Iroquois County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1880 (part 13 of 20)

One of the most distressing, and from all its surroundings one of the most singular crimes ever known in the history of this county, was the murder of Mrs. Malousen by her husband, in May, 1872. Joseph Malousen was a worthy and respected man. Nobody would have deemed him capable of committing such a shocking crime, but that his mental organization was somewhat deficient seems certain from the result. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church, and married, against the rules of his church, a woman who had been previously married, but who had long been separated from her husband, but had not been legally divorced. His priest reproved him sharply for his marriage and told him that he could not recognize him, and the church could not while living in such an unauthorized state. This preyed on his mind so that he was almost beside himself, and when returning from Watseka on foot with his wife, whom he really loved, in the evening, he sat down and talked with her on the bank of the creek a while. He then pushed her in and jumped in and held her down under the water till life waa extinct. He then took off her skirt and left it in a field a short distance away, and put the hand-basket which she was carrying under a bridge some distance away, and secreted himself. Of course the murdered woman was soon found, and the neighbors commenced the search for him with a rope, and it is believed his life would have been of little value had he been found. A -week later he gave himself up to the sheriff, saying that he could not bear the terrible feelings any longer. He confessed his crime and was sentenced to the penitentiary for fourteen years. His behavior there was such that he has already worked out.

The only railroad in the township is the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw, which was built in 1858 and 1859, and runs along the southern boundary line. A company was formed and surveys were made in 1872 for building the La Fayette, La Salle & Clinton railroad. By its survey it was to cross the river at or near Plato, and run through the northeastern corner of this township. The building was about to be commenced, the bonds having been placed with Jay Cooke & Co., for sale, when the failure of that house, and the consequent panic in financial affairs, put a stop to this, as it did to all other railroad enterprises. There is some prospect that this road will be built.

W. F. Higgle was first clerk ; A. B. Thompson, assessor ; and William Flesher and Isaac Riggle, justices of the peace. The present officers are : S. N. Calkin, supervisor, now in his sixth term ; J. B. Eno, clerk, now in his seventh year ; A. Flesher, assessor ; J. B. Eno, collector ; Robert Goodman and C. H. Martin, justices of the peace. In 1863 a special vote taken for or against township organization,- resulted 45 for, to 1 against. In 1867 there were 72 for, to 6 against. A vote was taken May 14, 1867, for or against annexing to Kankakee county all of town 29, ranges 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 west, and 10 and 11 east, which then belonged to Iroquois county. It resulted unanimously against annexation. The township has usually been democratic politically, and latterly very close when party lines have been drawn. The records of town meeting show a remarkable number of tie votes. Before township organization this was a part of Jefferson precinct, and voting was done at Mr. Jefferson's house.

No person in Iroquois county has been more thoroughly and continuously alive to all the interests of the county, from almost its earliest settlement, than John Wilson, of Plato. He was born in county Down, Ireland, in 1813, and four years later came to Baltimore, Mary- land, with his father, who had been for some years county officer, a position answering in part to the office of sheriff before its duties had been clipped by what is known as township organization, but having a certain jurisdiction in several counties. For twelve years, while Mr. Wilson carried on mercantile business in Baltimore, John was in school. On the removal to Ohio of the elder Wilson, John remained and taught school at Fredericksburg, meanwhile qualifying himself to teach civil engineering, draughting, penmanship, commercial education, etc. In June, 1835, he arrived at Danville, with as good a practical education as any man in the thriving settlement, and for two years served as clerk in the land office, under Judge McRoberts, teaching a commercial class each winter in the branches which he had prepared himself to teach. He also taught commercial classes in Chicago, La Fayette, and several in Urbana. It was while he was at Danville that he formed an intimate friendship for Mr. Lincoln, which, notwithstanding their opposite political views and party associations, continued till the death of the martyr president. When the Plato Company was formed, - a company which had a considerable landed interest here, - he came here to reside as the agent of the company. In 1830 he taught, not the first, but probably the second, school on Spring creek, and which was the forerunner of the Grand Prairie Seminary, now flourishing near where he taught. So much had the fame of the schoolmaster spread that the building which had been put up for the school, holding sixty pupils, would not accommodate the applicants. Soon after this he quitted the employ of the Plato Company, and assisted James Smith, county surveyor. He improved two farms on the Iroquois river, which he sold, and afterward became owner of the Plato Company's property, and has added to it until he has now 1,100 acres of land, of unsurpassed fertility and beauty. He was county surveyor for four years, and prepared and published one of the most complete and accurate county maps ever issued in a new county, and which is still considered authority. He was appointed the first postmaster at Plato, in 1840 or 1841, and has held the position uninterruptedly for thirty-nine years. He is believed to be the oldest postmaster in the country. He was appointed in 1846 one of the commissioners of the Kankakee and Iroquois river slack-water improvement. He perfected the survey of the rivers, and made estimates on the work, commencing at the upper end of the rivers. He was overruled by the other commissioners, who decided to commence at Wilmington. They put in one dam and lock there, which was washed away by the next spring freshet. He was appointed on the second commission in 1861, but the war then progressing prevented any work being accomplished.

He prepared maps of Yermilion, Champaign and Kankakee counties, and was engaged for some time making surveys for the Illinois Central railroad, and platting their lands. He married, in 1839, Samautha Butler, who died in 1843, leaving one child, now Mrs. Reynolds, who lives in Michigan. He was married in 1845, at Urban a, to Amy E. Carson, who is still living. He is the father of eight children, all living : John J. and Robert Bruce, who are married, live near by ; Thomas F. at Ashkum ; Isabella Dixon lives at the ferry ; Joseph F., Alfred and Pauline at home. He carries on his large farm, which is well stocked, feeding cattle in large numbers. Politically, he has always been a democrat, and in religious belief is a spiritualist in sentiment

Enoch H. Long, farmer, Watseka, was born in Hawkins county, east Tennessee, in 1826. He removed to Indiana in 1842, and to Ash Grove ten years later. His great-grandfather served Shelby, and received three balls at the battle of King's Mountain, which he carried in his hip until his death. His grandfather died in Tennessee during the late war. He was a cousin of John C. Calhoun, the famous leader of South Carolina political views. Mr. Long married, July 1, 1855, Almira Sturtevant, and has seven children : Sarah L., William C., James A., Thomas L., George, Laura J. and Lucy May. He has lived a number of years in Iroquois township, where he has a good farm, with excellent buildings. He has been for years a devoted friend of the church, and his influence has been in favor of good society and good government.

Maurice Kirby, farmer, Crescent City, came to America in 1829, when he was twenty years of age, having been born in Ireland in 1809. For a number of years after coming to this country he was employed on various public works throughout the country, having been engaged on the "Wabash and Erie canal, and other works of a similar nature, in the states of New York, Virginia, Ohio and Indiana. In 1840 he bought the 200-acre farm on which he now resides in this township, it at that time being wild land, but did not move on it until 1850, previously marrying Miss Caroline Griffin, the same year, in Parke county, Indiana. Their family consists of four children, two boys and two girls: Mary Francis, born in 1850; Caroline, born in 1856 ; John, born in 1860 ; and James, born in 1865. During the early years of their residence here they had to endure numerous trials and hardships, but he is now enjoying the fruits of his industry.

Tobias Danner, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Ohio in 1814. His grandparents were from Germany, and his parents were born in Virginia. They came to Indiana in 1830. He came to this county in 1852, and lived three miles southeast of Watseka. In 1864 he came to his present residence to live. In 1837 he married, and from that union six children were born: Robert is married and lives near Watseka; John B. is married and lives near his father; Samuel O. also lives near; Mrs. Charlotta Harwood lives in Crescent, and Catherine E. died at the age of twenty-four. He was married a second time, in 1871, to Rachel Tarbott, who has two daughters and one son. Mr. Danner has been a constant member of the Methodist church for thirty-seven years.

George Fidler, farmer, Plato, was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1823. At the age of four years he came with his parents to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and married Harriet Parker in 1848. A few years after they came to this county and settled near where he now lives, on section 4. He has a farm of 320 acres, and 20 acres of timber land. They are the parents of ten children, six of whom survive : David A. is married and lives near by, has five children ; Rebecca Jane Miller, who lives a mile from her father, has two children ; Mary P. Miller has one ; William, Owen and Curtis live at home. Melissa died at three months ; Susan Mildred at sixteen months ; Albert when eight years of age, and Johnnie at the age of seven. Mr. Fidler has never held office of any kind except that for several years he has served his district as school director.

