Jefferson County, Illinois - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 20 of those read), 1883

SHILOH TOWNSHIP - GEXEKAL DESCRIPTION - TOrOGRAPHY AND BOUNDARIES - EARLY SETTLEMENT-PIONEER HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS - MILLS, ETC-AN INCIDENT - BIRTHS. DEATHS AND MARRIAGES - ROADS AND BRIDGES - STOCK-RAISINGSCHOOLS AND CHURCHES - WOODLAWN VILLAGE, ETC., ETC.

NEXT to Moore's Prairie and the immediate settlements around Mount Vernon, this division of the county dates back in its history beyond any other township. More than sixty years have dissolved in the great ocean of the past since the first of our race located in what is now Shiloh Township. And what a story, what a history is enveloped in those threescore years. They have witnessed empires shaken to their centers by in the hoary and infirm winter, long day of ceaseless and weary labor, and much truer did the pioneers find this to be so fifty or sixty years ago than do we in this age of civilization and refinement, when education and wealth surround us on every hand. The years that have elapsed since the first settlement in Shiloh have made the frontier of Illinois almost the very center of civilization. A State that then contained but a few thousand people, now has almost as many as the Republic had when it won its independence; and a county that had but a the throes of popular revolfitions; they have i score or two of souls has a population now seen the hand of oblivion passed over priu- | of over 20,000, so rapidly has the country cipalities and powers, and their places upon so rapidly the great West - grown and develthe maps blotted out forever. They have looked upon the old man full of years and honor, gathered to his fathers, and watched the young bride stricken down at the very altar.

Shiloh Township lies west of Mount Vernon, south of Rome, east of Casner and north of McClellan Townships, and is designated in the Congressional Survey as Townreflex and symbol of human life. The young | giiip 2 south, and Range 3 east. It is one of babe is shadowed in the opening leaves and buds and flowers. The strong and lusty youth appears in all his manly strength and beauty in the vigorous spring; the man of mature years and approved wisdom, and stands erect in the ftiUness and flush of the summer; the descent of lite is seen in the fading glories of autumn, and the nigh approach unto the end is too well foreshadowed the finest agricultural regions io the county, except Moore's Prairie, and many tine farms are to be found within its limits. The surface is rolling, and even broken in some portions of the township, and originally was mostly timbered land, on which grew in great abundance several kinds of oak, hickory, elm, ash, locust (black and honey), sweet gum, sassafras, papaw, etc., etc. It is watered and drained by the West

Fork of Big Muddy, formerly called Casey's Fork, Hooper's Creek, Cole's Creek, and several -smaller streams. An excellent stone quarry has been opened, and is owned by Thomas Knott. It is pretty extensively worked, and atfords a crood building stone. The principal crops are wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes and beans. Considerable attention is paid to fruit, particularly apples. The St. Louis Division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad passes through Shiloh nearly from east to west, with VVoodlawn Station on its west line, a village of considerable business enterprise. The railroad has been of great value to the township, increasing the price of lands and affording excellent shipping facilities. The township received its name from old Shiloh Church.

The first white settler in what is now Shiloh Township is said to have been Zadok Casey, who is so often mentioned and so extensively noticed in other chapters of this volume, that nothing additional can be said here without repetition. He served his country in the field as a soldier in the Black Hawk war, in the General Assembly of the State, in the halls uf Congress and as Lieutenant Governor, and better than all, he served his fellow-men as a minister of the Cross of Christ. For almost half a century, he served the people of Jefferson County, and at last laid down his life with the harness on, for he was a member of the State Senate at the time of his death. But it was the death of all deaths he would have chosen to die - that at the post of duty. Calmly he sleeps amid the scenes where his active life was spent. He sleeps, and his mantle is folded about him with but little probabiiity of its ever being disturbed by his successors. He sleeps, and the billows of faction, which heave like the waves of a stormy ocean, break not his deep repose more

Gov. Casey, as elsewhere stated, came here in 1817, and made his tirst settlement in what is now Shiloh Township. He was poor, and brought his earthly all, which consisted of his wife, one child and a few articles of household use, upon a single horse, himself walking most of the way. He built a cabin, cleai'ed a piece of ground, raised a small crop, and thus began life, where he was destined to live long and serve his people faith, fully. The history of his life-work is told in preceding chapters, and to them the reader is referred.

