not steal a hog before the eyes of the owner, these estrays generally turned np in an Indian camp, and furnished a satisfactory meal to the savages. After living at the mouth of the Au Sable for several years, McKean joined his father-in-law on the Kankakee. Here about 1839, the ignited families put up a large saw-mill, the machinery for which was bought in New York, shipped to Chicago and brought thence with infinite trouble to its destined location.

About 1838, William White witli two sons, J. L. and William, came from Marietta, Oliio, and settled in Felix. Mr. White was a soldier in the war of 1812, and now draws a pension. He is still a vigorous old veteran of ninety-four years of age.

The early settlers in this township came into close relations with the Indians, who were here in considerable numbers. The abundance of game attracted them, and tlie settlers finding them well disposed, encouraged their sta}' by numberless little courtesies. The earliest families would have found it quite difficult, if not impossible, to put up their log cabins if it had not been for tlie help of these natives. When hogs or cattle strayed, the Indians could always be trusted to give reliable information concerning them, and woiild frequently go long distances to bring them back to a favorite white man. McKean seems to have been especially favored in this way. It is related that one day he missed some fifty of his large herd of swine. On inquiry of the Indians he learned where they were. Finding the hogs were his, the natives proposed to go and get them, but wishing to identify them himself, they accompanied him and helped to drive the animals home, for which assistance McKean gave them one of the animals. Subsequently, when the final treaty was made with them, and before their removal, Mc-

Keaii's cabin was thrummed with Indians, to wlioiu his witb furnished breakfast every nu)rning as regularly as to her own family. At the payment of the sum stijjulated in the treaty, the Indians urged McKean to present his bill for their entertainment, but, being satistiod with the return they liad made him, he refused altogether. Marquis, of Wauponsee, was more willing to do this, and preferred a claim of 8500, which the Indians, wlio disliked liim very much, refused to acknowledge, saying they had paid him for everything they got, and so the commissioners allowed him nothing.

Deer, squirrels, otter, raccoons, muskrats, inhabited the woods and marshes, while prairie chickens, quails and wolves were found in the 0])eti country. Deer were unusually jilentit'ul here, and men going out after their cows and taking their guns, seldom failed to bring back the hams (jf a tine animal as tiM]>hies of their marksmanship. It very early became the habit of the ))ioneers to take only the liams of venison, leaving tiie rest of the carcass to the wolves and dogs, and it was no unusual thing to see twenty -live hams curing in the smokiug-house at once. This abundance of game was a great relief to many of the pioneers. Easy as hogs were kept, and numerous as they became in later years, McKean, who kept a large herd, found ample market for all he could raise among the farmers in this region. Many who could not buy, lived on this abundant game, though it soon became tiresome to the taste and proved a poor substitute for beef and ])(jrk.

in the happy reign of civilization. The earliest effort was made to get a crop of corn. Tiie first crop was planted by cutting a gash in the inverted sod with an axe, dropping the corn and closing it by another blow beside the first. Or it was dropped in every third furrow and the sod turned on it; if the corn was so placed as to find the space between the furrows, it would find daylight; if not, the result of tlie planting was extremely doubtful. Of course cultivation in this case was im[)0ssible, and if the squirrels and crows gave the crop an opportunity to mature, it generally proved a satisfactory return. At first there was no market for the surplus product, and there was only the household and the limited amount of stock to provide for. Wheat was not cultivated here to any extent; the location was not suited to it, and farmers preferred to buy what they needed for their own use, while giving their whole attention to "razino; and corn. The lack of millino: facilities was another inconvenience that amounted to a hardship. The nearest place where corn or wheat could be ground was at Green's mill, in Dayton. Here, when the roads were passable, the people brought their corn or wheat, and waited with such patience as they could command until thev could be served. This waitinir frequently consumed a week, and customers of this mill always went prepared to stay until they got their " grist," as the journey hither was not one to be undertaken lightly. But more discouraging than these were the annual floods which regularly visited this township, and brought in their train destruction and disease, harder to bear than any amount of difficulties which energy and pluck might surmount.

Life, in a new coiintrv, is every wliere subjected to tlie misery of niiihirious diseases. The clearini^ otf of tiniljer oi' tlie breaking up of prairie sod, involving tiie i-apid deca}' of large quantities of vegetable matter, gave rise to the inevitable miasma, which wrought its sure work upon the human system. "Snfeh sickness was generally confined to the last of the summer and fall. There was but little sickness in winter except a few lingering fall cases that had become chronic; there were but few cases after severe frosts, and the spring and early summer were perfectly healthy. It was commonly remarked that when the bloom of the resin weed and other yeliuw flowers api)L'ared it was time to look for the ague. The first spring flowers on the prairie were mostly piidc and white, thou followed purple and blue, and about the middle of August yellow predominated.