J. B. Eno, teacher, Crescent City, was born in Hartford county, Connecticut, November 26, 1825. Determining to devote his life to teaching, after attending the academy at his native place some years, he attended Suifield Literary Institute, then under the charge of S. Dryden Phelps, the " poet teacher." Graduating at the State Normal, at New Britain, he has, with very little intermission, continued to teach until this time, commencing in 1839. He taught nine years in Connecticut and three years in western New York. He was married, in 1855, to Miss Holcomb, and removed to Illinois with the Connecticut colony, which settled in the western part of this county in 1856, since which time he has resided in this county, teaching in "Watseka, Chatsworth, and in nearly every town in this vicinity, holding the position of deputy superintendent of schools for some years. In 1863 he was the candidate of his party for superintendent. His wife died in 1864, leaving two daughters: Carrie and Cora. In 1866 he married Miss Alida Pardy, who has three children : Mary, Kittie and Jerrie. He is believed to be the oldest teacher in this part of the state, having devoted thirty-four years of his life to that work. Coming here at a time when education was in its infancy, he has done much to strengthen the educational interests of the county. Mr. Eno has long been a member of the Congregational church, and has been devoted to the interests of that church and society at Crescent City. Politically he has always been a democrat, and has frequently been called on to perform the duties of township office. He is the present clerk, collector and treasurer of Iroquois township.

S. Newell Calkin, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Du Page township, Will county, his education being in the work on the farm and in the common schools. At the opening of the rebellion he enlisted in Barker's dragoons, which soon after saw service in the army of the Potomac, acting for some time as McClellan's body-guard. In December, 1863, the regiment to which it became attached reenlisted as veterans and was sent to the department of the Gulf. They participated in the disastrous Red River campaign and then marched back again. It was probably one of the companies of this regiment about which the story is told with a good show of truth, that returning in such a dilapidated condition so far as their nether garments were concerned, a stylish officer, on being invited to partake of a dinner by some ladies who desired to show hospitality, was obliged to decline on account of the unpresentable appearance he would make should he dismount. His father removed to this township about this time. Mr. Calkin, at the expiration of his term of service, married Miss Adelaide George, March, 1865, and came here to reside where he now lives, on section 17. He has six children : Samuel, Gertie, Henry, Jacob, Mary and Hannah. For six years past he has been the supervisor of Iroquois township and has given evidence of very good qualifications for the important position. In the fall of 1879 he received the unanimous nomination of the independent greenback party for the office of county treasurer.

Samuel Loveridge, farmer, Watseka, was born in England in 1835. Receiving a good education, and having a decided aptitude for clerical work, he applied for a clerkship in the commissary department of Her Majesty's service during the Crimean war, and received the appointment, serving twenty-one months, and until the close of hostilities, most of the time at Scutari, in Asiatic Turkey. On returning to England he sailed for America, and traveled extensively to find such a place as he wanted. He traveled all over the southern Atlantic states looking for a place to engage in the business of producing pitch. During a portion of the war he was engaged as clerk in the quartermaster's department at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1864 he married Miss Eliza Scrymgeour, of Jeifersonville, Indiana. They have two children : Maggie and Jessie. He came to this township to live in 1865, and resides on section 35. He has served as assessor of the township, and for several years past has been an elder of the Presby terian church at Watseka.

S. G. Staples, grain dealer, Crescent City, was born in Canton, St. Lawrence county, New York, in 1824. His parents were Quakers from Rutland county, Yermont, where many of the family still reside. The originators of the family in America came from the north of Ireland to Massachusetts, one going from thence to Vermont. Levi Staples moved early to the Wyoming valley, where he was killed at the time of the massacre, but his wife escaping, took her young child and rode on a mule all the way back to Connecticut. Mr. Staples, at the age of thirteen, being thrown on his own resources, went to Lewis county and worked on a farm. At nineteen he went to Taberg to learn the trade of turner and cabinet-maker. He attended school awhile at Delta, and afterward went to Whitestown, Oneida county, where the then famous Beriah Green was preaching " abolition sentiments" of a decidedly radical nature. Few who listened to him failed to drink in the effects of his cogent reasoning, or to be moved by his terrible invective. Young Staples was no exception. He continued in school, teaching a portion of each year to acquire the means to meet his expenses. He then followed his trade for a few years, and was carrying on a shop on the farm of Jesse Williams, the originator of the cheese-factory system, at the time he built the first factory. The machinery for the mammoth cheese, which was exhibited all over the country, was made in his shop. He was married to Miss Barber, of Lee, Oneida county, New York, and removed to Oneida, Knox county, Illinois, in 1856, where for seven years he carried on an extensive and prosperous grain and broomcorn trade. He returned to Whitestown to engage in the lumber trade in 1864, and then came to Crescent city in 1869, and built the elevator here, continuing in the general grain trade nntil recently, and is now engaged in the flax-seed trade. Of his three children, Wilbur A. is married and lives in Middleport ; Nettie E. and Emma B. are at home with their parents. Mr. Staples' political views were early in life molded into radical anti-slavery shape. He has for some] years been a justice of the peace.

Alexander Swords, farmer, Watseka, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1815. After receiving a good classic and scientific education he devoted his life to engineering. He served as coalgreave of the Town Hill Colliery for seven years. On leaving he was given a public dinner, and the silver snuff-box presented him on that occasion bears the date of 1842. He was then employed by Mr. A. Allison, of Edinburgh, to prospect for minerals, with a view to erecting large iron works. The six blast-furnaces erected by the Ockley Iron Works, in the county Fife, were the result of the investigations he then made. After the erection of the works lie engaged in railroading, which was just then coming into importance in that country, in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, and some of the magnificent works of railroad engineering and building on the Edinburgh & Northern railroad still attest his skill. He served very efficiently as county officer in Clackmannanshire for eighteen months. He then concluded to come to America, and on August 5, 1855, landed in New York, and before the end of the month had located his land, five miles southeast of Chebanse. In 1869 he came to live on section 3 of Iroquois township, where he still resides. He was educated a Presbyterian, and holds strongly to that faith. In 1876 he received a sunstroke, from which he has not entirely recovered.

Crescent township occupies a central position in the county, and embraces the entire congressional township, town 26, range 13 west of the second principal meridian. It was originally entirely prairie land, except something less than two acres near the center of its eastern boundary, and from this reason had no early settlers upon it. The surface of the soil is finely rolling and has a gentle declivity toward the north, where its streams find their way into Spring creek and the river. It has comparatively few wide stretches of flat land, and all are capable of drainage. In the eastern half of the town the soil is sandy, and some knolls rise high enough to give a sightly view. A considerable portion of the land was purchased, or is now held, by non-residents. Some 2,000 acres are owned by the brothers Ains worth, - Thomas living at Chandlerville, and Richard at Mason city, and other parties hold considerable quantities. The farmers are principally engaged in raising corn, though flax and other small grains are raised in considerable quantities. Few have engaged in cattle-raising and feeding to a great extent. Indeed such of the farms as are held by actual residents on them, are generally too small for cattle-farms, and most of them, especially through the central portion of the town, are yet too new to have good and sufficient fences or hedges. A good work is being done in grading and ditching the roads. For this purpose a grader is owned by the town and is used in working out the road taxes. The town, is wholly* within the artesian region, and flowing wells are everywhere to be found, the depth of which, though varying some, is less than it is in the township north, and more than in those south of it. The earliest settlements were made near the northeast, northwest and southeast

Earliest Settlers

So far as any records can be obtained from the memory of those now here, John Johnson appears to have been the first who made a home here. He came to live on the southwest quarter of section 1, about 1846. He lived there until his death, about 1855. His widow and two daughters live in Watseka ; another daughter, Mrs. Lewis Wilson, lives on section 36 of this township ; another daughter lives in this town, and a son in Yermilion county. In 1848 Joseph Myers bought, where he now resides, the east half of the northwest quarter of section 1, of Thomas A. Norvell, of Gilman, where he has resided thirty years. Things were pretty wild here at that day. Deer were plenty. John Flesher was returning from Middleport one day, and came across two bucks who had got their horns so interlocked that they could not be separated. He drove them home in that condition, and with sundry regrets that he had taken such a cowardly advantage of the noble brutes, on account of their necessities, killed them. Mr. Sleeth came to reside on section 2, about 1849, where Mr. Arris Boughton now lives. Moses Tullis came here to live on the east part of section 2, about 1850, and his brother on section 1. Moses died here in 1874, and his widow still owns her portion of the land, and lives with a daughter near Milford. George W. Lovett, now of Watseka, came here and made a farm on the northwest corner of section 11, about 1859. Nathan Harrison, Edward Hitchcock, the Hutchinson family, Jacob, Isaiah, Daniel and John, were all early settlers in the township. The first settler in the northwestern part of the township was Ben. Wright, on section 7, in 1849. He had a habit of stuttering, by which he is best remembered. He is also remembered by William Wilson by another habit, which in this particular case was a bad one. His memory was treacherous, and he forgot to tell Wilson that there was a mortgage on the farm when he sold it. Mortgages were not as common then as a few years later, and the honest farmer in buying did not think it necessary to demand an abstract of title. It was probably the first case on record of mortgaging a farm in Crescent township, for at that day insurance companies were investing their money in Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, and other southern state bonds, in preference to taking such security as an Illinois farmer could give. After selling his farm, Mr. Wright went west.

here, entered the next eighty east of that in 1854. It had on it the first house put up in this part of the township. The house built by James Crow, on section 20, in 1858, was the next.