William Maxey was another of the early settlers of this township, and like Gov. Casey has been extensively written up in the preceding chapters. He came from Sumner County, Tenn., but was a native of Virigin ia. He settled here in 1818, and raised a large family of children, most of whom were born and some of them married before he came to Illinois. His _son Henry B. was married while they lived in Tennessee and had one child - an infant - when they came here. It died soon after their arrival, and is said to have been the first death and bl^rial of a white person in the county.

The Maxeys were a prolific family of people. William Maxey's childi'en were Clarissa, Henry B., Bennett N., Elihu, Harriet, Vylinda A., Charles H.. Joshua C, Hostillina, William M. A. and Jehu G. D. Of these Henry had twelve children; Clarissa seventeen, Bennett thirteen, Elihu twelve (he was killed by a kick from his horse), Harriet twelve. Vylinda seven. Charles thirteen, Joshua four, William ten and Jehu one. William Maxey, the pioneer, had 101 grandchildren, forty-four of whom are now living. He died in 1838; his wife, the year previous; and in their death the county lost two good citizens and most exemplary Christiana As they moved about in their daily walks, doing good to all, myriad spirits hovered over them uttering the tones they had learned in heaven, and as the good old couple drifted down the somber and mysterious pathway that leads to the door of the tomb, all were fain to acknowledge that the world was better for their having lived in it. A lasting monument to their Christian piety is the fact that they left every one of their ten living children professing the same Christian faith, and zealous members of the Church of God. Their sons have been prominent citizens of the county, some of them preachers, sijme physicians, some of them civil officers, and all farmers to a greater or less extent. Joshua 0., or " Canon Maxey, " as more commonly called, is living on the old homestead, a place settled originally in 1818, and which has never been out of the possession of the Maxey family. Canon Maxey is a preacher of the Methodist Church, and for nearly forty years he has been pointing the unregenerate to that " far country " beyond the " River," where those who have gone before are waiting to welcome them home.

William Depriest was an early settler in this township, and came in about 1821. He settled where Joseph Philips now lives, and is long since dead. His wife was a sister of Gov. Casey, and a remarkably large woman, weighing over 300 pounds. She died a short time before her husband, and both sleep side by side at old bhilnh Church. They had two sons - Isaac and Green, both of whom went to Missouri, and, we believe, died there. Lewis Johnson came here in 1819, and settled on Section 22. He had a large family, many of whom and their descendants are still living in the county. A. Bateman,asonin-law of Lewis Johnson, came to the neighborhood with him. Archibald

Harris also came about the same time, and was from Kentucky. He had been a Baptist preacher, but had backslidden - if the Baptists ever do such things - and became a drunkard, and, as we have been informed, died intoxicated. The Holtsclaws were early settlers, as will be seen by sketches elsewhere. William Woods came here early (about 1819) and raised a large family, of whom some are still living here. James E. Davis was also an early settler in this township, and came from Wilson County, TenD. He did not remain long, but moved away. Lewis Green, the step-father of Jesse A. Dees, was an early settler in this township, but the people were now moving in so fast it was impossible to keep trace of them.