" High water in spring, flooding the bottoms and filling the lagoons and low ])!aces along the streams, and then drying ofi' with the liot sun of July and August, was a fruitful cause of disease, and in such localities it was often quite sickly, while tiie high prairie was compai-atively exempt." * Felix was especially exi)osed to these inundations, and hardly a year passed without an extensive overflow. The one of 1837 is especially remembered. In the early spring of this year, a sudden flood broke up the ice, which, forming a gorge, held back the waters until their weight made the ice give way, and the flood of water and ice made its way down the Illinois, submerging the islands in its course and flooding its banks until even the high- lands were reached, threatening destruction to homes and stcick which were su]iposed to be out of the reach of anything save another deluge. Huge masses of ice were lodged iipon the banks in every conceivable shape, which, gradually melting in the spring suns, kept the soaked earth saturated until the middle of summer, when the hot stifling weather of AuLiust gave rise to an unusual amount of sickness all along the river. "That season, exaggerated arid fearful stories were sent over the countrj' in relation to the sickness. A correspondent of an Eastern paper stated that he saw in a cemetery at La Salle, 300 graves that had never been rnined on, and that in a new coiintrv where a settlement was but just commeuecd. This might have been true, but the cemetei'y belonged to the Catholics, and was the only one this side of Cliicngo, and thousands of men were there at work on the canal, and they nearl}' all came to La Salle for burial; and this was late in the fall when there had been no rain for nearly six months." *

Altliouffh there was but little to attract emigration to Felix, and later years have demonstrated its ineligibility as a site for a citv, yet two very considerable towns have found a place and varied experience within its limits. Jugtown was what its name implies, a place where pottery interests centered. A bed of good potter's clay was found near the western end of Goose Lake, and in 1853, William "White, of Chicago, put up the necessary buildings and machinery for the manufacture of drain tile especially for the Chicago market. Such clay was not to be found readily, and tliere seemed to be a briylit prospect for the enterprise. The business expanded, some forty or fifty men were employed, and feathering abont the works with their families made quite a town of their settlement. A great difficulty was met at the very outset in the lack of shipping facilities. The roads were poor at best, and the product of the works had to be hanled to Morris foi' shipment, though considerable effort was made to utilize the Kankakee feeder to obviate this distance. This did not prove successful, and the enterprise gradually went to decay, and with the business went the town, leaving little but the scarred earth to mark its site.

Kankakee City was a more pretentious agirj-egation of houses, though hardly so well established in fact. The projected canal was the subject of tlie most absurd speculations. Its leading advocate in Congress, Daniel P. Cook, declared in a document addi-es-ed to his constituents, " that in less than thirty ^ears it would relieve the people from the payment of taxes, and even leave a surplus to be applied to other works of public utility." Such estimates were industriously circulated by the friends of this great scheme among the capitalists of the East, and so little experience was had in such matters then, and so prone were people to believe in the existence of an "El Dorado" in the little known West, that capital forgot its traditional caution, and seemed to struggle to reach its fate. When the government put up its share of these lands for sale there was an excited struggle between the actual settlers and the speculators, which resulted in the victory of the settlers who secured the land which they had improved, and what they could pay for adjoining them. But when these purchasers were satisfied there was a great deal of land left which was subsequently picked up by speculators, who held it at five and ten dollars per acre. These prices were so high as to discourage immigration, and land dealers resorted to every device to stimulate the rage for speculation. The infatuation seemed to be contagious; corner lots, claims, pre-emptions and floats, were the chief subject of conversation. Mr. Baldwin thus describes the situation: " A lodger at any of the rickety hotels at that day, would have to sleep in a room containing four or five beds, and from the bargains and contracts made by the lodgers before going to sleep, might well imagine himself on 'Change, or in AYall street, New York, and his companions all millionaires. The writer called at a log cabin toward evening of a rainy day, where some half a dozen farmers were assembled, who had evidently engaged in high speculation during the day. One of the number, addressing himself to me, said, as he slapped his hand very complacently on his thigh; ' I have made ten thousand dollars to-day, and I will make twice that to-morrow; ' and I learned from further conversation with his companions, that he had been the least successful one in the company. Towns and villages were laid out at almost every crossroad, and some, where there had never been any road. I set out some small apple trees on my farm, the only ones to be procured, and stuck a stake by each; a stranger coming past, inquiretl the name of the town I had laid out."

nouncements. In its palmiest days its population did not reach seventy-five souls, yet it had ten public squares, with public parks and broad streets enough to have formed a nucleus lor another New York City. The plat with its numerous additions covered about two thousand acres, and lots were sold at auction in Chicago and New York City, and thousands upon thousands of dolhirs were invested in this midsummer night's dream. In all the prominent real estate centers were seen highly ornamented plats of this city, beautiful with magnificent buildings, and busy with the traffic of ca])acious warehouses, and crowded steamboat wharves. In its early history, Mr. lieard, the projector of this city, was ottered $35,000 for his property, which he rejected. But the crash of 1837 came, and all this paper prosperity passed away like morning dew. Emigration almost entirely ceased; the work on the canal, which had brought a certain fictitious prosperity to this region, barely struggled on, supported by State scrip.

Wheat went down from two dollars per bushel to fifty cents; ])ijrk from twentyfive dollars per barrel to one dollar per hundred; corn to ten cents per bushel, and all this in dejjreciated scrip or store goods at a profit of one hundred per cent. For many years the large teri-itory embraced in the limits of Kankakee City was assessed as lots and thousamls of dollars were loaned n])on this property as security, but the burden became too great and the land was finally sold for the accumulated taxes, and whatever titles are now held to this property are based upon tax sales. This famous city has long since reverted back to rustic uses, and serves the ])urposes of the farm, none the less sedately for having at an early day put on cit3' airs.

Note. - Tlio site of Kankakee City, between the forks of th'? Illinois River, is now apart of An Sable township, being assigned to that township because the facilities for crossing the Desplaines River are better than for crossing the Kankakee.