The house on the northwest quarter of section 8, known as the Hunter House, was built in 1859 by Thomas Davie. He lived there one year, and went to Onarga. Benjamin Hunter bought it in 1861, and came here to live in 1866. He was a blacksmith ; and as he lived on the highway of travel between Onarga and Watseka, he established a shop there, and for a few years did a very considerable business. In the general settlement of the country he found himself not only off the thoroughfare of travel, but even cut off from a road entirely. There were two houses on section 15 built soon after this one was built by Davie. David Schoolcraft lived in one of them, and the other is occupied by Mrs. Spring. Hiram Dunn took up a part of section 6 in 1854. He erected buildings and got a post-office established, and named it Crescent, and expected to secure a station there. But the ways of railroad officials are past finding out. John F. Wright put up a store just west of Dunn's house, which was occupied for a store but a short time.

The first who settled in the southeast corner of the township was Mr. Hoover. He entered the land where Mr. Hurd now lives, on section 25, and built on it in the summer of 1853. Henry Cobb, and Jedediah, his brother, entered section 27, - the former building on it in the spring of 1854, and the latter in the fall. William Cunningham and his sons-in-law, Harvey Roll and Russell Search, came in 1855. Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Search entered land on section 33, and Mr. Roll on 23. They had trouble in securing the entry of the land they had selected. A portion of the land belonged to the Illinois Central railroad, and a considerable portion was wet, so that really there was not much space for choice. After having looked up the land they wanted they went to Danville and "put in their numbers," when they were informed that applications were^ on file for those very pieces, and they could not now attend to the matter. The plain truth of the matter was, that a half-score of land-sharks had filed applications for all the land in this vicinity, and the officers were aiding them by permitting the applications to lie dormant until some one came along who was willing to buy them off. Mr. Search was a young man of little experience in such matters, and still he had good, plain sense enough to see that " something was rotten in Danville," and went around town inquiring of every body how he could secure the entry of his land, but did not get any light, and went back to Indiana. Unsatisfied with his former trial he returned to Danville to renew the attempt. This time some one told him that if he would go up in a certain office he would find a certain man there who would accommodate him. He found his man and stated his case, and was told that if he would give him $15 per tract he would undertake to secure the land for him. This he felt to be an outrage ; but the land he must have, and closed the bargain with the "shark" and entered the southeast and northwest quarters of section 33. Mr. Cunningham did not fare so well ; he was obliged to pay $60 to secure his entry. There was a gang of men around Danville who grew rich on what they extorted from those who went there to do business. This was called doing a "landoffice business," and became a by- word. Settlers came in slowly after this. The financial panic of 185Y retarded the development of the new country, and crippled those recently coming here. There were no roads, and those living here were warned out to work the roads over at Watseka. At those times when the water was high, it was impossible to travel.

About 1865 the Germans began to come in here, and they very soon made a change in the condition of things. Always industrious, they soon changed the wild lands into waving fields, and the wet lands into fruitful meadows. They built their church, store and shops at Woodworth, a mile south of here, and are bringing the land, which so long lay idle, into the high cultivation, for^ which they are noted everywhere. , '""

The general reader who has not lived in this portion of the town, and has had no occasion to cross it before bridges were thrown across, may need to be told that " Shave Tail" is the wide slough -extending from just north of Woodworth, in a northwesterly direction toward Spring creek, and becomes Jefferson's Branch after it becomes a stream of dignity enough to be called by that name. Its name, though partially hidden in unauthenticated rumor, has the following history : The upper end is a broad lake during the wet season, and afforded good trapping grounds for those in quest of musk-rats. A solitary bachelor hunter, who in an early day had his traps there, whiled away a part of his tedious hours in courting a fair damsel who resided at Jefferson's Point. The boys of that neighborhood, who are acknowledged to have been a little uncivil in their treatment of strangers, seemed to have entertained the opinion that there were no more girls at the point than would go 'round. McCutcheon had recently gone off to Missouri with his wagon-load of girls, nicely dressed up in their store clothes, which he ' got in exchange for his farm, and there was fear that marriageable girls were about to become something of an object in that neck of the woods. Not with the intention of being cruel, but simply to notify the trapper that his visits were no longer considered advisable, some of the boys one night shaved off the tail of his horse, and then, when he started back to his traps in the morning with a blanket thrown over the rear of his horse, the boys hooted at him derisively. It is perhaps unnecessary to add that he did not come courting to Jefferson's Point anymore.

During^high water it was practically impossible to cross Shave Tail, and many a ducking resulted from attempts to ford it. In 1869 the terrible rains put half of this country under water so much of the time that but very little was raised. It was a discouraging time for men who had payments to make on their land, and had nothing to depend on but their own] hands. There was.no school, and so much of the land in this district belonged to the Central railroad that but little of it was accessible, and taxes were higher than they have ever been since. The expense of building the school-house fell on two or three men.

The fires were the greatest danger. All was open prairie. One day when Mr. Deitz was returning from Crescent the first year he was here, he saw his place entirely enveloped in the smoke of a great fire. He had done but little plowing on the west side of his house, and everything indicated that the fire would sweep over all that he had, in which case his family could hardly escape alive. Putting his horse to the very best speed it had, he got home too late to be of any assistance, but found that his wife, by the timely assistance of a lad named Roderick Stocking, had kept back the fire from reaching the buildings at the expense of badly blistered hands and scorched clothing. It was, indeed, a narrow escape, but such were the early dangers of those who changed this prairie into fruitful farms.

The United Brethren have a church organization at Providence school-house, belonging to the Ash Grove circuit. A class was formed by Rev. Martin Connor in 1874, at Prairie Center schoolhouse. Rev. Elias Bruner, Rev. Jehu Garrison, Rev. Harrison Jones and Rev. Mr. Meredith have since preached there. The class now numbers about twenty. Frank Mitchell, J. J. Edwards, Timothy Hoag and D. Underwood have acted as class-leaders at different times in its history.

Crescent remained a part of Belmont township until April, 1869, when it was erected into a separate one, and named Grenard, from Mr. E. Grenard, who was the first supervisor. Two years later the name was changed to Crescent, because the name of the station was Crescent City. At the first election E. Grenard was chosen supervisor; David John, clerk; H. C. Boughton, assessor; E. Hitchcock, collector, and C. M. Potts and A. J. Harwood, justices of the peace. At that date the number of votes cast was 103. The voting population has just about doubled in the intervening ten years. The present township officers are : E. Hitchcock, supervisor; J. S.. Harwood, clerk ; E. C. Barber, assessor ; O. M. Boughton, collector ; and R. A. Lower and M. B. Gifford, justices of the peace. Previous to the separation of the township from Belmont, the united town had voted bonds to aid the construction of [the Chicago, Danville & Yincennes railroad. After the separation (July 28, 1877), a special town meeting was held to vote for or against the payment of such portion of that indebtedness as should be equitably apportioned to Crescent. The vote stood for such payment, none ; against such payment, 50, - showing a unanimity of public sentiment against assuming responsibility for the debt. The township, which was then known as Grenard, had, in 1870, 522 native-born inhabitants and 19 foreign-born, making a total of 541. The census to be taken this year will show a large increase to near 1,000.

Crescent City

As the country became settled up between Watseka and Gilman, the authorities of the railroad saw that they must give the farmers better facilities for marketing their grain, and decided to put in a switch and establish a station on the farm of Mr. Hiram Dunn, in 1866, or about that time, on section 6. With this in prospect, Mr. Dunn got a post-office established, and Mr. Biggies was appointed postmaster. To this Mr. Dunn gave the name of Crescent, deriving the idea from the circular shape of the timber, which skirted Spring creek and the Iroquois river, in its curved stretch from section 6 in this to section 6 in Belmont township. While Mr. Dunn was awaiting the slow motions of the railroad officials, he learned, - what he never would have discovered in his home down in the wild woods of Clinton county, New York, where no railroad ever penetrated, - that station-starting on these prairies goes by favor, and while he had not thought of buying a station on his land, the officers were awaiting a proposition. The post-office at Crescent had been held by various parties there, as they could be induced to take it. Mr. Harwood, George Close, George Wright, and P. F. Dunn had it in turn for a short time each. In the fall of 1868, Mr. J. D. Young opened a store in a small building on section 31, opposite Mr. Dunn's lands, and the post-office was shoved on him as his first honor when coming to the new place. During the year, Samuel Crumpton, of Chatsworth, became interested in the property where Crescent City now stands, and had no difficulty in inducing the railroad company to put down a switch and establish a station there. About the last of the year Mr. Young moved his store there into a building he bought of David Scott, where he continues to do business. When the post-office was removed here by Mr. Young, the name was changed to Crescent City. He continued postmaster until 1874, when C. E. Barber, the present postmaster, was. appointed. David Scott owned all of section 5, except 80 acres, and Mr. Crumpton, his brother, and Charles E. Allen and his mother, became interested in, or purchasers of, the entire interest which Scott had. The town was laid out and platted in 1869. Fred. March commenced business here next after Young, and J. B. Mires at the same time started the blacksmith business. A. J. Harwood built the first residence which stands just south of Young's store. Mr. Scott had put in scales and commenced to buy grain, when S. G. Staples bought his trade, erected the elevator and commenced the lumber business. Charles E. Allen afterward engaged in mercantile business in the building lately occupied by Mr. Matkin as a hardware store. When Mr. Egley came here, he bought Mr. Allen's business, and continued it a while, and in 1873 built the store he now occupies. Charles Sykes, a carpenter, came here from Maryland and built the house where Solomon Kaylar lives, in 1869, lived there one year and sold it to Dr. Plowman. Mr. Eno lived in it one year and taught the school. The next house was built by Elisha Ferguson the same year. It is now occupied by Dr. Brelsford.