There were plenty of Indians here when the first settlers came. The Maxeys remember to have seen Indians passing their cabin in early times. A hundred of the " red sons of the forest " passed there once in a body and camped within a hundred yards of their house. They were friendly, and made no trouble nor interrupted any one further than to call at the house and beg some salt and meal. On the Gov. Casey farm (where Capt. Moss now lives) the Indians used to camp in numbers when hunting on Camp Branch, a tributary having its source ou this farm and empyting into Hooper's Creek. For seven years after Gov. Casey came here, the Indians camped upon this branch during their fall hunts. The woods at that ti.me were f uU of game, and the savages frequently came into the neighborhood to hunt, but so far as we can learn never committed any depredations after the murder of Moore in Jtoore's Prairie, and even that has never been definitely settled; it has only been supposed that he was murdered by Indians. As we have said, there was plenty of game here then, and some of the Maxey boys, notably Ben- nett and Jehu were great hunters. Hundreds cif deer could be seen sometimes at a "single look," feeding on the prairie, as cattle can now be seen; and as to wild turkeys, " the woods were full of them," and the settlers had but little trouble in supplying their larders with meat. Indeed, it was great fun for the most of them to lay in their winter's supply of meat, but the procuring of bread was an altogether different thing. The first meal was brought with the settlers from the older States, and afterward gotten at the little horse mills put up in the new settlements, which were very rude in their construction and very p6or at best, but better than none at all. The first mill in this township was built by William Maxey. It was a horse-mill of Ihe usual primitive kind, but was of great benefit to the community, and for many years was their chief source of supply of breadstuff. A distillery was kept by Abner Hill in a very early day, in the northwest part of the township, but it is a landmark that has long since passed away. The old wooden mold-board plows were the kind most in use by the early settlers. J. C. Maxey used to stock these oldstyle plows, making the mold- boards himself, and hence, next to the blacksmith who made the plows, was a man in great demand among the farming population.

Joseph McMeens, one of the pioneers of this section, met with a sad bereavement soon after his settlement. A child, a little girl only four years old, was lost in the woods and was never found, nor was her fate ever clearly established. Whether she was devoured by wild beasts or carried off by prowling savages will probably never be known.

Births, deaths and marriages are matters of great interest in new countries, particularly among the female portion of the inhabitants. The first birth in Shiloh Township cannot be recalled, bat knowledge of the first death is more easily attainable. All things earthly are fleeting and transitory, even to the human beings who occupy this planet of ours. We look around us at the landscape clothed with beauty, ornamented with flowers of the fairest hue and rich with verdure. But yet a little while and winter invades the beautiful fields and hills and valleys, and with a relentless hand shrouds in gloom the gorgeous scenery. We behold the sky di-awn above us as a magnificent canopy- 'iyed in azure and beautiful with pictures of floating silver; but as we gaze upon the beautiful scenery, the world, awhile radiant with beauty, is mantled in darkness. Man looks upon these changes in nature, and seems unconscious of the fact that he, too, is as perishable as they, and is heedless of the warning voice that tells him " Dust thou art. and unto dust shalt thou return." Joui-neying to the tomb, he wastes his price less time, until finally death knocks at his door and finds him unprepared.

Death entered the settlement through the Maxey family, and an infant of Henry B. Maxey was the victim. It was brought here an infant in arms, and survived the change of climate but a short time. It was the first death in the township, and believed also to have been the first in the county. The well populated graveyards in the township and BUi-rounding country show how well death has done his work and how busy he has been among the " children of men."

The third wedding to occur in the county took place in Shiloh Township, and was a kind of wholesale wedding. Three couples were married at the same time and place, viz., Thomas M. Casey and Harriet Maxey,

Abraham T. Casey and Vylinda Maxey and Bennett N. Maxey and Sally Overbey. The ceremony was performed October 5, 1819, and the affair was a grand one for those early days. To use a backwoods expression, "the big pot was put in the little one," the fatted calf (deer) was slain, a great feast prepared, and everybody within reach invited. This triple wedding was long remembered as an event worthy of note.

Shiloh Township is as well supplied with roads and bridges as any portion of Jefferson County. Good wagon roads traverse it in every direction, and substantial bridges span the streams wherever needed.

Previous to 1809, the county was divided into election precincts, but in that year, it, under a law of the State, adopted township organization. Since the chauge. the following is a list of the township officers:

Considerable attention is paid to stockraising in this township, and that there is not more than there is the mere's the pity. When the farmers of this section of the State devote more time and attention to stock and fruit and less to wheat - a crop that has proved so thoroughly to be an uncertain one - it will be far better for them and a good revenue will result. Capt. J. E. Moss and A. J. Moss are among the largest stock- raisers in this immediate section. They raised horses, Durham and Jersey cattle, Berkshire hogs and Cotswold sheep - the latter 'were originally imported from Canada. Capt. Moss was the first man who brought Cotswold sheep to the township and has done more, perhaps, to improve the stock interests than any other man. Others have more recently embarked in stock-raising, until at the pros- (tnt time it is getting to be the leading pursuit of the farmers of this re^jion.