The school-house was built in 1870. It is 26x36, two stories high, and cost $1,250. Harry Fink came here to buy corn, and built the house now owned by Mr. Egley. Mr. Fink remained here two or three years. In 1870 Mr. Short moved the hotel building in from his farm, and kept tavern for a few years, and sold it to J. B. Mounts. Mr. McConan kept it awhile before Mr. Mounts. J. B. Grice built the hotel known as the Union House, on the corner south of Egley 's store, and kept it till 1879, when Mr. Littell bought the building and moved it across the railroad and fitted it up for a residence. A. Cousan was first to engage in the drug trade. Drs. Mendenhall & Plowman followed. They sold to Gifford & Critzer, and went to Georgetown. When Dr. Critzer was elected coroner, he sold to R. E. Fidler and removed to Papineau. Mr. S. G. Staples built the elevator in 1869, and continued to run it for some years. It is 28x42, cost $4,500, and has a capacity of 7,000 bushels. The grain trade has been large here from the beginning, and is constantly increasing. During the last year about 300,000 bushels were shipped. The village has always been remarkably healthy, owing in a great measure to the excellent water. There are twentyeight artesian wells in Crescent City. The range of depth is from 70 to 130 feet, and cost from $24 to $33 each.

The First Congregational church was organized by Rev. Joseph E. Roy, December 4, 1869. Rev. M. "W. Pinckerton, a student of the theological seminary, came here under the direction of Mr. Roy, who for many years had charge of the church organization of that denomination in this part of the state, and assembled the people of Congregational views, meeting at first in Union school-house, No. 3, Iroquois township. At the first meeting, November 21, J. G. Johnson was elected moderator, and J. B. Eno, clerk. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Johnson, Eno and Robert Carson, was appointed to examine candidates. Rev. Mr. Roy was present at the meeting, December 4, and preached the sermon, after which the following members were constituted a church : Robert Carson and wife, Isabella Carson, J. B. Eno and wife, J. G. Johnson and wife, Julia Dunn, Sybil Davis, J. W. Williams and wife, Ada E. Harroun, A. S. Harroun, George Carson and Josephine Alexander. Robert Carson was elected deacon ; George L. Hemperly, treasurer ; J. B. Eno, clerk ; and Messrs. Carson, Harris and S. G. Staples, trustees. A constitution and rules were adopted. Mr. Pinckerton continued to serve the church until July, 1871, when receiving an appointment by the missionary board to the Zulu mission in South Africa, he resigned his position here. Services were regularly held each alternate Sabbath here in the school-house and in the elevator, and in 1870 the present church edifice was erected. It is 28x38, with spire and bell; cost $1,365.87, and is free of debt. The house was dedicated July 28, 1871, Revs. Messrs. Palmer and Roy officiating. Rev. James "W. West was chosen pastor in 1872, and has filled the relation ever since, preaching each alternate Sabbath. He resides in Onarga township, and preaches at the Onarga Second church, which is near where he resides. He was educated at Franklin College and Lane Seminary, graduating in 1852. He preached ten years in Ohio and five at Tonica before coming here.

was the leader, previous to the present organization, the data of which were not at the disposal of the writer. Rev. Mr. Sullivan preached for a time. The organization now existing dates from 1865. S. Harris and wife, Tobias Danner and wife, Mrs. James Mitchell, J. D. George and wife, J. M. Calkin and wife and two daughters, were the members of the class then formed. Rev. Mr. Thorp was preacher ; he remained only a short time. Rev. "W. T. Kerr is now serving his third year. There are two other preaching appointments besides the Crescent church. A portion of the time there have been three or four. These appointments have been at the Pierce, Sturtevant, Johnson and Hitchcock school-houses. With the liberal Christian spirit which has ever pervaded the two denominations here, the Methodists have occupied the Congregational church ever since that building was erected each alternate Sabbath, and the Sabbath school has been maintained as a union school all this time. The first Sabbath school was organized when Mr. Eno came here to live in 1858. All Christian people united in the work,, including members of the Congregational, Christian, Presbyterian, Methodist and United Brethren. Mr. Eno was elected superintendent; Nelson Riggles, secretary ; Miss Alma French (now Mrs. Harris), treasurer. The school was held at the Washington school-house. Mr. Eno continued to act as superintendent until 1864, when Father Harris acted for one session. When Mr. George came here in 1865 he was chosen superintendent, and has continued to act, with very little intermission, until the present day. It has always been an interesting school, and full of life and animation.

The services of the Roman Catholics began here in 1869, on the arrival of Mr. J. D. Young to reside here. There were then a few scattering families of that faith in this vicinity, and services were usually held in Mr. Young's house. In 1870 Father Fanning, then of Gilman, now of Fairbury, was appointed to the Crescent mission, and commenced holding regular monthly services here. The rapid settlement of the country around brought in many more families, and since then the priest-iii-charge at Gilman has also been in charge of this mission. Since then Fathers Clemment, Bloome, Van Schwadler and McGar have officiated in turn. The church was built in 1874; size, 28x40, and cost $800 incomplete. About twenty-five' families worship here. The cemetery is at Gilman.

The Crescent Lodge, No. 125, Good Templars, was organized December, 1876, with twenty-five charter members ; S. G. Staples was worthy chief templar. The present officers are : J. J. Osborne, "W.C.T.; Allie George, Y.T.; Dora Smith, secretary; Charles Pixley, financial secretary ; Nettie Cast, treasurer ; Charles Calkin, marshal ; Ida Barber, deputy marshal ; Gracie Cast, inside guard ; W. H. Hart, outside guard ; Kev. W. T. Kerr, chaplain ; Mrs. A. Barber and Mrs. T. E. Kerr, right and left supporters ; C. E. Barber, P.W.C.T. and lodge^and county deputy. The lodge numbers forty-eight, is in good working order, and meets Saturday nights.

A. J. Harwood, secretary ; William Flesher, captain. Its organization is uniform with other such companies in this part of the state and in other states. Its objects are, by concert of action and a becoming secrecy in operations, to apprehend persons guilty of stealing horses and other stock, by following, or by turning out when called, and hunting such criminals. Their signs are so arranged as to be "given at a great distance, and thus they are efficient in aiding members of other similar organizations whom they have never seen. This company numbers thirty-three. It meets the first Saturday of each alternate month. The present officers are : Owen Kern, president ;

The Crescent City Cadets, Co. F, 9th Bat. 111. National Guards, was organized September 15, 1878, by Capt. M. B. Giiford. It was mustered into state service by Maj. Peters, now colonel commanding the battalion, with sixty-four members. M. B. Giiford was captain ;

B. Braderick, first lieutenant ; P. F. Dunn, second lieutenant ; R. A. Lower, orderly-sergeant; E. Dyer, second sergeant; Henry Flesher, third sergeant; - Brainard, fourth sergeant. Jacob Kaylar is color-guard of the batallion. The company is uniformed with United States regulation uniform, and armed with Enfield rifles. Capt. Gifford resigned his commission when he removed from the state.

Samuel John, farmer, Woodland, was born in this county, in 1845, and has always lived here. His father, Lemuel, and his uncle, "William, came to the county in 1830, and were among the very first to make their homes in this new country. Lemuel died in 1848, in Belmont township, leaving a widow and four children. Mrs. John died in 186T. Two of her children, Samuel and Mrs. Wilson, reside in Crescent township. Samuel marrjjsd, in 1874, Miss Sarah Strain, whose parents were among the first settlers in the county. Six years ago he came into this township to lire, and has a fine farm of 200 acres, in section 36.

George W. Wilson, farmer, Woodland, was born on Christmas day, 1837, near Watseka, where his father, Alexander Wilson, lived at that time. Alexander came to this county in 1833, and took up the farm where Mrs. Aaron Jones lives, which he sold, and bought a farm east of Sugar creek, near to where Watseka now is, known as the Beckett Farm. He had been a merchant in Ohio, and carried on a tan-yard here. He went to Texas in 1855, but returned in 1860. George Wilson has always lived in this county, and has been engaged in farming. In 1860 he married Miss Sarah J. John, whose parents had been among the earliest settlers in this county. Mr. John left four children : Thomas, Samuel, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Clifton. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have seven children : Alexander T., Lemuel J., Texyanna, George F., Survenea, Sydney M. and Flora Agnes. Two have died. They have a fine farm on section 35.

A. C. Cast, farmer and fruit-grower, Crescent City, was born in Ohio in 1837, and removed with his father, Hiram Y. Cast, to Yermilion county, about 1840, where his father died in 1844. His mother, Mrs. Cast, married Henry Alexander, and removed to Iroquois county in 1851, where he took up a farm of 300 acres, in section 1 of Douglas township, when this part of the county was very new. Mrs. Alexander had three children by her first marriage, and two by her second. One was killed by falling out of a wagon. Mr. Alexander died from disease contracted in the army, and his wife died about the same time. Of their children, Aquilla C. lives at Crescent City, and John, near by. Josephine and George Alexander also live at Crescent City. A. C. Cast married Isabella J. Robinson in 1857. Her father, W. D. Robinson, carne to Del Rey to live about 1848, where he had a considerable farm, and carried on an extensive cattle trade. Of the eight children of Mr. Cast, five are living: Nettie Y., Alma G., Carrie R., Elmer and Alta E. Willie, a bright boy of ten years, was instantly killed by a fall from a running horse ; Annie and Gertie died in infancy. Mr.

Russell Search, farmer, Woodland, was born in Ohio, 1824. He was living in Indiana when the land which had been withdrawn from market by the Illinois Central railroad was opened again, and concluded to get married and get a farm out on this prairie. The former was managed easy enough, but it took considerable work to get the latter. The "speculator's ring" then held sway at Danville, and it was almost impossible to enter land there. He came here late in the year 1854, and went to work getting out lumber for a shanty. In February, 1855, he married Nancy A. Cunningham, whose parents came here to live soon after, and now reside in Minnesota. Mrs. Search died in 1866, leaving four children : Mary, Lewis R., Martha E. K., and Abner. In July, 1870, he married Miss German, and has two children : Emma and George. He has a good farm on section 33, being the same land he took up twenty-five years ago. Politically, Mr. Search has always, since the growth of that party, been a republican.

Edward Hitchcock, farmer and sewing-machine agent, Crescent City, was born in 1835, in Connecticut. He was educated in the common school until thirteen years old, when he commenced active life. While living in Connecticut he was laboring as a mechanic, or in mercantile pursuits. He married at Davenport, Iowa, in 1856, Miss Juline Brooks, to whom six boys and three girls have been born. They came to Crescent township to reside in 1857, where they still reside on section 18. Their daughter, Mrs. Francis Stocking, is in Kansas. Their other children, Lillian, Leverett, Hattie, Edward, Jr., Charles, Lewis, Frank and Gilbert, are at home. During his residence here Mr. Hitchcock has been engaged in farming, and most of the time has been selling sewing-machines in this county. He has also been the agent for Thomas and Richard Ainsworth, in charge of their lands in this county. He has been six times supervisor and three times collector of the township. During most of his life he has acted with the democratic party, but is now in hearty unison with the independent party. He is a man of large information and accurate business habits.

Elisha Ferguson, carpenter, Crescent City, was born in Ohio in 1840. He came to this county in 1858, and worked at his trade of carpenter and house-builder in the new settlements then starting. He built the first house in Gilman that year, when the hands and help were obliged to go to Onarga for their meals and lodging. He has often traveled over these prairies when there was only one house between Old Middleport and Jefferson Point. He lived three years at Onarga, three at Watseka, and removed to a farm five miles east of Onarga, where he continued, while farming, to carry on his trade- He built the third house in Crescent City, the one now occupied by Dr. Brelsford. He also built the one now owned by Mr. Downing, and the one adjoining it, where he now resides. In 1860 he married Miss Mary J. Grear, whose parents came to Jefferson Point in 1854. Mrs. Grear and some of her children still reside near here. Mr. Ferguson has five children : Minnie, William, Lillie, Charlie and Grace. At present Mr. Ferguson has charge of the lumber yard of Mr. Egley.

George N. Downing, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Sciota county, Ohio, in 1832. His father, William Downing, moved from there in 1846, with their eight children, and entered land three miles east of Watseka, and lived there seven years. He afterward lived in Middleport and Myersville, in Vermilion county, and then went to Kansas, where he died. He was an earnest and devoted member of the Methodist church. One of his daughters, Mrs. Longnecker, lives near Woodland, and his son, Simeon, is in Iowa. George N. Downing was married in 1854, to Miss Dulina E. Botsford, of this county. Her father resides at Fairbury now. For a time they lived near Texas. In 1867 he bought in section 12 and removed there, where he resided for twelve years. He now lives at Crescent City. He has served as school director for a number of years.

C. C. Deitz, farmer, Onarga, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1832. His parents were German, and had but recently migrated to this country. He was early put to work, having very little school education, his time being mostly spent in the lime kiln. His father lived for thirteen years on Klein's farm, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania. In 1856 he came to Indiana and went thence to Iowa, but returned and married in 1857, and went to farming on rented land. About 1865 he removed to this state, and in 1868 bought and improved the farm he now lives on in section 31, enduring the hardships which are consequent to a new location. Here Mrs. Deitz died, January 17, 1870, leaving seven small children, the youngest being but a few hours old : Melissa Jane, Milton A., Anna Laura, John H., Charles F., Sarah Estella and Eliza, who died at seven months old. March 27, 1871, he married Mrs. Emma Thompson, who was one of fourteen children of Adam G. Orth, Esq., a brother of Hon. Godlove S. Orth, of Indiana. She was first married at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and was living there at the time of the rebel raid into Pennsylvania, and her family were considerable sufferers by that incursion. Mrs. Deitz had one daughter, Fannie, when married, and has since had two sons: Godlove Orth and Cyrus

Edgar. Mr. Deitz has a farm of 200 acres which is finely managed and neatly farmed. He is a man of strong mental powers and, considering his early disadvantages, a mind well stored with information,

Daniel W. Webster, farmer, Crescent City, was born at Hanover. New Hampshire, in 1822. His father, Benjamin, was a cousin of the great national statesman, Daniel Webster, and enjoyed in a great measure the esteem and confidence of his relative. Mr. Webster, at the age of twenty-two, after completing a good common-school education, went to Massachusetts and followed various occupations, clerking and teaching a portion of the time. In 1850 he married Miss Augusta Robinson at Lowell. He afterward returned to New Hampshire and engaged in farming. He removed to Kendall county, Illinois, in 1865, and three years later came to his present place of residence, where he has a farm of 160 acres in section 18. He has three children : Mrs. Ella A. Cook resides in Kendall county ; Frederick D. is at Dodge City, Kansas ; and Miss Lilla M. is engaged in teaching. Politically Mr. Webster has long been a radical anti-slavery man. He is a man of large experience in business affairs and has a mind well stored with information.

J. D. Young, merchant and general dealer, Crescent City, was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1845. His parents were from Bavaria, and immigrated to America in 1828. At the age of twenty he enlisted in the 126th Ohio Yol. Inf., and marched with the old flag through the wilderness, up and down the Shenandoah valley, and " on to Richmond," where he saw the surrender of the Confederate hosts. He was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness, May 7, 1864, but served out his time, being transferred first to the Invalid Corps, then to the Veteran Reserve Corps. After the close of the war he went to El Paso, Woodford county, and engaged with his brothers in trade. In 1868 he commenced keeping a store in a building which stood on section 31, Iroquois township, one mile west of where Crescent City now is, and was appointed postmaster of Crescent. A year later he removed to Crescent City, and was the first to open business here, where he still continues to carry on a large and increasing mercantile trade, and deals in cattle, hogs and grain. He has two farms in section 4. He married Miss Duquid in Perry county, Ohio, in 1868. The}' have one child, Katy. He has, during the entire life of this place, been one of the most active and industrious business men, and was the prime mover in organizing and building the Roman Catholic church here.

George Egley, mercantile, grain and lumber dealer, Crescent City, has been extensively identified with all the business interests of Crescent City since its first year. He was born at Burlington, New Jer- sey, in 1829. At the age of six years he was left an orphan, and very soon had to learn to rely on his own resources. Without the care of parents, he came up with very few advantages of education, and early learned the trade of a wagon and carriage-maker, which he carried on for several years, after which he became interested in cranberry culture, which was, like all his undertakings, successful. He came west in 1869 and had his attention called to the new opening at Crescent City, and having sufficient capital to commence a general trade, with energy and industry to back it, he engaged in the grain trade and farming. In 1873 he opened the mercantile business, which, with the aid of his sons, he has continued to carry on. He soon after commenced the lumber trade, and later bought the elevator, repaired and enlarged it, and still occupies it. He has added farm to farm, until he is probably the largest resident landholder in the township. He has served as supervisor of each of the townships of Iroquois and Crescent. In September, 1851, he married Martha R. Kirkbride, who, with her four children, are all living. The eldest son, John K., is living on a farm in Iroquois township. W. H. is in charge of the store at Crescent City. Mrs. Lizzie, wife of M. B. Gifford, has recently removed to Nebraska. George B., the later addition to his family, is now six years old. Politically Mr. Egley has always called himself a democrat, and holds strongly the ancient dogmas of that persuasion : " Free trade amd sailors' rights." He has universally been a successful man in business enterprises.