The people took a deep interest in educational matters, and schools were organized very early. Among the early teachers were Joel Pace. Edward Maxey, a man named Douglas, E. Knapp, Anderson Booth ^and others. The old " Jefferson Academy " was one of the first schoolhouses in the township. Shiloh has never let its interest flag iu the cause of education, and to-day it has nine comfortable schoolhouses within its limits, all of which support good schools. Christianity occupied the minds of the people as early as the cause of education. Some of the earliest settlers were ministers of the Gospel - notably Zadok Casey, of whom mvich has already been snid. Abraham T. Casey and Lewis Johnson were also preachers, as well as some of the Maxeys. These were all ministers of the Methodist Church, and several societies of this denomination were formed very early. Old Union Church in Mount Vernon Township, was the first. Pleasant Grove Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1839 in the schoolhouse, and the first preacher was the Rev. W. T. Williams. Among the early members were Thomas M. Casey and family, Abraham T. Casey and family, Bennett N. Maxey and Elihu Maxey and their families and others. The present church building was put up some twenty- five years ago, and is of, 'brick, 30x40 feet in size, costing about $1!,000. It has some eighty members. There is at present a Baptist Church in the northwest corner of the townshij:) called New Hope Church. Old Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church was one of the lirst churches organized in the township. Among the early members were Lewis Johnson, Zadok Casey, William and Edward Maxey, Mr. Depriest and their families. Their early meetings were held in a house put up for church and school purposes in 1821, and was given the name of 01(1 Shiloh. For years it was used both for chm-ch and school purposes, but has long since passed away. The New Shiloh Church was an early organization. The present church building was put up in 1S58; the membership is about seventy-five; the present minister Rev. L. S. Walker. The church maintains a Sunday school with some seventy-five pupils and five teachers. Little Grove Church was organized in 1833, near James Westcott's, who gave the land upon which it stood. Salem Church was also an early organization, and its origin was due principally to Rhodam Allen, who was a zealous Christian, and took great interest in religious affairs.

Woodlawn Village was laid out by John D. Williams for S. K. Casey and W. D. Green, and the plat recorded October 1, 1869. It is located on the range line in Section 25, and is on the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, west of Mount Vernon, and has about 300 inhabitants. The first house was built by Hiram Ferguson. Among the first merchants of the place were Benton, Masters. J. Q. A. Bay and Dubois. James Farmer put up a fine mill in 1872, and Hicks put up a drug store. The post office was established in 1870, and Dr. Masters was appointed Postmaster; the present Postmaster is G. B. Welborn. An excellent school building is in the town. It is a fi-ame, 24x36 feet, and the school attendance is about sixty. A lodge of Odd Fellows was organized in 1874. The present officers are J. T. Slade, N. G. ; J. F. Brooks, V. G. ; L. H. Hawes, Treasurer; and G. W. Fyke, Secretary. In 1878, James Dillon put up an oil factory in a part of Farmer's Mill, and for several years carried on the business. It was said at the time to be the biggest thing of the kind in the whole country. Pennyroyal and sassafras came in by the hundreds of wagon-loads and was made into oil.

Dolds, millinery; R. Richie, blacksmith, etc. The village was incorporated under the State law in 1880, with the following officers: Dr. Watson, President; Emery Wood, James Trout, Harvey Reynolds, J. W. Beckham, J. H. Hicks; and W. P. Willis, Clerk. The present officers are J. H. Hicks, President; J. H. Clayborne, J. P. Morgan, W. H. Breeze, Andrew Ferguson and L. A. Stevens.

The Methodist Church was organized in the township in the Hicks Schoolhouse, and among the original members were Isaac Hicks and wife, Benjamin McKinney and wife, Peter Shaffer and wife, George Knos and his mother, John Lemmon and wife, and others. The church was built in the village in 1879, and cost about $1,200. The society has some forty members and a good Sunday school is kept lip all the year.