Charles E. Barber, grain-dealer and postmaster, Crescent City, was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1836. He received a good common-school education and then attended the seminary at Charlotteville, and the Claverack Institute, under the charge of Rev. Alonzo Flack, after which he went west and engaged in farming in Wisconsin. He returned to Oneida county and taught school winters and worked at farming summers. He afterward took charge of a large lumbering business at Forest Port for a time, and then came to Crescent City in 1870, wiere he took charge of the railroad office, after which he engaged in the lumber business with Mr. Egley two years. He then bought Mr. Egley's interest and continued the business for five years. He is now in the flax-seed and implement trade. He has held the office of township treasurer for several years, and is the present postmaster, justice of the peace, and assessor. In 1860 he married Miss Adaline Dickerson, of Rome, New York ; and they have three children : Ida, Hattie E. and Charles E. Politically, Mr. Barber has always been a republican of decided views.

Saxony in 1843. His father was a cabinet-maker and died when Julius was three years old. He enjoyed the good school advantages of that country, attending school, as the law requires, from the age of six till that of fourteen, after which he was bound out to learn the harness-making trade, giving for the four-years instruction $75 and a good feather bed. He did so well that they let him off after serving three years, and he went out to work as a journeyman. He worked in Paris seven years, and came to this country in 1868. He worked in New Haven, Connecticut ; then in Omaha and Columbus, Nebraska, where he married, in 1871, Bertha Van Brandt, who died soon after. In 1873 he married Amalia Merberger. He came to Crescent City in 1874 and worked for Harwood & Graham one year, since which time he has worked on his own account. He has three children : Bertha, Herman and Edward.

James A. Hasbrouck, farmer, Crescent City, was born in Ulster county, New York, in 1843. He was brought up on a farm but had good educational advantages. The Hasbroucq (as it was formerly spelled) family were originally from France, but found a refuge in Germany before the revocation of the edict of Nantes, which was so oppressive early in the seventeenth century. Abraham came to this country about 1675, and settled at Esopus, Ulster county, where the family has for two centuries had its home. James A. taught school for five years and then went through a course of study at Eastman's Commercial College at Poughkeepsie, New York, under the care of the late Hon. Harvey G. Eastman. He came west in 1865 and commenced the business of house-builder and contractor in Chicago, which was fairly successful. He then resumed school-teaching, teaching the school at Leyden five years, and the graded school at Des Plaines three years. In 1871 he married Sarah E. Smith, daughter of William Smith, of Watseka. She was a graduate of the Cook County Normal School, of the class of 1870, when it was under the charge of Prof. Wentworth. They have three children : Mary, Harry and Howard. In 1874 he purchased a farm of 160 acres on section 8, one mile from the station, where he still resides. He has been school trustee, and is now township treasurer.

H. L. Pape, merchant, Crescent City, was born in Westphalia in 1850. His father was a physician and gave him a good education. He graduated from the High School at Lemgo, and in 1869 came to America. He was engaged as clerk with Henry Strandes, of Chicago, and afterward as a traveling salesman for F. H. Roebbelen. He then returned to Germany. He came back here and commenced business at Papineau. October 18, 1877, he married Mary, daughter of William

The township of Pigeon Grove, which, during nearly all of its history, has been portions of Loda and Fountain Creek, is legally described as town 24, range 14 west of the second principal meridian. It is bounded on the north by Artesia and Ash Grove, on the east by Fountain Creek, on the south by Yermilion and Ford counties, and on the west by Loda. The township was all prairie, except the grove of about 80 acres on section 2. Pigeon creek runs across the town from southwest to northeast, and numerous branches which show pebbly bottoms flow across it, having the same general direction. It is wholly within the artesian region, water being reached at a depth of about forty-two feet. In the northern portion the wells flow, but in the southern part of the town they do not. The land is deep and fertile, and the surface beautifully rolling.

It is one of the singular things about the settlement of this part of the country that, with all the wealth of advantages which rich soil, plenty of water and superior drainage gave, it was only till a late date that it became settled up. For fifty years it has been known and traveled over by persons passing back and forth from the streams flowing into the Illinois to those of the Wabash. It was not an unknown country. At all seasons of the year it was seen, and its beauties recognized by hundreds of persons. Herds of cattle were kept here by those who must have seen the peculiar advantages of the country. Twenty-five years ago the Central railroad was only from five to ten miles away from it ; yet it remained for many years a comparative waste, while people who ought to have seen its worth were pushing into Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin, to live upon poorer lands, to find a more distant and uncertain market and a less healthy home.

Few people who live within this town know anything of the dangers of early travel over this route, between Spring creek and the Middle fork. From the friendly timber at Blue Grass, on the latter, to that of the Spring creek below Buckley, was about twenty-five miles as the bird flies.

William and Stephen Cissna bought the Pigeon Grove Farm in 1855. They purchased one section of the railroad company, and the balance of Coleman, Milford & Hanna. They have 1,200 acres in sections 1, 2 and 12. Stephen carne here, bringing a house with him from Chicago by railroad, and put it up here on the farm. The grove had, at one time, been the place for roosting of innumerable swarms of pigeons. These "roosts" were great curiosities when visited at night. The birds would pile upon the trees until they would break down by the weight of the mass, and all during the night keep up such a flutter that at a little distance . it sounded like thunder. Persons would come into the place at night and kill thousands of them with poles, and carry them oif by wagonfuls. It could hardly be called sport.

Stephen Cissna resided here for a number of years, grazing and feeding cattle. There was no end to the range for cattle, and he usually handled 600 or 700 head. He now resides in Watseka. 'His son, who was engaged at the stock-yards in the commission business, died very suddenly in Colorado, in October, 1879. William Cissna came here to reside, from Indiana, in 1868, and has since carried on the large business of the grove farm. In boring the well, water was reached at the depth of forty feet, when the auger fell three feet to solid rock, which shows that the cavity which was reached, and which is filled with water, is three feet thick. Thomas Willis, Philip Weaver and Moses Stroup settled on section 19 more than twenty years ago. Isaac Oathout and George McMullin settled on section 20 about the same time. William Bissell was an early settler on section 17. Joseph Hindman, who lived on section 5, was killed in 1878, by being thrown from his wagon when coming home in the night.

A considerable portion of the lands of this township are held by non-residents. Corn is the principal crop, though flax is an important crop, giving an average product of from eight to ten bushels per acre.

The Cattle Wak

The war which came near drenching the fair soil of Pigeon Grove with the blood of many cattle, but which was finally arbitrated by the payment of pretty heavy awards, occurred in 1868. The close of the great rebellion opened the vast cattle herds of Texas to purchase, and the cattle men of the north who began to find the supply here growing short, found that there was immense money in the Texas steers. Good three .and four-year-olds could be bought there for about one-quarter what cattle of a like age cost here. This looked like a great speculation, and indeed it was, until it was found that, owing to some subtle cause, not yet thoroughly understood or explained, the ground over which they fed during the first year after leaving their native state, was so poisoned, that the native cattle here feeding on the same ground would become affected with a fatal disease, known, for want of a more appropriate name, as Spanish fever. To prevent this and the great loss to farmers in this state, the legislature passed an act forbidding the importation of Texas and Cherokee cattle, which was of course a proper measure, but its weakness was in the inability to enforce it. The constitution of the United States gives to congress the power to regulate commerce between the states. Some parties in Indiana (Tower & Earl), brought on a lot of Texas cattle and unloaded them at Loda, and fed them leisurely across this county into Indiana, and were beyond the reach of law. Soon after this Messrs. Milk, Burchard, Taylor and Andrews bought 1,700 head of cattle in Louisiana, which they insisted did not come within the statute inhibiting importing from Texas, and brought to Loda and took them to their herding ground in the northern part of the town, around section 10. They had been brought a long distance, and from lack of care and a sudden cold spell, some of them were dead when they reached Loda, and more before they got out of town. This fact was enough to cause uneasiness, although it was generally known that these cattle were not affected with Spanish fever. In July the native cattle began to die of the fatal disease, and the citizens assembled at Zion school-house to take measures for relief. They demanded that the Louisiana cattle should be kept within a certain range, which demand was cheerfully acceded to by Milk & Co., - in fact it should be recorded to the credit of the cattle men, that every stipulation made by them was scrupulously fulfilled. This the citizens all willingly admit. A week later matters had taken a very different shape. Many cattle had died, and the citizens had become thoroughly aroused. Night and day nothing was talked of but methods to rid themselves of the Texans. Indeed, it is said that men who never owned a hoof were among the most demonstrative. The adjourned meeting was held under circumstances of the most intense excitement. The citizens invited in their two most discreet and wise friends, Hon. Addison Goodell, of Loda, and Hon. John A. Koplin, of Buckley, to have the benefit of their wise counsel. Mr. Milk came accompanied by Hon. T. P. Bonfield, of Kankakee, as his counsel. Mr. Milk's object plainly was to allay the excitement. He claimed that he was within the law ; that the disease had spread from the herd of Tower & Earl, and not from the herd which was being threatened with annihilation by the incensed citizens. Mr. Bonfield, in his best efforts to present the matter, only seemed to further arouse the temper that prevailed. A motion was then made to ask Milk & Co. to withdraw from the house while the citizens decided what they would do. Mr. S. B. Warren went out and held a consultation with Mr. Milk, which resulted in another address, this time from Mr. Milk himself, which is pronounced "the greatest effort of his life." While insisting that they, Milk & Co., were not responsible for the losses, still he agreed that they would pay for all that had died, and buy all that were sick, and satisfy the people that they did not come there to injure them ; that if the people stampeded their herd, he could promise them they should never receive one cent, as the loss of the herd would put it out of the power of the owners to pay. This proposition was agreed to, and losses were appraised by a committee and paid. Mr. Milk says it is a remarkable fact that nearly every heifer or calf which they were called on to pay for was of most excellent blood, with pedigrees running back to the finest milkers and best stock of the continent ; that there was not one which was admitted to be a cull or a scrub ; every cow was the best, and every calf hand-fed with such care as to make it of great value to the owner ; while the number which had been the gifts of deceased or absent relations was very large. This ended the war in Pigeon Grove, but it only commenced the fight with Milk & Co. Suits were at once commenced against them by persons who were not embraced in the stipulation at Pigeon Grove. Some parties in other counties who had sent cattle to this region in herds, undertook to collect their losses by law. These suits were numerous and very annoying, and were kept in the court for years. In the meantime Mr. Andrews had died, and his estate was suffering by the inability to settle it, which with other complications that arose, rendered it necessary for the defendants to settle in some way. After nearly ten years of litigation, they were all disposed of by compromise. The popular feeling was very strong against the men who were engaged in handling these Texas cattle. A lot which were brought on after this war, were refused removal from the cars at every station from Tolona to state line, and were finally jumped from the cars between stations over in Indiana. Taken all in all, this Texas cattle war was one of the most exciting episodes. It has been the object of the writer to present it correctly, and it is due to Messrs. Milk & Co. to say that they believed then and still believe that their herd was not responsible for the infection, that the law did not forbid importation of cattle from Louisiana, and that they did not make a very big speculation out of it anyway.

An unsuccessful attempt was made in February, 1875, at the special meeting of the board of supervisors, to secure the organization of the township from portions of Loda and Fountain Creek. Supervisor Robert Carey presented the petition of some one hundred citizens of the territory thus proposed to be organized, and asked that it be referred to the " committee on erroneous assessments." The committee was a favorable one, but as the duties of that committee were hardly that of carving out new townships, his request was not granted. The petition was referred to a special committee, consisting of K. Shankland, Robert Carey and F. Babcock. It was proposed at that time to name their town in honor of the popular and patriotic order which had so strong a hold on its citizens, " Grange." Messrs. Shankland and Babcock, a majority of said committee, reported that it was inexpedient to grant the prayer of the petitioners, while Mr. Carey entered a decided protest against the report. The report was argued by Mr. Babcock and by Mr. Copp, of Loda, in the affirmative, while Messrs. E. S. Ricker, William Flemming and Moses Stroup presented very earnestly the views of the petitioners. The report was, however, adopted. Messrs. Hamilton, Carey and Sprague, of the board, were active friends of the organization, and they, together with Mr. Davis, of Ash Grove, and Hitchcock, of Crescent, voted against the report. At the September meeting of the board, the same year, a new petition was presented, signed by one hundred and thirty-one legal voters of the proposed new town, and one signed by sixty-two voters of Fountain Creek, asking for the erection of the township, to be named Pigeon Grove. Mr. William Flernming attended the meeting to look after the interests of his prospective constituents. After a lengthy discussion the petition was granted, receiving in addition to the votes above mentioned those of Messrs. Calkin, Duckworth, Koplin, Maggee, Masters, Palmer, Parker, Jones, Shankland and Switzer. The election of officers was ordered to be held at Zion school-house. The township was finally divided in 1876. William Flemming has been supervisor; Clark Martin, clerk ; and J. W. Gosslee, assessor, ever since the organization of the town. Myron Cunningham was collector the first year, and James Hill since. J. W. Gosslee and Moses Stroup have been the justices of the peace.

"William Cissna, Ash Grove, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, June 17, 1816. His parents were Stephen and Sarah (King) Cissna. His youth up to the age of sixteen was spent in a little village, north of Chillicothe, and from sixteen to twenty he lived in Columbus, Ohio, learning the trade of tanner and currier, which he followed in La

Fayette, Indiana, the year after he left Columbus. In the winter of 1837 - 8 he went to Warren county, near Williamsport, where he subsequently followed farming a short time, and then engaged in buying and selling stock for his uncle, George E. King. After working two years for his uncle he started on his own account, buying cattle, the most of which he drove to Detroit. In the year 1844 he opened out a stock of general merchandise in Williamsport, in which business he continued for about ten years with marked success. All this time he was still in the cattle trade ; he also bought grain and packed pork. He continued in the stock trade and farmed on one of his farms near Red Wood Point, in Warren county, after he quit Williamsport, until 1864, when he bought a farm east of Watseka, in Iroquois county. After staying here two years he came to his present farm in Pigeon Grove where he has since remained. He owns all of two sections here in one body, and devotes his entire attention to raising and feeding stock ; putting on the market annually about 300 head of cattle and 500 head of hogs. Pigeon Grove is all included within Mr. Cissna's farm. The protection from winter storms afforded by the Grove, combined with an abundance of flowing water, renders this one of the most desirable stock farms in, the county. Mr. Cissna was very active in bringing about the organization of the township, but has preferred to attend to his own business and keep out of township offices. In politics he is a republican. He is a genial old bachelor.

William H. Berry, farmer, Buckley, was born at Trenton Point, Maine, August 17, 1858. He came with his parents to La Salle county, Illinois, and from there went to Tipton county, Iowa, and then back to La Salle county, from whence he came to Pigeon Grove township. He now lives with his parents on section 2, where his father owns 160 acres. His father, Sabin J. Berry, was born in Maine in 1829, and his mother, whose maiden name was Isabel W. King, was also a native of Maine, born in 1830. They were married in 1853, and have three children besides the subject of this sketch, whose names follow : Mark K., George H. and Alice E. William H. received a commonschool education. He is a single man in good circumstances. He is a republican.

John A. Bush, farmer, Buckley, was born January 4, 1833, in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he grew up to manhood. He received only a common-school education. His parents' names were Andrew and Martha Bush. In 1857 he came to Knox county, Illinois, and shortly after went to Warren county, where he followed the carpenter's trade for three years. In the spring of 1860 he went to La Salle county and worked with a mole ditching machine for three years. He was married, January 19, 1863, to Isabella L., daughter of Matthew and Catherine Brown, and remained in La Salle county until 1868. He then removed to this township, where he has made a home and a finely improved farm of 160 acres from the raw prairie sod. He has a fine orchard just beginning to bear. Mr. Bush is the father of seven children, one of whom died in infancy. Their names and dates of birth follow: Minnie B., born March 29, 1864; George F., born September 30, 1865 ; Cora C., born October 24, 1868 ; David L., born March 9, 1871; James L., born November 16, 1873; Mary E., born June 14, 1876, and John M., born September 22, 1878. Mr. Bush's wife is a Presbyterian.

Augustus M. Crane, farmer and stock-raiser, Oakalla, was born in New Jersey, July 30, 1820. He learned a trade at the age of fourteen and this he followed for several years, after which time he returned to farming. He then moved from New Jersey to Missouri, where he staid eight years. In 1865 he came to this state and settled in Ford county. After three-years residence there he came to this county, where he has since resided. He was married in New Jersey, in 1844, to Anna E. Miller, who was born in New Jersey in 1825. She died April 19, 1879. They were the parents of four children, two living, Anna H. and William J. The deceased were Edward B. and an infant. Mr. Crane has held the office of school trustee, and is a republican.

This township lies west of Prairie Green and south of Milford, and contains all of the congressional town 24, range 12 west. This territory was formerly a part of Milford township, and was established as an independent township by vote of its people at the first election, held in April, 1868, at the house of John Adsit. The petition for separation was signed by thirty voters, and was granted at the February (1868) term of the board of supervisors.

One of the first actions of the people at the town meeting was the passage of a resolution restraining stock from running at large ; also a resolution providing for a survey of all the lands in the township, the expenses of such survey to be defrayed by a tax of so much per acre on all of the lands in the township. July 3, 1868, at an election called to vote for or against giving aid to the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes railroad to the amount of $3,000, the vote was twenty-three for, and three against. Lovejoy had, in addition to. this, assumed $60,007.12 of the railroad indebtedness of Milford township, which had been voted before the division of the township. The people at first were nearly unanimous on the question of giving aid to this road, but in later years a party has arisen that is endeavoring to avoid the payment of the bonds which were issued under the acts of the people. The payment of the bonds, both as to principal and interest, has been enjoined.

The surface of Lovejoy is rather level, yet it has good natural drainage, and all of the soil can be cultivated. Like its sister, Prairie Green, it was treeless in its wild state, save, perhaps, the " Lone Tree," which is still standing near the big spring on the farm of M. C. Dawson. Gay creek runs north through the township, nearly in the center, while on the west is Little Fountain creek, or Little Burson, as it was formerly called, also flowing north. Artesian water is found almost anywhere within the boundaries of Lovejoy by boring a short distance, but flowing wells are found only in the northwest part of the township.

Lovejoy was first settled in the north. The " Red Pump " was the first building erected in the township. This was on the line of Hubbard's trace or the old Chicago road, and not far from the north line of the township. It was erected by Strickler, of Milford, as early perhaps as 1845. Before the building was begun there had been some breaking done, and a shanty put up. A well was dug, and into it was inserted a log pump, - one of the old-fashioned kind, - which was painted red, and hence the name of the farm and of the tavern that was kept here in the early days, when the first house to the south was Bicknell's, away over in Vermilion county.

The " red pump " was a great institution in its day, and its day compasses several years. Long processions of teams and herds of cattle were daily watered here when the ponds and sloughs were dry, as they nearly always were at the season of the year when it was practicable to go to Chicago with teams. The well never failed, and the old pump faltered not for many years. Joseph Heifner bought the " Red Pump Farm " from Strickler, and sold it to Endsley and Scott, who lived here in 1853, and Scott, who bought out Endsley's interest in the farm, now occupies the old tavern. A. P. Hurd, Potter Austin and the Adsits, settled east of the "red pump" in 1852 or 1853, while to the south was John Crawford.

When J. B. Wilson came to settle in Lovejoy, in March, 1855, he chose a location on Little Burson creek, as it was then called. This was near the line of Fountain Creek township, in section 7. There were then living near, John Robinson, in section 7, and Charles Hildreth, in section 8. John Finney then owned the Hamilton place, and lived in section 11, near where Mr. Hamilton's house now stands.

There are several large stock farms in Lovejoy. Among those who have made the business of stock-raising or of buying and selling a success, we may mention Charles Dawson, J. L. Hamilton (at present county treasurer), J. B. Wilson, A. J. Hall, Jo Williams, J. W. Clements and Richard Miskimmen.

Wellington, the only town in Lovejoy, was laid out in 1872, near the center of section 14. It consists of about thirty blocks lying on each side of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad. Main street extends east and west on the half section-line. The first street east of the railroad, and running nearly parallel with it, is named Hamilton avenue, and east of that is Donovan street. To secure the location of the switches and depot here, J. L. Hamilton and R. T. Race each donated 40 acres of land to the railroad company where the town now stands.

Wellington has had its share of fire. The first depot was burned with Stone's elevator soon after the town was begun ; another fire burned out Daniel Weston, and others in November, 1875. The town, however, has steadily grown and now contains several fine residences and business houses. Coney & Pate and Rothgeb & Austin deal in general merchandise ; Daniel Weston has a good stock of drugs ; Malo and son have each a blacksmith-shop ; A. C. Bowlby attends to making and mending boots and shoes for the people ; and J. Jones keeps a boarding-house, where the wants of the inner man are well supplied.

The principal business of Wellington is that of buying and shipping grain. Wilson & Pate are the leading firm in this line. In the winter of 1878-9, this firm shipped more than a quarter of a million bushels of corn alone, and in 1879 handled 21,000 bushels of flax-seed. The shipments of the crop of 1879 from this place would perhaps exceed 400,000 bushels. There is also considerable live-stock and }iay shipped from this point.

The only church building in Wellington is that of the Methodists, which was constructed in 1878, but is not yet quite completed and has not been dedicated. It stands in the southeast part of the town, its size is 30x45 feet, and will cost when completed about $1,500. Services have been held in the church since Christmas, 1878. The trustees were William Brown, R. M. Hamilton, Alex. Pate, John Bradford, Robert Keely and E. Butler. In the summer of 1873 a Methodist class of six members, was formed in Wellington ; the members were William Brown and wife, R. M. Hamilton, John Haskins, Nicholas Holmes and his daughter Katy. This society was then in

Milford circuit. Rev. A. Beeler was pastor until 1875. Since 1877 the present minister, Rev. J. D. Calhoun, has had charge of the church here and three other nourishing societies, one at " Round Top," in Prairie Green ; at Amity church, near J. B. "Wilson's ; and at Bethel, in Fountain Creek township. There is a parsonage in Wellington that was built in 1878, which cost about $800, where Rev. J. D. Calhoun now resides.

During a Methodist revival at Amity school-house in 1868 the directors of the school, with J. B. Wilson at the head, refused the use of the school-house, except from Friday night to Sunday inclusive. The directors took this action, as they believed, for the good of the school then in session. This led to a movement to build a church. The United Brethren of Fountain Creek proposed to help the Methodists and build a Union church, but as they could not agree on a site the United Brethren drew off and built a church of their own in Fountain Creek and the Methodists did likewise.

J. B. Wilson, L. B. Russell and their father-in-law, P. J. Hickman, of Indiana, gave, in cash, $200 each to build a church at the Amity graveyard, on the southwest corner of section 6. With these liberal subscriptions it was not difficult to obtain enough more to carry the work on to completion. The building is 30x40 feet, plainly yet substantially built and finished, and cost about $1,700. There is an interesting Sunday school connected with the church.

Amity graveyard, where the church is located, was set apart as a resting-place for the dead early in 1859. In January of that year J. B. Wilson and Richard Hickman each had a death in his home, and there being no burying-place nearer than eight miles, Mr. Wilson proposed to Mr. Hickman that they select a site for a graveyard in their own neighborhood. The site was chosen and $12 paid by J. B. Wilson and Richard Hickman to Levi Hickman, the owner of the land, which secured two acres in the corner of section 6, which was deeded to the Methodist Episcopal church for graveyard and buryingground, free to all. The two children, whose death led to the selection of the site, were buried January 16, 1859. There are now about 200 graves here, many of them marked with costly monuments.

Section 16, in Lovejoy township, or more properly in town 24, range 12, its legal school title was sold at public sale February 2, 1862, for the sum of $15,401.20. This large sum is a perpetual' fund for the maintenance of schools in the township. The interest arising from this fund is nearly sufficient to defray all the]ordinary ^expenses of the schools. School taxes, therefore, are light, unless for building purposes, or for paying interest on building bonds. There are five school- houses in Lovejoy. Each district supports a school about nine months in the year. The best teachers are generally secured, and the schools of Lovejoy are the pride of her people.

J. B. Wilson, farmer and grain merchant, Wellington, was born in Warren count}7, Indiana, April 7, 1836. When he was very young his parents moved from Indiana to the lead mines of Wisconsin, and from there to Lee county, in Iowa territory. Mr. Wilson's first recollections are of living in this county, where his father died, in 1844. His mother moved to Mahaska county and built one of the first houses in Oskaloosa, Iowa ; this was in the winter of 1844-5. He remembers that the Indians were very numerous there then. In the fall of 1845 he removed with his mother to Benton county, Indiana, and in 1848 to Warren county, in that state. His mother married again. He staid in the home of his stepfather until September 24, 1852, and then struck out for himself, working for the farmers in Warren county up to February, 1854, when we find him sailing out from New York on the old Northern Light, bound for the newly discovered land of gold. He arrived in California in April, and at once repaired to Sutter's old mill, where for one year he engaged with boyish eagerness in gathering up the golden sands that formed the nucleus of his present comfortable fortune. His trip to California had been made by way of Lake Nicaragua, but on' his return he crossed the isthmus on the first through train from Panama to Aspinwall. He came directly to this township, and soon invested $1,000 of his California gold in the north half of section 7, and a small tract (of timber land, all of which he bought of Ambrose Wood, of Fountain Creek township. This was in February, 1855. He at once began to improve his land, and now has one of the finest farms in the county. He was married, February 28, 1856, to Eliza J. Hickman, daughter of Peter Hickman, of Warren county, Indiana. She died September 12, 1874. By this union they had seven children : Mary E., wife of Alex. Pate, of Wellington ; Sarah A., wife of Alonzo Hall ; Thomas N., Martha F., Eliza J., Lewis B., living; and William C., deceased. On June 1, 1876, he was married to Rachel A. Mills, of Warren county, Indiana. There is one child by this last marriage, named Hattie. Mr. Wilson early began to buy stock and ship to Chicago. In 1873 he commenced buying grain and hay and shipped from Wellington. The next year he associated himself with Alex. Pate, and together they began and still carry on the largest grain business in Wellington, and perhaps the largest on the road, between Danville and Chicago. They also do a large business in flax-seed. Mr. Wilson has been a republican from the time the first shot was fired on Fort Sumter, in 1861. He has served the people of his township as supervisor, and has held the office of school director for twenty out of twenty-one years, since the organization of the district. Mr. Wilson has also been justice of the peace.